Oct 30 2010 7 Night Western

[Grandma4ever]

Thanks for the cool pic, tj! That has now replaced the Mad Hatter as my Desktop image for a while

So DW & I have had an eventful weekend around home (for once). We went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday. We really enjoyed it, but came to the same conclusion. All the Toy Story movies have the same basic plot structure: toys in jeopardy, one toy gets lost, all work together to get back where they should be. It's not a huge problem, but its been what, 11 years (wow, I feel old) since Toy Story 2 came out? A bit of a change from the plot line of 1 & 2 would have been nice.

We started on our FE gifts a while back, but didn't really get too far. That has changed this weekend, too!!! We made some good progress on what we're going to do and how we'll do it. We also were organizing our Door Decorations and sand toys, so we were very much in vacation mode.

I also have a question that some of you might have the answer to: DW & I are Silver Castaway Club Members, and on this cruise we'll be joined by my parents (in a different state room), on their first Disney Cruise. If both cruises are paid off, and our reservations are linked, we were wondering if we (DW & myself) would be able to book excursions and Palo brunch for all four of us at the 90 day mark of if we'd have to wait until the standard booking window to open at 75 days.

Hope everyone has a safe & happy 4th of July!

You should be able to book a table for 4 at Palo but you will need to wait till the 75 day mark to book their excusions. That should not be a pronblem. I believe you will be able to get what you want at that point as well. Please correct me if I am wrong. Lois

 

[JKSWonder]

Thanks for the cool pic, tj! That has now replaced the Mad Hatter as my Desktop image for a while

So DW & I have had an eventful weekend around home (for once). We went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday. We really enjoyed it, but came to the same conclusion. All the Toy Story movies have the same basic plot structure: toys in jeopardy, one toy gets lost, all work together to get back where they should be. It's not a huge problem, but its been what, 11 years (wow, I feel old) since Toy Story 2 came out? A bit of a change from the plot line of 1 & 2 would have been nice.

We started on our FE gifts a while back, but didn't really get too far. That has changed this weekend, too!!! We made some good progress on what we're going to do and how we'll do it. We also were organizing our Door Decorations and sand toys, so we were very much in vacation mode.

I also have a question that some of you might have the answer to: DW & I are Silver Castaway Club Members, and on this cruise we'll be joined by my parents (in a different state room), on their first Disney Cruise. If both cruises are paid off, and our reservations are linked, we were wondering if we (DW & myself) would be able to book excursions and Palo brunch for all four of us at the 90 day mark of if we'd have to wait until the standard booking window to open at 75 days.

Hope everyone has a safe & happy 4th of July!

I know you can book Palo's for everyone at your 90 day mark, but they have to be eating with you, meaning you couldn't book a table for two just for them. My MIL was silver on our first cruise and she booked Palo's for all of us at her 90 day mark.

I believe for everything else, you can book your own excursions and spa appointments, but you can't book those things for them, at least, that's what my MIL believed. I'm not sure why this is, except I think DCL puts a priority on allowing you to eat together. I gather its more every man for himself for everything else.

 

[lsjones]

Good news and Bad news on tonights news. The bad has me nervous about our cruise.
The Good news was that BP says it can likely cap the oil leak by the end of this month.
The Bad news was that the already leaked oil looks like it may make it's way into the Gulph loop and head up the Eastern Sea Board. The map they showed, showed the path right up the Eastern Florida Coast heading towards Canada. This would likely affect our cruise wouldn't it?

Do you all think it could be cleaned up within the next 3 + months?

This has me very wooried too

 

[TifffanyD]

Re: the fish extenders

I was wondering if we had a final date to report our room assignments and a contingency plan for room changes after that date?

On my last cruise, some FE participants decided to change rooms at the last minute (upgrades at port and whatnot) and then just put a post on the boards from their iphone that they had changed. This caused problems cause some people were already on vacation a few days before and didn't have a way to check the boards. It would be great if we had a final cutoff date and if anyone who changes after that is responsible for notifying each room of their new location (like leaving a note at the door). Just trying to avoid the headaches we had last time - what do you all think?

