November 7, 2009 ~~~~ AHOY ST.CROIX ~~~~

[sokay168]

HI All:

We are booked (and paid in full!!) for the Nov 7 Magic Cruise. Our group includes myself (Donna, Age 50 something), my Mom (Bonnie, Age 70 something), and my two nieces Hannah (Age 8), and Samantha (Age 5).

This is the 7th cruise for my Mom and I (our last cruise was the WB Panama), and the 2nd cruise for the girls (4 day Wonder in 2007). We booked this cruise while on the Wonder in 2007 and kept pushing it ahead. Now we are finally going!!

We are booked in a Cat 6, Deck 6. We plan to do beach excursions on both St. Croix and St. Thomas, but that may change.

I am very interested in joining the Fish Extender group. I have seen them on other cruises, but have never participated. Is it too late to join? Can somebody send me a primer on FEs? How do I sign up? I think the girls would love it.

THANKS

Donna

Welcome Aboard Donna. Hope you find all the answers you need. Looks like the girls out there are very helpful. I am traveling with 4 little girls...ages 4,6,8,9 so its nice to add a few more their age. Any questions feel free to ask.


Krista

 

[Laurie from London]

FE Question??

Is anyone participating in FE have any allergies that we should be aware of?(peanuts, diary products, etc)

Thanks

Krista

My DH has a nut allergy. It's not an airborne allergy though, so not to worrry, he will just pass anything nutty along to me.

 

[Laurie from London]

Okay wow... those scrap ladies that you quoted above are pretty hard core. I don't think we need to be so particular, I'd be happy to just get some different stuff to make my pages after the trip.

How about we each have a theme assigned to us, and we prepare a bag for each of the other participants with goodies to make a page that correspond to that theme? then we all go home with stuff to make that many different pages after the cruise. Plus this way we can set it up however we want to and it doesn't matter if we use it to make a frame, or any size of page.

I am a pretty simple scrapbooker, so I was thinking that some possible contents of the bags could be:
photo mats
brads
ribbon
stickers
other types of accents, chipboard etc.
vellum accents
letter cutouts or stickers
journalling box

Even this list is probably more than I would include on one page. I don't feel right telling each other how many and what kind of stuff to put in, that kind of takes away some of the fun. What does everyone else think?

 

[TiggerzFan]

A totally personal one was the 25th anniversary surprise my dh gave me in the rose garden at Magic Kingdom, complete with sweet words (at the time he didn't ever say much, so this was a huge shocker), roses, cake, glass slipper, wedding ears, 'diamond' bracelet (mickey of course) and fireworks. I about fainted.

AMAZING! Wow, that's one fabulous DH - and one lucky DW!

 

[TiggerzFan]

hi all:

We are booked (and paid in full!!) for the nov 7 magic cruise. Our group includes myself (donna, age 50 something), my mom (bonnie, age 70 something), and my two nieces hannah (age 8), and samantha (age 5).

This is the 7th cruise for my mom and i (our last cruise was the wb panama), and the 2nd cruise for the girls (4 day wonder in 2007). We booked this cruise while on the wonder in 2007 and kept pushing it ahead. Now we are finally going!!

We are booked in a cat 6, deck 6. We plan to do beach excursions on both st. Croix and st. Thomas, but that may change.

I am very interested in joining the fish extender group. I have seen them on other cruises, but have never participated. Is it too late to join? Can somebody send me a primer on fes? How do i sign up? I think the girls would love it.

Thanks

donna

welcome, donna & family!!!!

 

[TiggerzFan]

Well guys I havent been feeling to good the last two days and ggot up today and man I felt like I had been run over. So went to the doctor and guess what!!!!! I have the flu.:

Awww, Traci, so sorry you've got the flu. It's starting to spread in our elementary school here, too. In fact, I've heard rumor that one or two cases is Swine Flu. Feel better soon.

