~June 27, 2009 Western, anyone?~

[wwwosie]

So, who's staying up tonight to book Palo's?

I thought it was tomorrow night? If it's tonight, I can't, I'm at the theater for my son's last show in High School and hubby has to work.

 

[belle26]

It use to open up at 12.00 am on the 90 day mark - it could have chanaged though.

 

[wwwosie]

Yep, but if I use this adr calculator it tells me it's tomorrow...
http://pscalculator.net/pscalc.php

 

[wwwosie]

Duh! Belle you ARE correct! Coffee hasn't kicked in. Oh well, it looks like I won't be making Palo ressies tonight... let's hope for something open on board...

 

[belle26]

Duh! Belle you ARE correct! Coffee hasn't kicked in. Oh well, it looks like I won't be making Palo ressies tonight... let's hope for something open on board...

You can log on any time and try, the brunch is what seems to fill up the fastest, but you might be okay for dinner. It's worth a try! I know what you mean about the coffee kicking in - I can't seem to get myself in gear today. Of course, if AI would get off the computer, I might actually get something done!!

 

[LadyLion]

We're staying up tonight!

Our DD has her last show beginning at 7:00 pm, then we're going out to celebrate, and hopefully will get home shortly before midnight so it won't be too hard to stay awake. (Plus the fact that a bunch of young teens are sleeping at our house will ensure that I don't fall asleep!!)

We're gonna book Palo brunch for Monday late morning, Palo dinner for Wednesday evening, and the Grand Cayman Aquaboat & Snorkel Adventure excursion. (I think Wednesday will be Pirate Night, so for those who don't want to miss that you probably want to choose another dinner day. I randomly picked Monday for brunch; I think they only offer Palo brunch on 'sea' days and Key West day.)

For anyone who can't book online tonight, I believe that you can get online at any time between now and the cruise to book Palo, excursions, etc. The only reason some of us are doing it at midnight tonight is because some things get booked up quickly (like Palo brunch).

Sign on tomorrow and let us all know how your bookings went! Good luck!!

 

[cmhand30]

Hey LadyLion!
Go ahead and make my ressies while you are doing yours! You have the same plans I do for Palo.
I am going to try to stay up, but b/c last night was a late night/early morning I don't know if I can do it. We are one of the newest residents in our neighborhood so we where invited to a neighbors house for poker and chit-chat. Long night.
About booking Palo and excursions, it is 105 days for concierge & romance package guest, 90 days for castaway club guest and 75 days for everyone else. And account must be PIF. (as I understand what I have read). Letter that came with your "My Cruise Travel Kit" tells you the date.

DS applied for his first job today. My baby is growing up. Soon he will have his drivers license.

I still cannot decide on excursions. I don't know what my problem is. I am thinking about self booking to save money. But then there is security issues. I've been to Mexico before about a zillion years ago and was "pick-pocketed" when getting in a cab. So a little leary. And with a couple health issues I don't want to be too far from the ship. Oh, decisions....

Till the morning...

 

[cmhand30]

I stayed up.

So here is what I have at this point in time.

Palo Brunch Monday 10:30am (11:00 was gone at 12:05)
Palo Dinner Weds 6:00 pm
Palo High Tea Thurs 3:00pm (surprised I was able to book all 3, thought only could book 2).
Parasailing on CC at 9:30am. Not sure if I will go through with it. (cancel up to 3 days prior to cruise). Just want to say I did it.

Have a good Sunday!

 

[belle26]

Ok,, just got home from the hockey game, well, we did have to go celebrate the win and two hat tricks, and was able to log in and make our reservations. here's what we were able to get:
Palo's on Tuesday at 8:00pm
2 tank dive for Walt on Grand Cayman ( guess I'm shopping!)
and Cozumel Highlights and Mayan Ruins for the both of us.
We were able to get everything we wanted. We're going to rent bikes on CC, but will wait and do that there. We decided to do Key West on our own, will probably walk down to the Shipwreck Historeum, and then explore from there.

