Oct 30 2010 7 Night Western

[Royfam]

As far as pictures you have to load them to a photosite...We use photobucket i think others use snapfish,maybe kodak but not sure.

Then when they are loaded then you take a link from there and put the link
here

OK Thanks I'm going to attempt it... I am so not good at figuring out all this stuff thank goodness for you guys ( and DH) I do have a photo bucket account .....Cross your fingers

But i doubt they would cancel it unless it was that they were like "blocked" in and it was close and it blew up the ship or something...oh lord that was a bit out there........

Wow, i dont know anything about these but seems, a bit creepy.

I needed that ( a good laugh) my kidos are driving me crazy, maybe it's the weather

 

[Royfam]

Here's a picture of the Roy Family May 09

 

[Grandma4ever]

I'm soooo jealous !!! but so happy for you

so when they dock do you have to pack up and leave your room? are you in the same room? how dose it work?

We have the same room so we can leave everything. We do need to leave the ship go through customs and then after the ship is cleared we will be checked back on and taken back on board. We will be able to get to our room but nothing is really open. It is peaceful on board. If you do not have the same room you pack your stuff up and it goes into storage and is placed in your new room. You do not have access to the room untill all the rooms are ready but you are on board.

Here's a picture of the Roy Family May 09

Very nice picture. I need to get our picture posted. Will get to that sometime before we cruise.

 

[Royfam]

Hey just wondering if any of you have older kids that wanted to start chatting with each other? My oldest keeps asking me questions... "how many kids my age?" "anyone new?" (each day) stuff like that. He made several good friend on our last cruises. one even from London...they are actually trying to find a way for us to go on the transatlantic cruise with then. and by them I mean the boys. I keep telling him as soon as we win the lottery i'll book it anyways they chat everyday on facebook so if any of you have teens who want to chat (here or on facebook, if thats cooler)let me know.
Brandon is 15, very social, plays Lacrosse for the high school, Likes hanging out with his friends, movies, music, and of course texting ( I think his phone is glued to his hand)

 

[Royfam]

off to bed I guess, someone's got to get up with the kids.

 

[dizney-cruiser]

Hey just wondering if any of you have older kids that wanted to start chatting with each other? My oldest keeps asking me questions... "how many kids my age?" "anyone new?" (each day) stuff like that. He made several good friend on our last cruises. one even from London...they are actually trying to find a way for us to go on the transatlantic cruise with then. and by them I mean the boys. I keep telling him as soon as we win the lottery i'll book it anyways they chat everyday on facebook so if any of you have teens who want to chat (here or on facebook, if thats cooler)let me know.
Brandon is 15, very social, plays Lacrosse for the high school, Likes hanging out with his friends, movies, music, and of course texting ( I think his phone is glued to his hand)

Some of the kids have started a thread of their own - I have a link to it in post #1

 

[dizney-cruiser]

Our last cruise set sail on October 25, 2008. We hit some bad weather and huge waves! Every excursion we had planned was canceled. We were supposed to go Grand Cayman and that got changed to Key West. The weather never bothered us! We were on a cruise and loving every minute of it!!

 

[nenner1]

Real quick has any one sailed in oct and this might be a dumb question but do we need to worry about the weather and the cruise being cancelled????

We love cruising in October! Only reason we ended up in January this year was because my cousin was supposed to get married on the Oasis. (They broke up..which is why we are now on the half-as-expensive Independence!)

The weather is a crapshoot..in '07 and '08 it was absolutley lovely. Water was warm..it was perfect. I know others have not had that luck, but they will always try to keep the ship in good weather! (Even if it means changing the itinerary)

No idea yet where we will be staying. We have had good luck recently on Hotwire getting GREAT rooms at awesome prices! (The worst is the Hyatt next week for $89 but it is the week before the superbowl in Miami so most other rooms were hundreds. In Dec. we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Orlando for $59/night in a $450 rack rate room! (We heard them quoting someone else $250ish for the night...I assume our door stated the price was higher since we got one of the "mini-suite" rooms!) So good deals are to be had.

I was originally among those planning to try a BCV/BCR stay...not sure at this point. My boss let me know I way overbooked my vacation this year so I have to cut it back somewhere. Not sure it is worth it if we are just there one night and out at the parks late that night! (We do plan on doing MNSSHP) I would prefer to do it not the night before the cruise but Thursday instead.

