Sept. 11th, 2004!!! Roll Call!

[ThreeSmiths]

Thanks Erin! You're right, and I feel a little less guilty now

I have been reading the 9/4 cruise meets posts, and it seems that the cruisers are taking it very well. The people taking the compensation and cruising are pleased, and those taking the full refund, while disapointed, are pleased that they have the option to cancel.

I told DH the hairstylists theory on the calm weather following a hurricane and he's not buying it. Anyone heard this theory before?

Stacy

 

[cali4niacruisin]

Stacy,

I haven't heard of your hairstylists theory, although I like it. My DH, who has been watching a ton of storm coverage, claims that we would already know if there was a storm brewing that would follow quickly after Frances. He says they take some time to develop, that it doesn't just happen over night. I'm willing to buy into DH's theory.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Erin

 

[amgpmg]

OMG!!! Scrapperjill, that is horrible! After all that you and Sydney went through to get you to this week and this happens. I cannot believe that they emailed this to you and did not call you direct to explain. I can understand their concern due to the hurricane, but cannot even imagine getting that news. Unfortunately I do not know anything about FF miles. I hope that all works out for you and that we will see you at the DIS meet at the Mickey pool.

TraSee and HookedonMagic - my prayers and well wishes for you and your families. I hope everyone in the path of Francis is safe and unaffected as much as possible.

Welcome pvangordon, we are doing the dune buggy tour in cozumel maybe we will see you on the jeeps. I don't know if they go to the same beach or not. I will add you to the cruise list.

It is a bummer that we may not get to CC. I am prepared for a Mystery cruise but was hoping that CC would still be included. Oh well, I guess it will give me another reason to book again.

Kathy

 

[natale1980]

You know whats crazy... I almost booked the cruise for this weekend because I felt funny sailing on "September 11th"
I'm glad that we picked next weekend!!! Although it does seem like Disney is giving good compensation, I would be upset if they made our trip go down to 5 days... but 40% off and $200 credit... thats a good deal. Plus I bet if a bunch of people cancel there will be upgrades for everyone.
I guess thats my way of trying to put a positive spin on it.

Dumb hurricane!!!

-nat & baby

 

[scrapperjill]

I'm on the same page as others...feeling real guilty about my disapointments with our trip...and all the worry on what if anything will happen to our cruise...when sooo many others are getting ready to face Francis head on. We haven't worked anything out yet...and the closer the weekend gets the more stessed i'm becoming...with the holiday weekend it is going to cut our time of what we can do and when we can do it down to a couple days. We have to take Sydney back to the hospital Friday...so doing much for the trip is out...then so much will be closed on Monday...so that leaves us with Tues-Thurs....were hoping to leave Thursday night and arriving Friday morrning...so were in the area and prepaired for any delays.

Besides finding air...we also need to find a hotel for the night before and some sort of shuttle service to get us to the port.

I also need to start working on cancling all of our PS arrangments that were made for WDW. I can not belive how stressed I am at this moment....I think I'm going to crack.

Any ideas or suggestions on hotels and shuttles to the port. I was real surprised to see so few hotels in the port area offering any sort of shuttle service. I think I only found two. One of the hotels did suggest Art's transportation...anyone heard of it?? I also found a real good rate on the Ron Jon resort near the port..anyone heard of that place???

 

[amgpmg]

Scrapperjill, we are staying at the Best Western near the airport for about $50.00 Friday night and using FL tours to transport us to the port in the morning. We rented a van, so there is plenty of room. You are more than welcome to join us for the ride there if you decide to stay near the airport. I am sure it would be no problem to add you, the van holds 10.

Kathy

 

[amgpmg]

I know we have all been watching closely Hurricane Frances, now there is a tropical storm brewing up right behing Frances. Tropical Storm Ivan (I believe). Oh when will it end?

TraSee & HookedonMagic - stay safe!! We will all be thinking of you throughout the next few days.

Kathy

 

[baby duck]

I keep trying to remain hopeful that our trip will gone on. The next storm is now named IVAN. If you read the discussions at NOAA they are predicting it to go to a category 4 in the next 84 hours.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ftp/graphics/AT09/refresh/AL0904W5+GIF/030853W5.gif


Just thought everyone would be as interested in this as me


Bill

 

[ThreeSmiths]

Scrapperjill,

We are staying at the Quality Suites Cocoa Beach. I've read that it's very new, very clean, and the rooms are all suites. Plus they have a shuttle service to the port that leaves from their sister property, the Radisson. However I don't know if you need to provide your own transportation to the Radisson or not. Since we're driving to FLA, we're driving to the Radisson and parking our car there.

I really hope that you can work something out! No luck with the FF miles being transferable?

