MissDaisyofTexas
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2007
9 Days to Go--Yo Ho!
Hello there! My name is MissDaisyofTexas and this is my very first trip report. Well, actually, it's a pre-trip report. I've never done either. I'm glad there is a new folder for pre-trip reports because I've thought about doing one but at the same time it seems that some people are annoyed with pre-trip reports and they'd just rather read the actual trip reports. Which is fine, then they won't look in this folder!
This is us! We are going on our very first Disney Cruise next week! We leave in 9 days!
Pardon our disheveled looks. This is one of the only pictures we have of all 5 of us, and we had just finished an afternoon at an indoor trampoline place.
This is me, Nancy, wife and mother of 3. I'm 39 years old.
I'm the brains behind this operation (the vacation, that is.) I'm a stay-at-home mom (I quit my job 3 years ago). Since I quit my job, I've become very passionate about personal finances and vacation planning.
I'm the reason we are going on this cruise. The story goes back to 2009...I was researching future vacation options for us and I was looking at cruises to Alaska (since one of my friends got married on an Alaskan cruise ship and I got to attend her wedding on it, but I left before the ship sailed to Alaska). And as I was googling Alaska cruise, lo and behold the Disney Cruise Line popped up. I didn't know that Disney went to Alaska! Well actually, at the time they didn't, but they were going to start cruises to Alaska and they were already advertising for it. Anyways...that got me looking at DCL videos and I was in awe!
I had been on one cruise before, about 10 years ago, it was an RCCL cruise out of Los Angeles. It was a short weekend cruise to Ensenada, and that's it. I liked it ok, the scenery was beautiful but I did not think the cruise was kid-friendly at all (I didn't have kids at the time, so that's ok). When I boarded the cruise on a Friday afternoon, most of the passenger were already stumbling around drunk! The lifeboat drill was crazy--so many drunk people! So I guess I never thought about taking my kids on a regular cruise before I saw the DCL videos.
So of course I get on the DCL website and have a heart attack at the prices, and figure it will never happen for us.
But then I had an idea. By this time we were in early 2010 and my goal for the year was to lose 60 pounds. My DH was trying to be supportive, so he suggested that I get little rewards along the way towards my goal to keep me motivated. Things like pedicures, massages, etc. So this idea popped into my head...what if my reward at the end of losing 60 pounds was a Disney Cruise? I proposed the idea to my DH and he said yes! Now I'm not sure if he said yes because he thought it was a good idea, or yes because he didn't think I'd go through with losing the 60 pounds...but either way, the deal was on!
It was the end of February 2010 and I had already lost about 20 pounds towards my goal. But then I started getting really tired, not feeling well...something just wasn't normal. Guess what? I was pregnant! A little bit of a shocker since our older two kids are adopted and, well, we were just surprised!
So needless to say, I didn't lose my 60 pounds in 2010. I gave birth to our daughter in October after having gained 40 pounds during pregnancy. I had given up the idea of a Disney Cruise because it was so expensive for 4 people, let alone 5. So I stopped researching and reading the message boards about cruising and kind of forgot about it for a while.
Then in November, I decided that I would once again get back on track with my weight loss goal for 2011. So our deal was on again. Except that I convinced my DH to actually book a cruise right then and there! So we booked a 5-night double dip on the Dream for June 10, 2012.
I did end up making my goal in 2011--I lost 61.5 lbs!
Here is my DH Brian.
He enjoys cycling and martial arts. He works from home most of the time, so he is around our kids a lot as well.
He is not as into Disney as I am. But he tolerates my hobby and has fun while we're there. He just doesn't like to hear about it for 2 years between our trips.
These are our 3 kids (picture taken just yesterday):
Our oldest son, Nathan, is 7 and just days away from turning 8.
He likes martial arts and playing with legos.
Our younger son, Joshua, is 4.
He likes everything that his brother likes, at the moment.
And this is Alyssa, the baby sister.
She is 19 months old (will be 20 months old next week).
So that is who we are and how we came to book this cruise! We are leaving in 9 days (we will be spending 3 night at WDW prior to the cruise, more on that later).
I plan on writing once a day in this pre-trip report.
