October 22, 2005 Roll call

[MelissaE1]

So cruise dreams/nightmares are going around, huh? I haven't had any yet (that I remember) but I've talked so much about it to DH lately that HE had one. My guess is that his had dollar signs in it.

SCDizneyDawn, 40 lbs. is incredible. Good for you!

I want to go to MNSSHP with everyone! Tried to convince DH but he's not going for it so far. Think I'll keep working on him.

Had to laugh today... a friend of mine called and dd6 was talking to her... I heard dd say something about October and cruising, then a pause... then "It's the Disney Cruise. It's not just an ordinary cruise. It's THE cruise." Spoken like a true Disney addict!

 

[SuzPasq]

Hi everyone! We are not officially confirmed yet (we book through my husband's job and are sort of at their mercy, based on availability), but I think we will get on the 10/22 sailing. I sure hope so because otherwise it's 10/15, and we've done the Eastern two years in a row.

This will be our fifth time on the Magic, and we're really looking forward to sharing it with our closest friends this time. 10/28 is our 10 year anniversary, and I want to plan something special. I've looked into renewing our vows through Disney, but it's just way too pricey.

I was wondering if anyone that's sailing with us is authorized to perform a vow renewal! We'd love to do it on the actual day, which will be Friday, Castaway Cay day. I'm picturing us barefoot on the beach with our children and friends standing up for us. Anyone?

 

[scrapperjill]

Welcome...SuzPasq...hopefully you'll get the sale date your wanting....and to have an anniversary while your cruising..what a great time. My parents (who are crusing with us this time) will also be having their anniversary durring the cruise...theirs is Sunday or Monday...their not sure which on. ...I guess they have always celebrated it on one day...but their marriage license says something else...So their thinking it's a typo on the license....anyway they'll be on the cruise both days...so they can celebrate it any day they choose... What a great idea to have the renewal...hopefully you can find someone to perform it. I know with the disney weddings it does add up FAST....and if I remember correctly when you do a renewal on DCL...they only do it on the ships...and do actual weddings on the island. So if your vision is barefoot on the beach....hopefully you'll find someone able to do it.

 

[SuzPasq]

Thanks for the welcome, Jill. This will be our second anniversary onboard the Magic, which is kind of cool. The last time was in '02, and we ate at Palo's and had the best server (Sylvester). Two years later he saw me in the dining room in Lumiere's and immediately said he remembered us from our 7th anniversary! He also remembered that I was pregnant at the time, which I thought was pretty amazing considering all the guests those cast members come into contact with!

 

[American Scrapper]

Welcome SuzPasq! Hopefully you will get the cruise date you want and be joining us. It is amazing how the crew recognizes people. We were hoping to be sailing with Que again this year, but I have heard he is no longer on the boat. What a bummer - he was so much fun. Although I am sure that anyone filling his shoes will be just a crazy and fun.

Kathy

 

[ThreeSmiths]

Welcome SuzPasq! I hope that you'll get to cruise with us! The more the merrier!

Que is gone? He was so fun

I just have to share a little story...DD started school Thursday last week (3rd grade.) Her homework assignment was to fill a brown paper luch bag with three things that would tell the class something about her. They were given a list of 10 subjects to choose from, and one was "share something from your favorite vacation" She brought photos of the Magic that I took from a water taxi in Nassau. She told me that she had to explain to the class that the ship was "way bigger that in the picture" and "it doesn't look like it, but there's a lot of stuff inside...I mean A LOT!" I cracked up...it's so cute to see things from a child's perspective.

 

[MelissaE1]

Hello SuzPasq!

Hey everyone, I had an idea starting and wanted to run it by everyone with kids on this cruise. Don't know if anyone saw the "Pirate Booty" thread but Bridegirl posted that she had some leftover kids stuff (pirate related) from Oriental Trading Company that she bought for the kids on her cruise and was willing to send it to someone. I just happened to be the first to respond so she is sending it to me. She's really nice.

That gave me the idea that we could put together some goody bags for the kids for our DIS meet. Not sure how many things are coming from Bridegirl, but we could add to it if anyone is interested. I will put them together -- would anyone be interested in contributing one or two small items per kid? Thought this could be a really fun idea for the younger set.

Let me know what you all think.

Melissa

 

[scrapperjill]

Yep...I too hear Que was gone I was looking forward to his craziness...He really had a way of getting EVERYONE in the party mood . But your right American Scrapper....I'm sure whoever they got to replace him...will be good also.

Melissa...I think that's a cute idea. What kind of things are you thinking....and how many do you think?

 

[pdarrah]

Hi Melissa - I like the idea of the "Pirate Booty" and I'll look around and see if I can come up with anything to contribute. The only problem I can see is figuring out how many kids will be there and getting the bags to them if they don't make it to the DIS meet....

Welcome SuzPasq - I hope your dates work out and you can join us! If they do, you might want to look at our website (see my signature for the link). To be included in the "who's going" list, just send me an email or PM.

