November 5th 2011 Eastern on the Magic

[LovesToRun]

Claire (clj1410) - I love the pictures of your kids and your family!!! Great photos!! It looks like you were on a Disney cruise during Halloween. I bet that was really fun! Did they trick-or-treat at Halloween? If so, how did they do it?

I also love the pictures of Castaway Cay! I can't wait to go there!! I am just praying for nice weather and no winds (because if there are high winds, it can make it so the ship can't dock.... that happened to us in January and Castaway Cay became a sea day ).



Matt, Glad you got your plans figured out! I am the vacation planner in our family, and I have come to the conclusion that planning vacations, figuring out all the logistics, booking things, etc, is a whole job in itself! But, a job well worth doing!!

I am sure you all will be just beat by the time you leave on the plane to fly home after a day at Sea World, but it'll totally be worth it. That is how we felt last year when we spent the whole day after the ship at Down Town Disney... it was a fun day for sure and passed the time well, but man, we were all wiped OUT by the time we got on the plane, and it is a 6 hour flight for us... the kids wanted to sleep a good share of the way, but we purposely made them stay awake so when we actually got home, they'd fall asleep right away!! I don't think any of us remembered even our heads hitting the pillows that night when we finally got home to our house. But, doing all those fun things to pass the time with a late flight was so worth it!


Hope everyone is doing well and having a good day.

Take care,
Kathy

 

[flygrl]

Hi Everyone
Sorry haven't been online that much we were at my parents for the weekend and they have no internet, then just busy at work with school being in. Love all the picture. Hope all the kids like their teachers this year. Sean and Meghan like their's for now...LOL
I will have to get the pictures up of them. I will try to do that tomorrow. Our trip will be here sooner than we know it, soon i will start packing, it is getting cool here now so the shorts and skirts will be put away.
Well it is Big Brother time... Have a great night!!!
Tanya

 

[NC2WDW]

Kathy:LovestoRun: No we didn't decide to upgrade. We won't be eligible for a free surprise upgrade either because we chose our room number. Also, loved the pics of the bridge. I had tears in my eyes reading the story about your kids being able to see what their grandfather did for a living. I am very close to my grandfather and we didn't realize it when we booked, but Nov 10th is my grandfather's 80th birthday.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Sandy,

I have bought one thing for the cruise. New walking shoes for all of us. Now to break them in. Got great buys on them.

I will be going through out clothes next weekend to see if we need any clothes but probably not. We both have some clothes we never wear accept for the dinners on cruises and weddings, so as long as they still fit
we wont need any more.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

WOW!!!

We are almost on page 50
Thats a lot of posting in the last month.
Great job everyone,


Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hi Everyone
Sorry haven't been online that much we were at my parents for the weekend and they have no internet, then just busy at work with school being in. Love all the picture. Hope all the kids like their teachers this year. Sean and Meghan like their's for now...LOL
I will have to get the pictures up of them. I will try to do that tomorrow. Our trip will be here sooner than we know it, soon i will start packing, it is getting cool here now so the shorts and skirts will be put away.
Well it is Big Brother time... Have a great night!!!
Tanya

Hi Tanya,

Nice to see you had a chance to post. Looking forward to seeing the pictures soon.


Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

Kathy:LovestoRun: No we didn't decide to upgrade. We won't be eligible for a free surprise upgrade either because we chose our room number. Also, loved the pics of the bridge. I had tears in my eyes reading the story about your kids being able to see what their grandfather did for a living. I am very close to my grandfather and we didn't realize it when we booked, but Nov 10th is my grandfather's 80th birthday.

Well, you really don't spend a lot of time in your room, so spending money to upgrade vs. spending money on shore excursions, or other fun experiences on the cruise... or some fun adult drinks with those cool umbrellas in them .... probably spending the money on the latter are the things you'll remember the most (depending on how many of those fun drinks with umbrellas you have, though... ).

