November 30, 2013 Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy

[Cthia]

I would be interested. I'll have to do some searching to find out more details but it does look like fun.

Hi all, just wanted to make a correction. On the roll call it shows our DD as 21 months. At the time of the cruise she will be almost 4! Our baby is growing up so fast!

Also, I wanted to see if there was any interest this far off in a Fish Extender (FE) exchange? I really hope so, as we had so much fun doing ours on our Dream cruise this past December. For those who don't really know what it is, it starts with a list of who's in. You give your cabin #, who is in your cabin and their ages and male or female. You will have to have a "fish extender" that hangs on the clip outside your cabin. You can make one ( there are many ideas as to how to do this on the board) or purchase one. We bought ours on Ebay, they also sell them on Etsy. Then you just come up with a secret gift you would like to give out! You can do per cabin or per person, whatever you are comfortable with. It can be simple, store bought or handmade. It's really more about the exchange and fun of coming back to your cabin to goodies! It's NOT just for kids! There are many threads about fish extenders and a very good one on homemade gifts people have made to give out. Once we decide if we want to do one, we can go from there. I would be willing to organize and handle it if we decide to do it.

 

[annichan]

Hi all, just wanted to make a correction. On the roll call it shows our DD as 21 months. At the time of the cruise she will be almost 4! Our baby is growing up so fast!

Also, I wanted to see if there was any interest this far off in a Fish Extender (FE) exchange? I really hope so, as we had so much fun doing ours on our Dream cruise this past December. For those who don't really know what it is, it starts with a list of who's in. You give your cabin #, who is in your cabin and their ages and male or female. You will have to have a "fish extender" that hangs on the clip outside your cabin. You can make one ( there are many ideas as to how to do this on the board) or purchase one. We bought ours on Ebay, they also sell them on Etsy. Then you just come up with a secret gift you would like to give out! You can do per cabin or per person, whatever you are comfortable with. It can be simple, store bought or handmade. It's really more about the exchange and fun of coming back to your cabin to goodies! It's NOT just for kids! There are many threads about fish extenders and a very good one on homemade gifts people have made to give out. Once we decide if we want to do one, we can go from there. I would be willing to organize and handle it if we decide to do it.

I have corrected your little girl's age in the roll call!

About the FE: Thank you for offering it, I hope you don't mind if DH and I don't participate. I would love to try it someday, but with our transatlantic flights and looking at a total of 20 days away from home, there is no way we could fit the gifts we would like to give, or those we are bound to receive, in our meagre suitcase space.

 

[belleandmaddysmom]

Thank you for the welcome!

I know that my family would love to be part of the fish extender for sure! We will be driving to Florida for this trip so will have plenty of room for gifts. Just let me know what we need to do.

 

[belleandmaddysmom]

I wasn't sure if you wanted the girls ages now or when we cruise.
Isabelle will be 12 and Maddy will be 10 when we cruise. Isabelle was looking at the roll call. She is wanting to make some friends before the cruise.

 

[annichan]

I wasn't sure if you wanted the girls ages now or when we cruise.
Isabelle will be 12 and Maddy will be 10 when we cruise. Isabelle was looking at the roll call. She is wanting to make some friends before the cruise.

When I started the roll call, I gave my and DH's ages at time of cruising, so I guess we might stick to doing it consistently that way - while two years may not be much of a deal for an adult, it certainly means the world to a child looking for possible cruise friends, right?

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

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[Rhode Island Quahog]

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[tessasmom]

UGH!! It's crazy how long it takes to even view a thread!! What is going on???

Anyway, I will start a list of names for the FE Exchange. So far I have,

Myself, tessasmom, Cthia and belleandmaddysmom. What I will need from each cabin participating is the names of each person in the cabin. If they are DH, DW, DG...for the kids, their ages at the time of sailing and your cabin number, along with your email address. You can PM me the information. I will update the list periodically and email it to the participants so they can get working on their gifts if they are hand making them. I suggest a cutoff date of a month or two prior to cruising, as the cruise gets closer we will be packing and organizing and not wanting to do much FE stuff (at least that's how I am!) This will be my first time organizing an FE so if anyone else has suggestions, please feel free to suggest away!