Everyone: I am still willing to call DCL and link dinner reservations if anyone wants to try and dine together at LATE seating. If there are only a few of us (my group is 5) we can try for a single table. If there are bunches, we can request multiple tables in the same area and rotation. (So far, no one seems that interested, but that may just be because it is still a couple months away ..... ) Those of you with 4 or less in your group might want to think about this some since you are very likely to be seated with whoever DCL links you up with. Although they try to get similar people together, it isn't always the best match up! At least linking up with other DISers you know you have something in common with your tablemates. I think our group is fun to dine with (not very modest of me!) and I am so hoping that someone else will like the idea of linking dining. I love meeting new folks (especially DISers!) and if none of you decide to join us I'll probably take my risks with DCL assignments and ask them to put us at a large table with others. Some of the cruises have posted that they linked 30 or more DISers together for dining and had a blast at every meal! Anyway, let me know if you are interested pdarrah@sprynet.com. My original post about this is here.

pdarrah

 

[MelissaE1]

Melissa...I think that's a cute idea. What kind of things are you thinking....and how many do you think?

I was thinking maybe the kind of things you would stuff a kids party favor bag with? Or whatever anyone comes up with! As far as how many, I thought I'd follow your lead and have everyone PM me with their kids' info, name, age, cabin number and we could go from there. Probably would be good to have a few extras for people who end up there who didn't ask for one. I hate to leave kids out!

Hi Melissa - I like the idea of the "Pirate Booty" and I'll look around and see if I can come up with anything to contribute. The only problem I can see is figuring out how many kids will be there and getting the bags to them if they don't make it to the DIS meet....

Good point... I was thinking that if we ended up with extra bags after the DIS meet that were not filled with anything too expensive or elaborate, we could hand them out to any kids we see as an extra surprise. If we end up doing anything "special" for the kids in our group, I could deliver them to the fishes outside the cabin doors at some point.

As far as linking dining ressies, this actually sounds like fun to me! The only reason I haven't personally jumped on it is I am still trying to convince my DH that it's good to have a bunch of other people at our table (last time we had our own table by a fluke and he loved it, because he worries he'll get someone he doesn't like and have to sit with them every night). I'm still working on him. If I can convince him, I would love it if someone who had a kid ds' age (11) would be in the group also because my dd is the same age as your ds and she never met a stranger so she would be all set. Just need company for ds.

 

[afoss]

Hello again, everyone. FINALLY, the girls are in preschool and I'll have some more time to chat.
I am SO excited about the cruise and meeting ya'll. Welcome to all who have joined since my last post. This is a fun and very informative forum.

JeffKiel- I noticed on the "Who's going" page that your Lauren will turn 4 on 10/31. Is this a birthday cruise for her? Our Abby will turn 4 on 10/28. We'll have to introduce them at the club and let them know about their birthdays. Are you doing anything special?

Congratulations to all of you that have lost weight. You're an inspiration as I have gained some since Jan and pray I can still fit into my "formal clothes". I'm scare to try them on.

Amy

 

[scrapperjill]

A little thought on the goodie bags....a couple ways to look at it...1.) If your getting the kids names or the numbrr of kids that want to join in you could do like were doing with the buttons and get the room numbers to drop off the loot if they can't make it... or 2.) don't really worry to much about getting them out to everyone who can't make it...after all if they aren't there to join in they won't know what they missed. - That really only works if you guess on the amount needed....and not take names/number of kids. Like in idea number 1...if you get PM's with the number in the group and who wants to join in...i'd feel more obligated to get them to each kid that was signed up. Know what I mean.??

As for you hubby and joining/linking up with a fellow diser...chances are your family WILL be sat with another family no matter what....so I'd think it would be better to pick someone...than just be randomly placed with someone. We were also lucky on our last cruise(I guess you could say lucky)...I didn't put much thought into it before we went...but we were sat alone...just our family of 4..... This time were cruising with other friends (American Scrapper and ThreeSmiths) and some family members (my parents, neices and more friends)...so our group will have 19 total...linked together

I don't know what I have for goodie bags...but I saw some really cute things in the orintial trading catalog that just came out...lots of cute spooky/pirate type items.

 

[Skallywag]

Just wonder how you can find out the actual time you arrive and depart from the various cruise destinations. I know it probably alters with tides etc. but feel sure it must be posted somewhere but I cannot find it.

Would like to know how much time we will have in Key West etc. to do our excursions.

 

[scrapperjill]

I think Pdarrah has it listed on her web page...

But I also found it listed on the printout/confirmation we recieved from our TA...It says..

Departs Port Canaveral on 10/22 @ 5pm
Ashore time in Key West on 10/23 @ 12:30pm and Departs KW at 10:00pm
Sea day Monday 10/24
Ashore time at Grand Cayman on 10/25 @ 7:30am and Departs GC@ 5:15pm
Ahore time at Cozumel on 10/26 @ 10:30am and Departs Cozumel @10:15pm
Sea day Thrusday 10/27
Ashore time at Castaway Cay on 10/28 @ 9am and Departs CC @ 5pm
Then Sat 10/29...start getting off early

The times I've seen posted other places like the Passporter...were slightly diffrent...I've seen it posted at Key West leaving earler...and even later...But I figured when they printed the confirmation it's straight from DCL...and I'd go based on that information..if it changes a little hear and there then we'll manage. Also keep in mind that in Grand Caymans we have to tender in...the other places the ship will dock so we can just walk off..at least most of the time.

