November 24, 2012 ~ Western Fantasy ~ Pachyderms of the Caribbean

[Cobrastrike]

Foohpah: last time in Grand Cayman we did a snorkling trip and it was pretty good. Plenty of aquatic life to see, and having a great big Tarpon swimming around was quite the experience.

 

[Cobrastrike]

Hi Katie, and welcome to the group! You guys are going to have an awesome time! We took our daughter on her first cruise last year when she was just four. We had a hard time convincing her to do stuff with us - she wanted to spend most of the day in the kids club.

 

[dizney-cruiser]

Hi Everyone- we will be joining you all as well for our first cruise! Wish us well, my husband doesn't like boats. It's taken me 2 years to explain that he will not even know he is on a boat. I am interested in a FE exchange and would like to be added to the roll call!
We are from NewYork and are Myself(Katie) Dh(Brian) and Ds(Brayden)4

Welcome Aboard Katie!

I have added you to the roll call as well as the FE - please let me know if I have anything incorrect!

 

[trinibjill]

Here's an article from "The Disney Insider" about the Fantasy

http://disney.go.com/disneyinsider/..._EMC_ins_disney_insider_120124_MA-Image__Extl

 

[Somecomic]

Howdy Y'all. Looking forward to joining you on this cruise. Just booked tonight.
My wife and I and out 2 sons aged 21 and 2. Yup, that is not a typo. 21 and 2 because we are good planners!

This will be our second cruise with DCL. Looking forward to sailing with you.

Mark, Jennifer, Julian and Cody . Pennsylvania

 

[trinibjill]

Check this out - it is a video of Disney Cruise Line top five: Kid activities on a Disney ship

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe0B-WXorU&sns=fb

 

[jenbessey]

Howdy Y'all. Looking forward to joining you on this cruise. Just booked tonight.
My wife and I and out 2 sons aged 21 and 2. Yup, that is not a typo. 21 and 2 because we are good planners!

This will be our second cruise with DCL. Looking forward to sailing with you.

Mark, Jennifer, Julian and Cody . Pennsylvania

Welcome aboard.....
Where are you flying out of? I live in PA and was wondering if you got any great airfare to fly down that weekend.

 

[Cobrastrike]

Welcome to the group Mark and family! Are you guys considering joining the FE?

 

[Somecomic]

We are considering joining the FE group but we are currently in GTY status and do not know when we will get a room number. What should we do?

 

[Somecomic]

Welcome aboard.....
Where are you flying out of? I live in PA and was wondering if you got any great airfare to fly down that weekend.

Flying out of Philadelphia. No greta airfare yet, but southwest has not released thiers that far our yet.

 

[Cobrastrike]

Mark, no problem if you just have a GTY. You'll get your room number as your cruise date approaches (I think our last cruise we found out 4 months in advance). So you can still sign up for the FE if you're interested and just give your room number at a later time once you receive it.

 

[alicia1506]

hey all,

just got our final quotes from the TA last night, so will be paying on monday afternoon. we have our room number (provided our payment is received on time) so will post that on here once we have cofirmation.

looking forward to doing this trip & actually having the deposit paid as our first step in actually paying for all the parts of our usa trip

just a really quick query... anyone else interested in doing the chacchoben ruins in costa maya? it's the one port adventure we're dying to do and part of the reason we chose this cruise in particular... but i notice we're only in port for 4.5-5 hrs, and the port adventure is scheduled to go for 4-4.5hrs. just a little concerned about being left behind, or whether that's not likely considering this is a disney-sanctified trip??? any thoughts??

trinibjill -- thanks for the updates & news articles... really enjoy them

 

[foohpah]

Alicia - That is the one big advantage to the DCL excursions - they will not leave you behind even if the excursion is an hour or two late. They know what is going on and are in contact with the group.

I did not realize how short many of our port hours are until just a few weeks ago. It makes it harder (for those of us who get nervous) to do our own thing for fear of missing the boat.

