September 15, 2012 - Fantasy Western

[TiggWing]

TA2 is on the ship.
Joe and my DW Connie.

 

[TA2]

Sorry about that,tiggwing was a old name.

 

[su_kraft]

TA2 is on the ship.
Joe and my DW Connie.

Sorry about that,tiggwing was a old name.

Hey Joe!! Welcome aboard!!! I can't wait!! I am already looking at excursions...

Hugs to you and Connie!!

 

[bats]

Happy New Year to everyone

My fiance and I will hopefully be joining this cruise too We're from the UK (Kent, England) and so far seem to be the token Brits!

I say think as I work for the Organising Committee for the London 2012 Olympic Games and it will all dpeend on when my contract finishes with them. So far, it's looking like the 8th September when the Paralympics finish .. we have flights for the 9th at the moment/

So, if all goes to plan, it will be me (Joa) and my fiance Mick. This one will be our 6th with DCL so we will be looking forward to getting our gold lanyards at last!

Happy to join in with FE's, Mixology and Mojito sessions.

Hello from the UK

 

[Gfndsuzi]

Can't wait! North Dakota, Minnesota and New York checking in. WWe'll be on board with our two kids and their three kids! Can't wait! Second Disney Cuise for us. Is there an FE Exchange set up yet?

 

[navybaby1489]

This is our 1st cruise and we are thrilled! There are four of us. Me, hubby and 2 boys (5,1). We are pretty clueless Lol. We would love to participate in all dismember events what is the "champagne girls"? And how do we go about getting shirts and such? Any cruise advice is appreciated. Our oldest has sensory issues and this is our first time vacationing with the little one. Oh btw, my name is Amanda and we r from Virginia Sorry for the short post, typing from kindle Lol.

 

[MN Jenfro]

Greetings from Minnesota! We will be joining GFNDSUZI and the rest of our family on this cruise! I will be celebrating 10 wonderful years of marriage with my husband! (our anniversary is actually September 14th!) So excited for this cruise. Has a FE been set up yet??

 

[su_kraft]

Happy New Year to everyone

My fiance and I will hopefully be joining this cruise too We're from the UK (Kent, England) and so far seem to be the token Brits!

I say think as I work for the Organising Committee for the London 2012 Olympic Games and it will all dpeend on when my contract finishes with them. So far, it's looking like the 8th September when the Paralympics finish .. we have flights for the 9th at the moment/

So, if all goes to plan, it will be me (Joa) and my fiance Mick. This one will be our 6th with DCL so we will be looking forward to getting our gold lanyards at last!

Happy to join in with FE's, Mixology and Mojito sessions.

Hello from the UK

Glad to have you aboard!!! In a couple weeks I will start posting some activities and see who is interested in what! The only definite at this time is a FE!!

Can't wait! North Dakota, Minnesota and New York checking in. WWe'll be on board with our two kids and their three kids! Can't wait! Second Disney Cuise for us. Is there an FE Exchange set up yet?

I will post a sign up for a FE in a couple weeks!!

This is our 1st cruise and we are thrilled! There are four of us. Me, hubby and 2 boys (5,1). We are pretty clueless Lol. We would love to participate in all dismember events what is the "champagne girls"? And how do we go about getting shirts and such? Any cruise advice is appreciated. Our oldest has sensory issues and this is our first time vacationing with the little one. Oh btw, my name is Amanda and we r from Virginia Sorry for the short post, typing from kindle Lol.

HI AMANDA!!! You will have such a great time!!! We cruised with our youngest when she was about 13 months old. It was a great vacation!! Champagne girls is an afternoon of girl time! Details to follow!! Not sure if we want to do shirts - we need about 100 to get a good deal, so it will depend on the size of the group. I know that we will do a FE (Fish Exchange), and other than that I will post a list of things that I can organize and based on who wants to do what we will go from there.

