August 22nd 2009 Western Carribbean Anyone?

[Pixiedustdawn]

Originally Posted by Ski-and-Sea

captainmarvins.com

1/2 day fishing trips up to 4 people - $500 for reef fishing and $600 for deep sea.

It is an early trip - 8:00am to noon. We have to be the first ones off the ship that day so no sleeping in. Tendering is such a pain.

Regarding the fish extenders.....I plan on buying one on Ebay. I just don't have the sewing skills.

Did I crusie with you last summer on Disney, your name sounds familiar?

Dawn

[sandyh67]

Originally Posted by Ski-and-Sea

Hi all from cold and snowy NJ. Not sure exactly how much snow we got as the snow is so powdery its blowing all over the place. Kids got a snow day. DD went out and did some cross country skiing around the yard this morning and now is in the hot tub. What a life

Christi......I am a firm believer that some classrooms harbor more germs than others. Went through that two years ago with my son. He was constantly getting sick.

I know those letters you are getting from the school regarding too many absences. Being home sick should not count towards those absences. My favorite was when DS got a concussion at school from an accident and missed several days because he was dizzy and I still got one of those "your child is missing too many days of school" letter.

I just ignore those letters completely.

I agree with the advice to check online and see if your flights have changed their departure times. We had that happen last year.

Regarding what to do for shore excursions......it all depends on what you like to do: shop; lay out on a beach; snorkel? Definitely check out what DCL is offering to get an idea of what you can do.

We booked a private snorkeling excursion for Cozumel and just this afternoon booked a deep sea fishing trip in Grand Cayman. Was thinking about Stingray City in Grand Cayman but decided on deep sea fishing as we've never done that before. We tried twice last cruise to do the fishing trip at Castaway Cay and both times it got cancelled.

We're not planning anything in Key West. Just relax onboard.

Yes, my DD will be pissed not being able to go to the Stack. I totally understand why DCL decided to split the age groups. She enjoyed Oceans Quest the last time we cruised on the Magic. And what is more important is the other kids in the clubs and not necessarily the location of the club.

Hello- not sure what your name is, we are the Houle family- I am responding to your post as I saw how many DCL cruises you have been on so I have a couple questions! Hope you don't mind-
As far as shore excursions go, what has your experience been- we have friends who have been on 3 DCL cruises in the last 5 years and they told me to steer away from excursions as they are tourist traps.
I had a man at WDW (in the hottub with DH and I in Feb. ) Who told me about the national park in Cozumel, said thats were they go, a short cab ride and just $17 for the day- beach chair and all. You can snorkel there as well for a fee. I just do not want to miss anything, ie: want to really experience cozumel/ grand caymen. I should add we will be a group of 10 four of which are young children ages 5,6,8 & 8. A tall order to find something for all of us to do. My two teenage boys are certified scuba divers so they might want to try that. I am probably making this question all too complicated- Would just love to know what your opinion is.
One more question- have you had any troubles with hurricane season? I ask this as we were in WDW last august right in the midst of Fay and it was a very wet vacation! They say they go "around" it- but fay seemed to cover a huge area!
Regardless of course we are going and are very excited!
This is DH and my second DCL cruise- our honeymoon was on the wonder in 2002- the rest of our group are first time cruisers
thanks for any info!!

[sandyh67]

Originally Posted by Maza

(Nurse) Midwife too. ..but havent practiced properly for about 6 years, since my last Delivery Suite rotation! Now head Nurse NICU...or rather Head Midwife ( still employed as a Midwife..makes me more useful!)...Or Madwife...coz you have to be!

Oh how fun- a fellow midwife/medwife/madwife/NICU crazed person on board! we will have to meet up and chat. Chatting about midwifery in different areas of the country is always interesting!

[sandyh67]

Originally Posted by sandyh67

Oh how fun- a fellow midwife/medwife/madwife/NICU crazed person on board! we will have to meet up and chat. Chatting about midwifery in different areas of the country is always interesting!

Just noticed you are from the UK- I really am looking forward to chatting with you!

[Maza]

Originally Posted by sandyh67

Just noticed you are from the UK- I really am looking forward to chatting with you!

Madwives of the world unite!!
motto...its a physiological process not an illness!
i was a an active member of ARM ( association of radical midwives) in my day!
should be interesting talking with you...we in the UK are very sadly following in US footsteps...will be interesting to actually hear a proper perspective..

[Ski-and-Sea]

Originally Posted by Pixiedustdawn

Did I crusie with you last summer on Disney, your name sounds familiar?

Dawn

Last summer we did back-to-back cruises on the Wonder. I think we departed 8/17/08, it was the same day that the Magic left for the Panama Canal.

That four day cruise was the one where we got diverted to Port Everglades due to TS Fay.

[Ski-and-Sea]

Originally Posted by sandyh67

Hello- not sure what your name is, we are the Houle family- I am responding to your post as I saw how many DCL cruises you have been on so I have a couple questions! Hope you don't mind-
As far as shore excursions go, what has your experience been- we have friends who have been on 3 DCL cruises in the last 5 years and they told me to steer away from excursions as they are tourist traps.
I had a man at WDW (in the hottub with DH and I in Feb. ) Who told me about the national park in Cozumel, said thats were they go, a short cab ride and just $17 for the day- beach chair and all. You can snorkel there as well for a fee. I just do not want to miss anything, ie: want to really experience cozumel/ grand caymen. I should add we will be a group of 10 four of which are young children ages 5,6,8 & 8. A tall order to find something for all of us to do. My two teenage boys are certified scuba divers so they might want to try that. I am probably making this question all too complicated- Would just love to know what your opinion is.
One more question- have you had any troubles with hurricane season? I ask this as we were in WDW last august right in the midst of Fay and it was a very wet vacation! They say they go "around" it- but fay seemed to cover a huge area!
Regardless of course we are going and are very excited!
This is DH and my second DCL cruise- our honeymoon was on the wonder in 2002- the rest of our group are first time cruisers
thanks for any info!!

