October 30, 2011 Wonder - A Haunting on the High Seas

[valbob89]

I don't know if you can see it but there are ghosts coming up off the ship. Bob is going to try and photoshop it to get them to standout more. I think I might also add the date of the cruise. Think it would make a neat tee-shirt.

We are meeting with some other DISboard people to wave the Wonder off from San Francisco on Saturday. We are meeting at pier39, at the sea lion viewing area. Should be fun.

 

[stefanie.cadell]

That is amazing!! I LOVE it so much!! How fun to wave to the Wonder! I'm super excited that we're barely over 6 months away!!!!!!!!

 

[valbob89]

I stayed up Thursday night to watch the London wedding. Then Bob got up at 4:30 a.m. and went down to the marina to watch the Wonder come under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a cool, 48 degrees, but beautiful morning, no fog, calm seas and clear skies. Bob got some great pictures. Here is one I like a lot:

Saturday we meet with 12 other DISboard members to wave the ship off. We met at Pier39. Again we had a beautiful day, a little windy and not as clear but beautiful. They gave her a fine send off. The San Francisco Fire Boat put on a good show. Bob got over 175 pictures. Here are a few I picked out.

ship had just backed out of the slip.

San Francisco Fire Boat put on a show for all of us and escorted her past Alcatraz, Angel Island and to the bridge.

Yesterday, at Pier 39, waiting for the Wonder to leave, one of the zillion visitors to the attraction asked if those of us waiting had someone on the ship or what. When we said we did not, they clearly couldn't understand why we were so interested in seeing her. We tried to explain how much we enjoy DCL but they still weren't getting it. Finally, Bob said "we are Disney Cruise Line Groupies". They just looked at us for a few moments and then said OOOOH, and walked away. I thought it was all very funny. Maybe I'll get a shirt made that says "Official Disney Cruise Line Groupie".

 

[valbob89]

We added a year and punched up the color so you can see the ghosts. I really like it now.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I really like the ghosts now that you can really see them.

 

[DoomBuggyHitchhiker]

I just booked myself onto this cruise. Wanted to say hello to all.

 

[DoomBuggyHitchhiker]

Is there a Facebook group set up for this cruise yet? There was one for my last cruise and it was a great way for us all to keep in touch before and after the cruise.

Is there a FE sign up list somewhere? Did this on the last cruise and it was a lot of fun.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

Stephen

 

[TinkLoverSam]

No facebook group, there aren't that many of us yet and no official FE list yet, I think those of us on here have just all said we will be doing the exchange, and we will make sure all our details are shared in time. With so few of us on the forum so far we've been a little more casual with everythin so far but Val has been a real driving force and others will help out if we get more interest in the meet.

 

[valbob89]

I just booked myself onto this cruise. Wanted to say hello to all.

Stephen, Welcome!

Bob and I live in San Francisco. This will be our 7th DCL cruise. Our last two cruises were the WBTA and PC cruises. We are booked on the April 2012 Hawaii cruise. We have never been on a Halloween cruise and are really looking forward to this experience.

This has been a quiet group so far. Most of those originally on the thread have had to cancel the trip. There are 4 of us planning this trip so far:

nenis

stefanie.cadell

TinkLoverSam

Valbob89

The four of us have said we would like to do FEs, even if the group doesn't get larger. Jordak has designed a possible group logo for us and I have been working on cruise magnet designs.

We are anxious to hear about you and look forward to planning a great cruise.

Valerie

 

[DoomBuggyHitchhiker]

Thanks for the welcome! This will be my second DCL cruise. I did the Eastern Caribbean in April and had an awesome time. We did an FE with 25 cabins (80 people) participating. It was a lot of fun and I would love to do it again sometime - especially since I have invested in getting the FE itself!

I live in San Diego so the idea of cruising out of LA is great. I don't have to fly across the country to get on the ship. I would love to do the Hawaiian cruise, but it is pretty expensive. I am hoping that I can get a deal if I wait around long enough. Jealous of those who have booked it.

Which design was decided upon? I like the spooky one with the ghosts. I hope Disney does some fun stuff for our cruise for Halloween!

Looking forward to getting to know everyone in the next few months!

Stephen

 

[valbob89]

Thanks for the welcome! This will be my second DCL cruise. I did the Eastern Caribbean in April and had an awesome time. We did an FE with 25 cabins (80 people) participating. It was a lot of fun and I would love to do it again sometime - especially since I have invested in getting the FE itself!

I live in San Diego so the idea of cruising out of LA is great. I don't have to fly across the country to get on the ship. I would love to do the Hawaiian cruise, but it is pretty expensive. I am hoping that I can get a deal if I wait around long enough. Jealous of those who have booked it.

Which design was decided upon? I like the spooky one with the ghosts. I hope Disney does some fun stuff for our cruise for Halloween!

Looking forward to getting to know everyone in the next few months!

Stephen

stephen
Glad you like the ship with ghosts that Jordak designed. I like it too and think it would look great on a dark gray shirt. The group hasn't picked a cruise logo.

There are so few of us I don't think it will be and issue with the number of FE groups we have. I have been with one group that did not break into groups and we ended up with over 100 cabins and over 300 cruisers - I thought it was to much. I needed one suitcase just for FE gifts, not to mention the cost. I much prefer groups of 24 cabins, 24 because a lot of stuff comes in units of 12.

I posted navigators for the MR cruise but it may change. I know someone who will be on the Wonder the first week in October. Corinna has promised to send me info and navigators from that cruise. Unless you are in a concierge room and can get us advance info?

