Sept 18 2010 WB TransAtlantic Pirates/Capt Jacks Re-Repoing Repossession Cruise Pt.9

[su_kraft]

Hello all....just wanted to let you know that DD is home from the hospital....she got sprung this afternoon.....she has made remarkable progress and thanks to all for the pixie dust and prayers....now all she has to do is fill 5 perscriptions and keep taking the medication.....Thanks again all....you have been very kind!
Tom & Marilou

Wonderful news!!!

 

[cquick]

I made us MM shirts and I have printed out a brand-new-made-by-me T shirts with Med and WBTA logos on the front....but (and I am almost afraid to say this)......I didn't use the pirate one for the WBTA.....I wouldn't have worne the shirt if I had pirates on the front!

 

[paulasillars]

And i would love to do the Adventures by Disney Peru - that may be the year after if i can juggle our points well.[/COLOR]

Peru is fantastic, we did a two week trip a few years ago with a week sailing around the Galapagos - Peru turned out to be the major highlight to our surprise. This is the trip we did. Peru was so diverse and just each day was so incredibly varied. The only issue I had was the food, I got totally fed up with chips (french fries) and salad for nearly every meal as they really don't have a lot to offer vegetarians.

soooo.. what kind of clothes are people packing (for daily wear- I don't mean dinners) for this cruise? I mentioned it previously but I'm really curious what the majority are planning on wearing. I was in normal cruise mode thinking shorts and maybe capris, mostly wearing flipflops, never needed a jacket or sweater or anything on previous cruises, etc.- but then I see Barcelona (we'll be there 3 days) is low 70's that time of year.. and that's kinda chilly for us Texans. Will it be that cold or colder most of the cruise as well? I really need some help in what to pack....... pretty please?

I'm a list maker too - I posted this a few threads back but here it is again.

Wearing for flight out of NZ
Black shoes (to wear for dinner on cruise) – throw away
Green leggings – throw away
Grey pants – throw away
Orange long sleeve tshirt – throw away
White fleece – throw away
White socks – throw away
Long thermal socks – throw away
Knickers – throw away
Hankie – throw away
Pashmina

Shoes
Red Nike Presto
Sandals

Toiletry Bag
Mickey Mouse over the door toiletry bag and contents including first aid

Swimwear
Togs x 2
Snorkle
Mask
Shorts
Swim shoes

Mentionables
10 Hankies – throw away
5 pairs socks for day wear – throw away
1 pair socks for dining – throw away
3 pairs of socks
1 knickers – throw away
****1 pair long socks to wear home -still to go into suitcase
**** knickers -still to go into suitcase
**** Bras -still to go into suitcase

Bottoms
¾ Pants – throw away
Red Pants – throw away
Brown Pants
Khaki Pants
Blue Asian print pants for dining – throw away
Black Satin pants for dining – throw away

Tops
Black t-shirt for dining – throw away
Pink Cardigan for dining – throw away
Dis Unplugged t-shirt
White shirt
Green T-shirt – throw away
Green ¾ t-shirt – throw away
Pink ¾ t-shirt – throw away
Red striped t-shirt – throw away
Pink striped t-shirt – throw away
Pink long sleeve t-shirt – throw away
Black&grey long sleeve t-shirt – throw away
Mickey Mouse Gold Tone Jumper -still to go into suitcase

Nightwear
1 pair shortie PJs – throw away
1 old Tshirt – throw away
2 old PJ shorts – throw away
* some of the throw away tops will be recycled for nightwear once in Florida

Misc
Hat – throw away
Rain poncho
Rain jacket
2 bags chocolate bars – Moro & Crunchie
? books
Door magnets
Travel power adapters
Trading pins ~ 50
Small gifts ~ 10
Cinderella purse
Makeup
**** book exchange bag -still to go into suitcase
FE Gifts -still to go into suitcase
**** iPod charger -still to go into suitcase
**** Camera battery charger -still to go into suitcase

We would like to see the places but do not know what the best type of tour for us to take. We are not water people so no need to go to the beach. Any suggestions from you guys....I know it would probably be smarter to just book with DCL...but it always tends to be more expensive.....we definately want to see the Rock in Gibralter but Madiera is up in the air.....I am one that usually would love to just stay on the ship but don't know if we will ever go back so would like to see some of the countries....any direction you can steer us in would be helpful and most appreciated!

