November 12, 2005....7 Night Eastern...Who Else?

[chip&dale&fun]

I think last year at this exact time I was begging the front desk lady at Ron Jon's Resort to let me on the Internet so I could talk to you guys one last time!

We are headed out tomorrow AM and I am REALLY excited! We sooooooo need this vacation! Forecast for PC tomorrow and Sat are fabulous! ......as is the forecast for CC on Sunday! Sunny and 80 degrees!

C & D & F......want to thank you once again for the kids' beautiful pins! They are proudly packing their lanyards and the pins are too cute!

Talk you guys when we return around Thanksgiving!

Take Care, DIS NURSE

Enjoy the Cruise - but most important -- Enjoy your Family!!!!!!


Have Fun!!!!

 

[frank2271]

Hey Awol.

I'm sorry if I missed it but I would really like to hear the specifics on how the Halloween festivities are onboard. I'm booked for the 2007 Magic Halloween cruise. Some of the things I'm looking for are; is the Trick or Treating organized, is it cabin to cabin or is it just in public areas, should I bring candy to give out, is there a costume contest, do people wear their costumes to dinner, etc? Any help would be awesome.

Thanks,

Frank

P.S. if I missed a thread on this, could you point me in the right direction?

 

[awoltoday]

Hey Frank!
I think Disney's Halloween celebrations are fairly minimal. First, I have to admit that I didn't participate much in the Halloween activities that Disney had. Secondly, our cruise was a little messed up because Halloween was on Tuesday (Pirate Night). So, Disney moved the Halloween celebration to Monday. That worked out fine, but you won't have to deal with that since Halloween is on Wednesday next year.

I don't have the navigator in front of me at the moment, but there was a Disney trick or treat with 5 or 6 stations around the ship. I witnessed only one of these stations - I was in Diversions for the beer tasting, which btw paled in comparison to last year! There were a couple of CMs handing out candy and the line of kids was really long. There was a trick or treat map with all of the locations on it and after the kids were done, there was a deck party at the goofy pool. The characters all came decked out in their Halloween costumes. There were other Halloween activities, too. There were Halloween movies and a costume contest. Halloween costumes were obviously permitted dinner attire for the evening and many folks were dressed for the occasion.

The DIS trick-or-treat was MUCH larger and more organized. My kids didn't get to participate for a number of reasons (Palo brunch was one of them). They prearranged the kids into groups and had a different route to each of the staterooms for each group. I think they ended up with about 40 kids and 20 staterooms to hit. The DISers, of course, went all out and the kids had to rent stewards to carry their loot. Okay, that is a little more than a slight exaggeration. But, they really did take in a LOT of treats! Each of the staterooms had a sign placed on the door, so they could find it easily. Obviously, each group of kids was accompanied by a couple of adults.

Keep checking those trip reports and our cruise meets thread for more information and pictures!

 

[barkley]

Hey Frank!
I think Disney's Halloween celebrations are fairly minimal. First, I have to admit that I didn't participate much in the Halloween activities that Disney had. Secondly, our cruise was a little messed up because Halloween was on Tuesday (Pirate Night). So, Disney moved the Halloween celebration to Monday. That worked out fine, but you won't have to deal with that since Halloween is on Wednesday next year.

I don't have the navigator in front of me at the moment, but there was a Disney trick or treat with 5 or 6 stations around the ship. I witnessed only one of these stations - I was in Diversions for the beer tasting, which btw paled in comparison to last year! There were a couple of CMs handing out candy and the line of kids was really long. There was a trick or treat map with all of the locations on it and after the kids were done, there was a deck party at the goofy pool. The characters all came decked out in their Halloween costumes. There were other Halloween activities, too. There were Halloween movies and a costume contest. Halloween costumes were obviously permitted dinner attire for the evening and many folks were dressed for the occasion.

The DIS trick-or-treat was MUCH larger and more organized. My kids didn't get to participate for a number of reasons (Palo brunch was one of them). They prearranged the kids into groups and had a different route to each of the staterooms for each group. I think they ended up with about 40 kids and 20 staterooms to hit. The DISers, of course, went all out and the kids had to rent stewards to carry their loot. Okay, that is a little more than a slight exaggeration. But, they really did take in a LOT of treats! Each of the staterooms had a sign placed on the door, so they could find it easily. Obviously, each group of kids was accompanied by a couple of adults.