 

[belleandmaddysmom]

When I started the roll call, I gave my and DH's ages at time of cruising, so I guess we might stick to doing it consistently that way - while two years may not be much of a deal for an adult, it certainly means the world to a child looking for possible cruise friends, right?

Completely agree! I know Isabelle was looking at the list to see if there was anyone her age. I think this cruise will be a bit different for her since she will be in the tween club. Is it Edge? I can't remember. Maddy will still be in the Oceanears Lab. I'm not sure if that will make her mad (that she won't be with her sister) or extremely happy. LOL

UGH!! It's crazy how long it takes to even view a thread!! What is going on???

Anyway, I will start a list of names for the FE Exchange. So far I have,

Myself, tessasmom, Cthia and belleandmaddysmom. What I will need from each cabin participating is the names of each person in the cabin. If they are DH, DW, DG...for the kids, their ages at the time of sailing and your cabin number, along with your email address. You can PM me the information. I will update the list periodically and email it to the participants so they can get working on their gifts if they are hand making them. I suggest a cutoff date of a month or two prior to cruising, as the cruise gets closer we will be packing and organizing and not wanting to do much FE stuff (at least that's how I am!) This will be my first time organizing an FE so if anyone else has suggestions, please feel free to suggest away!

I will send you a PM on FB. I don't know how to do that on here yet I'm SO excited to do this. I think it will be so much fun!!!

 

[annichan]

Deleted quote since I understand Rhode Island Quahog no longer wishes her personal info to be visible on this thread.

I've updated your ages. I know about the slow boards, isn't it annoying? Good to know that it's not only my computer, though!

 

[annichan]

Annichan,

Any suggestions for hotels at Disneland Paris, I see you've been? I love the Disneyland Resort and we may splurge, but its expensive at 58 DVC points per night, with a minimum 2 night stay? After that our choices are the Hotel New York, Newport Bay Club, or Sequoia Lodge.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Hi Val,

I certainly have some feedback! While I have only stayed at two of those hotels, I have visited them all (except for Santa Fe and Davy Crockett) during our last trip, wandered around and had a look at everything.

DH and I have been at DLP twice, and stayed at Sequoia Lodge both times. We really liked it - this time, we had a beautiful freshly renovated corner room (only sleeps two people, though) of which I have posted some pictures here (if you scroll down to the lower part of the page). The bar is beautiful, especially when it's colder because it has a very Wilderness Lodge-y feel to it, and an absolutely enormous stone fireplace (the largest in Europe, they say). The hotel can get quite loud as there are many children staying there, but I guess that is to be expected at Disney . Breakfast we found horrible and never returned even though it's included in the price, but there is a Starbucks in Disney Village that you pass on your way to the parks, so that was that taken care of.

I also stayed at Disneyland Hotel for two nights, about 14 years ago with my dad and little sister. As far as I remember it, it's very pink and princess-y, and much more upscale than Sequoia Lodge (which is more comparable to a moderate at WDW, I guess). Incredibly expensive, though! You do apparently get a free fastpass for an attraction of your choice every day of your stay, though.

Newport Bay Club was on our "maybe" list before our last stay, but I read lots of negative reviews so we decided against it. Mostly, they revolved around the fact that the hotel was much too big and not really suited to handling those masses of people (slow check-in, not enough restaurant space, overworked cleaning staff, those kinds of things). Their fine dining restaurant serves great food, though!

Hotel New York is the second-most expensive hotel in DLP and gets great reviews (also, it seems to be the only one apart from Disneyland Hotel that serves hot breakfast). Personally, I would not want to stay there as the interior and lobby seem a bit cold, efficient and impersonal to me. Also, it is a convention hotel and I saw many business people in suits in the halls. Not really what I want to see on a Disney vacation as it reminds me too much of my own work! We had a very romantic evening and a wonderful meal at their fine dining venue, though, so I definitely recommend visiting for dinner even if you're not staying there.

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

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[Cthia]

Sorry I haven't been posting in here. The boards have been taking forever to load up and I don't have the time to wait for them at times.

I've been researching a little about the FE. (Glad I have some time to think about gift ideas and find a fish extender) I'll send you a PM on FB Julie with who will be in our cabin, etc. Thank you for being the organizer.

