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

[DIS NURSE]

chip&dale&fun ....and Chog marg you are the best for keeping all the stats calculated and organized! I really appreciate it! .....ohhh! there's that SCARY lookin' icon again....oops!

We have LATE seating and proud and firm on that....we are (hopefully) going on a later afternoon St. Maarten's excursion and also a long St. Thomas excursion....the kids and us will need the break until later seating to recooperate!

I have been really overboard "setting aside" clothes for our cruise....I have only set aside the dressy items for all four of us....things the kids nor the two adults will miss out of the closet in the coming few months......

Again....the kids helped me "choose" these outfits thinking they are being set aside for our trip to Mexico in March.....they are soooo excited for that trip......wait until the pee their pants over the surprise of the Disney Cruise! OOPS! Sorry....did I offend anybody with that statement?

As our DS drifted off to sleep tonight he asked, "Mommy, what should I dream about tonight......? Hawaii, the Disney Cruise, the Nickelodeon Hotel, or Mexico?".....wow! If all my dreams were about those four choices, LIFE WOULD BE GRAND! I just smiled and said, "whichever one you choose....he came back and said, "tonight it will be the Disney Cruise."

 

[barkley]

with regards to linking dining reservations i don't think it's that difficult (someone did this for our last diz group on board and it worked out pretty well)-the trick is to have one person call with everyones last name on the main reservation and their cabin number then request a group seating arrangement. we had several larger family groups on our last trip and the restaurants managed to bank several tables together (sort of t shaped like at a banquet) you also need to request that you wish to all dine together not simply at adjacent tables (otherwise you can end up with everyone sitting at one large table but one family of four across the aisle from you.

i think this would be great-if people who are doing late dining want to do this-count us in (we are going to remove our names from the waitlist for early dining via a phone call to the cruiseline next week).

i love all of this plotting to surprise people in this group-i know my son is going to go ballistic when he finds out, he keeps seeing the tv ads for disneylands 50th celebration and begging if we can go again some day. he also remembers alot about our last disney cruise and askes if "someday can we go on the mickey mouse boat again? ).

i told the kids that we were going to start going through their closets next week in preparation for school starting-i plan on putting aside any of the summer stuff they can't wear to school but will still fit for the trip. i'm also going to grab a couple of swimsuits while they're on clearance at walmart to hide away.

i truly believe the greatest enjoyment i get out of these trips is in the planning and the anticipation-how about all of you?

 

[STB ON THE BEACH]

OH,,,,,It's definitely the planning which gets me stoked!! I dropped DS off at Vacation Bible School yesterday, and then hopped across the state line to Pensacola to purchase new p.j.s for the cruise. (Florida's sales tax exemption week) I never have been soooo excited to purchase p.j's! It's the little things in life, right!?!

Dis Nurse, I once too, was a member of the dark side......I thought the Alaska cruise, Hawaii cruise, or any other cruise and/or cruise line for that matter was the best. On our Alaska cruise we were by far,,the youngest demographic on board. (We were in our early thirties) I'm 37 now; my DH just celebrated the big 4-0! The scenery was incredible, but that was about it! Hawaiian cruise was awesome, can't think of a better way to see all of the islands!! And, out of all the lines we have sailed with over the years, (RCL) Royal Caribbean has been premier. BUT,,,, with it all being said and done, I believe I am about to see the light!! Even though I have yet to set foot on a DCL ship, I can already tell, this is going to be THE BEST!!!

Chip&Dale&Fun, we have the late seating. Thanks for keeping everything straight. I know it's time consuming. And, if you are like everyone else I know, you have 37 hours worth things to take care of within a 24 hour day.

Hubby and I not only live on the beach, we also work on the beach. The Gulf of Mexico is our backyard 24/7. I hear the waves crashing now. So, getting hubby to actually don a pair of slacks is difficult. We have a real estate company and we made "tropical dress" the code. I understand DCL is more "casual" than other lines so I'm planning on dusting off one of his suits that he reserves for weddings, funerals, cruises etc., for the formal nights.

Choc_Marg, thanks for the photo. I actually thought Chocolate Margaritas was a drink that you designed. I've had a choc. martini before, but I couldn't figure out how you made a choc. margarita. Now I get it,,, you like chocolate AND margaritas!

We have the late seating for dinner!!

STB On The Beach

 

[barkley]

STB ON THE BEACH-my husband and i will be very interested to talk with you a bit on the ship (promise to keep shop talk to a minimum)-we are intent on leaving california by the end of the next school year and have not settled on any particular region, would love to hear about your area and what real estate is like.

for those who like chocolate "grown up drinks"-give this one a try some cold evening-into a cup of coffee (i prefer decaf-i don't like to drink caffiene with alcohol) pour a shot of godiva chocolate liquour and a shot of grand marnier:the result tastes just like one of those foil wrapped chocolate oranges you buy around the holidays . this was one of our experiments after our last disney cruise-we had just purchased a home bar so i went on a buying spree to stock it at rock bottem prices (when we got picked for a random luggage search the tsa rep looked at us and said "going to have a party when you get home?'

well off to pick up the house-we have a sitter tonight for a very rare eveing out (going to dinner and shop for daughter's birthday).

happy planning

so florida offers periods of no sales tax? about the only time we get something like that around here is right around income tax time:some of the furniture stores will have a tax revolt sale and pay the sales tax for you.

