October 13th, 2007~"Cruise-A-Palooza"

[jenmack]

Hi everyone! Welcome Jenny!

What a great way to spend an anniversary and a birthday.

I hope everyone id doing well. We have been very busy this month and June looks even busier.

Take care!

 

[jenny2]

Oh that's so cool Penny!! We were married 10/26/97... so this cruise will be a bit early, lol. We could have chosen the next Eastern cruise... but I didn't want to cruise over Halloween though - we have too much fun with the kids (4&6) to miss that

 

[bevtoy]

We recieved our passports in the mail today. WOO-HOO!

 

[soccerfreak_08]

We recieved our passports in the mail today. WOO-HOO!

I look fat in mine.

 

[bevtoy]

My face looks like a moon pie in mine.
Only worse picture is the traditional tortured look on the drivers license.

 

[d'Isigny]

Hey to all (all - says Hey).

Forgive me for my delay in posting. Work has been limiting my time 'on the Internet' - don't cha hate it when that happens.

Nan and I need to 'toss another log on the fire'...we will be celebrating our 22nd anniversary (10/19) during this cruise.

have a question for those that have requested/received their passports - how long is it currently taking to get your passport back? Nan and I are going on a cruise to Canada in September...and are debating getting ours earlier.

Hope this finds all well...take good care, Kevin

 

[soccerfreak_08]

We got ours(4 of us) in about five weeks. I don't know about the other people though.

 

[Kruegs]

Hey everyone! Just booked for this cruise and am VERY excited to be going. We'll be on deck 7 midship on the port side - and it's going to be a loooong year and a half! Anyhow...

My name is Mike and I'll be cruising with my wife (married 3 years, will be 4 years before the cruise) and 2 year-old daughter (she'll actually turn two a couple of days after we get back). We're meeting the wife's sister and her husband (one of my best friends), and they have three daughters of their own. Also working on a buddy and his wife who have a daughter 3 weeks older than mine, so hopefully they'll be joining us as well.

It will be our first cruise ever, and from what I've read we picked a good one to start with. Hopefully our DD will be old enough to enjoy the cruise, even if she probably won't remember it.

Anyhow, very nice to meet you all!

 

[bevtoy]

Nice to meet you Mike!

 

[bevtoy]

How is everyone doing? My Mom died on the 26th of May so we had a funeral. She isn't sufffering anymore and is with Jesus. Rest in peace Mom!

We have been working on magnets for the stateroom door. We also have a very long length of paper chain for a countdown that I wish I could post a picture. DD made it and it is very long and colorful.

 

[Kruegs]

How is everyone doing? My Mom died on the 26th of May so we had a funeral. She isn't sufffering anymore and is with Jesus. Rest in peace Mom!

We have been working on magnets for the stateroom door. We also have a very long length of paper chain for a countdown that I wish I could post a picture. DD made it and it is very long and colorful.

I'm so sorry for your loss!

We're trying not to get so excited for the cruise, especially with it still so far away, but I am so giddy to finally take a cruise and head to the Caribbean. It's something I've always wanted to do.

We went last week to apply for our passports, and it was such a mess. We filled out and printed the applications using the online form and went to a local drug store to get our pictures taken.

The next morning we went to the post office to file our applications. My wife (Julie) had to leave for work as soon as we were done, and I had DD (Emily) for the day. We got to the post office and stood in a short line, and made it to the window fairly quickly. I knew nothing involving the Federal government could go so smoothly, so I wasn't surprised when the nice lady behind the counter told Julie her birth certificate wasn't a certified copy - she had two copies and left the certified copy at home!

I still had my own and DD's applications, so Julie left the post office (which is fairly close to home) to get the right birth certificate. I stayed with DD and got our pictures out to process our applications in the meantime. The woman looked at the passport pictures and said she thought they were too big. It turns out the drug store's computer program had the wrong settings for passport photos and the program needed to be reinstalled! So I finished with the application portion of the process, Julie showed up with the right birth certificate, and we finished the applications. Julie went to work and I took Emily back to the drug store to have our photos resized. Please keep in mind that Emily is teething, and wasn't having the best day.

We got to the drug store and I waited with a fussy baby for 30-45 minutes while the pictures were resized. She was getting fussy because her mouth hurt, and was getting VERY heavy as she just wanted Daddy to hold her. We got the resized pictures, went back to the post office and waited in line again. We got to the counter and gave the nice woman our newly sized photos. She said Julie and mine looked great - but they would not take Emily's because I was holding her in front of the background for the picture, and my hands were visible in the picture (she's 7 mos old - how can she pose on her own?!). I thought "okay lady, you could have told me that the first time!!"

