September 22, 2007 -- WESTERN

[CustardTart]

Hi everyone! According to my ticker, we set sail 8 months today - which sounds like ages but, considering how fast January is racing past, I bet it will be upon us before we know...

No children in our group - DS13 will be in school and my other kids are adults now. No grandchildren either - think I'll be waiting a while for that pleasure...

I had a good look at the excursions listed in the PassPorter yesterday evening and nothing really grabs me for Grand Cayman apart from heading off to to 7 Mile Beach but it depends what's going on aboard the Magic. Cozumel seems to have more on offer and there are at least 3 things we'd like to do: Tulum Ruins, Xcaret Eco Park and the Fury Cat Sail, Snorkel & Beach Party!

Malibu rum factory...Now that's a place I'd like to see. I LOVE Malibu rum .

I'm keen on Malibu too so I've checked out the the tour and seems like that'll be an easy trip as DH and I are staying v near to the capital and port of Barbados.

 

[Marshmelo]

Hello everyone! I just made my reservation! I'm so excited It will be me and my husband, our second Disney cruise. We went on the 4 nt Wonder in September 2003 and he proposed to me! We went to dinner at Palo's and then afterwards were walking around the deck and he stopped and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him I could not ask for a better proposal story since I am Disney crazy (he is not much into Disney...but I'm trying to work on that). So, we were married October 2, 2004. On this cruise we are celebrating our 4th year engagement anniversary and 3rd year wedding anniversary.

We are in a category 12 GUAR....so am hoping for an upgrade! We got upgraded on our first one from a 12 to an 8. I'm keeping my fingers crossed again.
I know there have been some changes since my last cruise, like being able to make Palo's reservations ahead of time, plus on the 7 nt. there are more options such as Palo's brunch. I have some homework to do!

 

[CustardTart]

Hi Marshmelo. Nice to have you along! Wow another anniversary celebration - this definitely seems to be the cruise for it! That's a very romantic proposal story - can't remember exactly when/where my DH actually proposed to me but I know we were in school...

As I've only been on the 3 night Wonder cruise before with my DD, I'm looking forward to a couple of visits to Palos - the brunch sounds a must-do and I have to introduce my DH to the delights of an evening meal there. Fingers crossed for your upgrade...

Best wishes,
Kxxx

 

[papa]

The online check in process has really sped things up. You no longer have to stand in line to board as after you go through the metal detectors, you are given a group number and they call the numbers to board. The trouble now is finding a seat to wait for your number. Also the dining rotation is in different time periods such as 8, 8:15, 8:30 for late seating. This is suppose to cut down on the lines outside the dining room doors. Didn't seem to make any difference on our cruise.

Some of the changes have already been discussed such as new mattresses, H2O beauty supplies, and the dumbotron behind the front stack. On the 11 day cruise Disney did not offer the unlimited internet package also.

Mike

 

[scrapperjill]

WELCOME to the group Marshmelo What a romantic proprosal . It'll be great for you two to get back on a Disney ship and relive some of that magic. It's only been a couple years since my last cruise but I feel like I've got alot to relearn as well. They didn't have the online check in or the board by number thing going on last time. The did have booking Palo and enrolling the kids in the kids progams....but anyways I feel like I've got alot to catch up on also.

Custard Tart...How in the world does your DS 13 let you get away and cruise with out him? My dds 13 & 8 wouldn't hear of it. Although DH and I do keep suggesting the two of us go on a cruise with a diffrent line "to check it out" . Well...some day.

Sounds like no ones intrested in swiming with the sting rays? That's the ONE thing I know I want to do on this cruise. I'm totally scared of fish or anything that moves in the water...but I love to see what's down ther and I know I WANT to get in and have my photo taken with those big sea creatures. Crazy huh.

 

[Marshmelo]

The new check in process sounds like it will be great! I had heard about the new mattress upgrade. That's good.

