WE NEED A VACATION!! .. Pre-Trip Report.. to cruise OCT 17

[missusem]

Disney fever has hit the house!

Hi there! I'm Sue and really, very very excited about my cruise coming up. In fact our whole family is.

You see, this past year has been a whirlwind for us. We moved across continents once and countries once (that's two big moves) in under 12 months and all the packing, and the paperwork and the WAITING for paperwork - well, just takes away a lot from you. In fact, this past summer went by SOOO fast because we just sat waiting for paperwork to be sorted so we can move (our furniture went ahead of us - and arrived before us!)..

So you can understand why we are heaving a sigh of relief that in a month and 10 days as I write this, we will be heading down to Cape Carneveral and having a super time on a Disney Cruise.. We head over to WESTERN Caribbean destinations with some fun excursions (we hope!!)

Just last week, the final part of our paperwork was COMPLETED to help us move ahead here in Aberdeen, UK where we live...and I must say, we're quite quite excited.

A quick intro to our little family - DD (5) DH (30+) and me!!! We'll be celebrating my birthday and our wedding anniversary on the cruise.. since all this movement and craziness really put a spanner in the works of a BIG celebration ...

Our journey takes us from Aberdeen to Miami (via London) and then driving up to Cocoa Beach for a night before heading for our Western Caribbean Cruise.. oh yeah!!

Plans so far: Hotels - Check, Rental Car - Check, Flights - Check, Packing - not quite but of course, nearly there.

And the biggest deal of all - DD's Autograph Book Album - the last time we cruised, I handmade this - and now, she's asked if I'd handmake one again.. and so I will.

Be back to write more as soon as I can!

 

[missusem]

Thought I'd post some pics from our previous cruise.. Loved the shows - Disney Dreams probably my favourite but also loved Twice Charmed!!

This is probably my most FAVE pic of all!!

It will be our home in a few weeks!!! YAY!

 

[lucky1]

Yahoo... look forward to seeing more of your PTR and then meeting you on the cruise!!!

 

[missusem]

Hi Lucky!!

Today I was researching Key West and discovering what the Southernmost tip of the US has to offer us..

We're not going to do anything planned at Key West via DCL just because we thought we'd take an easy day and do a couple of simple things... The best way we think will work for us is taking the Old Town Trolley

http://www.trolleytours.com/key-west/mallory-square.asp

And stop wherever we wish..

We figure:

1. Blond Giraffe (Key Lime Pie on a Stick)
2. Some Museums
3. Southernmost point - maybe sunset..
4. Butterfly Park

And some museums..

Still trying to find some good coupons but otherwise, I think we're all set for KW.

 

[lucky1]

We are planning exactly the same thing for Key West, but probably be in Mallory square for Sunset. Hearing that is pretty entertaining.


BTW.. if you have any pics of your homemade autograph book, would love to see it.

 

[missusem]

I feel like I'm all by myself with Lucky over here.. but I'll keep plodding on..

UK friends, maybe happy to know that I discovered today that DISNEY PRINCESS DRESSES are actually cheaper (?!) in the UK than in the States right now - or shouldn't I shout that out..?

I was going to wait till I got to a US store but it seems the UK ones are selling them cheaper -- I don't know if they're the same -- but it IS from a Disney Store..

So - that was my Cruise tid-bit for today.

Also started today is my 'Cruise Journal'.. in it, are all the tidbits from packing, to important information, to what we should do, the highlights that I'm learning from here on the DIS boards and from my other resources ..

I must say it sometimes feels a bit archaic to be doing this by hand, but I like having a place to refer to, and a journal seems so homey..and I'll continue the journaling on board.

I have all the bits and pieces from my Last cruise in 2007, nicely stored, but there was no hand-written journaling of our adventures, and I sorta miss that! ..

Lucky - I was trying to look for the pic of the autograph book but I couldn't find it.. I'll have to find the real book now (in Lara's stuff somewhere..).. Will post when I can!

Today, I thought I'd post this picture of DD - see the thing she's grabbing for?

That's right, a Hot Dog!

DD loves hot dogs and since moving to the UK, it's hard to find a good ol' american hot dog.. and it's the thing she's been CRAVING. I showed here this pic yesterday and she said - YOU MEAN I CAN HAVE HOTDOGS again???

