September 30, 2012 - "To San Francisco and Beyond"

[LiseG]

Hi all,
We are Brian and Michele and this is our first Disney Cruise - and we are very excited to try something new. Celebrating just being on vacation and meeting some new friends!
Does anyone have suggestions for excursions in Ensenada? We have been to San Fran and San Diego several times and have favorite things that we want to do, but really are stumped with Ensenada.

Looking forward to meeting all of you -
Michele

You are going to LOVE our Disney Cruise!

Are you from Boston? My DH Chuck is from there. We look forward to seeing you at the Meet & Greet and hope you will join the fun of doing the FE (Fish Extenders gift exchange).

I'm not sure what to say about Ensenada, I wish there was a beach excursion option. I haven't been to Ensenada for 20 yrs. At the moment I'm planning to grab a taxi ... an "experience" for the DD... and go to a Super Mercado so she can see how different a Mexican grocery store is. I also need to find out if there's a real Mexican "mercado" like in Mazatlan. If nothing else, we’ll spend a little time to wandering thru the cheesy tourist gift stores.

I’m thinking it may be a good day to get a little extra ship board time as well…. Soak in our last day of Disney!

 

[LiseG]

Please add us to the Fish Extender list.

We are two families:

Adults: Teri, Joni & Lori
Kids: Kyle (17), Kaci (13) and an exchange student from China, but I don't know his name (12)

We're on a guarantee, so I don't know our stateroom #s, yet.

Welcome. The cruise and FE will be such fun!

My DD12 Sabrina is looking forward to meeting Kaci. Looking at the FE list, we have a good number of 10-13 year old girls and boys going.

We had a Japanese exchange student stay with us for a month last summer. She would have been thrilled to go on a Disney Cruise. Sabrina loves meting new people and trying to learn languages. I'll let her know to work on some Chinese phrases. Do we know where in China he is from?

 

[Hollywood Glitter]

I went up today and did our check in. I was able to schedule our spa also. However, Palo Brunch was all booked up! Palo Brunch is one of our favorites! I guess it is to be expected with only 2 sea days. Any ways, last time we were on the Wonder, my oldest daughter put in a request for our group plus a few other people on the disboards to have brunch in the private room in Palo and her request was granted.

I am willing to make this request if we have a group of 12-14 people who have not signed up for Brunch already and would like to have a group brunch. It's not guaranteed that we will get the private room but hey if we get it, it'll be an excellent meal.What a way to get to know each other!

If you didn't get a Palo Brunch and would like to be signed up for a group Brunch, let me know. You can PM me and I will compile a list. I will need the number of adults, names and ressie numbers. When we hit 12 (the minimum), I will make the request. 14 is the maximum. I would want to make the request as soon as possible!

Bon appetit!

Linda

I just wanted to bring this up again. I think this would be an awesome idea. I believe Linda said right now we have 6 people that are interested and we only need 6 more. If we could get this reservation I will make a special Palo gift for everyone participating!

 

[Hollywood Glitter]

I saw this on the Disney blog this morning and thought everyone would luv it.

You can read the story here..

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/07/lucky-dog-mickey-meets-his-biggest-four-legged-fan/#

 

[DesertGal]

Hi Everyone!

This is what I came up with. I hope you all like it.

Omg. Love it

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[DesertGal]

Hi Everyone!

This is what I came up with. I hope you all like it.

Is there any way to get an email of this jpeg? I'd love to make tshirts?!!

My email is lisaanngrant@gmail.com

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[erk711]

I saw this on the Disney blog this morning and thought everyone would luv it.

You can read the story here..

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/07/lucky-dog-mickey-meets-his-biggest-four-legged-fan/#

I saw it on my YouTube subscription. She's adorable!

 

[erk711]

I just wanted to bring this up again. I think this would be an awesome idea. I believe Linda said right now we have 6 people that are interested and we only need 6 more. If we could get this reservation I will make a special Palo gift for everyone participating!

I second that! I was just rechecking for brunch reservations and they are sold out. Would those who already have ressies maybe be interested? If we actually do get a table you could cancel your reservation then. Just something to think about. It could be fun!!

