Was live - now great memories from the April 26th Eastern Magic

[WDWLVR]

Ok well it is not quite live yet, but we plan to do a few live postings as internet time allows.

This is our 11th DCL cruise and we are excited to be going on an Eastern again. It will be me, DH (aka MarkRG) and our good friends from Ohio Karen (ohiominnie), Mike (ohiomickey) and their kids KT and Nick.

We're part of a good DIS group and we look forward to meeting up with everyone at the DIS meet tomorrow.

The plan for today is to fly in to Orlando and meet up at the airport with Karen, Mike and the kids. Then we head over to the port together and we're spending the night at Hampton Inn. We plan on dinner at Grills and then a nice quiet evening.

We board the ship tomorrow!


If you want to read another's as well, check out Dreamcometrue's Trip Report! (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1814603)

[RachelTori]

:sail: :wave: Bon Voyage Mary, Mark, Karen, Mike, KT, & Nick...... and all the other DISers! We'll be anxiously awaiting your live reports! :goodvibes



DCL cruise #11?!! :eek: Mary, I think you & Mark have a fabulous obsession! :thumbsup2

[ohiominnie]

Heading to the beach with mark and mary.

[mommasita]

Hi Mary,

Anxiously awaiting anything from you..

ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

[MarkRG]

We're here, the trip down was smooth, met up as you have already seen with the Ohio clan, and the walk on the beach was fun. :)

Going out to Grill's shortly for dinner and to watch the ships go by. :)

I'm sure Mary'll want to write up something better later. Me, I'll be like this: :surfweb:

[MagicMe]

Have a great cruise!!!!!!!!!!

[Mozart]

We're here, the trip down was smooth, met up as you have already seen with the Ohio clan, and the walk on the beach was fun. :)

Going out to Grill's shortly for dinner and to watch the ships go by. :)

I'm sure Mary'll want to write up something better later. Me, I'll be like this: :surfweb:

Not to be alarming or anything, but with the moderators gone on their own cruise, does that mean we get to act like we did when the teacher stepped out of the room back in elementary school?

Now might be a good time to bring up tipping, smoking, or casinos....:rotfl:

[mommasita]

Not to be alarming or anything, but with the moderators gone on their own cruise, does that mean we get to act like we did when the teacher stepped out of the room back in elementary school?

Now might be a good time to bring up tipping, smoking, or casinos....:rotfl:

:rolleyes1 :wave2:

[chip&dale&fun]

Have a Great Cruise everyone.....Get the ship ready for the canal please....:goodvibes

[lunsusie]

Have a MAGICal cruise, Everyone!:wave:

[ohiominnie]

hot game of left right center at the Hampton inn in cocoa beach if any one wants to join in.

[WDWLVR]

Back in the room after a great day!

Smooth flight coming down and we were met in the baggage claim area by the Ohio family holding up a sign for us. Too cute!

A quick drive over to the port area and check in at the hotel after stopping for lunch. Then out to the beach. Beautiful day. Sunshine and fluffy clouds. There was a Royal Caribbean ship in port that sailed at 5 pm and we (well everyone except Mike who was parking the car) got to see it sail past Grills. Then a nice dinner, a quick stop at Publix and back to the hotel.

As Karen said we then met downstairs for some games of LRC and lots of laughs and now back in the room.

All in all a wonderful day.

Tomorrow looks to be even better because after we wake up we should be able to see the Magic!

[ohiominnie]

Hey there Mary.....
You're two doors down and yet we're communicating through the DIS! HA!

Just chillin' here. Can't go to sleep this early or we'll be up at 4am!

[zerog]

WELCOME TO BREVARD COUNTY

We finally finished packing a few minutes ago. :crazy2: I know we are forgetting something. :scratchin Talk about waiting till the last minute.

I think we broke rule #1: nobody laugh, but we have 7 suitcases of various sizes and 1.5 carry-ons. We are NOT seasoned travelers, so we pack everything 'just in case.'

We had planned to get DW's hair braided but decided that we really just needed to spend the time packing. We'll schedule an appointment once we get on the ship.

So welcome to our wonderful town. See you in just over 12 hours.

Randy

[ohiominnie]

Nothing wrong with 7 bags. We have 7 but we also have 8 days at Disney after the cruise.

[WDWLVR]

Hey there Mary.....
You're two doors down and yet we're communicating through the DIS! HA!

Just chillin' here. Can't go to sleep this early or we'll be up at 4am!

Well I'm up at 5:30. Of course 5-5:30 is my normal time.

Mark just came back and confirms that the Magic is in port! YEAH!

[Verandah Man]

I'm so jealous, but have a MAGICal week!!! :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

I know this wasn't what you had in mind Mary, but I was just on the Radisson cam site and captured this pic anyhow, kind of makes me homesick for the Magic. I'll be checking the cams throughout the day for better pics.

Magic on The Radisson Cam 4-26-08 Early AM

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a118/VerandahMan/magic4-26-08earlyAM.jpg

[jollytammy]

I am so jealous right now!!! Just seeing the Magic in port is so magical.:cloud9: Lots of pixie dust on your upcoming trip.

[tinkerbelle77]

Have a great time Mark and Mary!!!

[ohiominnie]

Here at terminal.
Mary says hi.

[justmestace]

I am green green green with envy!!


Have a blast....relax, enjoy........BON VOYAGE!!!!

[chip&dale&fun]

It's Sail Away Time.


Enjoy Your Cruise!!!!!