 

[TifffanyD]

Oh and another question! Does anyone remember if the tollbooths from orlando to PC take cash money? schimj seemed to remember at least one was sunpass only... but I don't remember. We are planning on renting a car since there will be 4 of us and not sure we will have access to a sunpass to use. TIA!

 

[mmouse37]

Oh and another question! Does anyone remember if the tollbooths from orlando to PC take cash money? schimj seemed to remember at least one was sunpass only... but I don't remember. We are planning on renting a car since there will be 4 of us and not sure we will have access to a sunpass to use. TIA!

We don't have Sunpass either and all our previous trips to the port from Orlando we were able to use cash.

MJ

 

[mmouse37]

I know you can book Palo's for everyone at your 90 day mark, but they have to be eating with you, meaning you couldn't book a table for two just for them. My MIL was silver on our first cruise and she booked Palo's for all of us at her 90 day mark.

I believe for everything else, you can book your own excursions and spa appointments, but you can't book those things for them, at least, that's what my MIL believed. I'm not sure why this is, except I think DCL puts a priority on allowing you to eat together. I gather its more every man for himself for everything else.

We are Platinum and when I went to book my Palo last week it only let me book for 2 people (us) even though our ressies are linked with other cabins. Everyone else is Silver. I could not add the others to our reservation for Palo.


Also about Key West....this was probably posted already but remember that when we are there it is Halloween and Fantasy Fest (10 day festival) which can be quite an eye-opener for some and one of the busiest seasons of the entire year. Most of the events will have already taken place by Sunday according to the schedule of events but there will still be plenty of "interesting" people around and it should still be pretty busy on Sunday....so plan accordingly.

Here is the link to the schedule of events.

http://www.fantasyfest.net/schedule.cfm

MJ

 

[morgansmom2000]

Hoping there will be some movies shown on the Ship that day. DH can go out and explore, DD and I will explore the Ship

 

[Grandma4ever]

Re: the fish extenders

I was wondering if we had a final date to report our room assignments and a contingency plan for room changes after that date?

On my last cruise, some FE participants decided to change rooms at the last minute (upgrades at port and whatnot) and then just put a post on the boards from their iphone that they had changed. This caused problems cause some people were already on vacation a few days before and didn't have a way to check the boards. It would be great if we had a final cutoff date and if anyone who changes after that is responsible for notifying each room of their new location (like leaving a note at the door). Just trying to avoid the headaches we had last time - what do you all think?

On one of my past cruises we had a dry erase board on a known stateroom door where messages could be posted for everyone in the FE exchange. That maybe an idea. We can use screen names with room numbers.

 

[JKSWonder]

We are Platinum and when I went to book my Palo last week it only let me book for 2 people (us) even though our ressies are linked with other cabins. Everyone else is Silver. I could not add the others to our reservation for Palo. MJ

That is so strange. Do you think they changed this policy when they put into place the Castaway Club levels? Because when she booked us for Palo's with our linked reservations, it was before the new levels were established. At that point, she was a Castaway Club member, while we we first time cruisers. So she could book at 90 days and we could book at 75. I believe the only people who could book before her were concierge guests and those who bought the now unavailable REAS package.

When she pulled up her reservation and began the Palo booking, it showed all the adults available in our linked reservations that she could select to dine with her. I gather that isn't the case anymore?

 

[Grandma4ever]

That is so strange. Do you think they changed this policy when they put into place the Castaway Club levels? Because when she booked us for Palo's with our linked reservations, it was before the new levels were established. At that point, she was a Castaway Club member, while we we first time cruisers. So she could book at 90 days and we could book at 75. I believe the only people who could book before her were concierge guests and those who bought the now unavailable REAS package.

When she pulled up her reservation and began the Palo booking, it showed all the adults available in our linked reservations that she could select to dine with her. I gather that isn't the case anymore?

That is a very real possibility. Palo is the only thing I have had a hard time getting what I want. However, for me it is a very small part of my cruise and if I get it great, if not, Oh well that just means I have time for something else.

 

[JKSWonder]

That is a very real possibility. Palo is the only thing I have had a hard time getting what I want. However, for me it is a very small part of my cruise and if I get it great, if not, Oh well that just means I have time for something else.

