August 12, 2004 - 3 Day Wonder - Anyone Going with us?

[rcdisneyfam]

Pixie Dust to you for an upgrade. We are a Cat. 8 on 7th floor. I made the Teen Junkanoo Excursion Reservations for the teens today. We never got anything on excursions, so I went on DCL website and printed them off and called to get the teens hooked up. Not sure if we will do anything as far as an excursion. Possibly Castaway Cay rental or parasailing or something. Hope we all get our docs. soon.

 

[Minnie's Guy]

We are a family of 4 from Eastern Pa. My wife and I are in our late 40's with 2 sons, 12 and 18. We got our docs yesterday-hurray !!! We are looking forward to meeting other Dis'ers and looking for some other boys around 10-12 for my younger son to hang around with. This is our 5th Disney cruise (just sailed on June 27th) and it is absolutely fantastic !! We will be on Deck 10 starboard side at the sail away party. Hope to see you all there !!!

 

[rcdisneyfam]

Minnie's Guy, glad to see you joined us. Our neighbors going with us has a 12 year old girl, so they will probably meetin in the kids club. Our DS who is 18 is not going with us unfortunately, he is working full time for the summer. We will be glad to meet up on the cruise. You did get your docs, who did you book through? Just made the Teen Junkanoo ressies for the teens today, but have not seen any docs. Spoke to TA today, but she said no they were not there. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

 

[Minnie's Guy]

We actually booked while we were on the Wonder back in June. Our 18 year old stayed home to work also, but everytime we called home to check on him, he asked what we were doing that day and told us he missed being at WDW and on the ship (he has been going to Disney every year since he was about 2). Since he is off to college in the fall, we decided to bring him down for a few days at WDW (we're staying at POFQ) and then the 3 day cruise.

 

[thevolcanogod]

Hello Minnie's Guy - good to meet you.
Deck 10 Starboard sounds like the place to be for sail away.
Can'twaitCan'twaitCan'twait

 

[Jaydebs]

Just wanted to let you all know that I just got off the phone with my travel agent. My documents are in and ready to be picked up!!!! I'm picking them up tomorrow!!! Deck 10 meeting sounds good to me.

 

[rcdisneyfam]

Still haven't heard on docs, left another msg. with TA. We will be at CBR for 7 nights prior to 3 days on the Wonder. Well, keep hoping the docs will be here soon for us that have not seen them. Talk to everyone soon.

 

[thevolcanogod]

Just got off the phone with my wife and our docs came today....

PARTY!

 

[rcdisneyfam]

Not Fair!!! Our's are probably there, TA is real busy I know, I may stop up there tomorrow.

 

[vjeri]

Got our docs today. I'm very excited!!!!! We're on Deck 7, Cat 11. Let me know if we decide to go with the Green Ribbons, or whatever. It will be great meeting everyone.

We haven't booked any excursions yet, but was thinking of booking the Caribbean Queen Snorkel Tour. Hubby and I enjoy snorkling, and we're hoping DD's will enjoy it also.

Roberta - We're from Davenport, Iowa. Hope you enjoy WDW before your cruise.

Jeri

 

[rcdisneyfam]

Came home from work and a message from TA was there that Docs are here. DH will pick them up tomorrow. We have a Neighborhood Garage Sale so I will be busy doing that, taking a day off from work. Can't wait to pick them up. Now it is seeming real. See everyone one soon, NOT SOON ENOUGH..

 

[thevolcanogod]

For our excursion, we decided to do some snorkling - I'm a certified diver, but my wife has only been snorkling once, years ago. It was a toss-up between doing this at Castaway Cay or Nassau. We dediced upon doing the trip at Nassau for a couple reasons - most importantly we've heard that there are better reefs and wildlife around Nassau.

We decided to go with an outside company - Stuart's Cove. It's advertised heavily in Skin Diver Magazine and most people on the SCUBA forums have had good experiences with them. They offer a 5-hour excursion that stops at a shallow reef, shipwreck (probably will be too deep to swim to, but you might see large pelagics - rays, jewfish, grouper, baraccuda, sharks) and the final stop is a shark feeding stop where they put some frozen chum on the bottom and you can jump in and watch the sharks circle below. (You can also watch from the boat if you don't feel like jumping in).

