Special 9/1/08 Cruise Continued

[wrabitdad]

We were going to book whatever was available and then see who else wanted to join us... looks like we'll have to book a longer cruise to get a brunch... I'm ready!

Hi Georgie,

Don't count on the "longer cruise" angle to get brunch.

We're on the 15 night PC eastbound, with 7 sea days!!, and thanks to Disney's problem reservation system were not able to get a brunch.

We did manage to get one on the 5 night so figure that out, must be new math.

Anyway, keep the chant: "book brunch on board", now say it with me.

Can't wait to see everyone again.

Bob, Dale and Gordy.

 

[two-foxes]

So I was leaving work today and ran into one of the deputies who is a huge Disney fan. I was telling her we hit our 90 mark, yada yada yada...well, to make a long story short, she and her son are on our cruise, too!

When she was planning for the east bound trans atlantic, I told her about the Dis, although she never really got into it. She ended up doing the first trans then a Med cruise....when she got back, she was telling me all about the cruise then was talking about the "Dish" people. I finally figured out that it was the Dis..... I guess some where stirring up some trouble! (Good trouble or bad trouble, I don't know )
I am going to send her our way here regardless, so maybe she'll join in!

 

[Grandma x3]

HI,
Yeah, trying to book Palo and excursions at the 90 day mark for the EB Repo was a nightmare. I never did get logged in - my friend who is linked w/our ressie could and booked what she could for me!!
I agree - as far as Palo - book when you first get on board.

I'm not booking anything for this cruise - I'm just going to kick back and totally idulge myself. I'm sending the family back home after the 15 days and get to stay on by Myself!!!

I did get a room # assigned = #5636 and I'm early dining. I'm trying to figure out logistics of packing to bring FE gifts for both the Repo & this cruise.

 

[eeyorelvr10]

Ok look at the front page, need to update my info, since I've hardly been on here, do I pm the individuals handling lanyards, dis roster and anything else I may be interested in?

Sorry folks, don't mean to sound lame but I seem a bit distracted and don't want to miss out on the party here - LOL

Hi Ken, Hi Christie, Hi Liz Hi Neil! I'm alive and the voice is almost back to normal. Just got to get rid of this pesky cough.

 

[winotracy]

Hey everyone! My plan this week is to get together a list of everyone who told me that they wanted to be linked for late dining and post the list here, giving anyone who isn't on the list a chance to speak up. Do we have a volunteer for early dining? If not, I can do that too, but would prefer if someone else could.

Have a great day!!

 

[two-foxes]

Hey everyone! My plan this week is to get together a list of everyone who told me that they wanted to be linked for late dining and post the list here, giving anyone who isn't on the list a chance to speak up. Do we have a volunteer for early dining? If not, I can do that too, but would prefer if someone else could.

Have a great day!!

I am assuming by being linked...does that mean all at one table/section? We are game for it for late dining. As long as folks don't mind eating around a 15 month old But he's an angel, really, I swear! In all seriousness, we understand if that is not cool, too!

 

[winotracy]

I am assuming by being linked...does that mean all at one table/section? We are game for it for late dining. As long as folks don't mind eating around a 15 month old But he's an angel, really, I swear! In all seriousness, we understand if that is not cool, too!

It certainly won't be one table But yes, one section/area of the dining room with the same rotation.

 

[JNorris]

I have a question for cruisers with pre-teen kids...I'm debating the whole "freedom to roam the ship" issue. I saw it come up again on the regular cruise board. My DD will be 10, and has never had that freedom before (and this is our 6th DCL cruise!). Although she is a responsible kid, she is also a little scatterbrained, and I'm just not sure what kind of freedom to give her. Trust me, if I couldn't find her one day on the ship for even 15 minutes, I would be in a total panic and would not get over it! She went missing in Walmart for about 90 seconds one time, and I cried for an hour!

How much freedom are you planning on giving your preteens? I don't know if I want her checking herself out of the lab, but maybe if she wanted a drink from the beverage station, I could let her go by herself? That way, I know where she started, where she was headed, where she should end up, and how long she should be gone. (Overprotective much?)

Or maybe if we are on deck, she could go back to the cabin by herself if she wanted.

I already let her stay at home for short periods alone (run to the grocery store,etc.), and when we go to Palo, if she doesn't want to go to the lab that night, she can stay in the cabin and watch movies.

 

[ch10dad]

For the most part we want to know where our kids are and who they're with. While DCL is great, there are still people who you do not know aboard. For that matter you don't necesarily know who your neighbors at home are.