We were lucky and got exactly what we wanted last time. I really only want a dinner for this cruise. While I would love brunch and/or high tea, my DH is not a big fan of brunch or of tea. So, I might try to get a brunch ressie, but if I can't, then that's o.k.

I do want to try to do Tea with Wendy with my DD. And I am hoping DH and I can do a few of the tastings...I would love to do a wine tasting, a martini tasting, and a tequila/margarita tasting!

DS has (finally!!!!) been completely potty trained for several weeks now, with no accidents, not even at night! This means he can participate in the Club and he can finally go in the Mickey pool!

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

On one of my past cruises we had a dry erase board on a known stateroom door where messages could be posted for everyone in the FE exchange. That maybe an idea. We can use screen names with room numbers.

I like the dry erase board idea on a selected door...otherwise it might get super complicated with so many people on the FE list! Isn't there a meet and greet that first afternoon? Anyone with room changes could also report it there on some type of sheet that could be noted by everyone else. Would that work? We're 5GTY and I have no idea when we'll hear our stateroom number. It appears to be a packed ship -- might DCL be doing stateroom adjustments at the last minute?

 

[nenner1]

Re: the fish extenders

I was wondering if we had a final date to report our room assignments and a contingency plan for room changes after that date?

It would be great if we had a final cutoff date and if anyone who changes after that is responsible for notifying each room of their new location (like leaving a note at the door). Just trying to avoid the headaches we had last time - what do you all think?

Yes, the dry erase board is the contingency plan most frequently used for issues like this.

This has happened to us, but not by choice. On our last cruise our booked stateroom was "out of service" for a maintenance issue and we were moved to another stateroom against our wishes. (Nope, we were not upgraded. We were extremely upset about it as we actually had two staterooms and this separated the rooms by about 50 feet.) Luckily we used the dry erase board system and we also posted a note on our "original" stateroom to notify everyone. And yes, even so we still found FE gifts at the old room.

IMO having been there, done that... the best way is to appoint one volunteer as FE white board/changes central (maybe Leslie being the coordinator would like to do this) and everyone could post changes there and check for changes before beginning deliveries. The only problem with public white boards is the possibility of information being altered by other cruisers......

I like the dry erase board idea on a selected door...otherwise it might get super complicated with so many people on the FE list! Isn't there a meet and greet that first afternoon? Anyone with room changes could also report it there on some type of sheet that could be noted by everyone else. Would that work?

I think we should also do this as well!

DS has (finally!!!!) been completely potty trained for several weeks now, with no accidents, not even at night! This means he can participate in the Club and he can finally go in the Mickey pool!

That's awesome!! We are working diligently with Sarah without much success yet. Of course she *just* turned 2. She can stay dry for long periods of time so she may be trained enough for the pool, but I doubt for the club since she would have to do it all by herself. We're working towards the goal, though!

We just got back from Orlando, haven't had much time to check in, but to our new cruisers! The weather was pretty crappy but we weren't there for recreation. We did get one brief morning to enjoy the grotto pool at the S/D-very nice!!! Felt bad for the normal people staying there this week, there were (not one, but) two HUGE dance competitions there. We overran the place in glitter, big hair & bumpits, sequins, and screaming girls. LOL!!!

 

[tjbaggott]

I was the FE co-ordinator for our last cruise. We made arrangements for a meet by the mickey pool, and thus those that had room changes were to notify me there. I arranged to hand out my FE's First that evening, so that I could at the same time, deliver with the FE's, an updated room list. Now that was easy to do because we were a small group of about 10 or so cabins. I do like the idea of the dry erase board, but also assume I can give our update if need be during our meet at the promenade lounge? We are GTY and have yet to be assigned a stateroom.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Well not really bad news....

We've decided not to "do WDW" before the cruise. I'm concerned that after 6 days at WDW, we'll be too exhausted to truly enjoy the cruise. And of course, after a week of eating out I'm concerned we'll be "fooded" out (and I really don't want that!), and of course, being around all of those snotty, sneezing, barfy, sicky kids rotfl2:just kidding - I love em all - really ), the chances of catching something before the cruise goes up exponentially. And with the refurb in Fantasyland and Star Tours being refurbed (it was one of the only "thrill" rides I did - and I loved it), WDW is just seemingly like too much in addition to the week long cruise.

