October 2nd Mexican Riviera Cruise

[dolphingirl47]

Happy 4th July to all of you that are celebrating.

Happy 4th everyone! Although I don't celebrate it my girls know that it means something to my dad and I.

Corrina any colour works for me. I probably wont have time to make a shirt so I am thinking of making a patch for my bag.

I have lots of study to do and also finishing our room magnets and FE gifts.. On top of my 10hour work days i wonder sometimes how I fit it all in.

Well I must get going, it is the last week of school holidays for the girls and I have a few important errands to do.

To everyone, Have a great day and see you soon.

Becky

Becky, do you have Vistaprint in Australia? I always have my t shirts for the cruises printed from Vistaprint as they are silly cheap with heavy discounts almost always being available. Their t shirts are also surprisingly good quality. I have one that is now two years old and has been worn and washed frequently and it still looks as good as new. I am not brave enough to try to use the iron on transfers and this would actually work out more expensive then just ordering them through Vistaprint.

I logged on to make our excursion plans while we were at the ballpark and the Disney cruise line website kept saying that I wasn't allowed to make our plans yet. I got a little panicky so DH said it was okay for us to go home. Bless his heart! He knows what could happen if something comes between me and my Disney trip planning! Once I logged on at home, there were no problems getting all of the excursions we wanted and dinner at Palo on the night we wanted. There was plenty of availability for all of the different Palo options. I hope everyone has the same good experience! Woo Hoo! Now the countdown begins........

Sheri, I am glad that you managed to book what you wanted. On what day did you book the Palo Dinner? Were tea and brunch at Palo still available?

As of right now, DH says no Halloween Party on the 30th (it would be me coming with the boys by myself as he wraps up things at work in preparation to leave for the cruise) because believe it or not....Mr. "I'm Not into the Mouse" doesn't want to miss the boys and their Disneyland experience! lol However, he has said that if the excursions we want to do don't work out (do things fill up before first time DCL cruisers like me get a chance to book them?) we will re-visit the possibility. I would love to see it work out, as my boys are dying to attend and wear their Star Wars costumes. It is their latest obsession. So I'll keep you posted Corinna if we'll be there!! I found the Halloween board with your name on the attending list so I'll keep tabs on that too.



I'm with the other ladies--game for anything!

Good luck on your certification PixieDust! And thanks for the Happy fourth wishes Becky! I'm looking forward to a day spent with family and friends. Mindy's husband is grilling! Mmm!!

Meredith

I am sorry that it looks like you won't be able to do the Halloween party, but I keep my fingers crossed that this might change after all.

As to the excursion, in my experience they rarely fill up until the last group has been able to make their reservations and a lot of them are still available to book on the ship. Things that do tend to fill up are the dolphin swims.

Palo is normally the thing that is problematic to book at the 90 day mark, never mind at the 75 day mark, but it looks like that this won't be a problem this time either.

I am very blessed. I was able to book Palo,s Brunch and the excursions we wanted with no problems. I am now just waiting for the fun to begin.

What excursions did you end up booking and on what they are you having brunch?

I was able to get all checked in but when it came to booking anything the site went whacky on me. One page would say we were booked on the 15 night hawaii trip then it would go back to the MR trip, then error error error.
sigh
Will try again later.

HAPPY 4th!! Be safe everyone!

That's strange. I normally can make my reservations a few hours before I can check in online. What are you hoping to book?

My name is Luisa

Were doing late dining.
We won't doing FE, secret mickey or the scavenger hunt this time around.
I'm traveling with lots of family this time round so... They are new to all of this I've tried to explain it... I think they need to see it before they understand it.


Hopefully next time!

Were all from Orange County California...All Disneyland APs!

We will be doing a pre night at the crown plaza.

Thanks for the info. Could you still let me have all of your names and cabin numbers please? If you are not happy to post here, feel free to PM me. I am working on a little surprise for everybody in this cruise irrespective of them taking part in Fish Extenders, but I do need the names for this and the cabin numbers just in case you can't make it to the meet, where I am planning to give out this surprise.

What did you end up booking?

Well, my Pirate hat finally arrived and looks gorgeous. It was well worth the wait. This gave me the motivation to make my Pirate necklace tonight and I love how this has turned out.

There don’t seem to be enough hours in the day at the moment. I thought I was doing really well with my preparations, but I suddenly realised how much I still have to do and work is pretty full on at the moment. So I decided to break it down into 3 tasks per day- one admin type task, one creative task and one task that involves booking, ordering or arranging something. For instance today my tasks are posting the t shirt poll, making the Pirate necklace and booking the airport hotel for the night before we fly to the USA. That way everything looks a lot less scary.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Right, here are the options for the embarkation t shirts. Everybody has one vote:

DCL T Shirt Basic

Wonder T Shirt 3

Wonder T Shirt 6

Mickey's Mexican Mouseketeers

Wonder Animated

Corinna

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Thank you for posting the poll - I love the animated one but I am concerned I will not be able to get a shirt made. When we did the PC cruise - even Vista Print turned us down with the characters.

