May 8th 2008 cruise

[DisDee]

Welcome Rose! What a great deal you got...I'm jealous! Only kidding, I often wondered what kind of last minute deals were out there. I was talking with my brother in Ft. Myers last week, and he mentioned that if the price was right, they might join us. I'll have to tell him to look into it.

I'm trying to convince my DH that its OK to wear a dress shirt and tie to Palo. We're traveling from NJ and we want to limit our checked bags to one each, therefore really don't have space for a sports jacket. Please tell me he'll be dressed appropriately so he can stop worrying!

Can you share any hints with us since you're a returning cruiser?

 

[degrapevine]

Thanks for the warm welcome, Denise!

We are really looking forward to the cruise and maybe even meeting some fellow DIS-ers!

I tried to book Palo, but it's no longer available ... Guess we will try when we get onboard when we also try to switch for First Seating. Last cruise, we did the Brunch (only on Sea Days) and my DH wore just a dress shirt and tie, no jacket. I'm pretty sure that would be fine for dinner, also.

One tip I can give is to bring along a tshirt or pillow case (or even your autograph book) and a pack of different colored Sharpies (or regular fat markers for the book). Put them in a Ziploc and bring to Guest Services when you board. They have a form to fill out to request signatures. You can do Classic Characters or Princesses or request specific ones. It's a great way to get autographs and a special souvenier without having to drag them around in all the character greeting lines.

Also, if you are leaving the ship in Nassau, order room service sandwiches/fruit/cookies the night before, put in your fridge, then bring them ashore in a soft sided cooler to save on spending $ on overpriced meals.

I'll keep thinking to come up with some more tips, but this is a start.

I'm still looking for a friendly (yet slightly geeky) 13-14 year old boy to have my son email with before the cruise. Eric is excited about being in Aloft with all the video games, big screens, and activities, but it would be nice for him to know someone before the cruise. How about you, Grumpymom73? Would your DS14 be interested? We also have DS9's in common, too!

Thanks!
Rose

 

[Grumpymom73]

Welcome degrapevine!!
It's great to see some new people sharing our cruise.

I'm sure our boys will meet up. I have a DS14 who will also be in the teen group and a DS9 who will be in the lab. DS14 like video games, music and girls (not necessarily in that order ) I'm so happy I can tell my DS9 that someone on the boards has a son the same age cruising with us. I kept telling him there would be boys his age, but he was still worried.

This is our first Disney cruise and we are all sooo excited! We are also FL residents! Wow sounds like we have a lot in common.

 

[Grumpymom73]

Wow, you beat me to it! I just saw your last post after I posted. I'm sure my boys would both love to email your sons before the cruise. Let me know. I would describe my son as a scary flashback to my youth. You know how your mother always said one day you'll have kids just like you. Yeah well my son turned 13 and decided that the 80's had the best music and fashion. He stole all of my DH and mine CDs. I'm now paying $20 bucks for Tshirts both DH and myself had 20 years ago. Since I just got my haircut....yep, you guessed it..... his is now longer! One of DH and mine first dates was a Van Halen concert and just last month I found myself sitting next to my son at the same concert wondering when the music got so loud. Talk about depressing. On the plus side he's a really great kid who gets along with everyone.

Also I wanted to ask you about your experience with Ardastra Gardens. We are thinking about doing this excursion or maybe just hanging on the boat and try walking around on our own for a little while. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

 

[CastawayJP]

So we are under 45 days until the cruise! It doesn't seem like we have a lot of Disers on this cruise... I'm guessing that the ship won't be too crowded with the release of FL resident discounts.

 

[CastawayJP]

I went ahead and a made a list of who is confirmed on this cruise. The only questionable person is fredms.

So here are our confirmed DISers for the May 8-11 Wonder cruise!

princesshart
DisDee: DH
DbleTheFun: DH, DS (1), DS (1)
CastawayJP: DW, DD (8), DD (1)
Grumpymom73: DH, DS (14), DS (9)
MODisneyfan
Mrs.CaptJackSparrow: DD (11), DS (7)
mdhkitten: Mom, DD (3)
fredms?????
degrapevine: DH, DS (13), DS (9), DD (7)

 

[Grumpymom73]

Wow, that's a short list. LOL Thanks for making it Castawayjp.