It is possible to still get a free upgrade after you've chosen your stateroom. So, you never know!! That happened to us (only once, and probably will be the only time we will get that lucky!), but we had chosen our stateroom already (a porthole room) and DCL upgraded us for free a few weeks before our cruise to a veranda! It was an amazing surprise. So, it definitely can happen! It just depends on how full that ship is, I think. I think on the cruise we were on, the cruise was not full, so they uprded some folks in order to open up the less expensive rooms. That is my guess.... but I honestly have no idea why we were upgraded, but we definitely did not complain! It ended up being a total blessing in disguise, though, because that was the cruise where I injured my ankle, so having a veranda was SOOOOO awesome for me because I had a hard time walking, so just being able to sit out on our veranda in the fresh air and sun was so nice without having to hobble up to the top decks to get fresh air and sun.

Oh, that is too bad you'll miss your grandfather's birthday. Hopefully you can celebrate when you get home! That is neat you have a very close relationship with him. btw, my birthday is Nov 10! So, your grandpa and I are exactly 40 years apart in age.

-Kathy

 

[clj1410]

Hi everyone,

What a crazy busy day!! First day of school (or first week of school) is always busy, but the boys loved their first day, and they like their teachers, so all is off to a good start.

I finally had time to read through the posts from the weekend. Sounds like everyone had a good weekend.

Well, with the exception of an inservice day at school once between now and November, the next time our boys will have time off school is Nov 5 - 12!




Thanks for sending this out, Kathy! I got the list and all the info (stateroom, names, ages) for our family looks great. I'm just waiting for a free upgrade to the Walt Disney Suite... Oh, what wishful thinking!!! LOL!!!!!



I think there is a period between when you have to pay your balance and when cancellation fees actually set in. So, it's common to see rooms open up just before the window where cancellation fees set in for people who decide last minute to cancel without penalty. So, I'm guessing those are the rooms you are seeing. As for mid-ship vs. foward, we've stayed in both locations. I think it might be a little more stable mid-ship, but truly, it really just depends on the seas. The cruise where we were in the Forward, the seas were SO calm the entire cruise... so we felt no motion... because there was no motion! But, we've been mid-ship in rough seas (where the captain actually had to announce through the entire ship to hold onto railings when walking and be very careful), and when it's like that, you can definitely feel motion mid-ship!! But, I think in just normal/typical seas (a little waves, but mostly calm), you really feel nothing mid-ship, and maybe a tad wave here or there forward. BUT, I am not bothered one bit by motion, so maybe it also really depends on the person and how sensitive they are to motion.

So, did you decide to upgrade?



That is so cool you do this to save up for On Board Credit on the ship!! There is nothing MORE fun to spend than free money!! And, that is a lot you will have to spend. It is amazing, though, how fast you can rack up your on board account!! But, as you saw, Disney cancelled the "new" alcohol policy, and it's back to what it was, so luckily, you don't have to use a big chunk of your $1,000 on board credit on alcohol now, and you can bring your own.



Tyler definitely wants to go to the Tween Club (The Edge), but he also wants to go to the Lab (I think because that is all he knows). But, I found out that the 11-12 year olds can choose to go to the Lab instead of the Edge, but if they do that, they'll have to wear a wrist band. And, if they get a wrist band, they cannot go to the Edge because the Edge the kids check themselves in and out, so they don't have wrist bands. So, what Tyler said he'll try is go to the Edge and the Lab apparently has certain times each day where the kids from the Edge can come into the Lab, and he said he'd do that. But, from what I've read on the main Dis Boards is that the kids new to the Edge usually are unsure before they get on the ship, but once they are on the ship and go into the Edge for the first time, they have no desire to go back to the Lab because there are so many fun things to do at the Edge, plus all the kids in the Edge are their age.

So, they do have the option to do both... but I have a feeling Tyler will want to be at the Edge. We'll see!

How was Josh and Emma's first day at school, and Emma's first day in middle school??? She must be in 6th grade, then, right? Tyler is in 5th, but he is a November birthday, so that is why he's in 5th and almost 11 years old... just the birthday cut off thing. I think it's good for him, though, especially size wise... he's small for his age (just a genetic thing... lots of small people in our family), so if he were in 6th grade right now, he'd look REALLY small for his grade. So, he fits in better size-wise with 9 and 10 year olds. But, you never know.... he may have a big growth spurt coming on sometime soon!!



Thanks!!


Well, I think that about catches me up!!

