6-8-08 Magic & Mickey to Mexico...MORE Pictures Added!!

[justmestace]

Hi!! Stacey here....going to try to copy & paste what I have so far. If this is blank, that means I failed. :rotfl:


06-08-08 Magic and Mickey to Mexico
Saturday, June 7th:
The flight from Phoenix to Long Beach was relatively uneventful. We taxied for over a half hour, but made up time in the air. It’s only a 1 hour flight, but it felt like it took 3.
It took us approximately 20 minutes to get to the Doubletree from LGB airport.
The Doubletree is really pretty and very clean. I think all the Panama Canal cruisers will like it here. Checked in just before 1 pm and both of our rooms were ready. Some others are still waiting for their rooms.
I signed us up for the shuttle right away, and the time we were given was at first , 11:45! I had them put us on a shuttle with another group cruising Carnival at 11:25. That was the best I could do. At least we won’t have to rush in the morning!
It looks as though there are only 7 balcony rooms, we were lucky to get 2 of them. The balconies are huge, but only on the 2nd floor, so our view of the marina is limited due to the roof of the restaurant below us. Don’t know how well we’ll be able to see the Tall Ships in August.
We had lunch in the Doubletree’s restaurant, out on the patio, which was perfect. The weather is awesome, but service was slow to start. After we finally got a waiter, he was very attentive, and the food was really good.
Going to sneak in a nap before we meet up with some of the other PC cruisers for dinner tonight. Will report in from the Magic!!
Any questions??
Sunday…June 8th…Today is the day!!!
Jared and I woke up at 5:30, in time to see the Magic sail past the Doubletree at about 5:45. We did go back to sleep for a while after that. Luckily I had pre-ordered room service (just like on the ship!!) so they called and woke us up.
We did have plenty of time to wake up and get ready to go, and in spite of the massive amount of cruisers …Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Disney…the shuttles were running on time.
We actually ended up with a family on RCI, which was next door to DCL, so that worked out well. Carnival is near the Queen Mary and that would have really sent us out of our way.
As soon as we entered the terminal, we got in line….not too terribly long, but since this is the first time I’ve not had concierge check in, it seemed worse for me. Since I have a handicap room, they let us board right away, otherwise our number would have been 15 and they were on 11 at that time.
On the ship and up to Topsiders!! Not a big crowd at lunch yet. We were told at check in that the rooms would be ready at 1:30.…but the signs in the halls said 2:00 and that’s what the room stewards were going by. We saw our dear steward from the 10 Night 2004 Christmas cruise, Rodolfo. He’s in our area, but on the wrong side of the ship for us. Darn.
The lifeboat drill was at 3:30, with sail away directly thereafter. Met up with the DIS gang….a really nice group of people!
I think by now I am really realizing that, yes, I AM on the Magic!!!
Our bags had arrived before the drill, so I was almost all unpacked before sail away.
After sail away, and I had finished totally unpacking, I walked the ship taking pictures. Everyone seemed to have disappeared. It is a little chilly and there were a few brave souls in the pools and hot tubs.
Got prepared for dinner and met my friend at Mickey Mania. Always fun to watch.
We have the LAAPLAP …8:00 pm rotation. I was given the wrong information before as to the times/rotations…but this one is great. I was so tired at dinner last night that I can’t even remember our server’s name, but she and her assistant are excellent. Will post names later.
The first night in Lumiere’s was a French menu. Yum.
After dinner, a few of us went to Match Your Mate, which my daughter and her new husband got to play, as they’d only been married a week. And they won! A leather binder to hold passports and documents, I’m A Winner medals and a bucket of champagne, and two Rainforest Passes, which they already have, so they gave their passes to friends.
By then it was late, and we’d turned the clocks an hour ahead, but I still wasn’t quite ready to give it up, so I went around with the first set of Fish Extender gifts. I felt like a creepy stalker out there at 1:00 a.m.!

Monday….June 9th…..Day at Sea
Jared and I (and the rest of the ship) awoke to a distress call of “Bright Star, bright star. Crew aft elevator, Deck B” Okaaaayyyyy……it wasn’t too early, about 7 am. Found out later that meant medical emergency. We also found out that “Mr. MOP” means “man overboard”. Gotta love the code words!
Lazy, lazy morning. Jared and I played shopping BINGO…no winning….I went to the shopping presentation to get something for a friend, and ended up winning a Del Sol tote bag….not too shabby….and then went to High Tea, which was really nice. Back in the room now and am debating on a quick nap before dinner. Hmmmmm………..
Tonight is formal night and I could probably use some beauty rest.

Once we start hitting the ports, the reports may have to wait until we get off the ship. We'll see.

[Diznyfan68]

So glad to hear that you are having a great time - you really deserve it after the year you've had!

I can't wait to read the rest of them (and pretend that I'm there with you!). Only 9.5 weeks and then we'll be on her for real!

[PBader]

Hi Stace! All I can say is ENJOY!!!!! Sounds like Megan and Dave really made out with their win! Hopefully, you don't have to get anymore wake up calls and the need to learn more lingo :goodvibes

[tksbaskets]

Thanks for posting! Always fun to hear from cruisers from that magical 10-day Christmas cruise in '04.

TK

["Got Disney"]

cant wait to here more... Iam sailing on july 27th ...will be our 7th Disney cruise...WHOOT WHOOT:woohoo:

[dh chrisva]

Hi!! Stacey here....going to try to copy & paste what I have so far. If this is blank, that means I failed. :rotfl:


06-08-08 Magic and Mickey to Mexico


Once we start hitting the ports, the reports may have to wait until we get off the ship. We'll see.


WAIT!!!!!! ARE YOU INSANE:rotfl2: Come stace, you have us hanging on every word and then you cut us off...:rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Seriously though, Glad your enjoying the cruise..Hopefully the family winning streak will continue...:banana: :banana:

[wilma-bride]

Great start - looking forward to reading more. Don't keep us waiting too long mind ;)

[lvstitch]

Thanks for the live update. Take care of the ship for us we will be there next week:cool1: :cool1:

[jlima]

Found an internet cafe in Cabo . . . dolphin swim was WONDERFUL!! Just stopped at Hard Rock Cafe and having lunch then back to the ship.

[4fosterkids]

We went to the port Sunday afternoon to see the Magic off! It was great fun and we could hear Brent talking, the horn blasting and the music of the sail away party!
If you were on the port side as it started moving from the dock, or the starboard side as it headed out to sea...we have lots of pictures!!

Have a wonderful week!
If you meet my friends onboard, Dagny or Bonnie.......tell them Jill says HOLA!! LOL

[arlenesp]

Found an internet cafe in Cabo . . . dolphin swim was WONDERFUL!! Just stopped at Hard Rock Cafe and having lunch then back to the ship.

Do you remember what they charged? and where it was? Thanks

[Joan1]

Found an internet cafe in Cabo . . . dolphin swim was WONDERFUL!! Just stopped at Hard Rock Cafe and having lunch then back to the ship.

That is good to hear, we are booked on this
Did they have lockers available to put your stuff in that would be safe?

[jlima]

Do you remember what they charged? and where it was? Thanks
It's in the mall where the Hard Rock Cafe is; a tiny place outdoors with 2 computers but if you buy anything internet usage was free for 20 mins.

[jlima]

That is good to hear, we are booked on this
Did they have lockers available to put your stuff in that would be safe?
Yes, there were lockers . . . after you check in go into the locker rooms; take the key with you then they hold it for you in a little box while you are with the dolphin.

[justmestace]

We had our formal night at Animator’s, and it was our first night in there. But because it was formal night, they didn’t do the “show”. We are back in Animator’s next, and then they will do it.
The menu was the “Golden Mickey’s” as it was Golden Mickey Show night.
We all called it an early night after dinner. We have to get up tomorrow!
Tuesday….June 10th……Cabo San Lucas
We booked an excursion to take a catamaran to snorkel and have lunch through Shore Trips. I’ve used Shore Trips before, and have never been disappointed. Today started out as disappointing. Our tickets said to meet on the dock at 9:15, so we were on one of the first tenders out. We couldn’t find them at first, and some other local boat guides pointed us in the right direction. Once we found our boat, we were told that the time had changed to 10:30. So we did some shopping at the market right in the port area. Back to the boat we went, at about 10:15. Well, by 11:30 we were finally on our catamaran….but it was a bit worn and shabby looking.
Still, we were off to first see Los Arcos and Lover’s Beach. It’s really windy, a huge plus for parasailing….but not so much for boating and snorkeling.
We were barely moving as we started to head to Bahia Santa Maria….when the driver told me that he was having engine trouble. Our only other choices were to go to Lover’s Beach, or over near Medano Beach. Which reminds me….Medano Beach is really torn up right now. The area nearest the port used to have a hotel, it’s been torn down and new ones are being built, so there aren’t very many vendors (chairs, umbrellas, float toys, etc) there. You would have to go much farther down the beach, which in my opinion requires a taxi cab, although the water taxi’s were taking people over there, if you don’t mind hauling yourself in and out of one, in the ocean, in a lot of waves. Which takes me back to our boat taking us to Lover’s Beach. To get there from our Cat, we had two choices….water taxi from our Cat, or swim. I wish I’d chosen “swim”. Or at least I thought I wished I chosen to swim.
Getting into a water taxi from a catamaran is a devil and a half…especially for an overweight old lady like me….with one bad leg. Getting out at the beach was even more fun. I decided after that, that I would swim back.
So…..we’re on the beach. Some of our group decided to walk to the Pacific side and I followed them long enough to take a couple of pictures of them climbing rock formations before my bare feet were burning on the sand. Back to the other side, to dip in the water. I found my friend there. She’d tried to snorkel, gotten caught in the tide and had a terrible time. She said she called for help, but either no one heard her, or cared. She honestly felt lucky to have gotten out. I hadn’t even brought my gear, I had a feeling just looking at the waves that it would be dangerous, not to mention, there’s really not that much to see. Oh…we had stopped at Pelican Rock (I think it is) and one of our group jumped in without realizing we were surrounded by masses of jellyfish.
Anyway…I walked out the water to cool my feet and took just one step too far. I was knocked down by a wave, pulled in, sucked back out….repeatedly.
My son-in-law ran out to help, and just as he got my arm, another wave hit and we both went down. We were back on our feet a third time when another huge wave hit us, and slammed me into a small rock formation. I banged up my right arm and my right foot pretty badly, got rolled over by the wave and slammed my “behind” into the rocks, and it wasn’t until Dave finally got me up, out and onto the beach that I realized I’d lost my glasses. But I had gained at least 3 pounds of sand in my swimsuit! Fair trade?? I am blind as a bat without them. Luckily I had spares in the room.
So my friend, my daughter and my son-in-law decided we’d had all the fun we could handle, and timed the waves just right…and swam back to our catamaran.
The drinks were flowing when we got back, and the bbq started for our carne fajitas. After we ate and had a chance to relax, we were all in a better mood. The driver took us over to Medano Beach, near a bar called The Office, with much calmer water where we could eat without tipping over.
The younger ones in the group had fun for quite a while climbing on the railing of the Cat and jumping in the water. After lunch we had them take us back to port. The young adults headed for Cabo Wabo, everyone else except my son and I went shopping. I couldn’t see, so therefore couldn’t shop. Saved my hubby some $$.
So I’ve already had my shower, I think I’ve gotten rid of the 3 pounds of sand, and am waiting to go to the variety show at 6:30. The physical comedy of Ron Pearson. He’s supposed to be pretty good, with a surprise or two thrown in. ;)
Tonight is our show night in Animators….a few in our group haven’t ever seen it, so it will be fun to see it through their eyes.
Ah…weather…really windy, probably about 84.…it was actually what I would call freezing this morning, but the sun came out of the clouds and warmed up nicely.