 

[minniemouse71]

Welcome Donna The girls are going to have a great time. I agree about checking the pool places for swimmies
Traci, Hope you feel better soon. My work is offering flu shots and I had decided not to get one, I think I might change my mind on that.
Gail, what a nightmare with all of the flight changes. I am glad you finally got it figured out and are booked with something that pleases you. Me, I still have to book ours. Our leaves are changing here too. But that is ok by me, as fall is my favorite season. I just hate that it is followed by a LONNNNGGGG Cold Winter. I didn't used to mind the cold, but the older I get the less I like it.
Laurie, I agree about the scrapbook page (bag) I am like you, my pages are simple. I didn't even know what a lot of the stuff was that they were talking about on that list. What if we just set a dollar amount to spend, and we just choose what to put in the bag? I would just hate to pick a theme, and then run across something that I would like to put in the bag, but it doesn't match my theme. That way, if I find something that I think is cool, they can use it on a different page if they like.
As for my favorite WDW resort...I love the look of the Grand Floridian, now you are going to think I am crazy, but I love the All Stars, I love the way they have all of the giant Icons and the way the pools are thermed to match. I think AS Movies is my favorite. We stayed there the first time we took my DGD I think she was about three, and she climbed up in the Giant TV and said in a very loud voice, "ladies and Gentlemen now presenting Sara" and proceeded to sing the song Part of their World from the Little Mermaid, Complete with all of the motions. (she knew every word, and watched that movie at least twice a day) A crowd gathered, and after she finished they all applauded, she took a little bow, and said "I'm done" and off we went. We have since bought time shares so we don't stay on property any more, but we usually spend some time just walking around the different resorts.
Well, I have an early day tomorrow, so I better get to bed. Nite all.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Welcome Donna and family!!

Traci- hope you feel better soon. No fun to be sick when there is unpacking to be done!! We can't get our flu shots here till about October 15. I hope we all last till then. The kids both have asthma and so have real complications from the flu. They saw their dr today and she wants them to have the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it is available as well. Boy, I'll feel a lot better on DCL/at WDW when they've had the regular and swine flu shots. Working at a hospital do you normally get flu shots? It seems early in the season for flu to be around already.

QOTD: Favorite WDW resort...
Well, I have only stayed at the Contemporary and Port Orleans so far. Oh wait, I stayed at the original Treehouses (now part of Sarasota Springs, and are brand-new treehouses) too. We bought AKV this year, but haven't stayed there yet. We loved Port Orleans soooo much, but didn't love the tiny rooms and double beds! We are looking forward to our first DVC stay. I absolutely loved AKL when we ate there last year. So beautiful. I am sure AKV will be our new favorite. I love the culture, the food, the decor... just like Linda said.

My ultimate dream resort is the Grand Floridian! Ever since it was being built, I have wanted to stay there. Someday...

Christine

 

[glindamood]

Just checked my stash - no swimmies. I have an extra swim "ring" and and some extra water goggles, which won't be much use. I'm sorry.

Gail, I have only one thing to say about your airline situation - THANK HEAVENS FOR SOUTHWEST!

Linda - well, the tickets only costed me $10.00 each so I guess in this situation, one gets what they pay for. And, I can't really even imagine the 'task' of merging Northwest and Delta and getting all their flights in line. And, as long as I can continue to change my flights without any fees, I will get over it I guess. Southwest doesn't come up this far north - I am not sure I can even get it in Detroit.

 

[Julylady]

Good Morning, Everybody!

Thanks to everyone who checked on swimmies. I should have picked them up earlier this summer!! Oh well. I will keep looking, but if anyone happens to see them, please pick them up and I will gladly reimburse you on the ship. I think they are less than $5?

I have a question about the Fish Extender group. I counted the names on page 29 and it looked like about 27 cabins. Is the group planning to have everyone participate all together or are we breaking into smaller groups. I don't have a preference either way, just wanted to know how many "gifts" to make or purchase. Also, will we have an assigned day or can we just make our deliveries any time we wish? I apologize if this has already been covered, but I didn't see it. I ordered my FE off from Ebay last night, so I am well on my way! I am planning on having my nieces over to my house for a weekend soon and thought that we could make it a family project to assemble the gift packets.

Have a great day!

Donna

 

[LindaBabe]

Okay wow... those scrap ladies that you quoted above are pretty hard core. I don't think we need to be so particular, I'd be happy to just get some different stuff to make my pages after the trip.

How about we each have a theme assigned to us, and we prepare a bag for each of the other participants with goodies to make a page that correspond to that theme? then we all go home with stuff to make that many different pages after the cruise. Plus this way we can set it up however we want to and it doesn't matter if we use it to make a frame, or any size of page.

I am a pretty simple scrapbooker, so I was thinking that some possible contents of the bags could be:
photo mats
brads
ribbon
stickers
other types of accents, chipboard etc.
vellum accents
letter cutouts or stickers
journalling box

Even this list is probably more than I would include on one page. I don't feel right telling each other how many and what kind of stuff to put in, that kind of takes away some of the fun. What does everyone else think?

