October 19, 2008 4 day Bahama - anyone else?

[PrincessaJasmine]

Hey,

It's been pretty quiet here lately. How are everyone's plans shaping up. I can't tell you how helpful all of the DISboard tips have been.

In a nutshell, here are our plans.

Cruisers: Me, DH, DS 10, DS 8, DSis and DMom.

My DH,the boys and I have cruised once before on Princess to the Western Caribbean out of Galveston, while my sis and mom have cruised several times, mostly on RCL. This will be our first cruise together and the first on DCL for all. My sis told me that my mum was so excited when she received her postcard from Mickey about her cruise.

I never thought we'd be able to pull the funds together to cruise with Disney, but luckily the boys had a Fall break from school. So with the reduced rates, not a problem. We rolled the dice and went with the CTGY 12 guarantee. As there are four of us, we know that we'll automatically upgrade to CTGY 11 and are hoping for something better. We also used our Amex points to get free SWA tix for DH and me, as well as a pre-cruise stay at the Radisson. One call to my sis and she was aboard. My mum took a little convincing, but as you can tell from her excitement over the postcard, she's totally looking forward to the cruise.

So, far I have Palo ressies for my DH and I for Dinner and Brunch. My sis didn't pay in full in on time and will have to try to get her's on board. Other than that, we don't have any excursion planned in Nassau. Since we only have basically 4 days on the ship, we want to spend as much time on it as we can. Although, we'll probably take a quick stroll through town.

I do need some help from you veterans with the following:

Embarkation Day Lunch

I understand that Parrot Cay and Beach Blanket Buffet serve lunch at embarkation. Is there any difference in the food--one better than the other--or is the main difference dining alfresco v in a dining room?

Dining Rotation and Palo

I currently have Palo Dinner on Day 2 and Brunch on Day 4. However, I don't want to miss any of the dining rooms as this our first cruise. Since we don't find out what our rotations are until we board, I won't know until then whether my Palo Dinner will fall on the night when the DR is a repeat. If it isn't on repeat night, I'll have some shuffling to do. So, is it easier to change Palo res or Dining rotation. I also don't want to end up eating at Palo twice in one day or doing Brunch the night after Palo dinner. Boy what dilemma!

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

PJ

 

[Disneyholic]

Cruisers: Me, DH, DS 10, DS 8, DSis and DMom.

Just curious for my 21 y/o DS interest, how old is your DSis, if I may ask?

 

[PrincessaJasmine]

She is way older than 21. Let's put it this way....if there is 80s night on board. She and I will both be there rocking out!

PJ

 

[Disneyholic]

Just wondering about age groups. So far looks like old & young. Stenogoddess DSis is the only one close to his age so far. He's worried that he'll be stuck with his old fogey parents for the duration. I tried to tell him that not everyone on the cruise is on the Disboards, but he's still worried. Gotta love him.

 

[stenogoddess]

Disboards cruisers are usually about ten percent of the total boat. It'll be interesting to see if that's the case in truth.

 

[CastleCreations]

Embarkation Day Lunch



Thanks for any advice you can offer.

PJ

The downfall that I see to Parrot Cay is that it is RIGHT near the spot that you get on the ship. So you literally walk into the atrium and then go and sit down to eat. Not me!! I have itchy feet and need to walk around the ship a little first. The buffet is just far enough to get your bearings and see some of the ship. It's at your own pace, so you can eat and run!!

 

[CastleCreations]

So can we start a tally of everyone participating in the Fish Extender Gift Exchange... I'd like to know if anyone's interested so I can plan accordingly..

 

[Dyerneeds]

The downfall that I see to Parrot Cay is that it is RIGHT near the spot that you get on the ship. So you literally walk into the atrium and then go and sit down to eat. Not me!! I have itchy feet and need to walk around the ship a little first. The buffet is just far enough to get your bearings and see some of the ship. It's at your own pace, so you can eat and run!!

i like your cruise clock.
very cool.

 

[Dyerneeds]

I never thought we'd be able to pull the funds together to cruise with Disney, but luckily the boys had a Fall break from school. So with the reduced rates, not a problem. We rolled the dice and went with the CTGY 12 guarantee. As there are four of us, we know that we'll automatically upgrade to CTGY 11 and are hoping for something better. We also used our Amex points to get free SWA tix for DH and me, as well as a pre-cruise stay at the Radisson. One call to my sis and she was aboard. My mum took a little convincing, but as you can tell from her excitement over the postcard, she's totally looking forward to the cruise.

we've got a ctgy 12 too. worked out well for us last oct. we got upgraded to a free porthole so maybe we'll get lucky again.
if not, i guess we'll see you down in the dungeon.haha

 

[PrincessaJasmine]

I'm not so much concerned about the CTGY as I don't plan to be in the cabin except for a few hours of sleep each night--I can sleep when I get home. I would, however, prefer a location that is maybe on a higher deck. Since we have 4 people in our cabin, we'll be in CTGY 11 which looks like they're only on decks 5, 6, and 7. So that'll work just fine. If we get upgraded to a higher CTGY, we might end up on a lower deck.

