Disney Wonder - Galveston to San Jaun - January 20, 2017

[@jenncardenas]

My husband and I may be interested in mixology depending on date and time

 

[pixiehallow]

How about his son? Is he available?

I think he was booked up as well . If you reach out to him as a past customer, and you find out he has an opening on Thursday , we would love to join you .

My husband and I may be interested in mixology depending on date and time

If you have things booked (or are planning to ) go ahead and join in , and just let me know what you have on your schedule , or what times won't work for you . That way when I start working with the planner , I have a better idea of times to aim for .

 

[SunI17]

I have not. They usually will not get back in contact with me until about 1 month out. But if you want to make plans, just let me know so I have a list of times / dates to work with when they do call me.
From past experience, we will most likely be looking at a sea day.

The first sea day will be tough for us its pretty booked up. I much prefer the second sea day which as long as its not first thing in the AM, we have much more flexibility.

 

[pixiehallow]

The first sea day will be tough for us its pretty booked up. I much prefer the second sea day which as long as its not first thing in the AM, we have much more flexibility.

Thanks for the input!
I put it in my notes.

 

[pixiehallow]

I have requested a reservation for our mixology, and am waiting for a response from the on board group planner to get back with me. We still need at least 3 more participants (which will bring the count to 20) to guarantee a reservation in advance. We can have up to 40 people in the group. So if we reach 20 and you are still interested, there will still be room for more.
I am going to try to post this at the top of each page (going forward ) so new members won't have to search to find out what we are planning.

~Planned activities ~
(Meets, cabin crawls, mixology, etc )

Mixology
(will need a minimum of 20 - must be 21 or older)
Currently interested:
Pixiehallow (2)
SunI17 (2 )
StefunnyD (1)
MNnice (2)
Sian (2)
Bbrown (2)
ColoradoMrs (2)
Angel and Bear (2)
jenncardenas (2)​

Pre Cruise Meet for Harbor House
Pixiehallow
MNnice
StefunnyD
Zoijmvs
BBrown
crystalsnowseekins
Mngirl80
westonkamom
asperle
alaskanabbott
MNMommyof2
Grumpy's Group
Angel Rae​

____________________________________________________

Cabin Crawl
(with or without poker)
Currently interested:
Pixiehallow
alaskanabbott
MNnice
Angel Rae
westonkamom​

 

[pixiehallow]

Happy Monday everyone. I miss stated the number of Mondays last week...Sorry!
We have 12 Mondays until our cruise. So many of which are filled with holiday hustle and bustle. So the earlier you can take care of preparations, the more relaxed you will be come January (I am talking to myself here just as much as reminding everyone else...I decided to add one more FE that is taking up more time than I expected, and I have to remember to schedule time in my days to take care of it ).

This week's forget me not is about planning ahead to make our return home a bit less of a shock to the system. I don't think any of us like to come home after a trip, and be reminded that our vacation is over.

One thing that always is the rude awakening and reminds us that it is time to get back to the daily grind is vacation laundry . I don't know about your family, but mine definitely makes more dirty clothes on vacation than in a normal week.

No worries though, there is a solution. Our home away from home comes equipped with do it yourself laundry rooms. If you plan ahead, utilizing this amenity before disembarkation will make the return to civilization a bit easier. To prepare, toss a collapsible laundry basket into your suitcase, along with a few single load detergent packs (if you happen to forget detergent, they do have some available to purchase at Disney prices ). And the machines do not require change. All you have to do is swipe your key to the world card, and you are set. Last time we sailed, the cost was $2/ a load to wash and $2/ a load to dry. The machines are quite large. We are usually able to get everything into 1 load of darks and 1 load of lights.

***Side note tip - Don't plan to do your laundry just after everyone would be getting back on from a day at the beach. People seem to think that the washers are there to wash sand out of their swim suits. When the machines get all clogged up with sand, they are not very effective.

The machines are also a great tool to help us cut back on our tendency to over pack!