I like it! LEt's use Laurie's idea rather than the longer list. And I'll add title / border, because they're likely to be included in mine.

My choice to do is "souvenirs from the ship"

 

[sokay168]

Good Morning, Everybody!

Thanks to everyone who checked on swimmies. I should have picked them up earlier this summer!! Oh well. I will keep looking, but if anyone happens to see them, please pick them up and I will gladly reimburse you on the ship. I think they are less than $5?

I have a question about the Fish Extender group. I counted the names on page 29 and it looked like about 27 cabins. Is the group planning to have everyone participate all together or are we breaking into smaller groups. I don't have a preference either way, just wanted to know how many "gifts" to make or purchase. Also, will we have an assigned day or can we just make our deliveries any time we wish? I apologize if this has already been covered, but I didn't see it. I ordered my FE off from Ebay last night, so I am well on my way! I am planning on having my nieces over to my house for a weekend soon and thought that we could make it a family project to assemble the gift packets.

Have a great day!

Donna

Will keep a look out for swimmies. As for the FE questions, I was thinking the same thing but once we have a final count they will detemine everything.

We are also on deck 6 too. 3 cabins. My daughter was so excited for another 8 yr old on our deck.

Krista

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Morning everyone

Donna as far as i know you can give when ever you want. Many people like to fit in their deliveries at their leisure on a day they have some free time instead of having to make time on a specific day, so I am assuming it is deliver when you want.

It is up to you if you want one gift per family or one item per person in the room. There has been no talk of breaking down to groups. That can be confusing sometimes. This way everyone can do things their own way, so everyone should be happy with what they are doing.

Please correct me if I am wrong ladies but this was my understanding of what was happening for the FE exchange.

If you do an upgrade at the port you need to tell Bob at the cruise meet so he can post it on his door. Everyone will need to check Bobs door to see if any room numbers change. His room is listed on the cruise mates list.

We also have wrist bands you can order with the trip and date on them. You still have time to get in on that too if you want. That way we can recognise each other around the ship.
Also some are making matching T-shirts by using iron on transfers and a decal on Page 59 I believe? Its up to you if you want to do any of these things too.


I finally got my gifts figured out. YEAH!! Now to get some ink for the printer and get started

Next week we are in the 90's again Our first day of Fall is suppose to be 95! Some how I that just doesnt sound like fall to me.


Traci, hope your doing better today. Keep resting and drinking lots of fluids.


Got to run, will check back later,

Kathy

 

[TiggerzFan]

Donna - I'll keep an eye out for swimmies. I assume you want just the standard vinyl ones? We're in Florida and they should still be plentiful around here, though I haven't noticed.

 

[Julylady]

Gail - I certainly feel your pain with all your changed flight times. It seems like they change them 4-5 times before the trip. In fact, they just changed our return time last week by over 2 hours later. They let me rebook for no fee to an earlier time, however. That worked out great for me because it was the original flight I wanted but it was more expensive so I booked a cheaper, later flight.

Tiggerzfan - Thanks for checking on the swimmies for me. Yes, I just need one inexpensive vinyl pair.

Kathy - I appreciate the info on the Fish Extenders. I stopped at Michaels craft store last night to just check some things out. One of the things I saw was some small colored paper bags that I thought the girls could color or put stickers on and then we could fill them with treats. I was just trying to plan how many I should have them do if we do one for each cabin. I will plan to buy about 35 thinking that a few more people might join in. Does that sound about right?

Krista - I am glad to hear your daughter is excited to meet Hannah! I can't wait to tell both of my nieces that I have made them some new friends before we even leave Michigan.

Hope everyone has a great day. I'll try to check in tomorrow.

Donna

 

[GoofyTraci]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the get wells. It makes me feel good. I am still not feeling good today but just had to check in. I now know I am addicted to this place. I kept getting the messages on my phone that everyone was posting and so I had to log on for a min.

Our hospital does give out he flu shot but it normally doesnt come till oct. They have had several patients in the ER and lots of employees out with it so they are starting to give it next week. We all didnt think it would come this soon but it did. I get my flu shot every year.

As for the FE. The one that I ordered came in the mail today and it is super cute. It makes me feel excited that the cruise is coming soon. We had not talked about breaking the list into groups since the participants werent as many as previous cruisers were used to. You can give to each person or one per cabin. There are no rules for this. As no set amount of money to put into it. Everyone is free to do what works best for their family. Like others have said it makes it easier for people to give out the gifts when it is best for them as everyone has different things and activites planned on a given day.