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Thank you for posting the poll - I love the animated one but I am concerned I will not be able to get a shirt made. When we did the PC cruise - even Vista Print turned us down with the characters.

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

That surprises me. I have had a number of t shirts with characters printed through them and they never objected. Maybe they are stricter in the USA.

Corinna

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

That surprises me. I have had a number of t shirts with characters printed through them and they never objected. Maybe they are stricter in the USA.

Corinna

I don't know - if they do.. you will be ordering them for all of us!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I don't know - if they do.. you will be ordering them for all of us!

Well, I will soon find out. I am planning to order a bunch of t shirts over the weekend and most of them will have characters on them.

Corinna

 

[beckinoz]

I see everyone has got their preference, WAHOO! Wee did too. Hubby booked Palo and the Dolphin Encounter for the kids. I just need to do the Wine tasting and I will be a happy girl

I don't think we have Vistaprint but I'm sure I could figure out a way to do it.
I don't mind the iron on patches but I would have to be so careful with it.

Ok back to work
Talk soon
Becky

 

[7evans]

Whew! I haven't been on here in forever! We have been so BUSY! With 5 kids, that's all I know! We've been to San Diego, Utah, boys went to scout camp, I went to Girl's camp for my church as a youth leader, and my 3 little ones are spending a week in Idaho with my parents!
It's so HOT here in AZ, (106 today!) so it was nice to get out of the heat for a little while, but now it's time to get ready for school to start. We are on a modified year round school here, so we start up on July 27 ... it's early, but I love that we get 2 weeks off in October!!! And October 2nd can't come soon enough!
I think we are home til the cruise, though, so time to really get planning!

Corrina, we talked my in-laws into coming! We are so excited! They haven't ever been on a cruise before, but I know they are going to LOVE it!!!
We already made t-shirts for the first day, since there are so many of us, and we may not ever take a big trip like this again with everyone. We made shirts that say "EVANS" ... they turned out so cute!!! I can't wait to get the picture! ... I'm sure you'll be able to find us! but I am still planning on making the other shirts too ... We will just have to wear them on a different day

I am hoping that a few of the "lukers" will sign up for the FE!!! My cabin gifts are so fun! and I made extras, so hoping to be able to give them all away!

Oh and for favorite color ... anything works for us!
AND we will have to see about Disneyland on Friday the 30th! That sounds so fun!

As I am thinking about packing, I don't know how I will be able to fit everything in! Luckily we are driving, but packing for 7 people is a nighmare! and that doesn't include all our FE gifts! I was looking at those "space bags" today at Bed Bath and Beyond, and they seem like they would work great, but I wasn't sure how I would vacuum them to come home? Anyone ever used those to travel?

OK, I think I have rambled long enough! Happy Late 4th to everyone!

Counting down!!!
Mindy

 

[OtherEvans]

Oooh paid in full is a good feeling. Now dying for July 19th to get here! Mindy helped me finish my fish extender. When I get a decent picture of it, I will post it for you guys to see!

Meredith

 

[krbrat]

I have finished booking Palo's and excursions. Are we able to register for ship activities such as the wine and beer tasting, art of cooking etc.. ahead of time? I could not find a place to register for these activities.

 

[Cookiesmom]

Our pay in full date is 7/19, which is the date that I can make my reservations for our activities, since this is the first Disney cruise for us. Waiting is the hardest part! I"m working on my FE gifts and my Secret Mickey stash. My husband is getting a second hand education on FE, etc. He'll go along with just about anything! We've booked the Halloween Party tickets at Disneyland for 9/30. Anyone else going? All eight of us (three cabins) are going. I'm toying with the tour A Walk in Walt's Footsteps for the morning of 9/30, but I have yet to "convince" my husband......still a work in progress on that one. Can't wait to meet you all!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I see everyone has got their preference, WAHOO! Wee did too. Hubby booked Palo and the Dolphin Encounter for the kids. I just need to do the Wine tasting and I will be a happy girl

I don't think we have Vistaprint but I'm sure I could figure out a way to do it.
I don't mind the iron on patches but I would have to be so careful with it.

Ok back to work
Talk soon
Becky

I am glad that you got the excursions you wanted. What meal did you end up booking at Palo?