[WVMD]

Have a great time!!! Wishing I was at the sailaway party with you all!!!

Have fun!!!

Virgil
pirate:

[Verandah Man]

Won't be long now 4-26-08 at 4:45pm

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a118/VerandahMan/Magic4-26-08445pm.jpg

[Verandah Man]

Underway, there SHE goes...........

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a118/VerandahMan/Magic4-26-08504pm.jpg

[Verandah Man]

Sailing out the Port Canaveral Channel

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a118/VerandahMan/Magic4-26-08525pm.jpg

[steveandtonya]

Hey Andy, Where is the webcam site for that last picture- pulling out of the harbor? Thanks Steve

[Verandah Man]

Sailing past the Two Palms cam

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a118/VerandahMan/Magic4-26-08530pm.jpg

[Verandah Man]

Hey Andy, Where is the webcam site for that last picture- pulling out of the harbor? Thanks Steve


Hi Steve,

I got the link off the Two Palms cam site http://www.cocoabeachsurf.com/BeachCam1.htm it was listed as Jetty Park under the "other area cams" section on the left hand side.

[steveandtonya]

Thanks Andy, I knew you would know. Is that an Eastern cruise your're going on in October 2009?

[Verandah Man]

Thanks Andy, I knew you would know. Is that an Eastern cruise your're going on in October 2009?


Yes, indeed it is!!! DW and I will be celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary on 10/24/09

Now back to the cruise at hand.............;) ;) ;)

[justmestace]

Thanks, Andy! It makes it so much more fun to see them sail out and imagine where they are right now!!!

[Verandah Man]

Thanks, Andy! It makes it so much more fun to see them sail out and imagine where they are right now!!!



I know Stace, I was just thinking about that myself. Who is standing in line for dinner, oh, how I wish it were me...............:rolleyes1 :rolleyes1 :rolleyes1

[chip&dale&fun]

Sailing out the Port Canaveral Channel

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a118/VerandahMan/Magic4-26-08525pm.jpg

Thanks Andy ---- Hey - is that Mark waving from deck 9??????

[Verandah Man]

Thanks Andy ---- Hey - is that Mark waving from deck 9??????


I believe you are correct................:lmao: ;) :lmao:

Hi Mark...........:wave:

[WDWLVR]

Hi everyone! Having a great time. Getting ready to go to the DVC reception and then to Palo Brunch. I'll do a write-up later.

[imheather]

Hi everyone! Having a great time. Getting ready to go to the DVC reception and then to Palo Brunch. I'll do a write-up later.
Have a great time! Keep things intact as I will be there next week:) I can't wait to hear your updates..

Heather
May 3rd Western

[mommasita]

Hope you enjoying every minute. :banana:

[WDWLVR]

Greetings all! We are now back in the room and enjoying some quiet time on our first full sea day. I love sea days!

To bring you up to date. We got to the port yesterday at just before 10 am. We unloaded the van and a porter came right away to take all the luggage. Mike, Mark and Nick went to return the van while Karen, KT and I went to check in. There was no line at all for security and when we got upstairs we got boarding group 2! KT staked out a place on the couch and Karen and I checked the families in. After that it was fun to just sit and chat and people watch. Randy (Zerog) was the first of the DISers to find us in the terminal. As the morning went on we met others as well. Before we knew it the time was getting close to boarding so we headed over to the boarding area. Here we met up with even more DISers. Boarding was quick and efficient as always. The guys and kids headed up to the Mickey pool while Karen and I (along with a number of other DISers went to see about Palo brunch). We were able to add Mike and Karen to our reservation by moving the time to 11 am (it was 11:30). Cool!

We head up and the guys have secured a great table and Nick has already had his first piece of pizza. Now this is my 11th DCL cruise and I never have had the pizza so I went over and got 2 slices for my lunch. Pretty good pizza.

Kay (dreamcometrue) and her family set up camp near by. The kids went swimming and the adults just chilled. I’m so glad we got on early. A little after 1pm I went down to pick up some navigators. As I headed to the aft elevators I heard that Parrot Cay was full and they were sending everyone up to Topsiders. The elevator area was packed. I took the stairs and was amazed by the line outside Topsiders!

At 2 pm our room was ready and we headed down. Got the new Castaway Club gift which is a nice bag, 2 water bottles, a mesh bag and a small notebook. Very nice. 2 pieces of luggage were already here and the third came a few minutes later. By 2:30 we were unpacked!

A little before 3 pm we headed down to the Promenade Lounge for the DIS meet. Good location and it was well attended.

The safety drill went well. Love being able to sit in Animator’s Palette. Then up to sailaway and we were soon on our way! As we were heading out of the channel we went down to change for dinner. While standing out on our verandah we saw a dolphin! Very cool.

Next up dinner! Our rotation is PLAPLAP. Got a great serving team and I think they appreciate our sense of humor. The Meyers Family is at the table next to us and I believe LCTona’s family is a few tables away as well. Nice to see DISers everywhere.

After dinner we went to the show which we usually skip. Cute skits and the acts were pretty good. Then it was back to the room to crash for me!

We discussed last night about meeting up this morning at the gym. I met up with Karen and Mike at 7 and I was proud of myself for working out on vacation. I did 10 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes on the bike and then 15 on the treadmill. OK so I probably only worked off about one spoonful of crème brulee but it is better than nothing.

Spent some time on the verandah reading and then it was ready to go to the DVC presentation. Got the red hats but we also won a large beach towel. Karen and Mike also won a prize and right after they did we had to leave as it was 11 am and time for our Palo reservation. So we never did see the presentation about Ko Olina. Maybe I’ll go to one of the presentations for prospective members to see that.

