NEW March 3-10, 2012 - Western Caribbean with the Magic!

[devonsmommy]

We haven't made a decision on how we are getting to the port, either.

As far as your FE, did you order from Tiffany off of ebay? I saw she is on vacation from Feb 1 through 14th... it would be nice to receive our FE before Feb 1, but I'm guessing it won't arrive until later February.

I did order from Tiffany. She emailed me today. I'm hoping too they are finished.
I went on a complete shopping spree between Ebay and Etsy...OH MY WORD!!! My girls will definitely look cute.

I'm ordering my FE gifts tomorrow! I sell Thirty-One Gifts.

I'm really getting excited now and think I'm going to make some kind of countdown chart for my girls. They keep asking me, "When are we going on the crew?"

 

[kungaloosh]

6 Weeks to go!!!!!! It feels so close yet so far!

Everyone has been quiet the last few days. I hope everyone is doing well.

Has anyone done the online check in yet? Do you have to print anything during or at the end of the process? If so can you log back in and print it later? Everytime I think of doing it I'm on my laptop at home where I'm not connected to a printer. Keep meaning to do it while I'm in the office but I'm always to busy.

I was going to go out to shop for a dress for formal night this morning but the stores don't open until 10 and I have to be at an apt. at 10:30. I was thinking in Christmas mode when they were opening at 7 or 8. Glad I checked the website before going out.

If anyone uses the Cruise Critic boards and is looking for suggestions for Key West I saw a great thread on the Key West forum that was started by a local person with all her recommendations. She's got restaurants, shopping, and activities. I think the thread title has the word local in it. I think that's the stop I'm looking forward to the most. We stopped their once before on a RC cruise and had so much fun just walking around. This time we bought tickets for the trolley so that we could see some history. Our itinerary says we depart around 7:30 I think but then I was looking at a Navigator someone posted from October and it said depart at midnight. I'd like to know what's accurate. I saw a trip report where someone took pictures from the ship of the docks in the evening and there were all kinds of vendors set up and buskers. I thought that would be cool to go to if our departure time was later.

Looks like we are getting our first real taste of snow since October today. We had a couple of small 1 inch snowfalls in the past week so everything was white but today appears to finally be some real accumulation.

aberrydisneygirl,
How is your DH doing with recovery from the appendectomy?

Hope you all have a great weekend.
Cathy

 

[erineab]

Hi again fellow travellers,
I just went online to see what the availability is like on our cruise, and it is no longer listed at all on the disneycruise website. I guess that means it must be sold out? It's weird, because all other dates in March are still available, and I wouldn't think the first week of March would be the most popular time.

 

[aberrydisneygirl]

kungaloosh, DH is doing a lot better with his recovery. Thanks for asking. The first few weeks he was still really tired, and it was hard for him to get past the first couple of hours at work, but the last week or so has been better and he seems to be getting his energy back. I still seem to struggle with energy, but my surgery in April was a lot more intense, but getting there. We are both looking forward to this cruise so we can relax!!!

 

[aberrydisneygirl]

Our cruise still comes up when I look on the website, and it looks like there are still plenty of rooms available, with the only ones sold out being the consierge.

Kungaloosh, did you buy the tickets for the trolley for Key West online? We were thinking of the trolley as well. I hear there are 2 of them. One that stops so you can get off and on, an one that doesn't stop. We want to find somewhere yummy to eat while we are there so I will need to find that post on cruise critic and see what places are suggested.

I did the online check in and it gives you a check in time as well as you can print off your contract that you sign and bring with you to check in at the port. If you don't bring it with you I'm sure they will have one there you can sign but bringing it will probably speed up the check in at the port. Time is going so fast, I'm so excited.

I got both a formal and a semi formal dress at Ross. Nothing really fancy, just sleek and pretty. Formal is black and semi formal is red. I just need to get some nice jewelry to with them.

No snow here yet, just rain today, but maybe snow by tonight. There is plenty of snow on the mountains though. Very pretty.

 

[bledsoedoc]

Finally some winter weather. Going to the afc Patriots game tomorrow and snow would be nice. Go Pats!!!!
We are running out of time quickly...my weekends are full until we leave. I don't know how I will get everything done. But somehow it will...
For those who have cruised dcl, my hubby and I aren't the formal types. I have a couple of semi formal dresses which I plan to wear. My hubby was thinking khackis. Do you think he will feel out of place?
I have been reading alot of threads and at times feel overwhelmed. Some threads can get quite nasty. Some fe threads have rules for all sorts of stuff...I am glad our group is much more relaxed.
I don't have every minute of every day planned. Lots of family time. Some club/lab time for little man. I do want to do the spa special that I see in previous navigators, 8 for $149...does anyone know if they are hard to schedule once on board? I know you wont know the specials until the night before...
We cancelled our original plans at key west. We have decided to do the trolley/train, butterflies and aquarium. And definetly some keylime pie. Eating out is scary though because I have life threatening food allergies. I am exploring sloppy Joe's and trying to decide if they will be safe. Hoping we do stay to midnight so we can participate in the sunset cerkebration.

 

[aberrydisneygirl]

My DH, as of now, is only taking khakis. He may end up getting a dark pair of pants right before the cruise but is not sure yet. I think they would be fine with a nice dress shirt. My DH no longer fits the suite he wore when we got married and does not feel like going and buying one just for the cruise.

