October 21st 2006 !!!!

[abitjaded]

Help us....


We're shrinking, we're shrinking......


Carla

 

[nrsldy]

Well we are still in planning mode!
I booked Captain Marvins. My Dh and Ds are both excited about this.
Watching the clock tick down

 

[abitjaded]

Hey Tracy,

Which Captain Marvins did you book? I would like to do the one with two extra stops after Sting Ray City. Haven't you gone with Capt. Marvin before? I'm wondering just how rough the boat ride is. I figure once we are in the "bay" it will be smooth but just how rough can the western transit be? Where are their boats actually docked? I've been looking at the Cayman sites and can't figure what the currents, tides are like in October.

Latoberg,

Have fun at Wilderness, we'll miss you.

Duane,

I have always been curious about camping at Ft. Wilderness. We stayed once at the cabins and the mosquitos were pretty voracious even in October. Did you tent or RV?

Carla

 

[tinkerfun]

I'd love to hear about what excursions people are planning to take or have taken before. We were schedule to do the sting rays on Grand Cayman on our last cruise, but the ship had to skip it due to hurricane damage. I am now wondering whether to do the sting rays at Grand Cayman or Castaway Cay. DH wants to do parasailing at Castaway Cay. He was all set to do it last cruise and then sprained his ankle the day before and ended up on crutches the rest of the trip!
...on second thought, maybe I shouldn't plan out anything ahead of time!!
Julie

 

[DVCKatie]

Hi everyone We just booked for the oct. 21st cruise. I will be traveling with my DH and my DS. This is our first cruise and we are looking forward to it. Hope all of you can help us with lots of Info. Glad to be aboard.

Katie

 

[abitjaded]

Welcome Katie! How old is your DS? Mine will be 13 and 10 when we cruise.

Julie, we had booked Captain Marvin's before but also missed Cayman because of Hurricane damage. We went to the first (?) Magic private tour via Ivan of Chaccoben. When did you cruise before? That same cruise we just taxied to Dzul Ha in Cozumel. It was a great snorkel beach. We went from shore and hung at the little palapa restaurant that was there, cost two beers and two cans of pop. All the snorkel tour boats dropped folks right where we were! I have heard from Cozumel Ian that this site was pretty devastated and is not back to snuff, as are most of the shore dives or snorkels. So I, too, would love to hear what folks did in Coz. We are thinking of getting some type of snorkel boat.

Carla

 

[DVCKatie]

Hi all! There is a typo for my DS which is actually my DD and she will be 21 by
then.

Katie

 

[nrsldy]

Welcome Katie!
Carla,
We have never cruised before. The stingray snorkel is the short one. My DH last night said he might like to parasail. So I am going to check into that for him. I think I might like the stone massage for myself

 

[Duane]

Welcome aboard Katie, glad to see someone else will be joining the rest of us in October. You are gonna have the time of your life! We (me, wife and daughter) have been on the 4 and the 3 day in the past, and are really looking forward to this one.

Carla, we have always camped in an RV when we've stayed at Ft. Wilderness. Yes the "skeeters" can be an issue sometimes, but we always keep bug spray and Yard-Guard in the trailer for these kinds of things.

The only other resorts we've stayed at in the past, were the All-Star Sports, however not by choice. We were evacutated there last Oct. from the Ft. when Hurricane Wilma past by. We also have stayed at the Disney Inn, its now called Shades of Green. We stayed there a long time ago when the Disney used Premier Cruise Lines for their cruises. That was the very first Disney Cruise the DW and I took.

Claudine has been begging me to take her to the Animal Kindom Lodge to stay at least one night after we get back from the upcoming cruise. We'll see how things work out.

Anyway, gotta run.... I'll catch you guys later!

Duane

 

[abitjaded]

Duane,

I don't blame Claudine. The year Animal Kingdom Lodge opened we had Annual Passes. DH had a conference in the area and so did I, so we bought the passes for everyone and watched the airline fares like hawks. We made three trips. We got to preview the AKL on one trip. They then gave wonderful rates at the AKL for AP holders so we stayed there 5 days on the next trip. We spent a lot less time in the parks on that trip. We had a deluxe room on the savannah. We would get food at Mara, sit on the balcony and just watch the animals. We would finally be chased off to the parks when they would take the animals in mid-day to clean the enclosures. The place is wonderful.

Carla

 

[DVCKatie]

Hi all!
Would like to have some views on the islands sush as Key West, Grand Cayman and Cozmel. Which is the great places to shop and etc. Thanks!