[Diznyfan68]

OMG Stacey! I'm glad you weren't hurt worse. Totally stinks about your glasses - good thing that you had a spare pair with you. Now I am glad that we're not snorkeling or swimming in Cabo. Hope the person who jumped in with the jelly fish didn't get stung to much.

How did Megan and Dave like Cabo Wabo? Did they get any of Sammy's speciality? That is the place I am really looking forward to hitting while we're there.

I hope your days in Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta aren't as adventerous!

[dizneygirlz3]

How are the seas, has it been rough? We just got off Sunday and it was pretty rough coming back the last day and windy also. Have fun in Mazatlan...

[The FairyGodmother]

Stacey,
Good to hear that you are okay. I hope you don't end up with any strange bruises. I wouldn't have thought to bring extra glasses. That was very smart of you. Thanks for the reports.
:banana:

[arlenesp]

Stace glad you are OK. Glad you brought spare glasses .

[PBader]

Stace, may tomorrow be a better day! I hope you don't bruise up too bad:hug: :hug: :hug: Sorry about your glasses--that was smart to bring a spare! Hope to read some really good days from here on out:goodvibes

[micmse2003]

Now you just confirmed why I do not go near the ocean!!!:eek: :eek: I hope your other excursions are great!!!:hug:

[sk8ingmom]

Hey Stace! Love your TR. I hope your, well, everything is OK. Note - if your swimsuit can hold 3 lbs. of sand maybe you should look into a smaller size. :)

Stacey,
Good to hear that you are okay. I hope you don't end up with any strange bruises. I wouldn't have thought to bring extra glasses. That was very smart of you. Thanks for the reports.
:banana:

:wave: Hi Laura!

Now you just confirmed why I do not go near the ocean!!!:eek: :eek: I hope your other excursions are great!!!:hug:

This is why Cheryl is on "Ray Watch" !

[allshookup]

OMG Stace...hope you are okay! What an adventure! :worried:

[justmestace]

My arm isn't too bad, but my foot tonight is swollen and bruised...even brusied on the bottom, which is weird. But on the whole, I'm fine and it could have been worse.
Frances (another Escaping Mom) got the jellyfish sting, but she's okay. She basically FLEW out of the water when she saw all those jelly fish!!
But they weren't near the other beaches we were at...only by the Pelican Rock. That was weird too.

Here's the rest of tonight's report:


Part Two:
We all went to the show tonight knowing that there was going to be a special surprise for one person in the audience. Ron Pearson was fantastic. He did a lot of interaction with the audience. About half way through his show, he was speaking to one of the young men in the audience, a new DISer in our group, Nick. As they were talking, Ron asked Nick if the lovely lady next to him was his wife, and Nick said it was his girlfriend. They talked back and forth for a little bit, one thing led to another….Ron tried to pay Nick to propose to Kristin (DIS daughter of WVMD, Virgil) and Nick got embarrassed and refused. More bribery in the form of DCL hats, Mickey Mouse hands, champagne….and finally Ron produced a diamond ring. Nick got down on one knee in the Walt Disney Theater and proposed! Kristin accepted, and the crowd went wild!!!! Of course all the rest of us have known this was going to happen for a long time and had cameras and video cameras ready. A DCL photographer was on hand, too. But poor (lucky!!) Kristin was totally surprised. Absolutely wonderful.
The dinner show at Animator’s is always terrific, but this time paled in comparison.
Tomorrow we are in Mazatlan. Some rain predicted, but highs in the 80’s and very humid. We’re doing DCL’s Mazatlan Beach Escape….to a resort somewhere. Guess I’ll know more about that tomorrow.

[justmestace]

Almost forgot...there's just one small problem with having the room right next to the aft public (secret) open deck. Yesterday I'd thought about taking a nap, but the Clubs had a huge group of 4-5 yr olds out there.
I was serenaded with "I'm a Little Teapot", "The Wheels on the Bus", and many, many more. Then one of the counselors (and I actually thought this was horrible) yelled "Shark bite!" and ALL of the kids started running and screaming at the top of their lungs. They were all out there for at least an hour. No nap for me.
I did have to look over there after the "shark bite" thing....pretty awful to do to kids on a cruise ship!!

[wilma-bride]

Stacey, sounds like the excursion was less than a success then. Still, I am really enjoying your report - I am pleased you had spare glasses along with you. Bet your DH was pleased it stpped you spending $$ for a little while though ;)

Please keep the report coming - it's great :)

[Enna]

Almost forgot...there's just one small problem with having the room right next to the aft public (secret) open deck. Yesterday I'd thought about taking a nap, but the Clubs had a huge group of 4-5 yr olds out there.
I was serenaded with "I'm a Little Teapot", "The Wheels on the Bus", and many, many more. Then one of the counselors (and I actually thought this was horrible) yelled "Shark bite!" and ALL of the kids started running and screaming at the top of their lungs. They were all out there for at least an hour. No nap for me.
I did have to look over there after the "shark bite" thing....pretty awful to do to kids on a cruise ship!!



Stace--

Try to get a navigator from each of the kids' clubs so you can plan your naps around their use of Deck 7 Aft.

I hope your leg feels better SOON!

[lbgraves]

So glad to hear that you are okay after that experience, Stace. We need you in one piece for the repo! Will be sure to cross that excursion off the list.

[lbgraves]

Good idea, Enna! Stace, I just read your post about the proposal to the kids. K and I have misty eyes and W just rolled his. :) That is so incredibly romantic. Nick must have gone through so much effort to make this happen. :)

[jlima]

My kids at the Cabo Dolphin center; you could buy the pics on a disc:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v410/glima/Mexico/006_6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v410/glima/Mexico/012_12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v410/glima/Mexico/009_9.jpg

[jfletcher]

Stacey, was that the Dolphin Swim excursion (CL23) or the Dolphin Kids (CL22)? Would you reccommend it?

[poohmomof5]

Hi Stace,

Glad to see you are sharing your adventures with us! You rock!!!!

[lbgraves]

So Stace...how is your foot doing? I hope that you are having a great time and can't wait to hear all about it when you get back. :) Be careful in the water. :)

[PBader]

Stace, that was an awesome surprise for Kristin! What a fun and memorable evening that was shared with the whole theater. One of those things that makes you go Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww................

Hope your foot and leg don't give you too much trouble and the bruising goes away quickly:hug: :hug: . Now is this the same foot you had the surgery on?

Enjoy your beach day:banana: :banana:

[PBader]

Stace--

Try to get a navigator from each of the kids' clubs so you can plan your naps around their use of Deck 7 Aft.

I hope your leg feels better SOON!

Enna, great thinking!!!!

[BrettySpaghetti]

Stacy,

You are living the dream I just finished! I hope you are having a wonderful time. How I wish I could be back on the ship and do the whole thing over and over again.

Brett

[Joan1]

My kids at the Cabo Dolphin center; you could buy the pics on a disc:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v410/glima/Mexico/006_6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v410/glima/Mexico/012_12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v410/glima/Mexico/009_9.jpg



Awesome photos - thanks for sharing

How much were the photo package they were offering
Did they have showers for after the swim, we may want to walk around town a while before heading back to the ship

[justmestace]

I've been trying to post, but every time I hit "submit" I get booted off the ship's internet. I've heard a few people have had the same problem.


The kids on the dolphin swim belong to jlima, so hopefully she'll check in and answer your questions.


My bruises and cuts are doing much better. It was the opposite side from the one I had surgery on, thank goodness.

Someone had asked about the sea conditions....very, very slight. 1.5 ft waves. Almost not even enough to be rocked to sleep with, but I'm told we'll start booking it back to LA tonight and tomorrow night....moving slower during the days.

Going to see if this post goes through, and then will post my report.

[Nutty4Disney]

Love the report. Can't wait to read more. I always keep an extra pair of glasses with me. I guess I know why now. I am scared to death of not being able to see where I am going.

[jlima]

Awesome photos - thanks for sharing

How much were the photo package they were offering
Did they have showers for after the swim, we may want to walk around town a while before heading back to the ship
Believe it was $149 for 16 pics on a disc . . . they had several packages.

There were showers right where you got out of the water, but not in the locker room.

Didn't mean to hijack your thread Stace!!!

[justmestace]

Wednesday…June 11.…Mazatlan
For some reason I woke up way earlier than I needed to….6 am. I think I felt the thrusters as we rotated to the dock. I went outside and we were docked already. It was really, really humid….but not hot. Just a heaviness in the air, and very cloudy. It had thundered and rained during the night, but I’d slept right through that.
Today we did the Mazatlan Beach Escape & the resort was really nice. Very surprising after driving through Mazatlan (and I’ve been here twice) and seeing the poverty and unclean conditions. The resort has 4 pools, one secluded with a hot tub. Someone was constantly in cleaning the restrooms, and beside the buffet that comes with the tour, there is also a restaurant that you can order food from.
They had pottery painting and a pinata party, also wave runners available on the beach. I didn’t see him, but I’m told Jared (my son) is a maniac operating one of those! Frances and I had already left by that time to take the short 2 block walk to the shopping at the Golden Zone.
We did have some rain showers on and off during the day, but it didn’t keep us out of the pools, or the kids out of the ocean. I had enough ocean yesterday, and there were jellyfish warnings (although the kids didn’t see any) so Frances and I kept to the hot tub and pool. The kids had a blast riding the waves. At least there weren’t any rocks anywhere.
The food was only so-so, and I’ve had a lot of “authentic” Mexican food, so that is not my objection. The chicken enchiladas were more onion than chicken, the taquitos were potato rather than the chicken or beef we’re used to, and the tamales were small and all corn meal. But there’s plenty of food on the ship, so it wasn’t like we were worried we’d starve to death. Everyone really enjoyed this excursion, in spite of the food.
Megan and Dave (DD & DSIL newlyweds) did an independent excursion with Randi’s Happy Horses and came back raving about how wonderful it was. They were the only two going out this morning, so they had their own private honeymoon ride….on the beach and in some surrounding areas. They said they really had a great time and that Randi is a real sweetheart.
Tonight they are heading to Palo, and the rest of us will have our first night in Parrot Cay.