As for the scrapbook swap I really dont mind how you guys want to do it. As it seems like everyone does scrap differently which is what I love about scrapbooking. My pages reflect my stlye and I love that. I would still like to keep it by theme so we have different items swapped and not the same things.

I will also keep my eyes open for swimmies. I will not be leaving the house the next couple of days but this weekend I will look. They are in our dollar store all the time and I dont have a problem picking some up.

Well back to rest guys. Hope everyone is doing ok.

 

[LindaBabe]

Gee, Tracy, I hope you feel better soon - between moving and getting ready for the cruise, you don't have TIME to be sick!

Scrapbook page swap

I agree - that first list was probably a bit too 'hard core' for us.

That being said, I would like to see us do something hand made, as if we were exchanging 'real pages' instead of just the ingredients - not just bagging up some boughten embellis and calling it done (That wouldn't be much of a memento of "us" displayed in our friends' scrapbooks, would it?)

I'm a simple scrapper, too. My "page" is a still in the planning stages but i'm thinking in terms of a sketch of the page (I may use a predesigned page map for a guide), topper or border with title on it, mats for a couple 4x 6 photos, and some kind of embellishment, maybe paper pieced.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Gail - I certainly feel your pain with all your changed flight times. It seems like they change them 4-5 times before the trip. In fact, they just changed our return time last week by over 2 hours later. They let me rebook for no fee to an earlier time, however. That worked out great for me because it was the original flight I wanted but it was more expensive so I booked a cheaper, later flight.

Tiggerzfan - Thanks for checking on the swimmies for me. Yes, I just need one inexpensive vinyl pair.

Kathy - I appreciate the info on the Fish Extenders. I stopped at Michaels craft store last night to just check some things out. One of the things I saw was some small colored paper bags that I thought the girls could color or put stickers on and then we could fill them with treats. I was just trying to plan how many I should have them do if we do one for each cabin. I will plan to buy about 35 thinking that a few more people might join in. Does that sound about right?

Krista - I am glad to hear your daughter is excited to meet Hannah! I can't wait to tell both of my nieces that I have made them some new friends before we even leave Michigan.

Hope everyone has a great day. I'll try to check in tomorrow.

Donna

Donna, 35 sounds good to me. That is about how I figure it too because I dont mind a couple of extra things. But I dont want to be short if new people join in soon. I think the kids would do a great job decorating the bags and would have alot of fun doing that. They will probably like to help deliver your gifts too.

Kathy

 

[Laurie from London]

Hi Everyone!

Traci, so sorry to hear you are under the weather. We will be getting our flu shots as soon as we can, I know it is awful as DH had it last year. (he never got the shot last year)

Donna, I have a pair of what I think you are talking about, you are welcome to them. They are the little arm bands that you blow up and they keep the child afloat in the water... is that what you mean? We always called them water wings when I was a kid. Anyway, I have a few pairs that we don't use anymore, so they are all yours if you want them. I believe I even have some still in the package that we never even opened. Let me know if I am on the right track here.

Back to the scrapbooking swap, how about we just say that we can either do a page, or a bag, or some cross between the two. (for example someone might put some double mats together, make a border or title, put some appropriate quotes on to mats, some decorative tags, stickers etc. and put it into a bag without a page behind it, but there would still be some creativity there - this is what I was kind of thinking about) Then for those who want to put together a page, great, and those would find it easier to travel with pieces, that is fine too. Did anyone want to set a price range?

For a theme, I was thinking I would like to do Fun at the Beach. So that means we have
Traci - Pirate
Linda - Souvenirs from the Ship
Laurie - Fun at the Beach
Silly Little Pixie (Christine) - Sail Away Party
Stampin Shauna -
Minnie Mouse -
Dale & Bob - Fish Extenders

Who else is in?

PS - I have only stayed at CBR, so I can't really comment on my favourite resort at WDW.

 

[SplashMountainManiac]

Hi everybody. I'm Mike (19) and my parents and I will be joining you, we just booked this cruise and we are very excited. I'm Mike and I am 19. Looks like a great group so far, I have just started reading through the thread, but it looks like it might take a while, lol. Can't wait to talk with you all. We are working on excursions right now. What are some exciting ideas for St. Thomas and St. Croix? Not too much longer.