November 18, 2012

[SupernaturalMommy]

This is our first cruise...any ideas for excursions on Nassua or Cast away cay??? We did the dolphin swim at Sea World two years ago and we have have done the stingrays before. I have a DS15 and DS10.
Also we are staying at Disney Vero beach after the cruise for 3 days, we thought we would hang out at the beach but it doesnt look like there is much else to do there any ideas???

Do your sons have similar interests to each other with the age difference? Are you looking for something water oriented for both destinations since you will also be at Vero Beach or are you interested in doing something land bound?

I've been researching all day, looking over ever excursion available on DCL website trying to find something our whole family can agree on. My husband wants to actually "see" where we go, so we are doing something land bound in Nassau and skipping Atlantis if we can get the excursion we want. (Who knows what is still available at this point). And then we are planning to do water activities to satisfy the kids in Castaway Cay. That way we are compromising and doing a little something for everyone.

We got an e-mail today from DCL with a link to research excursions and went from there. There are so many options. Try saving the ones you like to favorites, and then see what your family agrees on and then prioritize in case your first choices aren't available.

I did a similar non-Disney cruise when I was in high school with my family. So, this visit is about what DH, DD (12) and DS (11) want.

 

[cruisecoordinator]

Taking first time Disney cruise....how do I get involved in FE? Will be traveling with my DD 12 and DS 10....any insight would be great?

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

Read a little further back in the thread and you will find the person who is coordinating it. Send them a private message with your info and hopefully we will all have a list soon.

I am excited because I got my custom made FE in the mail a few days ago and the kids and I love them. (We ordered two because we couldn't decide on a theme). Have lots of goodies already to put in the FE. Just waiting on a list of who is participating and ages of kids so I can start packaging things up to pack...

 

[cruisecoordinator]

Thanks.... I will order one soon and get this ball rolling....We are in San Diego and can come up with some great FE stuff....

 

[cruisecoordinator]

Does anyone have a suggestion as to where to order a fun FE from?

 

[cruisecoordinator]

I heard something about the kids being able to swim with dolphins. Anyone have info on that?

 

[goofystitchfan]

I heard something about the kids being able to swim with dolphins. Anyone have info on that?

We did the excursion with the sealions a few years ago and it was amazing!! As far as your FE itself, I ordered mine a while back form ebay gradysmom. You can also look for the thread here on the DIS regarding those and there have been some great homemade ones.

Glad to have you join. I am coordinating the FE list, please message me (or you can email me @ thedallevas@comcast.net) your DIS name, actual names of participants, if kids their ages, and cabin number.

Reminder for all the rest of us ... I hope to have an uptodate list by the end of the weekend and will email it to all of you. I will post on here that it has been emailed out. If there is anyone interested in joining, please do. At this point, we have about 11 families.

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

Does anyone have a suggestion as to where to order a fun FE from?

Check your PM's for info on where I got mine. I would post it but I am so thrilled it would sound like an advertisement and I don't want to break any rules.

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

I heard something about the kids being able to swim with dolphins. Anyone have info on that?

Check out the excursion information on the DCL website. They should have sent you a link already as we were able to start booking last week as first time cruisers. I went through each and every excursion available for both Nassau and Castaway Cay and there are a couple of Dolphin ones, as well as sea lions, stingrays and more. Read the rules on ages allowed and what all is or is not included with each and then make a decision as to which one you want to book. Then you can do it all on-line and print your confirmations.

 

[goofystitchfan]

Hey there Supernaturalmommy I see that you are staying at Old Key West pre-cruise.... so are we. When are you arriving? We arrive on Friday night (depart Boston when my boys get out of school that afternoon)! This is our first time staying there as we are SSR owners and are looking forward to it.

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

Hey there Supernaturalmommy I see that you are staying at Old Key West pre-cruise.... so are we. When are you arriving? We arrive on Friday night (depart Boston when my boys get out of school that afternoon)! This is our first time staying there as we are SSR owners and are looking forward to it.

We are flying in Friday afternoon. It will be our first time staying there as well. We own at Animal Kingdom. We decided to add on before our cruise a couple weeks ago and were lucky to find anything available. We decided to go so we could see Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I couldn't bear to be so close and not see it. I cried the year we missed the Halloween party by a week and made sure to go back the next year. Didn't want to do that again!

Are your sons excited? My kids are, especially my DD (12).

 

[goofystitchfan]

We are flying in Friday afternoon. It will be our first time staying there as well. We own at Animal Kingdom. We decided to add on before our cruise a couple weeks ago and were lucky to find anything available. We decided to go so we could see Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I couldn't bear to be so close and not see it. I cried the year we missed the Halloween party by a week and made sure to go back the next year. Didn't want to do that again!

Are your sons excited? My kids are, especially my DD (12).

This is our 4th cruise (we have been very luck) I think that they would be more excited if they weren't missing school, they are missing 2 1/2 days. We are not going to Disney, we will spend time going from resort to resort checking out all the Chirstmas decorations etc. To go to the MVMCP do you have to have park tix in addtion to the ticket for that event? and have you already purchased yours? I know that they sell out so fast.

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

This is our 4th cruise (we have been very luck) I think that they would be more excited if they weren't missing school, they are missing 2 1/2 days. We are not going to Disney, we will spend time going from resort to resort checking out all the Chirstmas decorations etc. To go to the MVMCP do you have to have park tix in addtion to the ticket for that event? and have you already purchased yours? I know that they sell out so fast.