 

[aberrydisneygirl]

Reminder, only about a week and a half before the FE sign up deadline. There is a link on the first page/post of this thread that will take you to the spreadsheet sign up. Make sure you sign up if you don't want to miss out on the fun!!!

Our cruise is coming up fast!!!

 

[hotdiggetydogs]

Hi Everyone! We're so excited. The cruise is coming up quickly. I forgot to do my online check-in until just now (after reading some of the previous posts here....thanks for the reminder!) and I was sad to see that our port arrival time is 12:30. Does anyone have experience arriving before your scheduled time? We want to get the kids signed up for some of the club activities and we saw the very long line while waiting to board our last DCL cruise in 2010. Will they let you check-in early?

 

[kungaloosh]

aberrydisneygirl,
Yes, I pre-bought the trolley tickets online already. This is not the company that the cruise ship uses but they actually had better reviews on the Cruise Critic boards. I read that the seats are more comfortable and better drivers. You get on and off whenever you want.

http://www.cityviewtrolleys.com/keywest/index.php

bledsoedoc,
My DH was at the game yesterday also. We have season tickets but I choose not to go. I'd rather stay home and watch it on tv where it's nice and warm.

Cathy

 

[Shoopdeedoo]

Hi Everyone! We're so excited. The cruise is coming up quickly. I forgot to do my online check-in until just now (after reading some of the previous posts here....thanks for the reminder!) and I was sad to see that our port arrival time is 12:30. Does anyone have experience arriving before your scheduled time? We want to get the kids signed up for some of the club activities and we saw the very long line while waiting to board our last DCL cruise in 2010. Will they let you check-in early?

We are in the same boat as you, so to speak. We couldn't complete the registration because our kid's passports needed renewed, and they only came in the mail last week. I went online to enter those numbers and complete the registration, and saw that our port arrival time was 12:30pm as well. It's not the worst, but I wanted earlier!

So, we are wondering too if they will let you check in before your scheduled arrival time?

 

[bledsoedoc]

Kungaloosh, we have season TX too. Section 128. Might as well remone the seats because the past two games I never sat down. It was intense!!!! I love going especially in the cold.
And we are taking a road trip to Indy the thursday!!!!! Good luck Pats!!!

 

[Micknminni]

We are also in the 12:30 boarding group. We are thinking about staying at a Disney resort the night before the cruise. However, I heard that you arrive at the port fairly late when you leave from the resort. Has anyone heard about port arrival times from the resorts?

 

[jenleon]

I just finished our online registration and we are also in the 12:30 timeframe. It did say on one of the windows that you may have to wait until your check in time so I'm assuming that you should be able to check in earlier if they don't have a back log of people checking in.

I'm glad I read this board. It's been so long since I was on a cruise that I forgot that I would need formal/semi-formal wear. I'm just starting to think about what to pack and was wondering how warm it will be. Has anyone taken a cruise at this time of year before?

 

[kungaloosh]

Well, I finally got around to doing my online check in and I got stuck with a 1:30 to 2:00 PM port arrival time. Not sure if they really filled up the 12:30-1 and 1-1:30 buckets that fast since you all checked in or if they are basing it on my flight time arrival which is 11:00 AM. I don't expect it to take 2.5 hours to get off the plane, get to the DCL bus and then to Port Canaveral. So hopefully we will arrive earlier and be able to check in once we arrive.

Happy 5 week mark!

Cathy

 

[Engteach]

We were able to get an 11h30-12h port arrival time. We are going to use DCL transfers. I thought that if you used Disney transfers your port arrival time was not really important? We will try to wake up early enough to be on the first bus to the port. I'm a little (ok a lot) worried that there will be a snow storm on Friday and we won't be able to take the plane, it has been snowing and raining none stop for the past week.

5weeks

 

[aberrydisneygirl]

It has been a strange winter here in Utah, it has been cold, but not snowed that much. I'm hoping it stays that way until we leave. We have non stop flight so we won't have to worry about getting stuck somewhere else either.

I did the online check in a few days after the pay in full date and got the 11:30-12pm check in time.

Oh I can't wait for the cruise. It is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to see new places and eat some yummy food where we go. I have never cruised before so I just hope I don't get sea/motion sick. I will make sure to bring some motion sickness meds just in case.

 

[bledsoedoc]

We did the online check in as soon as we could and are at 11:30. We don't have our passports back yet but are able to go back later and add them in.
As for sea sickness, I bought sea bands for each of us and plan on bringing scopolamine patches and benadryl. Benadryl is a great anti nausea drug. Also looking for good ginger candy to help.
My little man turned 6 yesterday. He is so proud if himself. He still does not know about the cruise or days in the park. Can't believe we have been able to keep the secret...all the planning, the fe gifts building up, the disguised discussions and other people around us forgetting he doesn't know...5 more weeks.
Heading to Indy Thursday to party with the pats!!! What an unbelievable afc championship game. Go Pats!!!! And yes, I love my football!

 

[kungaloosh]

bledsoedoc,
Have a fantastic time!!!
DH got a call last week from our dentist who is also a season ticket holder saying he had 2 extra tickets if he was interested. I told him as long as it wasn't too outrageous to go for it. DH loves his Pats but $2,500 a seat was too much even for him. Granted they were luxury box seats but it was just too much. So we will be having a party with our best friends and cheering them on from home. Go Pats!!!!

Cathy

 

[aberrydisneygirl]

I got our cruise docs today! Yippie!!!!!