Mrs. Practically-Optimistic Plans a Cruise: Packing 2/20 update

[TAKitty]

I usually get all weepy at the end of a year. The years just seem to go by so fast and January is just kind of boring. All the sparkle and hope in December is gone. The holiday lights and decorations need to come down and seem oddly out of place in January, even though we are only a week past Christmas. All the reflecting on a New Year, new goals, new hopes and dreams leaves me feeling blessed and sad all at the same time. Since this is the time for resolutions. and I don’t need to lose weight, I decided to start our trip report. Besides, I need some traveling support. My dh isn’t a trip planner and refuses to help me decide on every possible detail. So I need the help of my fellow Disney lovers who also agree that the small details help to make a wonderful vacation. So sit back and join me in planning.

Our Ohana
Me: teacher and fan of all things Disney.
Dh: claims he only goes to Disney because he doesn’t have to plan anything, but secretly I know he enjoys himself.
DS: 14 loves Star Wars and finds hidden Mickey’s everywhere. He recently found one in the movie the Christmas Story. On the table, the waffles or pancakes looked like a hidden Mickey.
DS: 11 loves adventure, action figures, and other general boy stuff.
DB (my brother): 19 and is shipping off to boot camp for the Navy in June.
DP: (Dear Pet): 7 likes to lounge around the house and soak up all of our heat. He really is a tropical cat. Ok, he is not going on the trip, but he is still part of our family.

 

[TAKitty]

One of my favorite movies is Mary Poppins. You know when she is measured and she comes up Practically-Perfect. Well, I would measure Practically-Optimistic. I am not entirely pessimistic, but I have seen and done enough to know that the world is not all Pollyanna-like. This brings me to my first dilemma.

In Michigan I can usually find airfare for 59-69 a person each way. These are nonstop flights mind you. We have flown during peak and non-peak times and I have been able to secure these awesome deals. However, traveling around Spring Break seems to be a different story.

I purchased our flights down for 70 per person, but coming back they are running like 124 with taxes. Now many of you are probably screaming at your computer screen for me to just purchase the tickets at 124, but I am practically (the economy is bad so flights should be cheaper) optimistic (I just know if I wait I will get a better deal). I have watched the same return flight go from 90 to 194 to 105 (current price). Sure I can book a connecting flight for pretty cheap—Airtran has one for 64—but try lugging five people and five carry on bags because my husband refuses to check our luggage to another plane. The flight to Michigan is only 2 and a half hours and the connecting flights double our transportation time.

There are later flights in the day that are a bit cheaper, but we like to arrive in early afternoon and Dh has work and the kids have school the next day. So I was about to push purchase on the flights, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it yet. See I told you I needed your help.

 

[glindamood]

Hello fellow Michigander (or is it Michiganian??). You must be Flint or Detroit way - I live up in Cadillac. Very tired of winter, very tired.

My experience with flights is that they go in no direction but up and the closer it gets to departure, the higher they go. We are NW fliers and this time we will go on miles but I do feel for you. Does the airline you are looking at give you a refund? Even is it is $$'s that you have to spend with them, you can always go again!

 

[TAKitty]

Hello fellow Michigander (or is it Michiganian??). You must be Flint or Detroit way - I live up in Cadillac. Very tired of winter, very tired.

My experience with flights is that they go in no direction but up and the closer it gets to departure, the higher they go. We are NW fliers and this time we will go on miles but I do feel for you. Does the airline you are looking at give you a refund? Even is it is $$'s that you have to spend with them, you can always go again!

My in-laws used to live in Cadillac but now they live in the Hillsdale area. We are between Lansing and Ann Arbor and fly out of Detroit.

Stay warm! In our area they said we had 13 more inchs of snow in Dec. than what is normally expected. I can only imagine what you must have experienced.

 

[TAKitty]

Where was I . . . oh yes, air transportation.

Did I mention that we are footing the bill for my baby brother to join us for this vacation? I don't want to sound like I am complaining because I really am not. I am honored that he has decided to serve this great country in the Navy, but taking him does make the trip a bit more expensive and who can fault a girl for wanting to save a little bit of money.