 

[Skallywag]

Thank you so much for the information was just wondering how long we got in Key West as want to walk to Hemingways house and also fancy the Secret Garden. Then back to the ship for dinner, looks like we shall have plenty of time.

We have never received any of this information and feel a bit left out in the cold by Disney as they just seem to ignore us over here.

 

[Skallywag]

Hi Scrapperjill, Not long now.

Strange I have just turned up the original paper sent by our travel agent direct from Disney at the timings are as follows:

Key West 12.30 depart, 7.30.
Grand Cyman 7.30 depart. 5.15
Cozumel 10.30 depart 11 p.m.

Anyway - expect we will find out which is right in the end. We booked in October 2004 so perhaps the timings have changed since then.

 

[pdarrah]

Hi Skallywag!

Actually, I have received very little info from DCL and I'm right here in the USA! We did get a confirmation mailed to us this time since we booked directly with DCL (on board last year) and do not have a TA this year. Last year, we used a TA and never received ANYTHING directly from DCL. The TA seems to receive any communications and are supposed to pass it on to you. My TA last year wasn't very good at communicating with us which is the main reason we didn't use one this year.

The only times I have emailed DCL, I have usually had a response in 2-4 days.

The only other thing I have received about our cruise from DCL is a small packet of info about shore excursions. I think the same info is available at the website and I received it well after our 90 days out booking date so it really wasn't that useful anyway! It is also a little weird in that it only has the times/costs info for Key West and Grand Cayman. There isn't a sheet with details about Cozumel or Castaway Cay.

You should have plenty of time at Key West for what you want to do. DH and I walked to the secret garden last year and then wandered around the cemetary (actually pretty interesting, but VERY hot) and back to the waterfront and had a light lunch and were still back on board by 2:00pm.

The times DCL provides before the cruise are considered "estimates". We found that they were pretty close to reality last year - maybe off by 15 minutes to a half hour and usually that was giving us more time in the port rather than less. However, they might change a departure time to earlier if the weather looked like it was going to get bad - but that would be announced before anyone got off the ship.

I hope that helps some. If you need help with directions to the secret garden, just let me know. I saved them from last year and my parents are probably going to walk over to see it this year.

Pdarrah

 

[MelissaE1]

We have never received any of this information and feel a bit left out in the cold by Disney as they just seem to ignore us over here.

Hey Brenda,

I just wanted to let you know they ignore us here in the states, here, too, lol. It's not discrimination -- they do it across the board.

If you book with a travel agency you will receive pretty much nothing from Disney precruise. Actually, if you book through DCL you don't get much more. Either way you can access your ressie and all the cruise info on the DCL website, though, including times in port, port info, excursions, etc.

Once you set foot on the ship you will feel anything but left out as they fuss over all of us -- as someone else said on the other thread, nationality ceases to exist -- we are all just Disneyites. Wait and see... it will truly be a magical vacation.

 

[JeffKiel]

Hello Amy! Yes, this is a birthday cruise for her (and a "reward" for having achieved potty training this summer ). We were going to go the following week so we would be on board on her birthday, but DW didn't want 2 sea days in a row given it was Lauren's first Plus, we really love Cozumel (Chankannab Park/beach is one of or favorite places to visit) so I was fine with it.

We talked a little about it and let DCL know it would be her birthday, but haven't got solid plans yet. It would be WONDERFUL to meet up with you guys, for sure! Lauren is VERY friendly and outgoing (never met a stranger) and loves to play with other kids! We plan on letting her go to the club the first day to get aquainted but it would be fun to have other couples to pair up with and go to the beach/etc.!

We will post our room number once we get assigned (Cat 6 GTY currently).

 

[Skallywag]

Hi Pdarrah,

We have received nothing at all from our travel agent nor from Disney but have booked several bits up on line like Parasailing for husband and daughters, palo etc. Have booked the stingray excursion from Sotos and that looks good too.

Not surprised that we received nothing from our travel agent we paid our money and then tried to do our booking on line and found the money had not been paid over. Panic, could not book anything up - rather brisk phone call to our travel agent after phoning Disney cruise ourselves and at last it was paid over. Would not do it through travel agent again but did this as a cruise exchange with one of our timeshare weeks we could not use this year.

Have been waiting well over a week for a reply from Disney even though have had the acknowledgement of receipt of email. We wanted to know if available how much to upgrade our two cat. 5 apartments to either 2 bedroom, or 1 bedroom with an adjoining room.

For Disney feel their service is not what I expect and owning DVC points at Old Key West always get excellent treatment with them and had expected the same from Disney Cruise.

Have been trying to find out what time you can obtain lunch and breakfast on board but this information does not appear to be available anywhere.

Not long to go now - at least we are now getting some warm weather again here.