Brunch was wonderful as always. Thomas took care of us and did a great job but we got a big surprise to see one of our favorite servers Sylvester working there. He was our server back in May of ’03. So nice to see familiar faces when we cruise.

We are also talking about re-booking for one of the special Easterns next year.

[Verandah Man]

Mary, I was thinking of you and Mark eating brunch at Palo this morning while I was chomping away on my PB & J on toast..........somehow, my brunch was no way near as good as yours...........:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Thanks for the report!!!

[iluvdisney]

Sounds like a really great way to start a vacation, Mary. I look forward to reading more - I miss the ship and can't wait til September - sometimes it seems so far off. Enjoy!

[tinytink]

Awesome have a great trip!

[qohweddings]

Good Morning from the Disney Magic Internet Cafe-

Thought I'd check in and have some coffee while partner sleeps in....

Last night was formal night and we actually had our reservations for Palo- when you get a reservation for there ask for Sylvester - you WILL NOT be disappointed.

My partner is a vegetarian and Sylvester's suggestions were right on target - knowledge of wine, suggestion of Four Cheese Pizza as a starter were all incredible...

We had a 6 Pm reservation (all we could get) and had planned to meet up with tables makes at our regular rotation - NO WAY too much good food, we went to the late showing of the Golden Mickey's and turned in by 10...

Good food and fresh air makes me sleepy....:cloud9:

Day 2 at sea...

Talk to ya later

Mark

[chip&dale&fun]

Good Monring Cruisers - thanks for the reports.....

:cloud9: I'll be there soon.....:cloud9:

[imheather]

You all are getting me excited for our cruise next week. I can't wait for your updates:):goodvibes

Heather

[DAKfever]

We're are totally psyched for Saturday....can't wait to board the Magic!!!

[jlawall]

Loving your reports........keep 'em coming and have a blast!!:goodvibes

[acourtwdw]

Mary and Mark,
Can't wait to read more!! Keep em coming.

[dizzneebabe]

I love this! We have friends on the ship with you--1st time cruisers (of any line)!
Mike & Liz Brown along with 4 kids!

Hope all are having a GREAT TIME!!!!

popcorn::

[CRSNDSNY]

HI MARY AND MARK!

Hope you're having beautiful weather!

[MarkRG]

Hi All!

Havn't forgotten about this- just been having too much fun!

It was a great day in St.Maarten yesterday, and just as equal a day today in St.Thomas.

Really didn't do too much in St.Maarten except shop, there was this big carnival going on that closed up the town starting around 1pm.

Here in St.Thomas, we went on the St. John island and snorkel tour, had a FANTASTIC time. The ship they took us over in was impeccable, Trunk Bay on St. John where they took us was great, saw lots of fish!!

We will catch up, with at least some pictures tomorrow on the sea day.

Now, for the repo crowd, and feel free to quote me all over the place, about the ship itself.

Things have gone well, no big obvious issues that I can find. There are some small signs of regular wear and tear that a ship years out of drydock should have, you know, small trim things, a ceiling panel on deck 9 thats' a bit askew, a light fixture that looks like it needs to be rehung in Lumiere's, that's about as major a thing as I've seen. The engines seem to be performing well, we were running higher than 20 kts in rough(8ft swells) sea, with a headwind, on the way down to here, and made St. Maarten on time, possibly even a bit early. No need to mention St. M to St. T, as we did something like 8 knots last night, I'd forgotten how close they are to each other.

Now about something mentioned elsewhere, I have purposely sat in different sections of Topsiders for lunch. I have yet to see a 'chair so filthy I need to lay a towel on it', as it was put back someplace when everyone was being so reactive about the condition of this ship. This ship is very clean folks. I have seen rather aggressive work going on, on carpeting and other interior and exterior surfaces to keep the ship that way and really don't have much of a complaint about it. As of right now I see this ship as being more than fit to go to the west coast, you guys will have a great time. :)

[chip&dale&fun]

Gee thanks for the trip report...I'll take you up on the Quoting......

Have More Fun....:banana:

[Timon]

Great report guys!! :thumbsup2 Looking forward to the rest of it :goodvibes

Have a great time :woohoo:

[WDWLVR]

Hi everyone! I'll add just a bit to all Mark said. It has been a fantastic cruise!

Our two sea days were kept busy with Palo brunch, massages, and just relaxing.

Yesterday in Saint Maarten we opted to shop in the morning and just relax in the afternoon. Didn't go back into town for the parade. There were 4 ships total in port and it was busy. So instead we headed up to the pool where it was quiet and swam a bit.

Today was up early for immigration and our early morning shore excursion. The early morning was well worth it for a trip over to Trunk Bay. I had forgotten how beautiful it was having been there some 30 years ago.

Some other highlights of the trip so far:

Seeing John Charles in his family show the other night. This guy is fantastic! He was getting off in Saint Maarten so not sure when he'll be sailing again but if he is on when you are go see him. That same night we skipped the show (Twice Charmed) for a lively game of Left, Right Center in the Promenade Lounge.

We saw National Treasures 2 the other afternoon and then saw College Road Trip last night in the Walt Disney theater.

We skipped the pirate party last night but got to see the fireworks from our verandah.

We're skipping the shows tonight as we are beat!

Our dinners have been a blast thanks to linking with our good friends the Patrick's and an awesome server team.

