Turkey Day Gang 2009

[sherreis]

Lisa,

You all sure paid a lot of money to get bumps and bruises and boo boos. But, overall, you're right -the family time is so important and in this busy world we live in, it gets so difficult for us all to get the time we need. Welcome home! And, I am sorry about your foster brother - way too young.

 

[alwayslisad]

Not sure if this will work - but here ya go!


Hello there -- someone pm'd me and said the link didn't work - so if you want to see the pics - pm me and I will send you the link and I guess a password - never used snapfish before -

so last night I spent a few hours picking out flowers for my headpieces I am going to make for myself / Dsis and DD - I think DH will just get a small flower for his outfit - nothing fancy at all. Actually nothing fancy for any of us since it is going to be a beach wedding. flip flops or barefeet - I vote barefeet - and flip flops for walking around after!

 

[alwayslisad]

page 3 ! ? ! ? ! ?

hellloooooo out there

where is everyone?

 

[sherreis]

Not sure if this will work - but here ya go!


Hello there -- someone pm'd me and said the link didn't work - so if you want to see the pics - pm me and I will send you the link and I guess a password - never used snapfish before -

so last night I spent a few hours picking out flowers for my headpieces I am going to make for myself / Dsis and DD - I think DH will just get a small flower for his outfit - nothing fancy at all. Actually nothing fancy for any of us since it is going to be a beach wedding. flip flops or barefeet - I vote barefeet - and flip flops for walking around after!

I know my vote doesn't count, but, I think the barefeet is the way to go. You would be more comfortable in those plus it would like nicer in your pictures. What kind of dress do you plan on wearing? I love talking about weddings. And, I'll be PMing you. I want to see your vacation pics.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Rob, have a great time! Steve and Andrew LOVE the warm chocolate melting cake (with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream, please) on the Carnival cruises....

I won't tell them...for fear they may ask you to bring some back for them (Sorry, but when we did our 1st Carnival cruise, they both ordered it every night for dessert...and would have gladly kidnapped the chef and taken him home if they could have!)

Hope you all have a great time!

Oh my gosh the lava cake was to die for.. I had it at least 5 times


Rob

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Oh my gosh the lava cake was to die for.. I had it at least 5 times


Rob

Hope you had a grand time. We found the food on Carnival to be quite good (at times, much better than on Disney!). I'm still not telling Steve and Andrew though as they will post and go on and on about the lava cake! To this day, 1 1/2 years later, they still ask if I have ever found the recipe for the cake.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Hope you had a grand time. We found the food on Carnival to be quite good (at times, much better than on Disney!). I'm still not telling Steve and Andrew though as they will post and go on and on about the lava cake! To this day, 1 1/2 years later, they still ask if I have ever found the recipe for the cake.

We too found the food to be great and infact better than Disney's. We did their equivalent of Palo and thought it was very good as well ( it was a beef lovers paradise).

We booked on board for spring break 2009 and are presently looking into a Thanksgiving cruise for this year. At 1/2 the price of DCL and for the same category we will be cruising the mouse every other year.

Rob

 

[pillow]

We too found the food to be great and infact better than Disney's. We did their equivalent of Palo and thought it was very good as well ( it was a beef lovers paradise).

We booked on board for spring break 2009 and are presently looking into a Thanksgiving cruise for this year. At 1/2 the price of DCL and for the same category we will be cruising the mouse every other year.

Rob

Hey Rob. So give us the lowdown. Was Carnival as fun as Disney? I get the impression that its a big drunkfest (which I'm waaaay to old for). Tell us more.

Jodie

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Hey Rob. So give us the lowdown. Was Carnival as fun as Disney? I get the impression that its a big drunkfest (which I'm waaaay to old for). Tell us more.

Jodie

Hi Jodie,

We cruised the Carnival Glory Spring Break 2006 and did NOT find it to be a drunkfest (big or small)...and, did I mention that was SPRING BREAK!

