Roll call for 10/29/09 3 night Bahamian - General chit chat

[wilma-bride]

Hooray, another one Our little group of DISers is slowly growing. Welcome aboard Stacy (it is Stacy, is it?)

 

[december]

I am soooooo close to booking this cruise for me, ds (will be 12) and dd (will be 9 almost 10). Dh won't vacation with us, so we leave him at home! They have been begging for a cruise, and one of dd's friends just got back and I'm hearing all about it from her mom. I've spent most of today researching. I really wanted a 4 night, but they are so expensive at the times I can go (I teach). I started playing around with the 3 nights, and thought maybe I could take 2 personal days around Halloween next year, and punched in that time. The price made me scream out loud! I'm expecting some extra money this week, and I'm booking when it comes in!

So on a 3 night, you eat at each major restaurant once, and have a pirate night, right? Do you think they would do pirate night on Halloween?

 

[winnyis]

When I was on the 3 day in March 2007 - they did Pirate Night after we left Nassau. I hope they do it that way again so we could have 2 separate theme nights.


Our friends have also booked this cruise so it will be 3 more in our group. 2 adults and one 11 year old boy.

 

[december]

The cruise is out for me right now, but I hope you all have a wonderful time!

 

[Feeln'Froggy]

Count me in, finally convinced husband to book a cruise, I am so excited! Husband is ex-Navy and he says “he has been on plenty of cruises”, took 7 years of begging.

We are dh, me, ds(15) and dd(12).

 

[wilma-bride]

Count me in, finally convinced husband to book a cruise, I am so excited! Husband is ex-Navy and he says “he has been on plenty of cruises”, took 7 years of begging.

We are dh, me, ds(15) and dd(12).

Great news - I can see why your DH might have been reluctant but I'm sure he'll have a great time. I imagine it's very different to cruisin' with the Navy

Your DS may well bump into my girls in the teen club.

 

[OC_stacylace]

Count me in, finally convinced husband to book a cruise, I am so excited! Husband is ex-Navy and he says “he has been on plenty of cruises”, took 7 years of begging.

We are dh, me, ds(15) and dd(12).

How funny that two of us are former Navy! My hubby had the opposite reaction though: he is so thrilled with the idea of going on a cruise that he doesn't have to work and have others wait on him!


So, I'm new to this whole cruise thing...and was wondering for those of you veterans, how to you get to the terminal? We're staying at AKLV the week before, and were planning on just catching the DCL bus. But, after reading a few TR's and such, sounds like it may not get there as early as we'd like. I'm thinking of maybe doing a towncar or something, to really make sure we get as much time on the ship as possible.

Any suggestions?

 

[wilma-bride]

So, I'm new to this whole cruise thing...and was wondering for those of you veterans, how to you get to the terminal? We're staying at AKLV the week before, and were planning on just catching the DCL bus. But, after reading a few TR's and such, sounds like it may not get there as early as we'd like. I'm thinking of maybe doing a towncar or something, to really make sure we get as much time on the ship as possible.

Any suggestions?

I wouldn't call us veterans but last time we had a rental car, which we drove down in and parked up at the port. It was fairly easy to get there, taking just over an hour from Saratoga Springs. The parking, I believe, has increased in price since our last cruise but it is still more economical with 5 of us to drive rather than use DCL transfers.

 

[pnyltwk]

This will be my wife and kids first cruise. One of the things that she has expressed is a concern of getting sea sick. What has been others experiences with sailing DCL? Do you feel the roll of the ship at sea? I could tell you about some of my cruises with the Navy. I am sure that the Wonder rides pretty smooth. At least that is what my wife would like to hear.

 

[wilma-bride]

This will be my wife and kids first cruise. One of the things that she has expressed is a concern of getting sea sick. What has been others experiences with sailing DCL? Do you feel the roll of the ship at sea? I could tell you about some of my cruises with the Navy. I am sure that the Wonder rides pretty smooth. At least that is what my wife would like to hear.