 

[4formickey]

any one tried zabasearch.com . It may list your name ,address age and phone number. Fox just had a report on it and they where able to get income, cost of home and other information. Of couse it comes with a small fee.

 

[DIS NURSE]

To Choc Marg and all of the other DH's who are not that committed to dressing up to the TEE on formal night......yup, I am married to a back country hiker, backpacker, HANG GLIDER PILOT , ski bum who doesn't have much in the closet to choose from! We are committed to spiffing him up to presentable and he can make up to be a handsome guy! The tux thing is out....he doesn't even know how to tie and tie! He has a "pre" tied one (loosely that his father rigged up for him) hanging in the closet in case of a funeral, etc. The kids and he actaully went to a funeral of a dear friend today that was held on the top of a 10,000 ft. mountain in the Cascade Range where we live (the famous Mt. Bachelor!). Nope, he didn't have to wear a tie to that one.....it was a fellow ski buddy of his and they scattered his ashes all around the summitt.

On the real estate and awesome places to live category...I can feel okay about announcing this now because Donald Trump just did a few weeks ago.....yup! It is true....on Larry King Live a few weeks back Donald Trump was giving his final words or financial investment wisdom and when asked what is a little insider's secret...he said he would invest in real estate in Bend, Oregon! OMG! We are all still talking about it! He let the secret out! That said, if anyone wants to have the real insider's edge on what this paradise is like....we'll have lots to chat about.

Our beautiful house has almost gone up %15 in the last 2 years and real estate is HOT here! Great young, active town with good jobs, clean air and water, and no crime....except for the unfortunate influence of methamphetamine

Our cruise is officailly paid off......the payment went through and for the first time I was happy to see all that $$$$ go out of my checking account! I must be sick! Yup.....sick from have been bitten by the DCL BUG!

 

[barkley]

Dis Nurse-i hope "the donald's" advise does'nt turn your beautiful area upside down with overbuilding and congestion. we moved to dixon because the area we lived in previously (vacaville) had changed from a small (by california standards) town into a spreading bedroom community with heavy traffic, worsening crime, etc. dixon is still very "mayberry" by most standards-they have weekly movies in the park where they project a film on one of the library walls, our only in-town bus system is a van that picks you up at your door and delivers you to your destination, and pancake breakfasts and car washes are the main means of fund raising for the local highschool. unfortunatly because of the horrendous cost of real estate in the bay area many home seekers are willing to commute 2 or 3 (or more) hours EACH WAY to an area with what they consider to offer "affordable homes". as a result, the homes we and our neighbors moved into 6 years ago have gone up in value by over 220% (and these houses are selling like mad-realtors will do an open house, set a date and a time for accepting sealed bids from buyers and often get higher than asking price ). so what was a quiet neighborhood where everyone knew everyone else has unfortunatly become
a sea of strangers whose kids (and i mean little kids) get themselves off to school in the morning, and come home to no supervision for several hours into the evening. we are realy concerned what kind of trouble these kids could get into as they older and bored (meth is very popular around us as well).

so...we want to find someplace that does not have vast potential for development, idealy someplace we can have some acreage. we would love to find someplace in close proximity to a college or university so that when the kids get older if they want to stay close to home for school they can . so we're looking at all options-thank goodness for the internet, i can cruise info. on different states and what they are like-also can see what their realestate prices are like.

 

[4formickey]

over 200% I would grab the cash and leave. I know when you have your heart set on staying in a very good area and it starts changing before your eyes ,you my have to face the reallity that it is time to go. We all want good nice safe areas for our children but sometimes when people over extend themselves with buying a home you will get the latch key kids. Parents are working 12hr days and the kids are home alone for 14hr. I think we as parents
need to not over extend ourselve.I know that everyone on this cruise is there for their children. If not we will send mickey to your house and take them to the magic kingdom so they can have a normal life. Well we are of to the state of Michigan to pick peaches this morning.It is noting like tree ripen fruit.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Hi Folks - Hope you had a good Sunday. We certainly did. Spent the day together after mass - and ended with a friend in a local Irish Pub.

We are definitely dressing to the hilt - one of the few chances we get to and will take full advantage....

We have a strange phenomenon in house prices occuring, the taxes are based on when you purchased your house, so since we have lived in ours for 15 years, they are low. We cannot afford to sell and buy a new one. The selling part is good, it is tha buying part that breaks the formula.

So we have decided to stay put and cruise instead....