Katie

 

[Duane]

Thanks for asking that question Katie, as I would like to know the same thing.....

Duane

 

[abitjaded]

We did not buy much in Key West, lots of lime bath products and shell stuff, and we never made it to Cayman. But if you look at the shopping guides on some of the other sites, they show the same sort of duty-free shops found all over the Carribean that are full of liquor, gold and crystal. We went in some of the same in St Thomas and St. Martin. But we did shop a lot in Cozumel. Of course, who knows if the places we went are there, now.

But enywho... I love the silver jewelry in Mexico. It is comes in plain and fancy. It is fun just to look around and see what grabs you. Most every shop (and there were many, many....) has variations on the same thing so you just keep asking until someone is willing to give a good price. They also have wonderful crafts: painted fantastic wood beasts, pottery Maya faces, brass suns and on and on. There was one huge shop to the left of the pier with an enormous selection of all the wonderful crafts found all over Mexico. I found some wonderful bells in shapes that cover everyone on your holiday lists, penguins, parrots, doctors, lions, nuns, etc. They have good vanilla and some types of local liquor make good souviners. I also buy some types of medication reasonably priced by reputable companies in the large Pharmacias there. There are leather, carpets, pottery shops, clothes with embroidery and sweaters. Check out your local Pier 1! Then halve or quarter the price there.

What are you interested in?

Carla

 

[tinkerfun]

We went on the Disney Magic in Oct. 2004 and took the kids out to the market place Costa Maya to look around and haggle a little. At the time, DS was 7 and DD was 9. DS enjoyed talking with them in Spanish (our kids go to a Spanish Immersion School), but DD didn't enjoy the bartering at all. And really didn't like how all the vendors tried to get her to go into their shops to look. It will be interesting to see how they react this time.

At Key West, we left the kids at the club and my dh and I just walked around. Bought some lime stuff and that's about all. We really weren't looking to buy much though. We will probably bring the kids with us this time and show them the fish out at the docks and the guy who stands outside his shop with a pie that he pretends to throw at you.

Julie

 

[kecall]

Count us in for the October 21, 2006 cruise!!!

My dh, 2 dds and I are taking our first cruise! (dds will be 13 and 9 when we go) We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary!

We are staying in #6562...just a few doors down from you, Duane!

We made the reses. so long ago that I just pushed the whole trip out of my mind....Now, I am just getting back into the swing of things...and feeling a bit panicked!! I'm reading everyone's posts and realizing that we have made solid plans about anything!! *yikes!!* We better get on the ball!!!

I must admit, I am feeling very overwhelmed. After so many trips to WDW, I feel like a "pro" at it!! But this whole cruise thing is "new territory" for me!! I keep reading and reading, and getting more overwhelmed at all of the details I need to arrange....Then I remind myself that I also need to relaxxx and enjoy and not be tooo "organized" about the whole thing!! Hopefully I will find the balance before our trip!! In the meantime, looks like I will be up all night reading again!!!

I look forward to meeting you all....and congrats Cass!! What wonderful news!!!

karen

 

[abitjaded]

Welcome Karen and family. Wow, happy 25 in advance. One of my DSs will be 13, too.

I made a spread sheet based on an Excel one of the cruisers on our last trip made. It has a day and is color coded to show each restaurant, dress, port et al. That is about the only way I have a clue what is supposed to go on. I still have not made a reservation for Captain Marvin's. But at least we have hotel after and some plane reservations! I did sneak into a store this week that someone had told me carried a lot of boy's suits, just had to peek. But no way am I going to shop for those yet. It seems their pants and shirts have to be replaced monthly due to untoward growth!

Julie, where is this pie place? Love to trick the kids.

Carla

 

[DVCKatie]

Hello Karen and family...Congradulation....Looking forward for the trip in October too. It's our first time too. When we will be going my dd will be 21 yrs. We found some interesting events to do but its hard to decide of which ones to do. In time we will decide later.

Lots of fun....
Katie

 

[tinkerfun]

Hi Carla,
I found some info on the pie shop in Key West:
www.keylimeshop.com
They have a very refreshing key lime soda.
Julie

 

[abitjaded]

Thanks, Julie. I wrote down the address and book marked the shop. I love key lime pie.

Carla

 

[nrsldy]

Welcome Aboard Karen and family. We are first time cruisers also.
Thanks Julie for the key lime place- one of our faves.
I bought our tickets for MNSSHP for Oct 20th. and made dinner ressies at LLT for that night. That is my DH's B-Day. We will be staying at SOG the night before the cruise and driving that AM to the port.
Happy Planning