Just back from Magic May 20-27!!

[NurseChell]

Hello! Just returned from the May 20-27th Magic. Our 1st Cruise! Let me say AWESOME, :lovestruc AWESOME, :lovestruc AWSOME!!
DAY 1: Boarding at Port Canaveral
We drove in from Georgia Friday Night. I was so nervous about the fires we were hearing about in Fl, that I insisted on leaving early. Scared we would miss the boat. Lots of areas charred from fire, a little bit smoky in some areas. Arrived at port at 9am. The ship was HUGE! unlike anything I had ever seen. BEAUTIFUL, Absolutely Beautiful! DD-age 8 started freaking out as soon as we got close enough that you could tell it was the Magic. She was screaming...Thats the boat, thats it, thats it. So funny :rotfl2:
We unloaded all our stuff at the unloading deck and sat out on the benches for a few minutes. Was quite interesting because some guests from the previous cruise forgot a couple of bags on the ground when they left. So I mentioned it to one of the workers, so it could be put in lost and found. He calmly panicked. called the security office, and the bomb dog. Of course It was carry on bags, with no luggage tags. We were moved to the other side of the unloading deck. They must have passed inspection, and they took the bags away.
We were allowed to go into the terminal about 10am. Had boarding ticket #2. Was one of the first in the terminal. checked in, took pictures of the replica ship, got pager and wrist band from Lab for DD, had character greetings with goofy and Mickey, and watched some cartoons, and met up with some DIS friends. We boarded the ship a little after 11am. The crew members announce your family name when boarding. Pretty cool! The ship was amazing and beautiful. Words cant describe. :love:
Every thing is so clean. Hand sanitizers/wipes when you board, and at all restaurants, crew always cleaning.
Dropped off pillowcase at guest services for autographs. Ate buffet lunch at Parrot Cay which was very nice. Did I mention the dessert bar! OH MY GOODNESS!! :love: Our objective this trip was to try lots of new foods, which we did. All we did was EAT! :rotfl2: If you leave this ship hungry, its your own fault. They dont take no for an answer when it comes to food.
After eatting, went to Mickey pool for a little while. My DD and Anty 30's DD emailed before the trip, so they enjoyed playing together. One of many Mickey Pool "potty" accidents occured (3 hours to clean), so we went over to the goofy pool.
Was allowed to go to our rooms at 1:30pm. We were on deck 1, catagory 10 room 1065. Inside stateroom with the deluxe bathroom. Nice room. Had a hum at times from staff dumbwaiter, and a little noisy at times r/t ocean quest right above our room. Not at all disturbing though. Was not in the room enough to notice. Lots of storage! Would stay in this room. again. No luggage though. at 3pm 2 pieces arrived. Life boat drill at 4pm, lasted 30 minutes. Sail away party/DIS meet at 5pm. Very nice to meet all the people i've been talking too for months. after the party went back to the room,1 more piece of luggage arrived. At 7 still missing 3 pieces, I was getting very nervous, as ALL our clothes and toilettries were in the missing bags. called guest services again, they had some unclaimed luggage. They had them! YEAH!! :Pinkbounc The green tags came off! They delivered them to our room. Dropped DD off in the lab. We had reservations at 8:30 for palo. Could not believe people showed up at palo in BAGGY blue jeans and a baggy t-shirt. Several people not dressed to the dress code! And noone to enforce it either! anyways enough complaining. :confused3 Our server at palo was Tony from Spain. Very nice. He brought us plates of food that we didnt ever order. Again they dont take "nothing" for an answer. Which isnt bad. :blush: The chocolate souffle with chocolate and vanilla is To DIE FOR! I so wanted more. But my stomach was about to BUST!
After dinner walked around the ship, picked up DD from the lab and went to bed. Was SO exhausted! Our room host was Nigel, he turned down the bed and our 1st towel animal was a crab. Nice! Wonderful day!!
will write more later on rest of report. Will try to post some photos too. :wave2:

[Dixielady908]

:) Sounds great, I like hearing form the "first timers" since this will be our first cruise. Looking forward to the rest of your report...


Denise

[Kim&Chris]

Hi Nurseschell....we were on the same cruise. Wasn't it just wonderful? I can't wait to cruise DCL again (we re-booked while onboard for an upcoming Wonder cruise).

I can't believe it's over :guilty:

[cruisnfamily]

I thought the clubs weren't open on the first night....I guess they are?

[kimsue68]

Hi NurseShell!! Thanks for the trip report can't wait for the pictures!! We were also on deck 1 in room 1037. I totally loved the trip, but I SOOOOO thought that I was going to relax on this vacation but there were never enough hours in the day!! I was always running!! I did love it so much that we rebooked while onboard!! Mabey next year we can relax since my dd will be old enough for the kids club. My ds totally loved to be in the club!! Never wanted to leave!! Had some awesome neighbors across the hall
(dcdevil2007) who gave us (and my sister!) a great dis board welcome with some nice door nob hangy things that mad our door look alot more festive since we only brough a few disney store magnets and a green mickey ear. I regret only one thing, I didn't buy a photo album and now I am sad!! I did buy one for the 6x8 photos that you buy there but I wound up buying more 8x10's and only like 5 of the small ones!! I don't know why I didn't get that album, I looked at it and put it back :confused3 , oh well. I got tons of great pictures and we had a blast at pirated night, my 2yo would NOT take her eye patch off and danced all night!! I had a great time!! I can't wait till next year.

