March 30th Magic - Onboard the Ship (pics and music)

[DixieDreamer]

<bgsound src="http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/CalypsoMidis/sweat1.mid"loop="2">
Let me introduce ourselves. There is my DH Greg (age 44), my DD Lindsay (aka as Bullseye_Girl age 10), and myself (I really am 39!). This is our third year of doing a Disney vacation. This spring, my family and I spent two days at WDW prior to our 7 day cruise on the Disney Magic. We stayed at the Swan for our two days prior to the cruise. I have posted trip reports on our WDW days on the Trip Reports Board previously. At the end of this report are links that will take you to those posts if you would like to read them too.

On Saturday March 30th we began our "magical" journey by boarding the Disney Cruiseline bus at the Swan around 11:30 am. The bus ride was very comfortable and they really made sure we had good directions and assistance. It was very well staffed and went smoothly. We arrived at the beautiful Disney Cruiseline terminal around 12:30 pm and went through the registration process fairly quickly. It was about 2:00 pm before we were really onboard the ship. At that point we did the scramble that one reads about so much on this cruise board. After checking out our room, we made our Palo reservations for Thursday evening, made spa reservations, then took a break and headed to topsiders for the buffet lunch (we were starving at that point!). After eating, we went to deck 10 to watch us depart from the terminal. There was a great party going on up there!

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Bonvoyageparty1.JPG</center>

<CENTER>WHO LET THE DOGS OUT??! </CENTER>

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Bonvoyageparty2.JPG</center>

I took a quick picture of the Disney Terminal building from our vantage point.

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_PortCanaveral.JPG</center>

We spent the next two days at sea. It was nice to have time to just relax and to figure out the ship's routine and services. It really does take some time to slow down and get in the cruise groove. Having a few days at sea right away really helps with that. On Monday morning, we had a character breakfast at Parrot Cay restaurant. I think this is a wonderfully themed restaurant. Taking a clue from Dan Murphy (who says you should always look UP at Disney!) - I noticed the great chandeliers in the restaurant -

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Charbreakfast10.JPG</center>

Kind of reminds me of the TIKI birds! :D

We had two wonderful families in our seating assignment. Like us, they were two sets of parents with ten year old daughters! The girls hit it off almost immediately, and we found the adults wonderful company too! We had been nervous about sharing seating at the dinner table with others... but our fears were unfounded. It was a wonderful experience and made dining a real pleasure. Our server Lorant and assistant server Rodger took great care of us.

Here is our DD (dark shirt) with her new friends Taylor and Alyssa and an old friend - Mickey!

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Charbreakfast9.JPG</center>

Prior to our breakfast, I made a quick trip to the coffee service area on deck 9 to get my early morning caffeine fix - and found the Mickey pool empty (almost never happens!) so I grabbed a picture of it while I could.

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Mickeypool.JPG</center>

And here is a closer view of the Mickey Slide. The attention to detail is what makes everything at Disney so cool!

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Mickeypoolslide.JPG</center>

Most people (I know I was) are interested in what the rooms are like and what to expect. We had a category 6 room - stateroom 6646 which is located towards the aft of the ship. The following are some pics of the room and the verandah.

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Stateroom2.JPG</center>

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Stateroom1.JPG</center>

This is a view from our verandah (taken much later in the cruise - as this is looking out at Castaway Cay!).

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Verandah1.JPG</center>

A great tip we got from the Cruise boards was to use the over the door shoe organizer to hold all the odds and ends your family needs to have readily available... like the pager for the kids clubs, sunscreen, pin lanyards, spare photo cartridges, two way radios etc... This is to show you that they were in full use in our stateroom! It really made a huge difference in keeping the room organized.

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Stateroom4.JPG</center>

That about wraps up the "onboard" things I wanted to share with you. In the next segments - I will be recapping the highlights of our days at St. Martin, St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay. Before I close this report though... I thought I would share some of the wonderful towel animals that our stateroom attendant made for us each day.

We had a swan.

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Towelcritter1.JPG</center>

A crab.

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Towelcritter4.JPG</center>

An elephant.

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Towelcritter6.JPG</center>

And a lobster (among others!)

<center>http://www.lyonfamilywdw.com/DCL_CRUISE/DCL_Towelcritter7.JPG</center>

We had great service the entire time we were on board.

When I post the next segments... I will come back and edit this report to include a link to those as well. For now... here is the links to my previous trip reports on our WDW portion of the vacation.

A Day at Epcot (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=186115)

A Day at Animal Kingdom (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=186205)

I hope you enjoyed this portion of my report. :)

(Edited to add a link to the next cruise reports)

A day at St. Martin (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=188557)

A Day at St. Thomas (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=188663)

Final Day - Castaway Cay (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=188996)

[oldkicker]

What a marvelous report, DblD!!!!

Those towel sculptures are really something!

Thank you!

Looking forward to more!!!!! :)

[Baboo]

Great pics and report DblD! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to more!

