May 30, 2009 - Western Cruise Magic

[BamaBornNemoNut]

I have two of the eight that DS just mentioned. One CAT12 gty for me and DD(15). Second CAT12 gty for DM(72) and DS(13). Bibbidy and kcashner, thanks for then input on the activities in the Stack. I will discourage my DD from being in there after dinner(we have late seating). She's another follower but I often let my two kiddos have freedom from Mom as long as they are with each other. Her experiences are VERY limited and she is not at all on the maturity level as some of her freshman classmates. She is excited about another 15 year old or two that she can meet. Bibbidy, whether we get an upgrade from our CAT12 or not, I'm with you. I just hope we are at least close together. Suzepoo has linked our reservations together and adjoining rooms would be great.

 

[klcason]

WOW 8!! Cool!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Wow, 8 cat 12 rooms....that is great! I am hoping we get upgraded to at least a cat 10, but secretly hoping for a Cat 9! I haven't been in an inside room since my 2nd cruise, but if we even get a cat 11 I don't care, just as long as I am on the ship.

 

[hmurry]

I WOULD LIKE TO BE A PART OF THE FISH EXTENDERS AND I HAVE SOME GIFT IDEAS...PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHO IS NOW ORGANIZING THIS SO I CAN BEGIN WORKING ON THIS FUN PROJECT! THANKS HANNAH

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I WOULD LIKE TO BE A PART OF THE FISH EXTENDERS AND I HAVE SOME GIFT IDEAS...PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHO IS NOW ORGANIZING THIS SO I CAN BEGIN WORKING ON THIS FUN PROJECT! THANKS HANNAH

I am not sure if anyone has volunteered to organize the fish extenders exchange yet. I have been involved in one exchange, but not sure what is needed to organize one.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I have two of the eight that DS just mentioned. One CAT12 gty for me and DD(15). Second CAT12 gty for DM(72) and DS(13). Bibbidy and kcashner, thanks for then input on the activities in the Stack. I will discourage my DD from being in there after dinner(we have late seating). She's another follower but I often let my two kiddos have freedom from Mom as long as they are with each other. Her experiences are VERY limited and she is not at all on the maturity level as some of her freshman classmates. She is excited about another 15 year old or two that she can meet. Bibbidy, whether we get an upgrade from our CAT12 or not, I'm with you. I just hope we are at least close together. Suzepoo has linked our reservations together and adjoining rooms would be great.

Well my oldest will be 15 on this cruise (turns 15 towards the end of this month) and it was her first taste of real freedom (time away from us before that point was limited to school & functions which were totally supervised and even PDA's not allowed, church youth group activities, and with other relatives) and that's when we learned the extent of how much she'd "follow" if left with older teens. (that emoticon basically shows you my face towards the end of the cruise) We actually had to 'ground' her towards the end of the cruise because she would just go off and do whatever other kids were doing- even outright lying to us about where she'd be and engaging in behavior she'd never done before and that we didn't approve of at her age (then 14). We had a "spy" in the teen stack too btw... our table mates had a teenage son that ate with us every night and told us what she was doing/when she wasn't really in the teen stack but told us she was/etc.

(just so you don't wonder what behavior I'm talking about.. I'm talking about she found herself basically a "cruiseship boyfriend" in the stack and engaged in behavior such as going whereever he was going without telling us and/or lying to us about where she'd be- causing us to sometimes spend a lot of time trying to find her..., we were told she was laying on him in the teen stack when he was in a bean bag- often, dancing with said boy- in the teen stack so I know it's allowed there- in a manner that WE don't feel is appropriate -think "dirty dancing", we had arguments about how she wanted to dress- which ofcourse involved comments about how "everyone else is dressing like that", etc. Just basically she got some freedom and she followed along with whatever much OLDER teens were doing and did things that we personally did not approve of... although it may be typical of most teenagers. KWIM? Her answer to why she wasn't where she said she'd be/etc.- her answer was well everyone ELSE was going to "insert here either stores, pool, etc."- so basically she stopped obeying us while on the ship and wasn't behaving like her normal self.. and since we were on vacation we kept giving her chance after chance and finally had to put our foot down towards the end of the cruise. In our defense it did take us awhile to figure out the extent of her disobeying & her behavior that we felt was inappropriate since we weren't there to witness it ofcourse LOL)

She was far less experienced than even her classmates in middle school at the time and basically got a 'quick experience' lesson on that cruise. ugh

