November 5th 2011 Eastern on the Magic

[LovesToRun]

Morning all,

Claire, thats the first thing I thought of this morning was OH boy, 3 weeks from today I will be waking up at Disney World and preparing to catch the bus to the port!!!
That last night is so hard to sleep so we will probably stay out late so we can sleep better. Although I am always up by 6 a.m. everyday. Its just a habit after all the years of having to get up early.



Kathy

Good morning everyone (well morning way over here in the west! ).

yes, Kathy.... so soon!!!! Oh, I can't believe how soon it is until we all cruise. I can't tell you how happy I am to be on this cruise... more than anyone knows... just because this will be the first cruise (let's HOPE!!!!!) where nobody in our family is injured, and honestly, just being able to enjoy everything to the fullest without an injury keeping us from being able to do everything on the ship is just SOOOOOO wonderful to me. So, this will be a very special cruise for us!

Well, my kids are not happy with me today because a few days ago, I scheduled their flu shots at their pediatricians office today. I chose to not tell them until this morning because they HATE getting shots, and they just stress and worry about it, so I figured if I told them the morning of, they only have to stress or worry about it for a very short time. So, I just told them, and now they are all upset at me, but oh well... that is the way things go! I told them we'll do something special afterwards.

Other than that, we have no plans today, which is good because it was a super busy week for us, and I want a day with nothing going on, so I'm looking forward to today!

Jai, those are GREAT airfares!!!! Wow, so glad you got those. We already have our tickets (we booked them using airlines miles a long time ago), but so glad to see you got such a good deal. Nothing better than super cheap airline tickets, and that is a great price from Vegas to MCO!!

Well, hope everyone has a fun weekend planned...or relaxing or whatever.

Take care,
Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Well with Gregs help our FE is all cut out. Now for lunch then we will get it assembled and be ready to go!!

I had to get laundry done this morning or it would have been done by now.

Back later,

Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

3. Along the lines of laundry, you just use your room key to pay for laundry on the ship, so you don't need quarters (I didn't know that on our first cruise, so our first cruise, I brought like $10.00 in quarters and never used them).

4. Another laundry tip: Before you leave, for $1.00 (or maybe less if you can find it on sale), buy a few of the 1 load boxes of Tide powder detergent and the $1.00 1 load downy fabric softener (if you use softener) and bring them in your suitcase! The detergent and softener on the ship is something like $2.00 (or maybe $2.25) for the exact same 1-load box of Tide Powder and $2.00 (or $2.25) for a 1-load Downy Fabric Softener... SO, if you have room, buy those 1-load detergents at home for $1.00 or less to save $$ on laundry. (OR, you can even just bring powder from home in a disposable plastic container, and then it's even cheaper!!)

I wanted to make a correction... I mentioned above here that laundry soap and softerner on the ship are $2.00 or $2.25 on the ship. That is what I had rememberd it being, but it has been a long time since I bought laundry soap on the ship because I always bring my own. But, I just read on the main boards someone wrote that laundry soap and softener is just $1.00 each on the ship. So, I just looked up online, and sure enough, that is correct!! So, i was wrong...

So, I guess if you bring your own detergent from home in a disposable container, that would be cheaper, obviously, than buying it on the ship, but i think those 1-load boxes of Tide you can buy at the store at home are $1.00 each (at least here they are... unless you can find those 1-load boxes for less than $1.00 somewhere), so it turns out it's the same price as on the ship... so unless you bring your detergent from home in a container, you might as well just buy it on the ship and save space in your bag.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

I cant use Tide due to skin irritations and thats usually what they have so I like to buy a small flat sheet that i think Clorox makes and it has detergent and fabric softener in one sheet. You can buy individual or by a 10 pack.

They are great for trips because they are flat for storage, have both detergeant and fabric softener in one and no spills of powered stuff in your luggage. I believe you can get the single sheet for under $2.00 at most Wal Mart or maybe even Target or K-mart stores. plus I dont break out.

I love their convenience. When I buy a couple next weekend I will post the exact name and price if anyone is interested.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Only 22 minutes until we watch the Magic leave port on the web cam.

3 weeks from now it will be us on that camera waving at the people along the banks of the channel.


Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

I cant use Tide due to skin irritations and thats usually what they have so I like to buy a small flat sheet that i think Clorox makes and it has detergent and fabric softener in one sheet. You can buy individual or by a 10 pack.

They are great for trips because they are flat for storage, have both detergeant and fabric softener in one and no spills of powered stuff in your luggage. I believe you can get the single sheet for under $2.00 at most Wal Mart or maybe even Target or K-mart stores. plus I dont break out.

I love their convenience. When I buy a couple next weekend I will post the exact name and price if anyone is interested.

Kathy

Oh wow! I'd love the name of this product and where you buy it. I've never seen something like this (a sheet that is detergent & softener together). So, I take it the sheet disolves in the water??

We travel so much that i'm always looking for little things like this to make packing easier, and you're right... having laundry detergent spilled in your suitcase is no fun! I learned that the hard way, because it happened to me once! Ever since then, I always put my detergent (which is usually in a sealed container) in a ziplock bag... I also do this with all of my toiletries that are liquid or lotions, because I've had that happen, too.... where my shampoo exploded in the suitcase.

I think the worse experience I had was when Tyler was a toddler, he had to be on a toddler formula because he was so underweight (which is because he is just on the small size overall), but I had this big canister of formula in our suitcase, and the lid came off when we were on the plane ON our way to our destination. We got to our hotel, and ALL of our clothes... everything... was just caked in this off-white powder... it was a big canister, like 2lb or 3lb canister! Oh man... it was insane. So, we were doing laundry on our VERY first day of vacation... we had to wash pretty much everything in our suitcase that was washable.

So, you live and learn... everything now that can spill in any way goes in a ziplock plastic bag, and the liquids and lotions (like sunscreen, etc), I actually put in two ziplock bags for reinforcement, JUST in case!

So, having things like these laundry detergent sheets that is not powder is an awesome idea! I can't believe I haven't seen this product before!

Take care,
Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Kathy,
Its only about 2 year sold and not advertise dmuch. No the sheet doesnt dissolve, but after wards you jus tto ssi t in the garbage. I will be getting it next weekend and will get you the exact name.
I have seen many other women using them while on vacation.

MY son in law bought a few bottles of alcohol and instead of shipping them home separately with UPS he put them in his luggage in bubble wrap.
Guess I dont have to tell you wha thappened.
All their clothes smelled of booze and it totally ruined the suticase. They had to throw it away. They wondered if all this liquid had run into someone elses suticase too. It would make sense. His wife told him not to do it but of course he didnt listen to her.. Necer again

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

I saw lots of happy cruisers on the Magic as it pulled out tonight.
It wasnt raining but it was alot of dark menacing clouds there.

3 weeks and it will be us on that ship!!

I will be standing on deck 10 waving my Mickey hands at all who wave along the shore. I do that every cruise right after the Adventures away party ends I dash ot the side to watch us pull out. I have seen Pelicans, sea gulls, Dolphins, sea turtles and large fish along the ship as we go out the channel.


Well the Oregon Ducks are about to start their game so I am off to watch them.

Kathy

 

[wtgilligan]

16 days until we hit the road!! Gonna be a blast.

But first, a question: The salon on the ship, is it decent? my wife wants to get her hair done, what are the prices like? What can they do or not do? What about my hair? I just want a hair cut, is that possible?

 

[PKK/MJK]

We use Purex 3 in 1 sheets for laundry. The sheets contain both detergent and fabric softener. After the load is dry you throw the sheet away. CVS in Orlando and other stores in Fl sell them.

Just got back from a week in Ireland and brought back an Irish cold. My DW has threatened me to get rid of it before the curise or else.

While reading posts about servers at dinner - Our DD (age 30+) is a VERY fussy eater, by the end of the cruise the servers know what she will and will not eat. 2 cruises ago her response to what do you want for dessert item was "nothing". So on the last they brought her a plate with the word "nothing" spelled out in chocolate syrup. we all had a great laugh. This is one of the many reasons we love the DCL cruises, the staff is excellant.

Phil

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

We use Purex 3 in 1 sheets for laundry. The sheets contain both detergent and fabric softener. After the load is dry you throw the sheet away. CVS in Orlando and other stores in Fl sell them.

