September 10, 2005 - Western Cruise!

[ImNarek]

Happy thoughts guys! HAPPY THOUGHTS!!!!!!!!!

<blocking out bad thoughts>

A week from today I had better have started packing!!! I guess that means I had better start going through my clothes to see what fits and what I'm bringing.

This is just what I was doing yesterday! I pulled up several of my dresses and tried them all on to see what fit, which went with which shoes. Thinking of the formal/semiformal evenings here.

I've chosen two - maybe three dresses, (which all work with one pair of shoes), but I have NO idea which is the best for formal night vs. semi-formal. How do you gauge the formality level of a dress?

I also have a skirt which goes with several tops for the other evenings.

Beyond that, I'm clueless.....

 

[fltink]

Any thoughts on what night we should book Palo? We weren't able to book online and will be doing so first thing after we board.

N-I-N-E more days people!

Well, it depends on what menu you don't mind missing in the dining room. Let's see if my own way of going about the decision helps you. Nights 1 and 2 are casual and the menu is what ever restaurant you are in. I don't like doing Palo on night 1, cuz you miss out on meeting your servers and tabelmates. Night 3 is formal and it really is fun to see everyone dressed up, so I say no to Palo on night 3. Night 4 is the Around the World Menu. Since this is my least favoite menu, I usually opt for this. Night 5 is Pirate Night. NO WAY am I going to Palo that night! Night 6 is semi-formal with the Captain's Gala Menu. This is the one that includes lobster tails, so I don't miss that one eiher. And night 7 is th Best of... Menu. Not my favorite, but I hate missing the last night in the dining room. I like to get to spend one last night with my servers and table mates. SOooooooooooo...... I think my best bets are nights 2 and 4. Am I crazy for being so meticulous about this? Probably! But I hope it helps you!

 

[daisy112878]

I can't wait for brunch and dinner at Palo. It sounds so yummy!!

I started making a list of clothes that we need to bring. I also planned out when we will wear each night to dinner. I know over planning but I'm so excited. If you're going from your stateroom to the pool area do you need to wear regular clothes or can you just wear a cover-up? I have a white see through cover-up I usually wear to our pool.

 

[mom+3girls]

Need help convincing my DD17 that she does not need to bring 15 pairs of shoes, she is killing me!!!!!!

 

[daisy112878]

mom+3girls - i will be no help what so ever with the shoes. My Dh and I are both bad about bring all our shoes. I have about 8 right now on the list. Sad I know!!!

 

[woj68]

Well, it depends on what menu you don't mind missing in the dining room. Let's see if my own way of going about the decision helps you. Nights 1 and 2 are casual and the menu is what ever restaurant you are in. I don't like doing Palo on night 1, cuz you miss out on meeting your servers and tabelmates. Night 3 is formal and it really is fun to see everyone dressed up, so I say no to Palo on night 3. Night 4 is the Around the World Menu. Since this is my least favoite menu, I usually opt for this. Night 5 is Pirate Night. NO WAY am I going to Palo that night! Night 6 is semi-formal with the Captain's Gala Menu. This is the one that includes lobster tails, so I don't miss that one eiher. And night 7 is th Best of... Menu. Not my favorite, but I hate missing the last night in the dining room. I like to get to spend one last night with my servers and table mates. SOooooooooooo...... I think my best bets are nights 2 and 4. Am I crazy for being so meticulous about this? Probably! But I hope it helps you!

I was leaning towards the semi-formal night. But when you mentioned lobster tails on the menu , I sat up in my chair. Can't miss that! I think we'll give serious consideration to nights 2 & 4 then.

Anyone else going on these nights?

 

[fltink]

Need help convincing my DD17 that she does not need to bring 15 pairs of shoes, she is killing me!!!!!!

Tell her that flip flops go with everything! That's my philosiphy! But seriously, tell her that after 5 cruises, I have finally learned that overpacking is the worst! There's ot a lot of space to start with and you don't want a lot of shoes laying around. She needs some sneakers for excursions, etc. A couple dressy pairs of shoes, and then flip flops! That's all! Tell her she can bring ten pairs of flip flops and they will take up oly as much space as three pairs of shoes!

 

[fltink]

I can't wait for brunch and dinner at Palo. It sounds so yummy!!

I started making a list of clothes that we need to bring. I also planned out when we will wear each night to dinner. I know over planning but I'm so excited. If you're going from your stateroom to the pool area do you need to wear regular clothes or can you just wear a cover-up? I have a white see through cover-up I usually wear to our pool.

Most people just go in their bathing suits! (I can't handle doing that, myself!) A cover-up will be fine.

 

[kellyb2000]

Am I crazy for being so meticulous about this? Probably! But I hope it helps you!

No, I think you have planned that out very well!

