September 22, 2007 -- WESTERN

[papa]

Karen the dinner rotations are like on the 3 and 4 day cruises, but on our 11 day there was a twist that is used on all sailings now. Early seating and late seating are now broken down into at least 2 different times or 3 according to how full the cruise is. Early times are now like 5:45 (17:45), 6 and 6:15pm. Late is at 8:00. 8:15 and possibly 8:30. Still same number of diners as before, but this is supposed to eliminate crowds at the door to the restaurants.

Brunch will be on sea days, so 2 times is correct. Mike

 

[scrapperjill]

I really don't understand how having diffrent dinning times for the differnt dinning rooms help stop lines from forming. Did you find it helped??? Did you think having the staggered dinning times worked well.

We purchased the "extra" guarantee at Best Buy when we bought our camera also. Of course this was in 2004... We purchased our new digital Sony quite a while before the cruise so we'd know exactly how it worked. Then what do you know about a month before we were suppose to go the pics looked VERY strange...like all the items in the photos had some sort of light source comming from them. Anyhow we also took it back for repair....and let them know it HAD to be back in time for our cruise....after all that's what we purchased the camera for. Well..they sent it in for repairs..and got it back to us in plenty of time...(about two weeks before we were scheduled to leave)...BUT it was still doing it. It took some work on our part...but I demanded a NEW camera...and they finally gave in. Anyhow I for one am glad we got that extened plan.

 

[papa]

I couldn't tell any difference with the staggered times Sandi. It did not seem to make a difference.

I have been fortunate to not have any problems with my digital cameras. Mike

 

[CustardTart]

Thanks for the info, Mike! We've opted for the late sitting as we don't usually eat before 7.30pm at home...

 

[@GoofyNut]

The reason that I like the late seating is that by the time you get back from any excursions at the ports, early seating makes it much too rushed. And if you do get hungry earlier ... there is always Pluto's to get a hot dog or chicken fingers .... right Papa!

Karen ... CustardTart, does your dalmation "talk" to you if he/she doesn't get what they want, when they want it? Our AshLee can really get vocal when she wants to.

 

[CustardTart]

...Karen ... CustardTart, does your dalmation "talk" to you if he/she doesn't get what they want, when they want it? Our AshLee can really get vocal when she wants to.

She certainly does! Our dalmatian, Dinah, is deaf but that doesn't seem to stop her from 'talking' to us and despite her disability she's an excellent communicator - esp where food's concerned! Our other dog is an Old English Sheepdog called Suzy and she's very different - more low-key and sensitive to your mood. Not like the unashamed egotist that is the Dalmatian!

I checked out the sunset times for Key West and it seems the sun will be setting just prior to the ship departing so I'm thinking champagne on the verandah is a great idea. I think we'll have lunch somewhere nice on Key West and maybe go to Palo's that evening if poss.

 

[@GoofyNut]

Karen ... Yeah, Dalmations are definitely a unique breed. But we em anyway.

 

[CustardTart]

Afternoon everyone! Had a look on www.castawayclub.com this morning and spotted that there's a formal and a semi-formal evening - must admit I'm a little scared! What sort of outfits do the ladies tend to wear? I'm not really the 'formal' type so curious as to how elaborate they tend to be...

 

[papa]

Karen a nice pant suit is appropriate. Something along the lines of what you would wear to church. A lot of women wear a black pants suit with a nice blouse. Don't stress out over it. I always wear a blazer and tie, men do not have to wear a tuxedo. It is your vacation not something to give you a stroke or heart attack Mike

 

[CustardTart]

Thanks for the reassuring info, Mike!

 

[American Scrapper]

CustardTart,

You will find many people don't get all dressed up for formal and semi-formal nights. You will see a variety from evening gowns to pant suits.

Kathy

 

[CustardTart]

Thanks Kathy!
I did get concerned there for a while but DH pointed out to me that I have plenty of dressy skirts that will do for any occasion so panic over...

We're currently wondering where to stay overnight on September 21st - we will fly into Orlando that day and are thinking of staying at a hotel near Port Canaveral. Any tips/ideas much appreciated...

 

[@GoofyNut]

Karen ... don't over formal and semi-formal nights. There are always a lot of women with pants suits or the token black skirt with a dressy top. By dressy top ... like Mike said, something you'd wear to church or a wedding.
At least that's what I / Mike's Kathy and I wear and we've never felt out of place. My hubby, Art and Mike have always worn either a suit or a blazer and tie and never felt funny either (oops, yes they also wear slacks!) Hey, you'll probably never see these poeple again and If you do, it's because they are now your new DIS friends!

