MR January 29 2012- Who's in?

[alaskanabbott]

A little excited?

It still feels a little surreal. We had planned this same cruise last year, but our son was still too sick to travel out of the country. I waited until the day before the final payment was due to cancel. We went and did WDW for 11 days instead, and it was a fantastic trip, but not the cruise I had hoped for. I think my brain is still waiting for the "other shoe to drop"- which is gonna really bite me in the rear when I look up and it's January 26th and we're still not packed!

 

[inhousemouse]

I know! It's not going to feel real until it's time to get off the ship and go home. Then it will just feel like a mad rush to get everything back into suitcases and go home. :-(

 

[alaskanabbott]

I know! It's not going to feel real until it's time to get off the ship and go home. Then it will just feel like a mad rush to get everything back into suitcases and go home. :-(

I hope some good 2013 itineraries come out soon, so I can have a vacation planned before I get off the boat

 

[PizzieDuster]

Does anyone have a daughter who is 13? I'm hoping my DD13 can meet a friend in the Edge.

 

[Magic Mornings]

I am happy to help with the local stuff.

DS 13-Jayden
DS 11- Rilie

OOO I DO have some questions!! Our flight home isn't until 5pm (out of Long Beach ) and we are looking for something to do until we go tot the airport. Is the Aquarium close tot he LB airport?

Also, we are flying in on Friday the 27th and we are planning on going to Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach Saturday, so I'm trying to figure out if staying in Long Beach is a better plan than San Pedro. Is LB closer to Santa Monica? I don't want to spend the day in traffic, but we also want to be close to the port too. Plus, there's a better selection of hotels in Long Beach, and better dining. There are 11 of us, so we need 3 rooms for two days, looking for an inexpensive hotel is becoming difficult[/QUOTE]
alaskanabbott-
You seem like the traveling bunch so I think you can make the aquarium work. I think you would cross over the bridge to the long beach side to get to the freeway for the airport anyway. It is shortly after the bridge so its not bad. From the port you take the vincent Thomas bridge all the way into Long Beach, it turns into Ocean Blvd. From Ocean you go a few blocks and turn Right on Pine. Follow Pine all the way until it ends at the Aquarium. There are also many restaurants around the Aquarium.

From the Aquarium I would probably take the 710 freeway North to the 405 south to get to the airport. Hope this helps when you look at a map.

As far as where to stay.....
It is difficult to find a good budget place in all of the areas you list. Long Beach, Santa Monica and Venice all have decent/higher end places but the lower end places are usually in tougher neighborhoods or get a little sketchy at night with the local trash. I do have to warn you I am a skeptic by nature so take it with a grain of salt. If I were booking a family member to stay in any of those places, I would suggest Long Beach on Ocean Blvd or maybe the Double Tree in San Pedro although I have not stayed there, I just am more likely to trust a double tree then the other places in Pedro. I don't know SM hotels off the top of my head.

Just a warning that Santa Monica can be a bit congested in getting around unless you plan on leaving early in the morning. It is very beautiful there and I think a better tourist attraction for you with the pier and local shops.

 

[Magic Mornings]

Hi Welcome to our group! We're going to be staying at the Comfort Inn Long Beach. Seems like a decent area. My question is is it better to take a cab or hire a shuttle to get to the port?

I'm not sure of the prices for either. I often see cabs in the area, in front of some of the main hotels on Ocean Blvd. It should only be a 15-20 minute drive for you.

Wish I had a big bus to pick everyone up! I am still trying to decide if I want to pay the $90 to park for the week or find a friend to take us.

 

[alaskanabbott]

Does anyone have a daughter who is 13? I'm hoping my DD13 can meet a friend in the Edge.

Close, I have a DD 14- she's pretty fun!! AND her twin James is 14, but seems to have mostly girl- friends. I think the girls handled his illness better than the guys, and they all seemed to want to mother him. The fact that he's cute doesn't hurt either When does your DD turn 14?

 

[PizzieDuster]

Awww...she just turned 13 this December. She'll only be able to go in the Edge or hang out.

We went on a 2 day cruise to no where last January and that was too short of a time to make a friend, of course. She still has that in her mind, she didn't meet anyone and I keep reminder her this is 7 day!

 

[kidclassic]

I'm not sure of the prices for either. I often see cabs in the area, in front of some of the main hotels on Ocean Blvd. It should only be a 15-20 minute drive for you.

Wish I had a big bus to pick everyone up! I am still trying to decide if I want to pay the $90 to park for the week or find a friend to take us.

I am amazed that there isn't a service like that for the port. Almost every airport has some sort of private park and ride service. I guess it has a lot to do with the location and cost of land. We have 23 people in our group and 4-5 cars so maybe $400+ just to park for our group.

 

[alaskanabbott]

I thought it might be fun to visually introduce our family, feel free to follow up with your own introductions!!!

This is me Amber with my oldest son Dakota. He will not be joining us on the cruise, because he is in college. It will be the first time w/o him and I'm a little sad about it.