I started making a list of clothes that we need to bring. I also planned out when we will wear each night to dinner. I know over planning but I'm so excited.

I have done the same thing and this over planning has helped me pack A LOT less than I usually do and especially has helped my husband who is the biggest OVER-packer ever. Not this time!

daisy - BTW, how are gas prices around Atlanta? I mean I know it's subject to change on an hourly basis, but for the moment what are they?

 

[daisy112878]

kelly - gas is better today then yesterday. There was major panic in people yesterday. Some rumor started that GA would be out of gas as of last night I think. Which was totally untrue UNTIL people ran to the gas stations and started filling up like crazy. Some stations were 15-20 cars deep near my condo. It was so crazy yesterday. People just totally lost it. So of course the panic drove up the prices. Some of these really nice gas station attendants actually raised their prices over $4.50/gallon (the radio found one station yesterday selling for $6 and only taking cash) for regular unleaded. Finally the governor stepped in last night and put a stop to the prices. But they are still at $3.19/gallon for regular and yesterday morning they were at $2.58/gallon for regular. So go figure. And yes some have run out of gas for the moment b/c of the panic yesterday. But some stations have already gotten in a new supply of gas last night.

The sad part of it all is that with gas so high in ATL (where most people commute at least an hour to work) people will not be able to donate as much to the relief. If you can't afford to get to work you can't afford to donate money as much money either.

 

[debbiechelsea]

Need help convincing my DD17 that she does not need to bring 15 pairs of shoes, she is killing me!!!!!!

I am no help - I have 15 pair laid out just for me. I know I am hopeless - but each pair has a distinct purpse!!!!

 

[debbiechelsea]

I was leaning towards the semi-formal night. But when you mentioned lobster tails on the menu , I sat up in my chair. Can't miss that! I think we'll give serious consideration to nights 2 & 4 then.

Anyone else going on these nights?

We are going on night 4 at 8:00 p.m.!!!

 

[mcraft17]

fltink brunch sounds awsome I might have to sign up for that!

I don't own many shoes (I go for what is comfortable) so can't be of help there I am taking a bunch dresses that go with the same shoes and a pair of black ones for the semi and formal. My sister owns alot though she must have like 20 different black pairs of shoes and that is only black not to mention her 50 other pairs.

I am all for the butternut soup!! I tried it last time on the Wonder at the suggestion of our server and it was awsome. Tasted kinda like pumpkin pie soup I guess closest I can compare it to.

 

[woj68]

We are going on night 4 at 8:00 p.m.!!!

Cool! Just was talking to the DW and we decided night 4 was best too. If all goes well, we hope to get an 8:00 pm seating as well. Hopefully there's still some openings around that time when we board.

 

[kellyb2000]

Some rumor started...

Well, the rumor made it's way up here. My neighbor, who owns two local gas stations, made a point to tell my husband that there was a gas leak somewhere in GA and that you would be out of gas before the end of yesterday or today. He said that it was "hush, hush" so there wouldn't be a panic. I was a little concerned!

You made a good point about donating and how they expect us to help as they're sticking it to us.

 

[Cruise]

Docs finally arrived this morning. Disney ended up sending them Overnight Air instead of 2 day... guess they figured it was cutting it close too

I've tried to start packing, but always seem to get distracted. Just figured out today that I don't think DH has any warm weather wear since it's been so long since we vacationed. I'm going out today to see what I can find for him. Packing will wait till this weekend

 

[daisy112878]

I haven't started packing. We're going to the North GA mountains tomorrow until monday with my family. So I first have to pack that all up and go get groceries to take with us. My DH is grilling ribs on sunday, yummy!! Then I will be washing all night monday and tuesday night b/c wednesday I have class and our dryer is really slow drying things. I can't believe it's so close!!!!

 

[webbzx4]

I'm sure this has been covered somewhere on these boards, but how much spending money do we need besides tipping and cost of excursions? This would be money for shopping at ports, I guess. It appears that everything on the ship would be charged to our stateroom account. I saw on the Calgon packing list his recommended denominations of both cash and traveler's checks. It seemed a bit too much for our family, but I do want to make sure we have plenty on hand. Are most of you taking traveler's checks for the bulk of your spending money??

Thanks!

Julie

 

[woj68]

I'll be bringing some cash with us. Mainly for tipping and stuff. But for everything else we'll be linking our credit card to our KTTW card. That way we don't have to worry about how much cash/travelers checks to bring. Once the CC bill arrives after our trip, we'll pay it off.

 

[daisy112878]

We're only planning to bring around $100 in cash (with $20 in $1s for tipping room service, etc). We use our CCs for everything. My DH already called the CC companies to tell them we would be out of the country sept 10-17 so they know not to decline them. We don't ever carry cash on us even at home.