OCT 16 2010......7 Night Western....

[danandnan]

Our Cruise group on the Eastern in Oct THE BOBER's

 

[philatiger]

Orig. we were booked for the Oct. 30 sailing...due to a conflict in scheduling, we changed to the Oct. 16 sailing and even upgrade from cat. 11 to cat. 9...YEAH!!!

We are celebrating the empty nest!!! Both of our children will be in college then and now it is time for mom and dad to play!!!

So first Disney cruise then 3 nights at DW POR during Food and Wine Festival.

We are in cabin 2106 with late dinner.
DH and myself.

Welcome Aboard !!!!!! We were originally on the 30th cruise too and switched to this one.

 

[annichan]

Havent gotten around to booking it yet, but well prob be staying at the Country Inn which is right next door or 2 doors down, the night before the cruise.

HI ALL

Nancy and I stayed at the Raddison in Oct before we cruised . We were very pleased the rooms were great along with the service.
The morning of the Cruise they suttled us over to Port with our luggage around 9:30 AM so needless we were some of the first ones onboard. We had a group of about 30 of us staying there. We were all on the Eastern Cruise. We were known as the BOB Cruise.
Everybody have a great weekend
Dan

WOW! It's nice to get things lined out.
Not sure where we are going to stay pre cruise yet. A lot will depend on when we arrive in Orlando and where the rest of the people we are traveling with are staying. October dates for flights are starting to come out, so we hope to know soon.

Well wouldn't that be nice if we could get some kind of informal little gathering together for the night before the cruise? DH and I would love that as we don't know anybody on the ship yet (we don't even know the ship!) and I know that I'll feel terribly nervous the night before it all starts, so I'd sure love to talk to seasoned cruisers then

Have a nice St Nicolas' Day (do you celebrate that at all in the States? I found an Imagineering Field Guide to Animal Kingdom from DH in my stocking this morning and I'll go right back to reading that )

 

[truck1]

Well wouldn't that be nice if we could get some kind of informal little gathering together for the night before the cruise? DH and I would love that as we don't know anybody on the ship yet (we don't even know the ship!) and I know that I'll feel terribly nervous the night before it all starts, so I'd sure love to talk to seasoned cruisers then

Have a nice St Nicolas' Day (do you celebrate that at all in the States? I found an Imagineering Field Guide to Animal Kingdom from DH in my stocking this morning and I'll go right back to reading that )

Not a bad idea. Maybe we could have dinner nearby or at one of the rest at the port, or in one of the hotels.

Is St Nicholas Day like our Christmas? From the little Ive been able to find it sounds like it is.One of the few differences I can find is that we celebrate it on Dec. 25th.

Theres really not much to be nervous about the night before. Excited yes.

If you havent already, I would pick up one of the many guides to DCL cruising. I have the Birnbaums Guide (My family has used it for prob 30years for the Disney Parks)that has a lot of info in it, like where to find things onboard, what to pack etc. Frommers is another good one. I wouldnt rely on it for pricing, but it helps get you into the ball park, with what to expect.

 

[annichan]

Not a bad idea. Maybe we could have dinner nearby or at one of the rest at the port, or in one of the hotels.

We'd love that!

Is St Nicholas Day like our Christmas? From the little Ive been able to find it sounds like it is.One of the few differences I can find is that we celebrate it on Dec. 25th.

No, we have Christmas as well, it's just that we celebrate it on the evening of the 24th.
St Nicholas is like a tiny little version of Christmas to get the holiday spirit started I think - it is usually only for children, but childless couples give each other something as well (once we have children we will only give a present to them and no longer to each other).

At St Nicholas, the kids - or big kids - are supposed to clean their shoes and put them out of doors. Then St Nicholas will come by and put some nuts, oranges, apples and fir tree twigs in one of each person's shoes, and some chocolate or other sweets (or a really little present instead of the sweets). And if the children have been naughty all year they won't get this but they'll get hit with twigs instead .
Sounds horrible, I know - but it's just the story that goes with it since the old times, and of course no kid will ever get hit and they will all get the filled shoe instead .

And in recent years it has become a fashion to hang up a stocking instead of putting out a shoe (this must have been "imported" from the States or UK since we don't do the stocking thing for Christmas). DH and I have happily embraced that custom, since our cats will voraciously devour any chocolate that is left standing around on the floor in shoes, without so much as a thank-you to St Nicholas .

Well enough with German holiday traditions already, sorry I hope I didn't bore you!

Theres really not much to be nervous about the night before. Excited yes.

If you havent already, I would pick up one of the many guides to DCL cruising. I have the Birnbaums Guide (My family has used it for prob 30years for the Disney Parks)that has a lot of info in it, like where to find things onboard, what to pack etc. Frommers is another good one. I wouldnt rely on it for pricing, but it helps get you into the ball park, with what to expect.

Oh, I just know I'll be nervous of missing the ship or forgetting my bags at the hotel and whatnot, but I know in the end I'll be fine

And we got ourselves the Passporter guide, I find that really helpful. I might check out those other guides you mentioned as well, thank you!

