MR cruise - Jan 22/12

[JJsmama]

Seriously Fellow Cruisers,
I am so excited! I can't believe we are actually booked! It was so last minute and now the cruise is not far off at all. It's all paid for right? No Turning Back now! That is what I have to remind myself when I start thinking about my 12 hour flight over and 14 hour flight back. Did I mention that despite the fact that I am an American who has lived in Asia for years, I hate to fly!!

What is everyone planning to do on this cruise? I am not sure if we will do any excursions or just walk around the port area a bit and then enjoy the emptier ship. I have had two different bad experiences in Mexico before and I've only been there 3 times!

Does anyone know if there will be a character Tea Party on the MR? I didn't see it in the Navigators. My son who will just have turned 4 would enjoy it, I think, even though I am sure it is Princessy...

I don't know if I will reserve a Palo dinner or brunch. Probably will do one, but we really aren't big eaters. I would really like to do High Tea, but I wish I could take my DS13 with me. He would love it too and Dh wouldn't appreciate it, so not sure about that either...

 

[MomPotz]

What is everyone planning to do on this cruise? I am not sure if we will do any excursions or just walk around the port area a bit and then enjoy the emptier ship. I have had two different bad experiences in Mexico before and I've only been there 3 times!


Does anyone know if there will be a character Tea Party on the MR? I didn't see it in the Navigators. My son who will just have turned 4 would enjoy it, I think, even though I am sure it is Princessy...

We have 2 excursions booked. Las Caletas in PV and Whale watching 1st day in Cabo. I'm sorry you've have bad experiences in Mexico. Was it in one of the ports we are traveling to? I have been obsessively reading trip reports and haven't read any where people have felt unsafe. I do feel safer sticking with a Disney excursion, but that is just because I would spend the whole time afraid of not making it back to the ship in time!

I don't know about the character tea party, but there will be a character breakfast. That may be more boy friendly.

So excited for this trip! With all the events we have between now and then ( DD birthday, Thanksgiving, DH birthday, Christmas, etc) It will be here before we know it!!!

 

[JJsmama]

My bad experiences in Mexico were not in the MR ports, but in Cancun and Acapulco. However, the were in very nice hotels in tourist areas. Once, my jewelry was stolen out of the hotel room and another time we were 'set up' by a local jewelry stall man, who accused us of stealing and pressed us t re-pay for things we had not stolen. That got ugly quickly.

Then in 2006, Dh, our kids and I took DCL Western Car. which went to Mexico (cozumel and Costa Maya) and it was fine.

In 6 years in my host country (which I do not like to name) where poverty and corruption are also widespread, nothing like that has ever happened to us. Although we do still always get the foreigner/ 'sucker' price on things...

I would love to see the whales. I am hoping we can see them from our verandah or the decks because I get really sea sick on smaller ships. We may just have a beach day and enjoy having our feet on solid ground.

Las Caletas looks lovely,but again I may avoid the smaller boat... We did something like that in Thailand to a tiny island and it was amazing.

I am really hoping we get some warmth. Dh will be annoyed with me if it is freezing the whole time. We are going to have to pack a LOT, aren't we? the CA days will be chilly on deck, I bet and we will need warm clothes, then hopefully we will need swimsuits and shorts for the Mex days. I wonder what we will need to wear onboard on sea days and the kids in the clubs?

 

[lesos69]

We have booked the Pirate Ship for PV. We are just planning on walking around in Cabo and sticking around the ship.

 

[lesos69]

We took DD16 who has autism on a 3 day cruise last Sept. and I understand your concerns. Each child is so different but our experience was great. She stayed with us and didn't go to the kids clubs. She had a little sea sickness the first night but she took the chewy pills well. She loved the shows, the movies, having desserts and that they refilled her Sprite often. They characters were so great with her.There were times the noise was too much for her so we just went back to the room. We will take her on future cruises, this one is without kids

My daughter perseverates on Disney, she knows a great deal and would be a wonderful walking ad for Disney. She knows all about the Kid's Clubs and will want to go, I am just worried if the staff are really capable of "getting" an autistic child. I have heard they are but it is in my nature to be skeptical. At this point neither of our kids know about the cruise as DD 11 would obsess endlessly about it until we go(not that her mother isn't doing that as it is)

 

[Merryweather11]

Hi Everyone!
We just booked our very first Disney cruise for this week--first cruise anywhere, actually! SO excited. I'm a newbie to Disboards but I've found the most amazing wealth of info here in the Cruise Forum--I appreciate all of your experience and generosity in sharing it.

