CanadianDee

I love chips...and i also love salsa...just not together.. sometimes i even lick the salt off the chips then dip them in the salsa cause the salsa is pretty salty anyway...

 

Best,

Mark

LOL, I hope you're not a double dipper in the community salsa bowl.

Full disclosure: I used to lick the salt off of potato chips. I also eat the outside an Oh Henry bar first, then the middle.

Not at formal dining night, though. A girl's gotta have standards.

I fantasize about owning a king some day. I like to sleep where no one touches me and where I can flop all I want without touching anyone else. My husband thinks there is no need...of course he gets a good nights sleep every night...with his hand jutted out and touching me. :rolleyes:

Ok, I'm wandering off-topic here, but ...

Jen, if you get a king bed, look at the adjustable beds. #NotJustForOldsAnymore

We got a King adjustable a few years ago and omigosh, it's amazing. So comfy for relaxing and reading in bed. Or watching tv (yes, I know it's bad to have a tv in your bedroom, but it feels so right!).

Firstly, I would gladly, if only CC had a PM facility.

I'm surprised that as a member since 2005 you are not aware of that?

 

Secondly,

The OP started 2 threads. both slightly odd questions, answered in one, and has yet to even explain what they mean by safety issues, in what context, or where they read it.

 

And Iceman, at least I didn't mention those pesky "Imagineers" until now.

 

ex techie

Lay off and stop being that guy.

The nursery personnel try to be extremely flexible concerning changing hours' date=' etc. You may think you know in advance when you'll want the services, but things have a way of changing once on board!

 

You'll be able to book additional hours on day 2 on a "space available" basis. Booking on line and on day 1 is limited to make sure that everyone who wants it gets some time before anyone can grab a whole lot!

 

Booking meet and greets in advance had only been around a couple of weeks, so I don't think anyone has reported back how it went or if they filled the spaces. My guess is that bookings won't fill in advance and that there will be availability on day 1 to book...at least on the longer cruises. 3 nights on the Dream....dream on.[/quote']

 

Thanks moki'smommy. Yes, things do have a way of changing once onboard, especially with the Littles who can be quite unpredictable. :)

Everyone who has a child that qualifies for the nursery can book a maximum number of hours pre-cruise (how many depends on the length of the cruise).

 

Once onboard, subject to availability, you can book additional time.

 

You can cancel a reservation up to 4 hours beforehand with no penalty. Cancelling within 4 hours will be a 50% charge for the time.

 

There's typically not much problem getting additional hours once onboard, but, during peak times (dinner/show) they can be difficult.

Thanks Shmoo! That sounds like it'll work fine for us. :)

Adult dining (Palo and/or Remy - brunch and/or dinner)

Nursery hours (if needed).

Spa (if you're into that)

Any excursions you specifically want to be sure you get.

Shmoo, how hard is it to book the nursery once onboard? Does it fill up quickly?

One of our granddaughters turns two just before we sail and we're not too sure about how she'll handle things. She's pretty laid back and we think she'd love most of the offerings we plan to do with her older sister, but we don't want to push her beyond her limits. Is it difficult to book a nursery spot at the last minute, or the day of?

Yup. That's their definition of a king. A true king bed is 76 inches wide. Doesn't sound like a big difference but ask DW and she will tell you it's a mile [emoji41] lol

LOL. So true. I can recall the first time we ever slept in a King bed, many years ago, the night before a cruise. We sat on opposite sides of the bed and pretended to yell over to each other across the wide expanse.

Yeah, we were pretty easy to entertain. :)

Disney has now placed a rope "fence" with signs showing photos of alligators and snakes. Does this make a 2 year old any more safe? He certainly can't read the signs. He can easily run under the fence. He MIGHT relate to the pictures on the signs. People here have stated that alligators can come up on shore--we have seen them sunning along the road!

 

A young child is only safer now than a week ago if the parent(s) take appropriate action and keep children away from water in Florida.

Correct. Visitors - like me - who aren't familiar with the level of risk now know. A week ago I wouldn't have thought twice about walking along the water's edge with my granddaughter.

I keep saying the same thing. Alligators aren't indigenous to my area - I would have had no idea that a theme park catering to visitors from around the world wouldn't be able to purge their own man-made bodies of water from apex predators.

Now' date=' with a simple sign, i know. There is a danger of alligators here. It's not about staying out of the water, it's about maintaining a vigilance for the things that might COME OUT OF THE WATER.

