October 25, 2008 Western DD

[rylisal]

Sally - we have booked category 12 GTY aswell - mainly because we have 4 kids and need 2 staterooms. I also don't plan to spend much time in the room, and as all the rooms look lovely I didn't mind going for the cheaper option. It certainly looks a lot nicer than my last room on a cruise ship (crew accomodation on the Royal Princess !).

Where and how do you find out your room allocation?

Stewy - I like the idea of 59 weekends - it sounds a lot better than the number of days we have to go!

I think the time is going really slowly - once we get to the actual "1 year to go" date I hope to start planning properly to help get me through the long dark winter ahead.

We booked a Cat 12 last time for the 4 of us & got an upgrade to a Cat 10 which we thought was great!
This time, there was only Cat 11 when we booked(The Cat 12's hadn't been released at that time), so we booked Cat 11 & have got Cat 11...I'm a bit dissappointed no upgrade but I think we probably got it 1st time 'cos the Cat 12's dont sleep 4 persons!
We are on Deck 7 this time, much better than the Deck 1 that we had before..It always took ages in the lift!!
Not too sure why our room's been allocated so early, as we had booked GTY, but we are happy anyway...If you look up your reservation on DCL site, you will see a Stateroom # if its been allocated, ours appeared last week!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Sally - Maybe that will happen to us as one of our category 12s is for 4 persons, and if they don't have category 12s for 4 persons does that mean they will have to upgrade that room - it's all very confusing. Did you book direct with DCL. We booked through DU and they didn't say anything about not having category 12s for 4 persons, although they definitely know one of our rooms is for 4 persons as I made a big point of stressing that we need one room for 4 and one room for 2 (rather than 2 rooms for 3). Hopefully it will be sorted - I am not planning on sharing the room with one of the kids!

 

[rylisal]

Booked ours through Vacationstogo..Dont think many Cat 12's sleep 4 so you're in with a good chance of an upgrade!!

 

[bigben]

This is a reminder that tonight is the finale of Fat March. This is the last time you get to see ME on TV(well maybe, I hope not). More drama and the final weigh-in. Boston to Washington D.C. 575 miles(but I walked about 45 more than that) and I felt every step. Thank you for all your support.

March On

Michael

 

[suziemva]

Michael, awesome job! You guys did so good and look so great! Ed and I were comparing your pictures and thought you looked 15 years younger after! WOW!! I only wish I'd have known about this as it was going on, known about you, etc. and we would have come to see your final walk! We live so close by! Anytime you want to see DC, let me know!

So psyched to get to meet you on the cruise! Can't wait!!!

So how long has it been now since the march and how are things going? Wishing all the best to you and your fellow marchers! WHOOHOO!!! You guys are awesome!!!

 

[NewfieMom]

Michael,

Actually got to watch Fat March tonight, and thought what you did was awesome! And you looked absolutely fabulous at the end - hope you've been able to keep up the weight loss and the changes. Haven't been able to catch any of the other episodes, and couldn't view them on ABC TV here in Canada, but really glad got to see the final. Congratulations and look forward to meeting you on the cruise - along with everyone else on this cruise meet of course!


Valerie

 

[AbbyAnder]

Hi everyone! I think I'm going to cry!!! We're set to sail on the Double Dip Halloween cruise 2008!!! ...I can't put enough smilies in to reflect the smile on my face!

To give you a snapshot of who we are - there's four of us: me (Tracey), DH Adam, and two gorgeous babies - Abby (she'll be 5 when we cruise) and Alexander (we call him Xander), who will have just turned 4 when we cruise.

We live in Sydney, Australia and will be making this a trip of a lifetime (until what we hope will be the next cruise), taking in WDW, Kennedy and New York.

DH and I visited in Orlando in 95, when he was stationed with the Navy in Pensacola.

Looking forward to learning more about you all over the next 12 months - and about Halloween, since we don't do it in Australia and have lots of questions about arranging things for the kids.

Have a great day...

 

[michelle9343]

MICHAEL WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!
You did an amazing job. I feel like we are cruisin' with a celebirty!!!
Ok now that its over we want to hear the dirt. I want to hear some more about the behind the scenes .
Also how long ago was the march? How are you doing now? I feel like we all know you aleady. We are really looking foward to meeting you and you family in person. What did you wife think about the whole thing.