Kathy

Kathy

Emma and Josh both had a good first day of school, I am not loving these early mornings though, Emma has to be out the door by 6:45 How did your boys make out??

Emma used to be one of the smallest in the class too, but this summer she had a major growth spurt and is now nearly as tall as me, yes we have some people that are vertically challanged in our family too!

I am hoping to get both my kids into the clubs this year, last year they didn't want to go, the time before that they went once and didn't want to go again! That is why i asked Kathy (Mom x4) to do the kids list, that way maybe the kids can make a friend before we go and it won't be as scary for them

I heard the Edge was good for the tweens, but i am not sure i like the idea of her being able to sign herself out when she feels like it!

 

[clj1410]

Claire (clj1410) - I love the pictures of your kids and your family!!! Great photos!! It looks like you were on a Disney cruise during Halloween. I bet that was really fun! Did they trick-or-treat at Halloween? If so, how did they do it?

I also love the pictures of Castaway Cay! I can't wait to go there!! I am just praying for nice weather and no winds (because if there are high winds, it can make it so the ship can't dock.... that happened to us in January and Castaway Cay became a sea day ).



Matt, Glad you got your plans figured out! I am the vacation planner in our family, and I have come to the conclusion that planning vacations, figuring out all the logistics, booking things, etc, is a whole job in itself! But, a job well worth doing!!

I am sure you all will be just beat by the time you leave on the plane to fly home after a day at Sea World, but it'll totally be worth it. That is how we felt last year when we spent the whole day after the ship at Down Town Disney... it was a fun day for sure and passed the time well, but man, we were all wiped OUT by the time we got on the plane, and it is a 6 hour flight for us... the kids wanted to sleep a good share of the way, but we purposely made them stay awake so when we actually got home, they'd fall asleep right away!! I don't think any of us remembered even our heads hitting the pillows that night when we finally got home to our house. But, doing all those fun things to pass the time with a late flight was so worth it!


Hope everyone is doing well and having a good day.

Take care,
Kathy

Thanks Kathy

Yes we were on the Magic for Halloween last year. It was so much fun, the kids did get to trick or treat onboard. You had to go to the starting point and they gave you a map of all the "Trick or Treat" stations, which were all over the ship, we spent about an hour running up and down stairs and across the ship. Then they had a Halloween dance party up on deck afterwards, they kids had a blast!

We have been luck enough to get to CC on both of our sailings, although it was a close call last year, as the weather was making a turn for the worst, and i know the Wonder was not able to dock the next day.

Claire

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Good morning everyone,

We have been so fortunate that we have never missed Castaway Cay on any of our cruises although we too had a close call on our last cruise and due ot high winds we almost didnt get to dock. It was Captain Tom's last trip before flying to Germany to be with the Dream.
So he said he was determined to make it.

It took a couple of hours and many tries but we did make it in. Everyone cheered up on decks 9 &10 when we made it.
We di dmiss Grand Caymen once due to rough seas . They felt it wasnt safe for the tender boats to run. I agree. I had already decided I wasnt going ashore with those waves even if they would have let us. Luckily w ehad been there once before.


Happy to hear all the kids and moms are surviving the first week of school. I remember it was hard to get back into that routine again. That getting up extra early was always a killer for the kids.

I'll check back later. Hope we make it onto the next page today.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Very quiet here today. Guess thats another sign school has started

Back in a few hours,
Kathy

 

[GreensboroKG]

Love the zoo photos. Everyone has been busy posting! DH has a few times in the last few days but I haven't. DS started school on Tues so I was busy with that and took a few days off from work to be able to shuttle him around. We went bowling yesterday afternoon after school. Next week he will go for the full day. Pre-K looks like a lot of fun to me.

Our return flight on SouthWest is around 6PM -- think DH said 4. There was a 1:30 option that we thought was too early so we booked a dinner hour flight and will hang out with my aunt and uncle for a few hours/have lunch and they will transport us to the airport. My "aunt" is 6 years older than me and 16 years younger than my mom so we're close in age and like to hang out. She's a lot of fun and is an Orlando area RE agent if anyone needs one ever.

