Wonder - 12/27/2013

[txtwinsplus1]

Booking this cruise soon as our 1st cruise. Will be Janice, Mark, Sarah (10), Caleb (10), and Jackson (8). My mom (nana) may join us also. Still trying to convince my sister to come along too with her 2 year old daughter.

Very interested in FE group, so hopefully others will join so we can have a good group. Curious how popular this sailing will be.

 

[ksloane]

Booking this cruise soon as our 1st cruise. Will be Janice, Mark, Sarah (10), Caleb (10), and Jackson (8). My mom (nana) may join us also. Still trying to convince my sister to come along too with her 2 year old daughter.

Very interested in FE group, so hopefully others will join so we can have a good group. Curious how popular this sailing will be.

We'll do FE too so that's at least a couple families. I bet it feels up being a school break, New Years, etc. Don't know how many will be DIS members though.

 

[txsgrl77]

Since I'm a newbie, I have a few questions that I'm hoping you veterans can answer for me.

1. I'm assuming credit cards are accepted on the ship for shopping?

2. If you've been to Cozumel already...do most places accept cc and/or cash?

3. Can you take snacks off board and on the excursions with you or will you not know until you get there?

4. Anyone know how many hours you can book in the nursery?

5. Any absolute must takes that you found you couldn't do without? I'll have a 1.5 year old, so I'm sure I'll need baggies/wipes/sanitizer for sure. What have you found that is super helpful to have with you?

6. I've looked at other navigators for 4 day cozumel trips and here's my question. We'd thought about leaving our little one in the nursery while we do one excursion in Cozumel. Does anyone know when the excursions start...or do you find out when you sign up for one? Because all of the navs I've read say the nursery opens at 9 yet we're supposed to dock at 8:30. Just wondering if I'll have time to take baby to nursery and not miss our DCL excursion.

 

[ksloane]

Since I'm a newbie, I have a few questions that I'm hoping you veterans can answer for me.

1. I'm assuming credit cards are accepted on the ship for shopping? I'm not sure if you can use your credit card. The typical process, I believe, is to charge to your room and use your credit card at guest services to pay off your room charges.

2. If you've been to Cozumel already...do most places accept cc and/or cash? I haven't been to Cozumel. This will be my first time as well

3. Can you take snacks off board and on the excursions with you or will you not know until you get there?
It depends on where you are and what you want to take. I'm not sure about Cozumel. We took pre packaged snacks off in the Bahamas, but couldn't take off any produce.
4. Anyone know how many hours you can book in the nursery? Never taken a nursery age child

5. Any absolute must takes that you found you couldn't do without? I'll have a 1.5 year old, so I'm sure I'll need baggies/wipes/sanitizer for sure. What have you found that is super helpful to have with you?
Hmm...I'll have to think about this one, but we always pack a power strip so we can charge cameras, ipods, etc. Over the door racks on the bathroom door come in real handy for storage, and we like to keep our room key in a lanyard

 

[txsgrl77]

 

[usafvet]

Hey everyone,

Thought I'd take a moment to say hello as our family is booked on this cruise also. We initially booked the Thanksgiving cruise but found had to reschedule for this one. Kind of bummed that it is a shorter cruise but at least it is cheaper and will leave us extra spending money.

My family consists of my wife Alyshia, my son Caleb (8) and my daughter Anna (4), and myself (Danny). Would be interested in participating in the FEs as that seems like a fun and nifty idea.

By the way, we are also fellow Texans. We live in Austin and glad that we won't have to travel all the way to Florida or California to catch a cruise. This will be our first cruise and probably the only one in awhile since Disney is leaving Galveston in 2014. While it is a shame Disney will pull out of Galveston I'm glad we're able to enjoy one prior to their departure.

 

[txsgrl77]

Welcome usafvet!! I, too, am bummed that Disney will no longer be sailing out of Galveston. We're from Corpus Christi, so not a bad drive to go on a Disney Cruise!!

 

[txsgrl77]

I noticed that our port day says 8:30 to 3:30. Does this mean we will be able to disembark at 8:30 and get back on ship at 3:30 or that we're pulling out at 3:30? Thanks

 

[ksloane]

Hey everyone,

Thought I'd take a moment to say hello as our family is booked on this cruise also. We initially booked the Thanksgiving cruise but found had to reschedule for this one. Kind of bummed that it is a shorter cruise but at least it is cheaper and will leave us extra spending money.

