May 4 2006 Wonder, Anybody out there???

[mom x4 grandma x4]

EngrDaisy,



Happy to have you with us and your first Disney cruise, WOW

Your in for an awesome time.
We are meeting on the first day at 3:00 P.M. in the Promenade ,lounge. Please come and meet all of us, we are a very friendly group

A couple of our disers have already left for Florida to go to WDW for a few days, then to the cruise on Thursday

We are from Fruitland Park Florida, I didnt recognize Main Street Florida on your name caption, Where about are you located? There are a couple of us from Florida on this thread.

Please ask if you have any last minute questions that we might be able to help with,

Thusday it will be time to

See you soon, Kathy

 

[brianpilon]

we are off to catch the flight- its time we will see everyone there thurs at 3pm everyone travel safe

brian

 

[misseulalie]

Hey guys!

Haven't posted in awhile, just too busy!!!!

Sad news, my parents won't be coming on the cruise, my dad had eye surgery back in Feb. and though it is healing ok, a blood vessle burst and he needs to be monitored. It should be ok, but wind from the cruise and sand from the beach would not be a good idea right now.

so..... it will be 4 of us in 2 verandah rooms! There were no more rooms that fit 4 people (unless I wanted to downgrade to an inside cabin; yeah right!)

oy!

For the newbies out there; there are 4 of us (now!) 2 daughters ages 3 and 5 (though barely, they both are celebrating their 3rd and 5th b-days in these next 2 weeks)

we are in rooms 5624 and 5626.

 

[EngrDaisy]

Kathy, I am from Kissimmee. Main Street is in my name caption because I spend a lot of time on Main Street. It is like a second home for me.

Let's see... Last minute questions.... Well, my husband and I will probably have everything figured out soon. What are the documents that everyone is talking about? Can you find them online? So far the only documents that we have worried about are our birth certificates.

The birth certificates have a funny story behind them. This cruise is a spontaneous trip for us. My husband had some vacation time that he was supposed to cancel, but never did. So all of a sudden, he has a week off and naturally, we don't just want to sit around the house for a week. We start to kick around the idea of a cruise and finally decide to go for it when he came home from work on Wednesday. Technically, we decided early Thursday morning because he got home at 12:30 am. Then my husband announces that he is not sure where our birth certificates are. The last time we needed them was for our Carnival cruise in November of 2004. So at 12:30 am we start a mad hunt for the birth certificates.

My husband looks in what he believes is the most logical place for them, but does not see them there. We are searching and searching, going through piles of papers, and I decide that we need to buy a shredder. Fortunately, we are able to keep a sense of humor about us while we were searching. Then at 2:09 am he finally finds them in the first place he looked! Apparently, he did not look close enough the first time. I was happy because we could go on the cruise and I could go to bed with the reassurance that we know where our birth certificates are. I really was not comfortable having those missing, especially since mine is not very easy to replace. I was also happy that I could go to bed because I had to be at work at 9:30 that morning. Sleep is such a wonderful thing!

Today we went to Target and bought sunscreen and new flip flops for me. We forgot about the camera, but there is still time for that. Yay!

 

[Jake & Crew]

Jennifer ~ that is so sad about your parents, Well after the year we have had we are really good at making lemonade around here with all the lemons and must say 2 cabins could be very nice for parents of 2 little girls!! Like having your own suite.

Roy ~ our girls are close in age, so we will keep our eyes out around that volcano pool!!

Brian ~ must already be in paradise, hope you are having a blast!

Signing of until Thurs at 3pm!!!

See you on the Wonder

 

[Jake & Crew]

Roy ~ our girls will be in 2 different clubs too, they are almost 4 and almost 6. Hope to meet you and the girls at the meet, woudl help if they knew someone their age since they willbe apart. Also think Brian and Jennifer have girls in those ranges! ! Kate

 

[misseulalie]

My dd-3 wil be in Flounders (unless I sit with her at the club) and DD-5 will be in the club.
I am hoping to get more hours at Flounders once we get on the ship; DD-3 has decided to extend the "terrible twos" and now screams/cries all day long -if someone touches her hair, if you turn on the light and she doesn't, if you look at her funny.
So if you hear screaming/crying- It's just my daughter Lena.


BTY, I'm thinking about booking a 7 day for my parents in October. DH will be on a 3 week business trip, so we have a lot of extra free time.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Jenifer,
Sorry to hear your parents wont be coming along, but your dad's health issues are the most important thing right now. I'm sure since they are retired you'll be able to take them again as soon as you guys can get the time off from your jobs.
We have had family have to cancel just before a cruise before too, so I understand the feeling.
I am looking forward to meeting you soon.
Brian has already started his vacation already. They are at WDW today.


