Oct 3, 2009 Wester Carribean

[disneydiva16]

Tiffany is always open for ideas. She will create anything you ask her to (as long as she is capable). Did you see the one she made for herself? It was on that long fish extender thread. Are you having her make you pillowcases also?

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

I think i have seen it. I saw a cute pirate one I think she made for Pirate night and some others too. Umm prolly not pillow cases cause my girls will bring there DCL ones they made at the club at the Goofy PJ party.

Ok we have our chain made for 351 days...so when ever day 351 is is when we start...LOL We ran outta supplies. Owell.

=)

 

[jsheridan]

Hi, all. Me, DH & DS5 (Jake) will also be on board. We have a FE that we purchased for our last DCL in January and really enjoyed partcipating in that. We would love to do that again.

I have occasionally lurked on this thread, but have a couple of other trips planned first. We are going to DW in February and then meeting a bunch of family in Ohio near Cedar Point for a week in July. Maybe we can meet up with FortheloveofDCL while we are there!

No ideas on our excursions yet. I spent a week in Grand Cayman about 15 years ago (boy, that makes me feel old) and recommend that everyone check out Stingray City. It is so cool & you really can't get that experience anyplace else. So, I will probably try to include that, but will need some type of excursion that would be OK for Jake. I'm debating about the dolphin stuff in Cozumel also.

Right now I'm just so focused on the DW trip, though. It will be great to get home from there & focus on this cruise rather than just being sad to go home...

 

[disneydiva16]

Hi jsheridan, Welcome!!! Nice to have another person to chat with. Lucky you that you get to go to DW. Wish I could join you!
I havent really thought about the excursion yet. My daughter did a dolphin swim in Curacao, so I dont think we can afford to do another one, although I know she would love to. My youngest will only be 3 and I know there is not many excursion I can do with her .

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

Hey Robin... I have been researching this a lot cause honestly some of the excursions are pricey. So I checked into booking Dolphin encounter myself thru Dolphin Discovery..and--I can save cause Nelia(5) is free when booked online. U just don't count 5and under but write it in your notes that U have a child under 5 participating. Then u save $30 each book urself as opposed to disney's price. I mean U have to get a taxi for $10 each way but Disney just puts ya in a taxi too. So for the DD's (9($64.50)&5(free)) and me ($77.80)= $142.30 as opposed to Disney's $302.00.
I think we are going book it on our own. I mean $150 is alot of difference I mean that is the turtle farm excursion for my whole family.

Welcome jsheridan!!!! That is cool to hear u are headin to Ohio next July. Are you and ur family actually going to CP or just visiting people in the area? I live oh 3-5 miles from park entrance. We have season passes usually every summer. Though i have to say i would rather have WDW annual passes =)~

TTYL

 

[the great cornholeo]

Dis Mom,
I'm finally on here. Kudos to your Brother for our username.

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

Dis Mom,
I'm finally on here. Kudos to your Brother for our username.

Ok I am guessing this is Andrea's Sister in law....haha I love your husband's name choice! LMAO Welcome aboard the crazy DIS crew of the OCt 2009 Magic.

 

[dismom73]

Hi Laura! OK that name is even more funny in writing than it is verbally.

Michelle, to answer your question...Vacaville is in Northern CA, so we are about a 6 hour drive from Disneyland. It is between San Fran and Sacramento.

Welcome jsheridan! Finally, another boy! It's amazing how many new people have joined in the last week or two.

 

[disneydiva16]

Hi Laura (sil of dismom73), Welcome aboard!!! Looking forward to chatting with ya.

Michelle-That is not a bad price for the dolphin swim. What is the turtle farm? I really havent looked at excursions yet. Of the four islands, I think we are only doing excursions on 2 of them. Key West we will just explore on our own (been there before) and castaway cay will probably just be a beach day. Not quite sure yet.

I had Zandy make me 2 magnets for my stateroom door. They are really cute. They are the girls names. Wish I were creative to think of something for our group.

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

Robin....I haven't checked out the turtle farm on my own. I just figured we would do that through Disney. Kinda depends. Friends of ours have done it and said better to do thru Disney with less hassle, so I will read threads on here and see what tips I get. My kids are soooooo excited to swim with dolphins!! Normally we don't do excursions much so I think in Key west we are just roamin...I think Sloppy Joes and Margarittaville...not to drink just to say I went...LOL In castaway we beach it, eat lunch, crab race, bike ride...but who knows just gonna relax. Most we do there is stuff the girls like doing. They like the crab races. Their crab won on the last cruise so they like bragging rights....LOL

 

[the great cornholeo]

okay so let me introduce me and my Family. My name is Laura, and my DH is Dis mom's brother. We have a DS who is 6 and my DM and DD will be joining us. This will be our 1st cruise, but my SIL has got us all covered being the travel expert that she is. I'm not Lurking anymore.

