Sept. 23, 2012 Pacific Coast - Wonder Cruise

[BigDisneyOE]

I've been a bit MIA as I was on Cape Cod last week and while I did manage to check-in online, I didn't think DH would appreciate me spending our vacation time on disboards! ETA: I need to go back and read about 10 pages! Yikes!

My daughter will be almost 7.5 at sailing time and she LOVES meeting new friends so we are up for a meet-up on board.

She likely will do some club activites, but she has food allergies so I need to restrict them to non-food related activities (no eating/no crafts w/ food) to keep her safe.



I think August 1st is a good cutoff for FE and Sept 1st for postcards. I've been buying stuff at Target since they have a 90 day return policy, but like erbie, I'm trying to figure out where to coral all this stuff so I don't misplace it (and DD doesn't see it as she does not know yet that we are going). I think I'll start a Rubbermaid bin in the basement

You'll need to let Gail know your FE details as you aren't on the latest list!

There are some offers with BK for Legoland on the Buy Adult / Kid Free too. We are going before cruise and will probably spend a couple of days there and I'm madly trying to work out what's the best way to get everything sorted. I considered the Go San Diego pass but you get one bad day or tired kid and knocks everything sideways and you don't get value. Hard to know what to do.

What do you do about your daughters allergies with the Kids Club? We found out over the weekend that one kid is totally allergic to band-aids and plasters. Welts everywhere when they are used. I've got to take him to the doctor today to work out what we can do but I don't want someone sticking a plaster on him in the KC and him breaking out in welts again. Is there a form you can fill out at the KC? I know with food allergies I'm listed on our ressie but I can't find anywhere for this type of allergy.

Gail - thank you, works perfectly on dates. Is there a seperate list for postcards? I can't recall if I am on it or not. I'll need to work out where I can get some as they are usually quite expensive here (even our dollar store starts at $3 these days) and the area I live in isn't so exciting to look at - okay it's a pretty beach and an island but people will think we live in a small seaside community, which we do, whereas postcards from our capital are a bit more lively.

First day back at Kindergarten today and it's rained solidly for three days. So much rain that parts of NZ are flooded and cut off again. Why we live here I don't know. I'm waiting for 9AM to come and go before I take the kids late to Kindergarten, the local school is next door and the mothers get all rabid about parking on very wet days.

Gail - how did the Grandpup visit go? No more skunk incidents? DH brushed out our dog over the weekend and her tail looks exactly like a skunk, all black and white and fluffy curled up over her back. Every time I see it I think of your dogs!

 

[atmail35]

You'll need to let Gail know your FE details as you aren't on the latest list!

There are some offers with BK for Legoland on the Buy Adult / Kid Free too. We are going before cruise and will probably spend a couple of days there and I'm madly trying to work out what's the best way to get everything sorted. I considered the Go San Diego pass but you get one bad day or tired kid and knocks everything sideways and you don't get value. Hard to know what to do.

What do you do about your daughters allergies with the Kids Club? We found out over the weekend that one kid is totally allergic to band-aids and plasters. Welts everywhere when they are used. I've got to take him to the doctor today to work out what we can do but I don't want someone sticking a plaster on him in the KC and him breaking out in welts again. Is there a form you can fill out at the KC? I know with food allergies I'm listed on our ressie but I can't find anywhere for this type of allergy.

I'm actually doing the FE with my sister GromMom, we are doing it for two parents/2 kids, but just one cabin. We figured we'd pool our crafty resources to get it done since we just signed up and I don't have to worry about extra luggage fees! Although by the sounds of it we might have to fight over some of the gifts I do need to email Gail about the postcard exchange, but I want to check and see if I can find them easily locally w/out going into the city to buy them.

Allergy....my daugher has an epi-pen for her allergies. I actully need to confirm that the club counselors will retain the epi pen for her. There is a medical form you can fill out...I found it when I checked in online. I saved a copy on my PC if you need it via e-mail (just PM me).

For school I have an allergy plan for her that I will bring. It states what medical treatment should be given for which symptoms.

To be honest, I'm a little nervous. She does fine at school and camp, but I know her teachers and the school nurses. I will let you know when I find out more. DD will not be happy if she can't go to the club!