Engrdaisy,
Ok, I know where Kissimmee is. We just moved from Poinciana a month ago to Fruitland Park. So I know Kissimmee very well.
I'm glad you found your BC's ok. I always panic wondering if I put them back in the right spot each time too. After this trip we will be sending off for passports, then I will have to worry about keeping them safe.
We are entitled to a small safety deposit box with our bank account, for free, maybe we should get it and put that stuff in there for safe keeping. Then I will know for sure where to find them.
We only booked about a week before you did.
My husband surprized me at the last minute with this cruise, of course I wasnt about to say NO
Can't wait til Thursday!! I keep seeing all those cruise line buses around the parks and on I-4 and that really gets me excited to go


Well everyone, today we are being lazy, but yesterday we painted stencils of Mickey, Donald, Goofy on our pool deck. They came out really good, they were drawn by hand by looking at figurines of the characters. I love them!!!

Anybody got any last minutes shopping to do for the cruise or are we all ready to go????? I'm all set accept to pack on wednesday. That will take 15 minutes and I'm ready. I have done this so many times I have it down to a great system for packing and unpacking.
See everyone soon,
Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

This is it
The final week.
3 more days after today

Are you guys all ready to


We are ready to

Can't wait to meet all of

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Engrdaisy,
Sorry I missed your question.
The docs everyone is talking about is a booklet that DCL sends you and you fill out a few pages in it which you turn in when you check in. They usually UPS it to you before your trip. I do believe now you can print them off on line if you go to their web site and go to MY reservation, have your confirmation number handy and you can get it. If you havnt already got the docs, you could call and ask if they have been sent to you or if you should print off on line or just wait til you get to the terminal. We had to do this once because we booked 2 days before the cruise. They use to have extra forms there that you could fill out, but I dont know if they still do. They are simple to fill out. Just basic information about yourselves and the credit card you want to use for your ship board account. You must show them that card at check in with your ID. There is also a separate paper that comes with information on excursions and gifts you can buy and have waiting in your stateroom. You can get all that information on line too. It is just exciting to get because it means the cruise is almost here!!!! It is something we all look forward too and once someone has got theirs, the rest of us know, ours are coming too.
Hope that answers your question ok.
Kathy

 

[EngrDaisy]

Thanks for filling me in Kathy! If we do not have anything by tomorrow I will definitely start looking for online paperwork that I can print.

I told my husband about the pillowcase autograph thing and suggested that we do that for our goddaughter and her brother. I was surprised because he seemed to think that was a neat idea. Usually when suggest something for the kids he is nonresponsive, so to get any sort of reaction is impressive. We do not have any children of our own yet, so I spoil by best friend's children instead.

Only three days left! This is all still so sudden for us that it is surreal to think that we will be on a boat on Thursday. I am so excited!

 

[EngrDaisy]

I just thought of another question. Has anyone here made plans for Nassau? I have been talking to people at work about the cruise. I never realized until now just how many people at work have done the Disney cruise, but I am beginning to think that I am in the minority of people who have not. Anyway, the consensus at work is that in Nassau they either just walk around or stay on the boat.

I am not interested too much in shopping. I talked to my husband about Atlantis because I know that he loves casinos. However, now he is talking about just walking around. Fort Charlotte sounded interesting to me. I think that may be nostalgia from my childhood. I grew up on the coast of Georgia and there are lots of old forts to visit. I was just wondering if there is a possiblity that we have not considered yet. Thanks!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hi, We love Nassau, but we are in the minority.
It is such a culture shock for some people I think and some of the vendors can be pushy which people dont like. But just say No thanks and keep walking and they wont bother you. It always reminds me of the state fair and the barkers in the game booths.
Atlantis is beautiful to see and the casino is very nice. Shops are too expensive, but the architechure( excuse spelling) is awesome to see. The Dig or aquarium is really a neat rour I dont care for aquariums that much, but that one is worth the tour to see. Plus it moves very quickly so afterwards you can go back through at your own pace as many times as you want. just show the wrist band they give you when you pay for the tour. You can do the tour through DCL or take a taxi to Atlantis and pay for the excursion there too. Don't know which is cheapest, but I do know ask for a price to go to Atlantis before you get into the cab! Then stick to it. Lots of cabs at the pier so no problem there.
The 2 hour historical tour is really good. Our guide was very knowledgible about local history and we saw Queen Anne's staircase and 2 forts. One was a guided tour the other you just wondered around on your own. That was a great tour especially if you like history.
The Pirate museum is walking distance from the port. It is a large purple building located two blocks behind the straw market. You cant miss it. This is a good museum too. $12 per person. Allow about an hour to see it. You do have a lot to read there, so young kids may be alittle bored, but it is really good and low priced too. The pirate who greets you is a real HOOT!! Watch your watches and rings if he shakes your hand!! Ha! Ha!
We also have done the horse and carriage ride at the port. $10 per person and it is about 20 to 25 minutes long. It goes right through the main streets of town. The driver narrates but the cars are so loud you cant really hear him. But we enjoyed just sitting back and enjoying the ride. It was fun to just do something you dont normally do. It didnt cost much we could do this anytime we wanted, so it was easy. we did it just as we were returning to the ship. We did the sunshine glass bottom boat once, but it was a dirty boat, rocked a lot in the water and we didnt see much of anything. so I dont recommend that. But any of the other things I have mentioned I do recommend and all can be done on your own, so no need to rush or hurry.
Just remember when you get off the ship that some people can be pushy trying to sell you things, but just say No Thanks and keep walking, they will go to the next person. This is how they feed their families, and they sell things so cheap they dont make much, so they can be agressive. But once we said NO we have never had anyone keep bothering us. You will notice that the port area has a lot of run down buildings, but dont let that make you change your mind about experiencing Nassau. Paradise Island where Atlantis is a rich area and lots of famous people live there, but the area by the port is where the average person lives. Not so pretty. But we have found the people to be friendly and nice to talk to. Of course like any town, if you get close to some places, such as liquor stores, taverns and such you will see some other things and some I have read were offered to buy drugs in front of such things. That is true of any town.
So go and explore Nassau, I'm sure you will find many things to like. If you want to see forts, do the 2 hour historical tour and you'll see 2 of them. and stil lhave plenty of time to do other things. we did the tour, then back to the ship for lunch, then back off the ship to do other things in the afternoon. It was great.
see you soon, hope this helps some,
Kathy