Because we are now a party of five, we ended up getting two rooms on the ship instead of one. The second room is a cat. 11 and we did get one of the kids for free and Dh and I get some alone time in our cat. 6 right across the hall. All in all, this extra expense is a wash. We are staying at AKV before the trip and I would have liked to save some points in a studio, but with five we went with a one bedroom so that everyone would have a bed. Not really a financial expense, but it does mean some creative planning for our Dec. trip. Which brings us to the airfare. For this expense I would really like a good deal.

For a good week or more I have saved in my inbox an Airtran 25 dollar off coupon. I like coupons. I don’t always like to find them and cut them out, but I like to save money when I can. I also don't like my inbox filled with clutter and delete emails all the time. But something led me to keep that Airtran coupon. A coupon for the most expensive flight yet.


On January 1st it was a new year and a new lower price! Now what! I only have one coupon. The coupon is only good for one flight. I have five to buy! I have to buy five flights individually, put in the coupon using my dial up connection, and hope we have seats together. Hey, I'm up for the challenge.

Doubt tried to set in, but I shoved her aside. Should I buy one and hope the price stays the same and try to secure other coupons? What if I don't get said coupons in time and I end up paying 230 for one way, which would really necessitate having one of the kids stuff in my suitcase. But we would probably be charged an over the weight limit fee and I would still be out a ton on airfare.

I went to the Dis transportation board for help. Actually I went begging for coupons.

 

[TAKitty]

Off in cyber space I made my request for additional coupons. In the small print I noticed that the coupon expires on January 2. I am hoping that it is late January 2, but I don’t really have time to waste.

Quickly I was offered coupons via PM. I went to Airtran and booked two flights and waited for more coupon magic. The trip always seems so real once the airfare is booked, but right now only two of us were set.

I don’t like to leave my discount fate to luck and decided to sign up all the extra email addresses that we have for coupons too. I got one at work, but this just so happens to be the day that all email going to our home account isn’t working. We are not getting any email. If we do get it, it arrives hours later. Of course the SPAM emails seem to be getting through without fail . I ended up having three tickets purchased but still had two more to buy.

I digress a moment to explain that we are early to sleep kind of people. Well, actually just my husband. He has to wake up at 4:30 am for work, so we hit the sheets pretty early. While I like to bother him with all the trivial travel details, he likes to just show up and enjoy the trip. He also believes that he can’t sleep if I am not sleeping next to him. I usually just watch tv, but tonight I had a mission. I had to go downstairs to check for more coupons and not wake my sleeping husband!

The snoring started---breath in—snore out---I am familiar with the pattern and sure that he is out cold. I tip toe down the hall and down the stairs trying to avoid every creek in the floor. I turn on the computer and begin to navigate to the airlines page. Yes, I have enough coupons for the final two travelers. If you have high speed internet you really cannot understand just how slow dial up is. I look around and see Alex beginning his climb up the stairs.

Alex usually sleeps on my side the bed, but he had failed to come up to sleep with us earlier. He was now apparently sleepy and heading down the hallway. Who cares, right? Except husband claims he is a light sleeper and Alex is not a quiet cat. He likes to make his presence known. I’m ready to input our names for travel and I hear clear into the night, piercing the silence a loud meow. I am praying that Alex will just be quiet and begin entering our payment information. Meow! Alex was betraying me!

Into the night dh yells from bed, “Where are you?” I yell something about getting some water downstairs and continue to process our final airfare. I climb up the stairs with a feeling of success until dh asks where the water is; he is thirsty. Go figure.

Up Next Luggage Tags--I know that it is not the biggest deal, but I have fun making them.

 

[TAKitty]

I am sick of snow and cold and wet shoes. How many more days until the trip…

I have settled on our luggage tag. Every trip I create a custom luggage tag. I was having a hard time deciding what images I wanted to use this time.

I am not even sure if we need luggage tags. My dh refuses to check our bags so we only travel with carryon luggage. I really only make the tags for those rare times when we would be forced to gate check our bag(s) because there was no overhead bin room. While I almost had this happen on my last flight, I was persistent and found a spot for my bag. So really the tag is like a piece of jewerly for our luggage. It is pretty but doesn't do much.