Will post more tomorrow!

[CRSNDSNY]

Thank you so much for the updates Mark and Mary! I'm so glad to hear you're having such a great time!

[WVMD]

Sounds like you are all having fun! Wishing we were with you!

Virgil
pirate:

[DAKfever]

WDWLVR.....who were your servers? I'm anxious to find out who our servers will be this next week. If I called DCL would they tell me?:cool1:

[frdeb1999]

Love hearing about the trip! Looking forward to more! :)

[WDWLVR]

Up until now, we've been tossing out bits and pieces, today we sat down and really did it up right. Might be repeating a bit, but it's the only way to really tell you all of this trip. And we have a few pictures! Pardon the quality of them, we'll fix that when we get home onto a better internet connection than we have here onboard.

Pre-cruise day

Here's a recap of our vacation so far starting from the beginning. It is me (Mary) and DH Mark (aka MarkRG). Traveling with the Crazy Caribbean Cruisers especially our friends from Ohio Karen (ohiominnie), Mike (ohiomickey), KT and Nick.

We got an early start on Friday the 25th with a pick-up by my in-laws at 6 am. Check in at O'Hare was very smooth as was our flight down. We arrived in Orlando just after noon. I had Karen and Mike's cell phone numbers but we hadn't made a firm plan just that we'd meet up after landing and ride over to the port together. As we came down the escalator to baggage claim I found out why. Waiting at the bottom of the escalator were Karen, Mike and the kids holding up a sign just like the limo drivers do. Yeah! It was so good to see them again. They had already gotten a van and loaded up their luggage so we just had to wait for ours and they helped us take our luggage to the van. Soon we were on our way to the port and our home for the night the Hampton Inn.

Arriving in Port Canaveral we stopped for lunch at a combined Taco Bell/Long John Silvers right by the hotel. The Ohio clan opts for Taco Bell while Mark and I did LJS, then it was on to the hotel where we got rooms just a few doors down from each other, we had a beautiful view from the room.
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/hamptonview.jpg
We get settled in and then decide that we are heading out for dinner at 4:30 as the Sovereign of the Seas is in port that we can see leave. We got a little bit later start and when we got to Grills the ship was passing, so Mike dropped us all off and he went to park the car. Grills is a great place for dinner and it was a great start to our vacation.

After dinner we made a quick stop at Publix to pick up some supplies (sweet tea for us and snacks for the Ohio clan) then back to the hotel where we broke out the dice for some games of LRC (Left, Right, Center) which is a fun game the Ohio clan taught us. We then went back to our respective rooms to chill for the rest of the evening and get ready for the next day!

Boarding Day

I'm a morning person so was up nice and early before the alarm even rang. Mark took a walk outside and confirmed that the Magic was in port and waiting for us! Breakfast was included at the hotel, some last minute packing and then we all got in the van! A quick stop for gas where we got our first shock and laugh of the day as a car started driving away with the nozzle still in the gas tank! A quick fill up and we were pulling into the port, which wasn't busy at all yet and we quickly got unloaded and all our bags checked with the porter. Then Mike took the van back to Avis with Mark and Nick going along for the ride. Karen, KT and I made our way to check in. KT grabbed a spot on the couch and we dumped our carry ons and then went to check in. Karen and I were making a "run" to see who could get there first and the CM just laughed and gave us boarding card 2! This will be a big help as we are trying to get Karen and Mike added to our Palo reservation.

After check in it was time to wait for the guys and do some people watching. We also were able to meet up with a number of DISers in the terminal. As 11:30 approached we made our way over to the ropes and got to meet up with even more DISers, the party had started! Before we knew it we were boarding the beautiful Disney Magic, how wonderful to be back on board! The guys headed up to the Mickey Pool while Karen and I went to see about Palo, mission accomplished! We'd be enjoying Palo Brunch at 11 am on Sunday!

We met up with everyone at the pool, Nick had already gotten his first slice of pizza, Mark headed into the buffet. I realized that in my 10 past cruises I had never had the pizza I opted for that. The kids went swimming and the adults just relaxed, I'm really glad we boarded when we did as things got crowded as the day wore on.

At 2 pm we were allowed in our stateroom and found our Castaway Club gift, it is a nice big black bag, 2 water bottles, a small mesh bag, and a nice little notebook and pen.
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/ccgift.jpg
One bag was already at our door and the room steward had another in his hands which we took to the room. Our third and final bag came moments later. By 2:45 we were unpacked and settled in so we headed down to the Promenade Lounge and our DIS meet. Had a really nice turnout and it was great to meet in person so many people we had talked to online.
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/dismeet.jpg
After the safety drill we headed up for the sailaway party, we are on our way! We stay up on deck 10, a quick call to Mark's parents, and once we leave land behind we are off, heading down to our room to get ready for dinner. While standing out on the verandah we see a dolphin! Cool!

Dinner the first night was in Parrot Cay. We had linked with Karen and Mike so we know we are in for a good time. Our motto is that we may not be the best dressed table at dinner but we will have the most fun. We find out right away that we have a great serving team. Ivo is our server and Paola is our assistant server. They are wonderful!

After dinner we go to the welcome aboard show which was a lot of fun. Then we call it a night, but not before I agree to meet Karen and Mike outside the spa at 7 am!

[WDWLVR]

Next up are two fun-filled sea days!

Sunday dawns bright and early and as promised I meet up with Karen and Mike by the spa. Karen shows me how to use an elliptical machine but I only last 10 minutes on that. I then head over to the bikes where Mike is working out and do 15 minutes there and then 15 minutes on the treadmill. Not too bad.