What we did find was:

PRO: A nice collection of ports (we really enjoyed snorkeling in Belize). Excellent food with a wonderful variety pretty much throughout the entire day. Very good to excellent cruise director and staff. Service that was attentive but missing something....that personal touch is what was missing.

CON: Smaller staterooms (but we're never there anyway). The ship was not laid out as nicely as Disney (the galley was in the middle which meant you had to go up, over and around to get to place sometimes. For us, a casino (yuck, don't like 'em)!

We did not find unruly children, teens, young adults or adults drunk and making a public nuisance of themselves. We did find well planned activities that engaged people young and old. We did not find a "cruise group" like this one and we sure missed that! We did not find that booze was pushed, encouraged or anything....the waiters were just as happy to help you get a diet coke as they were anything else. Soft drinks had to be bought...but that's not a huge expense (certainly doesn't cost 1/2 the cruise fare again)! The evening shows were family oriented...only the late ones were "adult."

So, in short, I'd go again in a heartbeat...and am looking at booking a Spring Break '08 one right now!

Karen

 

[pillow]

Cool! Thanks for the info. It certainly is cheaper for sure. I'm stuck on Disney, but I really should try something else eventually. Have you done Royal Caribbean?

Jodie

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Cool! Thanks for the info. It certainly is cheaper for sure. I'm stuck on Disney, but I really should try something else eventually. Have you done Royal Caribbean?

Jodie

Yep. Royal was our first ever cruise! We were on the Explorer of the Seas for DH's 40th birthday and we had a wonderful time.

PROS: The boat was very well laid out and quite pretty (no over the top neon like Carnival has). The service was outstanding...very much on par with Disney. We found a cruise meet through cruisecritic.com and the ship even did a special reception for us with snacks and beverages and special "door prize" type drawings! The ice show was amazing!

CONS: The food. As DH put it...it was OK, but it was missing something...even the chocolate didn't taste quite chocolatey enough! The cruise director staff was ok...not great...but ok. Some of the shows were just OK as opposed to fabulous (like Disney).

We decided after that cruise that we really enjoyed cruising but decided to look at other lines (for comparison sake). Would I go back to Royal...yep! I'd really like to do one of the new boats (Freedom, Independence) to try out the flow rider and some of the other features, but we have ZERO interest in the new Oasis series (they're just WAY too big in my mind).

If I had to rank the cruises in order I'd have a hard time. We love the Disney shows and there's just something magical about all things Disney in our mind. We also like the cruise group we found with Disney. The Turkey's are awesome! We strongly prefer the food on Carnival; there's a wonderful variety (mid-day and late night too), but the service (while good) wasn't as good as other lines. Royal's new boats have features we would like to see, but we know the food won't be as good or have as much variety as Carnival, and we'd miss the Turkeys.

So, I think for us it will likely be Carnival at Spring Break (unless Royal brings their fares down) and Disney at Thanksgiving (unless their fares go way up)! In all honesty, Carnival provides a great value for the money...and Disney's fares (for what you get in comparison to other lines) are high.

But...as long as Disney continues to fill up the boats, the rates won't come down...and it doesn't look like they have any problems filling the boats!

With that said though, I'd really like to try Princess too. Other cruisers we've met have raved about them.

Sorry, guess I'm no help.

Karen

 

[pillow]

With that said though, I'd really like to try Princess too. Other cruisers we've met have raved about them.

Sorry, guess I'm no help.

Karen

I like hearing what others think. I've heard wonderful things about Princess as well. From what cruise critic says, RC is a bit more kid friendly though. I would like to try one of the newer RC ships as well, but their prices are really comparable to Disney (meaning high!!) - I guess because they are new ships with newer features, etc. We are really struggling now with how to spend our vacation time. DH gets 4 weeks/year, and we really love our week at Disney + the cruise, but we also realize there is more to life than Disney (yes, I know - shocking, huh?). I think we might start doing Disney and/or the cruise every other year so that we can take other vacations. Right now, we're planning a 2 week trip to the Grand Canyon next summer (and resisting Adventures By Disney so as not to break the bank). There just never seems to be enough $$$ to do it all.