Please don't stress about t shirts. They are in no way compulsory. They are just a bit of fun and I find they make great souvenirs. I wore one i
of the t shirts that I had printed for our Transatlantic cruise to the gym today.

Whew! I haven't been on here in forever! We have been so BUSY! With 5 kids, that's all I know! We've been to San Diego, Utah, boys went to scout camp, I went to Girl's camp for my church as a youth leader, and my 3 little ones are spending a week in Idaho with my parents!
It's so HOT here in AZ, (106 today!) so it was nice to get out of the heat for a little while, but now it's time to get ready for school to start. We are on a modified year round school here, so we start up on July 27 ... it's early, but I love that we get 2 weeks off in October!!! And October 2nd can't come soon enough!
I think we are home til the cruise, though, so time to really get planning!

Corrina, we talked my in-laws into coming! We are so excited! They haven't ever been on a cruise before, but I know they are going to LOVE it!!!
We already made t-shirts for the first day, since there are so many of us, and we may not ever take a big trip like this again with everyone. We made shirts that say "EVANS" ... they turned out so cute!!! I can't wait to get the picture! ... I'm sure you'll be able to find us! but I am still planning on making the other shirts too ... We will just have to wear them on a different day

I am hoping that a few of the "lukers" will sign up for the FE!!! My cabin gifts are so fun! and I made extras, so hoping to be able to give them all away!

Oh and for favorite color ... anything works for us!
AND we will have to see about Disneyland on Friday the 30th! That sounds so fun!

As I am thinking about packing, I don't know how I will be able to fit everything in! Luckily we are driving, but packing for 7 people is a nighmare! and that doesn't include all our FE gifts! I was looking at those "space bags" today at Bed Bath and Beyond, and they seem like they would work great, but I wasn't sure how I would vacuum them to come home? Anyone ever used those to travel?

OK, I think I have rambled long enough! Happy Late 4th to everyone!

Counting down!!!
Mindy

Looks like you are having a busy summer. July 27th is early to go back to school. Here the kid's don't break up for the summer until July 22nd and they go back September 2nd. When they go back, I can say that it is only one month to the cruise. How do your kids get on with the year round school? I know that they were considering introducing this in the UK at one point, but seem to have given up on this.

I can't wait to see your t shirts. Welcome to your in laws. Can you PM me their details so that I can add them to the roll call? Are they joining in with Fish Extender, Secret Mickey, etc. Even if they don't, I still need their names and cabin number for my surprise.

As to the space bags, I am sure your stateroom host would be only too happy to help you out with the vacuum.

Oooh paid in full is a good feeling. Now dying for July 19th to get here! Mindy helped me finish my fish extender. When I get a decent picture of it, I will post it for you guys to see!

Meredith

Congratulations on being paid in full.

I have finished booking Palo's and excursions. Are we able to register for ship activities such as the wine and beer tasting, art of cooking etc.. ahead of time? I could not find a place to register for these activities.

No, you cannot register for those kinds of activities ahead of time. For the wine and other tastings and the galley tour, I would aim to get to Guest Services as soon as possible once you get on the ship. Things like the cookery presentations do not require you to sign up. You just show up at the allotted time.

Another thing that does book up and requires a free ticket is the Princess Tea Party.

Well, as nobody had any colour preferences, I just gone ahead and ordered the first component of the surprise. I think it will look great.

My planning is back on track. Breaking it down to three tasks per day really helps. I have now finished the Fish Extender gifts for the boys and the men. Tomorrow I have to finish off the gifts for the girls and then I can start on the cabin gifts.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Our pay in full date is 7/19, which is the date that I can make my reservations for our activities, since this is the first Disney cruise for us. Waiting is the hardest part! I"m working on my FE gifts and my Secret Mickey stash. My husband is getting a second hand education on FE, etc. He'll go along with just about anything! We've booked the Halloween Party tickets at Disneyland for 9/30. Anyone else going? All eight of us (three cabins) are going. I'm toying with the tour A Walk in Walt's Footsteps for the morning of 9/30, but I have yet to "convince" my husband......still a work in progress on that one. Can't wait to meet you all!

I am going to Mickey's Halloween Party on the 30th and then again on October 11th. I can't wait for my costume for the first party to arrive. I have the costume for the second party, which will also double as my costume for Pirate Night all sorted out.

Corinna

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Whew! I haven't been on here in forever! We have been so BUSY! With 5 kids, that's all I know! We've been to San Diego, Utah, boys went to scout camp, I went to Girl's camp for my church as a youth leader, and my 3 little ones are spending a week in Idaho with my parents!
It's so HOT here in AZ, (106 today!) so it was nice to get out of the heat for a little while, but now it's time to get ready for school to start. We are on a modified year round school here, so we start up on July 27 ... it's early, but I love that we get 2 weeks off in October!!! And October 2nd can't come soon enough!
I think we are home til the cruise, though, so time to really get planning!