But I will tell you-unless it's different on this cruise.. the evenings after dinner time is when the teen stack tends to do most of their more "organized" activities. So it might be difficult to keep her out of the stack in the evenings without hearing about how she's missing everything since that's when they tend to do stuff! Which is another thing that disappointed us- during the day there were few organized activities and mostly hanging out/smoothie time/etc. where the kids either did things we don't approve of and/or they found their own fun outside the stack which is why my daughter followed along (but the problem is that she wasn't letting us KNOW she was running around the ship doing other stuff) and then they had all these fun activities for the kids in the late LATE hours... and I'm the type I'm not going to sleep when I have a kid still out and about on the ship even if it's in the stack! It was difficult when you have early mornings planned at ports and such and the teens have all their "fun stuff" scheduled only late at night. I assume they do that to keep the teens busy late at night and allow parents to not have to worry about entertaining their teens/etc. - but I have an early to bed/early to rise husband (aka party pooper) so it wasn't helpful for us. LOL Everyday I looked at the navigator and groaned inwardly thinking oh man... I either have to make her miss the "fun stuff" or stay up till 1 or 2am waiting up for her. sigh I hope it's not that way all the time.... maybe just on that long cruise (fingers crossed?)

She had no problem staying in the stack in the late evenings/night- that was the one time I did NOT have to worry about her- she was always there at that time because they were doing all the fun activities then. It was during the day that she was bored in there and wandered around the ship with other teens and didn't keep us informed of her whereabouts that caused the problem. Which wouldn't have really been such a problem if she had been more responsible and like just let us know! She was even aware all she had to do was tell the counselors and they'd page us where she was going/etc. but she just didn't do it.
I blame her for that- not the stack, other kids or the counselors. That's for sure. But just letting you know that we tended to have the problems at other times- NOT in the late evenings because that's when the teen stack had organized activities and things to do that kept them in the stack.

whoa this post got long. LOL

The FE exchange I think just needs someone to list out who is involved and their stateroom numbers. The list is so that everyone involved will know where to find the rooms that are involved with an FE so they can go put stuff in their FE's. That's all we need is a list- right? On our last cruise we had SO many people from the board on that cruise and SO many involved in the FE exchange- that we actually had a really neat list- not just names and numbers but actually pictures of each deck, color coded for those that were involved- so we could find all those rooms much easier. LOL I"m not sure if all that is necessary if there aren't hundreds of rooms/people involved though.

 

[brucechase]

Just on this thread alone there are 10 Cat12 booked (maybe more that is all that said what category they had). With only 13 rooms available, there is a great chance for all of us to have upgrades. Last cruise, I had 2 cat12 booked and got upgraded to connecting cat9's. If anyone is interested, here is my trip report.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1993791


I still want to do the FE. When do we want to start making a list? I will volunteer to keep track if no one else wants to do that. Let me know what everyone wants.

Way back on page 3 I voluteered to organize the FE if no one else wanted to. So I am volunteering again. I would love to organize this one!

Please PM me your Disboard name, name and age of each person in your group (some people might personalize per person or for girl/boy), and room number (when assigned) and a good email. I would rather float that list around via email than on the boards. I will make it in Excel and sent it to everyone (if you don't have excel, let me know and I can turn it into a PDF).

I will set it all up for us and keep everyone updated on the FE members. We will need a cutoff date so everyone know how much to buy so I propose May 4 as the last date to join the FE. If anyone (or everyone) wants it later, I will do what the majority wants. Last time I did this I also set up a list for some shore excursions that we did on our own so we could share taxis and help each other out. If you want to make anything avaiable for other members, let me know and I will add a column.

No one in my family knows about this yet. I am thinking of setting up a treasure hunt for my wife's birthday (on Jan 28th). I was going to send her all over town collecting clues and have her put them together at the house. Anyone else have any ideas on what I can do to surprise her?

 

[BamaBornNemoNut]

That's more good info regarding activities in the Stack. I'll be paying close attention. Without organized activities in either Ocean Quest for DS(13) or the Stack for DD(15) during the day, they will have to put up with each other. Or else hang with Mom.

I'm going to participate in the FE exchange, but don't want to be the organizer. But, yes, seems like the participant list is the task for the organizer.

Since a lot of us don't know our cabin assignments yet, it will be impossible to have the FE exchange organized at this point.

Will someone also organize a DIS meet for say around 5:30pm or so after we set sail?? Seems like Diversions would be good?? Has this been accomplished for past cruises??

Looking forward to all the activities (organized or not).

brucechase; my vote is for you to organize the FE exchange

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Way back on page 3 I voluteered to organize the FE if no one else wanted to. So I am volunteering again. I would love to organize this one!

Thank you so much for volunteering. I will send you a pm with my information.