There is a part of me that is sad and a part of me that is glad and a part of me that is ambivilent about cancelling - I think what hurts the most is cancelling the Poly Concierge that was booked at 40% off - I'm hoping that I'll get that deal again somewhere down the line.

On the upside, our FE is done and I really like how it turned out. it's very *non-traditional* but it suits me and my parents and I guess that's really all that counts. It's actually the second "base" of the FE - the first one my mom crochet was 1 large blue pocket but she decided she didn't like it as much so she crochet a second one with 1 pocket for each of us (and wanted a netrual colour - she thought the blue was too dark to represent water).

I need to get back to my FE gifts at some point. I have a good start but put away the materials and now I am having trouble motivating myself to pick them back up (which I knew was going to happen ).

But I'm going to do it - soon - if I just keep telling myself that it might actually happen .

Our FE

A couple of close ups:

 

[tjbaggott]

Trisha, what a very innoventive way of making an FE! VERY VERY NICE!!

I'm starting to panic a little about cash for the cruise (it's all paid off, so now it's just the cash to get there and back on and spending money) as the reality of my son heading off to college is setting in! We're renting a car for the labour day weekend in September to drive him 20 hours away to Confed in Thunder Bay. Tuition fees are covered and some of his residence fees, but then there's the meal plan, the deposits needed now and he likely won't have a job once there, so I'll need to fill his account monthly.......... Perhaps he won't need as much as I'm worrying about now, perhaps his OSAP (student loan) will cover everything, and it's just my realizing my boy is leaving home, that is shaking my nerves. SOOOOO much changes over the next few months...... it's just really starting to hit me! He got his Drivers licence last week, and already that bit of independance is showing itself fully. Every day we hear "Can I use the car to go.........." Today it was to go to Wallmart, and then while there he called to ask if he can take his little brother to a movie tonight. Oh and Little Tim is having his moments of trying to cope with his oldest brother leaving home too. He has broken down and cried about it. I haven't done that yet. That'll probably happen the day we leave him in Thunder Bay!
Sorry for the story there, just needed to get some off my chest!

 

[kristieuk]

Trisha, your fish extender is absolutely amazing! I continued to be amazed by the talent around here - hope that cruising with you all rubs off some talent on me, I am creatively minded but hampered by the inablity of my hands

 

[Gramto3]

Please take Gramto3 and Jeninpa off your roster. We won't be cruising this year. The reality of both my husband and myself being retired is hitting hard. Simply can't afford to pay for three of us this time around.

 

[kristieuk]

Trisha, what a very innoventive way of making an FE! VERY VERY NICE!!

I'm starting to panic a little about cash for the cruise (it's all paid off, so now it's just the cash to get there and back on and spending money) as the reality of my son heading off to college is setting in! We're renting a car for the labour day weekend in September to drive him 20 hours away to Confed in Thunder Bay. Tuition fees are covered and some of his residence fees, but then there's the meal plan, the deposits needed now and he likely won't have a job once there, so I'll need to fill his account monthly.......... Perhaps he won't need as much as I'm worrying about now, perhaps his OSAP (student loan) will cover everything, and it's just my realizing my boy is leaving home, that is shaking my nerves. SOOOOO much changes over the next few months...... it's just really starting to hit me! He got his Drivers licence last week, and already that bit of independance is showing itself fully. Every day we hear "Can I use the car to go.........." Today it was to go to Wallmart, and then while there he called to ask if he can take his little brother to a movie tonight. Oh and Little Tim is having his moments of trying to cope with his oldest brother leaving home too. He has broken down and cried about it. I haven't done that yet. That'll probably happen the day we leave him in Thunder Bay!
Sorry for the story there, just needed to get some off my chest!

I am sure everything will work out fine for you, but I do fully appreciate that the anxiety of waiting for change can get unbearable. Sometimes things just need to happen so that you can see everything will be ok. I am always a believer that we manage with what we have, and one way or another things work out. In the meantime, sending you a giant hug . It will be ok, and at least you know you can always come here to share your fears