Sept 17 2005 Magic - am i alone on the ship?

[skycon]

Jen, thanks for the welcome. I must be crazy typing this during the game. If I make some grammar mistakes please forgive. Have to admit I actually met Tracy's husband before I met her. I begged their DD to play with mine as she was driving me crazy in a good fun way... short drive as Tracy well knows. We began to talk and then I met Tracy. We hit it off. It has been pretty cool. We actaully can talk about stuff beyond Disney and kids. LOL. I am very excited about this cruise. I have been doing a lot of research on the excursions. Sunset Beach in St. Maartine looks fun (before sunset) with all the planes flying over. Maybe a little too radical for us though.

Plenty of time to still investigate what will work best for us with DS who will be 3 3/4 at that time.

If anyone is interested I would be more than happy to create an excel spreadsheet with everyone's signon, real name, DH, DD, DS names/ages etc. I can even add your real email address and I can email it to those interested. Just let me know. I have the time on my hands.

Keep those happy thoughts!

 

[missyoh8]

Why does everyone like ??

I like !

Have a good night......

Missy

 

[4kidsandadog]

Hi,

I was feeling bad because I haven't posted much, but we haven't made any plans past booking the cruise. Haven't booked our airfare yet, or any excursions. We've done this cruise before and I'm not sure which excursions we'll try this time. I'd love to do the dolphin encounter, but that is just too much $$ for a family of 6 (3 adult passes and 3 kid passes). Maybe the Golden Eagle Catamaran?? Or one of the pirate ship things would be cool. I live for the sea days... they are just so much fun. That's why we choose the Eastern, for the more days at sea than the Western.

Hopefully I'll have more to post one day!

Karen

 

[jennat]

Karen 2, before I forget, the spread sheet would be great. Karen1 keep popping in. You don't need anything to say, just say hey!
Missy, You are right. Dancing man is cute too! But not as cute as banana man

 

[skycon]

Good morning... Just wanted to take notice that we now have 3 karens on board this cruise. I will start the spread sheet with what I can grasp from this board. It should be fun. Take care all and enjoy your monday.

 

[nursegardener]

Let me get this straight - am I Karen 3??

Anyone who has already done the Eastern - give me hints on shore excursions, especially any good ones to St. John.

DH and I love sea days too! Deck 4 is the best for reading and of course, my hubby's favorite - napping!

I think the spreadsheet is a great idea!

Keep me posted - I don't get a chance to read the boards every day but I'll try to stop by again soon!

Karen (3)

 

[getoutthere]

Hey guys!
I haven't had time to check the boards this weekend but now I have the chance and boy..........you guys have been busy!
Welcome to the newcomers, glad to have you on board (no pun intended...ok, pun intended). It is always nice to have more people to talk to. Hope everybody enjoyed watching the game last night. I had fun eating the party food. I am never going to lose this weight before our cruise at this rate.
Karen (with 4 kids)- Just pop in and tell us how your day is going. It gives us something to think about instead of how much time we still have til our cruise.
Jen- I will try and send you an e-mail today but it may not be til tomorrow. What happen to your countdown clock? It doesn't show anything.
Karen D.- Thanks for the spredsheet idea. I would appreciate it. It will help me keep everybody straight. (i.e. all the Karens.)

It is really nasty and rainy here today and not supposed to improve for a while. I have not gone eastern yet so I need everybody to tell me how warm and sunny it is to get me out of these rainy day blues.
Talk to you all again soon.
Trisha

 

[tracyl921]

Ugh, I can't log onto the boards from aol, can't figure out why. That said, I've fixed my countdown clock, so we're set to go! Now how many more days do I have to wait? Hi there all you Karen's! Must've been a popular name! Well, i'm bummed cause the Eagles blew the game last night, but there's always next year! Hi Karen #2 (that's my Karen right, from the beach?). Yes, we were right to switch. How bad could it be? Another hurricane and we get another voucher? I must say, I was impressed with how DCL handled the whole thing. Although, I think it stinks that those of you who got a 4 day cruise ended up with only a 25% voucher. Did DCL give you a credit for the 3 days you missed? Oh well, I look at it this way, worst case scenario we'll go to Disney World if we can't get on the ship. Looking forward to chatting with all of you over the next few months. Lets try to schedule a meet on board when the trip gets closer! The banana and dancing guy are cute, but check out the band!