Just got back from a week in Ireland and brought back an Irish cold. My DW has threatened me to get rid of it before the curise or else.

While reading posts about servers at dinner - Our DD (age 30+) is a VERY fussy eater, by the end of the cruise the servers know what she will and will not eat. 2 cruises ago her response to what do you want for dessert item was "nothing". So on the last they brought her a plate with the word "nothing" spelled out in chocolate syrup. we all had a great laugh. This is one of the many reasons we love the DCL cruises, the staff is excellant.

Phil

Phil,
thats it!
Purex 3 in 1 is what I was trying to think of the name of earlier in a couple of posts. Thank you.


Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

16 days until we hit the road!! Gonna be a blast.

But first, a question: The salon on the ship, is it decent? my wife wants to get her hair done, what are the prices like? What can they do or not do? What about my hair? I just want a hair cut, is that possible?

I have never used the hair salon but I do know they do both men and womens hair. Also they are the busiest on the day of formal night. So if thats when DW wants to get her hair done, stop by the first day on the ship to set up the appointment or they may not have room for her.
I have seen many women who ahd their hair done and it looked great.

I havnt a clue about the prices but I am sure they will have a price list to see at the Salon.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

16 days until we hit the road!! Gonna be a blast.

But first, a question: The salon on the ship, is it decent? my wife wants to get her hair done, what are the prices like? What can they do or not do? What about my hair? I just want a hair cut, is that possible?

I have never used thew hair salon but I do know they do both men and womens hair. Also they are the busiest on the day of formal night. So if thats when DW wants to get her hair done, stop by the first day on the ship to set up the appointment or they may not have room for her.
I have seen many women who had their hair done and it looked great.

I havnt a clue about the prices but I am sure they will have a price list to see at the Salon.

Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

16 days until we hit the road!! Gonna be a blast.

But first, a question: The salon on the ship, is it decent? my wife wants to get her hair done, what are the prices like? What can they do or not do? What about my hair? I just want a hair cut, is that possible?

Yes, I've used the Salon and so has my husband (but it was on the Wonder, but I'm guessing the Magic is the same). Overall, it was pretty good. I think it depends on how picky you are about your hair... if you have an idea in mind of what you want, then I highly suggest you bring a picture showing what you want, otherwise there may be a big communication gap in what is in your mind vs. what you end up on your head.


I did not bring a picture of what I wanted, but I sort of had an idea in my mind of what I wanted, but it didn't really turn out the way I had wished, so I was a tad dissapointed, but that was only because I had an expectation in my mind. But, my husband really liked it, and I had people tell me it was pretty, so I think my issue is that it didn't turn out how I had wished. So, if I do it again, I'd bring a photo and say that is how I want it. But, if your wife has no expectation in her mind, and is just happy for someone to make her hair look pretty, then I bet she'll be super happy no matter what!!!

BUT, I did really enjoy the experience, and it was SOOOO much fun to get all prettied up at the salon and not have to do it myself in my stateroom!! I had my hair done on our Palo night (so it was not formal night).

I totally agree with Kathy that if you want to have her hair done on formal night, make your reservation as soon as you get on the ship (or maybe you can even do it online where you book excursions and palo... there is a spa tab, too. Not sure if they do salon reservations there). But, I remember the girl who did my hair told me that formal night is crazy and it's totally booked up.

As for price... gosh, I'm trying to remember... I think it was like $40... I honestly can't remember, but I really don't think it was more than $50.

I will try to post a picture of my hair after it was done.

Now, I do want to say that I'd totally go do it again, but like I said, I'd bring a picture of what I want this time! So, it was a great experience, but my hair just did not turn out exactly how I had planned. But, it was still pretty.

Oh, and DH has gotten a hair cut at the salon, and I remember he was very pleased... of course, a guy's hair is a lot easier than a girl's hair (most guys, I guess), but he said they did a really good job. I can't remember the price... I think that also was about $40.

I think you should have your wife go! It'd be really fun, but make sure she tells the person what her dress looks like (or whatever top she is wearing), and like I said, if she is picky or has an idea of what she wants her hair to look like, bring a picture to show the person!!

Take care,
Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

I will try to post a picture of my hair after it was done.