Have a great week -
~ Tink ~

 

[Angel Rae]

Me and Bear are interested in the mixology. I have some apprehension to commiting though. See we have never left our kid with anyone besides family. So the thought of leaving her in the kids club is somewhat a daunting idea. We are not opposed to it and have talked about it and came to the conclusion that we would check it out when we got on board. She is a rather independent little spirit and it wouldn't phase her to be without us. Its more OUR issue with trusting strangers.
So if anyone would care to chime in about the safety and trustworthiness of leaving a kid (age 3) in the club I would appreciate the advice!

 

[pixiehallow]

Me and Bear are interested in the mixology. I have some apprehension to commiting though. See we have never left our kid with anyone besides family. So the thought of leaving her in the kids club is somewhat a daunting idea. We are not opposed to it and have talked about it and came to the conclusion that we would check it out when we got on board. She is a rather independent little spirit and it wouldn't phase her to be without us. Its more OUR issue with trusting strangers.
So if anyone would care to chime in about the safety and trustworthiness of leaving a kid (age 3) in the club I would appreciate the advice!

I will add you to the group for now.
As for your apprehensions, each of us have our own speed at which we let our little ones spread their wings. Some sooner than others (much much sooner for some), and some later than others.
On our 1st Disney cruise, I was much like you. We went and checked out the kid areas during the open house and reluctantly signed the boys up and got them their wrist bands. I still was not sure about leaving them. Plus this was a Family vacation. After dinner the first night, the boys wanted to go back and play. So we took them with the plan that we were going to hang out with them until they were ready to go do something else. Our oldest began by asking us if he could go and...(fill in the blank), until he made a few friends. Then he ran around from one activity to another with his new pals. Our youngest continued to check and make sure we were still there for about an hour. After that he seemed to forget we were there. We hung out the rest of the night watching the boys, and seeing how well the cast members engaged with the kids. The cast members told us a couple of times that we were welcome to hang out as long as we wanted, but if we wanted to leave and come back later, we were free to do that as well. As we hung out, we asked a ton of questions as we slowly came to the conclusion (at least for our family) that the boys would be fine in the kids area the remaining days of the cruise. We made a few cast member friends in the kids area, and were able to check in on the boys, when ever we felt the urge, with out disturbing there play. And by the way, we found a lot of excuses to stop by. It was very difficult to have fun on our own with out thinking about what the boys were doing. Which led to wanting to go check on them. I think they were doing better with it than we were.
As we were heading back to our cabin that first night, the 'When can we go back' started. My hubby and I decided that we would all have every meal together, and do all of our pre-scheduled activities together. Aside from that, they could go and play with their new friends for a few hours each day.
After the cruise (all the way until our next cruise) if we talked about the trip, they either brought up the kids area or the food!
By the way, our next Disney cruise was much better for all of us. The boys got to play freely in the kids area (with the meal and pre-planned activity rule still in place), and hubby and I were able to enjoy a bit more free time as well, with out the urge to pop down to the kids area every 10-15 minutes.
I am sure that this is not everyone's experience. Some of our cruising friends have spent the whole cruise with their kids (including scheduled activities [like the cabin crawl and mixology]...heck our youngest is currently planning to do the cabin crawl with us this trip), and we have sailed with people who sign their kids into the kids area asap, and only see them at night when it is bed time.
Basically, what ever you feel comfortable with is the best thing for your family. There is a chance that posters will express that your are being to over protective, or others that will tell you that you should never let your kids out of your sight. Don't feel pressure to spend your vacation in any other way than what feels right for your family.
As for safety, from one protective mom to another, the kids areas are safe and security measures are in place to keep them safe. But, it comes down to how comfortable you feel once on board, and once you meet the cast members in the kids area.

Tink~

 

[Angel Rae]

Thanks Tink!