I was lucky enough to get AnalAnn to let me use her Mickey on the boat image and I am using Tom's badge for the back of the tag with our name, address, and phone number.

I will post pictures when I am finished.

Up next, We are having a Disney Celebration at home!

 

[TAKitty]

I should really be doing other things. You know the things (like my job) that help pay for my WDW vacations. I have papers to grade, tests to create, planning for second semester, but sometimes cutting and pasting and wrestling with the printer is so much more enjoyable.

My finished luggage tags.

I have also created some door signs. I am actually more of a borrower than a creator. We have two rooms to decorate, and I went round and round with myself as to whether or not I was going to use our first names on the doors. I had visions of the boys being accosted by strangers. Or at the age that the boys are right now, worse yet, being accosted by girls . They are in a room across the hall and a mom needs to think of these things.

Now the boys are of an age where they know how to handle strangers. They went to “Safety Town” as young lads and participated in Dare. Heck, at 19 my brother better have enough common sense not to just let anyone in the room. But still I worry. Sadly our 14 year old would probably go anywhere with a person wielding a Mickey Bar, so to be on the save side of things and to insure that I can get some sleep at night, I am keeping our first names off the door signs. At least that is what I am thinking right now.

Yes, the signs are not that exciting just yet. I only have ears for the door and one sign each. I am still trying to squeeze some more creativeness out of me. I don’t want to go overboard figuratively and well, literally too!

The vacation planning is running along smoothly. I have reserved a town car to take us to the port and back. I know that booking a car rental is probably the cheapest way to go but there seems to be too much involved: Where to drop the car off, how to get back to the port or hotel, and what to do with the family while this is happening.

I also have a medical condition which prevents me from being able to read a map or even directions that I print off from map quest. This is a serious condition and has left us hours off course and stuck on a toll road in Ohio for many miles out of our way. I have even gone so far as to insist that it is exit B, point to the paper and say we turn at B, and then be mistaken. Opps. We needed exit A. So to save our sanity and marriage, I figure that it would be best to have someone else do the driving.

Up Next: There is cruising magic! I am a past cruiser and didn’t even know it! Yes, we are still having a celebration but it is on hold until my brother returns.

 

[1stdisneycruise]

This is my first post. I read Brucechase and his is great advice and you are funny. I am frugal and creative also. I get lost and my hubby does not know why when he makes 3 rights he is in the same spot so to save our marriage I bought a GPS. It is like my smart driving hubby

We can not wait until our trip we did not book until January 1st (kids sail free) and I am a huge planner every detail. So you could see how I am attached to the board for the next few weeks.

We are staying a night before our flight and leaving our car and then we are staying a night early and a day after. We are a 3 night Wonder Feb. 26th 2009

 

[TAKitty]

This is my first post. I read Brucechase and his is great advice and you are funny. I am frugal and creative also. I get lost and my hubby does not know why when he makes 3 rights he is in the same spot so to save our marriage I bought a GPS. It is like my smart driving hubby

We can not wait until our trip we did not book until January 1st (kids sail free) and I am a huge planner every detail. So you could see how I am attached to the board for the next few weeks.

We are staying a night before our flight and leaving our car and then we are staying a night early and a day after. We are a 3 night Wonder Feb. 26th 2009

Have a wonderful trip! We are also doing the night before and after the trip. When we rent a car again I am going to pay the extra money for a GPS! I can then blame all of our problems on technology .

 

[knawest8]

Hey! When I visit family in MI I go non-stop Sanford/Orlando to Lansing. I usually get $60 each way. Its through Allegiant Air and I have never had a problem with a fight. Just thought I would throw that out there as an option, if you havent seen them before. Can't wait till April!

 

[jenseib]

Allegiant flies into Toledo too, but they are not as cheap as they appear. Everything costs. luggage, seat assignments, etc. We only live 15 minutes from the Toledo airport and flew allegiant a few years ago, as DH didn't want to drive up to Detroit, but the cost was more than NW would've been, and we had to rent a car to get to the world as ME doesn't serve Sandford.So now I pretty much insist on Detroit.