Yes. I do. Isn't the cruise magical??

Ha ha ha .. It might not be a big deal to you.. but it is to her In Canada and Norway where we lived before, we could get hot dogs everywhere.. but not here in the UK.. wierd huh?

So.. there.

Be back with more soon!!

 

[AnkaG]

yay! pre-trip report! that means we are CLOSE!!!!

I am about to do mine too, I am waiting to get a few wedding pictures since we are going for our honeymoon!

keep it up, and see you soon!

 

[missusem]

Since we're flying in to Miami, I'm wondering if anyone has any Miami suggestions for things to do for kids..?

Also, I've never stayed at the Residence Inn before.. We did the Radisson the last time but it was a so-so experience for us.. What did you think??

 

[missusem]

To plan or not to plan - that is the question..

AND my answer is TO PLAN!

The thing about having done the cruise before, you will unavoidably compare your experiences... and I guess, that's part of the fun of the Pre-trip-report.. to share my experiences and what I would do again or not..

When we arrive in Cocoa Beach, the last time, we stayed at the Radisson Hotel. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros:
Really close to the port.
Nice staff - helpful and really care.

Cons:
Rooms can be far from the dining area (we drove to the very last building to get our rooms).
Breakfast was not impressive but adequate.
Hotel has a tacky 'feel' to it.. less homey.

But, we're only staying ONE night right?

So, DH and I decided that this time, we'll be trying another hotel.. And we found out that DH had points to stay at the Marriott for FREE.. so, we decided to go with this one this time..

Also, the Residence Inn is really close to the Hertz Car Rental and probably the closest hotel to the port.. SCORE!

But the one thing I'll for sure do again when we get to Cocoa Beach, is go to the Thai Thai Restaurant (which is just opposite the Radisson - I guess that's a bonus to the Radisson).. they had yummy sushi and some nice Asian Noodles and stuff.. so definitely worth a dinner stop.. Highly recommended..(not sure if it's still there - anyone been there lately??)

The other thing I'm a bit uncertain about it is the number of days we have 'At Sea'. We did the Eastern the last time and had such a blast... but this time, we'll only have 2 (instead of 3) days at sea.. so I'm very interested to see how the activities and plans will be laid out for the Western cruises..

Questions? Comments?

 

[Disney-Brat]

Sue-- so glad I found your post-- I am a newbie and just registered today!!! Can't wait for this VACATION!!! Me and a coworker are going!!! Phyllis and I are scheduled for the late dinner seating but what are our chances of getting it changed once on board? If not then We will make the best of it.
Thanks
Carol

 

[missusem]

Hi Carol! There's no harm asking them. I would do two things:

1. Call your Travel Agent or DCL to get you on the Wait List for early dinner seating (no harm in being on the list)

2. When you get on board, promptly take a right on the ship (the clubs on the ground floor - don't remember the name - that's where they're changing dining reservations, etc.). Get there and ask if you can change it. A lot of people make changes aboard and they'll do their best to accommodate you!!

May I ask why you'd like to change to early though? There are quite good benefits of going for the later dinner (you watch the earlier show, you can take the time boarding and getting ready for dinner are just some perks..).. if you get peckish, there's always Goofy's Galley .. I'm on the Main seating but that's because I have a 5 year old.. who's naturally antsy .

 

[Disney-Brat]

We were wanting to eat earlier that is all-- but Phyllis (my friend going with me on a DC) man just saying I am going gets me all excited--- we were just thinking that we would rather our food digest earlier rather then later--- if we can't change that is OK too--not going to let something little like that damper our trip--btw I just email my TA she is great so I am sure she will "wait-list us"
thanks hope to meet you on board We fly into MCO that morning of the 17th

 

[kerickson]

Hi Sue!
I just found this thread. At first I was confused and I couldn't figure out how I missed some pages from our cruise meet thread, then I realized this was a separate one

Regarding your comment about Princess dresses in the UK, last Christmas the one thing my daughter asked for was a Giselle dress. The one in our Disney store was $70+ and I just couldn't justify paying that when she'd probably spill on it or grow out of it in a few months. So, I looked on eBay and found one from a UK store for about $35! It worked out great, it was actually prettier than the US version. She might even wear it on Formal or Semi Formal night...
Thanks for your pre-trip report!