Another reason I feel good about doing this through a dive operation is that they tend to take you to better areas. I have heard about people going on snorkling trips through the cruise lines and the dive boats taking them to damaged reefs where other careless tourists have broken off corals and even dumped trash overboard. These are only rumors I have heard, but I feel better going through a company that caters mostly to certified divers rather than one that sees a lot of tourists.

 

[vjeri]

I've heard good things about Stuart's Cove also. If it was just DH and Me, I definately would have considered it. But, I don't think DD's would enjoy a 5 hour tour.

Jeri

 

[Minnie's Guy]

Volcanogod,
It was a smart choice to pick snorkeling in Nassau. While it is really fun to do at Castaway Cay, they really do not have actual coral reefs. The snorkel area has some tropical fish, but the main "attraction" is the buried "Disney" artifacts you find, like the sub from 20,000 Leagues and the Mickey statue.
For us, Nassau is like a day at sea. We take advantage of the pools when everyone else is off the ship in the morning. Then later in the afternoon, we are planning on taking DS 18 over to Atlantis for his first "casino experience". But we will definitely be back for "The Golden Mickeys"- it is a definite "must see".
Also, please consider a dinner at Palo, it is an incredible dining experience. We cannot wait for our evening there. If you go, ask for Cecilia, she is an amazing server.

 

[thevolcanogod]

We're definately going to try for Palo - I think I have us skipping Parrot Cay in my plans, even though I love steak and lobster. I wanted us to experience AP and Tritons on this cruise, so PC is our only choice - I don't think we're up to double dipping.

 

[rcdisneyfam]

Hey guys, I agree with Minnie's Guy, our neighbors want to go to shop in Nassau, I will probably go with them, DH says he is planting himself by the pool. We have been to Nassau before, and doesn't impress us either. We did great for 1 day of our garage sale, our neighbors that are going with us did the sale too and we have some Disney spending money!!! One more day of the garage sale and then we concentrate on "Vacation Mode" Can't wait!!!

 

[Minnie's Guy]

Hey RC, it sounds like you made out fairly well on your sale. We did the same thing a few years ago to raise "Disney cash" !!
As far as Palo, I'm not sure what night to pick, it all depends on our rotation. We were thinking about going the first night because that is when Hercules- the Muse-ical is playing and we have seen that one several times. We cannot miss Golden Mickeys or Disney Dreams, so I think it is night 1. We are planning our dinner at 6:00 and then since we have second seating, we will join the boys and have coffee while they eat. (and maybe another dessert !!). Oh man- I can't wait !!

 

[rcdisneyfam]

Not sure if we will do Palo's seeing our neighbor's have never been on the ship and there is only 3 nights, want them to experience all three dinners, we will leave it up to them. I would skip Parrot Cay if I had my choice. We did great on 2 days of the Garage sale and will pack it all up and donate to Rescue Mission all the rest of the stuff. I think we will go over the documents tomorrow with neighbors. Can't Wait to go!!!

 

[thevolcanogod]

I'm a little suprised there aren't more checking in on this thread for our cruise. Heck, even the April 2005 has more. Maybe it is like you said - maybe we'll have the ship to ourselves.

Quick question: if we board as soon as they open the gates, should we go and have a lunch, then get in the line for Palo ressies, or should we go immediately for Palo. I think boarding happens as early as 11:45 and ressies don't start until 1PM usually - so lunch first?

 

[rcdisneyfam]

Eric: Yes, go to lunch first, usually my DH goes to do the Palo's thing and I check our DD in the teen club. Usually we meet in the room or somewhere in between. But we always go right to Parrots Cay for lunch. We can probably meet in the somewhere in the terminal if we all wear our green ribbons. But I know you and your wife will have the Mickey and Minnie Bride and Groom hats on right?