Greetings from Minnesota! We will be joining GFNDSUZI and the rest of our family on this cruise! I will be celebrating 10 wonderful years of marriage with my husband! (our anniversary is actually September 14th!) So excited for this cruise. Has a FE been set up yet??

We are celebrating 20 years on the cruise - or date is September 19. I will post a FE sign up soon!

I was calculating group size and had GFNDSUZI as a group of 7 - is that right? And, is NM Jenfro 2 of the 7?

I am updating the first post with the latest roll call. Sorry that I have been MIA... Things have been hectic at work. I promise to be better!!

Have a great evening!!

 

[navybaby1489]

I am so happy about this cruise! I already told my husband that I will be participating in the champagne girls afternoon lol. He rolled his eyes and laughed when I mentioned pink feather boas and tiaras....he said it was right up my alley It will definately be nice to have girl time because my entire cruising party is male lol. I am outnumbered! Since this is my first cruise EVER maybe yall can give me an answer to this question I am going through a travel agent for my cruise (disney agent). Everything I read online said you have to prebook nursery/kids club hours in advance...unless I misunderstood? When I told her that I wanted to do that when the time comes, she told me that you cannot prebook nursery/kids club hours. She said they are automatically assigned to people. This didnt sit well with me and it just doesnt sound right....anyone know what she is talking about? Do I need to call myself and try to handle it? I am completely lost at this point and I would hate to arrive and find out I should have prebooked. Thanks so much

 

[su_kraft]

Since this is my first cruise EVER maybe yall can give me an answer to this question I am going through a travel agent for my cruise (disney agent). Everything I read online said you have to prebook nursery/kids club hours in advance...unless I misunderstood? When I told her that I wanted to do that when the time comes, she told me that you cannot prebook nursery/kids club hours. She said they are automatically assigned to people. This didnt sit well with me and it just doesnt sound right....anyone know what she is talking about? Do I need to call myself and try to handle it? I am completely lost at this point and I would hate to arrive and find out I should have prebooked. Thanks so much

I am an agent, and here is what I tell my clients... You can book ahead - and I suggest that if there is a time that you just have to have that you reserve it when your excursion window opens up. You need to be paid in full to reserve the nursery, book excursions, Palo, etc.

From the website - specifically for the Fantasy:
Prices for It's a Small World Nursery
It's a Small World Nursery is available at an additional charge.
$6.00 per hour for first child
$5.00 per hour for second child
Cancellations may be made without penalty up to 4 hours in advance of reservation.

Reservations
It's a Small World Nursery is available at an additional charge and must be reserved in advance. Reservations for It's a Small World Nursery can be made online up to:

120 days in advance for Concierge and Platinum Castaway Club Guests
105 days in advance for Gold Castaway Club Guests
90 days in advance for Silver Castaway Club Guests
75 days in advance for all other Guests

You can also make a reservation during the open house on Embarkation Day on a first-come, first-served basis. Because space is extremely limited, be sure to book your child's nursery stay early. Cancellations may be made without penalty up to 12 hours in advance of reservation.


Hope this helps!!

 

[MN Jenfro]

Amy7979 your group sounds familiar!!! Oh wait that's because I'm the cousin lol. The group is presently 9 could grow still. My DW (Jen) and me will be celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary on the cruise.

Congrats! My DH and I will also be celebrating our 10th Anniversary!!

 

[navybaby1489]

I am an agent, and here is what I tell my clients... You can book ahead - and I suggest that if there is a time that you just have to have that you reserve it when your excursion window opens up. You need to be paid in full to reserve the nursery, book excursions, Palo, etc.

From the website - specifically for the Fantasy:
Prices for It's a Small World Nursery
It's a Small World Nursery is available at an additional charge.
$6.00 per hour for first child
$5.00 per hour for second child
Cancellations may be made without penalty up to 4 hours in advance of reservation.