Thursday….June 12.…Puerto Vallarta
It hit me when I got up this morning….6:00 am for no good reason!!….that the cruise is coming to its end. Only halfway through, actually, but I really could use an extra week. Guess I’ll have to wait until August!
We’re still waiting for a nice, sunny day. More clouds today. But warm…so that makes it close enough to perfect.
We’re docked with the aft of the ship facing the port terminal, so I can’t get a good picture of it. Last time I was here, we were docked alongside of it, so I had a better idea of the layout then.
We’re going to Las Caletas today, John Huston’s private home, with Vallarta Adventures. They run a lot of Disney’s shore excursions, and we’ve had great times with them.
It’s about an hour by catamaran, but the tour guides make the trip fun. Jared, Megan and Dave signed up for the resort dive, so we got their paperwork done as we cruised along. I decided I didn’t want to just sit at the beach alone, so I signed up for the private swim with the sea lion. You pay extra for both of these, the dive is $35 per person and the sea lion is $60. Since I haven’t bought anything at all, or done any spa, I decided I could treat myself to this.
Once we arrived, the divers met right away for their class and preparation. I headed to the area of the beach that I would need to be in to do the swim. I found an outcrop with chairs and two umbrellas, plus a picnic table, up some stone stairs, overlooking the beach. Beautiful breeze…and a perfect spot.
Again there were jellyfish warnings. Apparently June is their time of year.
There are so many things to do here. Kayak, snorkel, massages, cooking class (they made paella), pottery, animal encounters…..they have a trained parrot that they bring out to fly around the beach….although we saw a wild parrot on our way to the island/area.
There have been several dolphin and whale sightings off the ship, by the way. Mostly off the port side.
Anyway….there must not have been any jellyfish to speak of, as it didn’t keep people from playing in the water. Or so I thought.
At noon it was time for me to go meet my whiskered new friend. There were only four of us doing the swim. We had to wear our snorkel gear, although we never did need the masks. Fins to swim out to the platform was all we really needed. They also said it was required that we wear the big orange life jackets. I hate those things. They did let us wear them around our waists, but once I got in the water, it rode up to where I thought I would choke (kidding) with it pushing all the rolls I have up along with it. Lol
At the platform, we were met by a photographer (the same gal who arranged the swim with us on the catamaran) and the trainer, Johnny….a rather nice looking fellow if I do say so. And suddenly, from underneath us in the water, the star appeared. His name was Monico and he weighs about 300 pounds. We spent a full hour out there with him. He gave us kisses on the cheek, he did tricks that I thought only dolphins did….jumps, rolling, waving a fin, etc. He can show us his teeth, grin, stick out his tongue on command. Absolutely darling, and worth every penny. We even got to have him take us for a ride, one at a time, on his back. It was awesome.
It almost made me forget that we were surrounded by hoards of jellyfish and being stung the entire time. Yep…ouch….I was pretty well covered with stings on my arms and a few on the back of my legs, by the time we were done. I’m not allergic to bee stings, so I didn’t have any bad reaction to them. I was told they had vinegar to put on them if I needed it, but we carry a bottle of jellyfish sting relief in our snorkel bag, so I used that, and it did take away the majority of the irritation right away. It took about an hour for the welts to go down, and by dinner time, I only had one lingering shadow from where the biggest concentration of stings were. Still….totally worth it for the private time with Monico.
The lunch that they served was pretty awesome. We had 5 salad choices, the paella that people learned to make, chicken, bbq ribs, ziti w/marinara sauce, chips & salsa, (actually pico de gallo…we haven’t had salsa anywhere) beans, and more. There were also about 7 or 8 dessert choices.
After lunch we had time to check out the animals. We held an owl, a macaw and a spider monkey. I can’t wait to see the video of the trip. There is a videographer who starts filming on the ride over, and goes around filming people at random all day. If you buy the disk, they mail it to your home. They used to have them delivered to the ship, but now they don’t, and to offset that, they have lowered the cost. I think it was $20-something.
I did get to look at the pictures from the sea lion, on the catamaran back to the ship, and then paid to have a copy of the pictures with me in them, and any of just Monico. If I had wanted all the pictures, with the other people, I would have paid more. The picture disk was $115 and she made a copy right then and gave it to me. It’s always the pictures where it starts to get expensive, but again, worth it to me. I did have my own camera out there, but only of Monico, so it’s fun to have some with me. I’d say that there are about 30 pics on the disk. She took tons of pictures!
We had just enough time to wander around the area a little and visit the small shop before getting back on the Cat to head back. They had a dance party on the way back and the little kids were having a blast. They were awesome with the kids.
Back at port, Jared headed for the ship while Megan, Dave and I went to the Malecon for some shopping. About halfway down the shopping area, Megan started to not feel well (she better not be bringing home a little souvenir!!) so they took a taxi back to the ship. I continued wandering. I loved all of the sculptures along the waterfront, and there was someone who had built two huge sand sculptures.
I really wasn’t looking to buy anything, just wander. I did come across a man selling his watercolors, and fell in love with one that was the same scene with a church steeple in it that I had been trying to photograph. None of my pics look too great, it was such a cloudy day. So for $30, I have a new painting for my wall.
I got a taxi then to head back. The first taxi we took over was a van-load of people so it was $3 pp. Coming back with just me, they wanted $6.
There is a lot of rebuilding going on after a hurricane several years ago, so the hotels near the water look a little shabby right now. Still I thought it was a nice port.
PIRATE NIGHT!!!
Always fun….it didn’t seem nearly as crowded as in the past, so I was able to get some good pictures and see the whole thing. The fireworks were great, with an awesome half moon in the background.
Time for bed. I am beat from a great day in Puerto Vallarta.

Friday…..June 13.…Day at Sea….
Ooooo…Friday the 13th…some are creeped out about that, but all I know is that for me, that means one thing…..PALO BRUNCH!!!!!
Need to get ready to head up in a bit.
I am going to try to post this on the DIS. I’ve been able to check my mail the last two days, but when I’ve tried to post on the DIS, the internet shuts down on me. Hmmmm…..wonder if I missed something? I hope those chatty Canal cruisers didn’t get the whole DIS banned from DCL’s internet service! ;)
Brunch was marvelous as always. I really see only a few familiar faces in Palo. PJ, who I’ve heard will soon be replaced as manager by Marco, Anne-Marie, and Tony.
Decided to walk around a bit after brunch….it was either that, or fall asleep. I went and chose our pictures from Pirate night, wandered to Mickey’s Mates & discovered Captain Thord signing items at Treasure Ketch. I wondered why there were so many people down there.
Even though it’s cold, windy and cloudy outside, it doesn’t seem very crowded inside.
I finally remembered to mention our servers. Our head server is Alessandro, and he seems to be around the tables a lot more than most head servers we’ve had. He’s pleasant and generous. He picked up the tab for a bottle of Banfi for the newlyweds, and brought Frances and I each a glass of champagne the other night.
Our server is Katerina from the Czech Republic. She is an excellent server. And fun. Our assistant server is Adrian from the Philippines. He is really fun. He loves to try out clever mind games with us. I sat and talked with him by the pool today. It always surprises me at how well educated a lot of the crew are. Seems sad to have a college education, but not have the opportunity to do much with it in countries other than ours.
Off to play trivia! Maybe I’ll be better at that than Bingo. I also hope I can get this posted. A few people have mentioned getting logged off the ship’s site at odd times.

[PBader]

Stace, I can't wait to see your pictures with Monico. It sounds like the perfect way to spend some time in the water:love: Hate to hear about the jellyfish--you and water aren't the best of friends this trip:eek: Hopefully, it cooperates better in August for you. Hope you had fun with the trivia. I have enjoyed reading your report---I think there are 9 more Mondays:yay: :yay:

[Diznyfan68]

Thanks for the update Stace. The time with Monico sounds wonderful - all except for the jellyfish (ouch!). Enjoy your last day on board...and just think, only 9 weeks from Sunday you will be back on her!

[dizneygirlz3]

Thanks so much for your posts. We just got off on 6/8 and it went by so fast so it is nice to see you are having a great time like we did. We did the Mazatlan beach escape also and there were jellyfish but we still had fun parasailing. Thanks again I really enjoy reading your posts....

[justmestace]

I can't believe it's really basically that short a time before we're ready to sail again. I'm really glad now (for a ton of reasons) that I'm coming back, but the biggest reason (okay...2nd biggest after seeing my DIS friends) is that we should be guaranteed some sunshine in August. I don't mind when it rains once a day, like it will in the Caribbean, or even the cooler weather, but the clouds are really a bummer. They especially mess up any chance at good photos.

I see we have some new smilies. I swear, every time I'm gone they add new ones.


Funny story. I was on the balcony earlier this afternoon and saw a soccer ball float by in the water and the first thought that came to my mind was "Wilson! I'm sorry, Wilson!!"....:rotfl2: :rotfl2:
Guess you have to be a Tom Hanks "Castaway" fan for that one.:lmao: :lmao:

[justmestace]

I didn’t make it to Trivia. It’s cold, windy and cloudy (again) and my bed looked so warm and cozy. I guess I needed to re-charge my batteries, because I slept for two hours! I think that’s the first time I’ve ever napped on a cruise. But it was good for me.
Dinner tonight was the Captain’s Gala (semi-formal) and it’s always one of my favorites. I swear, if I kept eating like this, I’d weigh as much as my buddy Monico. I had the garlic shrimp appetizer, and also the fruit cocktail in the honey sauce, and of course, lobster. And….tonight was the Dessert Buffet. Holy cow.
We went to the cabaret show of John Charles after dinner. He was good, but not as good as Ron Pearson. Although he did have Frances snorting her drink out of her nose at one point….and he saw her, asked her name and where she was from, so when she told him West Virginia, he had to launch into a hillbilly routine and sing Country Roads.
We left there just in time to walk into the dessert buffet. We skipped the long tables and headed straight for the chocolate fountain. Because the buffet isn’t very well announced, it also wasn’t crowded. It was only printed in one small line on the front of the Navigator.
A few of us are going to go to our Character Breakfast tomorrow, and there are several things listed in the Nav that I really want to do tomorrow….like maybe go win the Final Jackpot Bingo (yeah, right…wake me up I’m dreaming) or play Mouseketeer….but I also need to pack darn it.
We’re going to Disneyland after the cruise, so we’ve decided to pack all the dirty clothes in one bag, the remaining clean clothes in another bag so that we only have to open one bag at the hotel. Normally I would just toss all the clothes together and worry about it when I got home. So this involves planning and forethought…..after all this food, I’m not sure I can think…but it will also take more time. So much for being out having fun.
At least I did start to toss out a bunch of the junk that’s been piling up. Oh well….all good things must come to an end I suppose.

[Michelle2]

We also have had Alessandro as our head server for our last 2 cruises. He has always taken good care of us. I think he told me that he would be on vacation for the PC cruise though. :(

[WVMD]

Hi all! I didn't realize that Stacey was doing a Live report.... I'm doing a report on my Blog..... (See my signature). I've posted some pics on there - and will post links to the video of the proposal (Kristin is my daughter) once I can get it uploaded. Nick has been working with Disney for months - with a little help from me...). It's been a fun cruise - hate that it's coming to an end... Wish that the weather was better... We really enjoyed the outdoor adventure in PV - Stacey was chicken and didn't join us for the ziplining! We also had a blast at Senor Frogs - as evidenced by the pictures I posted...

Virgil
pirate:

[justmestace]

Will have to post the last of my report from Disneyland tomorrow night, since I keep getting the boot and am now almost out of my minutes. Oh well.
All packed up except for tonight's dinner clothes. I usually wait until after dinner to do it all, but had things I wanted to do tonight...and also to just enjoy my day, so I've been doing it a little at a time.

Off to try to win that Final Jackpot Bingo!!! :cool1:
Talk to you all from the States!!

[goofyforlife]

Night Stace... Thanks for the report on Las Caletas... I definately want to do the Sea Lion Swim... There's a couple peeps from our group going on the excurison. Hopefully i can find a pirate buddy so we can take pictures of one another...

I do need a report on the dive part from the other in your group. Is it just getting in scuba gear and then doing a shallow dive. (How deep?)

Having tried it once in a pool i might want to do it again....

[PBader]

Stace, enjoy your last evening. Sounds like a great plan for the dirty clothes. Enjoy DL. Safe traveling:goodvibes

[WVMD]

Stacey and I didn't win Jackpot Bingo. Stacey got down to 1 number and Lauren got down to 3 cards with 2 numbers.... Oh well... It was over 12 thousand dollars.....

Getting ready for dinner...