We upgraded again last night. DH is somewhat obsessed and moved us to a higher floor. Don't remember the new room # but will send it to you Kathy for the FE list. We had moved from an inside room to an oceanview on level 2. Now we're on 6 or 7. DH thought we'd get a better view if we were higher up. I think he's waiting for me to win a scratch off lottery tix or something so he can say we're upgrading to the Navigator Family Suite! But I am happy with an o'view. Can't believe the 1st week of Sept is almost over. 8 weeks from today we leave for Orlando. DS is excited about the cruise and spending the day before at Magic Kingdom. I am starting to pray now that we have perfect weather in MCO (75 degrees please) and NO STORMS in the pipeline at sea.

Anybody been on a cruise during a storm? Not necessarily a hurricane - but storm or rough seas? I bought seabands for myself and DS just in case. DH has a cast iron stomach but want to see if my bands would fit him and get him some too just in case. Has anyone tried seabands - do they really work?

Have a great afternoon everyone.

 

[LovesToRun]

We upgraded again last night. We had moved from an inside room to an oceanview on level 2. Now we're on 6 or 7. DH thought we'd get a better view if we were higher up.

Anybody been on a cruise during a storm? Not necessarily a hurricane - but storm or rough seas? I bought seabands for myself and DS just in case. DH has a cast iron stomach but want to see if my bands would fit him and get him some too just in case. Has anyone tried seabands - do they really work?

Have a great afternoon everyone.

Congrats on upgrading! We've only had staterooms on deck 7, and we really like the higher decks for the same reason... we like to be higher because it seems like you can see over the ocean better. BUT, the lower rooms I think would be really great, too, because I know I like to go down to deck 3 in the public areas and sit and watch the waves go by the windows... just looks really cool to have the ocean so close, too. So, I think every deck is great. But, I'm sure you'll enjoy the higher deck.

We have not been in a cruise during a storm, but have been on a cruise during rough seas!! On our Panama Canal cruise this past January, when we got over to the Pacific Ocean, it was very rough, but the weather was good (it was blue skies and sunny, but just very very windy and lots of big ocean swells). I actually got pictures of the rough seas.... of course, the pictures never really show how big the waves were, but you can get an idea by looking at these. It was so rough, they had to close the family pool, and the adult pool didn't close, but it was like a total wave pool... haha... it would just splash way up on each side as the ship rolled. And, the ship had its stabalizers out, too, but you could still feel the waves. Although, I didn't really hear people talk about feeling sick... maybe it was because we all had been on the ship like 13 days by that time, so maybe a lot of people had just gotten their sea legs and sea stomach by then. I never get sea sick, nor does anyone in my family, so these waves did not bother us at all... in fact, I really enjoyed them!! I thought it was really fun.

Here are a few pictures of the waves:

We also had really rough weather on our Feb. 2010 7-day Eastern on our last night, so we were at sea... it was a bit of a storm, I guess, because it was super windy, very rainy (rain was going sideways), and huge waves... the captain made an annoucement for people to hold onto railings when they walked around. So, i guess I have been in "sort of a storm" on a cruise. Thank goodness, on that cruise, that was the only time it rained... we had perfect weather the rest of the trip, so it wasn't a big deal because it was the last evening of the trip, so we were in doors packing anyway.

But, for the most part, when it does get rough, the captain does do everything he can to make it pleasant for the passengers... he slows down, or goes a little different route to try to miss the worst of the waves, but sometimes you can't avoid them, and in that case, you just ride them out.

Hopefully we'll have perfect weather in November with totally calm seas!!!

Kathy

 

[Mulanrocks]

Just stopping in for a quick check on everything. Here are Pics of the chain i made for my charges as our disney countdown. They are very excited, and everyday tell me they are going on a pwane to see THE CASTLE! We went to the zoo on tuesday and i had to explain that mickey was not at the zoo.
Lyla has decided that she is a pwincess and Cami says she is a pirate. argghh. Needless to say i am filling their heads with disney movies in preparation of meeting all the characters.
Last two chains:

Its pretty long

alyssa

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

We had 2 rough Eastern cruises and part of a Western once.