 

[@jenncardenas]

I will add you to the group for now.
As for your apprehensions, each of us have our own speed at which we let our little ones spread their wings. Some sooner than others (much much sooner for some), and some later than others.
On our 1st Disney cruise, I was much like you. We went and checked out the kid areas during the open house and reluctantly signed the boys up and got them their wrist bands. I still was not sure about leaving them. Plus this was a Family vacation. After dinner the first night, the boys wanted to go back and play. So we took them with the plan that we were going to hang out with them until they were ready to go do something else. Our oldest began by asking us if he could go and...(fill in the blank), until he made a few friends. Then he ran around from one activity to another with his new pals. Our youngest continued to check and make sure we were still there for about an hour. After that he seemed to forget we were there. We hung out the rest of the night watching the boys, and seeing how well the cast members engaged with the kids. The cast members told us a couple of times that we were welcome to hang out as long as we wanted, but if we wanted to leave and come back later, we were free to do that as well. As we hung out, we asked a ton of questions as we slowly came to the conclusion (at least for our family) that the boys would be fine in the kids area the remaining days of the cruise. We made a few cast member friends in the kids area, and were able to check in on the boys, when ever we felt the urge, with out disturbing there play. And by the way, we found a lot of excuses to stop by. It was very difficult to have fun on our own with out thinking about what the boys were doing. Which led to wanting to go check on them. I think they were doing better with it than we were.
As we were heading back to our cabin that first night, the 'When can we go back' started. My hubby and I decided that we would all have every meal together, and do all of our pre-scheduled activities together. Aside from that, they could go and play with their new friends for a few hours each day.
After the cruise (all the way until our next cruise) if we talked about the trip, they either brought up the kids area or the food!
By the way, our next Disney cruise was much better for all of us. The boys got to play freely in the kids area (with the meal and pre-planned activity rule still in place), and hubby and I were able to enjoy a bit more free time as well, with out the urge to pop down to the kids area every 10-15 minutes.
I am sure that this is not everyone's experience. Some of our cruising friends have spent the whole cruise with their kids (including scheduled activities [like the cabin crawl and mixology]...heck our youngest is currently planning to do the cabin crawl with us this trip), and we have sailed with people who sign their kids into the kids area asap, and only see them at night when it is bed time.
Basically, what ever you feel comfortable with is the best thing for your family. There is a chance that posters will express that your are being to over protective, or others that will tell you that you should never let your kids out of your sight. Don't feel pressure to spend your vacation in any other way than what feels right for your family.
As for safety, from one protective mom to another, the kids areas are safe and security measures are in place to keep them safe. But, it comes down to how comfortable you feel once on board, and once you meet the cast members in the kids area.

Tink~

If I could "love" comment I would. Thank you!! We are in the same boat with both our girls. The last two cruises they wouldn't stay at all and we didn't force them. So I'm not sure how they will like it this time around. But 2nd sea day is best for us hopefully they love it. It will be the first cruise they are both over the age of 3. (3 and 5)

 

[pixiehallow]

If I could "love" comment I would. Thank you!! We are in the same boat with both our girls. The last two cruises they wouldn't stay at all and we didn't force them. So I'm not sure how they will like it this time around. But 2nd sea day is best for us hopefully they love it. It will be the first cruise they are both over the age of 3. (3 and 5)

Jenn, would you like me to add y' all to the class ?
And the great thing about your girls ages is that if they decide they want to stay, they are close enough in age to be in the same area and thus have each other. Our boys are 4 years apart , so most of our cruises they were in different age groups.

 

[@jenncardenas]

Jenn, would you like me to add y' all to the class ?
And the great thing about your girls ages is that if they decide they want to stay, they are close enough in age to be in the same area and thus have each other. Our boys are 4 years apart , so most of our cruises they were in different age groups.

Yes add us please

 

[pixiehallow]

Yes add us please

You are added. I will also add you to the mixology PM chat.

 

[Angel Rae]

I have a question.
We booked through costco travel paid in full a few weeks back. I made a disney account so can see in the disney site my reservation. It's our 1st disney cruise so we can't book excursions ect yet. Should I have recieved anything from disney about our reservation? When I made an account and added iur reservation number I see the basic itinerary. I am just trying to get it together to be prepared when booking opens!

