November 26, 2005/ 7 day Eastern Magic

[halestrm]

I was telling DH that although I am so excited for our cruise that we have been planning for 2 years (cannot believe it is a month away!!!), I am afraid for it to come, because then it will be over with

Is everyone getting matching attire for boarding day??? I was thinking about making us t shirts or something, but not sure....

I was going to do the matching, but decided to let everyone dress for comfort. I hate T's, so that was out, and DH and DD are wearing swimsuits under clothes to take advantage of pool. My Mom and I are dressing in loose clothes to take advantage of pockets (for the little things) and airflow.

Just an FYI, the upgrade wasn't a gimme, we did pay for it. I don't think they would up a 6 to a suite, but it is too early for people to get upgrades yet. Thanks for the congrats though, DH and DD won't know until we board and go to room. Hoping they go WOW!

 

[DsnysGr8t]

We go all out for formal night, evening gowns, tux for DH. But we usually change back to comfy clothes after dinner I'm using the picture we'll have taken on "Formal Night" for our Christmas cards this year. Kill two birds with one stone!

Jon, count on 5 magnets from both my Mom and I. I know we'll drag the teenagers to the Meet & Greet, DH won't make a decision probably until the day "of" departure!

Our countdown is now at 25 days til we fly out! Hopefully no more hurricanes will happen after we get there!

Lisa

 

[jjbescher]

I have updated the list to state that Home Depot does have the green Mickey Swatches and that enough people have said yes to the 5 Hometown/State Magnets.

The link to the list is now in my signature.

jon

 

[halestrm]

JJ - Sorry to keep changing on you, BUT guess what a mid-ship cat 3 opened up and I GOT it. My new room is 8032. I cannot believe I was able to get one of the larger ones. I am soooo thrilled.

Anywho, I can also give you the only confirmed excursion.
DH - Joe - 38 yrs - Golf at Mahogany Run

I swear, I am about to BURST at the seams.

 

[jjbescher]

JJ - Sorry to keep changing on you, BUT guess what a mid-ship cat 3 opened up and I GOT it. My new room is 8032. I cannot believe I was able to get one of the larger ones. I am soooo thrilled.

That is great. As long as you keep changing for the better and it is not I am sorry but we are not going to be able to go.

Joe will have a great time playing Golf. I did it three years ago and it was a blast. Trying to keep this trip to a minimum, that is why I am not doing it this year.

jon

 

[DiaLady]

DsnysGr8t - I'm with you for dressing up. I used to love getting dressed up for the fomal sorority dances in college. Between the sorority and the fraternity (of whoever I was dating), we had 6-8 nights a year - and you could never wear the same thing twice!

DH is going to rent a tux online and I have my two dress which I still have 10 more lbs to loose and fit into.

My boys don't have much. I'm thinking about searching through eBay to find a used suit or tux for each of them. They're growing so fast right now that anything I buy won't fit in 6 months . . .LOL What are you kids wearing?

Have a great day!

 

[DsnysGr8t]

I've got 2-13yr old girls going w/us. Both have long black velvet dresses(different styles) and a short "nice" dress (My DD's is also black w/a pale blue band around the mid-ruff, not sure what DD's BGF's will be).

Lisa

 

[EDDJMOM]

JJ - Anywho, I can also give you the only confirmed excursion.
DH - Joe - 38 yrs - Golf at Mahogany Run

My DH is also golfing at Mahogany Run. The only question he has asked during my vacation planning was about Golfing at Mahogany Run. Based on previous advice, he has decided to take his clubs. ( We are heading to Florida on the Wednesday before the cruise so he can get some golfing in Florida before the cruise.) My DS 12 wants to golf with him, but I have decided that we will go on an excursion.

Has your DH or anyone else golfed at Mahogany Run? What were their experiences?

In a followup question, what excursions did you all do while they were golfing? I am having a difficult time trying to choose excursions and deciding what to do in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. I would love to read suggestions from anyone.

Thanking you in advance for your thoughts.

 

[jjbescher]

My DH is also golfing at Mahogany Run. The only question he has asked during my vacation planning was about Golfing at Mahogany Run. Based on previous advice, he has decided to take his clubs. ( We are heading to Florida on the Wednesday before the cruise so he can get some golfing in Florida before the cruise.) My DS 12 wants to golf with him, but I have decided that we will go on an excursion.

