Big Doodle Cruise News -UPDATE 2

UPDATE - DKers are still signing up!!!

Elizabeth (Bailey) & dh Jim - newbies - the latest cruisers to sign up!!!!

Ann (Oliver & Rosie) & husband Bill - repeats

Lisa (Daisy) & her daughter Nicole - newbies

Nicky* (Riley & new puppy Boris) - newbie - Our 1st ever international cruiser!!!

Dori (Rua) - repeat

Doris (Knox) - repeat

Leslie (Halas) & her mom, Judy - newbies

Ronna (Murphy & Wilson) - neewbie

Laurie (Fudge & Vern) and husband, John - repeats

Jane (Guinness & Murphy) and her husband, Dave and son, Tim (my cruise crush) - repeats

Myself - repeat and dh, Bob - newbie

So far 19 people and 9 cabins!!!!!

We still have Suzanne Smith that is in NEED of a cabinmate!!!!!!

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There will be a cruise in Oct. 2013 - not a sanctioned DK event but a Doodle Cruise as the last one was. EVERYONE is welcome. All that is required is that you contact:

Susie or Shel Perlin

Cruise Planners of Florida

www.cruiseplannersofflorida.com

941-729-0113 or international 877-724-2483

You will book seperatly and then we will be linked together for dining. I'm encouraging everyone to sign up for early dinner for easier socalizing.

They will help you to select your cabin - and you will make a deposit on your credit card of around $200. - I don't suggest the early saver fares as they are not refundable - most other deposits are 100% refundable up till final payment is due.

We are sailing on Oct. 13, 2013

6 nights on Carnival FREEDOM out of Ft Lauderdale, FL

Key West, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios - 2 sea days

Hotel and airline assistance will come later

TRY to stay on deck 7 is you can!!!!

THERE WILL BE A DOODLE CRUISE 2014!!!! We will begin planning as soon as they open up those dates for reservations, should happen early 2013. PLEASE - if you want on this DK Cruise - we will book as a group - so watch for more info.

JOIN the Doodle Lovers Cruise Group as this will be the last post on the front page!!!!

1st I hope that everyone will realize that getting a group together on a cruise ship is a daunting task. Each cruise line is different in how they handle this and it isn't a simple thing - last cruise we were booked as individuals and later we were grouped for dining. We booked in Aug for an October cruise - at this point we are WAY behind the 8 ball. This time I was trying to book us as a Group which would get us perhaps some on board credit (free money on S&S card) of some other perks. Sadly - on the Oct. 13, 2013 cruise - suites are VERY limited and for balcony cabins - I'm not sure how much "grouping" we can do.

I'm very frustrated at this point and have asked the Travel Agent to check to see if the ship has more availability on the Oct 27, 2013 sailing. She will let me know tomorrow. Don't get me wrong - we can all get on the 13th sailing - but I can't promise that our rooms will all be central in location to each other.

QUESTION: How important is it to YOU to have all the cabins close together? If you fear smoking - you might have to opt for a Spa cabin.

For each type of Cabin there are different categories - so a Balcony can be different in price based on ship local - forward, middle, aft and by deck. Last time we all were on deck 7 which I believe was an 8C - so if we try to group people will have to be willing to spend the same as their neighbor.

QUESTION: If availability was better the 2nd or 3rd week of January, 2014 - would you still go?

Also - the hotels in Ft Lauderdale are more expensive - but will be in a BETTER (safer) location, we could have a great time in FtLdle the night before we cruise.

Lastly - when we pull the trigger on this cruise - you HAVE TO BE READY to decide - you can always back out later but we cannot "hold" the group cabins for long.

I'll be back to you tomorrow. For now I'm going to sip a cocktail and try not to have my head explode.

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Permalink Reply by Jane, Rooney & Stuart on October 11, 2012 at 7:57am

I'm crossing my fingers!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Jane, Rooney & Stuart on October 11, 2012 at 2:51pm

This breaking news just in:

join us on this cruise for the 2nd annual Doodle Door Decorating Contest (lets kick some Laurie bootie), I totally plan to Officially win this time as a ship crew member will be doing the judging.

AND

the 1st EVER Doodle Cabin Crawl (think pub crawl) as we go cabin to cabin for drinks.

Who knows what other mischief I can dream up in the next year!!!!!

COME ON AND JOIN US!!!

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Permalink Reply by Leslie and Halas on October 15, 2012 at 8:48am

I'm going! My work partners are OK with me missing Oct. 14-15 (extended tax return deadline), and flyball is a little unknown this far out, so I'm doing the doodle cruise in 2013! I'm waiting for my mom to decide if she wants to come with me. If not, I'll be seeking a cabin-mate. The only thing you need to know about my mom is that I had to make sure Carnival served Bud Light before I even asked her to go. I should be booking later tonight or tomorrow!

I'm already thinking about the door decorations. I'm probably going with something simple but powerful. I probably won't win (Who can possibly beat Laurie? She's too good at it. In fact, she's probably doping. We should have her tested.), but I'll try to at least make a statement. Were you guys just using tape to attach your posters, or are the door magnetic?

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Permalink Reply by Laurie, Fudge, and Vern on October 15, 2012 at 8:52am

YAY....Leslie is going :) YAY!!! Your mom sounds like a hoot. No one even thought about me doping until you brought this up. Uh oh....word is out...LOL!! We used tape to attach the posters.

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Permalink Reply by Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle on October 15, 2012 at 8:56am

The doors are magnetic, though, aren't they?

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Permalink Reply by Laurie, Fudge, and Vern on October 15, 2012 at 9:01am

Our door wasn't....just the part around the doorway. My magnets fell right off until I taped them, but then I realized around the doorway was AFTER I had taped them all on :(

Here is Jane's door with my magnet, plus I placed it over her magnetic board several times.

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Permalink Reply by Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom on October 15, 2012 at 9:23am

If you haven't ever seen them check out glue dots. They work great. You can get in various thicknesses and they would go behind the poster board. When you take it down they come right off. We used a million of them for my nieces wedding reception decorations. You can stick things everywhere without worrying about hurting anything.