 

[Bostonluvs2cruise]

You are going to LOVE our Disney Cruise!

Are you from Boston? My DH Chuck is from there. We look forward to seeing you at the Meet & Greet and hope you will join the fun of doing the FE (Fish Extenders gift exchange).

I'm not sure what to say about Ensenada, I wish there was a beach excursion option. I haven't been to Ensenada for 20 yrs. At the moment I'm planning to grab a taxi ... an "experience" for the DD... and go to a Super Mercado so she can see how different a Mexican grocery store is. I also need to find out if there's a real Mexican "mercado" like in Mazatlan. If nothing else, we’ll spend a little time to wandering thru the cheesy tourist gift stores.

I’m thinking it may be a good day to get a little extra ship board time as well…. Soak in our last day of Disney!

Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the warm welcome and yes we are from the Boston area - we live @ 8 miles from the city. This cruise will be a new adventure. We are DVC members and have been since 1992, but our kids never wanted to do the cruise thing. We love cruising, and have been on Celebrity 6 times, most recently in June on an 11 day med cruise out of Venice, and we have 2 Celebrity cruise booked for 2012.

What types of gifts do people give on the FE exchange? Is it a daily thing, or a one time thing to each of those folks participating? We are in cabin 6152.

Agree with you on Ensenada - it may be a day to enjoy the ship, it should be warm in port so a little time in the sun would be nice before returning to
Michele

 

[Hollywood Glitter]

Is there any way to get an email of this jpeg? I'd love to make tshirts?!!

My email is lisaanngrant@gmail.com

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I just sent you an email

 

[LiseG]

Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the warm welcome and yes we are from the Boston area - we live @ 8 miles from the city. This cruise will be a new adventure. We are DVC members and have been since 1992, but our kids never wanted to do the cruise thing. We love cruising, and have been on Celebrity 6 times, most recently in June on an 11 day med cruise out of Venice, and we have 2 Celebrity cruise booked for 2012.

What types of gifts do people give on the FE exchange? Is it a daily thing, or a one time thing to each of those folks participating? We are in cabin 6152.

Agree with you on Ensenada - it may be a day to enjoy the ship, it should be warm in port so a little time in the sun would be nice before returning to
Michele

We're DVC Members as well! My DD loves Disney Cruises... she's been doing them since she was not quite 4 and had no vote. After that she wanted to go all the time. "But Honey, we live in Oregon and the ship is in FL." Try explaining that to a 4 year old. This will be our 5th adventure on DCL and first on the West Coast. We've also sailed Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and a Greek cruise line. Disney is the best!

FE Exchange - Each cabin contributes one time, so you'll receive presents every day from a few cabins. [I stand corrected... some awesome folks contribute lots of times] There is some great info on the first post of this thread.

Also here's an earlier post of mine regarding what might be found in your FE
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=45664959#post45664959

Lise

 

[LiseG]

I second that! I was just rechecking for brunch reservations and they are sold out. Would those who already have ressies maybe be interested? If we actually do get a table you could cancel your reservation then. Just something to think about. It could be fun!!

Brunch in Palo is awesome.....Maybe we can go twice????

 

[erk711]

Brunch in Palo is awesome.....Maybe we can go twice????

Now there's a good idea! Plus you will be spreading some great pixie dust for those of us who don't get to go at all....yet!

 

[Hollywood Glitter]

Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the warm welcome and yes we are from the Boston area - we live @ 8 miles from the city. This cruise will be a new adventure. We are DVC members and have been since 1992, but our kids never wanted to do the cruise thing. We love cruising, and have been on Celebrity 6 times, most recently in June on an 11 day med cruise out of Venice, and we have 2 Celebrity cruise booked for 2012.

What types of gifts do people give on the FE exchange? Is it a daily thing, or a one time thing to each of those folks participating? We are in cabin 6152.

Agree with you on Ensenada - it may be a day to enjoy the ship, it should be warm in port so a little time in the sun would be nice before returning to
Michele

Welcome Aboard or should I say "Welcome Home"

I became a DVC member about 2 years ago and I just love it.