 

[TAKitty]

Hey! When I visit family in MI I go non-stop Sanford/Orlando to Lansing. I usually get $60 each way. Its through Allegiant Air and I have never had a problem with a fight. Just thought I would throw that out there as an option, if you havent seen them before. Can't wait till April!

This is good to know because I live in Stockbridge which is close to Lansing. We like to use Magical Express though.

 

[TAKitty]

I am, apparently, a repeat Disney Cruiser.

Well, at least according to Disney reservations.

Imagine my surprise when I logged into my reservation and was afforded the privilege of booking my shore excursions, spa treatments, and coveted Palo reservations before my 75 day mark!

Sure I have dreamed of going on a Disney Cruise. But we have actually never cruised before with Disney. Yes, you read correctly. I am not a returning Disney Cruise passenger. So why have the cruising gods blessed me with this honor? I think it may have to do with my call to the reservation center.

I am basically an honest person. I ordered a comforter from L.L. Bean and didn’t like it so I sent it back. Evidently burnt sienna to L.L. Bean means pink and surprise, surprise, our 14 year old son wasn’t thrilled with the color, go figure.

They were offering a promotion that if you spent a certain amount of money they were mailing $10.00 gift cards to be used at a later date. I did get my gift card in the mail and promptly tossed the 10.00 gift card in the shredder. It was the right thing to do. I didn’t spend the money. I don’t deserve the card.

Back to the reservation center. I booked our reservation online and noticed on the screen, after I had already hit the submit button, that one of our reservations had late dining. I paused for a moment and thought of the kids eating with strangers and dh and I having romantic meals alone together, but this is a family trip and I should probably eat with my family.

I rung up Disney and tried to correct my mistake. The phone call went something like this:
“Hello, what can I help you with today.”
“I accidently put the kids on second seating and need to change them to first.”
“Let me pull up your reservation and see what we can do.”

The computers were slow.

More waiting. You get the idea.

Then during all of this finagling we started to talk. I told her that we were taking this vacation as a last farewell to my brother who was going into the Navy. I mentioned how excited we were. I think sometime during this conversation between the swapping of cabin mates and dining times she clicked the magic button to say we were repeat cruisers. I don’t know, but it was shortly thereafter that the Castaway Cay Compass arrived in my inbox. Odd I thought, but I didn’t think anything of it.

Fast forward two months and some days later and I had transferred my reservation to my mom, an AAA travel agent. I had requested that she make a note on my reservation that we want the beds together in the parent’s cabin and apart in the kids’ cabin. When she called Disney they told her that in 2006 I had cruised with them.

Wait, it is all coming back to me. In 2006 we did, I believe, hold a Disney Cruise reservation. It was to be a summer sailing in August.
We, however, canceled the reservation.

Needless to say, I am not sure if the Cruise gods are bestowing some magic, or it is just a reservation mix-up, but at my 73 day mark I secured our snorkeling excursion at Nassau and promptly logged off. I decided to wait until my 75 day mark to book the rest of our fun. One doesn’t want to anger the gods or the repeat cruisers too much, and I was able to book everything else I wanted at 75 days.

Since we all know that Disney is never wrong, I will stick by their assertion and graciously accept a Castaway Cay Club lanyard if offered, and I will even accept the gift left in my stateroom.

I do draw the line at using gift cards I am not entitled to. A girl’s gotta have her limits.

 

[jenseib]

I wonder if you will need to check in in the repeat crusiers line?

 

[TAKitty]

I wonder if you will need to check in in the repeat crusiers line?

I actually wondered this myself, but I believe you can check in at any desk if you are repeat cruiser. They just have a special check in area to move things along.

I could be totally wrong.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Actually, I think there are so many repeat criusers that sometimes the Castway Club line is longer than the regular lines.

 

[TAKitty]

It's a Celebration! Each month we have a celebration to. . . well, celebrate our upcoming trip. We have already had a Castaway Cay Day month and a Nassau month. Is it totally pathetic that I subject my family to a quiz each month? There are even prizes!

Don't make fun of the box. This was a bit last minute because the Disney store ran all out of Disney dollars and our oldest decided that he likes it best when we all get a prize.

So, take the quiz below (yes, I am a teacher), pick a number, and see how you would do!