[PoohJen]

Thanks for the great report NuseChell - I LOVE a good long :cloud9: enthusiastic :cloud9: trip report! Can't wait to read the rest! :wave:

[NurseChell]

Cruisinfamily:
we were told that the kids clubs had family open house the first night at 7pm. when we got there they said they were open to drop-offs. So I said Ok, see ya later. I didnt complain at all! :cool1: :cheer2: :banana:

kimsue:
We also got one of the door hangers from dcdevil. which was way cool. DD loved it! We bought the 15 8x10 photo package, and 15 6x8 package. Ouch! But gorgous photos. We havent had family photos in 6 years. So took lots of photos.

Will try to figure out how to post photos and post some tonight.

[NurseChell]

so I cant figure out how to post pictures. please help
DAY 2: KEY WEST
We were told because the crew did a good job our stay in key west was being extended from 7pm to 1am. Yeah! Ate breakfast at Lumieres while watching key west get closer. Went to key west once a few years ago, but a hurricane started brewing, so only spent one day here. Nice to go back. It was HOT! :sunny: We had the morning 11:30ish glassbottom boat tour. It was ok, but i would skip it next time. Nothing you cant see while snorkeling. Then we decided to WALK to the SouthernMost Point. HAHAHA. Tip of the day... :moped: :car: Its 2 miles to the end! Stopped at Ripley's believe it or not. Pretty neat place.
Continued on made a stop at the Butterfly Conservatory. Beautiful!! Then on to the Southernmost point marker. We were hot, tired and completely exhausted! About the time I was beging for a Taxi, a man drove up on one of those bicycles with a big seat on the back asking "you need a ride?". :banana: :banana: Thankyou God. :yay: We asked how much to go back to the ship he said $15.00 total (for the 3 of us). He was awesome. He gave us a tour of the rest of town. rode by the lighthouse, hemingway house, other historic houses. Showed us some pretty cool trees, and told us about some history. He dropped us off at the CVS store per request. Paid him $20 well worth it! Got my digital photos put on 2 disk at the CVS for $6. Another tip: the 1st day, take all the pictures you want on the ship and at key west. Then go to CVS, takes only a few minutes and it Left me with more memory space. I took over 1000 photos total.
Back on board, Went swimming in the goofy pool, and the hot tub that wasnt hardly warm and relaxed.
Had dinner at Lumieres. Our dinning rotation was PLAPLAP. Late seating 8:15pm. My suggestion: If you have children a nap is a nessessity if you want them to make it through dinner. DD was GRUMPY and winney. UGH!
Our Head Server was Ronald. We seen him at least once or twice every night, very nice. DD had a crush on him :love:
Svet from Bolvaria was our server. He was good, got better later in the week. showed all the children and adults crayon tricks. pretty cool.
Assistant server was Maria from Chile. She was ok, let our tea and water glasses get empty alot! a bit clumsy at times. spilt a pina colada on one of our tablemates and some on DD on Formal night :eek:
By the end of the week, they knew exactly our likes and dislikes. I have a mushroom allergy, and Svet was awesome about making sure my food was mushroom free. :thumbsup2
Our tablemates were a family of 3 (one DD a little older than our DD) from Puerto Rico, and there close friend and her DS about the same age. they spoke spanish and english. the 1st and 2nd dinners with them was awkward. they didnt speak to us much, but by Thurs we were cutting up and having a great time. :yay:
May I suggest the CREME BRULE for dessert!!! :love: amazing!
DD was falling asleep at the table, so we went back to the room put her to bed and we walked around the ship and enjoyed The key west lighting. Had a Swan towel animal tonight. Nigel must have come in 3 times a day and put up clean towels, I never saw a used towel on the rack!!!!

Was awoken during the night by loud crying :sad: Opened the door to see what was going on and a small child was walking down the hall LOST. :eek: :scared1: his kids club bracelet had his name on it, but No room number, so DH took him to guest services for them to contact the parents. I know they were probably as freaked out as we were. Scary to think about.
Key west was nice but tiring. Slept like a baby!
Will write more tomorrow on day 3. Good night :wave2:

[WDWLVR]

Keep the reports coming - sounds like you had a great cruise!