Back to the room to clean up and get ready for our morning, first up is the DVC Member Celebration held in Diversions at 10am. We knew we would be cutting it close as we had Palo reservations at 11. Each family gets a welcome bag with 2 DVC hats, a member lanyard, and a raffle card and pen. The night before we had gotten a nice DVC Member logbook with 2 lanyards in it as well. We fill out the raffle card and the show starts, with the usual sales talk peppered with drawings for prizes. As we edge closer to 11 am we are thinking of leaving but the presentation is also coming to an end and they are pulling more names. Our name is pulled and my question is I have to name the person on the left of me. That was easy - it was Mike Patrick! We won a really nice double beach towel that folds into a beach bag. A few people later Karen and Mike are picked and win a cute beach towel. We then rush out apologizing to the rep at the door that we are late for Palo!

We are greeted at Palo by PJ and are soon seated in a wonderful booth. Thomas is our server and after giving us the tour we head to fill our plates. That's when I get a wonderful surprise. Sylvester who was our server back in May of '03 now works at Palo. It was so wonderful to see him again.
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/palo.jpg
In the afternoon we spent time just relaxing. To me a great day at sea is being out on the verandah with a good book and that is just what I did!

Dinner tonight was in Lumiere's. We have table 31 which is a great location right by the windows in both Parrot Cay and Lumiere's. It is formal night and I must say our table looked great. The show was Golden Mickey's but since we have seen this many times we all went to the Buena Vista theatre to see The Game Plan. Cute movie! As we parted I agreed to meet Karen and Mike the next morning at the spa!

Monday morning dawns bright and sunny and as promised we meet up at the spa. I skip the elliptical and instead spend 1/2 hour on the bike. Mark shows up about 20 minutes in and does some time on the bike next to me. We then head back to the front desk to check in for our spa appointment, we booked the couples massage. We did this back in 2004 and loved it. Don't know why we waited so long to do it again but I plan on booking one for our next cruise (the DVC Member Cruise this September). After that we headed into the Rainforest Room, I love those heated tile loungers.

After breakfast we did a little shopping and then just relaxed most of the day.

Dinner tonight is Animator's Palette. I think I'm driving Ivo crazy as I never order an appetizer or soup/salad. The show tonight is Twice Charmed and again we take a pass. We did go to John Charles family cabaret show and he is fantastic. Sadly we find he is leaving the ship in St. Maarten. After that we meet up in the Promenade Lounge for some more rounds of LRC. We were having a great time until after late seating dinner was done and the singing duo came on. The kids had left to go to a High School Musical party in the lab so we moved up to Cove Café to play (it was a little too cool and windy to play up on deck). Lots of tears and laughs with the game. Tears from Karen when she got 3 C's which made all her dimes went into the center and laughs when Mike had to move his seat in Cove Café to find his dice (but it was a dot and he didn't give up this time).
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/karenlrc.jpg
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/mikelrc.jpg
The next day is Saint Maarten and yes I agreed to meet up with Karen and Mike at the spa again!

[WDWLVR]

Day 4 - St. Maarten!

We meet up at the spa and I spent time on the bike as the ship headed into the dock. We had 4 ships total in port today including Liberty of the Seas that has someone I work with on it. Our plan for the day is simple, take the water taxi into town and do some shopping, we may or may not stay for the Carnival parade. After doing my workout I meet up with Mark who is on deck 10 taking some pictures of us docking. We then hear that the ship has been cleared and we can go ashore. We grab a quick breakfast at Topsiders and then head out.
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/shipsmartin.jpg
The line for the water taxi wasn't too long yet (two of the ships hadn't cleared yet) and we made good time into town. Our first stop was Del Sol where we picked up 2 t-shirts for us and 2 jars of color changing slime for the Ohio kids. We also got free color changing lanyards and a free hat for Mark. Next was to Majesty where Mark had bought me a beautiful ring years before. Over the years a small chip happened in the opal and he was hoping to buy me a new piece. We were thinking of a pendant this time but everything was way out of our price range. No worries at all, the gold band on my left hand is my most important piece of jewelry. We decide to head back to the ship to relax and opt to miss the parade and the crush of people. After getting back to the ship we head to the mostly empty adult pool and relax there for a while, then a nice lunch at Topsiders.

For the afternoon we catch National Treasure 2 in the Buena Vista theatre. We rarely go to the movies at home but there are a lot playing on this cruise we want to see.

Dinner tonight is back in Parrot Cay and we get to watch us sail from Saint Maarten while at dinner. The show in the Walt Disney theatre is a movie tonight - College Road trip which we go see, cute movie! After that we say goodbye to the Ohio family, they are headed to the Pirate Party but we are opting to watch the fireworks from our verandah. There are no plans for a workout tomorrow as we report to immigration at 6:45 and our shore excursion at 7:15.

Day 5 - St. Thomas!