Disney Cruise Ship Facts

1. When was the Wonder’s first maiden voyage?
a. July 30, 1998
b. July 30, 1999
c. July 30, 2000
d. July 30, 2001

2. True or False The ship makes its own freshwater for the passengers to drink by using ocean water?

3. The colors of each ship are Mickey’s colors. Name two of the three colors.

4. This ship is nearly as tall as what major landmark?
a. Statue of Liberty
b. Eiffel Tower
c. Sears Tower
d. Our House

5. The ship’s anchor weights as much as how many Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaurs?

6. There are so many miles of cable on the ship that it is long enough to run an extension cord between Detroit, Michigan and
a. New York
b. California
c. Ohio
d. Texas

7. There are about how many pillows on board?
a. 2000
b. 3000
c. 4000
d. 5000

I promise the answers will follow.

 

[TAKitty]

Answers and Prizes
1. A: July 30, 1998
2. True
3. Red, Yellow, and Dark Blue
4. B: Eiffel Tower
5. 2 (Don’t ask me how Disney knows this)
6. D: Texas
7. D: 5000
Here is where I got some of the information

http://corporate.disney.go.com/media/news/Fact_DCL_Fun_Facts_08_10.pdf

Now for the prizes

I had originally planned to offer just one prize. When the kids were younger, I would make it so that each boy got a prize. The prizes are trip or Disney related. I got the kids a canned animal for our Animal Kingdom Celebration one year. They were stuffed animals, not real ones, and from Australia because it is hard to find a stuffed platypus in the states and that was what our oldest was obsessed with at the time. Our youngest got a canned crocodile and named him Steve after Steve Irwin. Anyway, having to open your gift with a can opener was a big hit with the boys.

Now the game has changed some. The boys are older and with an age range from 41 to 11 playing the game, it has become increasingly more difficult to find things that everyone would be happy receiving.

A week or so before the Celebration Day, I announced that the prize would be one ten-dollar bill in Disney money. Our oldest, never wanting to miss a prize opportunity, said that he liked it best when we all got prizes. He was disappointed.

I know. I should probably teach them the hard lessons in life that not everyone wins, sometimes people are disappointed and things don’t always work out. However, I caved. They have years and years to learn those hard life lessons; this was supposed to be a celebration!

I busied myself making dinner. I had the quizzes tucked away in my school bag and was pulling them out when I realized that I didn’t have any prizes!
I dashed to the computer to quickly type up some I-Owe-You prizes. This is not going to win me mother of the year, but they worked.

I came up with the following:
1 You get one expandable wash cloth
This one is actually a favorite of our young boys, but my brother pulled the strip and begged my husband to switch with him.

2 A special treat for the airplane
Our youngest was very pleased with this one. I have no idea just yet what I am going get him.

3 10 Disney Dollars
Our oldest won and pulled this slip out of the container. He was beaming!

4 5 Disney Dollars
Dh originally pulled number 4 but my brother begged for the money instead of the towel.

5 You get to pick what bed you want on the cruise.
We have two rooms and I was actually hoping that my husband wasn’t going to pull this one. I thought it would be funny if he did.

There you have it--A Cook Family Celebration.

 

[TAKitty]

There is nothing like a vacation for a reason to purchase new things. When my mom and I went to Disney in December she had on these super cute sketcher shoes. I always wear tennis shoes in the parks but mine are big and chunky and take up valuable packing space.

She of course got them for a deal, close out models, and she bought them five months earlier. I googled trying to find a pair. I searched eBay, but the thought of used shoes doesn’t appeal to me. Low and behold, I found them!

Shoe Carnival was going out of business by me. I walked up each isle and there they were in several sizes to choose from! These tiny Sketcher shoes are not only half the size of my other tennis shoes; they also have tiny bead-like things attached. I now own fancy shoes.

Are they comfortable?
Not sure yet.

But I can promise you that they will look good with my outfits, and I do plan to try to break them in before the trip.

My next purchasing dilemma: What to do with wet bathing suits. I know that I can stuff them in zip lock bags but that isn’t a very glamorous tip.

I found these wonderful insulated bags that look great and are very well made.

Now I need to see what cloths still fit the boys from the summer!