Keep checking those trip reports and our cruise meets thread for more information and pictures!

we did halloween on the cruise a few years back and found the cruise trick or treating not so great (around 5 stations all that handed out the identical peice of candy). we did much better organizing a cabin to cabin plan the day before with dis'rs. we did a map and went cabin to cabin (as indicated on the pirate maps one of the dis'rs made up with all the agreed upon participants marked) and ended up at the top doing a pizza party with the kiddles. one thing that worked out REALY well was agreeing in advance (via the boards) on 'forbidden treats' (for the most part stuff any of the kids were allergic to or parents had an outright opposition to-like those nasty giant pixie sticks).

one thing i'de advise anyone wearing a costume (be it kid or adult)-consider the heat and humidity when making a selection. despite the a/c in the enclosed areas, halloween draws crowds into compact areas and results in normal costumes being horribly hot (we met some dis'rs who wore those heavy disney store costumes and ended up close to on the floor with overheating). so choose something that is lightweight and ventilated even if you plan on staying indoors.

speaking of heat-maui is (of course) warm, but despite the first couple of days being nasty humid (so much so the local news reported that the locals were staying inside in record numbers) we've gotten a nice tradewind the last couple of days that have been wonderful. dh got to do his first night dive last nite and had a wonderful time (he can post on all the critters he encountered). today we went to a new MUST DO in lahina. the wonderful 'old lahina luau' has added a morning luau which is much less luau show and much more hawaiian cultural/historical education. 3 hours of food, learning about/how to do traditional hula music and steps, net and spear fishing, poi and cloth making, and ALLOT more. hands on with the instruments, tools and weapons. an incredible experience that i would encourage anyone traveling here to partake of. we did a 'sky trek' on wednesday. we took a helicopter up to hana (stunning trip) and were met by a very comfy van and wonderful driver who provided a great lunch as we took the 4 plus hour drive down (120 turns ). we stopped at several places including a black sand beach , and one of the waterfall/pools where dh and the kiddles braved the cold water for a dip (i begged off so i could be 'the official photographer' ). wonderful trip.

hope all are doing well-we arrive home monday nite, and if we can find my camera cables will post some photos of vacation.

 

[PrincessHaleysMom]

Well instead of the Disney cruise, Ben and I are leaving for Miami for our 2 night getaway on the Century. In celebration of the free alcohol, Ben has picked out his tropical shirt with tropical drinks all over it to wear on the plane..... We dropped Haley off with my parents and all she said was, "bye - see you in 3 days". Like it was no big deal - meanwhile Ben and I are stunned that we are alone for 3 days. He even asked me if I thought I would be bored on the plane tomorrow - since normally I am entertaining Haley for the entire flight, praying that she doesn't pitch a temper tantrum or disrupt the other passengers!
Hope everyone has a good weekend - seems like a lot of us are coming and going - so safe travels to all!

 

[barkley]

posting to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving next week and to ask how everyone's travel plans have gone.

we arrived home monday nite to rain and very chilly winds. once we were in the nice warm car with a cup of hot chocolate it was'nt bad, and it seemed much more akin to the 'holiday season' than seeing those inflatable snowglobes on maui lawns next to the swaying palm trees seriously, noway i could get into a holiday mood in a tropical locale. the suitcases are empty, and all the coffee we brought back will remind us of our vacation for months to come

so what are everyone's holiday plans? anyone going to have to do a mad search for one of the kid's 'must haves' on the santa list? i took a look at dd's and ds's and it appears that it wont be too difficult this year. dd is realy into reading and music this year and so 'borders' will fit the bill for most of her desires. ds wants some kind of video game that involves scanning trading cards, but i want to check out a few more reviews before i get one (anyone heard of these-any input???). i managed to snag an artificial tree that will fit the bill for the rental house. our traditional tree is cool, but way too wide to fit into any of the insanely small/high ceiling rooms in this place. so i found a tall thin tree that should work (dh is in favor of it-it only has 4 pcs. to put together so no multi hour project inserting all the branches like our old one).

if anyone has the old mailing list from our cruise can they send it on to me-i am intent on doing christmas cards this year and would like to send some on to ya'll.

happy turkey day-if you are insane enuf to go shopping the day after, stay safe!