We let our oldest check out only with "pre-arranged conditions," and she knows life would suddenly turn really bad if she was not where/when we expected her to be.

Some would consider us to be "overprotective." That's ok, it's our perrogitive as parents. Bottom line is it depends on your family rules and your individual child.

I have heard (from cm's) of teens "discovering the magic" on the beach chairs on deck 10, I have seen groups of kids aimlessly roaming the halls...

Baiscally human nature and kids don't change just because you're on vacation. If you wouldn't let your child wander around alone at home, why would you do it on a ship with 1000 guests and maybe another 1000 cm's that you could not possibly know... We pretty much keep the same expectations of supervision/freedoms on the DCL that we do at home. That said, we are more diligent and cautious in areas we are not familiar with, so that should be considered a good "plug" for DCL.

::cop:

I have a question for cruisers with pre-teen kids...I'm debating the whole "freedom to roam the ship" issue. I saw it come up again on the regular cruise board. My DD will be 10, and has never had that freedom before (and this is our 6th DCL cruise!). Although she is a responsible kid, she is also a little scatterbrained, and I'm just not sure what kind of freedom to give her. Trust me, if I couldn't find her one day on the ship for even 15 minutes, I would be in a total panic and would not get over it! She went missing in Walmart for about 90 seconds one time, and I cried for an hour!

How much freedom are you planning on giving your preteens? I don't know if I want her checking herself out of the lab, but maybe if she wanted a drink from the beverage station, I could let her go by herself? That way, I know where she started, where she was headed, where she should end up, and how long she should be gone. (Overprotective much?)

Or maybe if we are on deck, she could go back to the cabin by herself if she wanted.

I already let her stay at home for short periods alone (run to the grocery store,etc.), and when we go to Palo, if she doesn't want to go to the lab that night, she can stay in the cabin and watch movies.

 

[JNorris]

Baiscally human nature and kids don't change just because you're on vacation. If you wouldn't let your child wander around alone at home, why would you do it on a ship with 1000 guests and maybe another 1000 cm's that you could not possibly know...
::cop:

I agree completely. That is my argument against just letting her go wherever, whenever. I'm not so worried about public decks, but I really don't like her walking down the cabin halls alone. It wouldn't take 5 seconds for someone to pull her into a cabin, and then there would be no one watching...

If she had siblings with her, I wouldn't worry as much. In fact, in 2006 we took 2 of our nieces with us on a 3 night DCL, and we felt perfectly comfortable letting her walk around with the other 2 girls (14 and 10, and DD was almost 8). There is safety in numbers.

 

[Partridge4ever]

My DD is 12. There's no way I would let her stay in the cabin by herself, etc. If we're sitting by the pool, I'd let her go to the drink station or snack bar by herself but that's about it. I'm already a little worried that I'm listing our names, ages, and cabin numbers here on this thread.

 

[nordicskidoodle]

I also have a DD who will be 9 yrs. old at cruisetime. I do not plan on letting her check herself out of the kids club. She is responsible, but not "worldly" enough to handle unusual situations. I also have a just turned 13 year old DS who would be eligible to go to the Stack. While he looks forward to this, I am really considering having him stay back with the 12 year old group. I know for a fact there are dances that START at 11 pm at the Stack. Do I feel comfortable letting him wander in at 1 am? Not a chance! A 17 year old lives a totally different life than my 13 year old. Has anyone heard about changing the ages of the clubs? I know I heard some chatter about this awhile ago. Also, if anyone else has a son around the same age who is not planning on giving them the freedom to come and go as they please, let me know.
Looking forward to this cruise!

Lisa
DH Kevin, DD Lindsay(13 Down Syndrome),DS Jamison(13), DD Alexis(9)

 

[JNorris]

Has anyone heard about changing the ages of the clubs? I know I heard some chatter about this awhile ago.
Lisa
DH Kevin, DD Lindsay(13 Down Syndrome),DS Jamison(13), DD Alexis(9)

I so totally agree with this. There is NO WAY I'm letting my DD when she turns 13 be around 17 year old boys at the Stack. Nope, not happening! They need a separate place for 13 and 14 year olds. I'm hoping that by the time DD turns 13, we will be cruising on the new DCL ships, and hopefully they will have addressed this concern (maybe they will have more room for a young teen hangout).

 

[Partridge4ever]

That's actually one reason I begged my DH to let us do this cruise now...DD will be 13 in February. It's not that she's immature, but she's still more interested in Webkinz than boys. I do remember reading somewhere about Ocean Quest being meant for "tweens" but I've read so much in the last couple of weeks I can't remember if that's now or something planned for the future.