Is your DS allergic to Latex (I'm guessing b/c of bandaids)? I would plan on putting together something in writing to list what he can and cannot do. No crafts w/ plaster, no bandaids for cuts (contact you first). If there is an alternate "bandaid", perhaps you can supply the club w/ a ziplock or plastic box (like a pencil box/case) containing the supplies, with his name, age etc on it?

 

[erbie]

Is your DS allergic to Latex (I'm guessing b/c of bandaids)? I would plan on putting together something in writing to list what he can and cannot do. No crafts w/ plaster, no bandaids for cuts (contact you first). If there is an alternate "bandaid", perhaps you can supply the club w/ a ziplock or plastic box (like a pencil box/case) containing the supplies, with his name, age etc on it?

Good idea. They should have non-latex bandages available on the ship as well. You could stop by the drugstore once you land in the US and get a few different non-latex bandages to give to the kids club. I'm sure they are well familiar with latex allergy as it's pretty common.

My kids also have some food allergies and every time we've been, the clubs have been great about being careful and checking in with us about anything involving food. My kids' allergies are not life-threatening so I'm not all that worried about them being exposed to their allergens onboard. It's more of a discomfort thing at this point, unlike when they were younger.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

I'm actually doing the FE with my sister GromMom, we are doing it for two parents/2 kids, but just one cabin. We figured we'd pool our crafty resources to get it done since we just signed up and I don't have to worry about extra luggage fees! Although by the sounds of it we might have to fight over some of the gifts I do need to email Gail about the postcard exchange, but I want to check and see if I can find them easily locally w/out going into the city to buy them.

Allergy....my daugher has an epi-pen for her allergies. I actully need to confirm that the club counselors will retain the epi pen for her. There is a medical form you can fill out...I found it when I checked in online. I saved a copy on my PC if you need it via e-mail (just PM me).

For school I have an allergy plan for her that I will bring. It states what medical treatment should be given for which symptoms.

To be honest, I'm a little nervous. She does fine at school and camp, but I know her teachers and the school nurses. I will let you know when I find out more. DD will not be happy if she can't go to the club!

Is your DS allergic to Latex (I'm guessing b/c of bandaids)? I would plan on putting together something in writing to list what he can and cannot do. No crafts w/ plaster, no bandaids for cuts (contact you first). If there is an alternate "bandaid", perhaps you can supply the club w/ a ziplock or plastic box (like a pencil box/case) containing the supplies, with his name, age etc on it?

D'Oh, of course - you are GromMom's sister! It's on the FE list as 'Mom' & 'Dad'. Might be best to amend the list to DSis each so people don't give you the Dad gifts if they are making gender specific stuff.

I would hope the KC on the Wonder can store an epi-pen. There are plenty of kids with them nowadays. Do you get them free in the US? Here in NZ they are full price and very expensive. Thankfully my allergies are not at epi-pen level but I'm allergic to a raft of food and medications that make life very unpleasant if ingested. I really need to get a Medic Aid bracelet as I do counter indicate on so many meds and my nurse friend is telling me if I get knocked out I can't talk my way out of something being administered.

Yeah it appears Alex is allergic to Latex. I've just bought a box of 'sensitive' plasters that the doc has said to trial. The stupid thing is that he's obviously always been allergic as we had his hands/feet 'cast' and he had to put them in Latex for that. He was only 8 weeks old and screamed his head off, when his hands came out they were puce and in a heck of a mess but I'd forgotten (the whole newborn twin thing wasn't a really happy time as they were sick a lot). I hadn't even thought of Latex based other products until you mentioned it now. Thanks for that, now I've really got to do some research.

BBL - hungry kids.

 

[erbie]

I would hope the KC on the Wonder can store an epi-pen. There are plenty of kids with them nowadays. Do you get them free in the US? Here in NZ they are full price and very expensive.

(the whole newborn twin thing wasn't a really happy time as they were sick a lot). I hadn't even thought of Latex based other products until you mentioned it now.