We aren't beach people either. Castaway Cay is about as much as I can tolerate. I detest sand with a passion We also aren't shoppers but like museums and just exploring places on foot.

Gib - we are doing this ourselves - as below, we are planning to get the public bus to the Cable Car station and do a one-way to the top and walk down hitting the sites as we go. We will then either walk back to the ship or get the bus back. There is also a small museum in the town which we may visit time permitting.

Madiera - with Noel's (Birkner) organised excursion - as are many more of us.

Tortola - I found a short self guided walking tour that we will do - happy to post info for anyone interested or act as the group tour guide

St Maarten - we will either get the water taxi or walk into town, I believe there is also a small museum there too but I don't have the details to hand.

I hate the handing out of the tip envelopes. We try to skip it whenever we can by dining at Palo on the last night.

We find this very awkward and uncomfortable - tipping is not in our culture and while we do as we understand its the appropriate thing to do, I just hate doing it as it feels like I'm treating these people as less beings and paying to be waited on. I much prefer how they did it on the Princess cruises we've done where they just charge $10 to your onboard account and you can modify this if you wish.

How do you get to the cable car from the ship? How much will it cost? Shall we all follow you guys?

'

We are doing as below that MDWoodman says. I think I read somewhere its just less than a 1 pound one way and they don't give change?

I did copy and paste this info into my "plan" but I don't recall where I found it.


Our plan is #4 bus from Coach Park to the cable car; cable car to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar; then walk to St. Michael's Cave, Apes' Den, Great Siege Tunnels, City Under Siege Exhibition, Moorish Castle, and back to Main Street.

A 7-minute ascent of the Rock of Gibraltar offers spectacular views of Europe and Africa all the way. And it ensures you don’t get snarled up in any queues trying to drive up the Rock.
At the summit, the Interactive Tour enables you to discover Gibraltar through a convenient hand-held audiovisual guide. It is a great introduction to Gibraltar as it gives you a thorough overview of Gibraltar’s intriguing history, geology and wildlife.
The top of the Rock has its own Ape Playground, just as you step out of the Cable Car, where you can experience all the fun of the famous Barbary Apes getting up to their usual mischief. Further up, there is a Family Restaurant and Coffee Shop where you can stop for a snack while admiring the stunning views.
The Souvenir Shop and professional souvenir photographers mean that you can take something home to remember your trip by.
Starting your visit to Gibraltar at the Top of the Rock enables you to enjoy a gentle downhill stroll through the Nature Reserve (included in the ticket price) to St Michael’s Cave, or many of the other attractions on the Rock.

We simply walk to the coach park (about 1/2 mile) and catch the #4 bus to the cable car station. I think it's 65 cents one way or 90 cents return (Euro cents). I don't plan to take the cable car back down, so I'll be getting the one-way ticket. Here's a Google Earth image:

Reposted as this is exactly what we plan to do.

 

[cquick]

I am going to pack next week, then I will repack, then the night before we leave, I'll repack!

I am working on the magnets for my door too!

 

[tinker1bell]

I just wanted to point out that it's already Saturday in Barcelona, so....

I'll see you on the Magic 4 weeks from "today"!!!

I love seeing all the tickers showing DAYS now, not years and months!!

Another random thought.....

Made ya look, didn't I ladies? This comes from the friend in me, not the Dooney I-gotta-have-it-competitor in me, btw! With the combination of us being the last sailing from Europe and the last sailing before dry dock, do you think that they will intentionally reduce their inventory of gifts, more specifically the D&B purses? I can just see them cutting down on their last inventory shipments to Europe.



I've seen quite a few reports of this in the past couple of days. I'm not surprised with the wonderful discounts they were giving to Military persons and travel agents. I wouldn't worry about it being full though. Although the cabins may be sold out, I'm willing to bet that a significant portion of those cabins will not have families with children in them, so we'll be far from full capacity!

Thinking along those lines....I LOVE Serenity Bay, but I'm thinking it will be more crowded than usual for our voyage. I'm thinking it may be a good time to hit the Family Beach and Pelican Plunge with less crowding than they usually have. A girl can hope, right?! Bring on the Drink of the Day!

YEAH!!!!! That's exceptionally great news!

MINE, MINE. MINE!!!!

