November 26, 2011 Western Carribean

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

Hey everyone!

I am looking forward to the cruise. I have started the excel document for FE. Now I am even more excited!

I love to plan things!

I am EXTREMELY excited for the FE Cannot wait to see how many people will join in the fun...only 9 months to go

 

[CherylA]

Hey everyone!

I am looking forward to the cruise. I have started the excel document for FE. Now I am even more excited!

I love to plan things!

I'm so glad you are organizing this. Thank you! I'm already thinking about what I will give out as our gift(s)

 

[TJGorman]

I have had mine planned since December! LOL

 

[PA DISNEY]

Okay, so obviously, we are REALLY newbies!! What is FE? I assume it's a gift exchange, and we would TOTALLY be in for it, but can someone explain it to me?

Also, in looking at Cozumel, I saw that some DISer's had organized a group of them to go to Nachi Cocum, an all-inclusive beach, and I have been reading about how amazing people felt it was. Is anyone interested in that?

 

[CherylA]

Okay, so obviously, we are REALLY newbies!! What is FE? I assume it's a gift exchange, and we would TOTALLY be in for it, but can someone explain it to me?

Also, in looking at Cozumel, I saw that some DISer's had organized a group of them to go to Nachi Cocum, an all-inclusive beach, and I have been reading about how amazing people felt it was. Is anyone interested in that?

Totally interested, i think we're going to do Nachi Cocum too. FE stands for "fish extender" which is a little hanging pocket you put on the fish that is outside your stateroom door. Everyone participating in the FE gets a list of stateroom numbers and who is in the stateroom and we each give a gift to each other, delivering them on various days. Some people do little fun things for the kids, some people do something a little larger or more $$ and do one per stateroom, theres lots of threads about it on the cruise board

 

[cshelzy]

we are also planning on Nachi Cocum as long as we can do the dolphin swim in grand cayman.

Fe are alot of fun we did it on the wonder last year.

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

We are most likely not going to do Nachi Cocum...we REALLY want to see the ruins in Cozumel, but we are more "historical" type people. We like learning about the history of places, especially really ancient history like there is in Cozumel.

 

[PA DISNEY]

we are also planning on Nachi Cocum as long as we can do the dolphin swim in grand cayman.

Fe are alot of fun we did it on the wonder last year.

AWESOME! If we could have 100 DISer's at Nachi Cocum and have the place to ourselves, that would be GREAT!!! I'll look into how to go about reserving it if we do get 100.

Anyone else interested?

 

[CherylA]

I actually bought my flights this past Friday. It is super early and JetBlue and Southwest haven't even released their dates but Delta had a 7am Thanksgiving morning flight, direct from our home airport (Hartford, CT) to Orlando and back at 6PM direct also for $220 R/T. I'll have to pay baggage fees on Delta so that will increase the price but I just had to book while the price was something I could live with. With all this talk of gas prices skyrocketing I was so nervous about what would happen to flight prices. I love knowing now what time I am getting in and leaving, makes it so much nicer to plan.

We are going to rent a car from Budget for the 2 days before the cruise and then drive it to the port and drop it at Budget. After the cruise I am leaning toward renting again for the day and driving to Downtown Disney for the afternoon before our 6PM flight. Hubby thinks he would rather take the DCL trasfers back and get a day room at the Hyatt and hang out at the airport all day. So that is still to be decided.

Anyone else book their transportation yet?

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

I actually bought my flights this past Friday. It is super early and JetBlue and Southwest haven't even released their dates but Delta had a 7am Thanksgiving morning flight, direct from our home airport (Hartford, CT) to Orlando and back at 6PM direct also for $220 R/T. I'll have to pay baggage fees on Delta so that will increase the price but I just had to book while the price was something I could live with. With all this talk of gas prices skyrocketing I was so nervous about what would happen to flight prices. I love knowing now what time I am getting in and leaving, makes it so much nicer to plan.