Has your DH or anyone else golfed at Mahogany Run? What were their experiences?

In a followup question, what excursions did you all do while they were golfing? I am having a difficult time trying to choose excursions and deciding what to do in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. I would love to read suggestions from anyone.

Thanking you in advance for your thoughts.

EDDJMOM - I golfed last time and it was great. My DW did Scuba diving and our other friend went on the Atlantis Submarine. I think this trip, we are going to take a taxi to somewhere. I have not decided where yet.

jon

 

[Michelle2]

I'm using the picture we'll have taken on "Formal Night" for our Christmas cards this year. Kill two birds with one stone!

That is exactly what I was thinking, and was going to do as well. We will have fun dressing up, even though DS is complaining already! LOL I am just so glad to hear of so many other people really dressing up too!

Everyone, please help calm my nerves, or tell me what you do for sickness prevention. All of a sudden, (now that it is getting so close) I am totally FREAKING out about someone getting sick with the flu or that nasty chest congestion/bronchitis right before we go...it seems like every time of year around or at Thanksgiving something goes around. Last year we did not get sick on Thanksgiving, year before we did exactly.
What are the cruises policies if someone comes down with the flu a day before or the day of? Do I have to worry that my whole trip will be canceled if someone gets sick???
Is anyone else worried about this??
Do you stop sending kids to any kind of social activity (besides school) in fear that they could pick something up from someone a few weeks before??
I know that kids mostly pick sicknesses up from school, is there anything you are doing in prevention??

I am so sorry, but I have been really upset about this....

 

[grlzmom]

We havent started thinking about packing yet. We really do pack light and come back with way more than take.

Dress, we always follow the suggested guidelines. We will not be doing tux and gown. After six cruises we are tired of packing all that and now are more of a suit and cocktail dress family. We want to try the casual lifestyle portraits if we get time. I do love the formal photos on the walls, but we are up for something different this time. The girls will wear their fancier "Christmas" type dresses. I would like to get Christmas cards done if possible. I always have so many great plans and then run out of time once on the boat. But, Shutters does take alot of our cruise money.

Michele, we also are always panicky about someone getting sick, especially with so many kiddos. Usually at check in DCL has a little questionnaire they ask you about fever, illness, etc. I have never seen it, but have read on the DIS about someone being denied boarding because of illness. The person posting was insisting it was food poisoning but DCL kept them off anyway. Dont know the final outcome. If you get some kind of viral thing once on board they can quarantine you to the room. When we cruised last January I know there were several people quarantined to the room for part of their cruise. We already got everyone their flu shots and we just try to emphasize good handwashing all the time with the kids. We and the kids always take Airborne before flying and just cross our fingers whenever planning a vacation.

I would like to participate in the magnet exchange and hopefully I can find some in our little town.

We booked the Stingray excursion and banana boating at Castaway. My kids like to do the banana boats every cruise and they loved the stingrays at Grand Cayman. St. Martin and St. Thomas we will do on our own and probably end up at a beach and do a little shopping.

We have early dining, and I am not sure if I posted before, but my mom and dad are also accompanying us. So we have three cabins on deck 6.

Staying at Gaylord Palms night before cruise and going to their "Ice" display. Sounds different.

We have never cruised at holiday time and I cant wait to see the ship all decorated.

 

[TJGorman]

The ship is beautiful decorated. We cruised mid-December two years ago. It was very nice. However, being from the north, it seems odd to hear Christmas music without cold temps. and snow on the ground. We are in 2612 and dining at 6pm. Last cruise, we had the late dinner, so this is different, I hope we can make it to dinner on time.

 

[Boo Mc]

You guys have got me thinking that maybe I should start packing. I had to order birth certificates for DH and myself since we couldn't find ours and I feel better now that they've arrived. We're staying at the Radisson the night before but I'm wondering if I should have stayed at Ron Jon's. We won't get to the hotel till about 5:00 though so we wouldn't have had that much time to enjoy RJ's amenities.

Does anyone know of a mini golf place near the Radisson? Our kids would really like to do that on Friday. We'll have a rental car so we can get around.

I wish I had found more coordinating clothes in the summer when they were out so we could get some family pix . Don't know what I was thinking! See you in a few weeks.

 

[jjbescher]

Does anyone know of a mini golf place near the Radisson? Our kids would really like to do that on Friday. We'll have a rental car so we can get around.