 

[danandnan]

This was our get together at the Raddison the night before our cruise.

 

[danandnan]

Well wouldn't that be nice if we could get some kind of informal little gathering together for the night before the cruise? DH and I would love that as we don't know anybody on the ship yet (we don't even know the ship!) and I know that I'll feel terribly nervous the night before it all starts, so I'd sure love to talk to seasoned cruisers then

Have a nice St Nicolas' Day (do you celebrate that at all in the States? I found an Imagineering Field Guide to Animal Kingdom from DH in my stocking this morning and I'll go right back to reading that )

Dan and I both said that meeting folks from the board was a great way to start the cruise the night before. Some of us were at the Radisson while others were at other hotels but came over to join us. It was a good ice breaker. We're not sure yet how/when we're going down but will most likely book the Radisson either way.

N

 

[myolite]

snow day today!

 

[truck1]

We'd love that!



No, we have Christmas as well, it's just that we celebrate it on the evening of the 24th.
St Nicholas is like a tiny little version of Christmas to get the holiday spirit started I think - it is usually only for children, but childless couples give each other something as well (once we have children we will only give a present to them and no longer to each other).

At St Nicholas, the kids - or big kids - are supposed to clean their shoes and put them out of doors. Then St Nicholas will come by and put some nuts, oranges, apples and fir tree twigs in one of each person's shoes, and some chocolate or other sweets (or a really little present instead of the sweets). And if the children have been naughty all year they won't get this but they'll get hit with twigs instead .
Sounds horrible, I know - but it's just the story that goes with it since the old times, and of course no kid will ever get hit and they will all get the filled shoe instead .

And in recent years it has become a fashion to hang up a stocking instead of putting out a shoe (this must have been "imported" from the States or UK since we don't do the stocking thing for Christmas). DH and I have happily embraced that custom, since our cats will voraciously devour any chocolate that is left standing around on the floor in shoes, without so much as a thank-you to St Nicholas .

Well enough with German holiday traditions already, sorry I hope I didn't bore you!



Oh, I just know I'll be nervous of missing the ship or forgetting my bags at the hotel and whatnot, but I know in the end I'll be fine

And we got ourselves the Passporter guide, I find that really helpful. I might check out those other guides you mentioned as well, thank you!

Nope didnt bore me in the least. I dont think we have that here, though Ive been wrong before.


Im thinking lets see how many people are going to be staying near the port the night before we leave, and then we can decide on where to meet, etc.

 

[philatiger]

Hope everyone is having a good week. We just got back from our cruise on NCL so now i can focus on this cruise.

We are planning on staying near the port too. Just not sure where yet.

 

[myolite]

We've decided to drive down (from Iowa) and plan on staying over the night before. We were thinkign of staying the night of arrival back from the cruise at BLT, but we are one point short in our DVC points to do so. So, we still have some time to figure that out.

 

[LCoulter]

Myolite, how was the Animal Kingdom Villas? How was your vacation?

We liked BLT and had a good time. I was a little disappointed with the Christmas Party and the decorations. Main St was beautiful but I expected the resorts and the rest of the park to be more decorated for xmas.

My 19 year old niece drove us nuts...we won't allow her to come with us again. She would get up at 9-10am and was ready to leave the park by about 1 in the afternoon, after lunch. Her highlight was eating at restaurants and all she did was text, even on the rides. There were only a few rides that she was interested in and the rest of the time she looked bored. She wouldn't even give the other rides a chance...she would go on a few of them if we dragged her but then would stare at her phone texting the whole time...not even looking around at the ride. We did go to the parks without her, making rope drop a few days.

I feel sorry for her...she just doesn't get Disney. My 2 year old loved it and is asking to go back.

I booked the auto train yesterday for our return after the October cruise. We are planning to drive the entire way down.

 

[myolite]

What's the auto train?

Animal Kingdom Villas were perfect. We switched over to All Star Music during part of the stay, which wasn't too bad. I prefer it to Pop Century. It seems more updated. However, we had horrible weather. We missed the Christmas party (the night before we left) because of the sheets of rain coming down.


I was dissapointed with our dinner at Kona--I had read such great things about it. But my meal (terriyaki ribeye) was terrible. Bleeeech.

Meredith wanted to swim all the time. Being 8 months pregnant, that was okay with me. All the walking...eh, not so much. She really dug the Crush show at Epcot though the nemo ride was a little scary for her...too dark, maybe? We came home to Death Blizzard 2009. Snow days the last 2 1/2 days. High drifts. Yuck.

Myolite, how was the Animal Kingdom Villas? How was your vacation?

We liked BLT and had a good time. I was a little disappointed with the Christmas Party and the decorations. Main St was beautiful but I expected the resorts and the rest of the park to be more decorated for xmas.