I am not necessarily prone to motion or sea sickness but I had no problems on any of the cruises we have taken. I think it's fair to say that you can feel some movement but I didn't find it particularly noticeable. I am sure your wife will be fine.

 

[meryll83]

Will they have special edition DCL Halloween pins on board?
I've become a bit of a pin fiend!

 

[pnyltwk]

I sure hope so but do not know. Maybe someone else has gone during Halloween and can share their experience? We have gone to WDW for MNSSHP for the past two years. This will be our first DCL trip. We are all excited and can't wait till the ship sails. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

 

[natalielongstaff]

Im just catching up with this thread it will be our very 1st cruise and im so excited about it

 

[pnyltwk]

Im just catching up with this thread it will be our very 1st cruise and im so excited about it

Welcome. It is our first cruise also. There is me (DH), my DW, DS 14 and DD 11. There seems to be quite a few coming across the pond for this cruise. We live in NW Florida and are about 350 miles from WDW.
We are going to Cape Canaveral and then to Disney's Vero Beach the week of the cruise. We are DVC'ers and have never been to VB before. It looks like a real nice resort and we look forward to that part of our vacation as well. From what I have seen from the web sites it looks like the cruise will be alot of fun for all of us. We have booked a Cat 4 on the 8th deck.
I saw the thread for the group cruising this year at Halloween. That groups has a web site and all kinds of information regarding their trip. You may want to take a look at if you have not already. http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1894686
We are going to WDW this December for Christmas and New Year's Eve. And of course are counting down the days until the cruise.

 

[pnyltwk]

This is from the thread for the group going this Halloween. What a cool picture!!!

 

[disneycr8zy]

Just booked for the 10/29/09 Disney Wonder while we were on the 07/27/08 Disney Magic Mexican Riviera. We met KPROS & SPROS and Firsttimers onboard and they told us about this great website.

This will be our 5th DCL Cruise but our first with anyone under 18! It will be me, my roomie, her DD (20's), and her DGS (4). He'll turn 5 the day we get off the ship.

We are super excited to hear about what they will be doing onboard for Halloween since we have LOTS of time to plan for it.

 

[meryll83]

There seem to be quite a few of us who'll be on our first cruise!

Any tips on what are the must sees/dos from you seasoned veterans??

 

[disneycr8zy]

Speaking only from my own experience (we've never taken a DCL cruise with anyone under 18) there are some definite don't miss activities:

1 - Sail Away Party following the safety drill (Deck 9 & 10)! If travelling with children you'll want to be on deck 9 to get a good spot. Otherwise, the view from the rail on deck 10 is quite good!

2 - Evening shows - the entertainment on board is above top-notch and you won't want to miss a minute of it. Your fellow diners and neighbors will all be talking about it and you don't want the be the only ones 'in the dark'.

Since it's only a 3 day cruise, make sure you look closely at the Daily Navigator each night and make a plan for the next day (including alternate choices in case you want to be inside vs. outside, etc.

Check out the Passporter website (passporter.com) for the Passporter Guide to the Disney Cruise Line ($17-$37) and the Disney Cruise Clues (about $6). They are inexpensive books that includes everything you need to know about the ships, the destinations, the shows, packing, planning and is an all-around great tool to help build excitement. I get a new one every year because of all the great information (I'll be getting the WDW guide before our next WDW trip in 2011 because I know it'll help me have a better time at the parks).

Can't wait to meet everyone onboard!

 

[meryll83]

Thanks for your top tips!

We have a WDW Passporter, in fact we have a lot of Disney guide books, I love them, so I think a DCL Passporter would be a great investment for us

I suspect we may have to fight the urge to cruise again immediately after we're done given that we have such a short time to take everything in!

 

[disneycr8zy]

Yes - the urge to cruise again after the first one is definitely a tough one to control! We've gotten to the point where we just plan ahead to book our next one (sometimes 18 months or more away) while we're on one - because the deals are pretty darn great!