No, epi pens are not free in the US. They are very expensive, even with insurance. The least I've paid as a co-pay is $30 for both the adult and junior versions. (Fun to have two in the family that need it! I'm debating bringing them, as mine is for bee stings and dd's is for certain kinds of antibiotics.) They are several hundred dollars without insurance and have to be replaced every year. Ugh. I'd bring a doctor's note with you and maybe call DCL to see if they need any further documentation to keep it in the KC or dispense it.

Were your two preemies? My youngest was, so I definitely know the whole sick baby experience.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

No, epi pens are not free in the US. They are very expensive, even with insurance. The least I've paid as a co-pay is $30 for both the adult and junior versions. (Fun to have two in the family that need it! I'm debating bringing them, as mine is for bee stings and dd's is for certain kinds of antibiotics.) They are several hundred dollars without insurance and have to be replaced every year. Ugh. I'd bring a doctor's note with you and maybe call DCL to see if they need any further documentation to keep it in the KC or dispense it.

Were your two preemies? My youngest was, so I definitely know the whole sick baby experience.

I don't see why epi-pens are not free worldwide. I know there is a Governmental cost in each country but you are talking about a life here. Makes me so sad when I see this poor mum at Kindy hand over the epi-pen like it's dynamite every day to the Kindy teachers and then they give it back at the end of session.

Good idea on the doctors note, Alex will need one for his allergies and Oli for some other stuff and then there is Mummy. Of course my husband could eat off a stable floor in Africa and not get sick - he's very robust! Well apart from when he got bitten by an Australian White Tail spider on the face and it made him all swell up and nearly closed his windpipe off but who knew we had one of those in the bed?

Holy cat, I bought a box of non-latex low stick plasters to try. About $7 US a box for twenty. I'm adding those to the shopping list for USA trip as they'll be cheaper there (made in the US). We are going to have the oddest take home luggage at this rate.

Technically my two were pre-term by three days. Term is 38 weeks for twins. However we had one with silent reflux and one with reflux. Bad reflux where we got tested with PH probes at the hospital for several days and so many different types of medication we couldn't keep up. And Oli turned out to be allergic to the hypoallergenic formula 'that no baby is ever allergic to' and Alex reacted to soy formula. It was a horrible first four months of going in ambulances to the hospital an hour away and sitting with baby vomit all thru my clothes and hair all night long while they tried to get Oli (he was particularly bad) stablised. He still under Paeds Surgical for a health matter that he needs daily medication to help his system work, so I'll be bringing a box of that and having to beg hot milk off the CMs to give it to him in. Prems / preterms are very hard work, there were some teeny babies in NICU when the kids were born - our kids look like Heffalumps compared to these weeny 2 lbers.

 

[atmail35]

Yes, the whole paying full price for Epi Pens is awful! Thankfully the doctors can dispense a twin pack, but we need 2 for home and 2 for school. I guard those things with my life!

When i travel by air, i take at least 6 pens with us. I have to admit, i do bring expired ones (within 6 months) as a back-up in case of malfunction etc. as i have read that they are not completely ineffective when just recently expired. Thankfully we have not had to administer one (knocks quickly on wood).

I will bring a doctors note and a copy of our prescription.

BigDisneyOE, i am an idiot as i was thinking "plaster" was plaster of paris type stuff that you do crafts with, i just realized it is a bandaid. Duh! Anyway, you might also think about whether they have latex balloons in the KC for crafts, decorations or water balloon games. I have no idea if DCL has balloons on board. Also you can mention to the staff not to wear latex gloves to deal with a cut or for messy crafts.

One local grocery chain (Trader Joes) stopped giving out balloons because of the increase in latex allergies.

 

[glindamood]

Oh happy Monday! I am so glad Monday's only come once a week! Don't know what it is about them but not my favorite day, that is for sure.

Going to be warm - and warmer than usual for the next few weeks. Not my thing but so far I seem to have survived.

Looks like I need to use the code I found and get a shuttle from LAX to Grand Californian for Friday, 9/22 as I am not thinking at this point that my ride is going to pan out.

Have a great day - stay warm or cool as your case may be.

 

[GromMom]

D'Oh, of course - you are GromMom's sister! It's on the FE list as 'Mom' & 'Dad'. Might be best to amend the list to DSis each so people don't give you the Dad gifts if they are making gender specific stuff.