 

[michellebriana]

Great Job Michael!!! I think everyone looks great and really worked hard. You all deserve the money. Was very upset about Janie Lyn wanting to sabotage the team, but I am glad that was resolved. Definitely fill us in on the dirt during the show!!! Also let us know if you've lost even more weight. Can't wait to meet the 'celebrity' on our cruise!

 

[HelenSB]

Welcome AbbyAnder,and we thought we would be travelling a long way.It just goes to show that Disney is worth any journey and any distance!!!

Andy

 

[suziemva]

Hi, AbbyAnder! WOW! All the way from Sydney! My DD would ask if you know where 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney, Australia is.....P. Sherman, the dentist from Nemo...

Anyway, welcome! The DCL cruise is great and you will love it!

 

[AbbyAnder]

Hi Suzie & Helen,

Thank you for saying hi!

Yes, the distance will certainly be interesting - the travel time to Orlando is 18 hours (and that's only a 2 hour layover at LAX) - the longest flight the kids have had is 4 hours to Fiji.

Nemo is a total favourite in our house - we've just set up our fish tank and it's basically the Nemo movie. My DD & DS look at it saying "i see you Dory!". My DH was actually looking at the street directory to see if we could find a Wallaby Way street sign to post a picture for your DD.

How old will your girls be when the cruise comes around? Abby will be 5 and Alexander will be 4.

 

[bigben]

Thank you guys
I can't wait to meet all of you.
speaking of waiting...heres your countdown.
Time until Saturday, October 25, 2008 (Chicago time)
409 days
9818 hours
589100 minutes
35346049 seconds

March On
Michael​

 

[suziemva]

Tori will be 6 and Ameera will just have turned 2 on October 9th!

A sign pic would be fabulous, if you can find it! She would love it! Thanks!

 

[rylisal]

Hi AbbyAnder!
We are going to have a real mix of people on this cruise which is great..You win the longest distance award!!
Like Helen, we are coming from the UK which is far enough!!
There's me(Sally) DH(Chris) DS(Ryan 14) & DS(Liam 3)
We did our 1st Disney cruise in Feb of this year(3night Wonder) & now we're hooked...You'll love it!
Look forward to chatting some more as time goes on! xx

 

[shrpgrl]

Wow, some of you are really coming a great distance. Is anybody adding a stay at WDW before or after the cruise? I can't decide whether to stay the week before the cruise or after. Maybe I should book 3 days before and 4 days after.Wish I could do 1 week before and 1 week after. Don't think they would let me off work that long.

 

[rylisal]

We're having 6 nights in Orlando b4 cruise & then 3 nights at St Petes afterwards now!!
I was happy to go straight home after cruising but DH felt that would be such a downer so we agreed on the extra 3 nights...I'v yet to wangle the time off work though, that will wait 'till next year!

 

[AbbyAnder]

Given the distance that we're coming, we'll definitely be staying at least a week pre/post cruise in Orlando.

At this stage, we'll be flying in on the 22nd, so we'll have the 23rd to get over the jet lag (we'll be leaving Sydney on the 22nd and arriving 22 hours later "6" hours after we left - gotta love time zones) and maybe the 24th at Kennedy.

After the cruise, we'll be looking to have 5 days or so at WDW...and then New York, Washington (we can dream on for months...) - probably just New York for the Little Mermaid live show.

So much to do/see...such little time...such big distance to come back in case we forget anything...

 

[suziemva]

We always stay at least a day before and after for "pre-home" time. BUT then again, we're only traveling 2 hours by plane! LOL!!!

We like to stay before and after. Before gets you in the vacation/Disney mood before all the excitement. After is getting you "down" from cruise high and getting used to land again before heading home (sniff,sniff). We'll probably do a few days this year since we will have the two teenage girls with us. Isa has never been to Disney and Abby went with me a few weeks back for the first time but with the heat we really didn't get to do what we wanted to....big sigh.....So I'm gonna try to feel out the Principal at Tori's school and see how much we can "get away with" on being out of school. They're pretty strict in this county, I guess, so I'm not sure if I can really get more than a week....we'll see!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Hi AbbyAnder

I am from the UK too, and we are living, breathing and dreaming about this cruise at the moment - I am so excited and we still have over a year to go!
I have visited Sydney in the past when I was working on the Sea Princess - it's a gorgeous city. I also have a few relatives who have emigrated to Australia. You will certainly have a long flight! Do you stop off on the way?

Look forward to chatting to you as we countdown to the cruise!

Sarah x