November 10, 2018 - Disney Fantasy 7-Night Very MerryTime Western Caribbean

We're on day 33 of our countdown and I'm starting to get butterflies...

It's the first day of fall break here. FIL has his surgery this week. I'm going to start packing planning, getting my checklists in order and making sure I have everything I need. What I don't I will get soon I hope!

Anyone already packed and ready to go? I could use another 3 months since this season is so busy for us, but I'm excited.... :rotfl2:

:sail:
 
I'm not packed but have a list started and clothes set aside in the closet for myself. DH wears his short sleeve shirts all winter so I can't set his stuff aside yet but his shorts are set aside. DD laughs at me because every time she wears something that is cruise appropriate, I say, "That is going on the cruise" so she is still wearing short sleeve shirts and dresses.

I am so mad that I lost my sunglasses which is a must have for the cruise so I need to replace them soon.

My Mom is house and pet sitting for us so I need to get things ready for her. I need to write up instructions for remote control and Alexa. Also sticky notes on light switches, just in case Alexa is being uncooperative. The dog will be so happy not to be going to vet for boarding. We have a dog and two cats...the cats are 1 1/2 years old and still full of kitten crazies so they should be entertaining for her.

DD and I are very excited. DH says it's too early to get excited. DD is a little bothered that I showed her cruise videos and made her excited because she thinks it's so far off still.
 
Does anyone let their kids do their own packing? If yes, how old?

The last time I let DD11 pack, it was 6 months ago and I am thankful I checked her packing because DH would have had to take her shopping the next day. She obviously isn't ready for that responsibility, despite her watching me pack....guess she didn't learn anything from me about packing.
 


Does anyone let their kids do their own packing? If yes, how old?

The last time I let DD11 pack, it was 6 months ago and I am thankful I checked her packing because DH would have had to take her shopping the next day. She obviously isn't ready for that responsibility, despite her watching me pack....guess she didn't learn anything from me about packing.

I let my DD12 pack for summer camp back in July. She had JUST turned 12 a couple weeks before hand. Had I not checked, she probably wouldn't have taken enough underwear/socks or pajamas. She had an outfit for each day and MOST toiletries which was surprising. She had only forgotten a loufa for her body wash.

I would supervise and give her another chance, or give her a packing checkoff list of her own and see how she does with that? Even I need one!
 
I did do a list for her but I don’t think she read it

I will let her pick stuff out and guide her on that. We will see how that goes.
 


I'm just now getting serious about thinking about this cruise. This will be our third cruise (all on the Fantasy). I had 2 sons 8 & 11. Trying to figure out the tween camp for my 11 year old or if he will stay down with his brother. Does anyone else have an 11 year old boy that loves sports and, unfortunately, video games? My youngest will make friends in the first 5 minutes.
 
He is scheduled for October 10th, so exactly 1 month from sail date. Recovery is 2-3 weeks (with no-complications of coarse) We are praying for the best possible outcome. He wants to cancel, but knows MIL wouldn't go without him and doesn't want her to cancel her trip, so he is pressing on.

How is your FIL doing?
 
Only 26 more days to go! I'm so excited!

Brought luggage up from basement yesterday. Hoping to go through all the things I've been setting aside for the trip and organize it this week. I need to write up instructions for Mom for our remote so she can watch TV while house/pet sitting...hoping to get that done this week too. Need to prep guest room for her.
 
Who here is flying? I hate flying but I prefer it over driving 22 hours. Our flight leaves at 11:30am so not the usual 7am-ish flight. We arrive in Orlando at dinner time on Thursday night. I'm trying to figure out what foods are allowed on the plane. That's a lot of hours without eating a real meal. I don't usually eat breakfast but I guess I will eat something before we go. The layover isn't long enough to grab food. So I'm thinking beef jerky, carrots, celery and apple. Not an ideal meal but low carb. I am having a hard time coming up with a protein. Tuna pouches stink and I don't want to stink up the plane. I don't think cheese would keep that many hours.
 
I'm in South Carolina so I'll be driving. It's about a 6 to 7 hour drive. Will be staying at the Homewood Suites at Port Canaveral.
 
How is your FIL doing?