Being so close to Halloween I do expect the MNSSHP's to be very crowded. I know Saturday will sell out very early which does not affect us but Friday will likely be hugely popular also...something to keep in mind if you are planning to do MNSSHP prior to the cruise!

 

[Royfam]

Some of the kids have started a thread of their own - I have a link to it in post #1

Yeah, My younger two kids are on there. but the oldest kids on there are our 12 year olds (girls)...not quite what my oldest is looking for

 

[Royfam]

I'm sure it's one of the disney parks but what is MNSSHP?

And if you fly in on friday is it worth going to any of the parks?
we always fly in on friday and usually stay at BCV but have NEVER been in any of the parks and it's killing me and the kids ...DH,not so much

 

[tjbaggott]

We did MNSSHP this past Halloween on Halloween night! I will NEVER do that again. That night had it's good points but other than a few good points, it was the worst night of our whole vacation.
It was SO CROWDED, not what I had expected (don't ask why I didn't expect it, it makes sense of after the fact that of couse, it's halloween night, it WILL be crowded, but I wasn't thinking like that at the time). Line ups for trick or treating took a LONG time. We never did make it to all the stations before the park closed, and we missed all the dance parties. Did catch the evening parade and that was awesome, but again, not all of us could see because it was SO crowded! It was also HOT, SO Hot out (the heat I did like because it was so cold back home), but in long sleeved costumes, it wasn't completely enjoyable. The previous days in the parks were fabulous, and the day we left for our cruise was Fabulous (although we were exhausted from the night before).

Royfam, glad to see you have a 6yr old son! Me too, but he'll be seven by the time we cruise. We are bringing our DS's, then 7 and 13. They won't be chatting on the kids board though because they don't know about this trip. The plan is to keep it a surprise right up until we leave!

Our room at the Country Inn and Suites, we got through priceline for $49.00 for the kids suite (add taxes and fees and it comes out to $62 or $63).
Would anyone know, if we arrive during the early afternoon on the Friday, where is a good beach close by and is there a fee to use it?


And off topic, but a question for anyone familiar with buses or trains in New York State: We may bring my mother with us as far as perhaps Syracuse where we'd put her on a bus or train to go visit her sister in New Jersey while we cruise (planning on taking her on our 2011 cruise). I need to search the best way for her to get there, but haven't a clue on names of bus or train companies.

 

[nenner1]

I'm sure it's one of the disney parks but what is MNSSHP?

MNSSHP is short for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

It is a hard ticket (separate admission) event held at the Magic Kingdom on selected nights in Sept/Oct. It is the only time adults are permitted to wear costumes in WDW, and (I've heard) a lot of fun! They have trick or treating around the park (special stations set up for this), Dance Parties, a Halloween Parade and Fireworks show that is spectacular! (Boo To You!)

It runs from 7 PM to Midnight I believe (though they will allow you admission at 4 PM) and the cost is roughly $59/adult, $49/child.

And if you fly in on friday is it worth going to any of the parks?

Well....that is totally up to you...depends on what time your flight is and how far (how long you'll be on the plane), if you are doing Magical Express, etc.

we always fly in on friday and usually stay at BCV but have NEVER been in any of the parks and it's killing me and the kids ...DH,not so much

Well.....if you've NEVER been...you almost HAVE to don't you?

Tough call, if it were me since I try to cram as much as possible into a vacation I would say sure! Go for it (assuming you aren't spending hours on the plane ) just don't push yourself too hard!

I would recommend trying MNSSHP (all of the good rides are open during the party- plus you can enter at 4 like I said so you get more out of it) ....but...

That Friday like I said above is going to be really, really busy.

Anyway you have quite a decision to make!

We did MNSSHP this past Halloween on Halloween night! I will NEVER do that again. That night had it's good points but other than a few good points, it was the worst night of our whole vacation.
It was SO CROWDED, not what I had expected (don't ask why I didn't expect it, it makes sense of after the fact that of couse, it's halloween night, it WILL be crowded, but I wasn't thinking like that at the time). Line ups for trick or treating took a LONG time. We never did make it to all the stations before the park closed, and we missed all the dance parties. Did catch the evening parade and that was awesome, but again, not all of us could see because it was SO crowded! It was also HOT, SO Hot out (the heat I did like because it was so cold back home), but in long sleeved costumes, it wasn't completely enjoyable. The previous days in the parks were fabulous, and the day we left for our cruise was Fabulous (although we were exhausted from the night before).