 

[STB ON THE BEACH]

Hey Guys!

WOW! Everyone is out and about! AWESOME! I hope DisNurse had a great cruise. If anyone deserved to have a relaxing time - it's her family.

AWOL & CHOC MARG, I was excited to see your photos. It makes me feel as if it was just last week we were on the ship and NOT a whole YEAR ago! Dang, were does time go????

We took John's mom to Disney for the week. We hoped that Disney could work a little of it's magic on on us. Just watching Sterling shout "The castle! Guys, look!! There's the castle" was enough to bring joyful tears this time around. Sterling told his teacher that he was excited because he was "going to ride Pooh with Grandmommy and Pappy was going to watch from Heaven". I wish I could crawl into his little 5 year old mind.

And,,,, it appears we're going back to Disney again next Friday!! Last week wasn't enough! I think the whole,,, let's avoid reality for one more week is what we're shooting for - especially here at the holidays!! So, I'm not completely unpacking. Just washing clothes and sticking them back in the suitcase!

I hope Allison is having a great time - smooth sailing this weekend!!

Barkley, I'm glad to hear your trip was awesome too!!!

Have a great week everyone!

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Morning All - back from our week vacation in St. Thomas....I kept wanting to see if the Magic would pull in and I'd catch DisNurse unawares, but she was on the Double Dip. Yes, Barkley's DH - we dove again with Blue Island....a complete trip report later.....

Take care everyone, we missed you guys this trip........


Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels all.....

 

[awoltoday]

Hey all! Has anybody heard anything from DisNurse? I'm worried that she and her family were arrested for indecent exposure!

CD&F - I can't wait to see your report! 2 cruises and I still don't know anything about that island!

STB - Have another great time at WDW!

Happy Turkey Day!

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Happy Thanksgiving All

And Safe Travels.

 

[4campers]

Hello to all! I've enjoyed reading all the travel news from all of you! I can now add, that we are going to Disneyland this weekend! Then in a few weeks we are taking the Polar Express trip in AZ! Oh we got it!!!

Bye for now

 

[DIS NURSE]

Hey guys! Bet cha' wondered where I was!?

....just getting back into the swing of things after our great adventure with a post op heart patient on a Disney Cruise plus three days in Orlando afterwards!
WHEW! That was a lot of work for me! Fun and exhausting at the same time! Once we were on the ship, though, everything seemed to calm down and I could relax!

Highlights......FABULOUS weather! We had only one rainy day and it was Thursday our sea day so it really didn't matter much. CC x 2 was so great! It was what made the trip for me! We had GREAT sunny skies both days and I ventured on bikes to places I had never seen on the island. That Flying Dutchman is great and I had FABULOUS photos of it with the colors of the ocean just blue/green beyond what your eye can imagine! Never had really hung out or eaten at Serenity Bay. DH toook a few naps there and it was very quiet! The captain had little trouble due to winds and turbulant waters docking at CC the second time....there was fear we might not make it! WHEW!....very glad we did.
I could not believe the calm seas after what we went through on that Eastern! I seriously hardly ever even felt the ship move! No joke! Our Eastern was really rocky!.....now that I have something to compare it to!

We thought Cozumel was wasted from the hurricane (dah!) but still had a good time on the Fury Catamaran. Snorkeling stunk....all but two fish, I swear! Costa Maya was great! We took a taxi to a small rural fishing villiage and had a fabulous beach day! ....even rented wave runners! Pirate night was awesome! We all looked awesome! Got a great picture with Jack Sparrow! Over half of our cruise was return DCL'ers so there were many people dressed up and a HUGE DIS group......of which we took no part in......just smiled and grinned from a distance. LOTS of people rebooked on our cruise so the line was HUGE and out of control ! WE REBOOKED TOO!