Virgil
pirate:

[dizneygirlz3]

Stace, have a great evening and enjoy your time at the DLR. I have really enjoyed your trip reports. Too bad about bingo, my DH was 1 number away on 3 cards on the 6/1 cruise and the jackpot was over $13,000.00. My girls loved bingo and are still singing B-11......Thanks for making it not so sad for me to be off the ship....

[LOLA2]

Hi- Thanks for your trip report, I have a couple of questions. When you were in PV for the excursion was there anything you needed to pay extra for? Such as the pottery making? When did you find out you could do the the loin swim, as I did not think I saw that mentioned in the description. Was there a Mayan pryamid there? any pictures?

Also, rumer around here that the pirate party was earlier and no buffet. Was that was how it was for you also? Thanks

[justmestace]

For the Las Caletas excursion, they let us know on the boat on the way to Las Caletas about the "extras" such as the resort dive, the sea lion swim and the massages. Those were the only things you pay extra for. The pottery making, the experiences with the owl, parrots/macaws and monkey were included. There is a Mayan Temple to go look at.
Be prepared with some cash for a deposit on snorkel gear if you don't have your own. You get the money back, but you need it to begin with.

K...the divers loved it. They took a 1/2 hour class first, then got their wetsuits, tanks etc. They (my son, daughter and son-in-law) used their own masks and fins, but they are available there. They were in the water for 45 minutes, maybe longer....and were down 27 feet.




We made a smooth transition from the ship to Disneyland...but boy oh boy oh boy is it crowded!! Frances and I couldn't deal with it today so we left and came back to the hotel and floated in the pool. That's MY idea of a vacation!!! Not the stress of the lines and the crowds.
Even though I got a handicap pass for the lines, even those are 25 or more minutes long. And if I get run over by one more stroller I will NOT be responsible for my actions!! :furious:

Heading to Downtown Disney for dinner then to try a few rides if we're lucky. We did the "soft" opening of Toy Story Mania and all of us enjoyed it. The "men" loved the competition of it. Tomorrow is the Grand Opening.

TTYL

[goofyforlife]

and were down 27 feet.

:scared1: 27:scared1: 27:scared1: HOLY CARP :scared1: :scared1: 27....

Not sure i could deal with being that deep. Knowing my luck Jaws would come along.....:scared1: :scared1: 27feet....

[LOLA2]

For the Las Caletas excursion, they let us know on the boat on the way to Las Caletas about the "extras" such as the resort dive, the sea lion swim and the massages. Those were the only things you pay extra for. The pottery making, the experiences with the owl, parrots/macaws and monkey were included. There is a Mayan Temple to go look at.
Be prepared with some cash for a deposit on snorkel gear if you don't have your own. You get the money back, but you need it to begin with.

K...the divers loved it. They took a 1/2 hour class first, then got their wetsuits, tanks etc. They (my son, daughter and son-in-law) used their own masks and fins, but they are available there. They were in the water for 45 minutes, maybe longer....and were down 27 feet.



We made a smooth transition from the ship to Disneyland...but boy oh boy oh boy is it crowded!! Frances and I couldn't deal with it today so we left and came back to the hotel and floated in the pool. That's MY idea of a vacation!!! Not the stress of the lines and the crowds.
Even though I got a handicap pass for the lines, even those are 25 or more minutes long. And if I get run over by one more stroller I will NOT be responsible for my actions!! :furious:

Heading to Downtown Disney for dinner then to try a few rides if we're lucky. We did the "soft" opening of Toy Story Mania and all of us enjoyed it. The "men" loved the competition of it. Tomorrow is the Grand Opening.

TTYL

Thanks for the info, if we don't want to do the snorkeling can we go relax in a hammock or it is so organized that we can't leave the group? Heve fun with the rest of yout trip:duck:

[justmestace]

Once you get out to Las Caletas, they have a quick briefing and then you can go off and do anything you want.

As for the pirate party and buffet, it started on time, seemed much longer more singing and dancing) than I remembered, and there was a buffet set up aft on deck 9, starboard.


More trip report if I can copy and paste:
Saturday….June 14.…Day at Sea
Again, for some unknown reason, I woke up at 5 am. I was surprised that it was already getting light outside. I saw that we had just passed the Vision of the Seas, our port buddies. I did go back to bed until my 7:45 wake up call though, so that was good.
Character breakfast was fun, mostly to see all the little kids get excited about seeing Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Chip & Dale. Almost as if they hadn’t already been seeing them all week. I can see them all at home next week…”Mama, I want Mickey waffles and I want Minnie to come talk to me!!” lol
The one disappointment was that the ships’ photographer doesn’t come to breakfast any more. I was hoping to finish off my package with a couple of those shots.
Shutters was a zoo this morning. I’ll never understand people waiting until the last day and then spreading ALL of their photos all over the floor….taking a chance at getting stepped on, or taking them ALL up to the cashier and making their choices there. Errggghhhh….
Crew was hosing off the aft public deck this morning also while I was out having my coffee. I got a second shower. When they start doing things like that on the last day, and the last night and limiting the places you can go, or the ability to enjoy your balcony, it makes me feel cheated out of a day of my cruise.
I thought we might have some sun today, and it has poked in and out of the clouds now and then…but still mostly cloudy.
The forecast for Anaheim is supposed to be 80 and sunny, so that’s good. I shouldn’t complain about clouds….since we get nothing but glaring sun in Arizona all the time. At least I’m not sunburned!
Have been packing things up so that I don’t have to do it after dinner and can enjoy Pub Night.
Later!
Our farewell dinner was awesome as ever. I love when the entire wait staff parades with their flags and the chefs come out with the baked Alaska. Still not quite yet time to say goodbye, so it’s not so hard to leave our servers yet.
Ran back up to the room and changed clothes, tossed the rest in our bags and had them outside the door by 10:00. We only have 3 bags, so it’s not too bad.
A few of us met up in Diversions for Pub Night, which is always a blast.
Trent, Christiaan, and Natalie were part of “If I Were Not Upon The Sea” which I always think is the funniest routine no matter how many times I see it. Christiaan told me that his Mom will be coming solo on the Canal cruise and asked if she could be an Escaping Mom like Frances and I. I could never refuse him of anything!
It was hard to leave Diversions and head up to bed, but morning and all of the hustle and bustle of getting off the ship will come soon.
Sunday…June 15.….Back in LA
Jared and I were both up taking pictures before we got in to port. We were a little late in docking. During the night, the Vision of the Seas passed us and pulled in first. We had sea lions following the ship into the bay, and I’m told (and have seen pictures as proof) that a huge pod of dolphins were swimming along the port side of the ship. I’m glad I have port side in August, but it won’t be whale season then, so I hope we at least see the dolphins. There were several whale sightings, and reports of knowing they were whales as people saw them “spout”.
Our breakfast was at 8:15 in Parrot Cay. Now we know for sure that it’s time to say goodbye. Our server will be onboard in August, but our assistant server is going home for a while.
I did call Jordan and Jay (DD and DH who stayed home) to check in and to wish Jay a Happy Father’s Day. It was good to hear both of their voices. Two weeks in August will be a loooong time, I’m realizing.
We’d been told that disembarkation was different than in Port Canaveral, and about the only thing we did notice is that the line before Customs clearance was longer, but otherwise, finding our bags and getting out to meet our limo was all about the same, and in fact, a shorter walk than in Florida.
We arrived at the Grand Californian at about 10:45, so it only took us about a half an hour, maybe 45 minutes to get from the port to Disneyland.
My room was ready, as was Virgil’s but the two young couple’s rooms weren’t. We piled bags in our rooms and headed for California Adventure, knowing that Disneyland would be more crowded than CA.
We really only rode the Ferris Wheel, and Toy Story Mania before we’d had enough of the crowds. We did walk right on to Tower of Terror, and used a fast pass for Soarin’ Over California before going back to the room to get the other two rooms settled in and get cleaned up for our VIP seating for the Electric Light Parade in CA. We meet another DIS family, who joined us for the parade. We had awesome outdoor patio seating just above the street, and were able to get great pictures of the parade. That one really brings back memories for me, since I remember when it was “the” parade at Disneyland.
CA closes at 9:00, so we left after the parade…..oh…..the seating included a boxed snack/dessert, drinks and wine. I was surprised that the snack was as good as it was.
So we walked over to Dland as the fireworks were going off, felt like fish swimming upstream with all the people going out, and us trying to go in. We went off in separate groups, with some heading for Space Mountain, and Megan, Dave and I going to Fantasyland to ride Peter’s Pan’s Flight, Dumbo, Snow White’s Scary Adventure and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. All nostalgic for me, since they are originals from my childhood, if not from park opening.
We hauled our weary bodies back to the hotel, and we had all agreed that we would sleep in on Monday, have an easy day, and then hit the ground running for the 7:00 am early entry on Tuesday.
And we did. Monday…..June 16.….
I think we were all finally up and moving & ready to go to the park at about 10:30. We have lunch reservations at Blue Bayou, inside Pirate’s of the Caribbean, at 11:30, so some ran for Fast Passes to Indiana Jones while a few of us waited near Blue Bayou for our other DIS friends, John and Monica and their two kids. Lunch was really good….but for the price, it should be. We had a mini-celebration for Monica’s birthday today, John’s tomorrow, and Jared’s on the 23rd. I love Blue Bayou, and know that the setting is dark for a reason, but it was so dark it made it tough to read the menus. We all thought they should hand out flashlights before you order.
We tried to fight the crowds to go on some more rides, but it was just crazy. I’ve been to Disneyland at all times of the year, and this was the worst I’ve ever seen. Ever. Frances and I gave up and went back to the hotel to swim. MUCH more relaxing for both of us than fighting the crowds and getting run over by strollers. I may need anger management when I get home because of the charge of the stroller brigade.
And the pool really did the trick. We were both in much better spirits, and headed for California Adventure after our swim. We only rode Monster’s Inc and wandered through some shops before coming back to the hotel to find the others and get ready for dinner, but it was much less crowded there. The park is preparing for the grand opening of Toy Story Mania tomorrow.
We tried every restaurant in Downtown Disney, and all had at least an hour wait, so we went in to Disneyland and rode Indiana Jones with our fast passes from this morning and avoided the stairs by using my handicap pass. You can now get a pass to at least help with rides that have stairs….it doesn’t always get you to the front of the line, but it does help a little and stairs are still the hardest thing for me to maneuver since my surgery. I never knew the pass was available. I thought you had to rent a wheelchair or ECV.
Again the crowds are downright ferocious. I have honestly never seen anything like it. We ate dinner at Rancho del Zocallo (spelling?) and then left to go watch the fireworks from the balcony of the concierge lounge at the GC. It was nice to watch them and know that we only had to walk down the hall to be “home”. The younger kids stayed in the park to keep trying to get on rides. Oh, to be young again!
So the plan is to be up early tomorrow to finally get on the Finding Nemo submarines….and as much as we can with Early Entry. Which means I need to be in bed now.
Night!

[justmestace]

Had to laugh. The first two mornings on the ship, my alarm clock that I brought from home went off at five or six o'clock in the morning. I finally started checking to make sure it was off before bed.
So this morning at our hotel, the alarm went off at 5:00!! I think I'm alarm clock-jinxed.:rotfl:

[poohmomof5]

Hi Stace!

Sounds like you are having a blast!!!!

I have been considering doing the VIP seating for Fantasmic, I had no idea that they had it at DCA.

Do you recommend it and if I may ask, how much was it? Thanks!

[GrumpyMom1]

Hi Stacey,

Great report! We debated on Sunday whether to go to Disneyland or go straight home. After hearing how crowded it was I'm glad we chose to go home.