[anty30]

Hi Michelle.
Ava so misses Lauren. She has told all of her friends about her. I am reading your trip report. It's great. We had the best trip ever. Rebooked for the 7 night Eastern. Will move it into 2008 as soon as the dates come out. I am going to work on my trip report today. Talk to you soon.
Antoinette :wave2:

[DutchsMommy]

That would have been so scary for the little one - and likely even more so for the parents. I swear it's my biggest fear. DS is a bit of a trouble maker and I wouldn't put it past him to get the idea to go for a midnight stroll to see Mickey. Glad to hear you got him safely to GS!

Enoying your TRs. :thumbsup2

Re: the picture thing. You have to have them on a photosharing website first - like photobucket. Then you just have the DIS on one browser, open a second one, go to where ever you have the photos, pull up the one you want, right click on it, copy the URL (probably will look like 'www.photobucket.com/.... and a whole lot of #s etc after). You then paste that into your post and bracket it like this:


insert copied URL here

Then....voila.....your pic will appear! Good luck! PM me if you are having trouble :teeth:

[kimsue68]

Great trip report so far!! So far it looks like we all had an awesome vacation!! :thumbsup2 Good luck with the pictures!!

[tjeagle]

Great report! Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

[MrsJobba1]

Thanks for the trip report :thumbsup2

Its making me dizzy with excitement for my western cruise :goodvibes

keep them coming!
:wave2:

[NurseChell]

my 1st attempt at posting photos

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0526cruise20060029.jpg
my door

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sailaway party

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key west butterfly conservatory

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characters everywhere all the time

[NurseChell]

sorry the last photo was key west at night

this one is charactershttp://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0526cruise20060142.jpg

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Goofy exercising at wide world of sports with the lab

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DH fruit plate

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Ronald our head server

[NurseChell]

Day 3 Day at Sea/Formal Night

Woke up with a wonderful Mickey wake up call. Had room service breakfast. I think I ordered one of everything on the menu. Had a morning couples spa reservation. Absolutely wonderful and relaxing :love: :worship: Everyone needs to try this. What a way to start the day!
Dropped DD off at the Lab and we went to explore the ship.
As I told you characters everywhere all the time. have camera and autograph book with you always.
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Went to Topsiders for brunch, Lumieres for Lunch. Did I mention I gained 6 pounds this week!!!!!!!! :eek: :scared1: :eek: There is literatly food everywhere all the time!
Picked up DD and Went to the 2pm showing of the Golden Mickey's! Absolutely a show not to miss! Spectacular show! :lovestruc :cool1: :love:
Then went to the goofy pool as once again Mickey pool closed due to accident in the pool :furious:
took DD back to room at 4pm for much needed nap, didnt want a dinner repeat of disaster r/t sleepy. Instead when I woke her up from nap at 5pm to get ready for dinner she started crying for over an HOUR!! Never did find out why. So we never made it upstairs to take photos until 7:30. BE PREPARED TO STAND IN LINE!!! Long lines everwhere. thats why I wanted to be ready at 5;30. Disaster :sad:
Anyways dinner was at Animators Palate. not exactly what I expected with the color changing, but it was nice. DD was wonderful at dinner. She actually found something on the kids menu she would eat. Hallallulla :angel: Mickey shaped pasta. Maria (asst. server) spilt pina colada on tablemate and some on DD. glad we already took photos. she got her dressed drycleaned for free so that was nice. Our 10th anniversary is in June, but we choose to cruise early r/t higher prices in june. So we got sang to and got a cake.
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Dont know what this towel animal was but it was cute!
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Very good day, very relaxing. Will write more later.

[tjeagle]

What great pictures! You looked like you had a great time! Love your husbands mickey tie!! :thumbsup2

[CNB1124]

I am enjoying your report. Thanks for taking the time to write it up and post the pictures. I have 3 daughters - 2 younger than yours and one older. So, I appreciate all your great tips.

[JonetteA]

I am so glad that you had a great time on your cruise!!! Ant's daughter is great isn't she! I wish that all of us Disers on the cruise could have spent more time together.

[NurseChell]

Day 4: Grand Cayman

Again woke up with Mickey wake up call and room service. So Nice!
We had the 11:15a Island tour and Snorkle with stingrays booked through DCL. Tendered to GC early at about 8:30ish. Did all our exploring and shopping. So you go to a exotic island and where do you eat? KFC of course. Hate we missed the restaurant overlooking the ocean. found it later while exploring. Our tour guide was pretty cool. very informative. Wierd driving on the wrong side of the road. :car: We drove by the 7 mile beach,
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the governors house, and the gingerbread house. Made a stop at The turtle farm. Didnt stay long enough for DD. She LOVES turtles.
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Then we stopped in Hell. :rotfl2: So funny saying that!
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they told us that between 1-3pm there was the hottest time there. I looked at my watch. 1:00pm oh yeah!! :sunny: Can you say Stifeling hot. The heat coming off the coral was unbearable. Mailed some postcards home from the post office and off we went to the snorkeling boat. Once on the boat we drove out about 6 miles to the sandbar. We were the only boat at that time. The stingrays were awesome!! I kissed one. No good luck yet!! Still waiting. This was my 1st experience at snorkeling. Not so good, but I learned. :blush:
DD got scared because the stingrays started swarming to her when she was feeding them, so she hopped in the Boat quickly. :scared: yep, thats my little scardy cat. This was a really nice experience. would definetly do it again.
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If it is your 1st time on GC I would recommend the tour/snorkeling... but next time we go I will do the turtles on our own and find a tour for snorkeling. People everywhere at the boat dock with tours. we got back to the ship just as the last tender was leaving. thank you for not leaving us!! :banana:
Back to the ship. Nap for DD then went to Cinderella show:twice charmed. LOVED IT! :love: again not a show to be missed!
Dinner was at parrot cay tonight. food was really good. cant complain.
after dinner, dropped DD off at the lab for the kids camp out night.
Exhausting day, but had the best time! asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
will write more later, must put DD to bed :wave2:

[Babs417]

I was their also love reliving the trip. Didnt it go by fast.Good pictures and report.

[pppiglet]

Love the picture of your daughter on the butterfly! She's a cutie!

[NurseChell]

Day 5: Cozumel/Pirate Night

Woke up with Mickey. Ate breakfast at Topsider's. Had to meet at AP at 8:30a for our excursion to Xcaret. Boarded the ferry straight to Playa De Carmen. Was about a 30 minute ferry ride. OH MY GOSH! Tip of the day: ride on the top level towards the back... Here's me SEA SICK for the 1st time.
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I even took my Bonine this morning. It was bad. :sick: People pucking everywhere. They pass out bags in the beginning of the ride. I wonder why!
the ferry is a great place to buy t'shirts and jewelry though. Bought a $5 tshirt and bargained for a beautiful silver necklace (see photos of it on semi-formal night) Never take the 1st offer in Mexico!! They will bargain with you until you pay virtually nothing for it.
Got off the ferry finally. Feeling better now, not so green anymore. Playa De Carmen was nice. We walked through the marketplace with the guide to the bus.
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There was a man selling hats at the bus'es. He said $5 and put in on DD head. DH went to pay him and another man came up and started a heated :furious: conversation in spanish with him. Apparently the man selling them had stole them from the other man. Anyways, the one man snatched the hats, and took off running and the other man ran after him. We never saw either again. So free souviner For DD.
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Our tour guide to Xcaret was informative. He took us inside and showed us a few things of interest then turned us loose to explore on our own.
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This place is Perfect Paradise! :p
You have so many choices: you can relax all day, or do what we did...and stay very busy.
We saw almost all the animals they have, we snorkeled in the underground river. We took the LONG route. Next tip: take the short way!! and take your own snorkel equipment!!! Took a long time waiting in 3 different lines to get equipment. We snorkeled for 1 and half hours!!! Took One underwater camera and when We got to the end, I was out of film. :3dglasses All the fish are at the end!! Hint. Hint. After snorkeling we went to the one of the restaurants to eat and listened to the Mariachi band.
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Seen lots of Mayan ruins and some Mayan cemetaries
Beautiful and peaceful place!
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Had to be back on the bus at 3pm. We took the shortcut back to the ferry. Sat uptop on the way back... No sickness :cheer2:
We got back to the ship about 4:30 and dropped off stuff, put DD down for nap and hopped on tender to Cozumel. There was so much visible destruction still. Construction going on everywhere
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The Most beautiful sapphire water I have ever seen
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The vendors are very pushy. Taxi's everywhere. 3 other ships in the area besides us. Felt very eary being here. :crazy2: purchased DD her authentic Mexican sombrero she wanted to go on her wall along with some other items. Tendered back to ship on last ferry at 6pm.
went back to room, got ready for pirate night! AWESOME from dinner to the pirate party to the fireworks and dessert bar.
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can you see why I gained 6 pounds? this was my dessert plate!!
Took our dessert back to room to eat and went to bed. Too much excitement for me pirate: plus had to turn clock up an hour. so lost an hour of sleep.
That's all for now. Day at Sea tomorrow! :wave2:

[pyramid2000]

Do you have a picture of Tony from Palo? :wave2:

Loving your report! What an exciting trip!

[cinderella_mom]

Great report. Great pictures. Still trying to figure out our excursions for August, but your report is helping me decide.

Thanks. :thumbsup2

[curlybop]

What a great report! I love the bonus of photos too. Makes it even more real! :thumbsup2

[NurseChell]

Day 6: 2nd Day at Sea/ Semi-Formal Night

Started with our character breakfast at Parrot Cay. Wonderful ;)
The characters: Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale, Pluto, and Goofy
Came by every table BRIEFLY :confused: for autographs and pictures. The characters at Disney World lunches stay longer than they did.

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After breakfast, DD couldnt wait to get to the Pool so her and DH headed off for a little while for the pool and arcade. While I the Shopaholic I have become went to the Gift shops for like the 6th or 7th time.
At noon, had our photo/autograph op with the captain. Can you tell by the photo how thrilled he seemed to be???