Hope everyone else was able to get what they wanted! 90 days and counting!!!!

 

[LadyLion]

Good morning all! I fell asleep before midnight, oops

But DH stayed awake and used my notes to log in right at midnight ... here's what we got:

Palo brunch Monday 11:30 (11:00 was booked when we tried also). Since we don't know on what day our character breakfast will be scheduled, it could be on this same day, so we decided to go with a later time - this will be more like our lunch.

Palo dinner Wednesday 7:00, this was our first choice. DH said Palo dinner didn't look very booked at all ... all days/times appeared to be available.

Palo high tea, which wasn't on my list, but DH took it upon himself to book. Heh heh. I don't care for hot tea, but the cute food selections look yummy!! He booked this for Thursday at 3:00. Although if I'm all slicked up and sitting near the pool with my book, I'm likely to bag this rather than shower up early and get dressed for Palo!!!!

Grand Cayman Aquaboat & Snorkel Adventure, Tuesday beginning at 11:45. We chose this for many reasons: we have already done dolphins and stingrays (both of which we highly recommend if anyone is still deciding about your excursions - especially the stingrays!!); we want to do some type of snorkeling at Grand Cayman; the aquaboat part looks fun; and it's a relatively short excursion (3 hours) so we will have plenty of time to do other things back on the ship.

We're choosing to not book other excursions, mostly because we've done this cruise before, and will probably get off the ship at Key West and Cozumel to just walk around a little bit on our own. (And if the 'kids' want to stay back on the ship with the other teens, they are old enough to do that while DH and I do a little shopping or whatever.) Also, the ship is really great to be on when most everyone else is OFF! Less crowded pools, etc.

So, my advice is to not feel obligated to book excursions at every port. There will still be some opportunity to change your mind and book something while on the ship (although many will sell out, so if you have your heart set on something specific, try to book in advance.) Don't try to do too much or you will feel like you're always running crazy with less time to relax.

Now that DD's show is over, we have a little breathing room (while getting ready for their Beauty & the Beast show in May ... ) so I will think through my plans and packing list again and offer some more tips.

I love this - yay! Chat later.

 

[LadyLion]

If your daughter is playing Erzulie she must have one heck of a voice!

Hi wwwosie - thanks for this nice comment! DD13 does have a nice voice (for a middle schooler, certainly not headed to Broadway but she does get good feedback...). Last night was her sixth performance, and her 'big number' was the best of all the shows ... a good time to really nail it because we had grandparents, etc. there to see her.

I know you PM'd me, and now that our lives will settle down just a little, I'll be sure to get some e-mail dialogue together.

And you too, newtandkaren, I still have your e-mail message and we will respond soon!!

 

[delta0413]

Howdy everyone! Sorry I've been MIA for the past few weeks. Work has been a bit nuts... I had to take a state licensing exam and then went on a road trip.

I decided not to stay up late last night to book excursions. Here's what we were able to get this morning:

I was SHOCKED that there were still Palo brunch reservations available so we booked Sunday at 10:00 so we can watch as we pull into Key West. DW booked her massage for Sunday also.

We booked the 10:45 'Push, Pull, Swim' Dolphin encounter in Cozumel. DW and the girls are VERY excited about this one.

We also booked the 10:30 Parasailing in Castaway Cay. It's only going to be me, DW, and DD20 though. DD15 decided that she didn't want to partake in this adventure.

We've decided to stick with Captain Marvin in Grand Cayman. We have done others, but keep coming back to the Captain.

We are all VERY excited that we have 90 days to go.... Woo Hoo.

Lou

 

[wwwosie]

Hi Lou!
Yeah we booked Palo Brunch today also, had our choice of times. We booked dinner for Tuesday night.
We had a bit of a problem becasue for some reason our second cabin wasn't flagged appropiately so my DH couldn't book any reservations even though my DD is a Castaway Club member. We called DCL and it got cleared up but let me tell you, I ran into a grumpy agent.

We don't have anything booked in Cozumel yet, the guys are diving in Cayman. Not sure how much "structure" I want...

