September 22, 2007 -- WESTERN

[papa]

Welcome aboard Karen and family. Looking forward to meeting you all in person once we board. This should be a great cruise. Mike

 

[scrapperjill]

Custard Tart...aka Karen

 

[CustardTart]

Thanks guys! I've just paid the deposit so we're definitely going to be part of the Magic now! I've also booked the Romantic Escape package just to make the trip a little more special.

Now I have a question - as I mentioned I've cruised once before with DD on the Wonder so I should be a member of the Castaway Club. Only thing is I don't know how to activate the membership - any advice?

Also I'm keen for us to do the Palo brunch - is anyone else going to book?

Sorry about all the questions - I'm just SO excited...

 

[disneyfan551]

Also I'm keen for us to do the Palo brunch - is anyone else going to book?

The Palo brunch is my absolute favorite meal of the entire cruise! I can't wait to go again, even though I hope to have weight loss surgery before then and will only be able to eat a few bites! It will still be worth it!

 

[papa]

Karen if you have cruised before, you do not have to do anything to activate your castaway cay club membership.

Welcome to all of the new cruisers.

The Palo brunch is nice, but we will probably skip it. Too much stuff to do, too little time. Mike

 

[CustardTart]

The Palo brunch is my absolute favorite meal of the entire cruise!

That's good to know! And good luck with the surgery.

Mike, that's what I thought but I have no info about the Castaway Club whatsoever. Maybe it's because I'm in the UK? Oh well, I'm just going to have to give DCL a call - fortunately I still recall the previous cruise details...

I haven't explored the excursion/activity options yet - going to have to sit down and plan properly...

 

[@GoofyNut]

To the neewbies - glad you be with us.

 

[CustardTart]

Hi Goofynut! Love your avatar - I'm a Dalmatian owner and that's a very familiar pose...

Sorted out my Castaway Club ID problem - a quick call to DCL and I'm all official! And now I absolutely must log off and get on with some real life stuff! I've totally neglected everything today - just so excited about the cruise...

 

[scrapperjill]

Palo brunch....LOVE it. I'm sure we'll book it again....we've done it both years so far. Brunch and Dinner We booked high tea the first cruise...but totally forgot about it and ended up remembering like the next day We're not big tea drinkers...so I'm not sure we'd like it anyways. For now we'll stick with Brunch and Dinner. (I think brunch is my fav ).

We added teh REAS package to our first cruise...and though it was wonderful (at least I did). But I know they've changed the package since then....ours included the couples massage, dinner at Palo, breakfast in the stateroom, special turn down service with rose petals, a bottle of champagin and it seems like something else. What does it have now?

 

[CustardTart]

Glad to hear another positive endorsement of the Palo Brunch. Your REAS package sounds pretty similar to what I've booked tho' we also get a 'romantic gift' - whatever that might be...

DH would like to get a couples massage at Castaway Cay so that's another option to look into. It's going to be just wonderful...

 

[scrapperjill]

Oh...yes. The romantic gift. ...For us it was the bottle of champagine in a cute wire basket and a mini-Disney photo album (it's about 5x7). I want to say there were some other things in the basket also...but nothing huge...maybe some candy??? I think the biggest change is the couples massage...that's not included any longer is it?? Now you get the rainforest pass or something.

 

[CustardTart]

Yes that's right, ScrapperJill - the couples massage is a separate purchase now. I'm not sure about the Castaway Cay one as the onboard Vista Spa Villas experience sounds pretty special. Decisions, decisions!!!

We will be in Key West on the day of our Silver Wedding - any ideas for something special we could do there? I can't believe it's going to be 25 years - it sounds so grown-up and TBH I just don't feel old enough!

 

[papa]

Congratulations Karen on the 25th Anniversary. By the time we sail, my wife and I will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary along with the couple that we sail with. They are celebrating their 35th also. Mike

 

[American Scrapper]

Welcome everyone!! It has been awhile since I have popped it, but wanted to say hello to everyone!! I really like Palo's Brunch also. The food was delicious!! We enjoyed dinner too, but Brunch had to be my favorite.

Congrats on your 25th anniversary!

Kathy

 

[@GoofyNut]

Karen ... For the 25th, there is always having champagne with a wine & cheese tray while watching the sunset on your verandah (that is you have one!)

 

[scrapperjill]

Karen....on your anniversary (in Key West) you could always plan a second wedding. We had some friends of our planning to have there wedding at Key West the day we were at port.... From the sounds of it they (Key West)have alot of planners to help do a destination wedding. Maybe something during sunset (I hear those sun sets in KW are to die for). Or maybe something along the lines of a romantic sun set dinner cruise in KW.

 

[papa]

Happy Halloween

 

[CustardTart]

Thanks guys for the suggestions and your good wishes! I like the idea of a 2nd wedding - TBH I looked at Disney's onboard Vow Renewal package but it seemed a bit too seriousfor DH and myself. Champagne on the verandah sounds a must - actually champagne anytime suits me but that's another matter...

Hi Kathy! Another thumbs up for the Palo Brunch - looks like that's going to have to be a definite reservation...

How was your Halloween? Ours was very quiet - only a couple of trick or treaters! And then after Bonfire Night at the weekend, we really will be counting down to Christmas!

 

[@GoofyNut]

I just picked up my camera from Best Buy ... it died (literaly) on the 2nd day of our 11 day DCL cruise literally. But then Mrs Papa - Kathy came to the rescue and let me use her's for the rest of the cruise ... geez I 'd her for that! Then when I got home I took it back to Best Buy - had a 4 year guarantee, and after sending it back twice, voila, it's fixed. I guess it was worth the $59 for that guarantee since the first time they sent it back they said it wasn't repairable ...until I adamently reminded them about the guarantee.

Time to bump us back towards the top ............

 

[CustardTart]

...I took it back to Best Buy - had a 4 year guarantee, and after sending it back twice, voila, it's fixed. I guess it was worth the $59 for that guarantee...

Good news about your camera and interesting what you say about the extra guarantee - I tend to be very sceptical about those in general! Just had to take my brand spanking new MacBook back to Apple yesterday as mysteriously the letter 'M' key doesn't work! They've shipped it off who knows where and I should get a replacement within 1 week - anyway we'll see!

BTW I read that the Palo Brunch is only available on 'At Sea' days, so would it be on offer twice during the Western cruise? Also is there a dining rotation as on the 3/4 night cruises? Sorry about all the questions - I'll probably have a million of 'em before we board - you will be very bored of me (no pun intended!)...