Someone going on the next cruise better tell them they need to have a good supply for us wanting the purses, or there could be a riot!!!!

 

[Dizneyholic]

Sounds like you are familiar with Mexico dental clinic. How did you locate one that you were confident with. I hear there are some that give excellent care.

This is in reply to you too Noel!

Gus's mom is from Mexico so he has some family down there that goes to these places all the time. However, the ones they refered us to weren't open on Sundays so we googled to find someone that was.

We used this website
http://www.dentistasdemexico.com/

The dentist we used was Dr. Quinones at Dental Brimar. He even looked at a tooth my dentist said needed a filling and confirmed there was NO cavity there! Anyhow, the only problem is he doesn't speak very good English so you might want to look around for someone who does. Also, a lot of the places have US numbers so look for those. His is 619-906-7274.

Hope this helps. As with any service make sure you get prices up front!

 

[ReAnSt]

AWWWWW!!!!!

Becca hasn't lost one yet... She has one that is somewhat lose, but as she isn't wiggling it she may still have it on the ship! I guess she is finally listening to me when I say "Please don't grow up"...

Maybe Tinkerbell will get to visit her on the ship.

I had wanted to go kayaking in St. Marteen or Tortola can't remember which but I guess I won't be doing that now. I just hope I will be able to go and whatever I get to do will be icing on the cake.

I finally did all of my pre-admission testing yesterday. It was the 3rd time the appointment was actually scheduled. They originally moved it to make it the same day as my specialist appointment which was also at the hospital, but both appointments ended up being scheduled 5 minutes apart. So I needed to reschedule the pre-admission testing for yesterday.

I am ready for this surgery on Tuesday, so I can get on with the cruise planning.

 

[grmmybtty]

What are the food options for this tour? I'm considering it. I'm assuming that drinks include non-alcoholic beverages and water, yes?

There is a stop for lunch (price not included). I am assuming that we will have to talk with Bernard about lunch options. Drinks are non-alcoholic beverages and water. I have e-mailed him asking for an itinerary. The majority of the group are OK with Dawn Beach (snorkeling, swimming and sunning, no parasailing or other water activities). Something to consider is that Orient Beach (which is on the standard, non-custom itinerary) may not be suitable for children as it is more like a European beach (tops and/or swimsuit optional).

 

[NoWorriesMate]

Hi all,

With all the talk of excursions of late, last night I was playing around with something I started a month ago, but never got around to completing. In part I wasn't sure if everyone would want to do this, so I'd like to get feedback before I complete it.

The idea is that we could create a list of all the events (room tour, champagne girls, drink tastings, etc.) and DCL excursions, then people could enroll in the events in which they are participating, and that way we could all see what each others are doing, as well as getting head counts and such. I thought it would be nice if you are going on an excursion to know what friendly faces to look for.

I'd like to get feedback to see if people would be interested in doing this. Right now only the sign-up part is complete, but I could have the list of events and event detail pages completed pretty quickly.

Please feel free to play around, but the data is just test data, and will be deleted if/when we set up all the events/excursions.

Glenn




*All web and database design proudly done on a PC

Impressive, once again thank you for all of your great work and ideas.


sent from my Macbook Air

If you ever get out to San Francisco, let us all know so we can arrange a mini meet for all the DIS San Francisco Bay residents!

That would be great, Chris flys in there from time to time and brings back great pictures which just make me more determined to get there.

AWWWWW!!!!!

Becca hasn't lost one yet... She has one that is somewhat lose, but as she isn't wiggling it she may still have it on the ship! I guess she is finally listening to me when I say "Please don't grow up"...

My DS nick is like that - his top front tooth is wobbly and has been fr ages, but NO ONE is allowed to touch it or wobble it. He has however asked if he will get Disney dollars if it falls out whilst cruising...

Interestingly - I just tried to book for 2 adults and I get a message in red at the top that states:
T

​

here are no vacation dates available. Please choose another itinerary or another month. If you have entered a special offer code, it could be invalid.

But about 1/2 hour ago I went to log in and it came up with a really screwy screen. Still, I tried booking my Alaska trip and it went through to the cabins.

So we're sold out????

either that or they are doing final adjustments to the cabin alloaction etc and then they will offer more again

I always do it at "the last supper" for our wait staff and the last morning for the room steward.