I woke up early most days also and was awake at 5:30 or 6:00 on the last day. Now I wish I had gone up on deck instead of staying in bed.

We did see whales on Monday, spouts and all. And on Tuesday evening after we left Cabo we saw dolphins swimming alongside the ship. We were able to get pictures of the dolphins but not the whales. I'm still working on my pictures but I should have those posted soon.

[PBader]

Hi Stace! Man it really must be crowded at DL. I can totally relate to the stroller brigades---they have no mercy and just push forward. Your viewing for the parade sounds nice! :goodvibes

[smeecanada]

Hi Stace!

Sounds like you are having a blast!!!!

I have been considering doing the VIP seating for Fantasmic, I had no idea that they had it at DCA.

Do you recommend it and if I may ask, how much was it? Thanks!


You really don't need VIP seating for the Electrical Parade, like you do for Fantasmic. We were there a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday night. Plenty of space to sit down up around PT Flea Market (backside of Grizzly River Run) at around 8:20 - parade got to us around 8:50-8:55. We usually get dinner or a snack and just chill a bit before the parade. Usually my feet need a break by then anyways :goodvibes

I can't remember the cost but remember looking into it a few years ago and it was quite pricey.

[The FairyGodmother]

Stacey, I really enjoyed your reports. It was so good to hear about all the wonderful things and the great times you had.
I too can relate to the strollers. The worst was pushing Elizabeth in her wheelchair and having people step between her legs on the foot rests to get past us instead of being polite and letting us move out of their way. Funny thing is it wasn't just one or two people who did that. We came home a lot with bruises on our ankles from those darn blue strollers.

[Diznyfan68]

Thank you Stacey for sharing your journey with us. I have really enjoyed reading your reports - I've even pretended I was there with you!

The crowds at DL sound just disgusting...I'll never understand why someone thinks that just because they have a stroller it gives them the right to just drive it into anyone and everyone so they can get to where ever it is that they are going. What ever happened to "excuse me"?

Enjoy the rest of your time at DL!

[lbgraves]

After reading about the proposal to my kids we had to watch the video. It was just fantastic. What a great way to remember such a special day! :)

[vossjemi]

Oh Stacey, now I don't know what to do! Not sure a trip (especially a short one) to DL/DCA is worth it if its that crowded on sun/mon! Right now, if we change our flight plans to just come home after the cruise on sun, it'll cost us $236 more than if we had booked that sunday eons ago. If we keep our 7pm mon return, that means we get essentially a 1/2 day sun and a 1/2 day mon in the parks at an approx cost of $665 more than I can currently get a sunday airfare return (factoring in diff in airfare since monday is cheaper, hotel, add'l transport, tickets, and meals). If we change to a late tues return (so as to get MM and more time to fight the crowds), we'd pay around $1050 more than the current price of a sunday return (same factors).

Our trip is in early August & if we do DL/DCA, it'll be 8/10, 8/11, and maybe 8/12. Knowing what you know about the crowds, would you just shell out the extra $236 to get home sunday and forget about the parks? Or would you shell out the difference for a mon or tues return? Thanks for your opinion.

[justmestace]

Hi Stace!

Sounds like you are having a blast!!!!

I have been considering doing the VIP seating for Fantasmic, I had no idea that they had it at DCA.

Do you recommend it and if I may ask, how much was it? Thanks!


Without looking back at my paperwork, I want to say that it's $59 per person. For me it was worth it to have a great spot to take pictures and a chair to sit in. I still can't get down to sit on the curb, and a bench kills my back. Plus you'd have to stake one out at least an hour ahead if not more.
The adults got one free glass of wine, and kids & non-drinkers got a soda, plus the dessert trays had several cheeses, crackers, grapes, and 3 or 4 desserts plus a chocolate covered strawberry.

[justmestace]

Oh Stacey, now I don't know what to do! Not sure a trip (especially a short one) to DL/DCA is worth it if its that crowded on sun/mon! Right now, if we change our flight plans to just come home after the cruise on sun, it'll cost us $236 more than if we had booked that sunday eons ago. If we keep our 7pm mon return, that means we get essentially a 1/2 day sun and a 1/2 day mon in the parks at an approx cost of $665 more than I can currently get a sunday airfare return (factoring in diff in airfare since monday is cheaper, hotel, add'l transport, tickets, and meals). If we change to a late tues return (so as to get MM and more time to fight the crowds), we'd pay around $1050 more than the current price of a sunday return (same factors).

Our trip is in early August & if we do DL/DCA, it'll be 8/10, 8/11, and maybe 8/12. Knowing what you know about the crowds, would you just shell out the extra $236 to get home sunday and forget about the parks? Or would you shell out the difference for a mon or tues return? Thanks for your opinion.

It depends on how often you get to go to the parks, and whether you really want to experience Disneyland. My friends who have never been here were so excited, but now they know that they would definitely NOT do it again unless it's off season. But they get to go to WDW more often.
For me, living close to Disneyland (AZ...a 1 hour flight) I would NEVER do this again. I'd go home after the cruise nice and relaxed. I am so glad now that we aren't doing the parks before our August Repo cruise!
I was even thinking today of shelling out the $100 to fly home earlier tomorrow, but they've given me a later check out time, so we can relax in the room, go to Downtown Disney for a while maybe, and not be forced to go to the parks from 11:00 a.m. until our 5 pm town car pickup.

[justmestace]

Toy Story Midway Mania had it's Grand Opening today. Tons of media everywhere. At one point, the wait was over SIX HOURS. And then it broke down. :eek:
I can't imagine standing in line for anything for six hours. And then to have it break would be worse than anything I think I could ever imagine.

I am soooo glad we did the soft opening on Sunday.

Will finish up my report....especially about our Early Entry and the Nemo ride.....tomorrow or Thursday after I'm home. And then I'll work on some pictures.

[poohmomof5]

Without looking back at my paperwork, I want to say that it's $59 per person. For me it was worth it to have a great spot to take pictures and a chair to sit in. I still can't get down to sit on the curb, and a bench kills my back. Plus you'd have to stake one out at least an hour ahead if not more.
The adults got one free glass of wine, and kids & non-drinkers got a soda, plus the dessert trays had several cheeses, crackers, grapes, and 3 or 4 desserts plus a chocolate covered strawberry.

Thanks! That sounds like fun!

[lmcp]

Hi there - We are leaving for our first cruise on the Magic in July. Did you happen to keep any daily navigators that you could post or scan?

[vossjemi]

It depends on how often you get to go to the parks, and whether you really want to experience Disneyland. My friends who have never been here were so excited, but now they know that they would definitely NOT do it again unless it's off season. But they get to go to WDW more often.
For me, living close to Disneyland (AZ...a 1 hour flight) I would NEVER do this again. I'd go home after the cruise nice and relaxed. I am so glad now that we aren't doing the parks before our August Repo cruise!
I was even thinking today of shelling out the $100 to fly home earlier tomorrow, but they've given me a later check out time, so we can relax in the room, go to Downtown Disney for a while maybe, and not be forced to go to the parks from 11:00 a.m. until our 5 pm town car pickup.

Thanks for your reply! Well, we live in the midwest, have never been to Disneyland let alone California. My dh was there once as a child, so this could be our one and only trip. We do try to take yearly vacations with the kids, but often go to different places instead of the same place. Too many places I want to visit and not enough time. Well, after talking w/dh, I guess we are going to do Disneyland anyway. Did get a Ding today to switch up our tickets to a 7pm return flight on Tuesday. So, we'll get to take advantange of Magic Morning on Tuesday. Was it any better then?

[justmestace]

Magic Morning was great!! We hit the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, and then all of the rides in Fantasyland...and as soon as they opened the gates, we were waiting to hit Adventureland, and got on Splash Mountain right away, Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion before it got too busy.
The only two lands open for early entry are Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, but if you do your "most wanted" there first, you'll have a head start before the big crowds hit whichever other "land" you want to go to. Did that make sense?
Also, the evenings were less crowded. And make good use of your Fastpasses.

Yesterday was so unbelievably less crowded than Monday and Tuesday were, I was surprised. At least half of the crowds were gone!
But...we also hit the last two days for Annual Passholder's to use their tickets, so I think that made it worse, and also the grand opening of Toy Story Mania. Maybe it won't be as bad from now on.

[justmestace]

Hi there - We are leaving for our first cruise on the Magic in July. Did you happen to keep any daily navigators that you could post or scan?



I didn't keep my Navigator's....I already had too much stuff to carry around, and I knew that someone had posted them on the main boards here.

I actually wish I had now, though, because one of the special speakers was a top ABC executive who gave a talk one day. We shared a table with he and his wife on Pub Night, and now I don't remember his name.

[vossjemi]

Magic Morning was great!! We hit the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, and then all of the rides in Fantasyland...and as soon as they opened the gates, we were waiting to hit Adventureland, and got on Splash Mountain right away, Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion before it got too busy.
The only two lands open for early entry are Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, but if you do your "most wanted" there first, you'll have a head start before the big crowds hit whichever other "land" you want to go to. Did that make sense?
Also, the evenings were less crowded. And make good use of your Fastpasses.

Yesterday was so unbelievably less crowded than Monday and Tuesday were, I was surprised. At least half of the crowds were gone!
But...we also hit the last two days for Annual Passholder's to use their tickets, so I think that made it worse, and also the grand opening of Toy Story Mania. Maybe it won't be as bad from now on.

Great! I can't wait! Now, since you didn't fly out after cruise was done, what time did you schedule your pickup? We have an exclusive van pickup, but unsure what time to set it...we know we'll be last off the ship since we aren't flying out that day.

[justmestace]

Great! I can't wait! Now, since you didn't fly out after cruise was done, what time did you schedule your pickup? We have an exclusive van pickup, but unsure what time to set it...we know we'll be last off the ship since we aren't flying out that day.


Our flight left Orange County airport at 7:15 so the car came to get us at 5:00 on the dot. They told me what time they would come, they didn't ask me. That's the norm for that type of service, they've always told me what time they would come.
The family that left from LAX also had their car get them a little more than 2 hours before their flight.

[castlegazer]

justmestace, I don't know why of all times it occurs to me to look at your location and I realize that you are from Cave Creek - now isn't that the home of the Horny Toad Restaurant?

I am dating myself, probably, but my family used to spend time in Cave Creek and in fact my father decided to buy land in Cave Creek - he later rid himself of it. But it is beautiful there! I have not been back in soooooo many years.

I just outed myself that I am reading along with your report! Thanks. It's great! :wave:

[vossjemi]

Our flight left Orange County airport at 7:15 so the car came to get us at 5:00 on the dot. They told me what time they would come, they didn't ask me. That's the norm for that type of service, they've always told me what time they would come.
The family that left from LAX also had their car get them a little more than 2 hours before their flight.

Oh, sorry, miscommunication. :confused: Our transport did give us a time for pickup to go back to airport factoring in traffic conditions etc...to meet our flight in time. What I meant was how did you know what time to tell them to pick you up when getting off the ship? Because who knows when DCL will let us off since we don't have a flight to catch that day.

[justmestace]

justmestace, I don't know why of all times it occurs to me to look at your location and I realize that you are from Cave Creek - now isn't that the home of the Horny Toad Restaurant?

I am dating myself, probably, but my family used to spend time in Cave Creek and in fact my father decided to buy land in Cave Creek - he later rid himself of it. But it is beautiful there! I have not been back in soooooo many years.