BTW I just saw that "Carnival" had yet another person go overboard and is MIA. wonder why they jumping ship so much?

 

[@GoofyNut]

Oops ... almost forgot, Cocoa Beach FL is only a couple of miles away from port and has a lot of hotels that are more reasonable than the ones in or within a mile of Port Canaveral. FYI

 

[CustardTart]

Cocoa Beach sounds good - I'll take a look into that...

Having a dilemma with flights at the moment as the ones I'd hoped to book with Virgin Atlantic have just become available but they are double the price I thought they'd be!!! Somewhat puzzled by this but remaining philosophical - what else can a girl do..?

 

[scrapperjill]

Oh boy...I leave town for the weekend and you all chat up a storm.

Everyones right about the semi-formal/formal night and what to wear. It's not a huge deal...some ladies do wear long evening gowns while some guys do wear a tux....but then others just wear something nice....then there are those who still wear jeans to dinner those nights. I think DH and I sorta go down the middle....he wears a nice dark suit and tie while I've worn a nice long gown and a mid lenght black dress. IMO sometimes it's just fun to dress up more....that is if you have it. I don't know that we'd go out an buy a "special" formal wear just for dinner on the ship...but we take what we have and use it.

As for "where to stay on the 21st"....I'd also say depending on how your getting to the port from your hotel or from the airport to your hotel....sorta depends on where to stay...at least for us it does. The first year we looked for a hotel near the airport that offered FREE shuttle service between the two. We found Embasy Suites...that way we didn't have to pay for transportation between EVERY place (airport to hotel...hotel to cruise terminal...terminal back to airport or hotel)...then we had a limo pick us up Sat morning and take us to the port. Doing it this way gave us lots of time (45min+) to enjoy the limo ride and see the area...plus we arrived to the terminal in style. If we would have decided to catch the limo Friday night and stay near the port it would have been to dark out to see much of the area..plus we'd still have to arrange transportation in the morning to get to the port (aka taxi or shuttle from hotel). Last year we opted to stay at one of Disney's resorts...that way we could use the Magical Express for free to get us from the airport to the resort...then had the limo pick us up at the resort Sat morning and drive us to the port. Of course this is just works well for us....I do think staying close to the port could be fun and have some advantages. Myself ...I havent' put much thought into what it would take transportaion wise to get from a hotel close to the port vs the ones close to the airport. I know some hotels near the ports do offer free shuttle service between them and the port...BUT your also on their time. Meaning you leave when they leave. When you book transportation like the town cars or limos...you leave when you say. (at least most of the time). Anyhow...I'd love to hear about more options on places closer to the port and how you get from those hotels to the port the morining of the cruise.

What about the beaches near the port....how good are they?

 

[CustardTart]

Hi Jill! Hope you had a good weekend...

Our flight lands in MCO at around 3pm so the other option is to stay at one of the airport hotels and get a limo from there to Port Canaveral in the morning - probably more efficient, just not v romantic tho'... Cocoa Beach sounds sooo much prettier and it seems as if the port is only 5/10 mins away so I guess a cab shouldn't be too much of a problem... Mmmm decisions, decisions!

 

[@GoofyNut]

Unfortunately I can't give much info on transportation from the airport to the port, etc - as we drive to FL in our own car, cause we usually go to WDW after the cruise to ease ourselves back into the real world. OMG like going to WDW is the "real world"

AND ... we try to be in Port Canaveral the afternoon before sail away. Reason being, we go to the park along the channel and watch / wave to the DCL ship that departs usually Friday evening. Hearing that horn just adds to the pending excitement of being on the ship the next day! Funny thing is that there are usually others doing the same thing and you end up making friends ahead of time.

You can never have too many DIS Board and DCL friends

 

[CustardTart]

...we try to be in Port Canaveral the afternoon before sail away. Reason being, we go to the park along the channel and watch / wave to the DCL ship that departs usually Friday evening. Hearing that horn just adds to the pending excitement of being on the ship the next day!

That sounds like fun! Since posting earlier, I've actually decided to hire a car and drive to Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach once we've landed as the cost of a fly-drive is virtually the same as flight only...

...You can never have too many DIS Board and DCL friends

Absolutely!

 

[papa]

Karen it makes it very easy to get to the port from Coca Beach. Mike