I've noticed (mainly on other cruise lines) that the only time I see the head waiter for the entire cruise is when he comes around during that last evening meal to collect his envelope! Personally, while I generally tip the wait staff and room stewards extra, I don't feel obligated to tip the head waiter unless he (or she, of course) does something extra for us. They do get paid pretty well, unlike the others who depend on the tips.

However, there was one head waiter (Lloyd) on the Disney Magic who was able to fix our reservations that had been messed up by our TA; got us a really good table and a GREAT wait staff; came by every evening to check on how we were doing; and generally went above and beyond. We had all four DDs on that cruise, two teens and two in the kids' clubs - DW and I went to Serenity Bay on Castaway Cay for a couple of hours. We made our way back to Cookie's Bar-B-Q for lunch and to see how DDs were doing. We couldn't find them. We ran into Lloyd, who told us (paraphrasing) "Shawna just finished lunch with her friend Jane and they went to the hideout, Danielle was here about a half hour ago with Mike, Dan, and John and they went back to the teen beach, Kristen came by with Suzy (and, as usual, didn't eat very much) and then went to the family beach with Sue and her parents, and Kimberly came by with her club and she's over at Monstro Point." Lloyd got a large tip!

Lloyd sounds excellent, not just really impressive service but actually caring about the passengers

Oh, I know that feeling, excitement and sadness all at once. I keep all my girls teeth in a jar with a note stating the date they lost them. They also draw tiny pictures for the tooth fairy sometimes, so I pop them in the jar too.

Lilly and Nick write notes to the tooth fairy so they go with the teeth into the safe.

Also, Noel is a legend, she is so helpful with everything.

very true

Written in bed with a cuppa tea on my Mac Air

Peru is fantastic, we did a two week trip a few years ago with a week sailing around the Galapagos - Peru turned out to be the major highlight to our surprise. This is the trip we did. Peru was so diverse and just each day was so incredibly varied. The only issue I had was the food, I got totally fed up with chips (french fries) and salad for nearly every meal as they really don't have a lot to offer vegetarians.

Thank you for the info. Peru is somewhere i have always wanted to go. Now we have to plan for the kids too of course, but they are good travellers. It just means paying for 4 and not 2

I'm a list maker too - I posted this a few threads back but here it is again.

Wearing for flight out of NZ
Black shoes (to wear for dinner on cruise) – throw away
Green leggings – throw away
Grey pants – throw away
Orange long sleeve tshirt – throw away
White fleece – throw away
White socks – throw away
Long thermal socks – throw away
Knickers – throw away
Hankie – throw away
Pashmina

Shoes
Red Nike Presto
Sandals

Toiletry Bag
Mickey Mouse over the door toiletry bag and contents including first aid

Swimwear
Togs x 2
Snorkle
Mask
Shorts
Swim shoes

Mentionables
10 Hankies – throw away
5 pairs socks for day wear – throw away
1 pair socks for dining – throw away
3 pairs of socks
1 knickers – throw away
****1 pair long socks to wear home -still to go into suitcase
**** knickers -still to go into suitcase
**** Bras -still to go into suitcase

Bottoms
¾ Pants – throw away
Red Pants – throw away
Brown Pants
Khaki Pants
Blue Asian print pants for dining – throw away
Black Satin pants for dining – throw away

Tops
Black t-shirt for dining – throw away
Pink Cardigan for dining – throw away
Dis Unplugged t-shirt
White shirt
Green T-shirt – throw away
Green ¾ t-shirt – throw away
Pink ¾ t-shirt – throw away
Red striped t-shirt – throw away
Pink striped t-shirt – throw away
Pink long sleeve t-shirt – throw away
Black&grey long sleeve t-shirt – throw away
Mickey Mouse Gold Tone Jumper -still to go into suitcase

Nightwear
1 pair shortie PJs – throw away
1 old Tshirt – throw away
2 old PJ shorts – throw away
* some of the throw away tops will be recycled for nightwear once in Florida

Misc
Hat – throw away
Rain poncho
Rain jacket
2 bags chocolate bars – Moro & Crunchie
? books
Door magnets
Travel power adapters
Trading pins ~ 50
Small gifts ~ 10
Cinderella purse
Makeup
**** book exchange bag -still to go into suitcase
FE Gifts -still to go into suitcase
**** iPod charger -still to go into suitcase
**** Camera battery charger -still to go into suitcase

I love your throw away list


We find this very awkward and uncomfortable - tipping is not in our culture and while we do as we understand its the appropriate thing to do, I just hate doing it as it feels like I'm treating these people as less beings and paying to be waited on. I much prefer how they did it on the Princess cruises we've done where they just charge $10 to your onboard account and you can modify this if you wish.

