Dec 5, 2009 -- now traveling to Tortola

[texdisneygal]

You've gotta love lawyers! The Master sure gets a lot of power, be sure to make friends with him/her!

(from the Disney Cruise Line Contract)
Carrier may refuse to transport or may disembark at any port any Guest ... whose presence in the opinion of the Master may be detrimental to the comfort or safety of other Guests or the crew... In such cases, the Guest shall not be entitled to any refund of fare or compensation whatsoever.

Carrier may substitute another vessel for the one named herein, whether owned by the Carrier or not ... The Vessel ... may proceed to and stay at any places whatsoever ... for any purpose whatsoever that the Carrier or Master may deem advisable.

If the performance of the proposed voyage (... in the opinion of the Carrier or the Master, is likely to be hindered or prevented) by ... any other cause whatsoever, ... the Guest and his property may be landed at ... any port or place at which the Vessel may call; and in that event, the responsibility of the Carrier shall cease and this Cruise Contract shall be deemed to have been fully performed

THE CARRIER DOES NOT EXPRESSLY OR IMPLIEDLY WARRANT, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY AS TO, (a) THE FITNESS, CONDITION OR SEAWORTHINESS OF THE VESSEL AND (b) THE FITNESS, CONDITION OR MERCHANTABILITY OF ANY FOOD OR DRINK PROVIDED ON BOARD THE VESSEL. THE CARRIER SHALL NOT BE STRICTLY LIABLE IN TORT FOR ANY DEFECT, LACK OF FITNESS, IMPURITY OR CONTAMINATION OF ANY FOOD OR DRINK PROVIDED ON BOARD THE VESSEL.

[amyngary]

OK, so I have finally read through the entire 50-page thread to see what I've missed so far.

I PM'd NH with the info. for the rollcall and FE gift exchange (do I need to PM someone else too?). How many FE gifts do I need to bring?

I LOVE the MouseSurfers logo. I hope to have time to put it on some T-Shirts or something.

Thanks to those of you who have given me ideas for how to tell DDs about this trip. I will keep your ideas in mind as I continue to figure out how we want to do it. We historically have had a lot of fun doing a countdown chain, so I know I want to tell them at least 30 days before our trip....

We really wanted several Palo reservations, but only got one dinner res. on Sunday at 9pm. If any of you decide to cancel a brunch and/or tea, I hope you'll let the rest of us know so we can try to get it before anyone else does

Here are our answers to the weekly questions, but I have to warn you that I did not ask my family, so hopefully I know them well enough to answer for them
1. Fav. Character:

a. Olivia (4) – Sleeping Beauty (she loves pink)
b. Julia (9) – The Fairies
c. Amy (39) - Mary Poppins and Sebastian
d. Gary (48) – hmmm – I’d have to ask him

2. Job?

a. Olivia – Giving Mom a heart attack from always climbing
b. Julia – Learning that you should learn new things at school
c. Amy – Management, but will likely be between jobs on this trip (being laid off 9/30)
d. Gary – Database Administrator

3. Hobbies?

a. Olivia – Gymnastics
b. Julia – Reading, exploring, origami, science experiments
c. Amy – travel, travel planning, reading fiction, having friends over
d. Gary – reading nonfiction, computer geek stuff

4. Favorite food?

a. Olivia – Cheese
b. Julia – Crab legs
c. Amy – Crab legs
d. Gary – filet mignon

5. Fav. Dessert?

a. Olivia – cupcakes. On her 3rd b-day she had a cupcake with a candle in it. We told her to close her eyes and make a wish. She closed her eyes tight as she said aloud “I wish for a cupcake!”
b. Julia – Key lime pie or lemon bars (not a huge fan of chocolate)
c. Amy – Chocolate Soufflé or bread pudding
d. Gary – German chocolate cake or crème brulee

6. Drink on Board the Magic?

a. Olivia – chocolate milk (our kids are deprived and only get milk/water normally)
b. Julia – lemonade
c. Amy – martini tasting or wine tasting
d. Gary – beer, martini or wine tasting

7. Favorite ride?

a. Olivia – Dumbo
b. Julia – Rockin’ Roller Coaster
c. Amy – Haunted Mansion, Toy Story Mania, Philharmagic….
d. Gary – Space Mtn?

8. What menu item will we HAVE to order on board?

a. Olivia – Mickey ice cream bar
b. Julia – crab legs
c. Amy – soufflé and crab legs
d. Gary – lobster or crab bisque and crème brulee

9. Where will you be staying before/after this Disney cruise? Which Disney resort? Off site? How Long?

a. BLT for 4 nights – we are new DVC owners, so we are very excited!