....we are going on another Eastern on Nov. 10th, 2007! Yippy! We are paying no more money than our first 7 nighter, same as this past one...so I figure with inflation alone, that's a deal!
Any suggestions for St. Maarten and the best way to get to and enjoy St. John? That will be our goal next time.

The food was awesome....better, I thought this time. We did Palo two nights...even got all of us adults (9 of us!) into the back private room one night! That chocolate souffle was to die for! I had three total throught the cruise!

DH was tired and slept a lot but that's what he needed! I parked him on Deck 4 in one of those chairs on the sea days and brought him lunch...totally catered to him! He deserved it! We didn't have the kids at one single dinner! What a different experience! They ate, we saw every show in the theater each night, and they went onto the clubs with their frinds we traveled with! They had a blast! DD and two of her friends did the talent show on the last night! So cute! They all had matching outfits and danced to "Skater Boi". (hip hop)

Our servers were good, not exceptional....they never saw any of our kids (8 of them!) so it was hard to tip them the full amount but we did anyway.
Our stateroom dude was great, Ida. We saw our old servers and they claimed to remember us (yeah, right)......just like in the NICU....I only remember the parents if their child was REALLY sick and almost died and they stayed for a few months, or if they were a pain in the ***, rude, or were otherwise annoying. .....hoping we were non of the above.

So, anyone wanna come along Nov. 10th?

Sea World and Discovery Cove were great afterwards! DC is worth every dime! It allowed us unlimited (not rushed time) for three days at SW which we loved! We did everything there was to do there exept that gnarly roller coaster! That would freak me out!

Can't think of a whole lot more to say other than we are glad we went and we all had a great time!

I love, love, love that ship! Oh, I know.....I submitted several picture frame mats to Guest Services and the characters ALL signed them and they turned out amazing! One is all black and they signed in metallic pen! COOL!

Until later.....still have laundry in suitcases so I had best get busy!
DIS NURSE

 

[barkley]

congrats disnurse on a great time!

we are doing a shortie vacation. dh spent a couple of nights at a great rental house in tahoe for a scuba trip a couple of months ago, and said it would be a great (although way to big) place to do a snow trip to. i called the owner and found that the place has availability the week before christmas and she's willing to give us off season rates so we will be taking off for 4 nites in tahoe the week before christmas!!!

we figure it will keep the kids from driving us crazy about opening 'just one gift ', and dm (namely me ) can totaly chill out in the hot tub and sauna (you cannot believe how much i adore hot tubs in icy cold outdoor locations-makes that hot water feel even hotter). so the saturday a week before christmas we will be packing up the car and heading up to tahoe for 4 nights-the place has a full kitchen so we can crash and eat in, the kids can 'snow out' and i grabbed some crafty stuff to keep them occupied in the evenings

hope everyone else is well-check in with your before the holidays

barkley

 

[4campers]

Welcome home DisNurse!
Sounds like a wonderful trip!! I know some about St John, so as it gets closer I'll let ya know more. Just plan on renting a car. It's a beautiful island!! Good diving too!

We had a wonderful trip at Disneyland!! When we arrived we were given a birthday surpise for DD with their own Pooh room!! Very nice having two rooms Seeing Mickey was the best part for us this year! And, my youngest DD is finally 40"!! Splash Mtn was her quest! Soooo much fun!

Have a great weekend all!

 

[awoltoday]

Welcome back! We need PICTURES!! Glad to hear you had great weather and a great cruise! And you didn't get mauled or arrested for indecent exposure! Awesome Deal!

Hey guys! Bet cha' wondered where I was!?

....just getting back into the swing of things after our great adventure with a post op heart patient on a Disney Cruise plus three days in Orlando afterwards!
WHEW! That was a lot of work for me! Fun and exhausting at the same time! Once we were on the ship, though, everything seemed to calm down and I could relax!