Up nice and early as we are heading into St. Thomas. A quick breakfast at Topsiders and then up on deck 10 for some pictures, we then make our way down to the Walt Disney theatre to check in. Immigration hasn't started yet so we are seated in the back center and wait our turn, once it starts it goes pretty quickly. We then go back to the room to get everything for our excursion and head down to the BV theater for checkin. The boat we are taking over to St. John, the Island Girl, is docked right next to us.
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/islandgirl.jpg
It is a beautiful ride over and we are soon boarding a taxi and making our way to Trunk Bay. Our driver stops right before we get there on an overlook to show us the beautiful beach!
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/overlook.jpg
As we enter the grounds we see the surf conditions are rough today and the visibility fair but it is a beautiful day and we are going to make the most of it. We spread out our DVC beach towel next to the lifeguard station in partial shade (we aren't beach and sun people). There are spikes that come with it to anchor it into the sand, nice! We then get our gear out (we bring our own snorkels and masks) and make our way into the water. There is a snorkel trail here that is marked with 3 buoys. I didn't think I would make it, but did pretty good once we got started. Mark took video out in the water and then went back for a second time to take some pictures. After resting a while we got our stuff together and headed up to the showers and spent some time after that just sitting and talking while waiting for time to leave. Like I said we aren't the type to lay in the sun for long.

We got back to the ship about 12:30 which gave us time for a quick lunch at Topsiders and then a change of clothes. We then headed out for a quick trip up to Paradise Point and them some shopping at the Havensight Mall.
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/shipsthomas.jpg
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/stthomas.jpg
Back on board we took our showers and relaxed until sailaway at 4 pm. We went to deck 7 aft as we were leaving port and who did we meet up with but the Ohio clan. They had listed lifestyle portraits in the atrium and we wanted one done so we headed down early. Well the lifestyle portrait they did was with a black background not the white one. These are more close-up ones and since we were there we decided to do one. Karen and KT showed up and their family was going to do one as well expecting the white background. We all agreed we'd have to dress twice tomorrow night. Once for the lifestyle portrait and once for semi-formal night. We also took pictures with Lilo and Stitch (since we were in our Hawaiian wear) and one as a group with Captain Jack Sparrow since he had no line.
http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/lilostitch.jpg
Dinner was back in Lumiere's and I made Ivo very happy by ordering an appetizer. Well it was cheese sticks off the kids menu but it still made him happy.

There was a new show tonight. Alfred and Seymour a Hip Hop comedy show. We were beat and didn't go but I heard this morning from Karen and Mike that it was very funny.

We again agreed not to meet up in the morning as I planned to do some laundry.

[WDWLVR]

Our last sea day

The cruise has reached the point where it is moving fast and the end is near.

Woke up this morning at 6 and headed out to the laundry. Some of the machines were already in use but I managed to grab 2 of them (one for whites and one for darks). I then headed down to deck 4 to walk a mile. It was overcast this morning and I thought I felt a little rain.

When I got back to the laundry room it was already getting crowded. So glad I already had my wash going. After switching out to 2 dryers I stopped by the room to pick up my book and then up to deck 9 to make some tea. When I walked out on deck 9 I realized it was pouring rain!

I made my tea and headed over to Cove Café where I would be nice and dry. Settled in with my tea, a piece of stollen bread and my book. One couple was in there and they seemed really worried that the rain would ruin their day. As for me I just relaxed with my book.

When time was up I headed back down to the laundry room to get my stuff. People were already claiming machines that weren't ready yet and getting upset that washers were finished but not cleaned out yet, I'm out of here!

Grabbed a quick breakfast and brought it back to the room.

Mark headed up to deck 9 to watch Cars on the big screen and I headed out to the Buena Vista theatre to see a presentation by Theron Skees a Disney Imagineer. Great talk with a Q&A session.

After lunch now and we are chilling and writing this report.

[MarkRG]

One thing I'd like to add - last night we had a *new* menu for dinner, 'A Taste of the Caribbean'. I have pictures, but, due to their resolution and the wi-fi here onboard, I'll be posting them and some pictures of the dinner selections when we get to WDW after the cruise.


About the servers, Mary already mentioned who ours are, and don't know any way of finding out who they are in advance, as the first time you'll know your rotation is when you get your KTTW cards when you check in at the port.

[Verandah Man]

Quote by WDWLVR: Paola is our assistant server.

Mary or Mark, is the young lady, on the left in the photo below, your assistant server Paola from Mexico? If so, she was our assistant server back in August 2004. If I remember correctly, she was serving her first contract back in 2004 when we were on the ship. Our server that cruise was Prudence, she is the young lady on the right.

http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/40415/2930706450026317863S600x600Q85.jpg

[MarkRG]

Mary or Mark, is the young lady, on the left in the photo below, your assistant server Paola from Mexico?


Yes, that is definitely her! She's great, really on top of things along with Ivo, who both have been with DCL for multiple contracts already. :) She mentioned this might be her last go however, she's married, her husband has been busy setting up shop in Cancun. Where she gets to visit when the Magic is on a Western, and is looking to settle down with him for a while to start a family.

[Verandah Man]

Yes, that is definitely her! She's great, really on top of things along with Ivo, who both have been with DCL for multiple contracts already. :) She mentioned this might be her last go however, she's married, her husband has been busy setting up shop in Cancun. Where she gets to visit when the Magic is on a Western, and is looking to settle down with him for a while to start a family.



Thanks!!! I'm not sure if she will remember us, but could you let her know that Andy, Hazel, Angelina and Vi said hello and we send our best wishes her way!!! :goodvibes

[chip&dale&fun]

Thanks for the trip report - makes me think I am there with you --- :goodvibes And next week we will be driving to the Port Friday. WOW.....

Sylvester was our server in Palo on the Dec, Cruise....:thumbsup2

[CRSNDSNY]

popcorn:: LOVE THE REPORTS!