 

[4formickey]

After picking 45lbs of peaches today, we are ready for bed.The stuff they sale in the store is not as good as what you can pick and eat yourself.I guess I will be a washing and cutting fool in the next couple of days,putting these peaches away for the winter. It will feel good during mid winter to pull out freash fruit to bring back the days of summer. October is apple picking time so I can rest until then.

 

[barkley]

4formickey-do you freeze or can your peaches and apples? We have not done alot of canning for a few years-just a few batches of peach jam when our peach tree decided to ripen all at once last year, but in the past we've done tons of tomatoes (with onions and bell pepper so it's ready for soups, stews and pasta sauces) and apple sauce. My daughter did'nt know applesauce came in cans for at the first 4 years of her life she thought it came from a jar in the pantry ready seasoned with cinnamon.

I agree with you-nothing tastes better than the fruit you can pick yourself or get direct from the fields. Unfortuanly we had very little of a spring this year so we did'nt get a garden put in but we have benefited from our neighbors bounty of squash and tomatoes. Even if we decide to sell by next summer I would like to get a garden in for the new owners-when we had our home landscaped we had raised planter boxes put in that are on the same timer drip system as our ornamental plants. in the past we've enjoyed great crops, esp. of japanese eggplant and watermelon. we had to put watermelon in the first year because our daughter (4 1/2 at the time) had been facinated (as were we) by our prior neighbor's volunteer watermelon patch on his front lawn. seems when he was eating watermelon the previous year he spit a couple of seeds on to the lawn and nature took it's course-his front yard became a sea of leaves and eventualy yielded over 2 dozen fine watemelons . of course not everyone on the street thought it was the most attractive landscaping, but he just wanted to see how it would do without any encouragement.

well, don't wear yourself out with all the work ahead of you-take a few to just enjoy what must be a wonderful aroma in your kitchen.

barkley

 

[4formickey]

We are going to freeze them. Canning my take to much time but I have never canned before.My wife would have no parts in the canning process. She is an only child so a lot of things she will not entertain. Her mom would buy the pb+j that was in the jar together. Growing up it was 5 of us and we had to mix ours together. I never knew that my wife would one of those special kids that grew up spoiled Never let your chlidren marry an only child. The fun that they will have The peaches are good, I think that I'm going to get another one.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

chip&dale&fun...this is actually going to be my parents 49th anniversary. WE are all cruising (the entire Nelson Clan) In 2006 to celebrate that. NOt to down play a 49th anniversary, but next year is the big one!!

 

[chip&dale&fun]

I think I am still waiting for
HookedonMagic - PatzFan Jay and Bobsuzla to chime in on dining times. And for Ferastu to respond to deck and dining.

I think I have everyone else's posts up to date.

Thanks to all. My countdown timer (at home) says 101 days to go!!!! Whew!!!!!!

 

[PatzFan_Jay]

Hi, sorry about that.....we are deck 2 Forward....early seating...not paid up just yet....but will be by Aug 15th....we haven't booked any excursions yet...last cruise we just "winged" it....but if there are any can't miss excursions, I'd love to hear about them!

Thanks again.....we have a great group going in November!

Jay

 

[STB ON THE BEACH]

Barkley, Your choc. concoction sounds delightful!!! YUM!

As with most areas, we have seen a huge increase in the value of property here too! Homes that sold for $130K 3 years ago are now on the market AND closing for $400K. And, depending on the proximity of location to the Gulf, homes that were $300K LAST YEAR are now closing for 1 Million! IT'S CRAZY!! If we only knew....we would have "bought up" the whole island!! But, when you compare our beach prices to that of California, we're still a huge bargain. "The Donald" has also moved into our territory. Luckily, he is building on the east of the island. We live on the west end tip, in Ft. Morgan, where the influx of activity has yet to take hold due to regulations that in place to keep it less commercialized and more residential. Our company specializes in sales in this area and also vacation rentals. We rent condos and beach homes. My husband has commented this is the best job he has ever had,,,He wears shorts to work & girls are running around all over the place in their bikinis. I handle the rental side of the company, while he runs the sales department. We definitely LOVE IT here!!

 

[FairyDisMom]

Here is the recipe for the Konk Cooler

Konk Cooler
Castaway Cay


1/2 can of cream of coconut (coco lopez) or one 12oz can frozen pina colada mix
3 ounces light rum
3 ounces dark rum
1/2 of a 12oz can frozen passion fruit juice concentrate(Welches)
4 oz of orange juice
2-3 cups of ice

-Mix all together in a blender until very fine and smooth

YUM!!!

 

[FairyDisMom]

Barkley,

I also want to thank you for the great tip about checking at David's Bridal. I found a great dress for a great price. I wasn't planning on wearing a long dress because I did not want to spend the money and the time it would take to find one. My husband is now thinking of renting a tux. I think it was mentioned that you can rent one on the cruise can anyone tell me how to go about setting that up?? I appreciate all the ideas.

 

[4formickey]

399 post

 

[4formickey]

OK I did it I'm the 400 post for our group and the prize is............. a 7 day disney cruise. paid for by me Airfare not included