Corrina, we talked my in-laws into coming! We are so excited! They haven't ever been on a cruise before, but I know they are going to LOVE it!!!
We already made t-shirts for the first day, since there are so many of us, and we may not ever take a big trip like this again with everyone. We made shirts that say "EVANS" ... they turned out so cute!!! I can't wait to get the picture! ... I'm sure you'll be able to find us! but I am still planning on making the other shirts too ... We will just have to wear them on a different day

I am hoping that a few of the "lukers" will sign up for the FE!!! My cabin gifts are so fun! and I made extras, so hoping to be able to give them all away!

Oh and for favorite color ... anything works for us!
AND we will have to see about Disneyland on Friday the 30th! That sounds so fun!

As I am thinking about packing, I don't know how I will be able to fit everything in! Luckily we are driving, but packing for 7 people is a nighmare! and that doesn't include all our FE gifts! I was looking at those "space bags" today at Bed Bath and Beyond, and they seem like they would work great, but I wasn't sure how I would vacuum them to come home? Anyone ever used those to travel?

OK, I think I have rambled long enough! Happy Late 4th to everyone!

Counting down!!!
Mindy

My DD will start school on the 1st of August - since we travel. I want her to start early to count for that. I have not had much luck with the space bags...I hope they work for you - mine just didn't want to collapse right.

Oooh paid in full is a good feeling. Now dying for July 19th to get here! Mindy helped me finish my fish extender. When I get a decent picture of it, I will post it for you guys to see!

Meredith

I hope you are both okay with the dust storm yesterday if it affected you in any way.

I have finished booking Palo's and excursions. Are we able to register for ship activities such as the wine and beer tasting, art of cooking etc.. ahead of time? I could not find a place to register for these activities.

You register onboard - watch the navigators - certain things like the tea party - ask the first day at Guest Services.

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Just a comment regarding Secret Mickey. This is not a reflection on any one person but an observation from many cruises of participating in SM because it has happened more then once. And I am sure not only to me.

Please don't purchase SM gifts yet. I have participated several times and it is very disappoining to get a gift that does not match your tastes. I don't mean that everything has to be exact but it should go along with your assigned SM.

I know when you see something great - esp. Disney - that you may feel the need to purchase it because you love it, it's a great price and you are sure that your SM will too but you should wait and see what your SM likes.

Without getting into specifics because I never said a word to those SMs (I did thank them) - I just encourage you to see who you get and try to go by thier likes/dislikes.

I recieved some really great gifts too! I love doing SM - to me it is almost more fun buying then giving but I do love coming back to the cabin to a little gift.

I hope I did not offend anyone. I haven't noticed anyone on the boards saying they are purchasing already - just thought I would throw that out there.

 

[krbrat]

Great advice Pixie Dust. I was very concerned having not bought anything yet. Everyone seems to be way ahead of the game with FE gifts and SM. I guess I'm slower than most. I have no idea what to do.

 

[OtherEvans]

I hope you are both okay with the dust storm yesterday if it affected you in any way.

So funny story about the dust storm, which I will only admit to you fellow Dis-boarders (because it makes me looks NUTS) but I was actually DRIVING in it on an errand for the CRUISE! I was on my way home from a Sam's Club about two hours north up in the mountains where I had driven to get Disney Gift cards leftover from Christmas that came with bonus Disney Store money to finish paying off our cruise!! I had no idea the dust storm was coming until I was driving through it.

Mindy couldn't believe I seriously got in my car to drive up to Prescott for Disney gift cards but we had a good laugh. My eight year old son did at one point say, "What is wrong with our windshield? Why is it so dark?" But I think we missed the worst of it because the dust was still manageable and we were able to make it home safely without too much delay.

I saw the video of the dust storm rolling in later on msn.com and that was a crazy sight to see!! But we're safe and sound, and now looking for a carwash.

 

[krbrat]

Bless you. I am so glad you are ok. I have to agree...Disney is worth it.

 

[7evans]

Thanks for your concern! That was a crazy dust storm! One of the worst I've seen in the 16 years I've lived here. We live right by the San Tan mountains and watched it roll right over them and over our house. We didn't lose power so that was a blessing. I guess a lot of peope did

We are paid in full!!! No turning back now! I don't think there is anything that could keep me off of that boat!

 

[krbrat]

Everything is a go here also. All paid for. I can not wait. I have even picked out my lounger by the adult pool. October 2 just can't get here soon enough.