Yeah I have heard that...and with Halloween being on Sunday this year I think Saturday will be THE big day this year and Friday running a close 2nd. IIRC both Fri and Sat (actual Halloween '09) sold out so...

Our room at the Country Inn and Suites, we got through priceline for $49.00 for the kids suite (add taxes and fees and it comes out to $62 or $63).
Would anyone know, if we arrive during the early afternoon on the Friday, where is a good beach close by and is there a fee to use it?

Wow that is a great deal! Ron coul dnever figure it out on their site since it only lets him book rooms for 2 (??? ) Don't know.

We'll be looking more into those things in a few weeks when I need next-cruise planning to pull me out of our post-cruise funk!

 

[dizzi]

Hey just wondering if any of you have older kids that wanted to start chatting with each other? My oldest keeps asking me questions... "how many kids my age?" "anyone new?" (each day) stuff like that. He made several good friend on our last cruises. one even from London...they are actually trying to find a way for us to go on the transatlantic cruise with then. and by them I mean the boys. I keep telling him as soon as we win the lottery i'll book it anyways they chat everyday on facebook so if any of you have teens who want to chat (here or on facebook, if thats cooler)let me know.
Brandon is 15, very social, plays Lacrosse for the high school, Likes hanging out with his friends, movies, music, and of course texting ( I think his phone is glued to his hand)

I will try to rememeber before late in the night tomorrow to ask the kids to go over there and check out the thread.
Both my kidds are teens and will both be in the satck this year.

I'm sure it's one of the disney parks but what is MNSSHP?

And if you fly in on friday is it worth going to any of the parks?
we always fly in on friday and usually stay at BCV but have NEVER been in any of the parks and it's killing me and the kids ...DH,not so much

I guess it depends on what time you fly in. And what time the parks close.
But i agree.....MNSSHP would be a gret one to do....Getting in MK at 4 you will see it in the daylight and at night ...... 2 totally differernt views. All the GREAT ride are open...and much more character interaction.

I will post some pics from our trip this past OCt.

And off topic, but a question for anyone familiar with buses or trains in New York State: We may bring my mother with us as far as perhaps Syracuse where we'd put her on a bus or train to go visit her sister in New Jersey while we cruise (planning on taking her on our 2011 cruise). I need to search the best way for her to get there, but haven't a clue on names of bus or train companies.

I dont know about New York...But can she use AMTRAK?

How far of a distance is that?

 

[Royfam]

Hey I was roaming other threads and found this... maybe everyone already knows all about this , but it was news to me
A CHANGE IN THE KIDS CLUBS!!!

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1064

 

[Fastpaks]

Royfam, glad to see you have a 6yr old son! Me too, but he'll be seven by the time we cruise. We are bringing our DS's, then 7 and 13. They won't be chatting on the kids board though because they don't know about this trip. The plan is to keep it a surprise right up until we leave!

I wish I could have kept the cruise a secret from my son (6 now), but he is still mad at us for not taking him on our first trip to Disney. We took a belated honeymoon when he was about 3. About 8 months later, my sister gave him a Woody's house style bank that she got from Disney. As soon as he got home, he went through the entire house, couches, bedrooms, my pockets, found all the change he could and put it inside the bank. I asked him what he was doing and he simply said, "when I fill this bank, I will have enough money to go to Florida and I ll even pay for you and mom too!."

I asked him recently about that, his response: "Dad, I think I may need just a little help paying for it." I love his innocence. So I couldn't keep it a secret. I am encouraged though that there are more little ones coming. My sister, mom and dad went on the last "Jersey Days" cruise and said that the crowd of kids were a bit older. Then again, my nephew is about 4 years older then my kid so prolly never noticed.

Our room at the Country Inn and Suites, we got through priceline for $49.00 for the kids suite (add taxes and fees and it comes out to $62 or $63).
Would anyone know, if we arrive during the early afternoon on the Friday, where is a good beach close by and is there a fee to use it?

http://www.jettypark.org/
I don't think that the Jetty Park has a fee. There is a phone number if ya want give em a shout about it. Personally, when I lived in Florida I enjoyed Cocoa Beach more. The only time there was a charge that I remember was at the Cocoa Beach Pier during a surfing/volleyball Tournament. (which IMO was just dumb.) In October, its highly unlikely that anything like that is going on.

