November 19, 2005 Thanksgiving Magic Cruise

[Mickeyhugger]

Is anybody else here booked at the Orlando Airport Hyatt the night before?

 

[ohMom]

welcome back Mickeyhugger

we are staying with friends in Cocoa the night before the cruise

beautiful day here in central ohio -- sunny and highs in the 70s

i saw on my poker thread that another group had the same intentions and they never had their tourney -- how sad. now i probably won't play poker, but my 12 y/o DD, Taylor will I plan on hitting all of the Art or entertainment - cooking seminars that i can and possibly the wine seminar too

speaking of wine -- is there a size limit on bottles if you pay a corkage fee? i mean heck, might as well bring a really large bottle, pay one fee and sip off it a couple nights, right?

 

[bfosbenner]

welcome back Mickeyhugger

we are staying with friends in Cocoa the night before the cruise

beautiful day here in central ohio -- sunny and highs in the 70s

i saw on my poker thread that another group had the same intentions and they never had their tourney -- how sad. now i probably won't play poker, but my 12 y/o DD, Taylor will I plan on hitting all of the Art or entertainment - cooking seminars that i can and possibly the wine seminar too

speaking of wine -- is there a size limit on bottles if you pay a corkage fee? i mean heck, might as well bring a really large bottle, pay one fee and sip off it a couple nights, right?

They must allow huge bottles! Rumor has it, Lampy had to use a luggage cart for one!

 

[Scorpio1112]

OK... I have a question that has been driving me nuts!... Is it really like some kind of do or die race as soon as you get on the ship to register the kids, make palo reservations, etc.... ??

and exactly what might be the etc.... I know palo and the kids club but what else needs to be taken care of???

is it like if I won't have a chance at getting reservations at palo if I don't put my track shoes on??? or my kids won't get into the club?

 

[Scorpio1112]

Also, I'm a holdem tourney junkie at True Poker on-line but have never played with real live people

 

[ohMom]

scorpio- i'm sorry if you already told us but is this your first DCL cruise?

i have only cruised once on the Wonder and had no problem at all; dropped off the family at PC for lunch and went to make Palo ressies, stood in line a few mins until they opened and was probably 10th in line. Then went right to the Spa and got a cabana massage and surial bath appt. We didn't register the kids until later I think?

this time around we book the REAS package so that our massage and Palo appt will be done ahead of time; well, that's not the only reason of course but it is a great perk. Are you familiar with that package? Search on the cruise board for details if you aren't. Now I can join my family for lunch and we can start our cruise together! On our first cruise Capt Hook came and played with my youngest DD, Paige, and they had a grand time of it all -- and I missed it standing in line! Granted that may not happen again, but i had a small itsy bitsy chip on my shoulder

I will say that I heard there was a back-up on the interstate and it may have delayed some folks from embarking; also we cruised during off-peak week

Molli

 

[AlreadyexcitedGrammy]

Also, I'm a holdem tourney junkie at True Poker on-line but have never played with real live people

Scorpio - Dan (DH) plays some on Partypoker

I am sure that Dan will be in for TH tourney's or poker. I would be interested in playing some too, but I am definately, definately a beginner so everyone else might like me to join in as the "easy- first one out"

 

[Scorpio1112]

scorpio- i'm sorry if you already told us but is this your first DCL cruise?

Are you familiar with that package?

Yes first cruise ever DCL or otherwise!!! Am not familiar with the package so I will check it out!!!

Thanks much!

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Also, arrive at Port Canaverel early, (be there when they first open if possible) and the Palo/spa ressies shouldn't be problem. Not only that, you'll probably have many choices for times.

I do want to emphasize though, book the Palo brunch! It's offered only on the sea days, and IMHO, it's even better than the dinner! (And the dinner is wonderful!)

Don't worry about not being able to get your kids into the clubs. DCL already knows how many children are on board, so no child is ever turned away. (Some people mistakenly think that if they don't register their children soon enough, that they won't be able to use the clubs.) So there will be many opportunities to register for that.

The REAS is a great idea as well. (DH and I did this last year when we cruised on our anniversary, and we look forward to doing this again. It's a little pricey, but worth it considering you don't feel as if you have to do the 'ressie rush.' LOL. But, as said, if you get their early enough, the reservations shouldn't be a problem.

 

[silver7]

Hey yall

Yes, the robotics program is FIRST. They have grown to over 1000 teams, and got too big for Disney, so the Championship (used to be called Nationals, but with so many teams coming from overseas it is the Championship now) is now held in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. I will be riding a bus for 16 hours with the team, and then doing my job--cheering the team on!! It is fun to watch, and the scholarships are good too! Good thing to have since ds is a junior now.


ps
We stayed in the Hyatt at the airport last year before the cruise. Fabulous!!

 

[Disneyfan37]

In Cozumel or Grand Cayman,do you all do excursions on your own or do you book them with Disney?We are looking for any advice you all can give us.This will be our first time taking the Western cruise.In December,we took an island tour with Disney on our Eastern Cruise,and we loved it.This we did in St Maarten.In St Thomas,we did our own excursion.We are so undecided as to what to do as far as excursions go for this time.Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Maria

 

[LAMPSKIES]

All right.......82 and sunny in N.W. Indiana....so I go get my "fishin' shoes.....guess what? All full of CC sand alk about being p.oed!!!!