I have to ask though What is the Turtle farm, because I think that my son would have a blast with the turtles...

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

Laura..Hi I'm Michelle. The turtle farm is in Grand Cayman. It is where they breed turtles to keep the species up as well as whatever else they do with it. I know the kids can hold a turtle which seems to be the draw for most kids to be interested. I have also heard that the swim with the stingrays is cool too. U can find all disney excursions on their site and then research for urself on here or other web pages to whether you want to book it on ur own or thru Disney.

 

[2Pirates&1Princess]

Hi Laura, Welcome Glad you decided to jump on board with us to chat. I am Norma. My husband Ted and DD Taylor will be joining me.

I was wondering the same thing about the turtle farm. I wasnt sure what it was, but saw that alot of people like doing it. We are not sure about how many or what our excursions will be either. I guess we will decide as it gets a little closer.


The weather is starting to get a little dreary here, so I am in definate need of my vacation NOW!!!!! 1 year and 4 days to go

 

[dismom73]

Hi Laura! OK, now you just have to get your mom to sign up!

Michelle, I know you are trying to keep track of names so...my DB's name is Tommy (well I guess he goes by Tom to some, but to me he will always be Tommy) and my DNeph's name is Jason and Lauras parents names are Don and Robin, but check with Laura for spelling?

I was thinking the Turtle Farm sounded good too! I just can't bring myself to start on the research for the excursions yet, maybe it's because I still have to figure out how we're going to pay for the cruise.

Well, I hope everyone has a good day!

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

Hi Laura! OK, now you just have to get your mom to sign up!

Michelle, I know you are trying to keep track of names so...my DB's name is Tommy (well I guess he goes by Tom to some, but to me he will always be Tommy) and my DNeph's name is Jason and Lauras parents names are Don and Robin, but check with Laura for spelling?

I was thinking the Turtle Farm sounded good too! I just can't bring myself to start on the research for the excursions yet, maybe it's because I still have to figure out how we're going to pay for the cruise.

Well, I hope everyone has a good day!

Thanks Andrea... I think I am figuring out excursions and the best deal I can find so I know what the kids and I need to save to be able to do these things. Plus I need to book dolphins by end of year to get a better price. We also have a money can that the kids are puttin spare change in, their allowance, anything they can find cause they really want to do these excursions and saving for themselves makes them appreciate it more.

I like that being a castaway club member at least we can book a few days before everyone else. I plan on booking turtle farm I think and thru Disney but dolphin encounter on my own. Hoping my sister will book the dolphin thing too so we are together since our husbands wanna do the ruins.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Just a word of warning of booking on your own. This can actually work out much more expensive than booking through Disney. If there is a change of itinerary or the ship cannot make it into port you are likely losing your money if you go it on your own. DH booked an excursion with Shoretrips (DCL did not offer anything similar) and they were wonderful when our itinerary was changed on check in. They do have a guarantee that you get a full refund if your ship does not make it into port. In our case they managed to reschedule for the following day, but setting this up cost us probably more in ship internet charges and roaming rates on my IPhone than the usual mark up on DCL. I also overheard people talking who had booked stuff at Atlantis on their own and they were not able to reschedule or get their money back.

dolphingirl47

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

Yeah that is what I was worried about too. But I talked with Dolphin Discovery and they said all I needed was to have Disney fax/email them a letter and I would just get charged a 5% service fee. I can save over $150 booking on my own, I would rather run the risk of a $7.00 service fee if we don't make it. I mean chances are higher that we will make it after all. I have read on here that a lot of people have book this paticular excursion on their own a lot. Hopefully I will be just as easy...LOL

 

[disneydiva16]

OMG...it's here it's here!! We leave today...we go to Disney...Yeah!! Is everyone excited????

Oh wait...it's still 2008...we still have another year to go
My bad!!! NEVERMIND!!!!!

 

[dismom73]

Now we can say we are leaving in "less than" a year! Well, we can because we are "leaving" the day before. I always count our vacation as started when we are on our way. I'm predicting this year will go really fast, mostly because I have to figure out how to finish paying for our cruise (and start saving for our next one).
See all one year from today!

 

[beansf]

We are one year out and I already decided to change from Cat 10 to Cat 6. I am going to keep that a secret from my hubby and let it be a surprise when we arrive on the ship. He will merely laugh at me since I have said all along, "We don't need a verandah. There are plenty of places on the boat for us to go for a view."

I don't know, I just decided I might enjoy having my own little private spot outside and since this is my first cruise I didn't want to jeopardize my experience by going "cheap" on stateroom cat.

When you break it down by day, it isn't THAT much more money <--My justification.

Plus, I think we won't do too many pricy shore excursions. Maybe just one snorkeling trip of some sort. My only must-do so far is a trip to Hemingway House. I wanted to do that so badly the one time I was in Key West, but the guy I was with wasn't too interested in going anywhere that didn't serve beer.