November 10, 2018 - Disney Fantasy 7-Night Very MerryTime Western Caribbean

[Sccrmnky2005]

I’d be open to organizing an FE group if enough want to join?

Can’t believe we’re down to 6 months.
Looks like we ARE staying in Orlando Thanksgiving week after all. We won’t be staying on Disney property, or visiting their parks as of now but maybe a Character dining or something similar. We’re planing on visiting Universal since last time we went there my daughter got heat stroke and we ended up in the ER

Getting exciting!

Yes I would be interested in participating in the FE on this cruise!!!

Count me in!

 

[LCoulter]

Only 172 more days!

 

[MSPeeler]

So, what do you do/who do you use for trip insurance??

I read yesterday that the estimated number of named hurricanes in southern Florida this season is between 9-12. I haven’t bought insurance yet but I am looking through squaremouth.com on what is covered and how much etc.

I’ve never travelled during hurricane season!

 

[LCoulter]

We don’t buy ship insurance...we know it’s a risk so I don’t necessarily recommend it. We self insure.

We sail during hurricane season and have been lucky so far. There was one year many years ago that we sailed while a hurricane was in the Caribbean but I can’t remember the year or name of hurricane. It wasn’t with Disney though. When we arrived at the port to board, they handed us a paper with a revised itinerary but by the time we boarded, the Capitain announced that he was changing the itinerary back to the original.

It ended up being one of the best weather cruise ever. Of course the ship track was odd with him zig zagging the Caribbean to avoid bad weather.

Speaking of hurricanes, we rode out hurricane Jeanne in 2004 at Disney World. One of the few times the parks were closed. I was nervous but we were ok. The parks were eerily quiet the days before the hurricane hit and it was interesting seeing Disney prepare for the hurricane. Strapping everything down, removing trash cans.

 

[LCoulter]

We are sailing late in the hurricane season so hopefully we won’t see a hurricane.

 

[LCoulter]

Is everyone over on the F***b**k group? I see there are a lot of people over there but I don’t want to join there.

 

[MSPeeler]

Is everyone over on the F***b**k group? I see there are a lot of people over there but I don’t want to join there.

No, I am not. I do not have an account, and don’t want one. The website is blocked to our WiFi so I cannot even pull it up if I wanted to I am happy here.

 

[LCoulter]

Maybe it’s just the two of us, although it is still very early.

I bought an evening gown, navy with a sequined pattern and silver sandals.

Can’t wait!

 

[MSPeeler]

That sound pretty! I have a cocktail length dress, teal colored I will bring for semi-formal night.
My husband does not own anything “formal” other than what he wore to my dads funeral which was a black suit and he has a black tie.
I will look for a nice long gown for formal night, I’d love to fix myself up nice and have a reason to do so!

Is your daughter going to wear a formal gown?
Mine want something like this:

FEESHOW Big Girls Halter-Neck Floral Lace Junior Bridesmaid Dress Party Wedding Long Gown Navy Blue 8

But my 2 boys... not a dressy bone in their body

 

[LCoulter]

That's really pretty.

DD has some really pretty dresses already, including one she just bought for a recent wedding....it's not floor length though. I will need to discuss with her soon as I would at least like her to wear a nice dress on formal night for a formal picture. The rest of the cruise, she can wear what she wants. She used to wear dresses all the time but has been leaning toward not lately.

DH is all set with one suit and a couple of dress shirts. For semi-formal, I will probably just wear an aqua skirt that I have but I want to get a short sleeve blouse to go with it....I currently have a long sleeved blouse for it but it will be too hot for that. It isn't semi formal but it is a little too dressy for an office.

Are you flying in the night before? We are flying in Thursday night and going to Kennedy Space Center on Friday. DH rented a car at the airport and we will return it Saturday morning before the cruise. We plan to take the Disney cruise bus back to the airport.

DD11 is so excited about being able to go to two different clubs and able to sign herself in and out. Mom and Dad are nervous about that. She is a good kid though and acts older than she is. I bought her a small cross body unicorn purse for her cell phone so she can keep in touch with us. Is your DD excited about the kids clubs?

 

[MSPeeler]

We aren't flying in, driving. 7 people crammed in a van... always fun. My husband likes Kennedy Space Center and wants to go back. We didn't get to enjoy everything last time we were there, I don't remember why though. Maybe just not enough time.

My daughter too is very excited about the dual clubs, although she doesn't seem to want to spend much time in Oceaneers at all as of now. She turns 12 this month. She has an iPhone that only works like an iPod really, but we can keep in touch over WiFi I think? She's pretty obedient, so if we ask her not to leave without asking us, she won't. My youngest wont be fully potty trained as of now (he's just stubborn and lazy), so he wont be going but my son will be in Oceaneers. He will have just turned 10.

 

[LCoulter]

Hopefully you don’t have far to drive....I’m trying to remember if you said in past posts what your drive time is. We drive it sometimes and for us it’s 21 hours....and I hate it so I’m thankful we are flying this time.

I think you can just use the wi-fi and the Disney app to communicate.