I would hope the KC on the Wonder can store an epi-pen. There are plenty of kids with them nowadays. Do you get them free in the US? Here in NZ they are full price and very expensive. Thankfully my allergies are not at epi-pen level but I'm allergic to a raft of food and medications that make life very unpleasant if ingested. I really need to get a Medic Aid bracelet as I do counter indicate on so many meds and my nurse friend is telling me if I get knocked out I can't talk my way out of something being administered.

Yeah it appears Alex is allergic to Latex. I've just bought a box of 'sensitive' plasters that the doc has said to trial. The stupid thing is that he's obviously always been allergic as we had his hands/feet 'cast' and he had to put them in Latex for that. He was only 8 weeks old and screamed his head off, when his hands came out they were puce and in a heck of a mess but I'd forgotten (the whole newborn twin thing wasn't a really happy time as they were sick a lot). I hadn't even thought of Latex based other products until you mentioned it now. Thanks for that, now I've really got to do some research.

BBL - hungry kids.

Silly me, why didn't I think of putting my sister's name and my name?!
For some reason i thought we wouldn't know who we were making gifts for until right before the trip so people would just have a set amount of make and female gifts...i wasn't thinking clearly, since obviously you could be rooming with a parent, sibling, friend or life partner of the same gender...i blame baby brain
I will have to pm gail
I went shopping for some of our supplies last night and I'm excited!

 

[jetskigrl]

Hello from fabulous Las Vegas! My husband and I are super excited to be on this cruise! He proposed to me at Disneyland, and we took a Disney cruise on the Magic for our honeymoon 5 years ago. The FEs sound like a great idea, can we get in on that?

Welcome to the group!!!! Ohhh, Las Vegas!! My favorite getaway place I was just there last Memorial Day with my mom and sister and I'll be back out there in October with my kids.

FE Group How would August 1st be for a cutoff? Is that OK with everyone?

Postcard Exchange Group Will September 1st be an acceptable cutoff with this group?

Those dates work fine for me!

First day back at Kindergarten today and it's rained solidly for three days. So much rain that parts of NZ are flooded and cut off again. Why we live here I don't know. I'm waiting for 9AM to come and go before I take the kids late to Kindergarten, the local school is next door and the mothers get all rabid about parking on very wet days.

Yikes on all that rain!! I hope it is starting to dry out by now.

Hello everyone! We had a nice but busy weekend. It was DH's birthday so we celebrated that on Saturday with just our family. Then we had another birthday dinner last night at my father's house for DH, DS, my niece and my SIL (lots of July birthdays in our family, LOL).

I'm going to start working on my FE's this weekend, I think. It is the first weekend in over a month that I don't have a bunch of stuff planned. I'm really needing the down time, LOL.

 

[jetskigrl]

Hum....I just read this on one of my other favorite Disney boards (not DIS). Looks like they are going to try everything to get our cruise filled. This is the first time I have ever seen a DCL discount for Disneyland APs.

Disney Cruise Line is offering Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders a 25 percent discount on four California Coastal cruises aboard the Disney Wonder this fall. The seven-night cruises depart from the Port of Los Angeles, make an overnight call in San Francisco, then stop in San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico. The cruises sail September 16, 23, 30, and October 7. These are the same four cruises that Disney recently announced would feature new Pixar-themed touches, including presentations by Pixar animators, a gallery exhibit featuring the Art of Pixar, a Pixar Film Festival celebrating the 3D release of Finding Nemo, and new character appearances by Mr. Incredible, Remy, Woody, Jessie, Buzz Lightyear, and more.

The AP discount is off the prevailing rate for stateroom categories 4A through 11B.

 

[erbie]

Hum....I just read this on one of my other favorite Disney boards (not DIS). Looks like they are going to try everything to get our cruise filled. This is the first time I have ever seen a DCL discount for Disneyland APs.

The AP discount is off the prevailing rate for stateroom categories 4A through 11B.

Me too. I was an AP holder until they priced me out. They've never done them as far as I know.

I bet this means all the GTYs won't be assigned until the last minute.