We are also suprising our DD's for their birthday (May 23) with this cruise. They will not know about the cruise until a week before. I am trying to figure out how we are going to suprise them. I am thinking of getting vacation stuff and wrapping it up and seeing if they figure it out. On black friday I started their birthday gift shopping. So far we portable DVD players for the plane, digital camera for the cruise, and a charm bracelet that I got on our last cruise with a few charms to start them off. I am thinking about getting them a new swim suit and sunglasses and wrapping that up. But not sure what else to get. If all else fails, I guess I can wrap up their plane ticket confirmation and cruise documents and have them open it up last. I am just not creative at all!

 

[brucechase]

I'm going to participate in the FE exchange, but don't want to be the organizer. But, yes, seems like the participant list is the task for the organizer.

Since a lot of us don't know our cabin assignments yet, it will be impossible to have the FE exchange organized at this point.

Will someone also organize a DIS meet for say around 5:30pm or so after we set sail?? Seems like Diversions would be good?? Has this been accomplished for past cruises??

Looking forward to all the activities (organized or not).

We can still organize the FE without room numbers. I did it last time without any problems. Just update the list when the rooms are assigned.

5:30 is not a good time for a meet. Per the Disney FAQ:

On the Disney Magic®, the dining times are staggered. First dinner seatings start at 5:30 p.m., 5:45 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Second dinner seatings start at 8:00 p.m., 8:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

It falls right in the middle of first dinner. On my last cruise we tried at 3:30 but almost no one made it. I think a good time might be right after the sailaway party. There is about 30-45 minutes before dinner seating that we could all get together. Since we will all be up on the top deck, we could meet there. We just need to make sure that where we pick is not in the adult section and we should be alright.

 

[BamaBornNemoNut]

Just sent you a PM with info. Meet up as we set sail sounds great. Also, our group is staying Friday night at the Radisson (5/29). Whoever else is staying and wants to meet up for a Pre-Cruise party is welcome.

Surprise thoughts (I'm not creative either): The confirmation sent in the mail had a nice message from Mickey that could be incorporated into the hunt or waiting back at the final spot where all the puzzle pieces are coming together.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Also, our group is staying Friday night at the Radisson (5/29). Whoever else is staying and wants to meet up for a Pre-Cruise party is welcome.

I'm thinking we may stay here on the 29th also, just haven't booked it yet.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Bruce- that's great! Thanks for volunteering!
(glad you mentioned that- I think Excel is the one I can't open... pdf would be better for me if you don't mind the extra trouble!)

I think a meet on sailaway day is great- but like someone else said 5:30pm won't work since some may be having dinner during that time. both cruises I was on was HUGE DIS groups- this one is smaller so should be easier to manage. With the other huge ones- we had so many people that it seemed the easiest place (with the most room) to do it was on Deck 10- personally that doesn't work so great for us.. we ended up only being there a few minutes each time because it's in the direct sun and we get all sweaty before dinner. So if we can do it somewhere else other than that- we can actually visit and get to know people better I think. LOL I'm not sure when the best time would be. We aren't a huge group- is most everyone planning on being there early? I only ask because with a large group obviously not everyone plans (or can) be on the ship early- but it seems on both cruises this is how it went for us: get on ship- eat/then bored/can't go to room/take kids swimming/finally get in room THEN rush rush rush to unpack some, hurry to safety drill, hurry to go to the DIS meet, hurry to get ready for dinner (or show if late dining), then eat. the meets always seemed to be right during the "rush" period for us once we're able to get in our rooms and the time for dinner or movie was coming upon us quickly... but before that we're wandering around bored for hours. LOL I wish we could meet during that time- so that's why I ask is everyone planning on getting there early or some flying in tight that day where they might not get on the ship early?

Poohfriend- I'm not very creative either- you've thought of some great ideas! but I'll try to put my thinking cap on for you. I've often TRIED to do the surprise cruise but it never works. I have too big of a mouth- I discuss with DH and my kids have big ears and hear something and the cat is out of the bag. LOL Or I just blurt it out at some point... I'm not good at keeping that a secret! LOL I was GOING to keep it a secret when we originally planned to go in Dec 2009- was gonna go to wDW first then cruise right at christmas and pretend we were going home and drive over to the port instead- THAT one I kept a secret and hoped to continue to keep a secret- but then our plans got all changed with the 2010 cruises negating that Dec 2009 cruise and then things changing even more to cruise in May 2009 too ofcourse. LOL I should have probably kept that one a secret too- but I didn't. LOL

Is anyone else going to WDW before the cruise? Just wondering if anyone else is that we might have a pre-cruise park meet?

