November 1, 2008 "Election Day Castaways!"

[bfosbenner]

We are off to the AC airport.

See Ya ReaL Soon

 

[plutospup]

Finished with school, the car is packed, and we're off!

 

[wuv tigger]

 

[CastleCreations]

I hope everyone has a safe trip to the port. I'm just taking a breather while the kids are watching a movie to color my hair, for the third time in three days...VERY LONG STORY!! and surf the net.
I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow!! Can you believe it!!!!!
IT'S ALMOST HERE!!!!

 

[CastleCreations]

I hope everyone made it home okay...we got on the road about 8am...and we only have a 45 minute drive, but Ireland had to keep stopping. For the first time in her life, she got car sick. Thank good ness for all of those zip lock bags. I'm actually unpacked and almost everything put away. All of my photos are downloaded onto the computer and it's time to take a nap. Best wishes everyone!

 

[LBIGirl67]

I wanted to be the first to say that it was AWESOME to meet you all this past week.
I had a rocky start with trying to get the kids to enjoy the trip (uh hello it was Disney and somehow they were miserable). Both boys at the end finally said they had a great time and wanted to do it again...DH and I were like HUH
Apparently ignoring them and letting them do it at their pace was what we should have done from beginning.

Pluto: Tell DW we have to do Bingo again, it was a blast
PPaige: DD is the most adorable thing and she was so cute punching out the numbers that we somehow (oh wait you won !!) that I couldn't win on.

Hoping we all keep in touch, I know I want to do it again. Next time we make it an adult cruise...woohoooo!

 

[robsmom]

I want to take a moment to thank everyone in the Fish Exchange. I am in awe of the creativity some of you possess . My door was incredible by the end. I loved all the magnets. The ornaments are great and just in time for the holiday season. The picture holder was unbelievable. My son loved all the candy (still has a bag full) and the many many glow sticks, stickers, tatoos etc. To those who left survival packs in the beginning, my DH particularly loved the zip lock bags, the cloths pins (used to keep the fresh), and the handy wipes for excursions. I am really impressed with all the wonderful items we received and we all had fun opening them each day. I have some great ideas to steal from for next time!!

It was wonderful to meet folks at the meet and throughout the ship. We had a wonderful trip. We are hanging at the Animal Kingdom Lodge today and just enjoyed a fabulous pool day. After DISing and a nap, it is off to BOMA for dinner. We head home tomorrow. I look forward to some great trip reports.

 

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

I have to agree, our FE gifts were awesome, and both DDs loved checking the FE each day to see what else we got!

I even got the beautiful ornament that Podsnel gave us home in one piece! No easy feat!!

I'm soooooo sorry I didn't get to catch up with everyone at the 3pm meeting on Saturday. As I told El, my stomach wasn't agreeing with the breakfast we ate at Old Key West that morning. I am surprised I made it on the trip on the bus, and that we even got to go up (briefly) to the Sail Away party (Hi WuvTigger!!)

The girls miss Paige. They found it great to find her pictures in Shutters (well, hers and Emilys!) and know "hey that's Paige!"

Ok, was I the only one in the dark, but I don't remember ANYTHING about a potential hurricane in the weather forcast! And luckily I didn't know anything about it until Wednesday night! Glad we got out of Cayman before it got there! Did you hear about the changes in the itinerary for this week's cruise? They too are doing a "western" but with 2 Castaway Cay stops!!! Hey, no fair!!

Well, I'll be trying to get up pictures tomorrow, and posting on my TR. I am trying desperately to remember all the details before I forget!!

Sorry its over. It was so much fun planning, getting to know you all, and feeling like we "knew" people on the boat!!

 

[feenie]

Hi Everyone!
What a great cruise!! We were very sad to get off the ship this morning!
For those of you that got the group shot on your camera could you post it?
We had kind of a rough ride TO the port, so DH was still recovering from car sickness and our room was a disaster, so I totally forgot my camera!

I'm SO sad! the beautiful glass ornament got smashed in our carry on. It was packed soooo carefully, but the hatch closed on the carry on when we were trying to load the car at the airport.