I just outed myself that I am reading along with your report! Thanks. It's great! :wave:


Yep....the Horny Toad is still going strong!
Your dad should have kept the land in Cave Creek. We bought our property 20 years ago for $220,000 and now it would sell for over 1.2 million. Well, not right at the minute, with the way real estate is right now...but normally. ;)

[justmestace]

Oh, sorry, miscommunication. :confused: Our transport did give us a time for pickup to go back to airport factoring in traffic conditions etc...to meet our flight in time. What I meant was how did you know what time to tell them to pick you up when getting off the ship? Because who knows when DCL will let us off since we don't have a flight to catch that day.


Do you know your dining time yet? If you have early dining, you'll be off the ship no later than 8:00 or 8:15. If you have the later dining, you'll be off the ship at 9:30 at the latest. I had told them 9:00 a.m....but they wanted me to call them when we got in to port, so I called them just before breakfast to tell them that it would be 9:30. They'd had a limo waiting for us since 8:30 or so anyway.

[vossjemi]

We are early dining, but don't know yet if it'll be 5:30, 5:45, or 6:00. Right now, we are tenatively set for a 9:00 am pick up. It looks like that sounds about right from your experience. They have my cell & I theirs too in case something changes up. Thanks! Great rpt! I can hardly believe I'll be going in 6 weeks since I've been planning this since Jan07!

[Sophia37]

Hi Stace, thank you for your report:thumbsup2 My husband and I are leaving on the June 29th cruise. I would love to go on the Randi's Happy Horse tour, but I cannot get ahold of them. I sent an e-mail, and I keep trying to call, but ALWAYS get a busy signal. Am I doing something wrong? Did it take a long time for them to get back to your friends?( I cannot remember the relation) I would really appreciate any help:love:

[aseal]

Do you know your dining time yet? If you have early dining, you'll be off the ship no later than 8:00 or 8:15. If you have the later dining, you'll be off the ship at 9:30 at the latest. I had told them 9:00 a.m....but they wanted me to call them when we got in to port, so I called them just before breakfast to tell them that it would be 9:30. They'd had a limo waiting for us since 8:30 or so anyway.


Hi Stace,

It was nice to meet you on the ship. I just wanted to comment that we had the latest breakfast 8:45 and we barely made our 10:30 driver that we had reserved to pick us up. I hope this helps someone. Thanks Alana

[justmestace]

Hi Stace, thank you for your report:thumbsup2 My husband and I are leaving on the June 29th cruise. I would love to go on the Randi's Happy Horse tour, but I cannot get ahold of them. I sent an e-mail, and I keep trying to call, but ALWAYS get a busy signal. Am I doing something wrong? Did it take a long time for them to get back to your friends?( I cannot remember the relation) I would really appreciate any help:love:


I e-mailed her about 3 or 4 times before she did finally answer. She's out with the horses and riders every day and comes home to a family...so I know she gets really busy. It was my daughter and son-in-law, and they raved about Randi and the good time they had. :thumbsup2

[Sophia37]

I e-mailed her about 3 or 4 times before she did finally answer. She's out with the horses and riders every day and comes home to a family...so I know she gets really busy. It was my daughter and son-in-law, and they raved about Randi and the good time they had. :thumbsup2

Do you think that I still have a chance to get a spot...it is a little late:confused3 Thank you so much for your advice. I will keep e-mailing her:thumbsup2 I like the whole (small bills) in the add. Maybe I should put 100 one dollar bills in a suitcase:lmao: Thanks again!!!!:cool2:

[justmestace]

Do you think that I still have a chance to get a spot...it is a little late:confused3 Thank you so much for your advice. I will keep e-mailing her:thumbsup2 I like the whole (small bills) in the add. Maybe I should put 100 one dollar bills in a suitcase:lmao: Thanks again!!!!:cool2:

Since Megan and Dave were the only two that day, I'd say you still have a good chance. They took all fives and ones!! Oh...Randi told them that she would KILL for pickle relish....tell her in your e-mail that you know the "Honeymooners" and will bring her a jar of relish. That should get her attention!!
:rotfl: :rotfl:

[justmestace]

Here is the last of the report...finally...will add pictures tonight or tomorrow.


Finally getting this thing finished…..

Tuesday…June 17th…..Early Entry

I would have bet money that we wouldn’t ALL be up and ready to be at the gates at 7 am….but we did it. So did about 50 million other people. Wow.
And of course, my grand plan of hitting Finding Nemo was the same grand plan of at least 35 million of the rest of the crowd. Lol I’m the only one from our group that cared enough to try Nemo. I think the rest of them hit the Matterhorn. Once I saw the Nemo line, I wanted to cry. I couldn’t believe it. For me, it’s a nostalgia thing again. I’ve really missed the submarines. Luckily, they have a separate viewing room for the handicapped. It isn’t quite the same as actually being in the sub, but at least I did get to see what it was all about. I realized that I probably couldn’t have managed the spiral stairway down into the sub anyway. I was the only one in the viewing room, had a nice bench and air conditioning. They have it done up “Disney style” so that it feels & looks like you’re in a sub.
When I was done, I found the gang had gone on the Matterhorn, and also Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters and they were hopping right back on, so I joined them there. Again, the “boys” in the group really enjoy the competition of this type of attraction. Go figure.
We made our way around Fantasyland, again enjoying all the rides of our childhoods, and were able to enter Adventureland as soon as it hit 8:00 and the main gates opened for everyone. Got on Pirates, Indy and Haunted Mansion right away, and then used my pass to do Splash Mountain. By the time we finished there, the crowds had gotten thick. We made one tour of the Jungle Cruise, and everyone decided to go their separate ways. It’s tough to manuever with 10 people in a group.
Megan, Dave and I did another favorite…we had Mickey pancakes at the River Belle Terrace...a 1955 original. We then went through the Haunted Mansion one more time, and took the train from New Orleans Square to Main street. I left them after that…the crowds again were just too much for me. I went back to the hotel and hit the pool again. I found Frances already there, and shortly after, Jared, Lauren, Emily and Megan & Dave joined us.
Thank heavens we’d had the foresight to make priority seating arrangements at Storyteller’s (at the Grand Californian) the night before. We didn’t want to have to wander for hours again looking for someplace to eat.
We all decided on the buffet, and it was really, really good.
After dinner, we went back in to California Adventure. Things had quieted down some since the grand opening of Toy Story Mania earlier that day. SIX HOUR waits for that ride!! Unbelievable that anyone would stand in line that long for anything. And then it broke down!! I think some people really need to prioritize. But then…I am the one who HAD to see the Nemo ride…..
Speaking of people needing to prioritize…..I can’t tell you how many newborns we saw in the parks. New, new, new babies! I asked one Mom, and her baby was 2 weeks old. Crazy. And it was HOT. Not to mention, I don’t know how these gals can give birth and say “Let’s go to Disneyland during the most crowded time of year!”. They are obviously much younger than I was when I had my last kid.

Anyway…..we had a blast, even though we didn’t go on one ride. We went to Disney Animation and spent forever in there. We took a quick class with a Disney animator and learned how to draw Tigger, we found out what character we are…..I’m Ariel.
They have a carousel that demonstrates how animation works, that is just astonishing. I’ve been in there before, but this must be something new. I can’t even begin to describe it, but I hope everyone who goes takes time to go in and see all that there is to see in this “attraction”.
We did get in line for the Monster’s Inc ride, and just before we got in to the car, the ride broke. I guess this had happened to some in our group the other day also, but Frances and I had ridden it yesterday with no problem.
The Electrical Parade was getting ready to start, so most of the group headed over to Disneyland. Jared, Megan and Dave wanted to ride Grizzly Peak, because it’s right at the private GC entrance, and easy to get to your room to change clothes after you get wet on it. They did that while I tried to take some shots of the full moon against Grizzly Peak, but it was too cloudy.
We went up to the rooms, they all changed clothes, and we went over to Disneyland too. The fireworks had already gone off, so we were again “swimming upstream” on Main Street. Megan & Dave stopped to have their profiles cut out…I have my kids’ framed since they were little.
We started to head for Indiana Jones and the other rides in Adventureland, when we found out that Fantasmic was just starting. BONUS! We actually found a bench to sit on just as it started. I really, really miss the VIP balcony seating at Walt’s apartment in New Orleans Square (it is now the Dream Suite) but we lucked out and got a great spot for free. This was Dave’s first visit, so he was fascinated.

Which reminds me, they have new buttons available at City Hall. They have ones that say “First Time” and “Honeymoon” & another one or two. I thought that was a nice new touch.

Megan and Dave stayed for one last round of the Jungle Cruise, Jared had told them how fun it is in the dark, and I went back to the hotel. Virgil & Frances and their family are leaving early tomorrow, as are Megan and Dave, but Jared & I and Nick & Kristin are staying. We leave the hotel at 5 pm tomorrow, while Nick & Kristin have a couple more days.

Wednesday….June 18.….
After seeing most of the group off, Jared and I walked through Downtown Disney, not really wanting to fight any crowds in the parks. I noticed that DTD wasn’t as crowded. We decided to ride the Monorail into Tomorrowland. What a surprise!! There was NO waiting for Autopia (boy did I get tired of hearing people call it Auto-topia) and very little wait for Nemo! I did the accessible part again while Jared rode in the sub.
Then we basically walked on to Buzz Lightyear. If I’d known the crowd was so light, we would have packed up sooner and gone in earlier! Jared had fun watching the kids do the experience with Darth Vader. I think he wished he were younger so he could learn to use a light saber. ;
We then made a last, slow walk down Main Street on our way back to the hotel to wait for our car.
All too soon, we were at the airport, on the plane, and back in Phoenix, where it was still 106 outside!! I’d gotten used to 85 during the day and in the 60’s at night!

I’ll be adding pictures tonight or tomorrow..stay tuned!

A few random tidbits & observations:

Disembarkation goes SO MUCH faster if you have passports. We were in line behind a couple of families still using birth certificates and it took forever for them to clear customs.

It is very easy in all of the ports to get off the ship and arrange a tour, either by boat or taxi…and much cheaper and more personalized. Also very safe. I have done this in many, many places and wished I’d done it again here, like we did in ‘05.

Some of the group were annoyed at all of the peddlers, on the beach and at the piers, but they don’t bother me. I just say “no thanks” and keep walking.

Take your drivers’ license to use as your photo I.D. to get back on the ship. Don’t take your passport.

Use a waterproof pouch in a fanny pack on all water tours. I got mine at www.magellans.com (http://www.magellans.com/)

One of the most valuable “extras” that I took on the ship were some “s” shaped hooks that I hung on the light fixture on the verandah to dry our swimsuits. I have visions of being choked by the laundry line in the shower on late night potty runs. Lol
The second most valuable was the multiple outlet plug, to charge camera batteries and use my curling iron at the same time…..also an extension cord for those hard-to-reach outlets.


In the parks…..USE FAST PASS. And at Disneyland, use the train to go from one land that is further away…such as Main Street to Toon Town.

You can save your Fast Passes to use after the listed time. They are good for the same day, at any time after the one on the ticket.

Try to find out ahead of time if you are going during a grand opening, or on the last two days for Annual Passholders (like we did)….not that we could have changed our dates….but I’ll know better next time.
If I think of anything else, I’ll post it as I do the pictures.

[Sophia37]

Since Megan and Dave were the only two that day, I'd say you still have a good chance. They took all fives and ones!! Oh...Randi told them that she would KILL for pickle relish....tell her in your e-mail that you know the "Honeymooners" and will bring her a jar of relish. That should get her attention!!
:rotfl: :rotfl:

:cool1: Stace...you are amazing!!!! Relish???? Thats easy!!!!