So much for the hairstylist theory.......Ivan is right behind Frances. How awful!!!

I think DH must have cursed us....when I told him about the Sept 4 Magic and all the compensation they are offering, he said "Wow, I hope that happens to us!" I know he was just joking, but apparently Ivan didn't think so!

If anyone wants to take turns giving him a good kick, I'll hold him down for you

Turn, Ivan, turn!

Prayers to all of our Coastal friends, especially Florida.

 

[HookedonMagic]

Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone! We're hunkered down in Celebration. I can't believe we're about to be hit by our second hurricane in three weeks ! Geesh! We've prepared for the worst and are hoping for the best.

Sorry to hear about your travel plans, Scrapper. I live just a few miles from Give Kids the World. It is still a mess from Charley. They've had volunteers out all week trying to remove the last debris before Frances hits. It really is for the best you and your family won't be here for the storm...I'll keep my fingers crossed that you can still come for the cruise!

Poor Castaway Cay. I can't imagine what it looks like in the wake of this terrible storm.

Have a good weekend, everyone. Again, thanks for your concern.

Lisa

 

[lopezgang]

scrapperjill- We are staying at the Airport Marriott for $36 Friday night. I followed the advice on castawayclub and bid on priceline.com and I got it for $36. They have a free shuttle from the airport and then we are taking Happy Limo from there to the port, we could upgrade to a limo and you could ride with us or it sounds like amgpmg has room for you. Hope the FF are able to work for you- one thing to consider if you have numerous people offering but using different airlines- you might travel with one daughter and have you husband travel with the other. Just a thought. I'm not sure what airport you're flying out of, but I check pricing from Seattle on Southwest and round trip it's about $350 per person. They may give you a discount for a youth fare on your older daughter. I would be happy to do some price checking for you if you tell me what airport you're using (all my friends have me book their travel because I usually find really good deals- although I'm not a TA). Let me know if you need any help. I'm off for the next four days.

Oh, by the way, I finally got my documents yesterday!!!

 

[TraSee]

Thank you everyone for the well wishes for those of us in FL. We anticipated the storm to begin today, but now she is about a day behind, so ... we'll just sit and wait! You don't want to go anywhere because you don't want to use your gas...not much of that to be found. Can't believe we are doing this again!!!

AND...I just saw the thread about IVAN!! Have to go check that out.

Have a great weekend all!
Tracy

 

[cali4niacruisin]

Oh No! So much for Stacy's hairstylist and my DH's theories. In DH's defense I guess we are hearing about Ivan a little ways in advance. I know everyone is watching Frances and now Ivan just as intently as we are. Is anyone starting to feel nervous about traveling into FL during all this? I am worried, but of course trying to take it day by day and see what happens with Frances. We are scheduled to leave Tuesday so we have a few days to play with and still get on the Magic on the 11th. Now, with Ivan, that adds a little more uncertainty. I can't imagine how stressful it is to be living in FL right now.

Good luck to all the Floridians and to all of us in our travels!

Erin

 

[NancyDVC]

Cheesh, I am just worrying about all of you in the path of Frances after weathering Charley and now Ivan is out there gathering strength. Looks like no CC for us
TraSee and HookedonMagic stay safe!
Not to mention any of you who may find yourselves in its path!
Now I have to finish organizing clothes and things so that I can pack. I need to find room for all the 'essentials' that I read about on the best tips thread!

TTFN off to check the weather channel again (I am addicted to that channel )

 

[ThreeSmiths]

I'm addicted to the weather channel right now, too! Anyone else worried about Ivan running into Florida next Saturday? I had planned on using this 3 day weekend to pack and get the last few items I'd forgotten, but I'm so worried that they might cancel our trip that I just can't motivate. DH also wanted to go out and get a new mask and snorkel for me today, but I told him I just don't want to spend the money on it until I know what's going to happen. Am I over-concerned?

Lopezgang -- I did finally get my doc's on Wednesday, but with the hype over Frances and then Ivan, it kind of took the joy right out of it. I will do a document dance right now to try to get myself out of this funk

 

[cali4niacruisin]

We are also addicted to the weather channel! We are still hoping for the best, but have started talking about what we'll do if we have to cancel. If it is safe to travel into Florida then we are still planning on taking the cruise. It will be worrisome if Ivan is hanging around still when we board. Although the 2 extra nights the folks on the Magic are getting now is kind of nice, having to deal with rearranging flights home and travel delays on Monday will probably be a nightmare.