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0526cruise20060712.jpg
He did not seem all that attentive, as I noticed him starring into space with other people also. :sad2:
Went back to room and changed. Went to the 2pm showing of Disney Dreams. :love: TRULY LOVED IT!! :love:
DD went back to the room for her afternoon nap! Woke up wonderfully today!
Got ready for Semi-formal night. Another tip: Get dressed early and take advantage of the MANY different backgrounds with NO WAIT! Seen Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy all dressed in there formals. How cute!
Dont know if you can tell in this photo, but this is my necklace purchased on the ferry in Mexico.

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Finished with the photos in perfect timing. Went to see the 6:15 showing of The Wild. Really good movie
Had time to go to the Studio Sea for Who Wants to be a Mouseketter. Good game show!! DD didnt want to go in at first, but then loved it and didnt want to leave! She was getting mad when they didnt call her # So funny! :rotfl2:
Saw my 1st and only sunset of the cruise tonight!
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Dinner at AP tonight. Svet very accomodating and got DD her much loved fettuchini. Skipped the dessert part, because they told us about the dessert bar at the Captains Gala at 11:15

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After dinner, dropped DD off in the lab, and we went to The Rockin D Bar. DJ Hollywood and Asst Cruise Dir Christian are so Hillarious. Rich Purpura came out and did one of the funniest comedy shows I have ever seen. :rotfl2: Then stayed for a while for the 70's party. Tip: Go to this bar at least once during your cruise, dont skip it!!
11:15p was when the Captains Gala dessert's started. We got there at 11:30. THE LINE WAS A MILE LONG!!!!! No way we were gonna stand in line for an hour for dessert :cake: So went back to room and ordered 3 mickey bars from room service. Which took 45 minutes to get there!!! :furious: DD and DH fell asleep waiting for them, so Of course I couldnt let them go to waste :teeth: No, I didnt eat all 3... only 2! haha
Head hit the pillow, and was out like a light!!
Our towel animal tonight...
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:sunny: Day 7: Castaway Cay tomorrow... Will try to finish up report later tonight or tomorrow. Hope I can get underwater camera's developed tomorrow. Bye for now. :wave2:

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Tip of the day: ride on the top level towards the back...

Chell,

Thank you so much for the report on Xcaret, I have this scheduled for our upcomming cruise. I do have a question is the underground river fresh or salt water?

You stated that you took the LONG route. Next tip: take the short way!! We snorkeled for 1 and half hours. How long would we be snorkeling if we take the short route. (How deep is the water)

Also did you have lunch using the lunch coupon that comes with the tour or pick another restaurant? I read that the coupons are only good for hamburgers. :confused 3

Thanks
Beckie

[NurseChell]

Magicinmyheart:
To answer your questions... Not sure how much shorter the short way is, but we noticed lots more people taking it. When you only have a short time in Excaret, every minute counts.
The water is salt-water, and in some areas was pretty deep, others waist deep.
and we used the coupon provided. Choices were: hamburger, hotdog(more like sausage dog), and salad. french fries, and a drink. also, gave us coupons for a free ice cream/popsicle.
They said you could trade them in for different restaurants/choices, but we were satisfied with our restaurant.

[michelle9343]

I have reaaly enjoyed reading your trip report. Sounds like a wonderful vaction. Can't wait to read the rest.

[NurseChell]

Sorry pyramid2000 no pictures of Tony from Palo. Never thought about the camera that night.

[NurseChell]

Day 7: Castaway Cay

Woke up, Ate at Topsiders while watching the ship back into Castaway Cay. Pretty cool. Got off the ship about 9:20a. Beautiful Place!

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Had photo ops at the post office with chip and Dale: who were enjoying DD's sand toys. Before leaving home bought sand pails and shovels, and a float at Walmart. Tip of the day: Sand toys on the ship about $10 and up, Floats on Castaway Cay $6...Walmart sand toys $3 and float $1 We just left them on the beach when we were done with them. saved money and suitcase space. Walmart also put underwater cameras on clearance a few days before we left, so bought 5 for $5 each. Good deal!

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0526cruise20060824.jpg

Also had photos with Mickey and Minnie
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0526cruise20060835.jpg
Another tip: wait for the trolley. Its not a long walk, but by the end of the week your feet are HURTING! and the trolley comes around every couple minutes
Had a 10am Banana boat ride. Really fun. Dont sit in the front, unless you want to get REALLY wet, I sat behind a young boy also from GA, and used him as a shield! :) I think we were out there for 10-15 minutes. DD loved it!
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0526cruise20060838.jpg