 

[Cobrastrike]

We have our cabin number - 7520. Could someone please update the FE list with this info?
Also, for those of you participating in the FE, please refrain from giving any candy and/or chocolates to Madi (DD), unless it states on the packaging that it is peanut free. Madi has a peanut allergy, so we screen everything before she is allowed to eat it. We'd hate for her to receive a gift only to have it taken away because it's not safe for her. Thanks in advance.
Mark, Jen & Madi

 

[alicia1506]

Alicia - That is the one big advantage to the DCL excursions - they will not leave you behind even if the excursion is an hour or two late. They know what is going on and are in contact with the group.

I did not realize how short many of our port hours are until just a few weeks ago. It makes it harder (for those of us who get nervous) to do our own thing for fear of missing the boat.

i have been absolutely paranoid about the short port hours and the length of the port adventure we want to book. we don't like any of the port adventures in grand cayman or cozumel and wanted to go have a bit of a poke around on our own... but also have been paranoid about being left behind. we're not uber rich and therefore cannot afford to miss the boat, so had planned on only doing one port adventure, or maybe just sticking really, really close to the ship in port... this eases my mind some, so thanks

we have an announcement -- we made our booking, put down our deposit & have our stateroom number now!!! it's official!! we're on the trip i took carlo out to celebrate. told him to meet me after work, went to a local restaurant (which we never do as we like to save our money for our holidays) and we toasted our trip coming to fruition. i love that feeling when you start actually paying for your trip, and it stops being a planned fantasy and becomes reality.

now... to try and figure out our packing... we will be going from the caribbean straight up to chicago then on to disneyland so we will need everything from bathing suits to warm coats in our luggage, but we want to pack light... i'm thinking.. we buy the cold weather gear when we get to chicago thoughts/hints/tips would be appreciated, as i'm coming from australia where it will be 35 degrees celcius around that time of the year...

 

[Cobrastrike]

My suggestion would be ensure you bring slacks, and pick up a sweatshirt in the shops on board. There is shopping in O'Hare airport, but not sure what shops would have winter gear. Maybe Harley Davidson, but that'll be pretty pricey.
If you think you can hold out until you get in the city to shop, I recommend Eddie Bauer or Columbia (both on Michigan Ave) for really good cold weather clothes. Both shops cater to both sexes so you and Carlo can both shop there.
There are a large number of malls near most of the hotels. If you're really conscious of your spending, Burlington Coat Factory (which has more than just coats) sells major brands at a discount.
Hope this helps!

 

[alicia1506]

i'm sure we'll be fine until we get into the city... but thanks for the recommendations... very helpful.

we're staying in the loop, and we're essentially just going from the airport via cab straight to the hotel, so i'm sure we'll be fine. in fact... maybe we can just get away with jeans/hoodies and layers

 

[jenbessey]

Flying out of Philadelphia. No greta airfare yet, but southwest has not released thiers that far our yet.

That is where I will be flying out of also. The best fare that I saw was for $211 leaving on the 23rd of Nov. But the downside is that there is a 3 hour layover in LGA airport. Let me know if you get something better.

 

[alicia1506]

we're flying from bne - lax with vaustralia which is a 14 hr flight, arriving 6am on 23rd nov, then flying delta from lax - mco non stop, leaving 10.30, arriving 6pm on 23rd, then checking into hyatt grand regency at the airport... we're hoping there are no issues with our delta flight, having never flown them before, but also i imagine we'll be hideously jetlagged.

that flight is running us about $250 each, which i imagine is a bit steep, but it's direct and flies out of the same terminal as vaustralia, so i guess not having to terminal hop is worth the extra $$.

anyone sees any better direct flights from lax - mco, i'd be really interested

 

[trinibjill]

Disney sees big year ahead for cruise ships. Latest from the Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-...m-disney-cruise-0813-20120212,0,5362282.story