Highlights......FABULOUS weather! We had only one rainy day and it was Thursday our sea day so it really didn't matter much. CC x 2 was so great! It was what made the trip for me! We had GREAT sunny skies both days and I ventured on bikes to places I had never seen on the island. That Flying Dutchman is great and I had FABULOUS photos of it with the colors of the ocean just blue/green beyond what your eye can imagine! Never had really hung out or eaten at Serenity Bay. DH toook a few naps there and it was very quiet! The captain had little trouble due to winds and turbulant waters docking at CC the second time....there was fear we might not make it! WHEW!....very glad we did.
I could not believe the calm seas after what we went through on that Eastern! I seriously hardly ever even felt the ship move! No joke! Our Eastern was really rocky!.....now that I have something to compare it to!

I hear ya! We had just enough movement that every once in a while I would notice that we weren't docked! I didn't have to drink nearly as much to walk straight down the hall Glad to hear that the motion on our 11/12/05 wasn't the norm!

We thought Cozumel was wasted from the hurricane (dah!) but still had a good time on the Fury Catamaran. Snorkeling stunk....all but two fish, I swear! Costa Maya was great! We took a taxi to a small rural fishing villiage and had a fabulous beach day! ....even rented wave runners! Pirate night was awesome! We all looked awesome! Got a great picture with Jack Sparrow! Over half of our cruise was return DCL'ers so there were many people dressed up and a HUGE DIS group......of which we took no part in......just smiled and grinned from a distance. LOTS of people rebooked on our cruise so the line was HUGE and out of control ! WE REBOOKED TOO!

....we are going on another Eastern on Nov. 10th, 2007! Yippy! We are paying no more money than our first 7 nighter, same as this past one...so I figure with inflation alone, that's a deal!
Any suggestions for St. Maarten and the best way to get to and enjoy St. John? That will be our goal next time.

We made it on the Lord Sheffield cruise in St. Maarten and it was a kick! A very nice afternoon in St. Maarten! I would TOTALLY recommend it! If you have a choice, buy out the boat (1k) and sub lease the space to fellow disers! We had a pretty small load - two other DIS families and a couple from another ship.

I have come to the determination that the best way to get to St. John is not on a Disney cruise It's a pretty short day in St. Thomas. You will spend almost as much time traveling to/from St. John as you will get to spend on the beach there! If you do go to St. John, you will have to get a ride to and from red hook (or rent a car) and after the ferry, get another ride to/from the beach of your choice (Trunk bay?). If there aren't too many ships in port the day you are there, it might be worth the trouble. That may be unlikely for a November cruise. I certainly have NOT heard anybody complain about the quality of the beaches on St. John. I have only heard raves about St. John. I would LOVE to go over there. I'm just not willing to waste that much time getting to and from there. BTW - we did Secret Harbor this trip and it was very nice and quiet there - with 5 or 6 ships in port. In fact, there was only one other family there, plus a few couples, and they were DISers too! Sapphire and Emerald beaches are others I would consider on St. Thomas.

Glad you made it back safely!

 

[awoltoday]

Welcome home DisNurse!
Sounds like a wonderful trip!! I know some about St John, so as it gets closer I'll let ya know more. Just plan on renting a car. It's a beautiful island!! Good diving too!

We had a wonderful trip at Disneyland!! When we arrived we were given a birthday surpise for DD with their own Pooh room!! Very nice having two rooms Seeing Mickey was the best part for us this year! And, my youngest DD is finally 40"!! Splash Mtn was her quest! Soooo much fun!

Have a great weekend all!

When is your trip to Williams? Don't forget your jacket! I was up there last weekend and about froze my behind off! Are you doing the whole package (hotel) deal?

 

[4campers]

When is your trip to Williams? Don't forget your jacket! I was up there last weekend and about froze my behind off! Are you doing the whole package (hotel) deal?

We leave the 11th and doing the package agian. Have done the train before (not Polar Express theme) and yes it was cold then too! Lot's of wet snow and mud! But, the train was warm and the hotel has a HUGE fireplace. Very nice deal, with food, train and hotel. Have you done the train? Just couldn't pass up the idea of trying this. I just hope we don't get a huge storm and I'm stuck on a train with 100 children waiting for Santa!!
Let us know if your in the area again! Would be great to see some dis friends And, if I find your behind I'll set it by the fireplace next to ours

 

[DIS NURSE]

Hi....thanks, awol, for the pointers on Lord Sheffield's. Tell me all about it! I can't quite remember what is entailed. Pirates?