But pretty soon Disney World will be littered with danger/warning/caution signs like any ladder one can buy today. "Lightning can kill you." "Don't eat the laundry detergent." "Don't exercise outside when it's hot and humid." And on and on. Then those signs become so ubiquitous that they become noise and no one pays attention to them anymore.

These signs won't be ubiquitous to international visitors - or folks from Nebraska - who have no experience with alligators.

I'm about done here. For those of you who think some warning signs are too much of an effort or detract from the surroundings or whatever, i don't see much chance of changing your mind. For my part, I'm glad Disney has decided to post warnings.

I understand. Its the way the system works. When you are a company and you are negligent and someone gets hurt, you pay. Does it replace the child. Of course not. Will it help the family pay for mental health counseling for the rest of their lives? Yes. I will not debate weather or not Disney is negligent. I think they are and some others don't Everyone is entitled to their opinion. From a pure legal perspective, I have already addressed that issue. We can all agree its tragic. As a side note, the golf course where I play regularly has "Caution, Alligators and Poisonous Snakes" signs at every water feature and at the 1st hole.

Totally agree on all points.

And a sign warning unfamiliar visitors (in an area so popular with foreign visitors) of the danger of alligators - as on your golf course - is all most people want/need.

Yep. Our pool is not screened-in but we have yet to find a gator in there, thankfully:D

Thank goodness. Hey, can we hang at your house while we're in Florida? I feel like it might be the only safe place. :D

It is not just lakes and natural waterways, gaters love pool too.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/us/19gator.html?_r=0

That's it. Not going.

LOL. Kidding. Going.

I think the clear water in a pool would offer a visual advantage. I'll certainly look for apex predators before I dive in though. :)

I will credit this thread for making me much more alligator-aware.

How many signs do we need to add to the signs already given.

Just one.

CanadianDee,

 

You have raised good valid points.

However if you flip them around, what if the tourists were from FL visiting a ski resort?

 

Actually, that was my point.

Ski resorts routinely post the avalache risk hazard. They don't say "don't go here"; they identify the area as an avalanche risk.

I knew there were alligators in Florida, but it didn't occur to me that they'd be lurking in a man-made lake area. I would've thought the area would be groomed for alligator hazards. If that makes me a stupid tourist, I can only say I'm not alone. AND I'm not uneducable. If there's a sign by a man-made body of water warning of alligators, you can be damn sure I'm not going near it.

And yeah, there's always a risk with Mother Nature and consequences for disrepecting her. But this was a tourist area and it's reasonable to assume many tourists - not native to the area, or even the continent - wouldn't be savvy about this particular risk.

No' date=' most northerners would not equate "no swimming" with "watch out for alligators." But does it matter? "No Swimming" should mean "Don't go in the water." It isn't my job to question why when the property owner puts a sign up that says, in essence, "don't go in the water."

 

...

 

I'm sorry for the loss the parents are enduring. No check from Disney will make that "better."[/quote']

 

I'm Canadian and we're not quite so litigious as our southern neighbours so that doesn't even factor into my feelings about this.

 

Death - whether from an alligator in Florida or an avalanche in Banff - is a high price to pay for touristy ignorance. A warning of alligators has far more danger cache than "no swimming", as does an avalanche warning rather than a no skiing sign in our neck of the woods.

 

Bottom line. No one wants people, most particularly little children, to die if it can be prevented with a more dire and more accurate warning.

 

I wouldn't venture into a no-swimming area anyway, but I'd definitely give a beware-of-alligators a super duper wide berth.

I think by all accounts anyone traveling to Florida should already have the common sense to know to watch for gators anywhere near water in the entire state. I have even been told to watch out for them when making stops at rest areas. While their attacks aren't common, they can and do happen.

 

To be fair, a good deal of common sense has to do with common knowledge and experience. I disagree with your statement above. For most of us unfamiliar with Florida/alligators "no swimming" does not equal "look out for the alligators".

Prices vary GREATLY. On one trip' date=' I got a minivan at a special price of $39 one way, but the same van was over $100 on the return trip because it was a "May only" special. All you can do is to shop for the best price. Sounds like you got a great deal for 9 days + parking![/quote']

 

Yes, I feel like I did my Mennonite/Dutch roots justice in the little bit of bargain hunting. ;-)

 

I'll also monitor the prices as the sail date nears and jump ship (as it were) if a more cost effective rental option becomes available. Sometimes I've had great luck with that.