Did the DISboard group on your previous cruise have any other organized activities you enjoyed?

val

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I got an automated call from Disney Cruise line stating that we will not be going to Mazatlan, we will be doing 2 stops in Cabo San Lucas instead, just like the earlier cruiese to the Mexican Riviera. That makes me sad as I had planned to surprise my DH with a golf day in Mazatlan, but the prices for golf in Cabo are about $100 more, which is a little out of my reach!

 

[DoomBuggyHitchhiker]

I got an automated call from Disney Cruise line stating that we will not be going to Mazatlan, we will be doing 2 stops in Cabo San Lucas instead, just like the earlier cruiese to the Mexican Riviera. That makes me sad as I had planned to surprise my DH with a golf day in Mazatlan, but the prices for golf in Cabo are about $100 more, which is a little out of my reach!

I got the same call today. So what is our itinerary now? Does anyone know?

 

[valbob89]

I got the same call today. So what is our itinerary now? Does anyone know?

We haven't gotten the call yet, it may have been sent to my TA.

I am not surprised by this change. I wonder if the timing of the announcement has anything to do with the network story this weekend about drug violence in Mexico. The story also addressed the impact to tourism.

Because we tender in Cabo, it am sure it will be all aboard by 7:00 the first night. My only disappointment is that they have moved the departure time from Cabo from 3:30 to 1:30. That really doesn't give you any time to do excursions the second day.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I got the same call today. So what is our itinerary now? Does anyone know?

We will be:

Sunday Los Angeles
Monday At Sea
Tuesday At Sea
Wednesday Puerto Vallarta
Thursday Cabo San Lucas
Friday Cabo San Lucas
Saturday At Sea
Sunday Los Angeles

 

[DoomBuggyHitchhiker]

That itinerary works for me, I suppose. I actually spent Christmas 2009 in Mazatlan and although I had a wonderful time, I won't miss not stopping there on the cruise. Have never been to PV or Cabo so that will be fun.

On my last cruise our FE group didn't really do much together per se. We met at the first day in Preludes to say hello and match faces to names. We then would see each other around the ship through out the cruise and it was great to recognize friendly faces often. After the cruise we all still stay in touch through Facebook sharing pictures and stories from our cruise. That has been fun. My cruise was in April and I booked it in February. As we got closer to the cruise date more and more people joined the FE so I would't be surprised if we get more people to sign up as we get closer to October 30.

I am currently on the look out for a banana costume because I want to look like this guy on Halloween on the ship!

 

[valbob89]

We were in Cabo and PV in January and enjoyed them both. That said, we cruise on DCL primarily for the activities on ship.

I hope we get more DISboard members to join us before October too.

We have costumes for pirates night, if we decide to bring them. I don't know if we will dress-up for Halloween night. Bob has a Jafar costume that he wore to the high school he was teaching at a couple of years ago. I went as a princess. Good luck with your search for a banana costume.

Well, it is 6:10 PST on 5-21 and unless no one in my neighborhood was good enough to be taken in the rapture (I've been watching the sky), I guess they were wrong about the end of the world starting now. That is a relief since I've finally gotten the cabin assignment I wanted for this cruise.

Val
P.S. I thought I didn't give any serious thought to the end of the world business but have to admit that at 7:04 p.m. last night, I was sitting at the computer and felt an earthquake, not a big one, 3.6, but enough to feel it shake the house. For a minute I held my breath and reconsidered my position that it was all silly.

 

[stefanie.cadell]

Hey all! Welcome to the group Stephen! I can do nothing but echo back that we are easy going & laid back. We've all got a dynamic to bring to the group & I can't wait to get to know you more! Who are you cruising with? I am a veteran DCL crew member in Youth Activities. This will be my first cruise as a guest & my fiance's first cruise ever. And this will be our honeymoon!! I'm super excited!! If you've read my previous posts, you've read about the stresses of planning this wedding thing. At the moment though things are looking up! Even if our cake baker closed up shop with no notice! It's all good! Only 5 months & 3 days left! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

[valbob89]

Hey all! Welcome to the group Stephen! I can do nothing but echo back that we are easy going & laid back. We've all got a dynamic to bring to the group & I can't wait to get to know you more! Who are you cruising with? I am a veteran DCL crew member in Youth Activities. This will be my first cruise as a guest & my fiance's first cruise ever. And this will be our honeymoon!! I'm super excited!! If you've read my previous posts, you've read about the stresses of planning this wedding thing. At the moment though things are looking up! Even if our cake baker closed up shop with no notice! It's all good! Only 5 months & 3 days left! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Stefanie, I can't believe now you have problems with the baker. You sure have add more then your share of issues. I am amazed how well you are taking it all in stride and working it all out. Did you find another baker?

Do any of you have plans for this long weekend? We are going to work in the garden and a little around the house. We are planning a trip to Las Vegas in a week, to celebrate Bob's birthday and our anniversary. We are staying at the RIO and have tickets to the Cirque du Soleil The Beatles LOVE show, Bob's pick. I might want to see Lion King, again, or just hang out one evening. We are only staying 3 nights.

Whatever you all are doing, have a great weekend. Give a moment of thought to those who we honor and remember this weekend. Val

 

[stefanie.cadell]

Thanks! I just got home from an over night beach trip so I am properly exhausted. I am looking forward to bbqing on Monday & spending time with the family.. Anyone else?