Reservations
It's a Small World Nursery is available at an additional charge and must be reserved in advance. Reservations for It's a Small World Nursery can be made online up to:

120 days in advance for Concierge and Platinum Castaway Club Guests
105 days in advance for Gold Castaway Club Guests
90 days in advance for Silver Castaway Club Guests
75 days in advance for all other Guests

You can also make a reservation during the open house on Embarkation Day on a first-come, first-served basis. Because space is extremely limited, be sure to book your child's nursery stay early. Cancellations may be made without penalty up to 12 hours in advance of reservation.


Hope this helps!!

Thank you so much I caught myself trying to find that info but I can be blind sometimes lol. I will definately look into this when it gets closer to cruise time. I am looking forward to the champagne girls meet. Do we bring champagne from home? Your so lucky to stay concierge I dream about that, it would be spectacular.

 

[Yonkrs_Girl]

OK, I need to get on the ball here... Before we know if September will be here!! (WOHOO!!!)

Here are the items that I am looking to organize:

• Fish Exchange. Thinking that a single exchange is fine, unless the group gets too large. I would like to do groups so that it is more manageable. Thoughts? 15 cabins is a good size - or was on the 2010 transatlantic, and if people wanted to do more cabins they were in 2 groups. I am open, and it really depends on how many people want to join the fun. CUT OFF DATE IS JULY 15!
• Champagne Girls. Bring a pink boa and wear a tiara. Everyone pitches in on Champagne! I will host this event either in our suite (we are sailing concierge) or in another location based on how many people want to attend.
• Mojito tasting! I claim to be the founder of this, as I requested it on the 2010 WBTA and it was the first of many that DCL has now done. This had a cost of $15 per person last time if I am not mistaken. We will be in a DIS only group. To do this we need 20 people minimum and I think we maxed out at 30. Over that and they divide us into smaller groups.
• Mixology Class - this was also a DIS only group, $15 per person with a 20 person minimum

Other things that we could do... shirts - we would need a minimum of 100 shirts and the cut off has to be 60 days prior to when they need to get shipped. 100 shirts is a lot! we were 22% of the WBTA and barely had more than that... Cruise glasses - etched or painted glasses with the cruise date, etc. on them (these are about $10 per glass and we can get wine glasses, rocks, champagne, etc. Lanyards - fairly inexpensive and fun as you spot them all over the ship! Wristbands - Glow in the dark wristbands are about 85 cents each when you order 100. These are fun as you can see fellow DIS cruisers from a distance.

FOR THE FE...
PLEASE PM me if you are interested so that I can start building a list!

Let me know what you want to do!!!

Thanks for organizing all of this! I sent you a PM regarding FE

We have a big group all cruising together and we do T-shirts so my vote for our DIS Group would be the wristbands. We did those on one of our cruises and it was fun and inexpensive. Since DCL gives out the lanyards, we usually use those - that's why I voted for bracelets but that's just my thoughts

It will be here before we know it!

 

[Yonkrs_Girl]

Hello! This will be our 7th DCL Cruise and my kids have always made friends here on the Forum before we even get on board. They have started emailing and getting to know some of the kids their ages so they have a "friend" for the clubs and to hang out with on Board My daughter has friends close to her age that are in our big cruise group but my son doesn't.

My son will be 12 (2 months from 13) and my daughter will be 9 (3 months from 10) when we sail so if anyone has kids either of those ages that would like to "meet" before the cruise and be email buddies, send me a PM and we can get the kids in touch.

It has been a great experience for mine and they both still stay in touch with some of the friends they have made - one of my daughter's is all the way in Australia!

 

[karyn0995]

Ha! I had to laugh when I saw so many of my fellow Cherokee families on this cruise. We recently moved to Canton/Holly Springs from VA, and last year was our first time booking a vacation over Fall Break. We spent the week at Disney World in 2011 and were absolutely amazed at how many families we ran into from our son's preschool class. It looks like this particular cruise may live up to that week!