The Fe gifts are really whatever you feel comfortable with. Some people only do 1 gift per cabin and something small for the children. Some people do 1 gift per person and some do a couple usually based on themes. Below is what my mother and I gave on our last cruise. For her next cruise she is doing 1 small welcome gift per room and 1 larger gift per person. I would tell you what it is but she hasn't left for that cruise yet. For this cruise we are still working on the gifts so I won't reveal any details.

The best thing to do is just make a budget for your self and work within it. Also since you are traveling think about how much room you wan't to set aside in your suitcase for the gifts you are bringing.

This is kind of an overview. In this photo there are 2 crochet dolls we made for a 2 year old that was on the cruise. The first night we gave her the Dumbo and on Pirate night we gave her the Pirate

On the first night every Family got a Welcome Onboard Cruise kit. It had 2 magnets and lots of "lifesavers"

All the kids got a pen and notepad. One of the older boys got a pen and skeleton puzzle

For the night of the Golden Mickey's we made a special Golden Mickey for every family to to take home. These were my favorite to make.

For the days at see we gave everyone activities. There were puzzles, magic card decks and regular playing cards (in a special case for the adults)

For Mexico we had spanish/english cards

And before we left ... CD's with Disney music to help till the next cruise.

We had a few anniversary celebrations so we made a special CD for them also along with special Disney card

 

[erk711]

Welcome Aboard or should I say "Welcome Home"

I became a DVC member about 2 years ago and I just love it.

The Fe gifts are really whatever you feel comfortable with. Some people only do 1 gift per cabin and something small for the children. Some people do 1 gift per person and some do a couple usually based on themes. Below is what my mother and I gave on our last cruise. For her next cruise she is doing 1 small welcome gift and 1 larger gift per person. I would tell you but she hasn't left for this cruise yet. For this cruise we are still working on the gifts so I won't reveal any details.

The best thing to do is just make a budget for your self and work within it. Also since you are traveling think about how much room you wan't to set aside in your suitcase for the gifts you are bringing.

Great advise about staying within budget....I'm working on mine now and feel myself going out of control. There is just so much cute stuff you can do!!! Plus I need to think about the luggage space, so a good reminder for me too.

Speaking of great stuff...I love all your ideas. Great job. The crochet animals are so cute, and the Golden Mickeys are a very smart "theme" gift I'm sure everyone felt very spoiled.

 

[Picket Fence]

Flounder's Reef
You need to book ASAP according to the Disney Cruise website as space is limited and fills up FAST.
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/wonder/youth-clubs/flounders-reef-nursery/

Car Seats
When Sabrina was tiny we traveled to SoCal, and the car seat flew with us. Sabrina is now 11, so a car seat is no longer an issue.

Here's a Yahoo Answers thread on SuperShuttle and Car Seats.
A car seat mandatory for kids traveling by Super Shuttle?

Here's a discussion I found on MousePlanet regarding car seats, Disney transport, shuttles and taxis.
Mouseplanet.com - Car seats in Taxis/Super Shuttle

Here's a thread on Trip Advisor regarding car seats in San Diego. It says taxis are exempt??
Tripadvisor.com -Taxi with a Car Seat - Escondido California

San Diego Taxi / Town Car
It looks like there are options with and without Car Seats.

Yellow cab - As far as I can tell they don't have car seats. Using the fare calculator, I came up with $22-26 OW +gratuity.
Yellow Cab fare calculator

Harbor Airport Transportation - They provide private town cars with "professional, courteous, and well groomed chauffeurs" (oooh I'm all tingly). Their website shows they DO offer car seats:
Harbor Airport Transportation - Services

Here are their San Diego Airport Rates. If I read this right, it will be $35-$39 OW (Ocean Beach or Pacific Beach) for up to 4 people. "20% Gratuity is suggested for all trips and is not included in the rates"
Harbor Airport Transportation - Rates

San Diego Rental Car
I grew up in San Diego. We plan to rent a car to go to the beach or Sea World. For Sea World taxi vs. car would be a wash, but for the beach the car is better. No gratuity with a car rental.