ThreeSmiths- Yes, it's hard right now to focus on packing. Earlier this week I started putting our toiletries in travel bottles and gathering our ziplocs, hanging shoe organizer, etc. and throwing them in the suitcase. I still have laundry to do and all the clothes to pack. We are supposed to leave early Tues morning for Orlando via Atlanta (spending a few days at WDW) which seems pretty questionable right now. Delta's website says we can rebook without penalty or paying the difference if we travel by the 21st, so flying later in the week should be a possibility. We are trying to keep our spirits up. Our first choice is of course to cruise on the Magic, but if we have to we might check out last minute travel deals to elsewhere. Our guess, though, is that unless MCO is closed at the end of the week or Ivan is sitting over the Port on the 11th DCL won't offer refunds on our cruise. I could be wrong.

TraSee and HookedonMagic- Hope you are somewhere staying safe!

ScrapperJill- any updates on your plans?

Still hoping to cruise on the 11th

Erin

 

[TraSee]

Hi all...well the first signs of Frances have started to appear. Windy and rainy...but these are just the outer bands of the hurricane. The news just stated that we will have 36 hours of wind, rain, and well...Frances. To top it off I have a horrible summer cold! Why is it that a cold in the summer seems so much worse than one in the winter?

As far as our cruise next week...think only positive thoughts! Disney won't cancel ... they don't like to cancel anything. We may have different ports to visit, but we'll be on the ship!!

My husband is a police lieutenant and is getting ready to go to work for the duration of the hurricane. My son is a rookie Deputy Sheriff in Orange County (Orlando area) and went in this morning at 3, is home now, but will go back out when the storm is over. He hasn't even been sworn in for a month yet, and he has been through TWO hurricanes!!

I have the ac cranked way down and my house is FREEZING...but I am afraid of losing power and being stuck in a house where the outside temp of 94 is cooler than the inside temp!!

If I have power I'll keep you posted. By the way...the port is just now getting some really rough seas.

Take care!
Tracy

 

[HookedonMagic]

Hi Tracy!

Hope you and your family stay safe during this storm. Thirty-six hours of confinement might drive me nuts. I have a sulky teenage daughter, a rambunctious toddler son and a dog! My husband, too, is working the duration. He is an ER doctor in Kissimmee. He left before dawn this morning and won't be home until Monday. He worked Charley, too.

Let's keep hoping Port Canaveral isn't too damage in this storm and that Ivan goes away. I think we ALL deserve a break next week.

Stay dry! Think fun and sun. And everyone who can--enjoy a final weekend of cruise shopping (our malls closed yesterday...who knows when they'll reopen...good thing I actually shopped early for this one! )

Thanks, again, for all of the well wishes. They really help!

Lisa

 

[ThreeSmiths]

Tracy & Lisa,

All I can say is WOW! Your positive attitudes are totally inspiring and I think I just might get off the couch and pack something

I hope that you and your families "weather the storm" as well or better than Charley. You will certainly be ready and deserving of a fun and relaxing vacation in CALM seas !

Scrapperjill, I hope that you have been able to make arrangements to get to the port. I know you will let us know when you have a chance. Hope Sydney's appointment went well yesterday !

Stacy

 

[scrapperjill]

I don't know how much more I can take Between our trip being cancled...trying to rummage funds for tickets...Francis creeping her way in...and now IVAN!!! AHhhhhhhh!!!

amgpmg and lopezgang...thanks for the ride offers. We already had our transportation planed for the 11th...we just have to rearrange the pick up location...since we won't be at Give Kids the World. Luckly...we had planned the transportation ouselves. Now we just have to find a hotel. I had checked the Quality Suites Cocoa Beach but they are FULL...also the Raddison in the area. So were thinking of just getting a hotel near the airport. I think it would be the most simple...that way the only thing we have to change with transportation would be pick up location (If we did a hotel near the port...we would need the transportation on the 10th...so date, time, and location would be changed). Also if we get a place near the airport...that has a shuttle service...we won't have to worry about any additional transportation.

With our airfair...the wish foundation..has decided to go ahead and give us the airfair...to be included in the cruise...in exchange for just bagging the WDW trip altogether......So Sydney won't be able to go to WDW after all. So right now the trip is ON

We did ask that when they changed the tickets (air) that our flights be changed to have us fly in on a red eye on the night of the 9-10th. Getting us to the Orlando area on the early morning of the 10th...so we would have the whole day to relax, enjoy...and have time to play with if there were any delays. They (the wish foundation) happely agreed to change us to the red eye...but when I recieved the tickets yesterday (by fax..at the hospital)...they were WRONG!! So they have us flying all day (from 5am-5:30pm) on the 10th. At least we will still be there the night before and not the morrning of the 11th.


Go away Ivan Your not welcome.

Oh by the way.....Sydneys appointments wen't real well. She is right on track.