My FIL is doing well... now.
What was supposed to be an outpatient surgery ended up an overnight stay. Recovery just takes a bit longer the older you get I guess. He was able to leave the hospital the next day after lunchtime, but they had to return almost immediately (within 2 hours) because he was in so much pain, turns out the nurse inserted his plug to the catheter backwards!!!!! :headache: Once the doctor figure that out, within the first few minutes of examining him of coarse, he was released and has been much more comfortable and is just taking things slow. :cool: I mean, COME ON! and apparently, my MIL said the nurse who inserted the plug, was training another nurse. Incompetence just infuriates me, especially when dealing with life!

Who here is flying? I hate flying but I prefer it over driving 22 hours. Our flight leaves at 11:30am so not the usual 7am-ish flight. We arrive in Orlando at dinner time on Thursday night. I'm trying to figure out what foods are allowed on the plane. That's a lot of hours without eating a real meal. I don't usually eat breakfast but I guess I will eat something before we go. The layover isn't long enough to grab food. So I'm thinking beef jerky, carrots, celery and apple. Not an ideal meal but low carb. I am having a hard time coming up with a protein. Tuna pouches stink and I don't want to stink up the plane. I don't think cheese would keep that many hours.
]

How about peanut butter? That's high protein and I like using celery to dip it in. I don't care for tuna, AT ALL either...

I just printed off 7 packing lists, :rotfl2:1 for each kid (3), Me, DH, the Car, and the Cruise/Parks/Hotel
We are going to surprise the kids on the day we are leaving. Neither know what day we are leaving. My daughter thinks it is around my birthday (Nov 21st), because my MIL slipped up and said something about our trip on my birthday. We will be IN FL on my birthday, but not on the cruise... The plan as of now is: Since my MIL and Daughter can only take a 1/2 day off school on the 8th, we will be leaving at 2pm to drive. So I will be taking my daughter to school as usual. I will pretend to be taking my son to school as well and go ahead and pack up all his stuff. We will drop her off, and then I will just drive back home and on the way I will tell him to check and make sure is glasses are in his backpack and have a surprise note in there about leaving for the cruise that day .When we pickup my daughter after lunch, she won't know what to think with the car packed and ready to go. We will have to drive home to drop off her stuff and pickup MIL and FIL, but I think it will be so shocking finally. I never get to surprise them!!
party:

I will just have to pack all the bags and hide them in my closet while they are at school the day before and pick out my kids clothes for them for Thursday for school, not uncommon... so hopefully they won't catch on!
 
What a fun surprise!

OMG, that's awful about the nurse training the wrong way to insert catheter. Just think about how long she has been doing it wrong:crazy2:
 
Emailed DD11's three teachers this morning. Her Science/Social Studies teacher is the one I'm worried about. At school Open House, this teacher lectured the parents on how selfish parents are when they take their kids out of school for vacation. :scared1: I know we are winding down on being able to do this. I'm going to try to get away with it for one more year....7th grade...then we are done pulling her. This teacher did send a positive response, now I hope he doesn't take it out on her. The other two teachers were great about it and during Open House, they said that family vacations are important.

Glad to have that task out of the way.
 
I just received a callback from the attendance office at my daughter’s school and the principal will excuse her absences due to the nature of the trip. The fact that we booked it two years ago and had no idea that we would have transferred to the school district we are in now made all the difference. She will be on a watchlist for future absences but I’ll take it!!

So relieved!! I can relax and pack now :yay:
 
I just received a callback from the attendance office at my daughter’s school and the principal will excuse her absences due to the nature of the trip. The fact that we booked it two years ago and had no idea that we would have transferred to the school district we are in now made all the difference. She will be on a watchlist for future absences but I’ll take it!!

So relieved!! I can relax and pack now :yay:

Great news! What a relief for you.

Can’t believe it’s only 24 days away!
 
23 days and Panic mode! I can’t find my swimsuit, and my formal wear doesn’t fit despite losing 20lbs?! How does that happen? Well, it fits, but I don’t like how I look in it...

It’s so hard to find swimwear that I feel comfortable in, so I have really got to look for it now. Packing is really going to be tough without giving away our travel date to the kids :rotfl2:

We got a gift basket from our travel agent! So sweet ❤️
 

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