 

[jetskigrl]

Me too. I was an AP holder until they priced me out. They've never done them as far as I know.

I bet this means all the GTYs won't be assigned until the last minute.

Yeah, I don't think we will see our GTY's assigned until Sept 10th. I have been following the IGT/OGT/VGT assisngment thread and it has been pretty consistent with rooms being assigned on a Monday, about 2 weeks before the cruise.

What is interesting on that thread is that there have been quite a few people that booked IGT but ended up with verandah rooms (although I think all of those people have been booked on the Fantasy).

Oh well, any hope of them repeating the Pacific Coast cruises in the future is pretty much gone. They are having to work way too hard to get people to book it.

 

[HBmomof2]

My husband just booked us on this cruise last night. Very excited but feel like I'm way behind on all the social stuff! We did the mexican riviera last sept. & are super excited. Can someone tell me if there is an FE? How many families so far? On our last cruise someone stole our FE so I'll have to have a new one made We have 2 girls, 6 & one will be just 3 weeks shy of 3.

 

[jetskigrl]

My husband just booked us on this cruise last night. Very excited but feel like I'm way behind on all the social stuff! We did the mexican riviera last sept. & are super excited. Can someone tell me if there is an FE? How many families so far? On our last cruise someone stole our FE so I'll have to have a new one made We have 2 girls, 6 & one will be just 3 weeks shy of 3.

Hi and Welcome to the group!!!! We are a family of 4 also but just DH and I are going on this cruise (my DD is just starting High School and doesn't want to miss a week). The 4 of us also did the MR cruise this past April.

glindamood is our FE coordinator. I'm not sure how many families we are up to now since we have had some recent additions. But if you PM your information to her, she can let you know and add you to the list

 

[HBmomof2]

Hi and Welcome to the group!!!! We are a family of 4 also but just DH and I are going on this cruise (my DD is just starting High School and doesn't want to miss a week). The 4 of us also did the MR cruise this past April.

glindamood is our FE coordinator. I'm not sure how many families we are up to now since we have had some recent additions. But if you PM your information to her, she can let you know and add you to the list

Thanks so much!

 

[HBmomof2]

My six year old girl will also be happy to meet lots of new friends!

I keep forgetting about this thread. DD6 will be going to the kids club. I can book our excursions tonight - hoping there are still some available. I have booked our San Fran one already - booked a 2 day hop on hop off with Alcatraz incorporated.

Only 5 more pays until we fly out and I am hoping I have my tax return back before we leave (as backup)

Will try to remember to keep popping in here. Would hate to miss any vital information.

I have a 6 year old daughter too & she loves having new friends (she's my social butterfly!). Hope to meet you guys!

 

[erbie]

I have a 6 year old daughter too & she loves having new friends (she's my social butterfly!). Hope to meet you guys!

Great! We're getting a nice little group of girls 6-7, so hopefully they will all feel like they have a friend in the clubs, and this mama can get some Quiet Cove time with her DH.

Welcome to the cruise and the thread!

 

[erbie]

Yeah, I don't think we will see our GTY's assigned until Sept 10th. I have been following the IGT/OGT/VGT assisngment thread and it has been pretty consistent with rooms being assigned on a Monday, about 2 weeks before the cruise.

Does that go for the regular GTY rooms as well? We're on a GTY, but not a IGT/OGT/VGT. I think last time we were assigned some point between 60 and 30 days out. It was definitely by the time we got our docs, because the room we got was on our docs.

YOh well, any hope of them repeating the Pacific Coast cruises in the future is pretty much gone. They are having to work way too hard to get people to book it.

I'm so so bummed about this. This will be my 5th DCL cruise, 4th out of LA, so obviously I'm a lot more able to do the LA based ones. I'd even do this same itinerary over and over. I love SF, and what a perfect way to go there. Are they having trouble selling the MR and AK cruises as well?

 

[HBmomof2]

Great! We're getting a nice little group of girls 6-7, so hopefully they will all feel like they have a friend in the clubs, and this mama can get some Quiet Cove time with her DH.

Welcome to the cruise and the thread!

I agree! Now I need some 3 year olds for my other little one...hahahaha!