I'm glad to hear you're able to get to the spa so much...I love it there!
Great details! I hope you have a wonderful day at CC today! :goodvibes

[JOANNEL]

Hi guys,

Paola was our assit server also in July of 04. She was with Toto at the time. great team we loved them. we were a party of 18 with lots of boys so they may rememeber us.

Thanks for sharing your trip, have a great day at CC.

[scuba.mom]

Thanks for the trip report - makes me think I am there with you --- :goodvibes
Sylvester was our server in Palo on the Dec, Cruise....:thumbsup2

Thanks for the reports. I LOVE THEM!!! Tell the Ohio clan "Hi" from the Scubas. Lisa and I especially wish we were there with you. Hopefully some other time.

Sylvester was our server on our Christmas 2002 Cruise (that seems so long ago)

[WDWLVR]

Well it is Friday night and the bags have all been packed and taken away. The cruise is coming to an end. :sad2:

I must say this has been an awesome cruise and today was exceptional!

Yesterday we were in rough seas all day long. So much so that the thought we might miss CC crossed my mind. We woke to rough seas again today but as we passed Abaco they seemed to calm down. Before we knew it we were approaching the island, then the captain spun the ship around and backed in.

We headed down to deck 2 to wait to be cleared and soon we were on the island. Our goal for today was to hit the adult beach and do some snorkeling. We walked over to the tram for the adult beach and only had to wait a few minutes before we were on our way. We then picked two loungers under an umbrella, moved one of the small chairs in the middle to hold our stuff and unpacked. Sunscreen on, masks conditioned and snorkels in place we headed out. Tide was really low today. We walked out very very far and even at the buoy we could still stand easily.

We started out seeing just a few fish who seemed to follow us to get whatever we kicked up with our water shoes. Then we found some starfish that were beautiful. After about 1/2 hour of snorkeling we found the mother load at the man made reef. Tons of fish and they just seemed to hang around and let us watch them. It was great!

Mark took a ton of video and we only had to quit when the camera battery died. We headed back to shore to change the battery. I decided to relax on the lounger at this point while Mark went out for more. He was out maybe another 45 minutes and when I saw him headed back I ordered him a virgin konk kooler. We chilled a little longer, Mark just relaxing while I went and chatted with Amy. We then decided to have lunch. We've never eaten at the adult beach before so did that. It was like a mini DIS meet at lunch and we even got to chat with our server Ivo.

After lunch we headed back to the ship. We wanted to get cleaned up and start our packing. So we showered, rinsed out our suits, put them in a dryer and started the packing. Once that was done I relaxed on the verandah with my book. At 4:30 they sounded the all aboard so we moved down to deck 4 to watch everyone get on and the sailaway. The line to get on the ship was huge!

After sailaway we stopped by Shutters to check out our lifestyle pictures from the night before. We liked two of them so added them to the others we bought.

Our last dinner was back in Parrot Cay. I passed on Joanne and Andy's greetings to Paola and she seemed very happy to hear she was remembered.

Ivo and our Head Server Hemant made sure our cruise ended on a magical note.

We went to the Remember the Magic show which was fun and here we sit.

Tomorrow we head off to WDW and our Boardwalk home for 3 nights. We'll meet up with the Ohio clan one last time on Monday for lunch at Kona Cafe.

A great big thank you to all the DISers who participated in our meets thread over the past year and half. Special thanks to all those we got to meet in person. You really made the cruise special for us. It was so much fun running into everyone and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Of course how can you not while being on a Disney cruise!

We won't be too sad getting off as we'll be back on DCL in September when we board the Wonder for the DVC Member Cruise.

Thanks to everyone for reading!

[Verandah Man]

Thanks for the TR Mark and Mary!!! Thanks for passing the message to Paola!!!

So hard to believe your cruise is coming to an end already. Have a MAGICal few days at WDW........:thumbsup2

[RachelTori]

Mary,

Thanks for the wonderful posts and pictures. The cruises just get better & better, don't they? :cloud9: Have a wonderful WDW visit.

Mark, we'll be looking forward to the pictures you promised! ;)

[Mastiff]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, for your wonderful trip report! It was so nice to read. We are booked for our first Disney Cruise for next May and we can't wait.

Reading your report made me even more excited!

I just saw you are from the Chicago area, me too. You sure picked a good week to cruise. We started the week in the 30's and 40's!!!! I think it might be 50 right now!!!!

Glad you had a good time. Thanks again for the report.

Could you bring a little warm weather home with you?

Enjoy WDW!

[jollytammy]

Love your report! Looks like you had a wonderful time!!!

[CRSNDSNY]

Thanks for the awesome report! Enjoy the BW!

[dreamcometrue]

hi guys!! sorry I didn't contribute to this thread while on board, I hardly ever used the internet. It was so great meeting you Mary and Mark, and karen and family too and everyone else!! It was great running into you all on board, made the whole trip even more special!

[tksbaskets]

Hi Mary and Mark,
Can't believe I didn't know you were going in April. Nice surprise when I came to DIS tonight. I always enjoy your reports. Walt and I are a bit behind you - 11 DCL cruises :worship:

We will be taking our 4th in June. Hope you are having fun at BWV!

Teresa

[jlawall]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us......it brought back so many memories........we haven't sailed Eastern in many years but we'll be back next year for the Tortola trip..........thx again!!!!:thumbsup2

[MarkRG]

Glad everyone's enjoying. :)

As promised, here's the two menus that are new since we last cruised, at least one of these is brand new, the other, I think has been shown before, but I'll be repetitive.

