October 19th, 2018 14-Night Eastbound Panama Canal Cruise

[SGcruiser]

We called yesterday to ask questions about the cruise and ended booking. So excited to be able to go through the canal and be cruising for two whole weeks. We've always felt the time just flew by too quickly on past cruises so certainly 14 days will be just right. This will be our 11th Disney cruise, we have mainly been on the Wonder and Magic and prefer the smaller ships. It will be just my husband and me, we are empty nesters and live close to Galveston. Happy to be joining.

 

[mrjanuaryr]

You should be fine, the time frame is about 6 months; i.e. if you're planning on traveling within 6 months of your passport expiring, it might be a good idea to get a new one.

Awesome, thanks so much =)

 

[JGamy]

We have booked this cruise and will be joining all of you. It will be my husband, Jon and myself, Joyce. This will be our 9th cruise but first Panama Canal cruise. We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary. Our youngest is now in college so we can cruise whenever. Both of our kids would love to join us if their schedules would permit. Looking forward to new ports and 14 nights on the ship!

 

[dthogue]

We have booked this cruise and will be joining all of you. It will be my husband, Jon and myself, Joyce. This will be our 9th cruise but first Panama Canal cruise. We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary. Our youngest is now in college so we can cruise whenever. Both of our kids would love to join us if their schedules would permit. Looking forward to new ports and 14 nights on the ship!

Us too - this will be our 8th Disney Cruise, 1st time through the Panama Canal, celebrating our 30th anniversary on 10/22 and traveling without our DD who is a sophomore in college!

 

[carlene13]

Glad to be going through the Panama again. We went through in 2015 and enjoyed it. See you all there

 

[OldPyrate]

We called yesterday to ask questions about the cruise and ended booking. So excited to be able to go through the canal and be cruising for two whole weeks. We've always felt the time just flew by too quickly on past cruises so certainly 14 days will be just right. This will be our 11th Disney cruise, we have mainly been on the Wonder and Magic and prefer the smaller ships. It will be just my husband and me, we are empty nesters and live close to Galveston. Happy to be joining.

I just noticed you will be at Aulani Sep 9-12. You're arriving the day before we leave! We should all meet for a "hi-five" at the bar Saturday evening if your up for it after traveling all day!

Cheers!
Eric

 

[JGamy]

Us too - this will be our 8th Disney Cruise, 1st time through the Panama Canal, celebrating our 30th anniversary on 10/22 and traveling without our DD who is a sophomore in college!

Hi Tammy,
What a small world. We live in Northeast Ohio. Our anniversary is 10/1 but close enough. Our DS will be a sophomore at University of Cincinnati. Looking forward to meeting you and celebrating.

Joyce

 

[Jodyfarmgirl]

My DH, Paul, and I will be celebrating our 50th anniversary on the EBPC.
The Panama Canal has been on DH's "bucket list" for a very long time.
As you can see I am new to the Disboards, but I have lurked for years.
I don't know how to personalize my avatar or add a countdown, so I am here constantly reading and trying to figure it out.
We were born and raised in Colorado but have lived in Oklahoma for some years.
This is our 5th cruise and our 4th on the beautiful Wonder.

 

[twokats]

My DH, Paul, and I will be celebrating our 50th anniversary on the EBPC.
The Panama Canal has been on DH's "bucket list" for a very long time.
As you can see I am new to the Disboards, but I have lurked for years.
I don't know how to personalize my avatar or add a countdown, so I am here constantly reading and trying to figure it out.
We were born and raised in Colorado but have lived in Oklahoma for some years.
This is our 5th cruise and our 4th on the beautiful Wonder.

so glad to have y'all join us!

 

[Jodyfarmgirl]

so glad to have y'all join us!

Thank you so much for the "Welcome."
We are so excited.

 

[Jodyfarmgirl]

We just booked! I have been wanting to do the EBPC for more than a year; so excited we are doing it!
We will be pulling our daughters, who will be 8 and 11, out if school for 12 days - so it took a lot of soul searching to book!
We live north of San Francisco and have only sailed on the Wonder. First Alaska in 2015 and 2016, then from PC to the Bahamas this March beacause we HAD to see the Wonder's new look!
We plan to establish school time for the girls each (most!) days. Maybe 2 hours in the morning? Does anyone know if these longer school-time DCL trips have any school or academic programming or meet ups?
17 months and two days to go! If is fun to see other excited folks here!

