Sept. 23, 2012 Pacific Coast - Wonder Cruise

[BigDisneyOE]

Its been quite on here. I assume everyone is either celebrating Canada Day or preparing for the Fourth of July. CHEERS TO EVERYONE

Neither for the Aussies and Kiwis, we are on school holidays down this side of Earth - so have a house full of kids! Busy making FE gifts on my new sewing machine and loving it.

 

[AussieMumma]

Yep winter school holidays here and the weather has turned perfect so we've been staying outside as much as possible!!

I just got a quote from a limo/private transfer company yesterday for transport from the Marriott LAX to the Port for the six of us with a car seat for miss 3 in a luxury suv, and it was $125 + 20% gratuity. Does that sound like the normal sort of price for that? Seems expensive to me but then when I break it down to a per person price it doesnt seem so bad This is the company http://www.lax-transportation.net/thanks

 

[dennes]

Gidday - just hopping over from the Sept 16 California Coast cruise bunch. Just completed the online sign in - just word of caution Kiwi ladies - make sure ones passport is up to date! It wont let you go forward without it

Managed to get on all excursions AND Palo for brunch (and dinner if we wanted it - but we decided we want to eact with the kids) AND the earliest check in time too. Just thought I would share for those like me who have not cruised before There are still heaps of goodies up for grabs!!!

Take care all

Deb x

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Just been thru the largest and longest earthquake I've ever experienced in my life. At the moment it's a 6.6 and 250kms+ deep in the Tasman Sea. Our house shook sideways and up and down and I had time to run from one end to the other with my husband and grab the kids out of bed and get under doorways. Man alive was it loud and long. We are getting the kids mattresses in our room and everyone is sleeping there tonight. We live on an old farmhouse on a sandhill and it was scary big time and I don't scare.

 

[AussieMumma]

Oh my god Marian, I'm glad you are all ok That must be really scary, I hope there aren't too many or any after shocks.

 

[glindamood]

OMG Marian - I hope that all is OK and that any aftershocks don't further 'rock your boat' and cause damage. Super scary.

Well, I am off to the doctor this morning for round two of the knee shots. It does seem to be making a difference so keeping my fingers crossed.

Take care and have a grand 4th of July!

 

[jetskigrl]

Yep winter school holidays here and the weather has turned perfect so we've been staying outside as much as possible!!

I just got a quote from a limo/private transfer company yesterday for transport from the Marriott LAX to the Port for the six of us with a car seat for miss 3 in a luxury suv, and it was $125 + 20% gratuity. Does that sound like the normal sort of price for that? Seems expensive to me but then when I break it down to a per person price it doesnt seem so bad This is the company http://www.lax-transportation.net/thanks

That doesn't sound much different that what I paid for airport to Port area in FL. last year (and there was just 4 of us). So that sounds like a reasonable rate.

Gidday - just hopping over from the Sept 16 California Coast cruise bunch. Just completed the online sign in - just word of caution Kiwi ladies - make sure ones passport is up to date! It wont let you go forward without it

Managed to get on all excursions AND Palo for brunch (and dinner if we wanted it - but we decided we want to eact with the kids) AND the earliest check in time too. Just thought I would share for those like me who have not cruised before There are still heaps of goodies up for grabs!!!

Take care all

Deb x

Thanks so much for the update. Yeah, it seems like there have been plenty of reservations to be had on our cruise too.

Just been thru the largest and longest earthquake I've ever experienced in my life. At the moment it's a 6.6 and 250kms+ deep in the Tasman Sea. Our house shook sideways and up and down and I had time to run from one end to the other with my husband and grab the kids out of bed and get under doorways. Man alive was it loud and long. We are getting the kids mattresses in our room and everyone is sleeping there tonight. We live on an old farmhouse on a sandhill and it was scary big time and I don't scare.

Oh yikes!!!!! As familiar as I am with earthquakes, those long, loud ones still get me too. I'm so glad that everyone is OK. Was there a lot of damage? Hopefully the aftershocks haven't been too bad. {{{{{hugs}}}}}

 

[bbangel]

Heard about the quake on the news this morning. I hope everyone in NZ is okay! Sounds like it was deep enough so not much damage but I imagine the damage to the nerves is extensive!