[justmestace]

PICTURES!!!!



Magic coming in to port, Sunday, June 8, 2008
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0037.jpg

Megan & Dave at Match Your Mate
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0148.jpg

Cabo San Lucas
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0202.jpg

Los Arcos in Cabo
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0532.jpg

Medano Beach
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0526.jpg


Pirate Ship in Cabo
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0553.jpg


Rock climbing at Lover's Beach in Cabo
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0555.jpg

[justmestace]

And more....Mazatlan

Mazatlan
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0275.jpg

Terminal area in Maz
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0315.jpg

Trams to the terminal/Maz
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0314.jpg

Mazatlan Beach Escape (with DCL) resort...pool #3 of 4
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0573.jpg

People of Mazatlan saying goodbye as we sail out of port. They did this the last time we were in Maz also.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0321.jpg



And I forgot this one of the ship and the tenders in Cabo:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0513.jpg

[justmestace]

Pirate Mickey and Minnie!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0418.jpg


Being Goofy at the character breakfast
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0736.jpg


The proposal:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0229.jpg

[Diznyfan68]

I got shivers just looking at these pic's - can't wait to be on her and seeing these places for myself. I have to say, though, that the tenders in Cabo have me feeling :sick: just looking at them.

[justmestace]

Puerto Vallarta:

PV Terminal Area
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0358.jpg

Las Caletas (with DCL)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0600.jpg

Las Caletas
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0616.jpg

Malecon/Shopping area in PV
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0703.jpg

Sand Sculpture at the Malecon
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0711.jpg

[justmestace]

Coming in to port....you can see that it's an industrial port

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0802.jpg



New display at the entrance to Disneyland:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0594.jpg


Main Street crowds:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0920.jpg


Animation Carousel (sorry this isn't a very good picture..it was thru glass)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0928.jpg

Monorail going past the Grand Californian...taken from our balcony:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0661.jpg

Disneyland Electrical Parade...with California Screamin' (Blue Mickey) in the background:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0502.jpg

Our dessert/snack box with the VIP seating at the ELP:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0498.jpg

[justmestace]

I got shivers just looking at these pic's - can't wait to be on her and seeing these places for myself. I have to say, though, that the tenders in Cabo have me feeling :sick: just looking at them.


You know that if I could do it with my leg, anyone can! They aren't so bad, here's Frances in one:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0511.jpg

[Diznyfan68]

I'm holding you to that Stace!

Actually, the pic with Frances gives me more realistic idea of the size of the tenders - next to the Magic they remind me of Matchbox cars!

[justmestace]

I'm holding you to that Stace!

Actually, the pic with Frances gives me more realistic idea of the size of the tenders - next to the Magic they remind me of Matchbox cars!


They DO look small next to the ship, but they really are roomy, and they really don't rock as much as you would think they do. I loved it because I was in the front and got my first "sea spray".

[justmestace]

Monico the sea lion....I'm being really brave by showing pics of me soaking wet, no makeup, in a swimsuit and looking really crappy.....

Monico kisses:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/MeandMonicotheSeaLion049.jpg


Stick out your tongues:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/MeandMonicotheSeaLion052.jpg

Who knew sea lions did this like dolphins do?? And they can also wave goodbye with their fins...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/MeandMonicotheSeaLion029.jpg

[Lil' Grumpy]

:mad: ..well i'll ..be a cpt. jack's monkee!...sooo this is where you been?

..living the "high~life". ::yes::


...& here...i was just thinking.....of you...being the prefect ariel,:earseek:

oh?... where's our picture...with you "perched"..on the rocks? hymmm?

...isn't that fishy? ( he/ha...a' lil ? )


bonus baby?
are you going..to surprise..everyone & wear..your "tails"..on formal night?



:goofy: ..my hiney!!! that's one lucky..fella, pluto: ...now..i am begining to
see..why..cast members...call it "thee character "out to have fun" brakfast.


* here's a travel channel secret.....[ my & crash too~:rolleyes1 ].....

....oh....sorry..this is a family .......board..but let's justm...the "happy
thought".....around...that pluto & goofy aren't the only :dog: hounds,

...liking petted. by :tinker: ..or johnny b. good..ringing a bell.

* someone who used..to be a cpt. 's pirate: ..talked..about how
"bothersome"...it was to have young,sss~creaming girls...always
wanting extra-extra...i guess...we have no ..idea.....who that could've
been? ms...teenager, :faint: . fyi, i don't think...."bothersome"

was much of a defense..for jack's be nimble....unless...i missed the mark,
jack..wasn't jumping ..candle sticks?



..i bet...that lil'sea lion..went home "roaring"...about how much he scored

..getting his picture taken, :earboy2: ..with a real..disney princess, huh?

{ don't tell...my lil'cutie..or princess....but i would 've :simba: }



....hey! interesting..very, pattern...of anywhere..you go.....there's all

kinds..of pixiedust: ..to be had!


...no kidding,,,no vowels or nouns.."that one being..naughty"..don't need

...this is one honey~doll, pooh: ..of a report!

made me feel like....:dance3: :tigger: :dance3: , :wizard:


zeekos,;) ..did you forget....to get me something? :sad1: now..that's

a fishy~extender, by hook!



ps..i am going..to show & bark [ a lil'] ...why haven't my mother-in-law
given...me a cruise? { ain't i worth it? } :angel: , * when sleeping.




oh, beware..of guys..offering..rings, they are expecting...:hug:

[MrsScooby]

Great trip report Stace:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Thanks so much for taking the time to do this:hug:
You've also given me some great ideas for our trip (I've gotta get a water proof pouch for my hearing aides).
Can't wait for our trip in August:woohoo:

[smeecanada]

Great trip report, Stacey. Thanks so much for taking us along.

Where abouts is the Animation Carousel? I remember seeing some youtube videos of it awhile back but forgot all about it til your photo.

[justmestace]

Great trip report, Stacey. Thanks so much for taking us along.

Where abouts is the Animation Carousel? I remember seeing some youtube videos of it awhile back but forgot all about it til your photo.


In the Hollywood Studios (used to be MGM) area of California Adventure, inside Disney Animation. This is an overlooked area that is awesome to go to. It's indoors, air conditioned, and fascinating. Most people only go in there to access Turtle Talk With Crush, and they're missing a lot of interesting things if they do.

[justmestace]

After the yuckky wet pictures, thought I'd post one of us "cleaned up". This is Jared and I on semi-formal night. I still don't have any makeup on, but at least am dry. I don't wear makeup at home, and even though I brought it with me, I never did wear any on the cruise either. Too much of a bother.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/Semiformal.jpg

[justmestace]

Lil Grumpy.....just for you....I have something from the cruise that I will bring you in August.....:flower3:

[tiggrbaby]

Loved the pics! Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us! Looking forward to meeting you in August.

[Diznyfan68]

After the yuckky wet pictures, thought I'd post one of us "cleaned up". This is Jared and I on semi-formal night. I still don't have any makeup on, but at least am dry. I don't wear makeup at home, and even though I brought it with me, I never did wear any on the cruise either. Too much of a bother.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/Semiformal.jpg

What a great pic of you and Jared!

[smeecanada]

In the Hollywood Studios (used to be MGM) area of California Adventure, inside Disney Animation. This is an overlooked area that is awesome to go to. It's indoors, air conditioned, and fascinating. Most people only go in there to access Turtle Talk With Crush, and they're missing a lot of interesting things if they do.

Thanks, on our quick visit a few weeks ago - we didn't make it in there. Will definitely go in August. It's a nice spot to go and cool down. Also, a great place to meet some characters because of the air conditioning. Some how we only did Monsters Inc. down that end. Don't know how we managed to miss having to go on ToT with DS. I would have loved to go to the Aladdin Show but didn't have time. It's awesome.

[justmestace]

We missed Aladdin this time, too. And it IS a great show!

Tower of Terror, we had a totally different experience than we've had before. They must really switch up the programs. This one (I only went once, everyone else went more) was a really, really, good ride. Waaay up....waaaay down....and up-down-up-down....more than usual. FUN!!

[frdeb1999]

Wonderful pix and TR!! :)

[Sophia37]

Hi Stace, I think you look beautiful swimming with the sea lion!!!! Anyone who enjoys life as much as you is top notch in my book. Randi did get back to me this morning, and she is looking forward to the pickle relish. Do you think Rick and I will have a hard time getting off the ship as early as 8am? I loved the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[justmestace]

Hi Stace, I think you look beautiful swimming with the sea lion!!!! Anyone who enjoys life as much as you is top notch in my book. Randi did get back to me this morning, and she is looking forward to the pickle relish. Do you think Rick and I will have a hard time getting off the ship as early as 8am? I loved the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least you don't tender in Mazatlan, so if you're downstairs and ready to go as soon as they open the gangway, you should be fine.
I could swear Megan and Dave met them closer to 9:00 am??

So did Randi ask how you knew about the pickle relish? I think that's funny!

[Sophia37]

At least you don't tender in Mazatlan, so if you're downstairs and ready to go as soon as they open the gangway, you should be fine.
I could swear Megan and Dave met them closer to 9:00 am??

So did Randi ask how you knew about the pickle relish? I think that's funny!

When I e-mailed her the last time, I told her that I knew the Honeymooners and the pickle relish request. I will expain the Dis Board when I meet her.:disrocks: She wants us to meet her at the terminal by 8:30. So, I want plenty of time to get there. We will just hustle. She said that there will be 2 ships in port, and that, that can get crazy.:boat: Have a great day, and stay cool. It was 106:sunny: in east San Diego yesterday , and I think it is going to be the same today. 7 more days till my cruise:cool1: :cool1:

[TiaMaria]

Stace, great pics and TR....now I am really getting excited!!

BTW, you look absolutely lovely...and in that semi-formal pic you are glowing. You don't need any make-up IMO.

Thanks for posting all this for us...:wave2:

[justmestace]

When I e-mailed her the last time, I told her that I knew the Honeymooners and the pickle relish request. I will expain the Dis Board when I meet her.:disrocks: She wants us to meet her at the terminal by 8:30. So, I want plenty of time to get there. We will just hustle. She said that there will be 2 ships in port, and that, that can get crazy.:boat: Have a great day, and stay cool. It was 106:sunny: in east San Diego yesterday , and I think it is going to be the same today. 7 more days till my cruise:cool1: :cool1:

It will only take you 5 minutes from the ship, on the tram, to the terminal. You'll walk straight through the middle of the terminal to an outer area that has a few shops and a bar, and you'll find someone there with a sign for you. Less than 10 minutes from ship to your guide. :thumbsup2
Oh, and Megan & Dave were about 10 miuntes late (they're always late) getting out there, but the guide was still waiting.

[justmestace]

Stace, great pics and TR....now I am really getting excited!!

BTW, you look absolutely lovely...and in that semi-formal pic you are glowing. You don't need any make-up IMO.

Thanks for posting all this for us...:wave2:



Awww...thank you! And you're welcome....it's fun to do, and I'll have a record of it for my scrapbook.

[Sophia37]

It will only take you 5 minutes from the ship, on the tram, to the terminal. You'll walk straight through the middle of the terminal to an outer area that has a few shops and a bar, and you'll find someone there with a sign for you. Less than 10 minutes from ship to your guide. :thumbsup2
Oh, and Megan & Dave were about 10 miuntes late (they're always late) getting out there, but the guide was still waiting.

:thumbsup2 Thank you so much!!!! the unknown can be a little scary. I feel much better:dance3:

[vossjemi]

We're doing Randi's Happy horses too! I can't wait...I was sure she said to meet by 9am, but I'll just check my email and/or check back with her before our trip in 6 weeks! Woohoo! Can't wait!