The Panama Canal cruises appear to offer one hour presentations on the history, construction and operation of the canal. DCL gives you a lot of printed material and they have offered other presentations by Ridley Pearson who writes the Kingdom Keepers books and several Disney historians.
There should be plenty of education for your girls and their teachers should be duly impressed.

 

[QueenEleanor]

Re "school" time: Sometimes FB friends create a meetup group for homeschoolers; you might see if there's something like that going on. I think that it's possible that some of the kids' groups have "homework" time; it's not academically led, no curriculum, but time but aside for kids to do their work and not feel like they're missing something. I saw this on a recent cruise but didn't look too closely as mine are all out of school so I can't give any details at all. I have taken school-aged children on a long cruise, and they've done the work they were supposed to. The Panama Canal presentations are fascinating; the Walt Disney theater was PACKED during them. They're educational and a child could easily do a report -- they are, as Jodyfarmgirl says, on the different aspects of (1) Why a canal was necessary (2) Alternative plans (3) the engineering necessary to dig and build etc. But, if your teachers are sticklers for curriculum, this might not satisfy them!

 

[Plaid Princess]

We coming too
Coming all the way from Down under but will be our 3rd Disney cruise. Ist time on Wonder

What bit of Australia are you from? I lived in Melbourne for a few years when I was in Primary school. I'm taking DH for his first visit in October.

The Panama Canal cruises appear to offer one hour presentations on the history, construction and operation of the canal. DCL gives you a lot of printed material and they have offered other presentations by Ridley Pearson who writes the Kingdom Keepers books and several Disney historians.
There should be plenty of education for your girls and their teachers should be duly impressed.

Hopefully it'll be better than the choice for the WBTA last year. They only had Stacia Martin, who is basically a wannabe Disney Historian. She tells the same 4 stories over at over. I'm assuming they had someone cancel, and had to fill in.

 

[Numbercruncher2014]

Hello All! This will be my 16th Disney cruise. Can't wait, no better way to go cruising than on Disney. I am also a Disney Vacation club member and annual pass. Currently living in San Antonio, TX. Sad we aren't stopping at Castaway Cay but that just means I need to book another cruise. Have a blessed day!

 

[OldPyrate]

Hello All! This will be my 16th Disney cruise. Can't wait, no better way to go cruising than on Disney. I am also a Disney Vacation club member and annual pass. Currently living in San Antonio, TX. Sad we aren't stopping at Castaway Cay but that just means I need to book another cruise. Have a blessed day!

Welcome to the cruise group! This will be our 4th Disney cruise, second time on the Wonder!

 

["Ginger"]

Just book this cruise, now the waiting game begins for us. We'll be looking for flights and hotel reservation for the night before. Any one recommend a place to stay. This will be our second Panama Canal cruise with Disney, can't wait. Last one was a long time ago.

 

[JAM113]

DH and I booked this cruise opening day. I've never been to the west coast, so looking forward to this new adventure! We sailed the WBTA in 2015 for our 25th anniversary and "justified" the upcoming TA as a celebration for our 50th birthdays. When this opportunity came up, we decided we didn't need a reason to book a vacation! We love the longer cruises. It's nice to not have to rush and try to do everything. I'm hoping we can fit in a visit to DL, but not sure how much time DH will be able to take from work.

~Jenny

 

[OldPyrate]

Just book this cruise, now the waiting game begins for us. We'll be looking for flights and hotel reservation for the night before. Any one recommend a place to stay. This will be our second Panama Canal cruise with Disney, can't wait. Last one was a long time ago.

Welcome to the group! I can't really recommend a place to stay, anytime we've been to San Diego we usually stay in the Mission Bay area.

 

[OldPyrate]

DH and I booked this cruise opening day. I've never been to the west coast, so looking forward to this new adventure! We sailed the WBTA in 2015 for our 25th anniversary and "justified" the upcoming TA as a celebration for our 50th birthdays. When this opportunity came up, we decided we didn't need a reason to book a vacation! We love the longer cruises. It's nice to not have to rush and try to do everything. I'm hoping we can fit in a visit to DL, but not sure how much time DH will be able to take from work.

~Jenny

Welcome to the group! Hopefully you will be able to visit DLR! I would recommend 3 days though...you can do most everything in 2 days, but it would be rushed.

 

[lbolt123]

Welcome, all! I know it's a year away, but anyone interested in Fish Extenders? I've kept track of families and staterooms on several other cruises and would be happy to do it again. Feel free to post here or email me, lbolt123@gmail.com.

p.s.
I didn't notice any FE posts; but if I've overlooked, please forgive me and count me in.