Thanks for all the gifts! When we were packing I accidntally sat on a handful of glow sticks... DH and I thought it was so funny that we went into the bathroom (those split bathrooms are SMALL!) and I took a picture.
When I get the pictures loaded I will post it.
Anyway,
Off to bed! I may sleep until monday!

 

[wuv tigger]

Thanks to Plutospups for making us feel welcome on the Avis shuttle to the cruise. I still wish I had the camcorder ready! But I am sure NO ONE on that shuttle will EVER forget our screams as we saw our ship for the week!

The girls were excited at the airport but the reaction on Sat. Nov 1 was INCREDIBLE!

Wuv Tigger & Princessdadx2 are finally Castaway Cay Members.

What can I say about the cruise?

Well, for some of you, now know I am never at a loss for words!

This time I am.

DH just informed me that me that he didn't have towel animals or chocolates for the girls but he was able to give them a big kiss

Hugs to you all as you get back to reality!

I'll chat more tomorrow.

love,

wuv tigger
Princessdadx2

 

[wuv tigger]

PPaige: DD is the most adorable thing and she was so cute punching out the numbers that we somehow (oh wait you won !!) that I couldn't win on.

Hoping we all keep in touch, I know I want to do it again. Next time we make it an adult cruise...woohoooo!

Did we have a BINGO winner in our midst?

If so, CONGRATS!!!!

 

[nobodycares]

Landed yesterday afternoon at PHL into cold, gray and raining conditions. Good thing I bought a DCL sweatshirt!!!

It was wonderful to put the names to the faces. I know I didnt' get to meet everyone but I tried.

So, Judy (aka Wuv Tigger) and Podsnel, did you rebook??? I know Judy saw me rebooking. I may move my reservation now that we are home as I didn't do my homework before I left. I was SHOCKED when DH told me to go rebook as with 2 DCL cruises under our belts I thought he would want to do something different next vacation. LOVED the 7 nite Western. Had a great time in Cozumel.

BTW Judy, thanks for being our formal night photographer - the pictures turned out great.

Janine (LBI Girl) Hope you are having a good time at the race; and had a good time at bingo with you and Margaret (Paige's mommy).

CruizinTigers - thanks for taking our picture at the theatre - It is always nice to have pictures of the three of us together. So, how was Botswain??? We enjoyed our very raining island tour. DD was not impressed with Grand Cayman (although she enjoyed the turtle farm) - Cozumel was her favorite port.

Well laundry and the Wii Fit call - I gained quite a bit of weight overindulging in desserts and now must pay the piper.

Let me know about all trip report threads. I'd like to read them.

 

[mindelmouse]

The kids said they'd rather go on another cruise then to Disney World...I didn't meet that many of you, but to those of you I did, it was great knowing people on the ship when I got on.

Elisa - Tell Alexis, she can email Sammy - just take my screen name here and add @yahoo.com.

Janet and Rhonda = thanks for the FE gifts even though we didn't make the exchange....the kids loved them.

We rebooked on the med cruise in 2010...and of course since my husband had the taste of cruising in a suite...he booked that again...need to start saving money again every week, that's how I paid for this one....

I'm sorry I didn't get to meet more of you...I keep thinking that the time went so fast and we were so busy...

 

[wuv tigger]

The girls were BLOWN away getting FE gifts every day. It was a bit of let down that they might not get anything on Friday but Boyspapa came through with some candy for them. They were in 7th heaven. Thanks, Carl & Donna!

Did y'all know I LOVE Christmas ornaments? That is THE souvie that we buy on every trip we make. Thanks for adding to our collection. Who did the ship and who did the glass ornament? They were adorable!

My girls loved ALL the glow sticks. We shared them with other kids on Pirate Night.

 

[plutospup]

Thanks to everyone for making this cruise so great! The FE gifts were amazing!

WuvTigger... When the girls saw the ship for the first time (on the Avis shuttle) it was a wonderful experience. The looks on their faces, and screams of joy were priceless!

 

[Cmbar]

Did we have a BINGO winner in our midst?

If so, CONGRATS!!!!