I am always uncomfortable with tipping. i am happy to give for excellent service but resent having to regardless. In the US we do - but i will never like it and wish the tip would just be incorporated into the prices and the workers paid a fair wage.

Thank you for all the good wishes for Lillian's tooth loss. you will be glad to know the tooth fairy came and left both money and a tiny note. She is so impressed she already wobbling the next one

 

[cquick]

Ipirate one for the WBTA.....I wouldn't have worne the shirt if I had pirates on the front!

I MEANT to say I WOULDN'T HAVE WORN THE SHIRT AFTER I GOT HOME! I would have worn Pirate shirts on the ship of course....aren't we all piratesonthe ship?

 

[pjpoohbear]

20th I think. See, I'm not even excited enough to memorize the date. Now ask when we go on TA and I will give you blow by blow of the trip details!! Yes, our friends are sick of hearing about it!

Angie, it is the 27th. But for me the 20th would be better, lol.

Actually a June date would be best. I need to keep my ear to the ground on next year's Alaska cruise, as the date selected I might not be able to go.

Pj

 

[BoosGram]

They are calling him Samuel, he was 6lb 9oz and has lots of black hair

Wonderful. I wish them all joy in their new family.

Hello all....just wanted to let you know that DD is home from the hospital....she got sprung this afternoon.....she has made remarkable progress and thanks to all for the pixie dust and prayers....now all she has to do is fill 5 perscriptions and keep taking the medication.....Thanks again all....you have been very kind!
Tom & Marilou

Terrific news; so glad to hear it.

That's what I want peeps, Thanks Kimberly!
I love your 'mentionables' list!
I see you don't have any long pants, are you expecting it to be a little chilly in Europe or not? If I could ditch my jeans that is a big chunk of weight.
OMG, Nearly forgot PJ's....And I am organising the PJ Breakfast, Arghh!
See, this is why I need your list to prompt my leaky brain

I've never flown internationally. Do you all really suggest long pants and layers for the flight? Does it get that cold on the plane? (I remember the icky sock discussion, so I'm bringing socks for sure.)

 

[artie_h]

Wow! What a welcome. Let's see if I can remember all the questions and comments from Part 8:

We live on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley, about 10 miles from downtown Salt Lake. We love to dress for Pirate Night, and Shanna has made new Pirate wear for both of us, along with clothing for Villain's night.

We are not really sure what we will do in Barcelona - I booked everything through DCL, so we'll see how that goes. We plan to do the Ho Ho bus on Friday, but our son has several friends in Barcelona that have offered to take us on a tour.

We look forward to meeting you in person on the Magic! I have been busily making homemade candy to share with you for as long as it lasts!

 

[eaglewingks]

I just finished reading through most of the posts on these two threads for the TA on the Magic. Now I am exhausted and must go to bed!

My mother and I have been booked on this crusie for some time now but, only recently became aware of this thread. We booked on B2B including the Med. portion.

We are really looking forward to meeting everyone and having a great time.

Colleen

 

[Bareacuda]

WoW !!
10 pages to catch up with!

Ok , been skimming so I hope I didnt miss anything really important,
so here goes:

WELCOME ALL NEW CRUISERS!
wecome to the new baby... I just love babies... awwww what a great name.
Wishing everyone well, no illnesses, re-coup from all the surgeries and dental issues. Every time I read about someone with dental issues, I thought, "Man, I hope I dont have something go wrong before or during the cruise. I Hate the dentist !"
I spoke too darn soon. Dental appointment is for Tuesday morning!

Oh and Glen.. thanks for the cool new goodie in the web site! Thats another new goodie to do!

Everyone have a great weekend

Annie

 

[MrsMork]

If you're going on the 20th, you'll be missing the boat. We are on the July 12-19th Alaskan, so I'm pretty sure the next one leaves on the 19th!