We are going to rent a car from Budget for the 2 days before the cruise and then drive it to the port and drop it at Budget. After the cruise I am leaning toward renting again for the day and driving to Downtown Disney for the afternoon before our 6PM flight. Hubby thinks he would rather take the DCL trasfers back and get a day room at the Hyatt and hang out at the airport all day. So that is still to be decided.

Anyone else book their transportation yet?

As I said before, we are driving. We LOVE to drive We used to take yearly trips to NOLA (New Orleans) which is about a 14-16 hour drive from Louisville, KY, but my father's family lives there. We would usually drive all the way through. I bought a brand new car (Chrysler Sebring) a couple years ago so we have a perfectly reliable vehicle, and it gets 30+ MPG in it's 17gal tank on the highway. I can drive 300 miles (from Louisville to Toledo, Ohio were DH2b's family is) and still have 1/2 a tank left So even with the rising gas prices, we like the scenery and the fun of driving...plus, we have plenty of time

 

[BethC1952]

Anyone else book their transportation yet?

We're thinking about taking Amtrak. We love traveling by train, and we'll have more than enough time (plus no luggage fees!). If we do that, we'll leave New Jersey on Thursday and arrive on Friday. We'll probably stay at the Radisson at the Port the night before the cruise. I've stayed there once before, and it was very convenient. Between cruises we're going back to WDW, and probably for a night or two after the cruise. We could leave FL on Saturday and be home on Sunday night.

Beth

 

[CherylA]

As I said before, we are driving. We LOVE to drive We used to take yearly trips to NOLA (New Orleans) which is about a 14-16 hour drive from Louisville, KY, but my father's family lives there. We would usually drive all the way through. I bought a brand new car (Chrysler Sebring) a couple years ago so we have a perfectly reliable vehicle, and it gets 30+ MPG in it's 17gal tank on the highway. I can drive 300 miles (from Louisville to Toledo, Ohio were DH2b's family is) and still have 1/2 a tank left So even with the rising gas prices, we like the scenery and the fun of driving...plus, we have plenty of time

With my 14-18 mpg car, if gas is even $5.00/gallon (never mind the $7.00 some are predicting) it will cost us a fortune to drive. Plus a hotel room each way and all the time spent... We actually love to drive down too and have done it many times but this time it just wouldn't work. We already have booked and paid for a DVC reservation at Bay Lake Towers for Thurs and Fri night so we need to be there for Thursday. The kiddos have school 1/2 day on Wednesday but even if we left as soon as school was over given the Thanksgiving traffic there is no way we could make it down to FL by Thursday. Don't want to leave any earlier because they are already missing the whole next week of school. Enjoy the footloose and fancy free travel before you have kids! These little buggers come with all kinds of restrictions! Usually I wait until I find a great deal before booking a flight with the backup plan that if I don't find something that works, we'll drive, but this was not an option this time.

We're thinking about taking Amtrak. We love traveling by train, and we'll have more than enough time (plus no luggage fees!). If we do that, we'll leave New Jersey on Thursday and arrive on Friday. We'll probably stay at the Radisson at the Port the night before the cruise. I've stayed there once before, and it was very convenient. Between cruises we're going back to WDW, and probably for a night or two after the cruise. We could leave FL on Saturday and be home on Sunday night.

Beth

I thought about Amtrak too. We've done the autotrain before out of Lorton VA, (LOVE IT) but that would actually have taken too long for us what with Thanksgiving traffic and trying to get down there. I did sort of look at the regular Amtrak. There were a few bumps I would have had to overcome like getting a rental car at the train station that I could then return at the port (and not paying an arm and a leg for it) If Amtrak's fares were fully refundable I would have booked the train and waitied to see what happened with flights but thats not the case. Someday though I think it would be fun to take the train down from NY.

 

[BethC1952]

I thought about Amtrak too. We've done the autotrain before out of Lorton VA, (LOVE IT) but that would actually have taken too long for us what with Thanksgiving traffic and trying to get down there. I did sort of look at the regular Amtrak. There were a few bumps I would have had to overcome like getting a rental car at the train station that I could then return at the port (and not paying an arm and a leg for it) If Amtrak's fares were fully refundable I would have booked the train and waitied to see what happened with flights but thats not the case. Someday though I think it would be fun to take the train down from NY.