Thanks for your feedback.

Jodie

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Hi Jodie,

Boy do I understand! Steve and I both get 4 weeks of vacation per year and we try to do lots of things. We'd love for our DS (Andrew) to get to all 50 states before he leaves the nest.

As far as the Kids Programs on Royal vs. Carnival vs. Disney...sorry, I'm no help. Andrew HATES the kids programs and never wants to go to any of them! They're either too much like school (i.e., too structured), or the kids run wild. He's a bit of an "old soul" and prefers to swim, play ping pong and shuffleboard, walk around the ship and hit the arcade!

If you're contemplating the Grand Canyon, I'd strongly encourage you to stay at the Canyon! The accomodations in the park are modest (i.e., sorta Motel 6ish) but are clean...and there's nothing like waking up to the site of the Canyon! The only hotel outside of the Park I have experience with is the Red Feather which is no better (or worse) than the hotels in the Park.

We did it about 2 or 3 years ago. We stayed at one of the hotels at the Canyon Rim, ate at the El Tovar (not to be missed) and then spent some time in Flagstaff (about an hour away), Sedona (love the Red Rocks) and Scottsdale (near Phoenix). While we were in Flagstaff we went to the Lowell Observatory (and got to look at the stars through the telescopes) and went to the Meteorite (sp?) Crater which was also pretty cool. Andrew still talks about the crater and Lowell!

We're making our pilgrimage to Disney in about a week for 11 days...and then I don't think we'll go back until 2010. We may go out west to Disneyland (and other things) next summer (and we'll definitely be on the '09 Turkey Cruise), but I think Disney is going to be an every other year thing for us while we go explore the other 49 states.

Karen

 

[pillow]

Hi Jodie,

Boy do I understand! Steve and I both get 4 weeks of vacation per year and we try to do lots of things. We'd love for our DS (Andrew) to get to all 50 states before he leaves the nest.

As far as the Kids Programs on Royal vs. Carnival vs. Disney...sorry, I'm no help. Andrew HATES the kids programs and never wants to go to any of them! They're either too much like school (i.e., too structured), or the kids run wild. He's a bit of an "old soul" and prefers to swim, play ping pong and shuffleboard, walk around the ship and hit the arcade!

If you're contemplating the Grand Canyon, I'd strongly encourage you to stay at the Canyon! The accomodations in the park are modest (i.e., sorta Motel 6ish) but are clean...and there's nothing like waking up to the site of the Canyon! The only hotel outside of the Park I have experience with is the Red Feather which is no better (or worse) than the hotels in the Park.

We did it about 2 or 3 years ago. We stayed at one of the hotels at the Canyon Rim, ate at the El Tovar (not to be missed) and then spent some time in Flagstaff (about an hour away), Sedona (love the Red Rocks) and Scottsdale (near Phoenix). While we were in Flagstaff we went to the Lowell Observatory (and got to look at the stars through the telescopes) and went to the Meteorite (sp?) Crater which was also pretty cool. Andrew still talks about the crater and Lowell!

We're making our pilgrimage to Disney in about a week for 11 days...and then I don't think we'll go back until 2010. We may go out west to Disneyland (and other things) next summer (and we'll definitely be on the '09 Turkey Cruise), but I think Disney is going to be an every other year thing for us while we go explore the other 49 states.

Karen

My brother is taking a job in Colorado and will be living in Montrose. They are moving in the spring/early summer. So, I think we'll fly into Phoenix, stop in Sedona (DH and I have been but the kids haven't), Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, and Monument Valley before heading over to visit my brother. We have reservations right now at El Tovar. I wanted to book it eary since I hear it gets booked quickly. Should be a nice trip. We like independent travel, but part of me is tempted to try Adventures By Disney. It sounds fun, but my two week "do it yourself" trip is about 2-3K cheaper than ABD's 1 week trip, so I think we'll just go it alone this time. I have a hard time justifying the extra cost of ABD but want to try it one day.