For our first couple of cruises we booked our excursions through DCL and were not disappointed. I do not view the shore excursions as tourist traps. The national park in Cozumel is very nice - beach swimming for the younger kids and snorkeling for the older ones. The DCL beach break excursion goes to a different beach. That one is very nice, too. Your food and transportation is included with the DCL excursion. That might be convenient for you with such a large group. One thing I will mention is that the beaches in Cozumel are not close to the cruise piers - its a bit of a drive in a cab/bus.

What happens as you get more experienced with taking the same cruises over and over is that you book your excursions directly with a vendor and not through DCL. In our case we wanted to go snorkeling at different reefs than the DCL snorkeling excursions. So we booked directly with a local vendor. We find good local vendors through the DIS.

In terms of hurricanes and cruising in the summer.....we've cruised 8 times in both August and July and only once did we get directly impacted by a hurricane. So that's pretty low odds. I would not use the risk of hurricanes to keep us from cruising in August.

The heat is a different issue. That's one thing to remember when cruising with younger children. It can be extremely hot in places like Grand Cayman or Cozumel in the summer. That's why I tell people cruising in the summer to book beach shore excursions and not walking tours.

[Ski-and-Sea]

Grumpy-gramps.....very sorry to see you won't be sailing with us but you have an excellent excuse for bailing out on us.

Well, DS had bronchitis for two weeks. Just returned to school yesterday. He started off with the flu but then his fever spiked and we took him to the doctor. Bronchitis has been going around school.

I am in the middle of reading four different books. I really need to pick one and just finish it. I'm almost done reading all four Twilight books (can't wait for that DVD to come out soon ). The fourth Twilight book is amazing. I highly recommend it.

Also started reading the book on Joe Torre about his years managing the NY Yankees. I'm a Mets fan myself but I'm enjoying reading Torre's book. I recommend that one, too.

[sandyh67]

Originally Posted by Maza

Madwives of the world unite!!
motto...its a physiological process not an illness!
i was a an active member of ARM ( association of radical midwives) in my day!
should be interesting talking with you...we in the UK are very sadly following in US footsteps...will be interesting to actually hear a proper perspective..

I am really looking forward to talking to you! Sorry to hear UK is going backwards- this country, at least the area I work in, is not midwife friendly- birth is medically managed, very frustrating. anyway- I will save my ranting for our cruise! As we get closer we will set up a Madwife meet!

[sandyh67]

Originally Posted by Ski-and-Sea

For our first couple of cruises we booked our excursions through DCL and were not disappointed. I do not view the shore excursions as tourist traps. The national park in Cozumel is very nice - beach swimming for the younger kids and snorkeling for the older ones. The DCL beach break excursion goes to a different beach. That one is very nice, too. Your food and transportation is included with the DCL excursion. That might be convenient for you with such a large group. One thing I will mention is that the beaches in Cozumel are not close to the cruise piers - its a bit of a drive in a cab/bus.

What happens as you get more experienced with taking the same cruises over and over is that you book your excursions directly with a vendor and not through DCL. In our case we wanted to go snorkeling at different reefs than the DCL snorkeling excursions. So we booked directly with a local vendor. We find good local vendors through the DIS.

In terms of hurricanes and cruising in the summer.....we've cruised 8 times in both August and July and only once did we get directly impacted by a hurricane. So that's pretty low odds. I would not use the risk of hurricanes to keep us from cruising in August.

The heat is a different issue. That's one thing to remember when cruising with younger children. It can be extremely hot in places like Grand Cayman or Cozumel in the summer. That's why I tell people cruising in the summer to book beach shore excursions and not walking tours.

Thanks so much for the great info! We were aware that it would be a cab ride, although I think even with that cost we will be saving over DCL beach excursion. There is even an online coupon I printed out for the park so it will be $16pp for adults $9 I believe for the kids. We will stick to the beaches!

Thanks again!

[Pixiedustdawn]

Originally Posted by Ski-and-Sea

Last summer we did back-to-back cruises on the Wonder. I think we departed 8/17/08, it was the same day that the Magic left for the Panama Canal.

That four day cruise was the one where we got diverted to Port Everglades due to TS Fay.

Yes, we did sail together. Were you the one that had broke/sprained her ankle, right before the cruise?

We went to Disney after the cruise and had to take a bus from that port because Port Caneveral was closed.

Dawn

[stsomewhere]

My neighbor ROCKS

She saved me some $$$.

While Matt was in the hospital, Marina lost her lower expander(removable).
Since, my neighbor works at the orthodonist and did not charge me for a replacement.

[TheFatMansWife]

hello everyone
I haven't posted for sometime,thought I'd let you know I'm still around.

[stsomewhere]

The thread has been pretty quiet lately.

Marina (dd-8) was hoping that a girl -Lab age would like to email or Pm.

She is feeling at little left out because Matt is emailing with James and Kyle.

Thanks

[Ski-and-Sea]

Originally Posted by Pixiedustdawn

Yes, we did sail together. Were you the one that had broke/sprained her ankle, right before the cruise?

We went to Disney after the cruise and had to take a bus from that port because Port Caneveral was closed.

Dawn

Yes, that's me!!!! Just finishing up physical therapy from that surgery. I'll admit that skiing has slowed the recovery. But it was the reason for the surgery in the first place.

That 4-night Wonder cruise was terrific. What a great group of passengers and DISers.

DD still wears her DIS shirt from that cruise.