Tomorrow's installment: The finances of a vacation!
Hello there! My name is MissDaisyofTexas and this is my very first trip report. Well, actually, it's a pre-trip report. I've never done either. I'm glad there is a new folder for pre-trip reports because I've thought about doing one but at the same time it seems that some people are annoyed with pre-trip reports and they'd just rather read the actual trip reports. Which is fine, then they won't look in this folder!
This is us! We are going on our very first Disney Cruise next week! We leave in 9 days!
Pardon our disheveled looks. This is one of the only pictures we have of all 5 of us, and we had just finished an afternoon at an indoor trampoline place.
This is me, Nancy, wife and mother of 3. I'm 39 years old.
I'm the brains behind this operation (the vacation, that is.) I'm a stay-at-home mom (I quit my job 3 years ago). Since I quit my job, I've become very passionate about personal finances and vacation planning.
I'm the reason we are going on this cruise. The story goes back to 2009...I was researching future vacation options for us and I was looking at cruises to Alaska (since one of my friends got married on an Alaskan cruise ship and I got to attend her wedding on it, but I left before the ship sailed to Alaska). And as I was googling Alaska cruise, lo and behold the Disney Cruise Line popped up. I didn't know that Disney went to Alaska! Well actually, at the time they didn't, but they were going to start cruises to Alaska and they were already advertising for it. Anyways...that got me looking at DCL videos and I was in awe!
I had been on one cruise before, about 10 years ago, it was an RCCL cruise out of Los Angeles. It was a short weekend cruise to Ensenada, and that's it. I liked it ok, the scenery was beautiful but I did not think the cruise was kid-friendly at all (I didn't have kids at the time, so that's ok). When I boarded the cruise on a Friday afternoon, most of the passenger were already stumbling around drunk! The lifeboat drill was crazy--so many drunk people! So I guess I never thought about taking my kids on a regular cruise before I saw the DCL videos.
So of course I get on the DCL website and have a heart attack at the prices, and figure it will never happen for us.
But then I had an idea. By this time we were in early 2010 and my goal for the year was to lose 60 pounds. My DH was trying to be supportive, so he suggested that I get little rewards along the way towards my goal to keep me motivated. Things like pedicures, massages, etc. So this idea popped into my head...what if my reward at the end of losing 60 pounds was a Disney Cruise? I proposed the idea to my DH and he said yes! Now I'm not sure if he said yes because he thought it was a good idea, or yes because he didn't think I'd go through with losing the 60 pounds...but either way, the deal was on!
It was the end of February 2010 and I had already lost about 20 pounds towards my goal. But then I started getting really tired, not feeling well...something just wasn't normal. Guess what? I was pregnant! A little bit of a shocker since our older two kids are adopted and, well, we were just surprised!
So needless to say, I didn't lose my 60 pounds in 2010. I gave birth to our daughter in October after having gained 40 pounds during pregnancy. I had given up the idea of a Disney Cruise because it was so expensive for 4 people, let alone 5. So I stopped researching and reading the message boards about cruising and kind of forgot about it for a while.
Then in November, I decided that I would once again get back on track with my weight loss goal for 2011. So our deal was on again. Except that I convinced my DH to actually book a cruise right then and there! So we booked a 5-night double dip on the Dream for June 10, 2012.
I did end up making my goal in 2011--I lost 61.5 lbs!
Here is my DH Brian.
He enjoys cycling and martial arts. He works from home most of the time, so he is around our kids a lot as well.
He is not as into Disney as I am. But he tolerates my hobby and has fun while we're there. He just doesn't like to hear about it for 2 years between our trips.
These are our 3 kids (picture taken just yesterday):
Our oldest son, Nathan, is 7 and just days away from turning 8.
He likes martial arts and playing with legos.
Our younger son, Joshua, is 4.
He likes everything that his brother likes, at the moment.
And this is Alyssa, the baby sister.
She is 19 months old (will be 20 months old next week).
So that is who we are and how we came to book this cruise! We are leaving in 9 days (we will be spending 3 night at WDW prior to the cruise, more on that later).
I plan on writing once a day in this pre-trip report.
Tomorrow's installment: The finances of a vacation!