 

[MSPeeler]

It is about a 13 hour drive without stops, but with 3 kids that turns into much longer! We always stay overnight half way, but this time we are stay overnight Thursday halfway and then also staying Friday night near the port just to make sure we don't run into a problem.

Good to know about the app. I downloaded it to her phone yesterday.

I had to look up on youtube how to do online checking and scheduling port adventures and securing tickets and things. Last time we cruised, you weren't able to get tickets at check-in. You had to wait in line when you arrived on the boat. I couldn't remember anything and it was a good refresher coarse! So funny, I'm nervous about it for some reason and we aren't even doing any Excursions.

 

[LCoulter]

I know what you mean about being a bit nervous. It's been a few years since we cruised so I feel inexperienced...lol.

We usually don't do excursions either since we prefer to just stay on the ship but I am considering the Star Fish Point tour at Grand Cayman for DD. Also we have been to all these ports before and have done excursions in the past so don't feel a need to do any this trip.

I am anxious to get a ticket to do the gingerbread house but as far as I can tell, you sign up for that when you board. DD doesn't want to do the ticketed meet and greets or character breakfast so I don't have to worry about those. She surprised me Saturday by pulling her Elsa dress out of our garage sale, saying that she wanted to wear it on the cruise if it still fits. She isn't into meeting the characters anymore. Because of that, I don't think I'm going to bother getting the all inclusive digital photo package. I think I'm just going to order about 10 photos and hope that is plenty.

Are your older kids still into meeting the characters?

 

[MSPeeler]

My kids got out of school and it's been busy ever since! We just finished a wekk of Vacation Bible School, I led 5th Grade girls and it was a lot of fun. I usually teach 1st grade and they are a handful, so this was a nice change of pace,

We want to do the Gingerbread house as well, I imagine that line will be long! We really are open to doing it on any day they offer even if it is during a port day.
My daughter LOVES dressing up in her costumes still, she wants to do the BBB in Disney Springs but we may just do it on the cruise instead. We just do the hair, makeup and nails and she brings her own dress.

All 3 of mine love meeting characters. My 9 year old the most I think. I don't know what I will do when they outgrow it, I think I may be sad I didn't get the photo package last time, but we were only on a 4 night cruise. I have a DSLR camera, but will they take photos with my own camera? I will take them of just the kids, but if I want the family photos I'm wondering if anyone is around to take pics with my camera?

I'm not sure how some people get upwards of 150 pictures in the photo package!

 

[LCoulter]

Unless policy has changed, they did snap pics with our phone to get family pic with characters but our last cruise was so long ago.

 

[nicoleshan821]

Hi all! We booked this cruise opening day and are so excited! I am looking forward to getting to know some cruise buddies!

Roll Call: (alphabetical)

Ajandbellesmommy: Cruising with husband, son [6], daughter [4] , mother, MIL, FIL, BIL and his girlfriend and son.

Corinne Bodem: Corinne, husband, 3 kids [ages, 8, 10 and 11]

DisCruiseDad: Scott, wife Jen, DS [11] and DD [7]

Disneyelf10

gomagic: Tricia

keenanja: DS [11], DS [8]

LCoulter: Laura, husband Bob, DD [11]

lovewdwfun: Julie, traveling with husband and 4 kids [ DS10, DD8, DS5, and DD2 ]

MSPeeler: Michelle, cruising with my husband, Dave, our 3 kids [ages will be DD [12] , DS [10] and DS [4] ], and also my in-laws in connecting staterooms.

JessLFam: Jessica, husband, DS [5] & DS [3.5]

Sccrmnky2005: DD [5]

yepbob: Lisa, husband Art, DS [12], DD [9] & DD [6]

 

[nicoleshan821]

Hi all! We booked this cruise opening day and are so excited! I am looking forward to getting to know some cruise buddies!

Roll Call: (alphabetical)

Ajandbellesmommy: Cruising with husband, son [6], daughter [4] , mother, MIL, FIL, BIL and his girlfriend and son.

Corinne Bodem: Corinne, husband, 3 kids [ages, 8, 10 and 11]

DisCruiseDad: Scott, wife Jen, DS [11] and DD [7]

Disneyelf10

gomagic: Tricia

keenanja: DS [11], DS [8]

LCoulter: Laura, husband Bob, DD [11]

lovewdwfun: Julie, traveling with husband and 4 kids [ DS10, DD8, DS5, and DD2 ]

MSPeeler: Michelle, cruising with my husband, Dave, our 3 kids [ages will be DD [12] , DS [10] and DS [4] ], and also my in-laws in connecting staterooms.

JessLFam: Jessica, husband, DS [5] & DS [3.5]

Sccrmnky2005: DD [5]

yepbob: Lisa, husband Art, DS [12], DD [9] & DD [6]

Can someone help in directing me to getting information about the fish extender sign-up? Thanks

 

[MSPeeler]

Can someone help in directing me to getting information about the fish extender sign-up? Thanks

Hi & Welcome! We did not start one here because we did not have enough interest it seems. I'm sure there may be one on another social media site, but I am not a member of it.

*EDITED 7/26 to add: FE Sign-Up form is in the First Post

 

[LCoulter]

Only 119 more days!