Between the flooding here, the fires and power outages (with heat wave) in the east and now an earthquake it looks like Mother Nature is throwing a bit of a temper tantrum.

 

[glindamood]

I managed to survive the shots this morning - and I am 22 cc's lighter with the fluid they pulled from my left knee. I find it most amazing as that makes a total of 42 cc's that they have managed to extract from that knee. My questions are forming as next week is the last one I have to do and I will say, they feel better (and I don't think it is all in my head).

Not much else to report, spending the day tomorrow just chilling (I should be so lucky to literally chill) with the dogs. I wish you all an awesome day - stay cool, stay dry, stay safe and no shaking!

 

[peja]

Yep winter school holidays here and the weather has turned perfect so we've been staying outside as much as possible!!

I just got a quote from a limo/private transfer company yesterday for transport from the Marriott LAX to the Port for the six of us with a car seat for miss 3 in a luxury suv, and it was $125 + 20% gratuity. Does that sound like the normal sort of price for that? Seems expensive to me but then when I break it down to a per person price it doesnt seem so bad This is the company http://www.lax-transportation.net/thanks

Try www.limos.com or check out the site www.mousesavers.com for tips.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

We didn't get much sleep last night. One of the boys wet himself (4th night in a row) then tipped a bottle of water all over his protector sheet. Then they realised they were in our room and it was very confusing for them. I've got mattresses on the floor in our room that Rich slept on.

In honesty it was the longest, scariest earthquake I've been in and we get far more than other countries. Chch has had over 10,000 aftershocks since the first one they had in late 2010. I've also lived in Turkey, where such a quake as last night would have killed thousands, as it has done before (used to do earthquake recovery planning for our Government out there).

It was a 7.0 deep out at sea in the plate. If it had been more shallow or closer there would have been major damage here. The house was shaking up and down and sideways at the same time, it's made of brick for reasons unknown to me as NZ houses are traditionally wood as it moves with a quake as opposed to against a quake. It was the noise on top of it that was so frightening. I have to go around this morning and make sure that there's no damage, we did have stuff off shelves.

So today we are very tired and a bit unsettled. Oliver slept thru it in my arms as I hauled him out of bed and got in a door frame. Alex chucked a mental and tried to walk down the hallway in the middle of it. What can you do, he's asleep and a pre-schooler?

Thanks everyone for their thoughts (AussieMumma and JSG - I know you 'get' it JSG as Cali has them too). Going to be a quiet day, going to a chocolate factory and the library and that's about it. I need to work out why our A/C now seems not to be working this morning - it's cold.

This is our local coverage on the quake:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7215025/Deep-7-0-earthquake-hits-New-Zealand

Good news on the knee Gail, if it's coming off it's all good.

I agree bbangel - Mother Nature has her knickers in a knot in a major way at the moment. My friend in India wrote saying it should be their monsoon season but the average daily temp is 41C with no rain and they are suffering. Everything is screwed up.

 

[erbie]

In honesty it was the longest, scariest earthquake I've been in and we get far more than other countries. Chch has had over 10,000 aftershocks since the first one they had in late 2010. I've also lived in Turkey, where such a quake as last night would have killed thousands, as it has done before (used to do earthquake recovery planning for our Government out there).

7.0 is not small! I've been in So Cal most of my life, so I've experienced a lot of them. The advice here now is not to get in the doorway as it was all the time I was growing up. Now they say to get under a sturdy table. (I unfortunately do not have a sturdy table in my home. Oops!) We had one in 1994 that was very scary and very long and very loud. I was only a few miles from the epicenter and there was a lot of damage all over the city. Glad you're all okay and reasonably undamaged!