This is my dad, Mel with Elijah (11) and Mackenzie (7)
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n365/caelansmom/IMG_2689.jpg[/IMG

This is my DH Mike (in the middle) with James (14) Macylea (14), Elijah and Mackenzie
[IMG]http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n365/caelansmom/IMG_2813.jpg

Here are the 5 who are still at home, Caelan (almost17) Macylea, James, Elijah, and Mackenzie. I can never find a picture of Caelan where he isn't smiling like a maniac, so no smile in this one-

and how he usually smiles for pictures-

and my dad, Mel, who is also coming aboard! Here he is with Elijah and Mackenzie

Well, that's us! I'm looking forward to some pictures that we are all in at the same time!

 

[disnanny]

Does anyone know if there is a place close to the Double Tree where we can purchase wine for our cruise? We like to pick up a few bottles to enjoy while getting ready for dinner.. We don't have transportation so would probably have to catch a cab or walk.

Getting ready to head back home from our Christmas visit to Ontario, to get the summer clothes out for our cruise!!!

 

[partypixie]

Mooney-san, Under falco's fe cabin, could you please put that Jack is 2, turning 3 while on the cruise? Thanks in advance.

 

[Magic Mornings]

I will drive by next week and tell you your options for stores witihin walking distance to doubletree

 

[disnanny]

I will drive by next week and tell you your options for stores witihin walking distance to doubletree

Thank you so much, we really appreciate you doing this for us

 

[moomy-san]

Mooney-san, Under falco's fe cabin, could you please put that Jack is 2, turning 3 while on the cruise? Thanks in advance.

Do you want to share which day Jack's birthday is so that we might be able to help him celebrate?

 

[lyssandre]

Roxanne, thanks again for updating the FE list and keeping us organized! Can't wait 'til my beasties go back to school on Tuesday so I can get serious about my FE goodies . . . I plan to let them help, but I need to do some planning without them as well. We've had a little too much togetherness lately LOL My eldest sort of remembers our Caribbean cruise, but the younger one was 3 so he doesn't remember it at all -- it's fun to hear the big one tell his brother what's in store. (Amusing what things stuck with him!)

They are super excited to be going to Mexico, since they both play competitive soccer and have many bilingual players on their teams. We bought Rosetta Stone Spanish (mostly unrelated to the cruise, but that was how we did our big reveal) and they have been learning a few words. I figure it's good to round them out a little, because so far their Spanish is all soccer and curse words LOL

Can't believe it's only 29 days. Don't know whether to do a happy dance or panic . . .

 

[PizzieDuster]

I thought it might be fun to visually introduce our family, feel free to follow up with your own introductions!!!

This is me Amber with my oldest son Dakota. He will not be joining us on the cruise, because he is in college. It will be the first time w/o him and I'm a little sad about it.

This is my dad, Mel with Elijah (11) and Mackenzie (7)
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n365/caelansmom/IMG_2689.jpg[/IMG

This is my DH Mike (in the middle) with James (14) Macylea (14), Elijah and Mackenzie
[IMG]http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n365/caelansmom/IMG_2813.jpg

Here are the 5 who are still at home, Caelan (almost17) Macylea, James, Elijah, and Mackenzie. I can never find a picture of Caelan where he isn't smiling like a maniac, so no smile in this one-

and how he usually smiles for pictures-

and my dad, Mel, who is also coming aboard! Here he is with Elijah and Mackenzie

Well, that's us! I'm looking forward to some pictures that we are all in at the same time!

Love the pictures of your family!

I finally got my documents today! I visited my mom Friday and she shows me her docs and says "look, I got a Disney Cruise pamphlet." I just assumed all documents would come to me. I said "Mom! That's your ticket!!!!" And went through it with her. Then my brother took us out to dinner and we are taking his son and he says this "Oh, Dakota got a book from Disney." So I explain to him also. He also said it came with two luggage tags but he only needs one suitcase. I said, I need the tag for my fish extenders so bring it!

So, doing the doc dance!

 

[inhousemouse]

Still waiting for our documents but packing is going well. I have everything set and almost ready to leave.

 

[moomy-san]

Wow, you folks are ORGANIZED!! I have packing piles... but no actual packing yet. I have done this trip to California every January for the last 7 years so I really hope it all comes back to me and my job will be easy-peasy. Not likely to happen that way, but you can always hope!!
We have undecorated our house today and will enjoy a quiet night at home... we had a huge party at our house last night so I have holiday-hang-over.(literally and figuratively!) I am too excited about out trip to even enjoy another night of over indulging. I will save all my splurges until the cruise now.
No documents have arrived here in the north... though being in Canada that doesn't surprise me.
Happy New Year, everyone!! While everyone else will be doing the 10-9-8-7-6 countdown tonight at midnight I will be counting 29-28-27 sleeps until we leave!!

 

[inhousemouse]

Some of our group has there documents. But we went through a ta and she hasn't gotten them yet. I'm organized to the point that I have it all typed out what is packed in each suit case. But FEs are not together but packed. I'm going to have time to kill at the hotel so I'm going to package everything down there so it stays nice and neat till we get on board. I still have to put my magnets together and make my fe.

Still seems like so much to do and so little time!