Boo - I do not know of any place, but you may want to contact Shirley from the perfect gift. She has been very helpful to people on the board and would know if there was a place. However, after Wilma, I do not know if any will be open when we go down.

jon

 

[DiaLady]

Michelle2 - Yes, I'm with the handwashing crew on helping to prevent sickness. It's also about not doing something stupid . . .like sitting out at a evening baseball game in 40-50 degree weather and shivering b/c I forgot my jacket and blanket. Flu shots go a long way to dealing with residual flu junk around as well.

Boo Mc - I understand about the birth certificates. We just ordered passports. They're not due back until Nov 12th!! When you order your passport, they take a copy of your birth certiificates. I had an extra one, but no one else in my family does. Thanks for the reminder. I'm going to have to do express for my dh who is from Washington State. The cool thing with the kids is that I can take 1/2 day and run up to the state capital to get theirs. Maybe we'll go to the museum that day . . .ummm

Today is our day to switch from summer to winter. Seems like winter just smashed summer here. It was close to 80 degrees last week. This week we're barely in the 60's. I'm switching the boys dressers from summer to winter clothes. They are excited b/c many of the summer clothes are going into the suitcases. My older dh wanted to know if it would be warm enough to wear shorts on the trip . .. LOL. He was immediately sent to the world map to see where we were going sail

Well off to school for us . . .

Have a great day!

 

[DsnysGr8t]

Michelle; Usually about 2 weeks before we go on vacation we start taking vitamin/mineral combo my SIL who's a micro-biologist has recommended: 1 Echinacea w/Golden Seal, 1 Zinc and 1 Ester C. Usually w/breakfast, we also continue this onto our trip. Unfortunately last Friday DH came down with a nasty flu/cold, even he's considered a "high risk" (he's a diabetic) and can usually find a flu shot by now, they're not offering them in as many locations!

So the rest of us have started the vitamin/mineral combo early so we won't catch his bug! I totally agree with the hand washing, also on the last cruise we were on (Celebrity) they had that germ gel stuff at the beginning of all the buffet lines and no one got sick that we met. I'm going to bring a bunch of little bottles of that for us to use before the buffets on the DCL.

Lisa

 

[jjbescher]

From a couple of the live threads and trip reports that I have read, they have the hand-wipes for everything on the boat. Some of the people have stated it that it seems a little overboard, but would rather have it that way then people get sick.

jon

 

[DiaLady]

DsnysGr8t - That's great advice from you SIL! You might want to ask her about the duration of the Echinacea. I can't remember if it begins to loose it's effect on the immune system after 30 or 60 days. That's why it's recommended to take it when you start feeling a cold coming on instead of all winter. You have a good plan taking before the trip.

Another great addition to this list is garlic. You can eat lots of it (my step dad serves it by the clove at the table - He's very Italian) or you can get it in a tablet form. Garlic also helps buck up the ole immune system. However, be careful not to over do it or your skin and even your shoes will start to smell REALLY bad . . .LOL. We've actually had to throw away DH's work shoes b/c he was taking too much garlic.

DsnysGr8t, I hadn't even thought of this b/c it has still been too warm here. Best get on the ball with me and the family

Have a great day!

 

[grlzmom]

I am really looking forward to the cruise now.
We woke up to a winterstorm warning today and the kids are being dismissed early. Very heavy, very wet snow, accumulating quickly. Boy, its too early for this, even in the mountains.

DCL is very good about handing out the sanitary wipes. Also, when you go into the gift shop and use the pen to sign for a charge, they DO NOT reuse the pen for another customer. They are sanitized before reusing. Someone also said that spread of germs was why pin trading with CMs was discontinued last year. I have no idea if that is fact or rumor.

My dh (an MD) is also a big garlic fan. Thinks its a cure for everything We had also heard that about Ecchinacea. We like the airborne just before getting on the plane. The ones that are too little for the airborne get a little dab of neosporin on their nostrils (per the pediatricians recommendation).

Flu shots here are more plentiful than they were last year and the pediatrician usually wants us to wait until November but this year they were recommending October vaccination so we are all set.

The kids clubs are VERY good about the handwashing. Each child is squirted with soap by a CM when entering the club and directed right to the bathroom to lather up and rinse. This happens EVERY time they enter the club. Never paid attention to the lab kids, but probably its the same procedure. Maybe its changed. We havent cruised since January (our longest stretch without DCL) and we are all ready for a fix.