 

[TeaforWendy]

I leave for the weekend and the board gets a bunch of new friends--hooray! Karen, the spreadsheet is a great idea. Thank you! Thank you!

The sea days are my favorite too. On last year's cruise we had lots of them! My only freak-out was getting back to my cabin on Friday and realizing I only had 20 minutes to pack!

On excursions, we left our DD, who was 3 at the time, in Oceaneer's Club and she loved it and me & DH had an adult day. We did what they used to call the ChampagneCatamaran Sail & Snorkel from St. T to St. John. It was awesome -- I highly recommend it. I don't know if Dis offers it anymore, but you can go to their website. I think it is sailallura.com and e-mail and ask them. It will be cheaper if you don't go thru Disney and you can take younger kids. I guess for liability reasons Disney is very limited in the excursions for the young kids -- that's another reason I'm so excited for Lord Sheffield -- Phoebe can go, too. I know she'll love it. She will be 4.

I'm so excited about the cruise! So fun to meet all of y'all.

Oh, and for shameless celebrity worship -- Kevin Bacon was at my same resort last weekend. He was in Santa Barbara for the annual film festival, receiving an award.He walked by me and I thought it was him, then some other women confirmed it. He looked good.

Phoebe wants me to say hi to everyone fro her and she can't wait to meet all the kids!

 

[getoutthere]

Another dreary day here in S. Illinois. There is talk on the weather of flurries and freezing rain tonight. I can't wait for summer!!!!! I need some sunshine and warmth!!!!! I just keep dreaming about those days on the beach in Destin and Casatway Cay.
Wendy- Sounds like your weekend was nice. Glad to hear it. I am really looking forward to Lord Sheffield also. My youngest son will be 4 on the cruise also so at least he will have someone to play with.

I still haven't gotten anything elso booked yet (flight, insurance, car, hotel) but I will get it eventually. I did see some good prices for flights out of Nashville. I would rather fly out of St. Louis but prices are better from Nashville. We have to drive about 2 1/2 hours either way to the airport so I guess I would rather have the cheaper flights.

So how is everybody elso doing?
Trisha

 

[skycon]

Good evening gang. I began the spreadsheet. It looks pretty good I must say. I will work on it again Friday. Unfortunately I need to put this trip/board on the back burner for a few days dues to unexpected events.

I am not forgetting about all of you and wish you all well in your cold weather out there (it was mid 60's here in VB VA). Catch up with you soon. Trisha I havent gotten my transfers, air fare or ins yet either. I am actually hoping to move to Florida by summer so maybe I can just drive to the port. We will see. I need to think about the insurance and get on that soon.

Smiles and Happy Thoughts to All.

 

[jennat]

Hope the unexpected events are good ones. Good thoughts to you.
It is beautiful here in Co. I have a crazy day. Call me taxi cab. however, one thin g is getting my hair cut and colored (what! You are not a natural blonde! ) so at least I will be Beautifly , from the forehead up!
Tomorrow is a half day for the kiddos (no school for Natalie), so maybe we can have a slow day....I hope, I hope, I hope!
I still need to book everything, too! need to start watching airfare. I dont' know when is to early. Any thoughts?
Hope all is well with all of you.

 

[cmctammyg]

Wow! You all are so far ahead of me! I have the cruise booked (we sailed on September 11 between Ivan and Jeanne), but have not even looked at excursions yet. We are going to visit WDW in 15 days and have another trip to Vero Beach before then. I guess I better get busy looking at my options. We will be flying from St. Louis too. Just waiting for a good deal on airfare.