 

[wwwosie]

Hi wwwosie - thanks for this nice comment! DD13 does have a nice voice (for a middle schooler, certainly not headed to Broadway but she does get good feedback...). Last night was her sixth performance, and her 'big number' was the best of all the shows ... a good time to really nail it because we had grandparents, etc. there to see her.

I know you PM'd me, and now that our lives will settle down just a little, I'll be sure to get some e-mail dialogue together.

And you too, newtandkaren, I still have your e-mail message and we will respond soon!!

Just got back from striking "Footloose!" last night's show was the best and we turned away 30 people at the door. We started late becasue all the seniors were bawling... cast party in a couple of hours, but have to do some work first...

90 days to go! yipee!

 

[LadyLion]

We've decided to stick with Captain Marvin in Grand Cayman. We have done others, but keep coming back to the Captain.

We did a Captain Marvin stingray excursion in Grand Cayman years ago - LOVED IT! - was the highlight of our cruise. Glad to hear that it's still the best. So, anyone who is still undecided about excursions, you may want to consider the same as Lou and check into Captain Marvin.

Push, Pull, Swim dolphin excursion also sounds awesome - I think the one we did last time was different - but this one sounds great.

 

[LadyLion]

Did anybody see this great DCL review on Cruise Critic? I just saw a thread over on the DCL Forum - thought this is good reading especially for those of you who have never cruised on DCL before.

I tried to copy the Cruise Critic link directly in here but it's not working, so I'm copying the DCL Forum thread itself. Click below, then scroll down a little bit and click on the link provided, then click on 'Cruise Critic's Disney Magic Review'.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2132705

I believe that it is just a little bit outdated, because I think one of the shows referred to in the review has been replaced with a new show. But almost everything described has also matched our wonderful experiences in past Magic cruises.

 

[delta0413]

Did anybody see this great DCL review on Cruise Critic? I just saw a thread over on the DCL Forum - thought this is good reading especially for those of you who have never cruised on DCL before.

I tried to copy the Cruise Critic link directly in here but it's not working, so I'm copying the DCL Forum thread itself. Click below, then scroll down a little bit and click on the link provided, then click on 'Cruise Critic's Disney Magic Review'.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2132705

I believe that it is just a little bit outdated, because I think one of the shows referred to in the review has been replaced with a new show. But almost everything described has also matched our wonderful experiences in past Magic cruises.

I just read the review on Cruise Critic a few minutes ago. It was a great reminder of why we LOVE cruising on DCL so much.

 

[delta0413]

We did a Captain Marvin stingray excursion in Grand Cayman years ago - LOVED IT! - was the highlight of our cruise. Glad to hear that it's still the best. So, anyone who is still undecided about excursions, you may want to consider the same as Lou and check into Captain Marvin.

Push, Pull, Swim dolphin excursion also sounds awesome - I think the one we did last time was different - but this one sounds great.

If I may make another suggestion for Cozumel. We always make it a point to go to Pancho's Backyard for lunch or a snack depending on what time we go... but I wholeheartedly recommend their Margaritas. Be warned though that they are usually strong. Just remember the old saying, 1, 2, 3, floor!

 

[LadyLion]

Hey where is everybody this week??!! As busy as me, I guess.

Did you see that the Cruise Meets forum for the Western itinerary cruise before us has ... over 100 pages of discussion?! Yikes!!

And are you guys watching the DCL Forum thread debate about the "kids 17 and under cruise free" topic?? My DH is watching that closely, as we could save LOTS of money if we only had the code ... ugh! (wwwosie, I know I saw you over there) Like others, we're not feelin' the Disney Love...

 

[belle26]

Went on and changed our Palo's reservation the other night, (got my days mixed up), and I was surprised to see brunch was still available as was dinner, but no High Teas. When we cruised last time, brunch was the one hard to come by. I also completed the online forms and printed out what needed to be printed out, so now all there is to do is pack (too early) and wait, and wait , and wait, and wait - hurry up June!!!