So another day off and what shall I do? Well as luck would have it an American friend flew in from MN and called me. So I picked her up and we spent the morning at Starbucks and a bit of shopping. Very nice to see her again. She's possibly going to be moving to Coventry in a few months when she gets married and she has a young son that's near my sons' age so that's a nice bonus!
Tomorrow's Thanksgiving Day. I'm working but decided to buy a large turkey breast and some other Thanksgiving items and I'll do a little meal anyway. No cranberries or desserts for me however! Still trying to slim way down for the cruise!
Hubby working tonight and overtime tomorrow night. I'm working all weekend. Would be nice to spend a few minutes with him ♥
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Forward, Aft, Stern, Bough... what is this strange language you speak of?
So it's settled. I phoned a number and bought us a holiday. Now the fun begins. Researching what I just got myself into. First, picking a 'stateroom'. A "stateroom"? It's not called a cabin anymore? Is the president sailing with us? OK, I decided to pick up a copy of Passporters Disney Cruise guide as I could see I was going to struggle understanding some of this stuff :)
I checked my DCL reservation and noticed we were booked in room 7535 (cat 11). This means Deck 7 near the lifts. Do we really want to be near the lifts? I thumbed through the Passporter guide and realised we don't even have a window in cat 11! But bonus! There are a few lower 'class' staterooms that have an obstructed view porthole. These rooms are cat 10 and are about 20 sq ft larger than the cat 11. So I phoned up to upgrade to cat 10. Lo and behold there were no more cat 10 staterooms available. OK back to 7535 near the lifts. I still wasn't thrilled with the idea we may be faced with the sound of passengers loitering around the lifts so back to my guide. I read that there are 18 cat 11 rooms on deck 5 that are 'sideways rooms'. This sounded OK. I believe the square footage is the same as the normal cat 11 but it appears to be roomier. Also deck 5 is where all the kids clubs are located. So I called the DCL and was able to get a 'sideways' room. 5001 forward. But man is it ever forward. It's the first room before entering the crew quarters and also under the bridge.
So now we got our STATEROOM sorted. I move on to worries...what about seasickness? I never thought about it. I've never really experienced much motion sickness until I was pregnant with my first son and then it was so bad just reversing in the car would make me queasy. So back to my guide..what about seasickness? Well after reading the guide and also posts on DIS boards I realise that 5001 forward may not have been the best choice after all. Seems if Im worried about seasickness I should have booked a lower deck in the middle! Oh well we'll see how it goes. In the meantime I'll plan on getting Bonine and seabands and try not to think about it too much!
I checked my DCL reservation and noticed we were booked in room 7535 (cat 11). This means Deck 7 near the lifts. Do we really want to be near the lifts? I thumbed through the Passporter guide and realised we don't even have a window in cat 11! But bonus! There are a few lower 'class' staterooms that have an obstructed view porthole. These rooms are cat 10 and are about 20 sq ft larger than the cat 11. So I phoned up to upgrade to cat 10. Lo and behold there were no more cat 10 staterooms available. OK back to 7535 near the lifts. I still wasn't thrilled with the idea we may be faced with the sound of passengers loitering around the lifts so back to my guide. I read that there are 18 cat 11 rooms on deck 5 that are 'sideways rooms'. This sounded OK. I believe the square footage is the same as the normal cat 11 but it appears to be roomier. Also deck 5 is where all the kids clubs are located. So I called the DCL and was able to get a 'sideways' room. 5001 forward. But man is it ever forward. It's the first room before entering the crew quarters and also under the bridge.
So now we got our STATEROOM sorted. I move on to worries...what about seasickness? I never thought about it. I've never really experienced much motion sickness until I was pregnant with my first son and then it was so bad just reversing in the car would make me queasy. So back to my guide..what about seasickness? Well after reading the guide and also posts on DIS boards I realise that 5001 forward may not have been the best choice after all. Seems if Im worried about seasickness I should have booked a lower deck in the middle! Oh well we'll see how it goes. In the meantime I'll plan on getting Bonine and seabands and try not to think about it too much!
Let the planning begin
Well I knew what I wanted to do. It was going to be our first DCL cruise. In fact it would be our only cruise we've ever embarked on. It had to be something special.
But how, when and where?