I wouldn't have had any idea of the "kids cruise free special"--I just happened to check my email spam folder the day the offer came out and for some reason the Disney ad was there. I clicked around looking at the deals and realized "oh my gosh, I think we actually could afford this!" My husband and I have been annual passholders to Disneyland for about 15 years but never thought seriously about a cruise until now. But we figured--if we're going to do it, now's the time--my daughter will be heading to college next year and who knows how many more family vacations we will all take together.

So, anyway--we're trying to do the budget thing and just hang out on the ship and maybe walk around at the parts and try to get by without booking an excursion. But I'm still reading around and trying to figure how best to schedule our time. I feel like I'm studying up for an exam that is coming waaay too quickly--I'm by far the most obsessed about this in my family.
I'm a wiz at navigating the Disneyland resort but I've spent a good deal of my life there--this is very foreign territory! Any advice would be most welcome.

 

[Samantha_Mommy]

Hi everyone!

70 days to go! ( 65 for us~ going early to go the DISNEYLAND! ) We are very excited, probably more with me than my daughter right now...she's 4, she'll get excited once she sees the ship, the gang and of course~~~ do not miss the princesses!

We have 2 excursions booked, the kids dolphin and a beach excursion. Hope to buy a few unique things.

I am hoping the weather is great for all of us, not swealting but nice & warm and to give us abit of a tan. Never been to CA but I heard we will probably need a sweater or jacket @ night... (my thoughts of CA have always been, it was never cold there) I mentioned to the person telling me this we are from Canada, until you've done one of our winter's ..CA is a dream! So, between 65-78 degrees is fine by me in CA! Rather that then 2 feet (or more) of snow! Heard the Mexico is warmer then CA,

The whole time I have booked (since August) I've been debating if I should upgrade... ( knowing the minute I upgrade I will never turn back to the stateroom I am staying in ~ at least for what I've been told!) recently today I did question DCL how many rooms were available is seems about 60-70 cabins all together...so it looks like we will be having a full ship!!!! It would be great to have the upgrade for free and given some pixie dust but I am happy with our room...Being Canadian, I am wondering if there will be alot of Canadians on the ship as DCL is giving a great promotional pricing to Canadians

If you have some time, check out the "free" things the cruise offers, its a pretty big thread...I actually wrote down the list...this board is wonderful and the experienced cruisers will tell you alot! I also looked at a thread to what to bring, people have great ideas on here...

I know we will all have a great time (including the kids!)

 

[nsiordia]

Hi everyone!

So, between 65-78 degrees is fine by me in CA! Rather that then 2 feet (or more) of snow! Heard the Mexico is warmer then CA,

65 is cold to us here in California! lol. Mexico is generally warmer and that is what I am hoping for!

So we will have a full ship? I thought we didn't since it was so easy to get Palo ressies for Tea, Brunch & Dinner!! I can't wait!!

 

[nsiordia]

Hi Everyone!


I wouldn't have had any idea of the "kids cruise free special"--I just happened to check my email spam folder the day the offer came out and for some reason the Disney ad was there. I clicked around looking at the deals and realized "oh my gosh, I think we actually could afford this!" My husband and I have been annual passholders to Disneyland for about 15 years but never thought seriously about a cruise until now. But we figured--if we're going to do it, now's the time--my daughter will be heading to college next year and who knows how many more family vacations we will all take together.

The Kids Sail Free offer was an amazingly good deal! It's why we switched from the 10/2012 sailing to this one once we figured out we would save about 60% from what we were going to pay. We were originally booked in a Verandah for Oct but now have an Oceanview which I am more than ok with!!

We are also DLand AP holders, you can find us there every 2 months if not every month

 

[lesos69]

We are Canadian but live in the States due to my husbands work.

I am with you after surviving 30 plus Manitoba winters...65 is a wonderful thing!
After reading almost every post I can't wait until the 22nd of Jan!

 

[JJsmama]

The Kids Sail Free offer was an amazingly good deal! It's why we switched from the 10/2012 sailing to this one once we figured out we would save about 60% from what we were going to pay. We were originally booked in a Verandah for Oct but now have an Oceanview which I am more than ok with!!

Kids Sail Free was a good promotion. I was so excited when I priced it out for this cruise. Then, Dh wanted the Suite so we went with that and didn't get the KSF, but at least it got us hooked in the first place Even without the discount, this one was cheaper than when we have looked at the suite before, so still a good deal for us.

The only bad thing for us is that the boys will miss two days of school after the cruise because the flights back to shanghai leave at 11:30 AM and we have been told that we can't catch that one. We have to wait until the next day to fly out and then China is a day ahead, so we get back two days late. Oh well. It only matters for the older one and he feels ok about it...