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Bibbidy - It is extremely hard keeping it a secret! Every time I log on to the Dis I have to make sure they are no where around so they don't see the countdown timer! The girls are really my step daughters so we have to coordinate with their mom to get passports and that is so hard since they ask so many questions! I would love to go to WDW before but the girls birthdays are the weekend before and they will be spending it with their mom. We tried to go to WDW after, but it is just too expensive for us. We plan on hanging out at my DH's sister's house for a few days after, she lives in Pt. St. Lucie.

 

[brucechase]

I have a list all done and ready for the FE exchange (and whatever else).

Here are the people I have so far that want to participate in the FE:

brucechase - 4 people (2 Adults 2 Children)

PoohFriend#1 - 4 people (2 Adults 2 Children)

liliagm - 3 people (2 Adults 1 Child)

Bamabornnemonut - 4 people (2 Adults 2 Children)

Biddyidybobbidyboo - 5 people (2 Adults 3 Children)

Hmurry - 4 people (4 Adults w/3 of them 18)


If there are any corrections, please let me know. I still need emails from some of you.

I'm ready for more! Also I added everyone's name on the disboard on the list so if you want a copy anyway, I will send it to you. There are 73 names on the sheet so far and with 6 more cabins from Bamabornnemonut that would make close to 100 Disboard people (and family and friends).

 

[Bama4Disney]

Who all is staying at the Raddison on the 29th? We have stayed there before and it is has been very convenient. Has anyone found a good rate yet at the Raddison? Any promo code?

Also, has it been discussed how we will identify each other. On one cruise we had the mickey paint chip (GREEN) pinned to our shirt so we could identify each other. Just a thought.

Looking forward to meeting everyone. Are there any other boys between 5- 8 going as my DS's are 5 and 8. They can't wait and I can't either!

 

[Suzepoo]

We have booked 4 rooms at the Radisson in Cape Canaveral. The standard sleep number (Hot Deals) room, which will sleep up to 4, and includes parking and shuttle service to the pier, was $119.13, and the 2 King beds suite, which will sleep up to 6, was $231.99, and also includes parking and shuttle service to the pier. Not too bad!!!

The resort/hotel is AWESOME and we hope to arrive early enough on Friday to enjoy it for a few hours before heading out to our favorite seafood restaurant on the bay for dinner (and no, I don't remember the name of it, just how to get there, haha).

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I have a list all done and ready for the FE exchange (and whatever else).

Here are the people I have so far that want to participate in the FE:

brucechase - 4 people (2 Adults 2 Children)

PoohFriend#1 - 4 people (2 Adults 2 Children)

liliagm - 3 people (2 Adults 1 Child)

Bamabornnemonut - 4 people (2 Adults 2 Children)

Biddyidybobbidyboo - 5 people (2 Adults 3 Children)

Hmurry - 4 people (4 Adults w/3 of them 18)


If there are any corrections, please let me know. I still need emails from some of you.

I'm ready for more! Also I added everyone's name on the disboard on the list so if you want a copy anyway, I will send it to you. There are 73 names on the sheet so far and with 6 more cabins from Bamabornnemonut that would make close to 100 Disboard people (and family and friends).

wow, we have 100 disboard people on this cruise already? Am I on that list? I don't think I sent you the info yet. LOL

We have booked 4 rooms at the Radisson in Cape Canaveral. The standard sleep number (Hot Deals) room, which will sleep up to 4, and includes parking and shuttle service to the pier, was $119.13, and the 2 King beds suite, which will sleep up to 6, was $231.99, and also includes parking and shuttle service to the pier. Not too bad!!!

The resort/hotel is AWESOME and we hope to arrive early enough on Friday to enjoy it for a few hours before heading out to our favorite seafood restaurant on the bay for dinner (and no, I don't remember the name of it, just how to get there, haha).

We were planning on staying that last night at FW campgrounds also and then just parking at the port. if the parking is the price I see online- it works out about the same price... (since we'd have to get the room for 6, since we have 5 in our family) hmm... so we could go either way really.

Does anyone know if you can park a truck and travel trailer at the Radisson or is it only vehicles?
And I wonder what time those shuttles get you to the pier?

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

And I wonder what time those shuttles get you to the pier?

I was wondering the same thing, does anyone know the earliest time the Raddison shuttle leaves for the Port?

 

[Bama4Disney]

I was wondering the same thing, does anyone know the earliest time the Raddison shuttle leaves for the Port?

I have seen people post the first shuttle was 10:00 am but I believe we took the 11:00 last April when we sailed RCCL. I am pretty sure that was the earliest then as we wanted to be the first on the ship so we could enjoy our first day!