 

[EngrDaisy]

Thanks Kathy! That is the most detailed description of Nassau that I have read so far.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Your welcome,
I am so happy it helped you some. On the ship if you need some direction after we dock, let me know and maybe we could leave at the same time and we could point you the right way to where ever you are going.
We are probably getting off the ship 1/2 hour after the all clear is called. That allows the people with excursions to get off and some of the crowds too. Then we are going to go to the Pirates museum, and the straw market and I need to find a certain shop to get a couple of sea dog t shirts for some one on the dis boards from a future cruise I am on. We will be roaming around looking for things to decorate a tropical guest room we have and a small area off our dining room. We can talk about that at the meet if you think you may need directions, let me know or call before we dock and leave a messge on our phone if we're out. we are in 6634. Then we can set up a time to connect so we can give you directions to where ever. Your shopping guide will have a small map, but it only lists shops and restaurants, nothing else.
Kathy

 

[misseulalie]

We didn't get off at Nassau last time because we were there for our honeymoon and didn't feel like we needed to go again. But, I think we will get off this time to go to the straw market, I've been reading that I can get some good knock-off purses.

I was excited last time because I heard the Mickey pool is "empty" when we are docked a Nassau, which I found was completely untrue; it was just as busy as it was at any other time.

I am getting excited, but sad because my parents are so disapointed about not being able to go...
Oh well, there is always next time, at least we live so close so we can go at any time.
I'm gonn a pack on Wednesday, too, but I already packed for my girls last week.

 

[kimpossible]

Hey-

We were just going to do a little shopping too. DH and I have been to Nassau twice before and would rather spend most of the time on the ship. Plus with 2 small DS's I am nervous to bring them to the straw market. We did want to buy some rum, but now I am not so sure because of what Kathy was saying about the liquor stores. We have never been to the Caribbean with the kids before, so we never really paid much attention to what was being offered, I guess.

Anyway, getting very excited. Hope to be able to catch up with everyone on board.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Kim,
Go to a liquor store that isnt on the street in front of the port and you should be ok. There are 2 really run down ones right near the port and those are the ones where people have been offered drugs a bunch of times acording to the dis board forums and one person we have cruised with. Plus a bunch of dirty looking men are standing around it. I did notice the last time we were at Nassau, 7 months ago they had cleaned up a lot of the port area and had more police around, so maybe someone complained enough that they are trying to get a handle on it. Unfortunately that can happen any where nowadays.
The shopping guide on the ship will be able to recommend a good place to buy what you want if you ask. It is his job to know all those things and they do. We had to get a pair of mens shoes once ( long story)and we got 3 shops close by and descent prices and we felt perfectly safe. So if you dont see aliquor store on the map that they give you, stop by the shopping desk and ask. Lots of people buy liquor there, so there has to be a good place close by.
Cant wait to meet all of you soon!!

 

[flsurrogate]

1 more day of school for my girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are so excited!!!!

I will pack tomorrow and 10 y/o packed after school today and the 12 y/o princess is saying she needs a bigger suitcase!!!! I told her to leave her make-up behind and use the suitcase she has!!

Can't wait to meet all of you on Thursday at 3pm!!! I am excited too!!!

 

[neeest]

We're all packed! Ready to leave in the morning! See all of you at 3:00 Thursday!

Denise