Then rented 1 snorkel set for $25. I snorkeled for 2 hours while DD and DH played in the sand and swam. Another tip: take 2 underwater cameras and the best fish are out a ways!!! I found out the hard way. Took one camera and ended up coming all the way back for another one and its a long way... A LONG WAY!! I found the hidden Mickey statue, some submarines, a boat, anchors and other stuff. By far the best snorkeling the entire trip!!! Will post some photos when I get my underwater cameras developed.
Almost lost track of time... Had a 12:30 Parasaling with DD scheduled. We literally ran the entire way...like I said before...wait for a trolley! We ended up sitting there for like 20minutes before boarding the boat. This was ssoooo much fun! Churchlady was on with us, and she took some photos of me and DD. Will post them later too once developed. I have no Idea how long we were in the air, because we were having so much fun. It was peaceful up there. When you come down, they dunk you a bit or let your feet touch the water. That was cool. Towards the end of the ride, the sun came out. I felt myself cooking then suddenly remembered that I had NOT put on any sunscreen today!!! :eek: The entire week I had been SLATHERING SPF 50 on like 5-6 times a day, and I forget today. Can you say STUPID!! Especially if you've seen my picture...I'm a fair complected redhead.. who avoids the sun. Plus I'm a Nurse, so I know better. So now I am suffering from a Horrible sunburn complete with blisters!!! So not good!! :scared1:
So by the time the boat dropped us off it was almost 2pm. I put sunscreen on and a shirt, but damage was already done. DH had been snorkeling the whole time we were gone. Cookies BBQ had just closed, so we missed the food! Churchlady offered us some of hers, but we opted for some icecream, then a good meal onboard later. We just walked around for a while, shopped, and then rented a tricycle with big wheels. We had it for 30 mins, so we traded out after 15. DD wanted to see what was playing on the Jumbotron on the boat, so they pedaled out there! WOW!! Until they seen it was Honey I shrunk the kids
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/0adddbdb.jpg
Got back on the boat at 4:30 DD ran up to Captain Hook who was on the pier and "tick tock"ed him then ran like crazy. So funny.
Put DD to bed for nap, and Me and DH went for our Exotic Rasul Ressie. The steam room is HOT HOT HOT. I wish I would have booked this earlier in the week when I wasnt so Sunburned!!! :sunny: But it was fun! Stopped off at the gift shops AGAIN for the last time. Several Marked down t-shirts tonight!
DD went to the lab for~ Make Up what U missed~She made some flubber and a painting of Lilo. I tryed to pack as quickly as I could. due to luggage had to be out by 11pm. Picked up DD who was distraught that we missed the last show, so this bummed her out the rest of the night. Guest Services delivered our pillowcase. One of the markers tops came off, so there was ink splotches over Mickey's signature. I freaked out!!!! but due to Very quick thinking Happened to spot stitches signature above it and said...That stitch, look what he did...he made a mess! DD loves stitch, so she thought it was funny, and said...Stitch must of had a glitch. Well then! Disaster avoided! :teeth:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0530cruise20060001.jpg
Last dinner was at PC. Its a small world dinner with a little show. Sad that we had to go home!! After dinner went by shutters to pick between the MANY photos we had taken during the week. 15 6x8s and 15 8x10s. Hate I could not afford all of them. this photo of course is not as good as the original. I used my camera and took a picture of it.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/Powersfamily.jpg
DD didnt want to attend the Til We Meet Again party, so we went back to the room and Crammed a weeks worth of stuff up QUICKLY. Had luggage out at 11:10 a bit late, but they still took it. Yeah!! Missed the disembarking speech, but thankyou DISers for the tip. We watched it in our stateroom after we finished packing.
Have no Idea what time we actually went to bed, but This day just flew by.
Ok... Enough for now... Stay tuned for tomorrow...Disembarking Day

[Babs417]

Your pictures are great what kind of camera do you have?

[NurseChell]

Babs417:
Thankyou!
I have a 3.2 mega pixel Fujifilm s3000 digital camera with 6x optical zoom.
DH bought it for me as a christmas present about 3 or 4 years ago.
I love this camera, my only complaint is that the shutter speed is a little slow...meaning it takes longer for the photo to actually take.
I took 1200 pictures this trip! Can you tell that I love to take them?!

[curlybop]

Great report!
I'd love to see even more photos. What can I say, I love pictures! :teeth:

[Aquagirl]

Day 3 Day at Sea/Formal Night

towel animal was but it was cute!
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0526cruise20060695.jpg


I think it's a walrus.

[majeda]

ddddsss

I was just wondering if you could tell me the exact travel time from when you arrived at Cozumel to Xcaret (your tender time, ferry time and bus time) as I would love to do this excursion but most posts are saying the travel time is about 3.5 - 4.0 hours.

Thank you from Canada

[NurseChell]

majeda:
I believe the ferry ride was 30min, 5min meeting up with the guide, 10min walk through market to bus, 15min bus ride with guide talking about things to do at Xcaret. So approx 1 hour to park, didnt take quite that long to get back as the bus took a short cut, then a shorter walk through town. Hope this helps. It DIDNOT take 3.5- 4 hours by no means.