Ok, maybe the 26th...PJ will know.

I think I would like to do that. Do you get much notification of the dates? I'm guessing it books up very quickly.

Within hours usually. It is madness. We went on the very first one. Lots of fun, lots of points!

Angie, it is the 27th. But for me the 20th would be better, lol.

Actually a June date would be best. I need to keep my ear to the ground on next year's Alaska cruise, as the date selected I might not be able to go.

Pj

Oh no! It's a Geek cruise. And I think it must be the 26th if the one before is the 19th.

 

[birkner]

Hello all....just wanted to let you know that DD is home from the hospital....she got sprung this afternoon.....she has made remarkable progress and thanks to all for the pixie dust and prayers....now all she has to do is fill 5 perscriptions and keep taking the medication.....Thanks again all....you have been very kind!
Tom & Marilou

Great news!! I bet you both are just ecstatic!!

 

[birkner]

We simply walk to the coach park (about 1/2 mile) and catch the #4 bus to the cable car station. I think it's 65 cents one way or 90 cents return (Euro cents). I don't plan to take the cable car back down, so I'll be getting the one-way ticket. Here's a Google Earth image:

You are a gem!! Thank you so much for the map!!

 

[birkner]

O
Also, Noel is a legend, she is so helpful with everything.

That is one of the nicest things I have ever heard. You are so sweet to say such a nice thing!!

 

[HallsofVA]

I tried to post some replies earlier, but had a bad connection and had to give up.

Congratulations on the lost tooth and new grandbaby! Milestones, milestones!

The idea is that we could create a list of all the events (room tour, champagne girls, drink tastings, etc.) and DCL excursions, then people could enroll in the events in which they are participating, and that way we could all see what each others are doing, as well as getting head counts and such. I thought it would be nice if you are going on an excursion to know what friendly faces to look for.

Like anything else, the key is participation, if most people would not want to participate, it wouldn't be worth the effort.

Glenn

Sounds great! Perhaps for the events that are already full, you can prepopulate those activities to make sure the data all matches? (If not too much trouble.) Otherwise, consider using it as an information source, and not as a true "sign-up" list (except for perhaps the room tour and other things that don't require reservations.)

How do you get to the cable car from the ship? How much will it cost? Shall we all follow you guys?

I could make a Disney sign for you like for the Madeira tour that says "Follow Michael to St. Michaels...

Sorry I am so bad but couldn't resist. Mea Culpa

However, it was a serious question about how do we get to the cable car and how much will it cost.

I think I mentioned several threads ago when their first posted their Gibralter plan that I was just going to follow them! Unfortunately, my MIL may not do the cable car, so it may be a taxi to the top for us. But if not, I like the plans!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2537781

I wonder whats going on?

I don't own DVC, though we have considered it many times. But I have noticed that there were many free DCL cruises given out this year, both to new DVC purchasers, as well as to ABD participants. In addition, the new ship has drawn many people to DCL for 2011. Could it be just the combination of the promotions interacting with the increased demand, and limited availability in the Caribbean, causing all the DVC reservations to be exhausted earlier than normal or to a greater extent than realized in the past?

I just checked the DCL website, and the only staterooms they're showing as available are Category 8 - and even those are only GTY! I guess we're going to be pretty close to full, folks! We'd better not have to pick up any shipwrecks.

Richard

Curious that it's just Cat 8 left, since that category was sold out for awhile after we first booked it in August. With relatively few rooms in that category seems odd that it would noy sell out, especially with so many adults on board (Cat 8 is great for access to the adult areas.) But that Cat was also GTY even when we booked it, and it looks like many Cat 8 people got upgrades to Cat 5 or 6.

I've noticed (mainly on other cruise lines) that the only time I see the head waiter for the entire cruise is when he comes around during that last evening meal to collect his envelope! Personally, while I generally tip the wait staff and room stewards extra, I don't feel obligated to tip the head waiter unless he (or she, of course) does something extra for us. They do get paid pretty well, unlike the others who depend on the tips.

However, there was one head waiter (Lloyd) on the Disney Magic...Lloyd got a large tip!