I took my patient baby back to the drug store to have a new photo taken. We put her on a box on top of a stool so she was in front of the background, and I held her around the waist while he took the new photo. Bless her little heart, she was SO good for the picture! We then waited 20 minutes for the new picture before they told me they had a digital photo pack processing that could not be interrupted, and it would be 15-20 more minutes.

I decided to get lunch while we waited, so DD and I went to the new sub shop that opened in town. They were only open about a week, so the employees are still trying to figure everything out. We waited in a LONG line, and they burnt my sub when they sent it through the toasting thingy! I waited for my new sub, and when it was finally finished we went back to the drug store. This was ~ 30 minutes later.

We got there and waited 5 more minutes for the picture to come up. They didn't charge me for the resizes or the reshoot, and let me keep the old photos of DD, so I thanked them and went back to the post office.

We didn't have to wait this time, and the picture was great. Our escapade was finally over - what a morning!

So anyhow, assuming the processing goes okay, at least this part of the planning is over. We're excited to get our first passports ever!

Hope everyone else's process has been a bit smoother.

 

[bevtoy]

People in show business say that if dress rehearsal goes badly the play will be a success.............. myabe its the same with cruising and passports? We received a letter and had to resubmit a check for more money , the post office told us the wrong amount, we still got ours in (I think) about 4 weeks.
Here is a website where you can check on the progress of your application, they will tell you if theres a delay and will send that to you in writing, telling you what to do to correct any mistakes.:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/status/status_2567.html

 

[jenmack]

Bev, I just wanted to say that I am so sorry for you and your family's loss.


Also, it sounds like everyone is doing pretty well in the cruise planning department. We plan on getting our passprts in mid July. It's been so busy around here. Today is the last day of school & 2 of my kids leave for camp this Sunday. My DH leaves for Hawaii next weekend so we will do the passports when he gets back.

Anyway, everyone take care! Just think, in a few more months we should be able to start looking at airfare.

 

[Kruegs]

Thanks for the link bevtoy! Still not in the system yet.

Nice to meet you jenmack!

 

[jenmack]

Thank You Kruegs, nice to meet you too.

 

[d'Isigny]

How is everyone doing? My Mom died on the 26th of May so we had a funeral. She isn't sufffering anymore and is with Jesus. Rest in peace Mom!

Bev...so sorry to hear of your loss - our best as you and yours go through this tough time - take good care.

Hello to all...it's been a long week for me/us...have spent the past 8 days traveling for work. Thankfully I got to get away from the office and enjoy beautiful Northern California...weather in San Francisco and East Bay was WAY better than than Phoenix (just missed my girls...way too much). I walked out of the airport...and thought I was going to melt...it's getting too hot - too soon....AUGH!!!!

I can't believe that in just over a year...we will be on 'the magic'...i can't wait.

 

[Kruegs]

I can't believe that in just over a year...we will be on 'the magic'...i can't wait.

This is going to be the longest year of my life... though it was strategically planned so that our daughter's first years slow down a bit.

I literally cannot wait until our FIRST time on the Magic. Though I fear I'll be starting an expensive habit.

 

[jenmack]

Though I fear I'll be starting an expensive habit.

I so know what you mean. This is our 3rd Disney Cruise & after every cruise, even though we had an awesome time we always say let's try something new next time. So here we are on # 3 & yes, it's an expensive, but worth it habit.

 

[bevtoy]

We have a box that we purchase things toward the cruise all year and stow away. One of the items is our own snorkels, I just shudder when I think of using rented snorkels. Walmart had a cute pirate packedge in the toy section for $4 that has a hand hook, eye patch, sword plus dagger with sheath, 3 gold coins, earring, eye patch and a telescope!
Do yopu have a box and whats in it so far? Oh yes, I bought a underwater camera case (water proof) and a water proof belly bag for the beaches to keep our KTTW cards and valuables in while we swim.

 

[seagee]

Hello Everyone, Tonight I'm going to pay our deposit for this cruise!! I'm booking through DU. This will be our second cruise (Wonder 4 day Oct 2005 during Wilma!!!). It's me, DH and DD (age 9 cruise time). I could kick myself for not booking on the boat last time. Live and learn! Cathy



P.S. Our anniversary is October 22! (10/22/1994)

Can we do a recap on names and ages?
Me, DH, DD9, (Maryland)- deck 7