I'm so excited, I can't wait. I think I'm worse than my kids. Okay, I'll admit it ....I am worse!

 

[mdhkitten]

I went ahead and a made a list of who is confirmed on this cruise. The only questionable person is fredms.

So here are our confirmed DISers for the May 8-11 Wonder cruise!

princesshart
DisDee: DH
DbleTheFun: DH, DS (1), DS (1)
CastawayJP: DW, DD (8), DD (1)
Grumpymom73: DH, DS (14), DS (9)
MODisneyfan
Mrs.CaptJackSparrow: DD (11), DS (7)
mdhkitten: Mom, DD (13)
fredms?????
degrapevine: DH, DS (13), DS (9), DD (7)

Actually, my dd is 3 (although maybe going on 13! ).

 

[CastawayJP]

Actually, my dd is 3 (although maybe going on 13! ).

Oops, corrected. My DD is 8 going on 14. It is amazing how you can love someone so much and want to strangle them at the same time!

 

[DisDee]

Thanks for the list CastawayJP! We really are quite a small group.It's hard to believe that we're getting so close to our sail date.

For those of you who are returning cruisers...when do you think we can expect our documents?

 

[degrapevine]

Hi, all!

Wow, that is a small group of DIS-ers for this cruise - Maybe that's good news for the ship being underbooked and not crowded, although we booked the last pair of adjoining Cat 10's, but there may be vacancies at higher/lower Cats?

Anyway, we are very excited to be going on our second cruise. Our last was a 4 night back in Dec. of 2006. Our school district changed our calendar and now our kids go to school right up until Christmas without an open week before, so the 4 night schedule doesn't really work for us. The kids will still miss a few days of school, but it's better than the 4 they would miss if we did a 4 night. The other times we can cruise without the kids missing school are all during the busy/expensive times of the year, so a few days off at the end of the school year seemed to be the best option.

Our last cruise had rainy weather on our CC day, but since it was a 4 night, the captain just kept us at CC for the next day instead of going out to sea. It's was good option, but not one that we'll have on the 3 night. Pray for clear skies on the CC day - It's too good to miss!

Grumpymom73, in Nassau, my DD and I did the Dolphin Encounter while my DH and DS (12 at the time) went to Ardastra Gardens. They went because for some weird reason, my son's favorite animal is the flamingo (maybe because they eat shrimp, his favorite food?) and he really wanted to see the flamingo show. I asked my DH if he would go again and said the flamingos were neat, but the zoo itself wasn't impressive. I would consider staying on the ship instead if you live near or can visit a zoo near you that is pretty good. On the other hand, the Dolphin Encounter was wonderful, a lot of fun, and we have great pictures and memories of just the two of us spending that time together. We plan to stay on the ship this time, maybe just going to the Straw Market for a bit to shop or to the Pirate Museum for a quick look. As for our boys, my DS9 (almost 10) sounds like your older son. He listens to the 80's music all the time and delights in sharing the "new" songs he hears with me. He's a very easy going, loveable kid who will be very happy to meet new friends and have his freedom away from Mom and Dad (although he is NOT getting checkout privileges!).

CastwayJP, I'm with you on the girls and their "grownup" attitudes. I'm hoping my DD will be in a Mickey Mouse induced fog on the cruise and the moodiness (can puberty start this early?) will somehow not show up!

I can't remember when our documents showed up last time, maybe 3 weeks in advance? Since we just moved a few months ago, I couldn't remember where I had put all of our birth certificates, but WHEW! I found them all in my old folder of DCL stuff.

If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to help out. I will also try to post a picture to let you know what our family looks like!

How many days left to go?
Rose

 

[Mrs.CaptJackSparrow]

I completely agree with Rose. I think in Nassau that we are going to just hit the straw market and the pirates museum and head back to the ship. Seems like they have lots of fun things on the ship going on so might as well let the kids enjoy it.