I am really hoping we haven't waited too long to book our cabin (and that prices aren't outrageous now). Our family is me (Karyn), DH, and DS who will be 5 at the time of this cruise. There is a chance my MIL will be joining us but... ??

I'm going to check prices and hope for the best. For the cruise veterans reading this, would booking an oceanview (large porthole) be worth the cost savings over a verandah? How much time do you actually spend in your cabin? I know much of it boils down to personal preference but opinions from those who have BTDT (been there done that) are highly appreciated.

Thanks & hope to meet everyone in September.

 

[KelDis]

Hi All! Just signed up for our 1st Disney Cruise (and this is my very first post on the DIS)! So looking forward to September! Hope I'm not too late to join in the fun!

 

[karyn0995]

Hi All! Just signed up for our 1st Disney Cruise (and this is my very first post on the DIS)! So looking forward to September! Hope I'm not too late to join in the fun!

Hi Kel! Welcome to the Cherokee Family Disney Cruise (hehehe).

I received a quote from Dreams Unlimited and yes, it's more expensive than I had hoped but I think we can swing it. The only thing that concerns me is the location of the staterooms. My MIL will be joining us, so we asked for 2 Cat 6B adjoining cabins. Wouldn't you know it, the only adjoining rooms that aren't GTY are on Deck 5 and right above Evolution. I read some of the stateroom reports on this board and it so far the people in our cabins have reported that the noise level is tolerable, and in most instances hardly noticeable. However people in the mirror cabins (right across the hall I guess??) say it's terrible. We have until Friday I think accept this quote.

Any cruise vets out there have any suggestions?

Thanks!
Karyn

 

[karyn0995]

Hi Karyn! Welcome aboard! hope that you can gravb a good price and sail with us! We are in the Holly Springs area as well!

For us, the balcony gets a lot of use - from coffee inthe morning, to cocktails in the evenings... The kids enjoy it as well. So, for us it is a no brainer... BUT we both have high stress jobs and like to escape once in a while, so... Many will say that the cabin is just to sleep, so to them the balcoiny isn't worth it.

It's official! We'll be cruising with you on the 15th of September!

I just made our deposit, and while I'm a teeny bit concerned about the location of our staterooms my excitement far outweighs any thing else! The only adjoining verandah rooms were 5682 and 5684, which are above Evolution. I read reviews on the same cabins on Dream and people were actually very pleased and said there was little to no noise disturbing them. I certainly hope that is true for us!

Is everyone doing early seating for dinner? Just curious since this is our first cruise.

Karyn

 

[Amy7979]

It's official! We'll be cruising with you on the 15th of September!

I just made our deposit, and while I'm a teeny bit concerned about the location of our staterooms my excitement far outweighs any thing else! The only adjoining verandah rooms were 5682 and 5684, which are above Evolution. I read reviews on the same cabins on Dream and people were actually very pleased and said there was little to no noise disturbing them. I certainly hope that is true for us!

Is everyone doing early seating for dinner? Just curious since this is our first cruise.

Karyn

Hi Karyn -

Congratulations on booking - you'll love it! My group always chooses late dining, but we have no children with us. That way we never have to rush back from daytime activities to get ready for dinner. Most people with children seem to prefer early dining, but my coworker recently took a Disney cruise with her small boy and she wishes she chose late dining for that reason. Bottom line, there are pros and cons to both and I really don't think either is the end of the world for most.

Best,
Amy

 

[bats]

Just back from the Dream, had a much better time this go round as was really ill on the MV (flu, not sea sickness).

Found some members of staff who will be joining the Fantasy very soon .. one of them is the daughter of a friend of mine. She's from the UK, called Lucie and will be working in the shops, so if you see her, please say hi!!

Anyway, we're up for FE's and Cocktail Mixology please. Neither of us are great fans of Mojito's, so if the Cocktail Mixology is on offer, we'd definitely prefer to do that one. Thank you so much for organising these things .. you're a star!

We're late dining as usual ... it forces me to stay awake past 9pm!!!