 

[TeaforWendy]

I haven't done ins or flights either. Last year we flew down on Sat. morning and it was great, but I was nervous. I'd prefer Fri. night, but don't know if dh's schedule will allow. I also haven't booked REAS yet, but plan on it. My girlfriend is leaving for her Disney cruise on Sat. We talked some this morning and she's going to call me while packing tonight. Brought back so many great memories! It's their first Disney cruise. I'm very excited for her -- the 7 night Western, she couldn't go Eastern b/c she manages a group of doctors and the Eastern weeks are the weeks she does payroll!

Trisha-Phoebe would like to know your 4 yo son's name and she wondered if he would know her name already when she gets on the ship. I told her I thought he probably would. I love that she's as excited abt the cruise as I am!

Does anyone know how to insert a photo? I was going to put in a photo of Phoebe with Pinocchio. But maybe that's not a good idea.

 

[jennat]

What is REAS?

 

[getoutthere]

Jen- I know it stands for Romantic Escape at Sea but I am not sure what all it includes. I think it has your Palo reservations, something at the spa, special turn down service, and I think something else. This is just what I have gathered from reading through the boards. I just bought insurance, Travelex from insuremytrip.com for 87.00 for the 4 of us. My mother-in-law has AAA so she could book the Allstars for me and get the cheaper price. So let me know what you are planning to do. I'll send you an e-mail soon.

Wendy-My son's name is Braden. He turns 4 in August. I will make sure he knows about Pheobe before the cruise. Both my boys are very excited for the trip. Sorry I can't help you with the picture. I am amazed I can even navigate these boards.

Hope everyone else is doing well. Talk to you again soon.
Trisha

 

[nursegardener]

Jen - DH and I had the REAS pkg when we sailed last May and we really enjoyed it. We received a romance basket in the room which included a silver photo album, bottle of champagne, and a box of chocolates in a nice silver tray type basket, we had spa reservations for 2 ( we did the spa sampler - body massage and facial - my DH LOVED the facial - can you believe it??); we were able to book our Palo brunch and dinner on the phone 60 days before we sailed and although the pkg. didn't state that we got both for free - they didn't charge us for the brunch, dinner or high tea when we said we had the REAS pkg. The night of our turn-down service they sprinkled the floor from the door to the bed with rose petals and made heart-shaped beds of petals on the bed with the nightly chocolates - they even had rose petals in the bathtub. We also had a champagne breakfast in bed one morning which was HUGE!! They give you a special door hanger to select hot and cold breakfast items, including omelets and anything else you might want!! It was a very special pkg. and we loved it!

Probably won't do it again, but we were very glad to have done it once!!

 

[TeaforWendy]

Karen D described REAS perfectly. I actually only booked it abt 2 wks before our cruise b/c it took me that long to wring my hands over whether it was worth it. It is a nice treat. The basket and champagne and chocolates were not a big deal for me, but Phoebe & Jeff liked the chocolates! The breakfast in bed was awesome! The big draw for me was being able to make Palo reservations in advance because we flew down on the day of and I was worried we wouldn't be able to get Palo or the spa. DH really liked the couples massage and ranked it as one of his favorite things abt the cruise (the other being the St. john catamaran daysail thing we did). I was irritated through my whole massage b/c the therapists were quizzing both of us on our skin concerns, etc. which I knew was going to turn into a big sales pitch at the end. DH thought she was just being nice and helpful. Also, they hit you up for an "upgrade" on the massage when you first get in there. Again, DH says "sure", but it was quite a bit extra (I don't remember, $60??) for NO EXTRA TIME on the massages, just better oil or something. Yes, I am bitter -- but I love spa treatments and these were the worst b/c of the sales pitches. Not relaxing at all. However, I have learned from these boards that you can write on the form you fill out at the beginning "no sales pitch" and they will leave you alone. So...despite all my ranting, I will book REAS for sure if we fly down the day of again to ensure PALO (and the yummy breakfast in bed)!!!!!!!!! That's why I'm also wondering what night is pirate night. Last year we missed it b/c we had Palo that night and DD was in kid's club, but we'd like to participate this year -- so I don't want to make the same mistake again.