I need to find a bathing suit, as mine are all raggy and in need of retirement. Any suggestions on where to order one on line?

Also, for you guys that have Walmart, have you seen all the Disney candies in the candy aisle? Lots of gummies and chocolate type stuff.

 

[halestrm]

REGARDING GETTING SICK - I am taking vitamins right now, and I swear by Airborne. I know it doesn't work for everyone. I strongly recommend lots and lots of water (not tea or anything else, just water) and the hand washing. It really helps. Here is some information from the Art of Voice website (for professional voiceover artist, singers, etc)

Voice-acting tips from

“The Art of Voice Acting Workshop”

COLD AND FLU REMEDIES

The season of colds and flu is rapidly approaching. Since we are in a business where our voice is our business, it is critical that we know how to care for it when we are ill. Some of our good friends in voice-over and professional speaking have contributed these cold and flu remedies for you to use. Everyone is different, so we can’t guarantee these remedies will work for you – but they’ve been proven to work for many people, so they’re definitely worth trying. Use your own judgment in using these remedies. All of these suggestions are homeopathic or over-the-counter and non-prescription. These are submitted by Sheryl Roush, Carolyn Bercovitz, Paul Bean, James Alburger and others.

FOR COLD SYMPTOMS:
When you feel the first symptoms of a cold coming on go try using Zicam ( www.zicam.com). Zicam is basically zinc in a nasal gel formula. One squirt into each nostril every few hours at first symptoms can stop a cold dead in its tracks. Zicam has been shown to reduce cold symptoms and the duration of a cold up to 7 days. It’s available over the counter in most pharmacies. The Costco pharmacy has the best price I’ve found anywhere.

KLI Corp. distributes a wonderful throat spray called Entertainer’s Secret Throat Relief: THE Solution for Dry Sore Throat and Hoarse Voice. You can purchase Entertainer’s Secret from KLI CORP, 1119 Third Ave SW, Carmel, IN 46032. Voice 317-846-7452 or 800-308-7452 Fax 317-846-1676. Visit their website at www.entertainers-secret.com or e-mail at info@entertainers-secret.com.

Another throat care remedy is Throat Coat herbal tea by Traditional Medicinals. You’ll find it at Trader Joe’s and other health food stores.

Another good product available at Trader Joe’s is Grether’s Black Current Pastiles. Although not a cold remedy, these tasty lozenges will help to keep your mouth and throat moist and comfortable.

Paul Bean of Tucson, AZ, wrote: “Jim, I recently tried "Airborne" tablets. At the first sign of a cold, you pop one of these tablets into a glass of water, let it dissolve & drink it down. This was recently recommended to me by a friend & IT WORKS. "Airborne" is available @ Trader Joe's & most large chain drug stores.”

At first signs of a cold or flu, take Alpha CF immediately. This can still be effective in reducing symptoms even after a cold or flu has set in. Alpha CD is a homeopathic formula, which means you can’t have anything in your mouth for at least 15 minutes, except for water, before or after taking the remedy. Take 2 at first symptoms and let them dissolve under your tongue. Then take one every hour or so until you start to feel better. Taper off until you feel you are clear of symptoms.

Citrus seed extract. This remedy comes in both liquid form and tablets. Although the liquid works faster, it tastes horrible. For the tablets – take 2 at first symptoms, then one every few hours.

Alpha CF and Citrus seed extract can be taken together.

Drink large quantities of water, juice, chicken soup and herbal tea.

REMEDIES FOR OTHER COLD & FLU SEASON AILMENTS:

For sore throats – try ColdEze Lozenges – clinically proven to shorten the life of a cold

For respiratory and sinus conditions, try traditional homeopathic remedies like Traditional Medicine’s Echinacea Plus tea. The tea form of Echinacea seems to work better than the capsules or tablets.

For stomach aches, try plain chamomile tea. 2 cups should do the trick. Other alternatives include Acidophilus, Traditional Medicine’s Ginger Aid tea, and Tea for Digestion by Good Earth.

For infection – Goldenseal/Echinacea drops.

For constipation – try 1/3 cup oat bran cooked in 1 cup of water, drink lots of water. Can be added to oatmeal.