 

[Shoppingstaceysmom]

My daughter perseverates on Disney, she knows a great deal and would be a wonderful walking ad for Disney. She knows all about the Kid's Clubs and will want to go, I am just worried if the staff are really capable of "getting" an autistic child. I have heard they are but it is in my nature to be skeptical. At this point neither of our kids know about the cruise as DD 11 would obsess endlessly about it until we go(not that her mother isn't doing that as it is)

Sounds like our daughters are alike in their Disney obsessions, your daughter will probably do well at the Disney trivia games like mine. I can't answer about the Kids' Club staff since my daughter didn't go, she would have probably liked the kids' club but she was 15 and I knew the teen activities were not for her. Hope I get to meet your daughter (and you) on the cruise.

 

[JJsmama]

Sounds like our daughters are alike in their Disney obsessions, your daughter will probably do well at the Disney trivia games like mine. I can't answer about the Kids' Club staff since my daughter didn't go, she would have probably liked the kids' club but she was 15 and I knew the teen activities were not for her. Hope I get to meet your daughter (and you) on the cruise.

My DS11 wants to do trivia too. (but sounds like we will have tough competition from all the girls ) I will have to make sure and notice when the family trivia is. Fun Fun!

 

[JJsmama]

The whole time I have booked (since August) I've been debating if I should upgrade... ( knowing the minute I upgrade I will never turn back to the stateroom I am staying in ~ at least for what I've been told!) recently today I did question DCL how many rooms were available is seems about 60-70 cabins all together...so it looks like we will be having a full ship!!!! It would be great to have the upgrade for free and given some pixie dust but I am happy with our room...Being

So, did you decide? What are you considering upgrading From and To? Inside to Outside? If it is something you have always wanted to do, you could probably upgrade and then do 'free' excursions and spend about the same, couldn't you? If we are on the right side of the ship, I am hoping we can do Whale Watching from our verandah.

 

[tditter]

We just booked our first Disney Cruise ever!! The kids sail free and low air fare from Denver pushed us over the edge!! \It will be me, my husband our DD 13 and 10, my sister, her husband and DD 14. We are all so excited!! I was wondering about the fish extender thing. How do we sign up for that. We are also in a 9c guaranteed room. When will we know our room number? Any other advice would be appreciated! Living in the middle of Kansas is very cold in January, so anything over 50 degrees is like a summer vacation for us!!

 

[Merryweather11]

65 is cold to us here in California! lol. Mexico is generally warmer and that is what I am hoping for!

So we will have a full ship? I thought we didn't since it was so easy to get Palo ressies for Tea, Brunch & Dinner!! I can't wait!!

Hello fellow APer . We don't get up to DL every month anymore since the kids are busy with activities, but approaching Christmas I have a feeling we'll get more visits in--the best time of year to be at the resort! Now that the kids are in school all day and I have some mornings free, I've been thinking about just zipping up to Anaheim to wander the park by myself--such a luxury!

I don't know anything about the fish extenders--I'm so new to all this cruising business but I did flip through the thread with people making things to give away--SO creative and adorable. I'm not creative at all--y'all would end up with a nice pack of gum from me or something . But if someone has done it before and wants to head it up--I'm game to try!

Samantha_Mommy--if you have any questions about the DL resort or SoCal, I'd be glad to try and answer them, and I'm sure nsiordia knows anything I would as well.

 

[Shoppingstaceysmom]

I've participated in 2 other Fish Extender Exchanges and loved them. I'll start and hope others will join.
Add your information if you'd like to join!

Dis name
Stateroom #
Who's in the room (age if child)

shoppingstaceysmom
#???? (will post when assigned)
DW Marie
DH Ray

 

[Merryweather11]

Shoppingstaceysmom, can you give an overview of the basics of the FE? I've read some posts about it, but it seems they assume you already know the overall idea.

*When do you distribute the gifts?
*How do you come up with the hangers?
*Do people take the gifts if they are left in the hallway?
*Do they have to be handmade?

I'll look around on my own as well.

Dis name: Merryweather11
Stateroom #Ummm...will check and get back on that
Who's in the room (age if child)
DH: Ed
DD: Charlotte (14)
DD: Emma (17)
and me...Lisa

 

[Merryweather11]

Okay, never mind--I found a really good post on it in another meet thread. Must go study it!

 

[Shoppingstaceysmom]

I've participated in 2 other Fish Extender Exchanges and loved them. I'll start and hope others will join.
Add your information if you'd like to join!

Dis name
Stateroom #
Who's in the room (age if child)

shoppingstaceysmom
#???? (will post when assigned)
DW Marie
DH Ray

Dis name: Merryweather11
Stateroom #Ummm...will check and get back on that
DH: Ed
DD: Charlotte (14)
DD: Emma (17)
and me...Lisa