Ok, I found some pictures of my hair when I got it done on the ship. First, I'm posting a family picture of us with my hair like normal on the same cruise I got my hair done... I'm posting the family picture so you can see what my hair looks like normally. (NOTE: I am only posting this formal family picture of us on formal night because I very rarely have my hair down!! I'm a very casual person, and most of the time, I just throw my hair up in a hair band, so this was the only picture I could find that really showed what my hair normally looks like... gosh, you all are going to think we just dress like this all the time! Well, won't you all be in for a surprise when you meet us! ). But, I will say that we do enjoy dressing up for Palo and formal nights on the ship, because we never dress like this in Seattle.



Here is the picture of our family with my hair like normal so you can see a before and after (this was on our panama canal cruise this past January), and this is one of those great photos where the kids were trying extra hard to smile Also, it was kind of a funny angle all together because we were up on the stairs and the photographer was down on the ground level... but it's still nice to have a family shot, forced smiles and all! :

Here is a front view picure (professional picture) of DH and I with my hair done by the salon:

Here is a side view of my hair so you can see the back. The issue I had is that I didn't want these tight curls in the back, but I wanted her to just do some soft curls all over so my hair wasn't just straight and flat. But, the gal really insisted on putting it up... but I didn't think my hair was long enough to be put up, but she felt it was... I just felt like it was just too tight of curls, and then from the front, it just looked like my hair was pulled back... anyway, it was definitely nice, but not what I had pictured in my head.... OH, and she plastered it with hair spray... I'm telling you, i could have gone out on the deck on sea day and gone in the wind and my hair wouldn't have moved...

Then, here is a back view of my hair... oh, she also put about what seemed like 500 bobby pins in my hair just to get it to stay up... it took a long time that evening to get all the bobby pins out...

So, this is my hair professionally done on the ship's salon... I definitely could not have done this myself, so it was nice to have a different hair style one night on the ship, because all I really do with my hair is just like the way you see it in our family's formal picture. So, it was really fun to have done... I just wish I had brought a picture of what I really wanted it like, but the experience was definitely worth it!!

What I'm chuckling about now, BT, is that I probably went into WAY more detail about my hair-do at the salon that any guy needs to know! I guess this is more of a "girly" post... but unless it's a surprise for your wife, you can tell her all of this, and she might be more intrested.

Kathy

 

[GreensboroKG]

Well, looks like everyone has been busy posting yesterday. Yesterday we had a pre-cruise cruise meet w. NCWDW2 and her kids. Peter had a great time meeting Kole and they seemed to get along wonderfully. in fact, Kole is only 5 days older than Peter, so they had a lot of common interests (NDS anyone?) Plus Kaleigh was a sweetheart to Peter as well even though she is a little older. Peter is even more excited for the cruise now if that is even possible. Have a great Sunday everyone!

Scott

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Kathy,
I loved your hair, it did look very nice even if it wasnt what you wanted.
I had a similar experience once. I was going to my 10th high school reunion and got my hair done. It didnt look anything like what I wanted but it was nice. Next time I vowed to take a photo to show the beautician.
That was very good advice you gave.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Well, looks like everyone has been busy posting yesterday. Yesterday we had a pre-cruise cruise meet w. NCWDW2 and her kids. Peter had a great time meeting Kole and they seemed to get along wonderfully. in fact, Kole is only 5 days older than Peter, so they had a lot of common interests (NDS anyone?) Plus Kaleigh was a sweetheart to Peter as well even though she is a little older. Peter is even more excited for the cruise now if that is even possible. Have a great Sunday everyone!

Scott

Thats great!!
It always makes the cruise better for kids when they have a friend waiting to hang out with on the ship. It takes away from the fear of the unknown many young kids have when doing something new.
I am really happy you got to have a mini meet before the cruise.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Good morning,

well I got 95% done with my FE yesterday. I will finish it this morning and will finally be done. YEAH!!!
Saturday just had too many distractions for me to get done.

Today is pouring rain. Can't wait to be in the warm weather on the cruise.

Back later today to see who has a question for the day today?

Kathy

 

[wtgilligan]

Thank you all so much for the salon info. I found the prices online. Our Palo night is formal night, but earlier so we can still do both Not sure when we will do hair but we will do what we can.