Disney-Brat
Come join us on our meet thread. We are a fun bunch and are planning a meet at 3pm in the Promenade Lounge on Embarkation day. Hope to see you there!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1688119&page=122

 

[beansf]

Since we're flying in to Miami, I'm wondering if anyone has any Miami suggestions for things to do for kids..?

It has been a few years since I was there, but I absolutely loved Monkey Jungle! http://www.monkeyjungle.com/

 

[missusem]

So, officially, we leave PC in 16 days. Today is the 1st of October!! Yay!!

A couple of things I found out since the last entry:

1. Dolphinaris Cozumel - videos on youtube . These were useful to let me know how to prep for my DD5 who'll be doing the dolphin swim with us.

So, we ended up buying her one of these wetsuits because we read from some reports that the water can be a little cold (since dolphins need that). I don't want a blue-lipped child if we're going to be in the water for about 1/2 hour.. would like her to have fun .

2. Castaway Club numbers - Apparently, we had somehow mistakenly been given 2 different castaway club numbers - I found out because I couldn't register on the Disney website with the number that I had. I have to call them to check. And they eliminated one of the numbers - which had NO RECORD of me ever having sailed - I don't know how they could assign me a number if I haven't sailed - because of course I HAVE! Anyway, I wanted to get my castaway club gifts in my suite -- so note to any one who may be uncertain - just double check!!

3. Getting some costumes - We got Tinkerbell and accessories for DD5 and I'm still not decided as to what I should go as. I'm thinking witch ((I even got a hat)) but I could change my mind to something else.. although, it's not very hard to go as the witch from Wizard of Oz - I've always wanted to paint my face green.. and wear red lipstick.. we'll see.

Ah well.. the countdown continues, right?

See you on board!

 

[kerickson]

Hi Sue
This is our first Disney Cruise...I believe I have a CC # even though we haven't cruised yet, I think the system probably assigns when you book. So maybe that's what happended to you, they didn't have you linked to your old # so you got a fresh one when you booked this cruise...

I'm starting to get anxious now...have I noted everything in my To Do List...will I have time to do everything...will I get sea sick...will we be stressed at the ports...AACK! Ok, I need to take a deep breath and stay in the excited phase! We leave on the 16th too!!

 

[missusem]

Isn't it awesome.. hey you have a DD5 too!!

Trying to take it easy - I've bought a beach dress I'd like to wear almost all the time since I'm officially on vacation (at least during the daytime/pooltime/beachtime)..

Also got a formal dress too! It's all very very exciting isn't it??

 

[yazee1]

Sue, how close are you to writing your trip report? I've gotten as far as moving pictures off my flashcard but I think I'm weeks away from writing a report. Shoot, I would be weeks away from finishing the laundry if it wasn't for my kids being old enough to do it for me.

 

[kerickson]

Sue, how close are you to writing your trip report? I've gotten as far as moving pictures off my flashcard but I think I'm weeks away from writing a report. Shoot, I would be weeks away from finishing the laundry if it wasn't for my kids being old enough to do it for me.

We got a new washer and dryer Wed (if you remember mine broke the day before we left for the cruise), we were so excited that we got all our post cruise laundry done in one night! Now I have to switch my focus to my husband's 40th birthday party, then the holidays. I'm not going to do a trip report, but I already loaded my pics to my Facebook page. I'm going to try to start scrapbooking this year, I've had a DLR scrapbook taunting me since Aug. Not sure when I'll have time between now and Christmas

 

[lucky1]

We got a new washer and dryer Wed (if you remember mine broke the day before we left for the cruise), we were so excited that we got all our post cruise laundry done in one night! Now I have to switch my focus to my husband's 40th birthday party, then the holidays. I'm not going to do a trip report, but I already loaded my pics to my Facebook page. I'm going to try to start scrapbooking this year, I've had a DLR scrapbook taunting me since Aug. Not sure when I'll have time between now and Christmas

Wow... I only loaded a few pictures to facebook page. I am waiting to see more of Sue's photos since she has some amazing ones. DD has to write a trip report for school project, so she will have her's done before ours.