How do I book them out? We could possibly have a group of 18-20 Kids and adults). Where did they take you? Anyone sea sick? Snorkeling?

What was the age minimum? We would have a 5 year old with us. Are they contracted with Disney or not? If they aren't, I know that makes it a lot easier to book privately.

Time you took off from the dock? Transportation to get to and from? How long? Do I ask a lot of questions, or what?

I would LOVE to share pictures, I just don't have a clue how!
Walk me through it once again....step by retarded step please! I have all of our pics on a CD already so maybe that would make it easier?
We have some GREAT pictures!

See ya!

P.S. Wanna hear more about options to St. John. Yes, I know......I have heard getting to Trunk Bay is semi-miserable. LLLOOONNNGGGG with kids. Is DCL the best option if we really want to go for it?

 

[awoltoday]

We leave the 11th and doing the package agian. Have done the train before (not Polar Express theme) and yes it was cold then too! Lot's of wet snow and mud! But, the train was warm and the hotel has a HUGE fireplace. Very nice deal, with food, train and hotel. Have you done the train? Just couldn't pass up the idea of trying this. I just hope we don't get a huge storm and I'm stuck on a train with 100 children waiting for Santa!!
Let us know if your in the area again! Would be great to see some dis friends And, if I find your behind I'll set it by the fireplace next to ours

We have done the polar express several times and it's always a lot of fun! We have also done the Thomas the tank engine ride there. But, we have not yet found the time to do the ride to the Grand Canyon! We also haven't done the package deal at the hotel since we grew up in Flagstaff and still have friends & family there.

Say hi to Santa's mule deer (err, I mean reindeer) for me!

 

[awoltoday]

Hi....thanks, awol, for the pointers on Lord Sheffield's. Tell me all about it! I can't quite remember what is entailed. Pirates?

How do I book them out? We could possibly have a group of 18-20 Kids and adults). Where did they take you? Anyone sea sick? Snorkeling?

What was the age minimum? We would have a 5 year old with us. Are they contracted with Disney or not? If they aren't, I know that makes it a lot easier to book privately.

Time you took off from the dock? Transportation to get to and from? How long? Do I ask a lot of questions, or what?

I would LOVE to share pictures, I just don't have a clue how!
Walk me through it once again....step by retarded step please! I have all of our pics on a CD already so maybe that would make it easier?
We have some GREAT pictures!

See ya!

P.S. Wanna hear more about options to St. John. Yes, I know......I have heard getting to Trunk Bay is semi-miserable. LLLOOONNNGGGG with kids. Is DCL the best option if we really want to go for it?

from http://www.stmaarten-shoretrips.com/lordsheffield/piratecruise.html

The Lord Sheffield departs Dock Maarten/Great Bay Marina (which is located a short walk from the cruise ship dock in St Maarten/Phillipsburg) and sails under billowing square sails down the protected lee shore of St Maarten to one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. Along the way let the crew pamper you with our open bar, world famous BBQ ribs/chicken, French bread and cheese and other delicious h'ors d'ouvres.

The Lord Sheffield then anchors close to the beach in crystal clear water for swimming, snorkeling, and of course .... plank walking. Learn from the crew, and see first-hand how the great windjammers of yesterday were sailed. Take a turn at the wheel, sing a sea chantey and just say arrr!

Yes snorkeling gear and noodles are included in the price!

All drinks and food included in the price!

Particulars

Where: Dock Maarten/Great Bay Marina. See map of Sint Maarten for departure location.
Departs: at 11:00 AM (Atlantic Time)... Monday through Friday.
Returns: 3:30 PM

We sailed to mullet beach, just past the airport. Nobody had any problems with seasickness. We did a little bit of snorkeling while there. There are no age restrictions and all of the kids got to "drive" the boat. It is a private sail, not through DCL. You can book them through their website. You can also call or e-mail them. I'm sure if you chartered the boat, you could alter the schedule to your liking. We had plenty of time to shop before and after the trip and still made it back on board WAY before it was time to depart.

You'll need to upload those pictures somewhere, like http://photobucket.com/. It's pretty easy and I'm sure you can handle it!