 

[ch10dad]

The Ocean Quest is a very cool "hang out." It is on deck 2 where the library and public meeting rooms used to be. I think both ships should have it by now.

That's actually one reason I begged my DH to let us do this cruise now...DD will be 13 in February. It's not that she's immature, but she's still more interested in Webkinz than boys. I do remember reading somewhere about Ocean Quest being meant for "tweens" but I've read so much in the last couple of weeks I can't remember if that's now or something planned for the future.

 

[twinmom108]

I also have a just turned 13 year old DS who would be eligible to go to the Stack. While he looks forward to this, I am really considering having him stay back with the 12 year old group. I know for a fact there are dances that START at 11 pm at the Stack. Do I feel comfortable letting him wander in at 1 am? Not a chance! A 17 year old lives a totally different life than my 13 year old. Has anyone heard about changing the ages of the clubs? I know I heard some chatter about this awhile ago. Also, if anyone else has a son around the same age who is not planning on giving them the freedom to come and go as they please, let me know.
Looking forward to this cruise!

Lisa
DH Kevin, DD Lindsay(13 Down Syndrome),DS Jamison(13), DD Alexis(9)

Hi Lisa, we did our first Disney cruise 2 yrs ago with our 3 DS's, then ages 14,14 & 12. The twins had their 14th BD on the ship. They weren't comfortable with the Stack and the older kids so they spent their free time at Ocean Quest for ages 10-14. In fact the last night when we were supposed to be packing and they weren't in the stateroom, our first call was to Ocean Quest and sure enough all 3 were there. LOL

I think that might be a better option for your Jamison. Our youngest, now 14 is also a Jameson, (diff. sp.). Just DH & I are going on this cruise, otherwise I bet our sons would have had a great time together.

Disney Dreamin'
Sharon

 

[JNorris]

The Ocean Quest is a very cool "hang out." It is on deck 2 where the library and public meeting rooms used to be. I think both ships should have it by now.

DUH! I forgot about Ocean Quest. Maybe they could do something like that on the new ships, only bigger??

Since they also use Ocean Quest for "family time" and other ages, I wonder how much of the time is reserved for the young teens? I'll have to remember to look at that when we sail.

 

[ch10dad]

BTW, we're still there. 12-13 and boys are only good to beat up on in judo class. Other than that, they're "icky." Try having a talk on "adult topics" It's definatley the age you need to be talking about things because the schools are (whether you know it or not) and they probably have friends that don't think it's quite so "icky."

That's actually one reason I begged my DH to let us do this cruise now...DD will be 13 in February. It's not that she's immature, but she's still more interested in Webkinz than boys. I do remember reading somewhere about Ocean Quest being meant for "tweens" but I've read so much in the last couple of weeks I can't remember if that's now or something planned for the future.

 

[SCRAPBOOKQUEEN]

We will be having early dining. I think this would be much better for DD and my parents. Let me know if you need any other info. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

ScrapbookQueen
Kellie

 

[cathy_s]

I have a question for cruisers with pre-teen kids...I'm debating the whole "freedom to roam the ship" issue. I saw it come up again on the regular cruise board. My DD will be 10, and has never had that freedom before (and this is our 6th DCL cruise!). Although she is a responsible kid, she is also a little scatterbrained, and I'm just not sure what kind of freedom to give her. Trust me, if I couldn't find her one day on the ship for even 15 minutes, I would be in a total panic and would not get over it! She went missing in Walmart for about 90 seconds one time, and I cried for an hour!

How much freedom are you planning on giving your preteens? I don't know if I want her checking herself out of the lab, but maybe if she wanted a drink from the beverage station, I could let her go by herself? That way, I know where she started, where she was headed, where she should end up, and how long she should be gone. (Overprotective much?)

Or maybe if we are on deck, she could go back to the cabin by herself if she wanted.

I already let her stay at home for short periods alone (run to the grocery store,etc.), and when we go to Palo, if she doesn't want to go to the lab that night, she can stay in the cabin and watch movies.

You sound a lot like me! IMO you're not overprotective at all!

DD11 won't have permission to check herself out of the lab. No debates allowed either.

DH and I were recently discussing this exact subject and he was leaning toward giving her more freedom this time around. My answer was "Do you let her roam around MK or hotels alone?" I reminded him (won't go into too many details here) of something we witnessed. We were at an event that would draw mostly tween girls and overheard a discussion between security personnel. The head of security was handing his staff mug shots of a pedophile who was known to be in the crowd. It made my skin crawl. Sadly anything that attracts children also attracts creepy people.