First up, the Taste of the Caribbean(click on the images for a MUCH bigger one). In experiencing it, I'd more call it a taste of the tropics, myself, but still a good menu.

Front Cover:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/carib1_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/carib1.jpg)

Page 1:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/carib2_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/carib2.jpg)

Page 2:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/carib3_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/carib3.jpg)

Desserts, P1:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/caribdessert1_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/caribdessert1.jpg)

Desserts, P2:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/caribdessert2_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/caribdessert2.jpg)

And some selections from the menu:

Appetizer, Windwood Island Sunrise. I call it the Pineapple Condo, it's layers of pineapple with seafood sandwiched in between, and I wonder if it's a typo and should be Windward. :)
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/windwood.jpg

Soup & Salad, Aruba Shrimp Salad:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/aruba.jpg

Soup and Salad, Chilled Pineapple Soup, check out the funky coconut crouton:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/pineapplesoup.jpg

Main Course, Caribbean Panfried Veal:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/caribveal.jpg

Main Course, Vegetarian, Sweet and Sour Veggies with tofu fried rice, the s&s sauce on this is plain awesome:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/sweet.jpg

And, last, off the Dessert menu, Toffee Crunch White Chocolate Torte:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/toffeecrunch.jpg

This is, overall a great menu, but having been in both the Caribbean and The Hawaiian Islands, this menu comes across as far more pacific Tropical than Caribbean to me.

Next, the last night's menu, Around the World.

[CRSNDSNY]

Wow, that looks good!
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/pineapplesoup.jpg

[MarkRG]

By name, I think The Around the World menu been the last night menu for a long time, but the actual selections have changed very recently:


Front Cover:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/world1_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/world1.jpg)

Page 1:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/world2_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/world2.jpg)

Page2:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/world3_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/world3.jpg)

Desserts, Page 1:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/worlddessert1_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/worlddessert1.jpg)

Desserts, Page2:
http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/worlddessert2_t.jpg (http://monorailgreen.info/cruise/menus/worlddessert2.jpg)

Now, dont' have any pictures of the actual selections off this menu. However, I have just as a decadent selection to show off, Neither us nor the Ohiomouse family went to Palo for dinner.. so a bit of Palo came to us!

http://monorailgreen.info/April08/upload/palo1.jpg

:goodvibes

Welp, off to enjoy the parks today, Have fun drooling over the menus. :)

[ohiominnie]

We were just talking about that pineapple soup yesterday. You know, the "melted dole whip" soup.

As for the last night festivities...... *I* promised not to let the Internet people in our little secret. It might create a sense of entitlement.

[Mozart]

Mark,

Would you be so kind as to make sure these get added to the wdwinfo.com cruise pages?

[MarkRG]

We were just talking about that pineapple soup yesterday. You know, the "melted dole whip" soup.

As for the last night festivities...... *I* promised not to let the Internet people in our little secret. It might create a sense of entitlement.

I'd forgotten about the Dole Whip comparison, but yep, that's sure right on.



About the other.... Well.. Too late now, there it is. :lmao:Not that I was paying all that much attention as (go ahead - gasp) neither it or the Lava Cake the night before are exactly my favorite desserts, I actually liked the Bread and Butter Pudding more. ;)

[alwayslisad]

wow love the menus!

[LisaSp]

Mary, just wondering, was your server Ivo from Croatia? He was our server on our Feb 2nd Magic cruise and we just adored him. We had a big table with 5 kids total and he was fantastic with the kids *and* the adults. His assistant at that time was Amy from Scotland--she was great too.

Actually here is a pic of "our" Ivo--wonder if he was your Ivo as well?
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd20b3127cceb5eabc53814300000026108Bas2jRm2by

Sounds like you had a terrific cruise!

[WDWLVR]

Mary, just wondering, was your server Ivo from Croatia? He was our server on our Feb 2nd Magic cruise and we just adored him. We had a big table with 5 kids total and he was fantastic with the kids *and* the adults. His assistant at that time was Amy from Scotland--she was great too.

Actually here is a pic of "our" Ivo--wonder if he was your Ivo as well?
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd20b3127cceb5eabc53814300000026108Bas2jRm2by

Sounds like you had a terrific cruise!

That's him! He was wonderful!

[karaeric]

Ah...this is really getting me super excited for our trip through the canal. We had Hemant as a server back in May 2004, my MIL really liked him :flower3: .

Who is the Captain on the Magic right now? Any word on whether he will stay for the panama trip?

Thanks for sharing all of your fun with us!!

[philatiger]

Hi Mary and Mark,

Thanks again for all the tips and help while we were on the cruise. We had a wonderful time thanks to you and the other Disboard members. We booked another trip for Nov 28th, 2009, Western Caribbean while on board. I took close to 400 pictures on this trip and I have them available on snapfish for anyone who might be interested. Just send me your snapfishID and I will be more than happy to share them. I took some pictures of the carnival in St Maarten, pictures of many of the shows, the butterfly farm and many others. Looking forward to seeing you on a future trip.

Chuck n Mark

[dreamcometrue]

Ah...this is really getting me super excited for our trip through the canal. We had Hemant as a server back in May 2004, my MIL really liked him :flower3: .

Who is the Captain on the Magic right now? Any word on whether he will stay for the panama trip?

Thanks for sharing all of your fun with us!!

captain on the Magic on this trip was Tom, cruise director Brent. Not sure if they will be staying for the Panama trip though, sorry!

[philatiger]

Mary ad Mark...where are you???

[Disney owl]

enjoyed these thanks