Enterprise Rent a Car - There were a couple locations close to the pier. The best rate was at the Little Italy Location and offer's "We'll Pick You Up" service (I have to call and confirm how this works). For a 1-day rental of an Intermediate (Toyota Corolla or similar) I booked $52.79 w/ tax. There's probably a coupon on MouseSavers.com so I may rebook.

Hope this helps,

Lise

LiseG - Thank you for all of the great information! I truly appreciate it!

 

[Picket Fence]

We cruised with our one year old two years ago. We booked nursery time during most of our dinner (we were early dining). We had her eat with us for about 30 min to half hour, then took her to the nursery and picked her up before the show. Sometimes we left her in there for the show. When we did snorkeling, we left her in the nursery during nap time. They are fabulous with the kids and she loved being there. When we came home, she had tons of crafts that they had done.

We borrowed one of Disneys strollers to use on excursions (they are really nice). I would bring a car seat for the cab. Even at WDW we had problems with vans having a car seat.

Book your 10 hours of nursery time ASAP. There is normally extra time you can book once on board. Not that you're trying to pass your child off, but they really have a lot more fun in the nursery then sitting through dinners and shows.

Enjoy!!!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

DesertGal, thank you for the first hand account of your experience. We've booked our nursery time last night and will plan on lugging along the carseat. Certainly better to have it and not need it compared to needing it and not having it!

Thanks again!

 

[LiseG]

Welcome Aboard or should I say "Welcome Home"

I became a DVC member about 2 years ago and I just love it.

The Fe gifts are really whatever you feel comfortable with. Some people only do 1 gift per cabin and something small for the children. Some people do 1 gift per person and some do a couple usually based on themes. Below is what my mother and I gave on our last cruise. For her next cruise she is doing 1 small welcome gift per room and 1 larger gift per person. I would tell you what it is but she hasn't left for that cruise yet. For this cruise we are still working on the gifts so I won't reveal any details.

The best thing to do is just make a budget for your self and work within it. Also since you are traveling think about how much room you wan't to set aside in your suitcase for the gifts you are bringing.

All I can say is WOW

I noticed that some "locals" brought larger gifts than those of us traveling by air. Like 40+ wide mouth water bottles ... one per adult. They were greatly appreciated... the two we received are still in use.

We delivered one gift per person on our designated night. It was the last night of gthe cruise so we went with a "heading home" theme. Of course, I did sneak in some extras for those with special occasions.

 

[CasaMartinez]

We are on the Sept 20 Cruise
Purrplemickey
Derek and Maryfrances
2nd Disney Cruise (last years WBTA)
Las Vegas, NV

Please add us to the Fish Extender list.

We are two families:

Adults: Teri, Joni & Lori
Kids: Kyle (17), Kaci (13) and an exchange student from China, but I don't know his name (12)

We're on a guarantee, so I don't know our stateroom #s, yet.

Hi all,
We are Brian and Michele and this is our first Disney Cruise - and we are very excited to try something new. Celebrating just being on vacation and meeting some new friends!
Does anyone have suggestions for excursions in Ensenada? We have been to San Fran and San Diego several times and have favorite things that we want to do, but really are stumped with Ensenada.

Looking forward to meeting all of you -
Michele

This is kind of an overview. In this photo there are 2 crochet dolls we made for a 2 year old that was on the cruise. The first night we gave her the Dumbo and on Pirate night we gave her the Pirate

Wow, what great gifts! I'm sure everyone was excited to receive your FE's on your last cruise.

 

[Hollywood Glitter]

All I can say is WOW

I noticed that some "locals" brought larger gifts than those of us traveling by air. Like 40+ wide mouth water bottles ... one per adult. They were greatly appreciated... the two we received are still in use.

We delivered one gift per person on our designated night. It was the last night of gthe cruise so we went with a "heading home" theme. Of course, I did sneak in some extras for those with special occasions.

Thanks!

I'm going to be very straight forward right now. If we do a designated night thing I'm not going to do it. Once the boat leaves port I'm going to be on cruise time. So expect my gifts to appear any time during the trip!

How many people are traveling to the cruise (basically not locals)? I'm trying to plan out gifts that will travel well?