misty57

DH has a lot of pain with walking or standing for long periods of time. We have found that taking trolley HOHO tours is sometimes a good way to see a lot without having to walk very far. Make sure you have plenty of her medications with you. DH ran out and it was miserable.

83 days for the Oasis.:cool:

3:d

I think this tour was one of the best we have done and well worth the time and $. We were actually staying over in Orlando at an airport hotel, so we just called for the shuttle once the tour dropped us off.

27!

I have brought sand home in my water shoes! I did grab a small handful of pink sand from Bermuda. I saw a lot of junky souvenirs with sand in them, and thought I could make something better myself. The sand is still wrapped in plastic in my craft cabinet a year later!

What wonderful stories! Wouldn't it be great if we could hear about some of the crew members good experiences and the things that they have appreciated.:)

Down 0.6 after one week but the clothes are a little looser. Starting exercise tomorrow. At this rate I will only be down 3.5 lb by the time we cruise! DH had a craving for a peanut butter shake. DQ was way into double digits point wise for a small! I made one for him for only 8. He said it was pretty good. I used Atkins vanilla shake, Jello mouses temptations , reduced fat peanut butter, and low fat vanilla frozen yogurt.

DH and I are back on the program. I am an online member, and I just tell him what he can eat. He's pretty good at keeping track ( I gave him my old calculator and he has a keychain "clicker") especially when he asks me how many points he has had at supper time! I haven't been tracking or weighing since May. I was pleased that I was only up 1.8 lb. I think it's because I quit drinking diet soda, and I drink way more water than I used to. Once you start counting again though, you realize how much you have been off your game! Good luck to everyone over Labor Day... we have 52 more days before our next cruise!

Lynn that is so great! One of the perks of living in Florida I guess. I would love to have the freedom to just decide at the last minute and fly away somewhere!

I used to work with a gal who's DH would pick her up from work and whisk her away somewhere like that! He would say... we will buy what we need when we get there! Now I know THAT won't happen LOL:D.

I have always wondered, when families book the large suites, is that big price tag per person, and if the extra people ( beyond the double occupancy rate) are charged the same 3rd 4th person rate as someone booking a lower inside cabin? I have seen some priced at 10k and can't imagine paying that ppx4!

It looks like this board is alive again!! Lets keep it going!:D

It's nice to hear that many can and do retire early. My DS (25) says that we have it backwards. We should only start to work when we've done everything we want to do... :roll eyes: I will try to work as long as I can. In the next 8-9 years I will try to find a less stressful and more flexible position. DH is self employed and has partnered with our younger DS so he too plans to work as long as he can. I always say if I work I don't have time to do everything and if I don't I won't have the $ to do anything:p. No kids in college anymore, no mortgage, but I guess we have a comfortable lifestyle and like to help our kids as needed.

A while back when I was 59-1/2 and took some $ out of my 401 ( my plan says I have to be 59-1/2 to withdraw without paying penalties ), the gal told me I had to pay a penalty cuz seemed like I was 10 yrs younger - I wanted to give HER my $$ !! that felt good - Corkey

Hmmm that reminds me of an incident when I took a patient to radiology for a series of films. The tech asked me if I might be pregnant! I said NO but thanks for asking! It's like being carded!

Well it looked like things were picking up on this board for awhile... :confused:

I don't think it is necessary to have an entire cruise be child free. I would just like the solarium to be limited to over 18 . There are so many places that kids can be.. like one person has mentioned, adults aren't allowed to lounge around in the teen area or the children's splash pad area on some ships. I think it would be nice to keep families sitting with families at dinner too. JMHO:)

I am now officially retired and loving it. I didn't have any plans to retire until I turned 60 and realized I wanted to spend what was left of my life doing what I wanted to do (like taking cruises) when I wanted to (not just during summer vacation). Medical insurance is the real downer. I have three years that I have to pay for it and the retirement system only contributes about $150/month. But I have been saving for the last 16 years and plan to accomplish the #1 item on my bucket list and cruise around the world in 2014.

