November 8, 2008 7 Night Eastern 11/8/2008 11-8-2008 FIRST POST UPDATED ON 10/16/08

[Gecko1]

My confirmation letter says to depart for Loterie Farm at 8:15am.

Today I also paid for our room at the Radisson for the night before the cruise. 9+ months out! I'm losing it!

 

[Morgan4]

Talked it over and we are going to book zip line.
My only concern was the pick up time. Is 8:15 too early, since we dock at 8?

I put a new thread on the main board to ask. I'm going to see what they say, and then try for a time at Lotterie.

I would like to do it that early, before it gets too hot. Also we are probably going to go to Marigot via taxi after the zip. Hopefully some shops will be open, and I would love a french pastry!!

We will be at the Raddison also!
What are you planning for St Thomas?

 

[mimi'sgirl]

Hi all- It's a few weeks since I've been able to get on the computer. Hopefully some shops near the port may be open since it says "harbour premises" may be open. We were in St. Thomas and Tortola for Easter and Easter Monday last year and the stores near the ports were open for a limited time. I'm hoping to purchase alcohol in St. Maarten but could always pick it up in St. Thomas. We are staying at Pop Century the week before the cruise. So excited- it will be our little ones dd3 and ds5 first trip to the park. I can't wait to see their expressions. Everyone have a great night.

Welcome Gecko1!

 

[Morgan4]

That would be great if some shops would be open, but I am planning as if they are not. Then if I am able to do extra shopping, even better.

Sometimes i wish my girls were that young again to experience that wonder and amazement. But this will be the first time they are going cruising, and I am sure they will have some ooos and ahhhhs.

 

[Gecko1]

As for the zip line excursion:
I emailed back and forth and have added a couple of the responses below. They seem to think the timing is a non-issue as they do this each day... kind of that: "slow down, relax, it will all work out in island time" kind of thing.

_______________________________________________________________

Hello Richard, I am double checking this with Loterie now. They are always excellent on pickups, and schedule pickup for 15 mins after arrival, meeting you at the base of the gangway, so there is no problem in the sense of missing the tour, but I am seeking clarification on the exact LOCAL timing.

I will have an answer for you very shortly

Regards,

Monique
Island Marketing Ltd



Hello Richard, checked with Loterie and its 8.15am LOCAL, which will be same as 8.15am Ships time in the case of Disney, so all good.

Regards,

Monique
Island Marketing Ltd

 

[Morgan4]

I guess that they do do this everyday, it's just that I don't.

I can't wait to get on that boat and not have to worry about anything.

Relax, it's all cool , just give me enough to drink, then I will be relaxed!!

 

[mimi'sgirl]

Morgan4 - I agree I can't wait to get on the boat either. We have cruised before but never with Disney. So ready for the experience. I tend to over plan but things run smoothly and my family has a great time. Have a good night.

 

[GoofyFD]

Hi all! I have not check in in a few weeks....I hope you all are doing well only 291 days!!!!

 

[Mozart]

Just as an FYI, I e-mailed a few of excursions that we were interested in about whether or not they would be open on St. Maarten Day. All replied yes, with one of them stating that "all cruise line excursions will be running on that day. The only day that the excursion companies shut down is Christmas."

 

[Gecko1]

Yeah, same here. I think the only major issue for some people will be the closure of the stores on the Dutch side.

 

[Old School Pooh Fan]

Hello everyone!!
We are going with GoofyFD on the cruise with you! I talked to Gooofy's wife tonight and realized how excited I am, but how much work I've yet to do! I've still got to book a flight and car and hotel. Yikes!! We are leaving from Cali early on Nov. 5th to spend the day and night at the Kennedy Space Center on the 6th. Apparently, there is going to be a shuttle launch that night and we want to be there! We went on the Magic back in Dec. '05 and were able to watch a rescheduled launch from the ocean and it was remarkable! We need to see it again since Goofy's wife forgot to hit the 'Record' button and we forgot our camera completely!
Anyhow, looking forward to learning more about everyone! have a great week!

 

[4cogscruzin]

Good Morning Everyone! Welcome Old School Pooh! It is cold in VA today. Still alot of snow the ground. Just dreaming of that wonderful warm beach at Castaway Cay I haven't booked a hotel yet either. Guess today would be a good day to do that. Stay warm

 

[WendyJersey]

Hello everyone!!
We are going with GoofyFD on the cruise with you! I talked to Gooofy's wife tonight and realized how excited I am, but how much work I've yet to do! I've still got to book a flight and car and hotel. Yikes!! We are leaving from Cali early on Nov. 5th to spend the day and night at the Kennedy Space Center on the 6th. Apparently, there is going to be a shuttle launch that night and we want to be there! We went on the Magic back in Dec. '05 and were able to watch a rescheduled launch from the ocean and it was remarkable! We need to see it again since Goofy's wife forgot to hit the 'Record' button and we forgot our camera completely!
Anyhow, looking forward to learning more about everyone! have a great week!