You do not have to have a separate park ticket to get into the Xmas party in addition to the party ticket. Your party ticket is your admission to the park. You just won't be able to go in before the party starts. We did buy our ticket already.

We were told that if we don't see any other resort, we need to see the Grand Floridian and the Beach Club, particularly Cape May Cafe. We were told this by someone at Disney Dining when we were inquiring about Thanksgiving reservations. So, we actually have dining reservations at both of those places to make sure we don't miss out. One has a giant carousel made from chocolate, and one has a life size gingerbread house, according to the Disney rep. We also have a reservation at the Polynesian, the Contemporary & Old Key West where we are staying the first part of the trip so we will see a few resorts. We will see Coronado Springs after the cruise. Not sure if we will see anywhere else. My family wants to spend all their time in the parks. I'm still trying to figure out how I am going to make it to Downtown Disney. My kids will be missing 3 days of school. Initially it was 2 but since we added on for the Christmas party it will now be 3. We normally have to pull them 4 days for out of state cheer comp (which I abhor doing) but since my daughter is out for a whole year due to injury we don't have to now, so we opted to do this and are praying they stay healthy. I already have to pull them next Friday for a funeral out of state. I just found out yesterday so...

 

[goofystitchfan]

You do not have to have a separate park ticket to get into the Xmas party in addition to the party ticket. Your party ticket is your admission to the park. You just won't be able to go in before the party starts. We did buy our ticket already.

We were told that if we don't see any other resort, we need to see the Grand Floridian and the Beach Club, particularly Cape May Cafe. We were told this by someone at Disney Dining when we were inquiring about Thanksgiving reservations. So, we actually have dining reservations at both of those places to make sure we don't miss out. One has a giant carousel made from chocolate, and one has a life size gingerbread house, according to the Disney rep. We also have a reservation at the Polynesian, the Contemporary & Old Key West where we are staying the first part of the trip so we will see a few resorts. We will see Coronado Springs after the cruise. Not sure if we will see anywhere else. My family wants to spend all their time in the parks. I'm still trying to figure out how I am going to make it to Downtown Disney. My kids will be missing 3 days of school. Initially it was 2 but since we added on for the Christmas party it will now be 3. We normally have to pull them 4 days for out of state cheer comp (which I abhor doing) but since my daughter is out for a whole year due to injury we don't have to now, so we opted to do this and are praying they stay healthy. I already have to pull them next Friday for a funeral out of state. I just found out yesterday so...

We have Thanksgiving reservations for Cape May for 2:00... good to know that is a good choice. Where at Grand Floridian? We usually don't make dining reservations, this is the first year, and I did that only so we would have a place for Thanksgiving.

Sorry about the passing of your family

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

We have Thanksgiving reservations for Cape May for 2:00... good to know that is a good choice. Where at Grand Floridian? We usually don't make dining reservations, this is the first year, and I did that only so we would have a place for Thanksgiving.

Sorry about the passing of your family

I just got my Grand Floridian reservation last night. I have been trying like crazy to get the Cinderella Dinner at 1900 Park Fair. I never knew about any other one than the one in the castle. When I found out about there being Cinderella, step-mother, step-sisters and Prince Charming, I had to go. So, I've been checking back every day trying to get in and yesterday something opened up for the night we come back from the cruise. I grabbed it. I was so excited. Had to swap two of our park days but it worked out because in doing so, we were able to get the lunch at Hollywood Studios my daughter has been dying for, which has also been booked solid, so yesterday was a lucky day. I don't suppose I can hold out hope for a Be Our Guest reservation to open up? Lol...

We always do reservations for some of our meals. I hate eating all counter service. My stomach just won't tolerate it and the lines can be really long, especially this time of year. With my husband being diabetic, it is important to have some sort of consistent schedule with healthy-ish meals. So, we do the meal plan to save money and be able to get good for for the whole family. As a result, we need reservations. We winged it our first time on the plan and got lucky because it was not a busy time of year. But, each year we go, it seems to get harder and harder to get the meals we want. This is the busiest time of year we have ever gone, so I have reservations for almost every meal. I figure we can do breakfast at our resorts. I'm leaving a couple spots open for grabbing whatever sounds appealing at the moment, and the rest is all booked.

Thank you for your sympathies. As sad as it is, it was for the best. She lived a long full life. It was just her time. There was no illness or suffering thankfully.

 

[cruisecoordinator]

Goofystitchfan:

I emailed you the names and ages....
and a separate email with our cabin #
Thanks.

 

[alacazander]

We will be joining you all! Myself dh and ds 10!

65 days!!!

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

Yay! Another cruiser!

 

[goofystitchfan]

Good morning everyone . I emailed the preliminary FE to everyone. If you did not get it, it was either because I do not have your email address or message that you would like to join us. Don't panic there is still time. We will have sign ups til October 18, which will give an additional month for anyone who is making homemade items. If you are still on the fence about joining or have questions, we would love to have you and your family. Questions... please ask!
Tracey

 

[SupernaturalMommy]

Good morning everyone . I emailed the preliminary FE to everyone. If you did not get it, it was either because I do not have your email address or message that you would like to join us. Don't panic there is still time. We will have sign ups til October 18, which will give an additional month for anyone who is making homemade items. If you are still on the fence about joining or have questions, we would love to have you and your family. Questions... please ask!
Tracey

Got it! Yeah!