But here's what's most efficient, convenient, and cost-effective for us on our upcoming trip.

We've looked at shuttles, privated transportation, and car rentals.

About us: 4 adults and 2 children. Length of vacation: 9 days.

We are flying in four days early to take in some land Disney before the cruise and leaving the day after the cruise disembarks. We had to look at transportation from the airport to the first accomodation (a vacation rental home), then transport from Orlando to Cape Canaveral (with possible shuttle from rental to dock and the reverse on the return trip), transport back to our Orlando accomodation, then from Orlando to the airport.

We were able to rent a mini van for 9 days (additional driver, unlimited mileage included) @ $508.92 (included the $66 car seats for the wee ones) + $80 charge to park at the port. This was not only cheaper overall than our other options, but gave us the convenience of driving directly to and from the port - no waits for shuttles, etc.

Renting the mini van for the full time rather than two separate blocks (and being able to pick up and drop off at one location instead of two) saved us $275 ... and that's with the cost of parking at the port thrown in.

love the idea of bringing a journal..

We have always journalled our vacations, first with our own kids and now with our grandchildren. Drawings, ticket stubs, written descriptions, pictures, menus, everything gets crammed into the journals. They are the best souvenir ever.

Has anyone mentioned swimming late at night? We had our granddaughter with us on our last Celebrity cruise and the pools were crowded (plus one pool was a dedicated adults-only) during the day, but later in the evening we had the pool to ourselves. They were lit up beautifully and it is one of our favourite memories of that cruise. Will definitely make this a must-do on future cruises. Late night swims.

I'm from the landlocked prairies and know nothing of alligators. I wouldn't have interpreted a "no swimming" sign to mean "keep the @#$! away from here, there might be alligators".

A horrific traffic tragedy, to be sure, but I'm not sure tourists understand the alligator danger particularly in an urban setting.

I live close to bear country (some years ago we actually had a bear wander into a city hospital), and we are often amazed by how unaware tourists are of bears. Leaving food in tents, even trying to feed bears, trying to get close to a bear for a good picture.

Nowhere in the world - even Disney - is free of danger. It will still be on our list of favourite places to visit, but I'm definitely boning up on how to avoid alligator attacks.

Wait, what? Naegeria parasite exposure - "brain-eating amoeba"? Damn you rugged Floridian survivalists, each day must be a battle to live.

LOL, I love compulsive planners - I'm one as well.

Looks lovely, just delving into it now.

Another vote for the magnetic clips, which you can see here.

Good for stockings, daily newsletters, organizing papers, invitations, etc.

We have traveled with our oldest granddaughter to Hawaii when she was just over a year old; took her on her first cruise (Carnival) when she was 4. We love, love, love traveling with them.

Our youngest granddaughter will be 2 when we do our first Disney cruise with her and we expect to have a great time. :)

My biggest pieces of advice would be to stick with nap/bed times, and don't try and do everything. Relax and have a fabulous time.

Yes, this does seem to be a subject with passionate, emotional responses at times.

We now never travel without a grandchild in tow. They keep us young!

The car seat issue is a tough one. We never travel in a car without buckling the Littles in securely. When we travel, we will typically rent a car and car seats.

I always struggled with the inavailability of car seats in taxis (in some countries) and shuttles or buses. I read a cogent argument for the safety of taxis/shuttles/buses as opposed to cars that eased my mind. I can't remember all the detail, but here are some of the points:

• Taxis, shuttles, and buses employ professional drivers who are familiar with the area (this was the weakest point for me)
  
• Shuttles & Buses are quite a bit larger than other vehicles on the road and so less likely to sustain damage (to either vehicle or passengers) in the event of an accident
  
• Buses and shuttles tend to move slower than smaller vehicles on the road
  

None of the city buses - to my knowledge - and most of the school buses in my city come equipped with seat belts for all passengers. I suspect this is the case in most cities.

Whilst others have identified the legal aspect of this above, I'd also like to put your mind at rest about the safety aspect.

That said, when we travel, we always try to have a situation where the Littles are buckled in.

Thanks, we definitely have some must-sees!

Small Tim Hortons cup

Thanks, and spoken in my native tongue! :)

Thanks Moki'sMommy, someone on the Disboards weighed in with the same guess, so I'm going with it.