We're doing the 3 nighter this Thanksgiving - can't wait!!

J

 

[sherreis]

Hi. Just wondering if anyone is going to be at WDW between now and the end of September and staying onsite? We're surprising the boys with a trip from 10/15 - 10/21 and I'm going to be making some gift bags to give them when they get their surpise after we get to the ME counter at MCO. Someone suggested the prepaid cards for the arcade. I would send you money ahead of time to buy them for me.

And, if anyone has suggestions for other things to include- I'm listening to that too.

The bags will be a little different from each other since one will have just turned 13 and the other one is 8. So far-- pennies/quarters for pressed pennies, I have some pool toys that are these special type of ball, a Pirates of Carribean beach ball, sunglasses, disney dollars, disposable camera, glow sticks.

 

[alwayslisad]

Does anyone know what kind of weather we will be expecting during our cruise? will it be hot? I am trying to locate just some ballpark temps

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Hi. Just wondering if anyone is going to be at WDW between now and the end of September and staying onsite? We're surprising the boys with a trip from 10/15 - 10/21 and I'm going to be making some gift bags to give them when they get their surpise after we get to the ME counter at MCO. Someone suggested the prepaid cards for the arcade. I would send you money ahead of time to buy them for me.

And, if anyone has suggestions for other things to include- I'm listening to that too.

The bags will be a little different from each other since one will have just turned 13 and the other one is 8. So far-- pennies/quarters for pressed pennies, I have some pool toys that are these special type of ball, a Pirates of Carribean beach ball, sunglasses, disney dollars, disposable camera, glow sticks.

We're headed there next Wednesday. Let me know if I can help you.

Karen

 

[Tinkerbell 99 Mom]

Hi. Just wondering if anyone is going to be at WDW between now and the end of September and staying onsite? We're surprising the boys with a trip from 10/15 - 10/21 and I'm going to be making some gift bags to give them when they get their surpise after we get to the ME counter at MCO. Someone suggested the prepaid cards for the arcade. I would send you money ahead of time to buy them for me.

And, if anyone has suggestions for other things to include- I'm listening to that too.

The bags will be a little different from each other since one will have just turned 13 and the other one is 8. So far-- pennies/quarters for pressed pennies, I have some pool toys that are these special type of ball, a Pirates of Carribean beach ball, sunglasses, disney dollars, disposable camera, glow sticks.

Have you checked out the Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party? It is happening during your visit. We have done that several times and it was the BEST ! We really enjoyed heading over in the evening and it was a great time. The parks never seem to very crowded when we went. ( The party requires and extra ticket for the evening)

wendy

 

[sherreis]

Have you checked out the Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party? It is happening during your visit. We have done that several times and it was the BEST ! We really enjoyed heading over in the evening and it was a great time. The parks never seem to very crowded when we went. ( The party requires and extra ticket for the evening)

wendy

Thanks for the suggestion Wendy. We don't feel like spending an additional $200 for the trip. One of the big reasons I would want to attend is cause I can't fit in Wishes and Spectro during the trip due to MK closing early cause of MNSSHP. I had thought of using my Disney rewards to pay for it but we decided we're going to keep letting that accumulate for the cruise. Oh well - there is always a next time.

 

[Tinkerbell 99 Mom]

Thanks for the suggestion Wendy. We don't feel like spending an additional $200 for the trip. One of the big reasons I would want to attend is cause I can't fit in Wishes and Spectro during the trip due to MK closing early cause of MNSSHP. I had thought of using my Disney rewards to pay for it but we decided we're going to keep letting that accumulate for the cruise. Oh well - there is always a next time.

Totally understand about the $$$ Disney trips can really add up. We were able to use our Disney Rewards Visa and we were given a small discount.

A tip. If you can make it to the Grand Floridian on the night of one of the parties, you can see the Orange and Purple fireworks from there boat landing. We have gone to have a snack over there and stayed for the fireworks.

wendy