10. On average, how many pieces of luggage will you bring with you onto the ship including carry-on & actual luggage per person?

a. Total of 3 larger ones, and 5 carry ons….

11. Do you plan to dress up for formal and semi-formal nights and what do you plan to dress in?

a. Yes, but I’m not sure what we’ll wear. Our DDs usually look way better than we do – I find myself realizing after we arrive somewhere that I totally forgot to finish my makeup or something… but the kids sure are adorable!

12. What will you be doing with your shipboard credit?

a. We don’t have a credit since this cruise is free for buying into DVC!

13. What do plan on doing on embarkation day and what time do you plan on arriving at the port?

a. We will be coming from BLT and plan to arrive by noon. We’d love to have time to swim in the Mickey pool before it gets crowded.

14. what one item do you make sure you ALWAYS pack for a cruise that others may not think about?

a. Ziploc bags in various sizes – amazing how many times I use them on trips!

15. What is your best tip on how to go about packing?

a. If taking multiple suitcases, don’t put all of any one person’s clothes in the same suitcase. We put 1/3 of my clothes in each of 3 suitcases in case 1 gets lost. I’d rather be without 1/3 of my clothes than all of them!

16. What was/is your favourite school subject?

a. Olivia – climbing
b. Julia – science or math
c. Amy – English
d. Gary - History

I think I am all caught up now. The only thing I did not see was a time for us to meet in person. It seems that embarkation day will be very busy. Any chance we could meet later that day (9 or 10p) or the 2nd day, which is a Sea Day?

[deebits]

My DH and I stayed up until midnight last night to book our Palo reservation and got the day and time we wanted. We are going Weds at 6:30

[DeeSanDisneyFan]

Hi everyone!
Just wanted to say hello to everyone b/c I haven't posted in a while and say how excited I am for the cruise. I was able to book the excursion I wanted on St. Thomas but when I tried to book for St. Croix every excursion was full. Is there anyone on the board who has any suggestion on enjoying St. Croix w/o an excursion?

Thanks y'all!

PS to DHDisneyLover...I tried to PM you to be put on the roll callbut b/c I have so few posts it wouldn't let me PM you. Hope you see this so you can add my family to the roll call...

DeeSanDisneyFan

Deena(me)
Nick(DH)
Jonina(DD)
Kathy(my mom)
--wait-listed for early dining

[NHdisneylover]

Originally Posted by carmie3377

Well, not now anyway. I guess we need to see if we enjoy cruising first! What itinerary are you interest in???

For 2011 we booked two back to back Med cruises. We ended up paying as much for airfare as the cruise for THIS one now that we are in Europe so figured not having to apy airfare if we sail from Europe will save enough to cover the higher cruise fare. What is driving me nuts is that we have to sail in HIGH season (August) and it is $$$$. German school officials can fine you up to 180 euro a day for pulling kids from school for a vacation We just learned that. We are told we should be safe though becuase this was totally booked (otehr than the air) long before we even knew we were moving to Germany.

Originally Posted by deebits

My DH and I stayed up until midnight last night to book our Palo reservation and got the day and time we wanted. We are going Weds at 6:30

Hurray

Originally Posted by DeeSanDisneyFan

Hi everyone!

PS to DHDisneyLover...I tried to PM you to be put on the roll callbut b/c I have so few posts it wouldn't let me PM you. Hope you see this so you can add my family to the roll call...

DeeSanDisneyFan

Deena(me)
Nick(DH)
Jonina(DD)
Kathy(my mom)
--wait-listed for early dining

Got it and Amy's PM (by the way, this post was number 10 for you, so now you should be able to PM). I have to get the kids ready for school, but I will update the rollcall after my German class (which is likely still before most of you are up and reading the DIS)

[Tower]

Originally Posted by NHdisneylover

I have to get the kids ready for school, but I will update the rollcall after my German class (which is likely still before most of you are up and reading the DIS)

I guess we're not 'most' then Hadley.
We're getting our kids out the door for school now. Hope you have a good evening!

[NHdisneylover]

Originally Posted by Tower

I guess we're not 'most' then Hadley.
We're getting our kids out the door for school now. Hope you have a good evening!

Well, I expected to get it done about 2 hours agobut Marika has been on this computer looking up some items for homework

Off to do it now. Then I can work on my German homework. I have hit one of those walls today where I feel like I will never learn this langauge (16 ways to say the? Okay i could almost handle that if there were rules as to which is which--there kind of are for some but the basic three just have to be memorized for every noun and then these other versions conjugated from there depending on the grammatical structure of hte sentence. Oye vey!).