 

[pixiehallow]

I have a question.
We booked through costco travel paid in full a few weeks back. I made a disney account so can see in the disney site my reservation. It's our 1st disney cruise so we can't book excursions ect yet. Should I have recieved anything from disney about our reservation? When I made an account and added iur reservation number I see the basic itinerary. I am just trying to get it together to be prepared when booking opens!

I am not sure about having plans through Costco (but I have questions about their travel benefits and will ask you later . ...anyway . ..), but we received 1 email directly from Disney when we paid off our cruise. The rest of our cruise related emails have come from our travel agent (I would be happy to share updates when I get them ). As for getting in to do some ahead of time planning , unfortunately Disney's cruise site has changed in the last few months. We used to be able to get in and see and explore all of our vacation details. When I went in about a month or so ago however, all I could see is exactly what you described. Everything was finally unlocked when my check in window opened. If you want to check out excursions, you can go to disney.go.com and go to the area for cruises. You can look up excursions for all the different ports from there (because of time of year, and length of time in port, some of excursions may not be available ). Another way to check out what is going on on board, is to do a Google search for Disney Wonder Navigators for San Juan repositioning cruise. The Navigator is the on board news letter you get delivered to your cabin each day that lets you know what will be happening on board the next day. People from previous cruises take pictures and post them online (thank you to all the cruise bloggers and cruise fanatics for helping make our cruise planning easier ). Also a much loved planning tool in our house is You Tube (but I probably didn't have to mention that one ).
If I missed anything, please let me know!

 

[Angel Rae]

I am not sure about having plans through Costco (but I have questions about their travel benefits and will ask you later . ...anyway . ..), but we received 1 email directly from Disney when we paid off our cruise. The rest of our cruise related emails have come from our travel agent (I would be happy to share updates when I get them ). As for getting in to do some ahead of time planning , unfortunately Disney's cruise site has changed in the last few months. We used to be able to get in and see and explore all of our vacation details. When I went in about a month or so ago however, all I could see is exactly what you described. Everything was finally unlocked when my check in window opened. If you want to check out excursions, you can go to disney.go.com and go to the area for cruises. You can look up excursions for all the different ports from there (because of time of year, and length of time in port, some of excursions may not be available ). Another way to check out what is going on on board, is to do a Google search for Disney Wonder Navigators for San Juan repositioning cruise. The Navigator is the on board news letter you get delivered to your cabin each day that lets you know what will be happening on board the next day. People from previous cruises take pictures and post them online (thank you to all the cruise bloggers and cruise fanatics for helping make our cruise planning easier ). Also a much loved planning tool in our house is You Tube (but I probably didn't have to mention that one ).
If I missed anything, please let me know!

Thank you! We have been in other cruises and been able to see bookable things wven if you couldn't book so I was kinda nervous.
Thanks for the explanation. Doesn't sound like I am missing anything except emails from disney. Costco hasn't sent me anything except my payment reciept and the booking confirmation email.
So thank you!

 

[Angel Rae]

Also costco has a shore excursion Web page for the cruise. I was hoping it was cheaper to book through them but since I can't price shop on the disney site till it unlocks I have no idea the price comparison?

 

[pixiehallow]

Also costco has a shore excursion Web page for the cruise. I was hoping it was cheaper to book through them but since I can't price shop on the disney site till it unlocks I have no idea the price comparison?

Let me know what excursions you are looking at (port and either name of excursions or description ) and I will check them out and let you know what Disney is charging .
2 quick questions. If we are costco members (with the new must have card) can we use the excursion booking page even if we didn't book our cruise through them ? And , do they have San Juan excursions ?

 

[@jenncardenas]

 

[@jenncardenas]

Also costco has a shore excursion Web page for the cruise. I was hoping it was cheaper to book through them but since I can't price shop on the disney site till it unlocks I have no idea the price comparison?

I uploaded a screen shot of the on the port day excursions so you can price shop and compare. Hope it helps and it's ok