I quit planning....I was so burnt out from over planning that I kind of just quit thinking about all of it. I am getting back on track and starting to get my motivation back again. My son and I were talking last night about all the different food....he promised me he would try some new things while on vacation....we'll see if he actually holds up to it he is soooo picky.

After looking at the boards I realize I have another thing to pack! Everyone seems to agree that the hair dryers on board don't work that well so I think I need to go and buy a new one then take my old one and toss it when done (it's on it's last leg anyways). Still need to get my over the door shoe holder too!

 

[MODisneyfan]

Hey,

I have been having some computer problems. I am a little behind on anything I hope that everyone is getting everything booked and such. If anyone needs any help let me know.. I am a Travel agent and would be more then happy to help anyone..

 

[Grumpymom73]

Hi all,

Well, thanks to everyone's advice I spoke to my DH and kids last night and we've decided to cancel our Ardastra Gardens excursion. We all agreed we would rather walk around a little on our own and then enjoy the ship.

degrapevine - Our DS9 should get along great. Mine also listens to all that music ( I think he just tries to keep up with the 'cool' older brother. LOL) I wouldn't worry about your DS13. I'm sure he will have a great time. My DS14 is good at bringing shy kids out of their shell. He's a total goof and you can't help but laugh at him.

I do have a question about tips maybe one of you can help me with. I know about all the obvious CMs to tip, but is there anyone else we should tip? The PassPorter mentioned that the kids couselors were optional. Has anyone ever tipped them? Do they have the same couselor the whole time? Also, how much is normal to tip the spa CMs? Is about 20% right?
Thanks so much for all your help!

Only 44 days to go!!

 

[DawnCalla]

Hello..this is my first time on any message board anywhere!
We are doing the Land & Sea package beginning May 4. It is our first cruise ever but we have been to WDW before.

Our travel party is myself, husband and 7 year old daughter. Love to hear from other families with kids around the same age.

 

[Grumpymom73]

Welcome DawnCalla! You picked the best board for your first posting! I'm glad to see new people posting and the friends who haven't posted in awhile.

degrapevine mentioned that she has a daugher who is 7 sailing!

Here's hoping the next 44 days sail by!

 

[DisDee]

Hi Dawn, Welcome to the Dis boards! We're also first time Disney cruisers and have gotten lots of valuable info from these boards. We've been keeping one another updated as we make our travel plans.

DH and I completed our travel documents on-line tonight and I also e-mailed our DU travel agent about pre-paying our tips. Has anyone done that before? I figure if we do it in advance, it will be one less thing to worry about on the cruise.

44 days till the cruise means 42 days to WDW for us! When we booked back in August, it seemed so far away. Once we hit April, the time will sail by.

We'll all have to remember to wear our lime green ribbons and Mickey heads, and maybe plan to meet at some point.

There's been some talk about new menus coming to the ships, and the new Toy Story Show should be starting soon. That should be fun!

 

[Grumpymom73]

I'm really looking forward to the new Toy Story show. Both of my DS loved Buzz and Woody. It will be a trip down memory lane for all of us.

We have also completed all of our on-line forms. We went ahead and also pre-paid our tips. I figure that's the base and we can always add more.

This will be my first Disney trip since finding the Disboards. Can you explain the lime green ribbons and Mickey heads. Thanks!

 

[DisDee]

The lime green ribbons are a way to identify other Disers. I've attached some curly ribbon to my handbag or backpack in the past, but I've only ran into a Diser 1 time at WDW. The Mickey heads are swatches from the Disney paint line at Home Depot. I've heard some Disers attach them to their bags as another way of being identified.

 

[Grumpymom73]

The lime green ribbons are a way to identify other Disers. I've attached some curly ribbon to my handbag or backpack in the past, but I've only ran into a Diser 1 time at WDW. The Mickey heads are swatches from the Disney paint line at Home Depot. I've heard some Disers attach them to their bags as another way of being identified.

That's good to know. Thanks!