First. Call in at a travel agency. I popped into Thomas Cook near my shop one Saturday morning. I enquired about the DCL and was told they have limited information and I would have to call Virgin Holidays. Then I was coaxed into considering a Thomas Cook cruise. Not what I wanted but I listened to the gal as she was 6 months pregnant, very young and no doubt seeking a good commission. She tried talking me into booking a 5 night Med cruise for nearly £5000! I smiled and told her I would "Think about it." and headed home straight for my laptop.
I was searching for DCL cruises and happened upon the DCL, USA site. Could I even book through the US site? I found the ideal itenerary. Dovery to Barcelona. 8 nights! And we're close enough to the Port of Dover we could easy hop on a train or a coach. And best of all the cost was only £3500! Much much cheaper than that Thomas Cook cruise. I mean money isn't everything but when you have a family of 6 finances are always to be considered a priority.
Next I decided to discuss with the family. Well it didn't go down as well as I hoped. I was shocked in fact! I was told by my very hairy, hormonal 6ft tall, 14 year old son,, "I would rather stay home than go on a Disny Cruise!". I was so disappointed. I explained how they had teen clubs and he wouldn't even have to spend time with us if he didnt want to. He wasn't budging. Sadly my husband wasnt keen on the idea of the cruise either. What's happening here? What planet is this? I just told my family I'm taking them on a cruise and 2 didnt want to go! Now what! So my husband suggested I take my three younger boys whom by now were squirming in excitment and he and my eldest son would meet up with us in Barcelona where we would stay a few days with his sister who has pubs in nearbly Salou.
So it was settled. I would be crusing 'alone' with 3 young children. How am I going to manage!
But how, when and where?
First. Call in at a travel agency. I popped into Thomas Cook near my shop one Saturday morning. I enquired about the DCL and was told they have limited information and I would have to call Virgin Holidays. Then I was coaxed into considering a Thomas Cook cruise. Not what I wanted but I listened to the gal as she was 6 months pregnant, very young and no doubt seeking a good commission. She tried talking me into booking a 5 night Med cruise for nearly £5000! I smiled and told her I would "Think about it." and headed home straight for my laptop.
I was searching for DCL cruises and happened upon the DCL, USA site. Could I even book through the US site? I found the ideal itenerary. Dovery to Barcelona. 8 nights! And we're close enough to the Port of Dover we could easy hop on a train or a coach. And best of all the cost was only £3500! Much much cheaper than that Thomas Cook cruise. I mean money isn't everything but when you have a family of 6 finances are always to be considered a priority.
Next I decided to discuss with the family. Well it didn't go down as well as I hoped. I was shocked in fact! I was told by my very hairy, hormonal 6ft tall, 14 year old son,, "I would rather stay home than go on a Disny Cruise!". I was so disappointed. I explained how they had teen clubs and he wouldn't even have to spend time with us if he didnt want to. He wasn't budging. Sadly my husband wasnt keen on the idea of the cruise either. What's happening here? What planet is this? I just told my family I'm taking them on a cruise and 2 didnt want to go! Now what! So my husband suggested I take my three younger boys whom by now were squirming in excitment and he and my eldest son would meet up with us in Barcelona where we would stay a few days with his sister who has pubs in nearbly Salou.
So it was settled. I would be crusing 'alone' with 3 young children. How am I going to manage!
Not just another summer holiday plan
As a family of 6 trying to decide on anaything as a group can be as easy as pulling teeth. My sons are aged between 5 and 14. Quite a large span. When it comes to the decsion making in our family we usually first put it to a family vote then 9 times out of 10 I end up making the final decision because the argueing begins.
Well this time I didn't ask anyone. I decided all by myself what we were going to do for next summer's holiday. No, it would be camping! Not another boring trip to the USA to visit family. Next summer would be different. A holiday of a lifetime for these little boys. A holiday they wouldn't soon forget. Next summer I decided to take the family on a Disney Cruise Line holiday!
Well this time I didn't ask anyone. I decided all by myself what we were going to do for next summer's holiday. No, it would be camping! Not another boring trip to the USA to visit family. Next summer would be different. A holiday of a lifetime for these little boys. A holiday they wouldn't soon forget. Next summer I decided to take the family on a Disney Cruise Line holiday!
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