October 17, 2009 Western

[MommyTo5]

What are everyone's thoughts on today's cruise announcements? Anyone hatching any plans for next year or beyond?

Well, there will be no 15-Night Panama Canal cruise for us in 2011 after all. I'm pretty bummed as this is my dream cruise & we just canceled the 4/10 Transatlantic thinking this would be a suitable replacement. DH only gets 2 weeks vacation each year and 1 personal day. His work weeks run Sunday thru Saturday. The 15-night PC would only work for us if it departed on a Saturday (because we could add his personal day onto the front of his vacation) or Sunday.... but it departs on a Thursday and arrives in LA on a Friday. I'm so bummed. This would also mean the kids would miss 12 school days just as they are supposed to be coming back from Winter Break. It's just not going to work out.

I looked at the TA repos, but they won't work for us either. The EB leaves May 14th which would mean that the kids would miss finals and the last 6.5 days of school. The WB leaves September 10, but the Sat departure from Barcelona will not work due to (again) DH's vacation schedule.

I'm weighing our other options...

The 7-Night Alaska cruises look nice, but they run Tuesday thru Tuesday which would mean taking both of DH's vacation weeks. The plus side would be the kids wouldn't have to miss school for a Summer cruise. I'm thinking maybe we could fly to LA after getting off the ship, and spend a few days at Disneyland before flying home. Hey - as long as we're on the West coast, we might as well, right?

I'm looking forward to seeing the itineraries for the Dream... we may go that route if they offer some longer cruises.

I'm also considering just skipping DCL altogether in 2011 so that we can plan a trip to the new DVC resort in Hawaii with a few additional days on Maui. The kids haven't been yet!

 

[MommyTo5]

Does anyone have an "on the fence"? I can't decide whether or not to pack my hair dryer or make due with what is provided.

I don't think the hair dryers are as bad as some cruisers make it seem... they've always worked fine for me!

 

[MommyTo5]

I guess I should remember my Wife. Just kidding. Had to have a little fun. I would say, my labtop. I need it to pay some bills while I am gone. It sucks, in today's age even on vacation still have to take care of things at home.

Speaking of laptops, I just got a Dell Mini 10 for the trip! I love it!!!

 

[aan1701]

Angie,
Sorry to hear that you can't do the Canal. As for the DVC resort in Hawaii, I am very scared to see how many points I will need for even a studio. I thought the new villas at the Grand Californian was high on the amount of points needed. To see that resort I will hope DCL does round trip cruises from L.A. to the islands in 2012. I can hope.

 

[aan1701]

Speaking of laptops, I just got a Dell Mini 10 for the trip! I love it!!!

Well I have gone Apple and I will never, ever buy a windows based computer again. Glad you are happy though.

 

[lucky1]

A quick QOTD:

Don't leave home without it.. What's YOUR it for this Disney Cruise? (I mean, besides passport, tickets, licences, and money)..

A good book. I want to just spend some time lounging on deck 4 and watching the waves go by... Anyone suggest a good "brain candy" book?
I have to admit, I just am finishing the Twilight series. I can't believe I got hooked.

Laura

 

[lucky1]

I don't think the hair dryers are as bad as some cruisers make it seem... they've always worked fine for me!

I was planning on brining my little mini hairdryer, but if I am over packed than it is one of the first things to go.

 

[kerickson]

A quick QOTD:

Don't leave home without it.. What's YOUR it for this Disney Cruise? (I mean, besides passport, tickets, licences, and money)..

My daily plan. I've listed out what I think our days might look like. I tend to get flustered when in the moment, so I'll want to look at it periodically so I don't miss anything big...


Regarding a hairdryer. I plan on using the one on the ship. I switched to using hotel hair dryers a few years ago and haven't had an issue yet. I'm expecting my hair to frizz out due to the humidity, so any primping won't last long anyway...

 

[calmpets]

A good book. I want to just spend some time lounging on deck 4 and watching the waves go by... Anyone suggest a good "brain candy" book? I have to admit, I just am finishing the Twilight series. I can't believe I got hooked.

I like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series - they are a great series if you liked the supernatural component of the Twilight books. If you want more romance in your supernatural reading, try Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books.

 

[yazee1]

It's now down to $68.79!!!

LOL, I saw that this morning and hoped someone else would post it because the DISboard was loading too slowly and I didn't have time to wait. Thanks!!

I wouldn't mind getting a couple hundred back in OBC. I know exactly what dh and I could do with it. We could pay to have professional pictures taken of my in-laws for their 50th anniversary and a professional picture taken of the five of us but only if the professionals can photoshop my son's goofy "picture taking" leer in a normal non-Jokeresque smile.

 

[lucky1]

I have posted the list of those participating in the FE exchange on the yahoo group. Not much has changed since I emailed to the list of participants. The number of rooms is 13.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/discovering_magic_with_mickey/




twinsr241 -are you still out there?


Laura

 

[yazee1]

A quick QOTD:

Don't leave home without it.. What's YOUR it for this Disney Cruise? (I mean, besides passport, tickets, licences, and money)..

Let's see, if it can't be the important things you listed and it can't be something I could buy on the ship or in a port that narrows it down quite a bit. The only thing I can think of is my contact lenses and eyeglasses.

 

[momsully]

Speaking of laptops, I just got a Dell Mini 10 for the trip! I love it!!!

I LOVE my green Dell Mini 10! That is what I am working on tonight since I am out of town on business!

 

[Pennyb123]

You know what they say..... Once you go Mac, you never go back!! I'm waiting to go that route. I'd love nothing more than to chuck my new Dell through the window and into the back yard!! And after I watched a PowerPoint presentation from a Mac.... that did it for me...I was an Apple freak in the 80's and I should have stayed that way! As soon as I can get the $$ together... I'm going Mac!

 

[lucky1]

You know what they say..... Once you go Mac, you never go back!! I'm waiting to go that route. I'd love nothing more than to chuck my new Dell through the window and into the back yard!! And after I watched a PowerPoint presentation from a Mac.... that did it for me...I was an Apple freak in the 80's and I should have stayed that way! As soon as I can get the $$ together... I'm going Mac!

I work for a computer company (no not apple, but I do get a discount there ), but I will not be bringing my laptop with me. 10 days without work...

But just started thinking... What if I run out of memory on my photocards..

Laura

 

[shancan911]

A quick QOTD:

Don't leave home without it.. What's YOUR it for this Disney Cruise? (I mean, besides passport, tickets, licences, and money)..

Hands down, my Nikon

 

[AnkaG]

I agree with the Mac... I couldn't go back to windows.

As for the QOTD: I would have to say my camera. I am planning on taking soooooo many pictures, and we have a "underwater case', which will just be awesome for our scuba diving excursion!

 

[MommyTo5]

A quick QOTD:

Don't leave home without it.. What's YOUR it for this Disney Cruise? (I mean, besides passport, tickets, licences, and money)..

For this cruise, it has to be my new Panasonic Lumix TS1! I researched waterproof cameras for months and I'm so happy with my decision... can't wait to try it out!!!

 

[MommyTo5]

I work for a computer company (no not apple, but I do get a discount there ), but I will not be bringing my laptop with me. 10 days without work...

But just started thinking... What if I run out of memory on my photocards..

Laura

This is the reason that I bring mine. I take a lot of pics!!!

 

[dcannon101]

Hands down, my Nikon

Do you have a guess as to how many pictures you will take? I say it will be at least 1000. I hope you have a big enough card to hold that many.