I have a question, has anyone heard abt the soda status? Last year in Sept it was free on Deck 9 by the pools and in Topsiders. I asked about the soda package when I got on board and they'd stopped offering it b/c of the soda station on Deck 9. But I've heard they've gone back to the soda package? I suppose I should check the big board, but wondered if any of you knew. My friend who sails away tomorrow will give me the scoop when she gets back. I told her I'm calling first thing next Sunday morning!

 

[jennat]

Thanks for the information on REAS. Anyone know the price? Maybe this is something to do for Steve for his birthday Trish. I don't want my hubby to get any friskier than he is, thankyou , Trisha, we have a connecting room. maybe you could keep knocking on the door. You know how vacations and friskiness go together with the boys...eiye, yi, yi! Like bread and butter! Hopefully, you know where I am coming from (and I don't sound like a freak).
I would also like to know what the procedure is in St Thomas. We have an all day, day sail there, so we need to get off the ship and to Red Hook pretty quick. Will the customs thing mess this up or is it bright and early before the posted dock times. What about getting back on? Anyone know? PS We stil have two more slots on the day sail, if anyone wants to go
I love these little faces. I need them for e-mail. It is easier to convey your meaning when typing.
Beautiful and 65 here in Denver. Man have we had an incredible winter. The problem is, we will pay with a water shortage this summer. Of course I've said this before, huh Trish. Inside story....Trisha and Steve were coming out for a week last summer and we were going to site see and camp a lot in the mountains. She was worried about humidity and heat and I kept reassuring her that this is COlorado and there is NO rain to make humidity. It NEVER rains, ever....huge drought, etc, etc.....Well obviously, onof us has the power to do evil because, it rained the whole time....Freezing cold (we packed up at 10 pm the second night. When we went up to the Royal Gorge (highest suspension bridge) the lightening was striking all around us and the bridge was swaying. Freaky! So we are trying to learn to use our dark gift for good. So far, no winning lotto tickets here. Just stating that the weather is nice will probably bring on a snow storm like we haven't seen this century......Unless, Trisha is the bad seed
Well off to do boring house stuff....will Steptember never get here

__________________

 

[skycon]

Hey gang.. I am back.. Karen #something.. can't remember.

What a crazy couple of days. My unexpected events turned into 4 unexpected events.. 2 unfortunate and 2 happy. Unfortunately my father had a stroke and will continue to suffer them in some form (minor or the major). He is a diabetic and they say diabetes is a silent killer. They are right but he has had several loud and clear warnings come his way. He is a stubborn male so lets pray he will listen this time. Damage is done but he has some power to help prevent further damage. Next, my 87 y.o. grandmother ended up in the hospital er yesterday morning (my dad's mom). We have yet to figure out what is wrong with her. It is one thing or another and both require surgery to fix and she refuses that so we wait to see what is next. The happy you ask... My sister n law ended up in labor and delivery 2 hrs after me and my grandmother arrived at the er. She delivered a beautiful 7lb 5oz baby girl at 1:48 pm (she got there at 10ish in the a.m. Gotta hate those women. Then lastly I got my long awaited call from a job in Florida that I applied for. Pixie dust left the ship and came to find me. I will fly down there some time this week to have my 3rd interview. I hope all goes well.


I am very interested in the REAS thing. I told my DH about it and he said oh that sounds great (Jen he is thinking the frisky stuff too). But... there always is that but, what about the kids .. I am sure they will love the rose petals. Club is open until 1:OO right? Can you bring them there in their jammes? I hope so bc I would love to have a romantic night at sea. This is our 3rd cruise and we have yet to have one of those. I have never done the spa either. Crazy I am. Talk to you all soon.

Gotta go