Our grandson loved being in the family pool because it was like a wave pool sloshing everyone from side to side and even splashing over the top now and then. That was only for a day and it was really windy, no rain.

The other Eastern in March during Spring break was 35 foot waves and 65 MPH cross winds. It started during the night and i caught myself rolling out of bed

Now that was a rocking ship. I was like Kathy, we didnt get sick and loved the excitement of the waves. The Captain ordered that nobody was allowed on the outer decks part of the time. For safety.
The restaurant was about half empty that night and watching the waiters keep their balance to carry the food was amazing.
Kids didnt seem to mind at all. The clubs were busy. I think parents who were sick sent theior kids to the clubs for the evening so they could rest.

Then we went to see the live music in the club and we were the only people in there
The band teased us by saying they were glad we got the private invitation to the concert. So we clapped and yelled after each song in appreciation.
Just as their show was ending one other couple came in. The band had to move side to side to keep their balance.
Also some of the stunts in the evenign show were curtailed for the performers safety.

I have seen many people wearing the wrist bands and I even asked a couple how good they worked and they all swore by them. Plus many wear the patch behind the ear which I think is a prescription but not sure.

The infirmary will have a container of free sea sick pills outside of the facility if the seas get rough for people.
I have read there is some kind of expensive shot many cruise ships have on board that work awesome!! I don't know the details of it.

I dont know if any of you have seen the movie Master & Commander before but we saw it on the ship during rough seas. The theater sets side ways on the ship so we were watching the movie where they were in a fierce storm and it was like we were right there with them since we were moving back and forth so much. About 30 of us in there and everyone was smiling and laughing because it was so strange to feel the motion of the show while watching it.


Kathy, love your photos and I can tell how big they are after cruising so many times. I think I have photos some where too of rough seas.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Your chains came out really nice. Great job

I may make a short one for us, just for the fun of it. Maybe for the last 30 days.


Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

PAGE 50 !!!



I keep forgetting to tell all the new cruisers that during the sea days look carefully at the sea as close as you can a few times. I say that because there are flying fish in that area and most times you can spot them.

They are small and come out of the water and fly along the top of the water and then back under again. Some we have seen flew for 200 feet at a time, maybe farther.
But you must stop and stare for several minutes to the side of the ship to spot them or off your balcony is even better. Deck 4 is closer to the water so that also makes it easier to see them. But once you see one you will start seeing lots of them. At first they look like the spray of the water.

Anyway I thought some of you might like to see them.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Just a reminder to anyone who wants to watch the Disney Dream pull out of port today, check this web cam at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
Now and then you may need to refresh the video camera. Right now you can see the ship sitting in port.

It usually says the camera is turned off but let it go through all its downloads and then it will turn itself on.
Have fun!!


http://www.portcanaveralwebcam.com/


Kathy

 

[GreensboroKG]

Kathy,

Tried to watch that webcam and it was pouring rain; couldn't see a thing! I hope it doesn't rain on our departure because then you can't do the waiving at people and sail away party. Oh well . . .

Here are some Peter Pics:

First day at PreK:

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Peter in prison (actually we don't really keep him locked in a cage (usually):

[/IMG]

 

[LovesToRun]

The other Eastern in March during Spring break was 35 foot waves and 765 MPH cross winds. It started during the night and i caught myself rolling out of bed

Kathy

Wow, those must have been some winds!! I'm surprised the ship did not end up in the Pacific Ocean. Ok, sorry... I just could not resist.

I know that was just a typo, but it made me chuckle.

But, regardless, winds on a cruise ship in the 70 or 60 mile per hour range is really high!!!

I love your story, though, about sitting in the lounge by yourselves listening to music and nobody else was there because of the rough seas.... that is great!!

Oh, on our Panama Canal cruise, there were many times it was rough, and the times it was rough when they didn't close the family pool, it was just like you descbribed with your grandson in the pool.... it was like a wave pool and our kids loved it!! They were literally riding the waves back and forth in the pool and the pool water was crashing up on the deck. haha!! The kids loved it...

But, from all the trip reports I've read, and what I've read on the Dis Boards, I think most of the time, the seas are calm. So, hopefully that'll be the case for us (for the sake of those who do get sea sick).

-Kathy