 

[papa]

Meant to welcome aboard our new cruisers. I am sorry, but had to make the wife some supper and something to take in her lunch at the hospital tonight. Mike

 

[American Scrapper]

Welcome Marshmelo! Our group is slowly growing. I noticed you are from Indianapolis, I go there usually about once a year for a scrapbook weekend. I am from the south suburbs of Chicago. I bet you had an exciting evening last night!! I am still reeling from the Bears game!!! We are going to the SUPERBOWL!!!! Best of luck to both teams!

OK, back to the cruise - The online check in sounds wonderful!! Last cruise our group of 19 waited in that long line to get on - it was hard to get in & out, so we pretty much just stayed in line & brought a few things for the kids to do while waiting. I am not sure if we will make the DVC meet, we usually forget about it. I do know that I want to do the scavenger hunt in Diversions this time again. We laughed so hard last time & it was kind of a last minute thing to do! Scrapperjills DH was so funny, we had him running like crazy!

Kathy

 

[papa]

Kathy have one member of your party go to the check in line and everyone else grab a seat. Seats are at a premium when terminal starts to fill. The online check in allows you to enter your passport number, credit card information and personal information. You just have to print out one or two forms and sign and bring them to the terminal. Mike

 

[Marshmelo]

Kathy -
Yes, the Colts game last night was so exciting! I don't even normally like football, but DH Doug never misses a Colts game, so I was stuck watching it. I actually got into it. I can't believe we are going to the Superbowl! No matter who wins, they are both great teams

 

[scrapperjill]

Last cruise our group of 19 waited in that long line to get on - it was hard to get in & out, so we pretty much just stayed in line & brought a few things for the kids to do while waiting.

I do know that I want to do the scavenger hunt in Diversions this time again. We laughed so hard last time & it was kind of a last minute thing to do! Scrapperjills DH was so funny, we had him running like crazy!

Kathy

I remember that It sucked BAD. It wasnt' so much the 'check in' line but the line infront of the big Micky opening to the ship. They had the snaked rope lined up thing going on...and once you got in line you really couldn't get out to explore the terminal....you were roped in. We didn't even get to meet ANY of the characters that time around. And talk about cramped space with all the carryons and kids we had in our group . With that in mind...I LOVE the # idea...no matter what number we get. The whole thing just sounds SOOOO much more relaxing.

And that game we played That was super funny. I think we were the ONLY group in there that showed up to play the 'family' game without any KIDS Toooooo fun!!!

So Papa....when you say only one person needs to go up to check in...your meaning one person from each statroom? Or what? I think we'll have 14+ in our group...in 4 or more staterooms all linked together. So are you saying only 4 of us need to go through the line to check in. That would be soooo nice. Half the battle of checking in last time wasn't the crowds but handling the carryons in line....it would be SOOO nice to ditch DH and the kids to go check us in. Not to mention I'm sure my parents would think it's alot easer if they just went and had a seat while I checked them in. BUT can I do that? I won't be in there stateroom. I'd think that someone from the actual stateroom would need to be up at the counter???

 

[CustardTart]

...How in the world does your DS 13 let you get away and cruise with out him? My dds 13 & 8 wouldn't hear of it. Although DH and I do keep suggesting the two of us go on a cruise with a diffrent line "to check it out" . Well...some day...

Sandi, he's in school when we go and it's the start of an important year for him. TBH he's used to us having a week here and there without him. Besides which, he's doing a whole load of independent trips this year - Vienna; skiing in Switzerland; South of France plus a month in Southern Spain with me in the summer- he's not too fussed...

...Sounds like no ones intrested in swiming with the sting rays? That's the ONE thing I know I want to do on this cruise. I'm totally scared of fish or anything that moves in the water...but I love to see what's down ther and I know I WANT to get in and have my photo taken with those big sea creatures. Crazy huh.

I am tempted and it gets a fab write-up in the PassPorter guide but I thought we might do it on Castaway Cay...