Good for you! I can't imagine packing for such a trip thought! I have a difficult enough time trying to keep my packing to a minimum for a 7 day cruise:D

One thing for sure, there would not likely be a large number of young 20's on a cruise like that.

Whenever I read of people retiring in their 50s I always wonder how they managed to do it. I have come to the conclusion that either they worked for the government, were teachers, or are just independently wealthy. How do people pay for health insurance if they're not eligible for Medicare and don't have sweet retirement plans/pensions with insurance (i.e. govt or teachers)??

 

We're both 59 and counting the days (years??) until we hit 65.

I try not to think about how many years I have until retirement. (11 1/2 :eek:)

That is such a long time ( will be 55 in a few days:p) and I just pray that I can continue my work as an RN in a level 3 NICU for that long. I always say that in 11 1/2 years I can be part time HEE HEE. I can't see myself being able to keep up with things as it is difficult now. With the markets fluctuating so much my 403B has taken several hits. DH has no retirement as he is self employed. I carry the health insurance for us both through my employer, but it is really expensive even with their payments. I just hope Social Security will still be around by the time we need it. I do not worry that I will be hungry or destitute, but I hope I can still travel. There are so many places that I want to go, and right now I can't be away as long as I would like.

As far as teachers are concerned, our state is trying to cut the teacher pensions, and our daughter is a parochial school teacher and has to self fund her own pension.

WOW! Thanks for posting this information! I'm trying to think of the best way to proceed since we have until the middle of December to make final payment. Would it be advantageous to go ahead and make the full payment now so that we will be covered, or take the chance since there is some reimbursement at this point if we cancel the cruise? I really don't like giving anyone my money sooner than I have to!:confused:

My kids are 6 6 and 8. We will take them to the beach but we wanted to do the jet ski tour in port but of course if the kids are with us we cant. So if the kids club were safe and secure i might of left them there for that hour and a half or so. We probably wont. This trip was supposed to be for my wife and i since we dedicate 100% of our time to them and our 2 year old which will be with my mother. But i felt guilty going without them. Last year we did cancun twice once with and once without. Having 4 kids took a toll on our lives. Its just work and kids not much time for fun. Its been a tough 8 years. Wife already had a nervous breakdown 2 months ago.

Could you bring another person along on your cruise to mainly take care of the children? It would be expensive but then again, you might have more free time and come back more rested. When I was young I used to go on our neighbor's vacations with them to entertain their youngest child :). We had 4 children ages 5 and under. We only took weekend trips with them until they were jr high to college age. We went on one trip alone for a week between child 1 and child 2, and two cruises while leaving them with our parents. It was hard to leave them, but they were fine ( now I realize what a wonderful thing our parents did for us by keeping the kids for those three trips).

Ask who is doing your hotel from airport transportation if they would do it. We used Beach Line. They picked us up at the airport and took us to the resort we were staying at in Orlando. They also picked us up at the port after our cruise. They inquired if we needed from resort to port, but we had family we rode with.

http://www.beachlinetransportation.net/Index.htm

What did they charge for the airport to hotel trip? I was looking into Mears ( I've used them before) but I don't think they go to Port Canaveral. Was it a shared ride situation or private car? It will be just DH and I.

I was searching for videos of Liberty of the seas since I am going on her on Sunday, and found another version of cruise rudeness - far away from beeing a cruise snob..

And I wonder how this person thinks this behavior adds to anyones vacation.:rolleyes:. I hope he was inebriated. I would hate to think someone of his age would do such a thing sober! YUCK!:eek:

Contact Michael @ executive vip limo for transportation to and from Disney hotels/ port canaveral. We have used them twice and the price could not be beat. viplimo@screenstar.com

thanks!

Just a quick question about transportation.. I don't have time to look through all the posts to find the info

We are staying near downtown disney for two nights in Feb and sailing out of Port Canaveral afterward. I have narrowed down transportation to our hotel from the airport but what is a good choice for transportation from hotel to port and back? I have seen poor reviews for Laura's as well as good.

We do not want to rent a car.

Thanks!:)

Just wondering.. is the Compass Deli an additional charge? I read somewhere that there is a charge for gelato.??:confused:

Where is the Sarrentos pizza?