When and how to we get our cabin assignments?

PJ

 

[JustinsMommy07]

So can we start a tally of everyone participating in the Fish Extender Gift Exchange... I'd like to know if anyone's interested so I can plan accordingly..

We are interested!!! Except...can you tell us what we have to do we have never done this before? Thanks

 

[CastleCreations]

I'm not so much concerned about the CTGY as I don't plan to be in the cabin except for a few hours of sleep each night--I can sleep when I get home. I would, however, prefer a location that is maybe on a higher deck. Since we have 4 people in our cabin, we'll be in CTGY 11 which looks like they're only on decks 5, 6, and 7. So that'll work just fine. If we get upgraded to a higher CTGY, we might end up on a lower deck.

When and how to we get our cabin assignments?

PJ

Our first cruise, we were in a cat 6, deck 7 cabin and loved it. After touring the ship, and noticing an odor in the lower deck, we were glad we decided not to take the cat 12 room. I'm not sure why the lower floor had such a dark, dank smell about it, but hopefully it was only on that cruise...icky

 

[CastleCreations]

We are interested!!! Except...can you tell us what we have to do we have never done this before? Thanks

I'm not really sure myself, I was thinking we could hang up our fish extenders, and exchange room numbers of all involved, or have some identifying mark on our door, and give each other surprise gifts in our extender. I was thinking something from where we live, or maybe something Disney related...LOL

 

[Dyerneeds]

I'm not so much concerned about the CTGY as I don't plan to be in the cabin except for a few hours of sleep each night--I can sleep when I get home. I would, however, prefer a location that is maybe on a higher deck. Since we have 4 people in our cabin, we'll be in CTGY 11 which looks like they're only on decks 5, 6, and 7. So that'll work just fine. If we get upgraded to a higher CTGY, we might end up on a lower deck.

When and how to we get our cabin assignments?

PJ

last oct we got our cruise docs about 3 weeks before sail date.
but we kept checking the DCL site and our cabin number came up about a month out.
we dont spend much time in the cabin either. too busy running.

 

[Tart Annihilator]

last oct we got our cruise docs about 3 weeks before sail date.
but we kept checking the DCL site and our cabin number came up about a month out.
we dont spend much time in the cabin either. too busy running.

That's when we do the doc dance.

 

[Tart Annihilator]

Mike and I are counting the weeks before we leave. We have a lot going on that will pass the time. Our grandson is due Sept. 8, so he will keep us occupied along with our 2 yr old grandaughter.

I've been thinking about what I'm packing and I'm happy we don't have formal night. Too much trouble.


The next 9 weeks will go fast.

 

[hmcfall711]

Hi all.

It has been a while since I chimed in. We are a late dinner too but it seems I missed the date to get our seating linked.

We are doing the city tour in Nassau and the Sting Ray & snorkeling package at CC.

We will try to do the meet at 3pm at the Mickey pool if we don't get lost or absorbed in everything (1st time cruisers).

I am up for doing the fish extender, if we have a list together pretty soon. We started school this week (I am a teacher). My time quickly gets taken up with all sorts of commitments. So, I would have to make one on the weekend. And thankfully we are down to just a handful of weekends before we are there.

I like the idea of doing something small from our state (postcards etc.) or something disney realated.

I'll try to check in again soon and see what everyone thinks.

By the way, Dyerneeds Ms. Tart I read your trip report for the last cruise. I keep telling my DH that we will need a vaction from our vaction because there is so much I want to do. I am glad to know that I am not the only person who plans that way.

Bye all!

 

[Tart Annihilator]

We'll have to post pics of ourselves on here so we recognize each other at the dis meet.

 

[JustinsMommy07]

I'm not really sure myself, I was thinking we could hang up our fish extenders, and exchange room numbers of all involved, or have some identifying mark on our door, and give each other surprise gifts in our extender. I was thinking something from where we live, or maybe something Disney related...LOL

Sounds good...we're in!!! Oh and we are early dining since we will have our 14 month old son with us. (Hopefully, we are early dining) After reading about the meltdowns of some of the older kids in the dining rooms I hope we make it.

I don't know if there are any meets planned, but we would love to join in if you guys don't mind a munchkin in tow.

 

[Dyerneeds]

Hey everyone!

Dyerneeds- we were also looking to do the Oct 24, 2009 cruise, but we were going to wait til we were onboard to book. We wanna be with B.O.B!!!!

Hope to catch up with everyone soon.

you guys still planning on joining the BOB cruise in oct 2009.?