My 19 year old niece drove us nuts...we won't allow her to come with us again. She would get up at 9-10am and was ready to leave the park by about 1 in the afternoon, after lunch. Her highlight was eating at restaurants and all she did was text, even on the rides. There were only a few rides that she was interested in and the rest of the time she looked bored. She wouldn't even give the other rides a chance...she would go on a few of them if we dragged her but then would stare at her phone texting the whole time...not even looking around at the ride. We did go to the parks without her, making rope drop a few days.

I feel sorry for her...she just doesn't get Disney. My 2 year old loved it and is asking to go back.

I booked the auto train yesterday for our return after the October cruise. We are planning to drive the entire way down.

 

[LCoulter]

What's the auto train?

Animal Kingdom Villas were perfect. We switched over to All Star Music during part of the stay, which wasn't too bad. I prefer it to Pop Century. It seems more updated. However, we had horrible weather. We missed the Christmas party (the night before we left) because of the sheets of rain coming down.


I was dissapointed with our dinner at Kona--I had read such great things about it. But my meal (terriyaki ribeye) was terrible. Bleeeech.

Meredith wanted to swim all the time. Being 8 months pregnant, that was okay with me. All the walking...eh, not so much. She really dug the Crush show at Epcot though the nemo ride was a little scary for her...too dark, maybe? We came home to Death Blizzard 2009. Snow days the last 2 1/2 days. High drifts. Yuck.

The Amtrak Auto Train runs from Virginia to just north of Orlando and back. You can pay a fee to transport your car and yourselves. It is meant for the Northeast snowbirds that go back and forth to to spend winter in Florida. We decided to take it just one way...back home so my DH doesn't have to drive as far home. It's always harder to do the return trip. It will put us 6 hours and 20 minutes from home. The train leaves at 4pm on the Saturday we return from the cruise so we have have time in Orlando but need to be at the train by 2pm. The train reaches Virginia, non-stop, at 9:30 am the next morning. You can get a family room on the train but that is very pricey so we are just going with and sleeping on the coach seats. The coach seats are supposed to be equivalent to 1st class airplane seats. It includes a dinner and continental breakfast and they have a car that shows a movie...probably not an appropriate one for a 2 year old but she can watch a movie on my I-Touch.

We had one and a half days that were a wash out. We were lucky for the xmas party...it was a beautiful night and warm. We did watch the fireworks from the lounge at BLT one night...that was really nice. Our niece wanted to swim all the time too. Actually so did my 2 year old. My DH and niece put our 2 year old on the BLT water slide...the big one, not the kids one...I was terrified when I saw them do it...she loved it. My DH would just catch her at the bottom and the way she was sitting, she wasn't going very fast.

When is the baby due? How exciting!

 

[myolite]

The baby is due Feb. 22nd. It can't get here soon enough.

 

[LCoulter]

The baby is due Feb. 22nd. It can't get here soon enough.

I think you are at the point that I really started to get uncomfortable. My feet swelled so much I bought size 13 winter boots (I'm a size 8 shoe) and walked around the office in size 13 slippers. It's funny now that I think back.

Best wishes to you and the new little one that is on the way!

 

[annichan]

Hi everybody,

so I hear you have got snow and blizzards in some parts of the States already? Hiere in Northern Germany, the weather is drab and dark and rainy but still always above freezing point. They say that will change in the next few days, so we will see.
It's my birthday today so for me that's always the signal that Christmas and the end of the year are really close now, and as soon as I woke up this morning I was completely in the festive spirit . So I want snow now!

Have a great weekend everybody, no blizzards but nice winterly weather,

Annika

 

[philatiger]

Hi everybody,

so I hear you have got snow and blizzards in some parts of the States already? Hiere in Northern Germany, the weather is drab and dark and rainy but still always above freezing point. They say that will change in the next few days, so we will see.
It's my birthday today so for me that's always the signal that Christmas and the end of the year are really close now, and as soon as I woke up this morning I was completely in the festive spirit . So I want snow now!

Have a great weekend everybody, no blizzards but nice winterly weather,

Annika

Happy Birthday Annika !!!!

 

[100acrewoodfan]

Hi everybody,

so I hear you have got snow and blizzards in some parts of the States already? Hiere in Northern Germany, the weather is drab and dark and rainy but still always above freezing point. They say that will change in the next few days, so we will see.
It's my birthday today so for me that's always the signal that Christmas and the end of the year are really close now, and as soon as I woke up this morning I was completely in the festive spirit . So I want snow now!

Have a great weekend everybody, no blizzards but nice winterly weather,

Annika

Annika!!! Have a wonderful day!!

 

[DizzylandDeb]

Hi everybody,

so I hear you have got snow and blizzards in some parts of the States already? Hiere in Northern Germany, the weather is drab and dark and rainy but still always above freezing point. They say that will change in the next few days, so we will see.
It's my birthday today so for me that's always the signal that Christmas and the end of the year are really close now, and as soon as I woke up this morning I was completely in the festive spirit . So I want snow now!

Have a great weekend everybody, no blizzards but nice winterly weather,

Annika

Since you write in english so well, I thought I'd try and send you a greeting in your native language. Hope I got it right!

Have a great birthday.