[NHdisneylover]

Allright, roll call is updated and thanks to Amy's wonderful answers (by the way Amy, I can't believe you got a free cruise for buying DVC--how cool is that?!), I realized it is time for a new Question of the Week

What show are you most looking forward to seeing onboard the Magic???

Me: Twice Charmed (I think it is a great script--so fun for me every time)
Dave: I'll have to ask him when he gets home. I know he is hoping John Charles is on board.
Marika: Twice Charmed
Rio: The Golden Mickeys (because it is so good AND he gets to wear a tux to it)

[Tower]

Originally Posted by NHdisneylover

Then I can work on my German homework. I have hit one of those walls today where I feel like I will never learn this langauge (16 ways to say the? Okay i could almost handle that if there were rules as to which is which--there kind of are for some but the basic three just have to be memorized for every noun and then these other versions conjugated from there depending on the grammatical structure of hte sentence. Oye vey!).

Well, English can be that way too.
What is this word?
Wind

[Tower]

What show are you most looking forward to seeing onboard the Magic???

Me: As much as I'm excited about the cruise and all it holds, I never really researched the shows. I am looking forward to the Deck Party when the cruise leaves Canaveral.
Christine: No shows come to mind either. She'll decide when we're on the ship.
All kids: There are shows????? We just want to play!

[NHdisneylover]

Originally Posted by Tower

Well, English can be that way too.
What is this word?
Wind

Yes I know
blowin' in the wind
wind it up

and why do: f, ph, gh all make the same sound?
fish
photo
enough

But, German is much harder for me than Spanish ever was. I have to fully analyze the grammar in each sentence and then choose the correct articles based on straight memorization (no pattern), etc. You cannot hold a conversation at taht rate I have reached the point that I can nearly always manage a conversation--I just have atrocius (but understandable) grammar

[minniekissedme]

Hi everyone. Found your thread and thought I'd check in first. We are a party of twelve and will be celebrating our parents 50th anniversary. The big day was in August but we cruising in December!

I'm looking for some info on St Croix and thought you might already know of info that you all have talked about or some other thread that has tips, ideas, etc.

I've been on the DCL site but looking for some insider information. With twelve, excursions can get pretty pricey. I understand there are beaches close to the port and I'm guessing we may try to take advantage of the proximity of those beaches as opposed to say Buck Island...though that does looking pretty cool.

Any help is appreciated...

thanks
bob

[Tower]

Originally Posted by NHdisneylover

I just have atrocius (but understandable) grammar

Well, English is like that for most new immigrants here. I can't understand most with both bad grammar and heavy accents. We have a few visiting priests at our church on various charitable missions. Most of the congregation can't even understand them!

[carmie3377]

Originally Posted by NHdisneylover

Yes I know
blowin' in the wind
wind it up

and why do: f, ph, gh all make the same sound?
fish
photo
enough

But, German is much harder for me than Spanish ever was. I have to fully analyze the grammar in each sentence and then choose the correct articles based on straight memorization (no pattern), etc. You cannot hold a conversation at taht rate I have reached the point that I can nearly always manage a conversation--I just have atrocius (but understandable) grammar

Well, unfortunately, I don't know a second language. I know just a tad a French since I took it in high school but I have never used it. I understand a few words but can not follow a conversation at all. I should really learn Spanish since we have such a large Spanish speaking population where I live. And having a Spanish first name, so many people assume I am Spanish and can speak the language. Thankfully DH can speak it fluently or he'd be in big trouble at the hospitals.

As far a rules, my last name does not follow English rules and almost everyone botches my last name. It is Norwegian and starts with Kn. Most people think the K is silent but it is not. I bet it gets pronounced right only 10% of the time, if that much. But hey, first time I saw it, I pronounced it wrong too.

[carmie3377]

Originally Posted by minniekissedme

Hi everyone. Found your thread and thought I'd check in first. We are a party of twelve and will be celebrating our parents 50th anniversary. The big day was in August but we cruising in December!

I'm looking for some info on St Croix and thought you might already know of info that you all have talked about or some other thread that has tips, ideas, etc.

I've been on the DCL site but looking for some insider information. With twelve, excursions can get pretty pricey. I understand there are beaches close to the port and I'm guessing we may try to take advantage of the proximity of those beaches as opposed to say Buck Island...though that does looking pretty cool.

Any help is appreciated...

thanks
bob

Hi Bob and welcome aboard. Congrats to your parents!!!

As far as St. Croix, we're still trying to figure out what we're doing too. I've been doing a bit a research and we may rent a car. I guess we better decide soon! We are renting a car on St. Thomas, already reserved. That way, we can do our own thing at our own pace. We've already planned out some of what we want to see/do. And if we see something along the way, we can stop!