 

[papa]

Yes, One member from each stateroom needs to check their room in.

We leave our kids and grand kids home as this is our time to rest and recharge our batteries. Mike

 

[eva]

Welcome Marshmelo. I'm glad you found us here at the Cruise Meet board. What a perfect proposal. I'm not sure if you've had the time and/or patience to read the entire thread, but there are a number of people celebrating anniversaries on this cruise. DH and I are celebrating our 25th. CustardTart is celebrating her 25th as well. Papa is way ahead of us celebrating his 35th. And a couple that is traveling with them is also celebrating their 35th. Hmm, I hope that I didn't forget anyone.

Karen, I had thought about doing Stingray City at Grand Caymen too. But I have heard that the water could be waist deep or it could be over your head depending on the tide. Since DH just doesn't snorkle, I decided to stick with the one on CC too. Plus, I love having nearly the entire ship to ourselves for part of a day. So I think that we won't get off at GC.

Mike, I agree. We need this time to kick back and relax as a couple. On our last cruise we brought our oldest DD (who was 22 at the time) and my MIL. We had a great time, but very little alone time. My MIL is a great sport and never complains about anything. But she likes to spend every waking minute with us. And in May of last year we took my DH's entire family of adults to WDW and stayed in a grand villa. Needless to say, we haven't had a vacation with just the two of us in a couple of years.

Oh, I wanted to ask everyone if they saw the thread on getting vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B before going on a western cruise. My aunt has been bothering me and DH to have this done anyway. So I guess we are going to get vaccinated for that and Tetanus. Once people started talking about vaccinations, I realized my last Tetanus shot was over 10 years ago.

Wow, it sounds like check-in has completely changed since our last cruise. This new way of checking in on line and getting boarding numbers at the gate seems like a great idea. We were really early for our last cruise and had to stand in line for about an hour before they started boarding.

Sorry to the Bears fans at there but, GO COLTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CustardTart]

...I love having nearly the entire ship to ourselves for part of a day. So I think that we won't get off at GC...

That does sound very attractive!

...We need this time to kick back and relax as a couple. On our last cruise we brought our oldest DD (who was 22 at the time) and my MIL. We had a great time, but very little alone time. My MIL is a great sport and never complains about anything. But she likes to spend every waking minute with us. And in May of last year we took my DH's entire family of adults to WDW and stayed in a grand villa. Needless to say, we haven't had a vacation with just the two of us in a couple of years...

So true. I love the fact that our big kids (DD24 & DS21) and their partners still want to tag along with us so, last summer, we took a party of 8 to WDW for 2 weeks and stayed at the Poly! Everyone had a wonderful time but this year DH and I are concentrating on spending some quality vacation time together...

 

[papa]

Karen just don't wind up with any little souvenirs like the DCL commercials that were shown here. (Baby) As a result of all of that alone time Mike

 

[CustardTart]

Karen just don't wind up with any little souvenirs like the DCL commercials that were shown here. (Baby) As a result of all of that alone time Mike

Nooo!!!!! That's never gonna happen, I like my life way too much...

I've just been watching an excellent BBC wildlife documentary called " Wild Caribbean" and it showed Stingray City in Grand Cayman - it looks fab and DH really liked the idea so I might change my mind about that excursion...

 

[Bareacuda]

On this stop to GC... I found a cool botanical park.
It's QEII Botanical Park.. home of the blue iguannas.
Since DH is a photographer I thnk we found a gold mine!

And to all our newbies

Ann

 

[papa]

Sounds great Ann. Been to Grand Cayman three times and haven't been to the botanical park yet. Have been to Hell and swam with the stingrays. The larger stingrays are female and the smaller ones are male. Mike

 

[Bareacuda]

We did go to Hell too. Dh and I have a cute pic of our feet there. As in one foot in hell
And we've done the sting rays too. We did a back to back in 2004 and it was a blast... that's why we're doing it again!