I am excited, I rented out my DVC points that are going to help pay for this cruise. (First time ever doing that)

I was doing a price comparison on cruises yesterday. My "internet" friends are thinking doing a group cruise on the Allure in May 2013 and I was surprised that Disney was the better deal.

 

[BlakeNJ]

I would love to participate in a FE. About how man cabins do you think our group could be? Will there be a limit? I've heard some exchanges get pretty large and with it being our first cruise, I'd hate to spend a lot of time running around looking for cabins. I am sure my kids would love to participate!

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

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[tessasmom]

I would love to participate in a FE. About how man cabins do you think our group could be? Will there be a limit? I've heard some exchanges get pretty large and with it being our first cruise, I'd hate to spend a lot of time running around looking for cabins. I am sure my kids would love to participate!

Hi Blake, as of right now we have 3 confirmed cabins participating. Since we are so far out from sailing, I have no idea how large it will become. I think for this far in advance 3 cabins is pretty darn good! We sailed the Dream this past December and had 20 cabins in our FE. It was the perfect amount of cabins for a 4 day cruise. I guess when we get closer to the cut off date (yet to be determined) we can take a poll as to if we would like to break up into groups. Personally, I would really like to have just one group but that may change if it gets too big. As far as running around finding the cabins, it really didn't take that long. Everyone has a system they like. I did ours by decks, but I think I will steal someone else's idea and do it forward, mid and aft this time. Less walking back and forth! It really was a blast trying not to get caught leaving the goodies! Your kids will really like delivering and also coming back to goodies on your FE. Let me know for sure if you want to be put on the list. You can send me a PM with your names, last name (if you are comfortable with it), kids ages at the time of the cruise, cabin number and email address. We also have a group for our cruise on Facebook called the Fantasy November 30, 2013 Eastern Caribbean Cruise. You can send me a friend request (Julie Persaud Lehman) and I can add you to the group! We are getting to know each other there too! Hope to hear from you soon!

 

[tessasmom]

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone from WDW! Hope everyone has a great day, I plan to at the most magical place on earth!

Happy Valentine's Day you two love birds! Have a great day!

You'd better be taking pictures you are willing to share for me!

 

[minnieandmickey]

We're up for it.

UGH!! It's crazy how long it takes to even view a thread!! What is going on???

Anyway, I will start a list of names for the FE Exchange. So far I have,

Myself, tessasmom, Cthia and belleandmaddysmom. What I will need from each cabin participating is the names of each person in the cabin. If they are DH, DW, DG...for the kids, their ages at the time of sailing and your cabin number, along with your email address. You can PM me the information. I will update the list periodically and email it to the participants so they can get working on their gifts if they are hand making them. I suggest a cutoff date of a month or two prior to cruising, as the cruise gets closer we will be packing and organizing and not wanting to do much FE stuff (at least that's how I am!) This will be my first time organizing an FE so if anyone else has suggestions, please feel free to suggest away!

 

[annichan]

I hope everyone has had a happy Valentine's day! It is unfortunately not such a big thing here in Germany, but my DH heard it mentioned on the radio and called me to say happy Valentine's day, that was unexpected

I must admit that we are not so sure anymore that we will really be taking this cruise ...
We haven't cancelled yet, but we have done the maths for the trip we were wanting to do (adding another week at WDW on top of the cruise as it isn't really worth doing the expensive transatlantic flight for just a week's vacation), and altogether it ends up becoming really, really expensive.

Then there is the issue of DH not really wanting to sail on such a big ship, I thought I had him pretty much convinced, but a couple of weeks ago he said again how he really feels uncomfortable with the size of the ship and the amount of people, and how he would much rather sail on one of the classic ships. I'm pretty sure I could talk him into it and he would end up doing it just to please me, but I don't really feel comfortable doing that to him just for my own sake.

So now we are looking to see when and if the Magic West-bound Transatlantic is announced. The East-bound is extremely affordable, so if the West-bound one ends in the same price range, we would pay about as much for 14 nights on the Magic as we would for 7 nights on the Fantasy. And the flights would only be one-way and therefore also slightly cheaper ...

Noting definite yet, just wanted to say ... If we really end up cancelling, I'll let you know and we can see what to do with the roll call in the first post ...

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

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