My family consists of my wife Alyshia, my son Caleb (8) and my daughter Anna (4), and myself (Danny). Would be interested in participating in the FEs as that seems like a fun and nifty idea.

By the way, we are also fellow Texans. We live in Austin and glad that we won't have to travel all the way to Florida or California to catch a cruise. This will be our first cruise and probably the only one in awhile since Disney is leaving Galveston in 2014. While it is a shame Disney will pull out of Galveston I'm glad we're able to enjoy one prior to their departure.

Welcome!!!!

I noticed that our port day says 8:30 to 3:30. Does this mean we will be able to disembark at 8:30 and get back on ship at 3:30 or that we're pulling out at 3:30? Thanks

I believe it means back on ship at 3:30 and yes, off at 8:30.

 

[usafvet]

Thanks everyone. I look forward to corresponding with you guys over the year as we all anticipate this cruise. My wife and I are going to surprise our two kids with it on Christmas morning. Anyone have any ideas? I was thinking maybe a scavenger hunt or something. I looked at some videos on youtube to get an idea...if you have the chance, google Disney Christmas surprise and you'll find a bunch of heartwarming videos.

My explained to my wife what FEs were and she's very excited about thinking of ideas to give to others. She's already talking about things she'd like to craft and we're still 9 months away.

 

[ksloane]

I've surprised my daughter twice.

The first time - We checked our mail and found a note from an elf. It basically said she's been a real good girl and they had a surprise planned for her and our family. We were to go straight home (mail was at post office). When we got home, we found our bags packed with another note directing us to load it and head straight to a friend's house 3 hours away (she lives near the closest airport to us). When we got to her house, she reported finding a gift under her tree with our name on it. There was a letter in the gift revealing that we had flight reservations in the morning to fly out and spend Christmas break at Disney world.

The second time - got a large box - washing machine box. Wrapped it in red paper and put very big mickey heads all over it. It was in the living room when she woke up that morning (this happened in June). It was filled with helium balloons (shaped like Mickey of course). At the bottom of each balloon was a piece of paper that said "we're going to Disney World." And then at the bottom of box was a new autograph book, Disney tshirt, etc. We were already packed. We left that day for the airport!

Plan to surprise her with a cruise in 2014. Don't have solid plan yet for that but an idea.

 

[usafvet]

Thanks for sharing your family's experience as well as providing some ideas. Really looking forward to surprising them on Christmas.

Has anyone ever cruised during the Holidays? I wonder if they will still have holiday type activities on this particular cruise since we'll be boarding only two days past Christmas and deboarding on New Year's Eve. I hope so...our family likes to celebrate Christmas through the whole month of December. It always seems a shame to abruptly end the celebration of it immediately on December 26th.

We really contemplated booking the New Year's Eve cruise but my wife is a teacher and so we thought that it would be nice to have a few days left to unwind prior to school starting back up on January 6th. Wish the cruise was much longer than 4 days, but being our first cruise perhaps that'll be sufficient enough.

 

[txsgrl77]

Hoping someone can help me out...I'm assuming since it's a closed loop cruise we will not have to do any type of customs/immigration in Cozumel. But...what type of ID do we need to take off the ship so that we can re-board with no issues? Drivers license/passport...? Also, what about minors under 16...do they need a BC?

And about the automatic tips added to your account...can you remove these if you prefer to pay in cash?

Thanks y'all

 

[usafvet]

I'm not going to be of much help unfortunately, as this is our first cruise. I can say that I read on the mousesavers website (in regard to cruising tips) that one should not take their passports off board at any point due to the potential to lose them or worse, to be robbed of them. It's not common, but I guess in Nov 2009 18 people (some associated with a Disney cruise) were robbed at gunpoint in Nassau, to include their passports and valuables.