[TimNDansMom]

Very nice pictures and report, DblD! I'd love to do this cruise. The towel animals are amazing and I think I'm going to get an over-the-door organizer for our next hotel stay~what a great idea!

I'm looking forward to the rest of your cruise. Thanks! :)

[Casey's mom]

Love the report! Love the music! We got off the Magic a few hours before you got on. Glad you had a great time. I look forward to reading the rest of your report! :earsgirl:

[Patrick IL.]

Oh my what a wonderful report!!! I can not wait to get home and show DW, I have been trying to "nudge" her into taking a cruise! Thank you so much this is great!! :)

[gina2000]

Absolutely fabulous report, DD!

Can't wait to see the rest!

Do we ever get a pic of YOU?

Just thought I should ask!

:D

[helenabear]

Great pictures DD!!! I am really enjoying all the ones you have posted so far! I love that lobster made out of the towel! They are so talented like that :D Looking forward to the rest of them!!!

[yepod]

Thanks DD, another great report:D

In the second picture tho, I was confused. Where are the dogs:confused: I didn't see any dogs:jester: Were there really dogs on the ship;)
Oh, I get it now, they were let out, so that's why I didn't see any:Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc

Great pics DD, keep 'em comin':p :Pinkbounc :p :Pinkbounc

[KAR3600]

Great trip report, and wonderful pictures Thank you for sharing!! We are cruising July 14, and can't wait to go!!:p

[sammi]

DD I loved your report and photos (as always LOL!:D )The ship looks stunning and what a nice touch with the towels.....can't wait to hear about the rest of your vacation...thanks!:sunny: :wave:

[CarolG]

Great pictures DblD! Can't wait for the next chapter. This really makes me want to go on another cruise!:Pinkbounc

[sandee]

Great photos! I had to laugh when I saw "who let the dogs out". My DD and I both said we must have heard that song 100 times on our cruise in Sept. We now call it the "unoffical DCL theme song". LOL. Looking forward to your next installment.

[sllhbrown]

Great report. We leave tomorrow for a 7 day on the Magic. It is our first time!!!! It was great to see someone else from Washington State on the boards! Will post our trip report when we return. Enjoy your memories!

[Dan Murphy]

Thanks so much, Laura. Very nice, as always. Love the picture of Lindsay with her new friends. What great smiles!!! :) Worth the price just for those. And the towel characters are too funny. They are talented folks and they are the ones that make the difference. Looking forward to more, Dbl D.

[BriarfoxinWA]

Great pics - can't wait to see the rest. I REALLY wish I had stowed-away in your luggage like I was threatening too!


***Anybody wants to see pics of Laura? I'm open to bribes...the only problem is that most of them are on horse back and at a distance....:D

[DixieDreamer]

OMG!!!! NOOOOO!!!!! :o :eek: :earseek: :earseek:

[BriarfoxinWA]

On second thought ....Maybe I'd better keep those to myself...I think Dbl D has a few "incriminating" ones of me too!;)

[DixieDreamer]

Wise choice. ;)

[snowball22]

Thanks for the great trip report!!!!!! The music is fun and my toes have been a tappin the whole report. Glad you had fun!!!:D

[Saffron]

Great report DD!! I really want to go on the cruise!!

[juju]

great photos, I notice where you left for Florida shortly after we had snow in Seattle on the first day of Spring. We are scheduled to go down at the end of this month. I can't wait for the sun and the opportunity to wear shorts and sandals!!

[DixieDreamer]

juju! How right you are! We drove Snoqualmie pass Wednesday evening 3/27 and had quite a snow storm in the mountains to get through on our way to the airport at SeaTac. I was DEFINITELY ready for warmer weather! LOL! Luckily the weather was much improved on the way home - just a down pour of rain. :rolleyes:

[luv2kids]

Thanks for the great music and photos! We sail June 1st on the Magic, and it makes all of us want to be there NOW!!!!

[Crazy4Cruising]

Thanks for the great trip report! I Love the pictures and the music! If you don't mind can you tell me where you found that music or where i can download it? I love that kind of music it reminds of cruising!

[cinderellakh20]

Yah for the DCL!!!! Looks like you all had fun :smooth: I would love to try the Magic because we know the Wonder was fun!!! They also made us a swan towel for our honeymoon!!!! :earseek:

[DixieDreamer]

Crazy4Cruising - I just did a google search on "calypso midis" and found several sites that had midi music to listen to and download. I ended up with quite a few different selections. Cannot remember the specific sites... as I did not save them to my favorites... but half the fun is just checking out all the "finds" in a google search! :) Happy midi hunting!

[4crusinransiers]

We have had a ton of snow on this pass...did you stop at the Family Pancake House at the top? We have run the place...10 years now. Next time over stop to say Hi!

[DixieDreamer]

It was very snowy as we drove over - so no stopping for us... just hurry up and get it done! I will make a point of stopping now! :)

[IrishCowboy]

Great pictures...thanks for sharing!