[NurseChell]

I'm suprised how well these turned out.
These 1st one's are from Stingray sandbar:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712736-R1-17-17A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712736-R1-20-20A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712736-R1-25-25A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712737-R1-16-15A.jpg

These are from Xcaret:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712738-R1-24-25A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712738-R1-23-24A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712738-R1-15-16A.jpg
Here's DD FINALLY trying to snorkel! Yeah! Short lived though.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712738-R1-11-11A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712738-R1-06-6A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712738-R1-03-2A.jpg
This is the fish that kept following me, nibbling on me that is.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/712738-R1-00-00A.jpg

[NurseChell]

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/752739-R1-21-24A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/752739-R1-20-23A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/752739-R1-19-22A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/752739-R1-17-20A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/752739-R1-13-16A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/752739-R1-08-11A.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/752739-R1-06-9A.jpg

Thankyou churchlady for taking this photo of me and DD!!
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/752739-R1-02-4A.jpg

[jmatias]

I really enjoyed reading your report and great pictures too!

Thanks for taking the time to post all the great info.

Aloha,
Jen

[kimsue68]

Great pictures!! :thumbsup2 I am really enjoying your trip report!! Keep it coming!! :cheer2:

[NurseChell]

Disembarkment day/ Trip to Magic Kingdom

Ok, last day...Woke up way to early. Had to finish packing up day bags.
My last look at the beautiful atrium...
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0526cruise20060715.jpg

8am Breakfast was at Parrot Cay...Our last meal. BOOHOOOOOO! Breakfast took a long time to get there it seemed like so by now it was 9am, and they were announcing basically that anyone still on board had to leave. Didnt really know what to expect while disembarking, but it was QUICK and painless, basically we just walked off the ship. Luggage was waiting for us. The porters where very helpful. How he loaded 7 huge bags on that one little cart I will never know. He took it out to our vehicle for us, gave him a really good tip. So sad leaving the port, and watching all the new people line up for the next cruise.
Was soooo not ready to go home yet. My sunburned body and aching feet were really really hurting this morning, my DH's also. But here's me...Lets go to the Magic Kingdom!! Way to go Me!! So off we went to Orlando.
Cinderella's castle was so pretty with it's new make-over celebrating DisneyLand's 50th Birthday.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0527cruise20060067.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0527cruise20060010.jpg

Headed straight to Space Mountain section. NO WAIT! yes!!! Decided to try to get a character lunch at the Crystal Palace. Success. NO WAIT here either. DD was disappointed that no Winnie Pooh characters on board the Magic, so this really made her day. Enjoyed this lunch very much, the characters stay longer at each table and interact with each other. ie...Piglet was constantly pulling tiggers tail, and tigger would chase him around the tables. SO FUNNY! :rotfl2:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0527cruise20060020.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h34/CHELLBUG/2006_0527cruise20060023.jpg

I believe we rode almost everything in the park, which was so much fun! The parade's were so cool, some of the best I've seen! The new fireworks show..Magic, was pure MAGIC!!! Most impressive firework shows I have ever seen. And by the way how fitting it's name was, being we just got off the Magic this morning. The park closed at 12am, and we didn't leave until then. Can you say TIRED!!!! We drove just to the other side of Orlando and stopped at a rest area to sleep. The drive home...about 5 hours, and I slept the whole way.

So to sum up the week.... MAGICAL, IMPRESSIVE, AWESOME, AND THE BEST VACATION EVER! DH had more fun than I thought he would, but still he says we have to wait a few years before we can take another Disney Cruise. So now I'm SAD again. :sad2: It is now Wednesday, and DD still refuses to take off her kids lab braclet. :rotfl: and her and DH are still walking around with there lanyards on. :rolleyes: We all became Pin Collectors on this cruise, so I think between the 3 of us we bought 20 something pins between the cruise and the Magic Kingdom. It's addicting!!!! So now I'm home, still haven't unpacked :p just sitting around the house doing absolutely nothing and being bored! until Friday Night when I have to go back to work!! OOHHHH NOOOO!
So I was in a funk until today because I kissed the stingray which was suppost to be good luck right...A couple of days before getting off ship Started getting a sore throat and congestion, got a massive sunburn at Castaway Cay, and I started getting fever blister when I got home. OH NO, what happened to that good luck??! My good luck finally hit today...Went to pick up my paycheck, and found out I got a $2 hour raise. THANKYOU stingray!! That's one step closer to that next Disney Cruise!!!! :cheer2:

I Did put together a few more Tips for all of you 1st timers hope this helps:
1. Sunscreen ALL the time, many times a day, even when its cloudy.
2. Over the door show hanger, clock with light-up panel, and surge protector are a MUST!
3. Take the stairs, as they are SOOO much quicker than the elevators!
4. Either bring your own bottled water, or buy a case in Key West. Much cheaper than buying it onboard.
5. Send your laundry/drycleaning to get pressed. Dont waste your time doing it yourself. You Wont have time anyways! To much to do!
6. If doing an autographed pillowcase, put your markers in a separate baggie.
7. Print out the 2 for 1 adult coupons for Key West. Saved us lots of money!
8. Mickie, Minnie, and most of the other characters dress in different outfits everyday and Kids will get OUT OF WHACK if you dont get photos in EVERY outfit!
9. When standing in lines for characters...The character wont leave until everyone has been through the line...NOT like at the parks when they leave you standing there waiting.
10. Pack an extra luggage bag inside one of your larger luggage bags for all those souveniers you Say you aren't going to buy! haha
11. We took, but NEVER used: duct tape, walky talkies, video camera (I love my digital camera as I took 1200 photos with it)
12. Take some hats and hair clips with you, Dont forget about the top of your head burning, and it gets pretty windy on some excursions.
13. If you have children: Find some DISers going on the trip with you, with children similar ages and ask if the children can email each other before hand. That away when You get on the ship they have a friend or two. BEST thing we ever did. DD says Anty30's DD is her Long distance Best Friend. Aahhh! :love: We love you AVA!!!!!
14. Ask people to take group photos of you and your family! People and crew on this ship are so friendly! they are more than willing to help. Dont get left out of your own vacation photos.

There is probably more that I'm missing, but this is the biggies. Thankyou all for reading my trip report, and thankyou for your kind words.
:wave2: :wave2: :wave2: :wave2: :wave2: :wave2: :wave2:

[kimsue68]

Hi NurseShell, This is weird because both me and my dh got fever blisters!! My dh get's them when he doesn't use chapstik in the sun but I have never had one before :confused3 . Luckily it wasn't too bad.

[anty30]

Michelle,
I loved your report and pics. I cannot figure out the picture thing, so I just put the link in my post to get to our pics. It was such a wonderful cruise. Couldnt have asked for better weather. Ava got a really cute pic of Lauren when they were in the lab. I gave her a disposable camara so she could take pictures of her friends and counselors. I am glad our girls got along so nicely. princess: princess: Talk to you soon.

Anty

[AshAlytwins]

I regret only one thing, I didn't buy a photo album and now I am sad!!

Hi Kim...this is Kim.....look in Ebay for the albums...that is where I got ours for a cheap price!!!

[msr709]

:thumbsup2 Report was very well done! The pictures and your description made it seem like I was there with you! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm also a first time cruiser and I can't wait to go. I was thinking of skipping the excursions but you are making me reconsider, your pictures make them seem very enticing! Thanks again for a such a wonderful report. :thumbsup2 :banana:

[cinderella_mom]

Wow great report and great tips for cruising. Can't wait 'til August...

[churchlady]

Michelle, That was the best report ever! I feel like I am still there! The pictures were great! You really captured everything and made the most of every minute. I think our husbands are really lucky to have such "in the know" wives, don't you?

[sejejoemmiev]

Hi. Great Trip Report. I Loved it! My family is going on the 2/24/07 Western.
My son 8 wants to go parasailing with his Dad. The description on-line is confusing. It says min. weight is 90 lbs. and maximum wt. is 375 lbs. They would go tandem of course and be under the maximum weight limit but my son does not have to weigh the minimum weight of 90 lbs. by himself right??
He weighs 70 lbs. That should be okay right?
Also, I orginally planned on doing xcaret for our excursion but the travel time scared me. (I heard longer estimates than what you experienced) I will be traveling with my 4 kids ages: 1 1/2 , 4 , 7, and 8 @ the time of cruising so the travel time is important for fidgety kids. I changed my mind to do the Cozumel Beach Break because of this. After reading your report and seeing the pictures I want to go there. What do you think? How did your daughter do with the travel time? Was there things to do in transit? Did she have a good time there? How much time did you have actually in the park? About 5 hours or so? Is this enough time there that you don't feel like you wasted an entire day? What do you think about taking the small kids there? Did you see anyone there with little kids? Sorry so many questions!!!!!!! Thanks! :wave2:

[NurseChell]

sejejoemmiev:
about the parasailing. My DD is 8, she is a whole 54 lbs soaking wet. They would have let her go up by herself if she wanted too. The online info says min weight 90 lbs, thats for going by self, but like I said...They said everyone on our boat was big enough to go by self. Me and DD chose to tandum together though.
Xcaret questions...I am a clock watcher, but when I got seasick on the ferry that was the last thing I was looking at. My DH said that it was 30min on the ferry. DD does well playing by herself, and the time did seem to fly. She had her Nintendo DS with her that she played with. She really liked Xcaret. There was also several young children (between ages 2 and 6) on the bus with us and seen lots of children in the park also. I never heard anyone say they were sorry they went, everyone was talking about what all they did. I took tons of photos. Would have enjoyed more time here, but with all the stuff in this place to do we will plan on going here next time we cruise. I think we had about 4 hours, both clock watchers were having a good time. :teeth: I just remember we had to be back at the bus at 3pm. no later than 3:10. sorry. With a 1 & 1/2 year old though, dont think they will let them do the underground snorkel, the others should be fine. They do have beachy area's with inner tubes (just like Castaway Cay). Hope this helps answer your questions.