Hello all, been a few days. Working a part time job at nights five days a week so I don't get to much time between working all day and each night. Hope everyone is fine and I see that excitment is starting to build as the days tick by . It is about 289 days, 20 hours and 46 minutes according to my count down clock before my family leaves the house for the airport
Welcome Old School Pooh Fan!!!
This weekend we will be attending a DCL Party in VA. I think there is about 1000 of these parties going on all over on the same day. At our party I'm sure we'll be talking about the old trip, plans for the new trip, enjoying some great food and let us not forget that all famous drink of the day. I know we will all be enjoying the great company of family and friends. Can't wait! I will tell you all about it on Sunday evening when we return.
Old School Pooh Fan wished I could enjoy the launched with you. I would love to see this in person some day. This is the closest I've been to being in the area of the launch and I'm going to miss it by one day. Oh well, maybe it will be held off for a day and I'll be able to see it from the hotel if we are there early enough.
I guess no one has heard from Pixie Dust II. Wondering how things went with her husband? Hope she checks in so we can find out how things went. Hope all went well. In case you are reading this Pixie here is a big from all of us here.
Well it is late (it is 3:15AM and the alarm clock goes off at 5:30AM) so I'll say Good Night or rather Good Morning! Ugh
Take care all, I'll be back Sunday evening to tell you about the exciting DCL party that we attended!!

 

[WendyJersey]

Good Morning Everyone! Welcome Old School Pooh! It is cold in VA today. Still alot of snow the ground. Just dreaming of that wonderful warm beach at Castaway Cay I haven't booked a hotel yet either. Guess today would be a good day to do that. Stay warm

Lucky you, it was 23 degrees here in NJ and we still haven't seen hardly any snow this winter. We certainly got nothing from that storm except snow for a couple of hours and then rain on that with 43 degrees. Well at least I haven't had to dig out and that's a good thing. Yes this is the time of year I sit back and think of warm places, not hot just warm.
Well off to bed I go.

 

[WendyJersey]

Yeah, same here. I think the only major issue for some people will be the closure of the stores on the Dutch side.

Hi Gecko1 yes it is a shame that the Dutch side will be closed. I can't believe with that many ships in port that day they would lose money by being closed. Tourisum has got to be their bread and butter. Oh well, it is a holiday, but we certainly don't close anything anymore. I even think there are stores open on Christmas Day! Maybe we should get back to the way things used to be when stores were closed on Christmas and Thanksgiving Day, etc and respect our holidays. Somehow all the holidays became days for sales.

 

[WendyJersey]

Wow everyone has been busy researching St Maarten's holiday. Thanks for the info it was quite interesting. Boy, Christopher was a busy man.
Gecko1 that's a great idea about doing something on your door for Veteran's Day, what a nice thought, I think I may follow suit since I am married to one. Good Morning to you all I am really going to bed now.

 

[sillysully]

To Old School Pooh -

We are leaving from Cali early on Nov. 5th to spend the day and night at the Kennedy Space Center on the 6th. Apparently, there is going to be a shuttle launch that night and we want to be there! QUOTE]

Where did you get that info? I would love for my kids to see a launch and would go down early, but I checked Kennedy Space Center's site and it doesn't list 11/6/08. Am I missing something?

THX

 

[Old School Pooh Fan]

I signed up on the site for launch updates and here's a copy of the email I got:
Thanks for signing up for information on launches and events at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Based on your estimated arrival dates, 11/5/2008 to 11/15/2008, during your trip, these are the activities during that time period:

Shuttle Discovery . ISS 15A
11/6/2008
11:00:00 PM
STS-119 will be the 28th U.S. mission to the International Space Station. The flight will deliver the Starboard 6 truss segment, giving the station its fourth and final set of power-generating solar wings.

Location: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Contact: Reservations
Phone: 321-449-4400

Since it's launching so late, I'm looking into finding a hotel near the center to watch it from so the kids are more in their element than outside at 11pm. I found that watching onsite, it puts you 6 miles away. Surely there's got to be a hotel that distance away. It's not like you can't see it! We watched it from our cruise at sea at least that far away, and it was spectacular.
Anyone know of hotels nearby? That would help me out A LOT!
Thanks!!

Ps: I'm having trouble posting the link to the site. I'll work on attaching it.
Below, add the 3 www's before it. It's my way of getting around the system. Apparently, I'm not posting enough to post links.
kennedyspacecenter.com/launches/launchDetails.asp?calendarId=375

 

[sillysully]

Thanks so much! I don't know what I was looking at, something from NASA I think. I checked the site, thanks for the link, and we will definitely be joining you for that. Let's hope it doesn't get delayed, which I think is fairly common. I agree about being at a hotel that can see the site. One of us should post on the main board to ask that question. I'm also thrilled it's that night, so we can fly in on the 6th; I can't pull my kids out for TOO many days, but an extra day is worth it for this. Thanks again!!!

 

[Old School Pooh Fan]

We were planing on going to the Center on the 7th anyways. My husband really wanted to tour it. Plus we thought it would be educational for the kids. It just so happens that a launch was scheduled a day prior so we're changing our plans a bit. We're also hoping with us going there, our son's teacher will be a bit more lenient on the homwework expectations if he writes a report or something. When we saw the launch on our '05 cruise, it was a rescheduled launch also. So we lucked out on that. Hopefully if it is rescheduled, it's for the day we leave port like last time. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.