We have a limo service pick us up at the station (neither one of us drives!). We'll take Disney Transportation back to WDW after each cruise, and then have the limo pick us up at WDW and return us to the station at the end of our trip. We take the train to Kissimmee and get off there, less crowds, less aggravation! We take the train from Newark, NJ. It's about 50 minutes from our house to Penn Station in Newark.

Beth

 

[CherylA]

We have a limo service pick us up at the station (neither one of us drives!). We'll take Disney Transportation back to WDW after each cruise, and then have the limo pick us up at WDW and return us to the station at the end of our trip. We take the train to Kissimmee and get off there, less crowds, less aggravation! We take the train from Newark, NJ. It's about 50 minutes from our house to Penn Station in Newark.

Beth

Sounds neat, do you guys get a room or do you sleep in coach seats?

 

[BethC1952]

We've always just slept in the coach seats. However, we're considering the possibility of a "roomette" on the trip down this time, just for the experience!

I took a cross-country train trip years ago, and slept in the coach seat for the three nights it took to get from Chicago to San Diego. It was a real luxury compared to sleeping in the seat of the Greyhound bus for five nights on the way back, but what a trip that was!!!

Beth

 

[CherylA]

The roomettes are neat. You get a much better night's sleep. They are so expensive though! Our last train trip (autotrain) we did coach for the first time. I actually didn't mind it. My hubby didn't sleep too well though. I'd do coach again. If I was going to spring for a room it would be on the way back. Thats when I'm cranky, on the way down you could strap me to the roof and I'd be happy because I'm going to Disney! (or on a cruise or whatever!)

 

[BethC1952]

The roomettes are neat. You get a much better night's sleep. They are so expensive though! Our last train trip (autotrain) we did coach for the first time. I actually didn't mind it. My hubby didn't sleep too well though. I'd do coach again. If I was going to spring for a room it would be on the way back. Thats when I'm cranky, on the way down you could strap me to the roof and I'd be happy because I'm going to Disney! (or on a cruise or whatever!)

I'm just the opposite. On the way home, I'm so tired that I could sleep standing up in the middle of the aisle!

Beth

 

[MamaLuvBunny31]

Hello all! I just booked my cruise! I'm a first time cruiser and this will be the first time I've traveled anywhere by myself! It will be just me (I'll be 32 when we cruise) and my daughter who will be 6 when we go. I'm a single mom and slightly worried that I won't have as much fun as those traveling with big families. I am terrified and super excited at the same time!

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

Hello all! I just booked my cruise! I'm a first time cruiser and this will be the first time I've traveled anywhere by myself! It will be just me (I'll be 32 when we cruise) and my daughter who will be 6 when we go. I'm a single mom and slightly worried that I won't have as much fun as those traveling with big families. I am terrified and super excited at the same time!

My mom was a single mother from the time I was 2, and I am an only child. We went on so many different trips together, not just Disney, all throughout the years. Our last trip that was just the two of us was to California in 2008, including a stop at Disneyland. You would be surprised with how much fun just a mother and daughter can have. We still do things just the two of us whenever we can (she remarried in 2006 and I have my DH2b, so it's hard to find a moment away from our men ). I have so many wonderful memories of all the things we have done together and I can honestly say they are the most precious memories of my life, so far

 

[TJGorman]

Hello all! I just booked my cruise! I'm a first time cruiser and this will be the first time I've traveled anywhere by myself! It will be just me (I'll be 32 when we cruise) and my daughter who will be 6 when we go. I'm a single mom and slightly worried that I won't have as much fun as those traveling with big families. I am terrified and super excited at the same time!

Welcome Aboard!

I think you will have a wonderful time! Anytime you leave the coldness of NY for the warmth of the Caribbean, is a wonderful time!