 

[jetskigrl]

7.0 is not small! I've been in So Cal most of my life, so I've experienced a lot of them. The advice here now is not to get in the doorway as it was all the time I was growing up. Now they say to get under a sturdy table. (I unfortunately do not have a sturdy table in my home. Oops!) We had one in 1994 that was very scary and very long and very loud. I was only a few miles from the epicenter and there was a lot of damage all over the city. Glad you're all okay and reasonably undamaged!

Oh, I remember the Northridge quake well. That was a scary one. Although we are a bit further away than you so we only had things falling off of shelves, etc.

 

[erbie]

Oh, I remember the Northridge quake well. That was a scary one. Although we are a bit further away than you so we only had things falling off of shelves, etc.

I was in Santa Monica at the time, and my apartment was trashed. Everything out of the cupboards (despite earthquake locks on them), everything out of the fridge, all the pictures off the walls, furniture all in the center of the room, entertainment center collapsed. There was a huge gas main leak a block away that sounded like a waterfall. We saw transformers blow, houses off their foundations, lots of cracks in walls and broken windows, lots of condemned buildings. It was scary!

 

[peja]

Thankfully you are all save. I will say a prayer for you all and I hope that in the coming days your nerves will settle. Hugs

 

[fshagan]

Yep winter school holidays here and the weather has turned perfect so we've been staying outside as much as possible!!

I just got a quote from a limo/private transfer company yesterday for transport from the Marriott LAX to the Port for the six of us with a car seat for miss 3 in a luxury suv, and it was $125 + 20% gratuity. Does that sound like the normal sort of price for that? Seems expensive to me but then when I break it down to a per person price it doesnt seem so bad This is the company http://www.lax-transportation.net/thanks

That sounds about right. I think Prime Time Shuttle is $16 per person (primetimeshuttle.com). Trip Advisor has a page on transportation HERE.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Gidday - just hopping over from the Sept 16 California Coast cruise bunch. Just completed the online sign in - just word of caution Kiwi ladies - make sure ones passport is up to date! It wont let you go forward without it

Managed to get on all excursions AND Palo for brunch (and dinner if we wanted it - but we decided we want to eact with the kids) AND the earliest check in time too. Just thought I would share for those like me who have not cruised before There are still heaps of goodies up for grabs!!!

Take care all

Deb x

Thanks for the heads up Deb! It's 4.00pm NZ time on the 11th by the looks. We have all our passports well up to date thankfully, can't imagine ever letting them lapse.

Did you do online check in for the kids clubs?

 

[erbie]

Wonder when they'll start assigning GTYs. Maybe after the 10th? Think they'll have another round of IGT/OGT/VGT? I'm wondering if it would be worth it to cancel and rebook if so. DH wants to wait til the port and see what's what there, and we probably wouldn't do an OGT since the only outside rooms I'd want would be a 9A. Anyone else going to switch if they do ofermthe GTs again?

 

[socababy]

Wonder when they'll start assigning GTYs. Maybe after the 10th? Think they'll have another round of IGT/OGT/VGT? I'm wondering if it would be worth it to cancel and rebook if so. DH wants to wait til the port and see what's what there, and we probably wouldn't do an OGT since the only outside rooms I'd want would be a 9A. Anyone else going to switch if they do ofermthe GTs again?

I sure hope the VGT comes back! I've been keeping an eye out on the Sept 16 cruise since their PIF just passed. If we see some *GT rates for that cruise, I'm sure we'll see some for this cruise as well. I'm itching to book!

 

[katds10]

Hi everyone, I'm on the Sept 16th sailing and someone from your sailing may have already shared this info but in case they hadn't -

I emailed DCL and asked which nights were planned for pirate, semi-formal and formal night on our cruise before I booked Palo & nursery time and got this reply. Thought I'd share with anyone else interested!

"7-Night Pacific Coast Cruise
*Nights 1, 3, 4, 7: cruise casual
*Night 2: "semi-formal night" - semi-formal wear for men: suit/jacket;
for women: dress or pantsuit.
*Night 5: "formal night" - formal wear for men: tuxedo or suit; for
women: gown or dress
*Night 6: pirate night with deck party - cruise casual or bring your
best pirate outfit!
"