Hi All! It was a great trip indeed. Loved our first time on the DCL and we are excited to be Castaway Members too! Unfortunately, we did not book again on board. My DH liked it but would rather be at Disney World. Oh well, I am hopeful we will go again.

We were one of the winners of the big Bingo Jackpot. My sister and I won 2200.00!! Have to say that was really exciting! Of course I couldn't talk them into putting it down on another cruise

I didn't get a chance to meet you all on Castaway day because I was a little sick. Day two was much better as far as the seasickness thing. Enjoyed the trip very much!

So glad everyone had a safe and relaxing trip!

By the way, did anyone ever hear if that couple that wasn't on board at Cozumel ever got on board? That was kinda scary thinking there were people who were going to be stranded. We meant to ask our server (we had Dean and Daniello and thought they were great!). Guess we all go really lucky with the hurricane chasing us. Feel bad for the next cruise who had to change courses.

 

[Buglady]

Thank-you for all the great FE gifts. DD loved looking in the FE every time we went into the room. The glow sticks worked great as night lights for DD. Have to check if unused ones made it home unused. The ornaments made it home in one piece.
Cmbar- the couple in Cozmel did make it one board; the desk check point called and said they were on thier way. We were watching from our Vernda and could hear the crew asking how many missing(then came the names over the speaker) then they slowlyyyy started packing up everthing on the dock. Then we saw the couple running (and running out of breath) down the dock.

DD was sad to leave the Magic, but happy she is home. We did not rebook, we are waiting for the new ships to set sail in 2011 and 2012. then we will look into another cruise.
laundry is being worked on slowly, pictures downloaded to computer, still going over mail and newspapers, now to repack DH for business trip, and catch up on DD brownie troop items.
It was great meeting all the Disers!

 

[wuv tigger]

Dh was a bit unsteady yesterday. I am prone to motion sickness so it wasn't a surprise for me. I have to admit I chuckled a bit when I saw him unsteady on his feet. He got a tiny taste of what our eldest & I went through on the cruise.

We were able to make it to church on Nov. 9, 2008. The girls were glad to be back at Sunday School & to see all their friends.

Princessdadx2 put all the luggage away yesterday afternoon. While I was napping, dh got a call from UAL. It seems we left our garment bag at IAD when we landed on Sat. night. Some kind soul found it & turned it in to Lost & Found. Neither one of us can figure where we left it. We think we may have laid it over the jersey walls outside level 2 pick up. The girls would have been heart broken if their new Christmas dresses were lost.

DH is on the eliptical this am.

It's freezing here this am ... 28 when I woke up. We had to get get hats & gloves out for the walk to school this am.

Hope everyone has a great week getting back to your routines.

 

[podsnel]

Hi everyone!

We got home at 1 am this morning, our plane to JFK was a little late taking off, but then it took over an hour to get the luggage!!! The conveyor belt was jammed, and noone was there to help-

Anyway, thanks to all of you for making our cruise so special! We did rebook- for the same cruise and week in '10, but may end up switching to one of the new ships, not sure yet- but my kids had such a rough time leaving the ship, I doubt they'll let us put the cruise off another year. Plus, they'll both be in Ocean Quest together, and they don't want to miss that!

Was anyone else crying as they got off the ship? What a struggle it was to fight back those tears!! The mood in the car to WDW was sooooo sad- but we recovered at Beaches and Cream with some big sundaes, so it got much better after that!

Janine, I just wanted to let you know, your DS14 waved at me FIRST with a BIG SMILE on his face when I passed you guys bike riding on CC!

Thanks everyone for all the amazing FE gifts- my kids loved seeing what was left for us everyday and we loved the pirate bandannas and frames/ magnets/ ornament- everything was great. I am the one who made the glass ornament....I'm soooo sorry if you had trouble getting it home- I was hoping the bubble wrap and bag would protect it!

Anyway, 10 million responsibilities are piling up and calling my name- hope to see you on many TRs including my own!

Ellen

 

[robsmom]

Ellen, my ornament made it home safe and sound. I wrapped on the breakables as best I could, put them in the middle of bag and filled the bag dirty clothes to protect it all. worked! glad you got home and enjoyed your time at wdw.