[4fosterkids]

Love the pic's! they are just great. Thanks for the fun reports too.

[justmestace]

MORE PICTURES!!

Megan & Dave boarding the ship on Deck 4
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0065.jpg

The Mickey slide!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0067.jpg

Dumbotron
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0069.jpg

Mickey Stack
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0071.jpg



By this time, I was finally believing that I was truly on the Magic! :cool1:

[justmestace]

Adult Pool
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0072.jpg


Our room
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0074-2.jpg


Sailaway Party
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0091.jpg


Streamers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0093.jpg


Me at sailaway. I loved these streamer things they handed out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0098.jpg

[justmestace]

The astrounaut trainer wearing a bra!! It's black, so you can't really see it, but he was pretending to be a supermodel. :rotfl:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0141-1.jpg

Our balcony as seen from the open public deck aft on 7
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0182.jpg

Romantic Escape evening turn down
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0187.jpg

Sorceror Mickey @ Animator's
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0272.jpg

Mazatlan Navy boat when we docked
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0297.jpg

These guys are always at the dock in Mazatlan. Not sure if they are there to keep us from sneaking IN to Mazatlan, or Mexicans from sneaking OUT.:confused3
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0298.jpg

Our door signs & Fish Extender
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0363.jpg

[justmestace]

Cruise director Brent at the Remember the Magic show. On the Canal cruise, Brent will be gone, and Christiaan will be the cruise director.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0472.jpg

Meg, Dave, Jared & I at formal night
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/FormalNight.jpg


At Las Caletas in PV....Jared with an owl
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0643.jpg

Megan with a parrot (I think it's a parrot)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0648.jpg

Dave with a squirrel monkey (corrected...I thought they said it was a spider monkey)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0649.jpg

[justmestace]

Desserts at Palo Brunch
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0720.jpg

Us at Final Jackpot Bingo. The pot was over $12,000 and I was standing, needing only one number....but someone beat me to it. :sad:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0747.jpg


Some of our towel animals:


A dinosaur
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0763.jpg

An angel
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0764.jpg

A mouse...maybe Ratatouille?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0769.jpg


And "Señor Frog"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0766.jpg

[justmestace]

And as we were coming back into port in LA....Captain Thord, looking over the edge at the dock (who's steering???)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0811.jpg



With a sign to guide him.....:lmao:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0808.jpg

[justmestace]

Okay....I'm ready to go back now.......:bitelip:

[dahuffy]

Dave with a spider monkey
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0649.jpg

Hey Cheryl, love the pics. I have to tell you that you were given the wrong information about this monkey...it isn't a "Spider Monkey" it's actually a "Squirrel Monkey" I had one as a pet when I was 7 yrs. old. Here's what a "Spider Monkey" looks like:http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/mammals-animals/monkeys-and-lemurs/monkey_spider.html?fs=animals-panther.nationalgeographic.com

[justmestace]

Hey Cheryl, love the pics. I have to tell you that you were given the wrong information about this monkey...it isn't a "Spider Monkey" it's actually a "Squirrel Monkey" I had one as a pet when I was 7 yrs. old. Here's what a "Spider Monkey" looks like:http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/mammals-animals/monkeys-and-lemurs/monkey_spider.html?fs=animals-panther.nationalgeographic.com



Ahh...thanks. I know that we held ones similiar to this in Barbados, but they called those "Bajan Green Monkeys" and in St Kitts we held another that looked almost the same. But all 3 are different.

Do they make nice pets? This one seemed particularly attached to his handler.

[LITTLEKID58]

Thanks for sharing.. awesome.. TR.........

[jfletcher]

Our balcony as seen from the open public deck aft on 7
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0182.jpg

Is that a standard size verandah? We have a Cat 5 room w/ verandah on deck 7 coming up. It's bigger than I expected.

[justmestace]

It's a handicap room in the far aft, right next to the public open deck on 7.
The room number was 7638. The balcony and the room and bathroom are all bigger than normal.

The one complaint that I have about the two different handicap rooms I've been in, the verandah doors are IMPOSSIBLE to get open. If I were still in a wheelchair, there's no way I could have opened the door myself.

[momtoAandZ]

I was pretty well covered with stings on my arms and a few on the back of my legs, by the time we were done. I’m not allergic to bee stings, so I didn’t have any bad reaction to them. I was told they had vinegar to put on them if I needed it, but we carry a bottle of jellyfish sting relief in our snorkel bag, so I used that, and it did take away the majority of the irritation right away. .

Where can I buy a bottle of "jellyfish sting relief"? I've never been stung by a bee, but I always get huge welts from mosquito bites. I imagine I will have problems with jellyfish stings as well. Do they sell this stuff on the ship or can I buy it here at home before we go (maybe at a sporting goods store?). Thanks for any help. We'll be sailing on the Magic on June 29th :)

[justmestace]

Where can I buy a bottle of "jellyfish sting relief"? I've never been stung by a bee, but I always get huge welts from mosquito bites. I imagine I will have problems with jellyfish stings as well. Do they sell this stuff on the ship or can I buy it here at home before we go (maybe at a sporting goods store?). Thanks for any help. We'll be sailing on the Magic on June 29th :)

Buy it before you go, I didn't see any on the ship. I got ours online, but I'm sure you can buy it at a local dive shop if you have one.

I'll look for a link to an online store and post it for you.

[justmestace]

Here's one.....

http://www.stingmate.com/?gclid=CKeA2OeNi5QCFSUqagodYjVPWQ


And I've also gotten supplies from leisurepro.com

[momtoAandZ]

Thanks for that link.

We're leaving on Thursday, so I won't have time to order it online. We do have a scuba diving shop here though so I will be checking there.

I had no idea this stuff existed. So glad I read your thread! I was worrying about stings.

[vossjemi]

We're doing Randi's Happy horses too! I can't wait...I was sure she said to meet by 9am, but I'll just check my email and/or check back with her before our trip in 6 weeks! Woohoo! Can't wait!

Ok, the other poster is right! My email does say to meet up w/Randi at 8:30 am too!

[justmestace]

Ok, the other poster is right! My email does say to meet up w/Randi at 8:30 am too!


Good thing you checked! :thumbsup2

Not a problem in getting off the ship in time. We were docked early, and you can walk off at any time. It's only a problem when we tender and you have to get a number.

[castlegazer]

Yep....the Horny Toad is still going strong!
Your dad should have kept the land in Cave Creek. We bought our property 20 years ago for $220,000 and now it would sell for over 1.2 million. Well, not right at the minute, with the way real estate is right now...but normally. ;)

Yep, that's the story of my father's life - and he was a successful real estate investor (i.e. Cocoa Beach condos in the 70s) , but sooo many times good ones got away for lack of patience. We had to take a four wheel drive jeep out to the land - total speculation! We also owned property at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale which was a bit more successful for both vacations out there and as an investment.

Ah... what would have been. :worried: Oh well, I am so glad you bought and stayed! That is just one of the most beuatiful places to live in my opinion!

Back to the Trippie - which is brilliant, by the way!

You take some seriously beautiful photos!

[scottishwee35]

Good thing you checked! :thumbsup2

Not a problem in getting off the ship in time. We were docked early, and you can walk off at any time. It's only a problem when we tender and you have to get a number.

I enjoyed to read your trip report and like your photos which made me SMILE and I think I have been visiting in the disabled room, i think it is same room as it was lovely and huge place as but we were in Cat 6 which we were on westbound panama canal cruise.

However, I wish to go back on that cruise again for Eastbound::yes::

Have a great time in August.

Scottishwee35

[allshookup]

Desserts at Palo Brunch
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0720.jpg

Us at Final Jackpot Bingo. The pot was over $12,000 and I was standing, needing only one number....but someone beat me to it. :sad:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0747.jpg



Desserts look yummy ::yes:: & I can't believe you were THAT close to winning 12K! :eek:

Love the rpt & pics. I'm even more excited! :yay: Thanks for sharing! :cool1:

[justmestace]

Desserts look yummy ::yes:: & I can't believe you were THAT close to winning 12K! :eek:

Love the rpt & pics. I'm even more excited! :yay: Thanks for sharing! :cool1:


My heart was pounding so hard...... But, Jared had won the first jackpot, so at least we got something. No point in being greedy.

[wonder]

Cruise director Brent at the Remember the Magic show. On the Canal cruise, Brent will be gone, and Christiaan will be the cruise director.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/DSC_0472.jpg

Meg, Dave, Jared & I at formal night
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/FormalNight.jpg


At Las Caletas in PV....Jared with an owl
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0643.jpg

Megan with a parrot (I think it's a parrot)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0648.jpg

Dave with a squirrel monkey (corrected...I thought they said it was a spider monkey)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/IMGP0649.jpg

How did you like the excursion to Las Caletas....Looks like fun!

[justmestace]

How did you like the excursion to Las Caletas....Looks like fun!


This was the second time we'd been there, and we all really, really liked it.
Not one thing to complain about. They have plenty of beach space, plenty of shade, lots of different things to do....and the food was really good, with a lot of choices.
I generally like to snorkel everywhere I go, but the snorkeling isn't all that great in the Mexican Riviera, so for my money, Las Caletas is a great place to be to still get in the water, but also have a lot of other things to do.

They even make the trip over and back on the boat a lot of fun. It isn't just a boring ride...it's part of the excursion!

[wonder]

Thanks so much...We have this excursion booked and it looks really fun!! Were there any other excursions that you really liked or heard comments on?

[justmestace]

Thanks so much...We have this excursion booked and it looks really fun!! Were there any other excursions that you really liked or heard comments on?


In Mazatlan, my daughter and son in law rode with Randi's Happy Horses and loved it.
The rest of us did the Mazatlan Beach Escape, and as far as anything else much to do in Maz, I think this was a really good choice. The last time we were in Mazatlan, we walked out of the terminal and hired a taxi van to take us on a tour, and we really enjoyed that, too. Also much cheaper than an excursion. We saw the cliff divers, and other points of interest. Then he took us into Old Town to see their market and tour a beautiful old church. He stayed with us the whole time, and we felt very safe. The drivers of the tour vans in port are licensed and have an actual company, not someone off the street who bought a van.

I think I've heard the best reviews of the dolphin excursions in Cabo.

[poohmomof5]

After the yuckky wet pictures, thought I'd post one of us "cleaned up". This is Jared and I on semi-formal night. I still don't have any makeup on, but at least am dry. I don't wear makeup at home, and even though I brought it with me, I never did wear any on the cruise either. Too much of a bother.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/justmestace/Semiformal.jpg

What a GREAt picture of you guys! :)

[poohmomof5]

Thanks!

One of our door signs (that of course DS thought was kind of "lame") said:

You Have Found The Office of Stacey & Son
We aren't in right now, because we are out
HAVING A BLAST!!

I've traveled with each of the 2 daughters, but this was a first for Jared and I. We got along great, no problems at all. And it was a BLAST.

Awesome...I am hoping this post stays where it is supposed to. You seem to be the only one on our other board that is posting where it is supposed to. You are indeed special!!!

[justmestace]

What a GREAt picture of you guys! :)


Thanks!

One of our door signs (that of course DS thought was kind of "lame") said:

You Have Found The Office of Stacey & Son
We aren't in right now, because we are out
HAVING A BLAST!!

I've traveled with each of the 2 daughters, but this was a first for Jared and I. We got along great, no problems at all. And it was a BLAST.