This link explains what transpired in detail: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3563

This link from mousesavers provides advice for first time cruisers, to include advising to leave passports on the ship (that part is explained under the shore excursions heading in the middle of the webpage) http://www.mousesavers.com/disney-c...e/disney-cruise-line-onboard-tips-and-tricks/

This is a portion of the mousesavers website that details safety tips for excusions:

•Be very aware of your surroundings. Look on a map before leaving the ship so you know the general layout of the port and have an idea of where the ship is docked. Don’t rely exclusively on a GPS, iPhone or other electronic device for directions, since those might be stolen. Take a paper map with you so you can find your way back to the ship.
•Carry limited cash and only one credit card. If there are two adults in your party, each should carry a different credit card. That way, if one is robbed, the other will have a working card after you report the stolen card. Hide some cash on your person, so you aren’t stranded without any money if you have to hand over your wallet to a robber.
•DO NOT take your passport with you when you leave the ship, unless you plan to rent a car (in which case you’ll need it). If it is stolen, you will have a real mess on your hands. Very few countries require you to carry your passport around. Instead, each adult should carry a driver’s license or other photo ID, as you may be required to show ID when coming back on to the ship. If not having your passport with you makes you nervous, make a color photocopy of the identity page of your passport before you leave on the cruise, and carry that with you when you get off the ship.
•Write down the name and phone number of the “ship’s agent” for the port (which will be printed in each port day’s Navigator), and carry it with you. Putting it in your cell phone or other electronic device is a good backup, but put it on a piece of paper, too. You’ll need to contact the ship’s agent if something bad happens while you’re onshore (i.e., you get sick/robbed/miss the ship’s departure, etc.)


I certainly do not want to create any alarm to anyone with this information. I know I found it very informative and it doesn't hurt to pass it along. Of course, those who have cruised several times before will be able to provide a much better insight through their personal experience than what any of us could ever read about.

 

[ksloane]

You need your room key and photo id. Minors only need their room key to get back on the ship. I took my daughter to get a state issued photo id though and she takes it with her room key (but that is not necessary). I just liked the idea of us both having some documentation off ship of who we were on something official.

I take my passport off if I know there is somewhere close I can get it stamped (from researching on cruise boards). Otherwise it stays locked in the safe onboard.

Yes, you can just go to guest services and have tips removed (or give guest services the cash either way).

 

[txsgrl77]

to both of you!!

 

[txsgrl77]

At the port...can one person check in everyone else or do you all have to be there together? How does that work?

 

[ksloane]

At the port...can one person check in everyone else or do you all have to be there together? How does that work?

I don't know this for sure, but I'm thinking that each person would have to check themselves in as they take a picture of you to associate with your key. But you might could check in separately?

 

[usafvet]

I understand we're still several months away from this voyage, but I'm surprised that this thread does not have more involvement. Prior to securing the Dec 27th cruise, my wife and I contemplated on securing the Jan 4th cruise since it is significantly cheaper, but considering my wife is a teacher, we ultimately chose the Dec 27th cruise so we'd still have a few days before returning from Christmas break as in comparison to keeping the kids out of school a couple of days and going back the day after the cruise.

On the Jan 4th thread, it seems booming with people. If I'm reading it correctly they already have 20 some folks signed up for an FE. I would have thought this cruise would be more popular considering it is scheduled during Christmas vacation. I'm sure we'll see more folks sign on the closer we inch toward the date. Looking forward to a good turn out on this thread.

 

[txtwinsplus1]

I understand we're still several months away from this voyage, but I'm surprised that this thread does not have more involvement. Prior to securing the Dec 27th cruise, my wife and I contemplated on securing the Jan 4th cruise since it is significantly cheaper, but considering my wife is a teacher, we ultimately chose the Dec 27th cruise so we'd still have a few days before returning from Christmas break as in comparison to keeping the kids out of school a couple of days and going back the day after the cruise.

On the Jan 4th thread, it seems booming with people. If I'm reading it correctly they already have 20 some folks signed up for an FE. I would have thought this cruise would be more popular considering it is scheduled during Christmas vacation. I'm sure we'll see more folks sign on the closer we inch toward the date. Looking forward to a good turn out on this thread.

I admit I've been lurking...I posted about a month ago that we were considering this as our first cruise and we finally booked a couple weeks ago. We also chose this cruise over the one on the 31st to give us some time to get back to "reality" before heading back to school and work.

I am super excited about our first cruise, there will be myself, DH, DD (10), DS (10), DS ( 8), along with my mom (nana). We are hoping to surprise the kids on Christmas morning, but I don't know if I will be able to contain myself for another 260+ days.

I guess I will have to keep hitting the boards and hope the time passes quickly. Looking forward to planning together.