Our first cruise we were curious what purpose the head waiter served, and didn't see or interact with our head waiter very much. But there was a female head waiter working our area when we had breakfast in Lumiere's one morning who went out of her way. Our 22 month old son (at the time) liked to eat yougurt, but the spoons on DCL can be way too big for a little mouth. She stopped by our table and we asked for a smaller spoon. So she brought us one. Then she watched our son finish his whole bowl of yougurt. Before we finished breakfast, she stopped by with a 6 pack of little yougurts and several little spoons for us to take back to our room. It seemed like she managed to stop by and say hi everytime we saw her. I'd rather have given her a tip than our actual head waiter.

Since we list our son's nut allergies on his info, it's been the head waiter's responsibility to coordinate and check on us at meals, so we have had more interaction on our last few cruises than we did on the one when my son was a baby.

With the combination of us being the last sailing from Europe and the last sailing before dry dock, do you think that they will intentionally reduce their inventory of gifts, more specifically the D&B purses? I can just see them cutting down on their last inventory shipments to Europe.

At first I thought you were asking if they would possibly drop prices to clear out inventory before they head into drydock. Then I realized (I think) that you are wondering if perhaps they will have enough inventory on the ship for those who want one of the bags! My hope is they will have a sufficient amount, since they are money makers, and DCL needs all the money it can get. [Though why they cannot seem to get Mickey Bars for these cruises baffles me!] They can always drop any excess inventory they have either at CC or at PC before they head to drydock.

I've seen quite a few reports of this in the past couple of days. I'm not surprised with the wonderful discounts they were giving to Military persons and travel agents. I wouldn't worry about it being full though. Although the cabins may be sold out, I'm willing to bet that a significant portion of those cabins will not have families with children in them, so we'll be far from full capacity!

I really don't think there will be nearly as many kids on this cruise as on a typical DCL cruise, and they may tend toward the younger side rather than older side. I think there are a lot of rooms occupied now after the specials that were offered, but not very densely. [Take my FIL/MIL for example -- 2 people in a Cat 4 room!] Our last cruise in January was a Kids Sail Free cruise, and that ship was densely packed!

Thinking along those lines....I LOVE Serenity Bay, but I'm thinking it will be more crowded than usual for our voyage. I'm thinking it may be a good time to hit the Family Beach and Pelican Plunge with less crowding than they usually have. A girl can hope, right?! Bring on the Drink of the Day!

I am hopeful that I will step foot on Serenity Bay one of these days. I actually got to see it on our 4th cruise (in January), but only from the airstrip. On our first 3 cruises, we parked ourselves at the same spot on the family beach (in front of the bar, under the shady palm trees) and left only to grab lunch. In January we took advantage of just having been on the island 3 weeks earlier to rent bikes and explore the rest of the island. We biked everywhere we could and had a blast! But since the kids were with us, we didn't get to stop and see Serenity Bay, though I did smell the massage oils as we biked past the cabanas.

If they cut back on the inventory of the purses, I think there are going to be some very disappointed people onboard. (myself included). Let's cross our fingers and hope they don't.

I am ready for this surgery on Tuesday, so I can get on with the cruise planning.

Sending you early wishes that things go well on Tuesday, since I'll be travelling that day and not online very much.

Something to consider is that Orient Beach (which is on the standard, non-custom itinerary) may not be suitable for children as it is more like a European beach (tops and/or swimsuit optional).

We took our kids to Orient Beach with DCL in 2008 and have planned to do it again on this cruise unless we change our plans. DCL took us to the "Waikiki" part of Orient Beach, and we didn't have any issues with nudity on the beach. Course I have the benefit of my kids being young enough that they might ask questions about it, but not think it super odd.

I've never flown internationally. Do you all really suggest long pants and layers for the flight? Does it get that cold on the plane? (I remember the icky sock discussion, so I'm bringing socks for sure.)

I travel a lot for work, and always try to fly in long pants (except for some flights into Tampa on hot summer days.) I find many of the regular airline seats itchy and not comfortable on bare legs, and the leather seats sticky, even for a short 1-2 hr flight. I also get the willies from airline blankets, and try to keep them off of bare skin when possible.

A sweater or light jacket does come in handy for long flights. Sometimes it is hard to block or shut off the air vent on the plane, and when you're lying down to sleep, it has to be really bad to make me stand back up to adjust the air vent. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I'll put my jacket or sweater on backwards while sitting in my seat, so it's covering my arms and front, but not adding extra bulk or heat between me and the seat.