On a side Note:
I'm sure a lot of people are beach vets, but a tip I used to do when I lived there was take gum with me and chew it if I go out to the ocean. Makes a huge difference. Not to mention a gallon of water. I'll go back to lurking in the forums now

 

[Royfam]

I wish I could have kept the cruise a secret from my son (6 now), but he is still mad at us for not taking him on our first trip to Disney. We took a belated honeymoon when he was about 3. About 8 months later, my sister gave him a Woody's house style bank that she got from Disney. As soon as he got home, he went through the entire house, couches, bedrooms, my pockets, found all the change he could and put it inside the bank. I asked him what he was doing and he simply said, "when I fill this bank, I will have enough money to go to Florida and I ll even pay for you and mom too!."

I asked him recently about that, his response: "Dad, I think I may need just a little help paying for it." I love his innocence. So I couldn't keep it a secret. I am encouraged though that there are more little ones coming. My sister, mom and dad went on the last "Jersey Days" cruise and said that the crowd of kids were a bit older. Then again, my nephew is about 4 years older then my kid so prolly never noticed.

Hi there,

My youngest DS is 6 now but will be 7 in July.He's on the kids Thread ,You should have your son pop on by there My DS enjoying it so much, everyday he wants to check to see if there's a message from someone then if there is he sits on my lap and helps me type them back. I think it will be great for them to have started these friendships before they meet...how exciting will that be

I can only keep it (our trip) a secret for a little while. usually we tell them christmas day... this year we waited till really late (right before they go to bed). That morning when they were opening their presents they were "no cruise" and kinda sad...got to keep them guessing

 

[JKSWonder]

And off topic, but a question for anyone familiar with buses or trains in New York State: We may bring my mother with us as far as perhaps Syracuse where we'd put her on a bus or train to go visit her sister in New Jersey while we cruise (planning on taking her on our 2011 cruise). I need to search the best way for her to get there, but haven't a clue on names of bus or train companies.

I think Upstate New York is serviced by both Amtrak and Metro North. New York City has both Pennsylvania Station (Penn Station) and Grand Central Terminal. I know from one of those you can make connections to New Jersey Path trains. I would check out the websites of all those to see which one or combination of two result in the most direct route.

I'm much less familiar with buses, although I believe my mother in law used Grey Hound buses to travel from upstate New York to Manhattan, and then took a connecting train from there.

 

[JKSWonder]

I think Upstate New York is serviced by both Amtrak and Metro North. New York City has both Pennsylvania Station (Penn Station) and Grand Central Terminal. I know from one of those you can make connections to New Jersey Path trains. I would check out the websites of all those to see which one or combination of two result in the most direct route.

I'm much less familiar with buses, although I believe my mother in law used Grey Hound buses to travel from upstate New York to Manhattan, and then took a connecting train from there.

I just looked it up myself (bored at work and had the time!). It looks like you can get an Amtrak train from Syracuse to Penn Station, NYC and then would have to get a connection from there (either NJ Path train or perhaps a bus).

 

[wjruss]

Hello Everyone! I'm so glad to have found this group. This will be our 3rd cruise. We live in Palm Coast, Florida only about an hour or so away from the port. We have Late dinner seating. Sailing will be my DH Will , Me Jamie, DS 15, DD 11, DS 6, DS 4. My user name is wjruss. Thank you for adding us!

Jamie

 

[JKSWonder]

Hello Everyone! I'm so glad to have found this group. This will be our 3rd cruise. We live in Palm Coast, Florida only about an hour or so away from the port. We have Late dinner seating. Sailing will be my DH Will , Me Jamie, DS 15, DD 11, DS 6, DS 4. My user name is wjruss. Thank you for adding us!

Jamie

Welcome! We have late seating too, although I did ask to be wait listed for main dining because I'm not at all sure my son will cooperate with going to a late dinner, even if I feed him earlier!

We are Me (Jane), DH (Mike) and DD 9 and DS 4 (their ages at the time of the cruise).