Mickeyhugger......we may stay at airport hotel the night before too....

 

[Scorpio1112]

Thanks to all who replied regarding reservations!

About REAS I did look into that but would that only "work" if you have a separate room for the kiddos?? meaning rosepetals etc. with kids on hand????

 

[Scorpio1112]

and wait... what is this tidbit:

Add-on prices above apply to 3-, 4- and 7-night sea packages. Additional add-on prices are available for 4-night land/3-night sea packages. Packages must be purchased for all Guests in the party for the entire length of stay. **Guests must be 21 years or older. Options available for travel 1/1/05 through 12/31/05.

Packages must be purchased for ALL guests in the party??????? thinking NOT...

can u even consider this if this kiddos are sharing a room? I did read about someone ordering their kids breakfast as well on the one morning but still I need to hear from peeps who have done this when sharing a room with the kids...

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST.. what is my desired dining rotation??????? I KNOW you all have opinions on this one!!!

 

[Scorpio1112]

of course one last question is never enough... what is the deal with door decorations??? have NO CLUE

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Scorpio, how old are your children? (You might have already posted that? I haven't read too far back.)

Anyway, by all means, order this if you're interested! DH and I ordered it to celebrate our 15 year anniversary last summer, and our 9 year-old DD thought the rose petals were COOL! Yes, they will deliver whatever you want for room service breakfast, kiddos included. Room service is available every other morning (continental type, cereals, pastries and breads only) but the REAS breakfast will also allow bacon, sausage, eggs, etc. Also, keep in mind this is DISNEY cruise line, and you can bet that probably 98% (my guess) who order the REAS have at least one child in tow!

 

[Scorpio1112]

Thanks for the response.. my son will have "just" turned 8 on 11/2 and my daughter will be turning 10 on 12/17 (the main reason for the timing of the cruise so that they'd be 8 and 9 and share the same club)...

also... our 14 year anniversary is 11/8... and to take it all full circle.. my b-day is 11/12 and my hub is 10/27... so

we really are 3 scorps and a sagg.. with a scorp anniversary

I appreciate your input and you are right... i was just reading some other posts about the kids and the petals... so I guess it'd be fine!!! and amazingly enough my hub just agreed to the massage I've only had one but he has NEVER had one.. he NEEDS one!!!!

do they do this in room or at the spa? asking since it says couples massage?

 

[Mickeyhugger]

They do this at the Spa. Each of you has a choice of a 50-minute 'swedish' massage (where they do your entire back area, neck to the ankles, my husband LOVED it) or the spa 'taster' (25 minute back massage, and 25 minute facial). I had the taster, but this time I'll have the swedish!

Also, you'll get to book your Palo ressies in advance. And (you're probably going to be overwhelmed with all of this info), 'double-dip' if you can. This means you don't have to miss any night in the dining rooms with your kids (there's something so special, it seems, each night in the dining rooms). We had late dinner seating 8:30, and had Palo dinner one night at 6:00. That way, we were still able to dine w/DD at Animator's Palate. (Though we didn't eat much there, we were too stuffed!) Also, Palo brunch is available on the 'at-sea' days, and it's a DO NOT MISS!

I hope the cruisers on this thread are planning a cruise meets. Our DD will have just turned 11 when we cruise, and this enables the kids to meet too.

 

[Scorpio1112]

Excellent advise!! Thanks! and yes... get the kids together too!

I didn't realize late seating is 8:30... i was thinking 8:00??? we have early right now but the thread is pushing late and I think we are convinced! Do you have a rotation preference? that is the other thing i'm thinking about if i do the REAS thingy!

Do you have thoughts on early vs. late?

 

[momsgoofy]

of course one last question is never enough... what is the deal with door decorations??? have NO CLUE

Scorpio1122...the door decorations are a fun way to know which door is yours. Afterall, they all do tend to look alike except for the numbers and for children a photo or clipart picture can be easier to remember than the room number. Willie had a nice one and tons of Beaumont, TX magnets on his...I still have the Beaumont magnet he left on our door as a reminder...think of Turkey cruisin everytime I get something out of the freezer.

For last Turkey Cruise I made a large (8x10) decoration for our family's door and then I made several small (4x6) Turkey Gang Cruise decorations for the gang....left them on everyone's door as I explored the ship.

You can make them several ways...print directly onto magnetic paper on your home computer or I printed on card stock, laminated it and used magnetic tape so it would stick to the metal doors onboard. There are several programs you can use...I prefer Microsoft Publisher...but I just bought some Disney software for publishing that I need to load and see how it does. For clip art you can get it at many different websites for free.

Hope ya'll have a great week ahead of ya! I actually have a day off...no work and no relatives to take to appointments on Monday...but blast it all the weather may not cooperate...don't care I'm gonna have lunch with a girlfriend and shop for some new clothes...
Willie, you were right about the low carb stuff...since the cruise I've dropped almost 20 pounds all because the doc put me on 12 carbs a day to lower the blood sugar which has been holding in the 100 - 110 range...I'm pleased.

Take care!