First-time Dis cruisers 1/31/09 Eastern w/phots, navs, menus-FINAL THOUGHTS 3/21 [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

OurOhana

01-10-2009, 10:02 PM

Aloha everyone

I feel like I know you all already. I've spent so much time on this forum for about a month now, trying to learn all I can for our upcoming cruise. I can't imagine going on the cruise without learning from all of you at least a little of what to expect.

A little about us:
Me, 36, native Floridian. I've been to WDW too many times to count, and I still love it!
DH, turns the big 5-0 on Jan. 31, the first day of our cruise, a native Hawaiian.
DD, 3 (though we're pretty sure she's going on 23) If she could introduce herself, she would tell you she's a "big pink Cinderella."

Now the start of our pre-trip report:
A little more than two years ago, I decided to quietly start saving money to take my husband somewhere special on his 50th birthday. But just a few months later, we needed to dip into my secret stash.

Fast forward to earlier this year and my procrastination pays off. I have a flexible spending account through my office. The money I spend on health and child care expenses comes out of my paycheck before taxes. I'm supposed to submit a receipt to get money out of the account to reimburse our health and child care expenses. A few months into this year, I had not submitted any receipts. I quickly realized my husband hadn't asked about it. He didn't even realize the money wasn't there. So I decided to open a separate bank account and divert the money into it. Save a major emergency, I had no intentions of telling him about it, so we wouldn't be tempted to use it on something else. It worked. By the end of the year, I had enough money for a trip.

Now, do we go on a Holland America Line Cruise or Disney? We took a HAL cruise for our honeymoon, plus one other trip, both back in 2003. We loved the ships and the cruise line. But we also love Disney and we always wanted to try it. I checked out Disney and realized we could afford it with what I had in savings.

By the way, DH still had no idea I had money in savings for a trip.

But it was now December, his birthday was coming up soon and I needed to make a decision. I feared that if I didn't tell him about the trip before I booked it, he might have a tough time scheduling his work around it. Plus, it was his birthday, I wanted to make sure he wanted a Disney Cruise, not HAL.

So just a week before that promo ended that allows you to take a 3-day cruise later in the year if you booked by mid-December, I told him that I had been stashing away money. He was thrilled! And he didn't hesitate - WE WERE GOING ON DISNEY!!

We can't wait to go on the cruise. DD has no idea we're going. She loves all things Disney, so she'll be thrilled. I'm starting a trip report in hopes that our experiences will help some other people out the way all of your reports helped me as I've planned our trip. Plus, it seems like a great way for me to keep myself busy while I wait for the big trip. I've never written on a forum before, so I hope you'll bear with me as I learn the ropes :)

Aloha

OurOhana

01-11-2009, 10:16 AM

BOOKING OUR CRUISE:
So while my husband was away on his business travels in mid-December, I called Disney to book our cruise. Now while I've spent a lot of time on this board since December reading tips, I hadn't read anything about the benefits of going through a TA. I'm not sure I got the best deal possible, but I felt pretty good at the end.

I was using my Disney Visa Rewards card so we could get points for a later vacation. I was getting ready to book a category 6 stateroom and I asked about the deal where we could travel later in the year. (I can't remember the exact deal, but it's something like $99 a person.) She said that we would get that deal. I then asked about OBC. I was expecting $200, I think because I was using the credit card.

The DCL woman had the most monotone voice ever. She said to me she could give me to the OBC or she could give me the Florida rate. I said, well, what's the Florida rate, I'll figure out the best deal for us. It was exactly $2,000 less than the quote we were getting online through Disney's site. Wow!! :dance3: When I told her I would take the Disney rate, she said, "Now, you know you won't get the OBC." I giggled, thinking I think I got the better deal. I just loved how nonchalant she was about everything. Because of the great deal, I ended up spending about $300 more to move up to a category 4. Now, after reading more of these posts, I don't think it was necessary to move up. But I already did it and didn't think it was necessary to change it again.

I asked for main dining, but they put me on the waiting list. The later dining worried me and I felt certain we wouldn't get it switched to main because we booked so late.

But I checked our reservations the other day, and we had been switched to main dining. YIPPEE. :yay: (I wasn't sure how our daughter would do staying up so late. She's used to going to bed at 8 p.m. the latest. But if she's busy, she's usually fine staying up on those rare occasions. This later seating time allows us to get her to bed early if we need to.)

I should also say for those out there who are curious. After we booked our cruise, we went to get our passports. (We didn't need them for this trip, but it seemed as if it would be easier to keep track of those than birth certificates. Plus, we would need them, I believe, for the second cruise we can't take until August or later.) It took less than two weeks (and this was during the Christmas holiday) to get the passports in the mail. Of course, I was at first thinking, no big deal if they don't come in time. We have our birth certificates. But then I realized our original birth certificates were sent off with our passport applications. So just to be safe, I ordered new ones for all three of us. DD and mine are from Florida and we got them within a week. DH came from Hawaii in about three days. Go figure!! So yes, now I have passports and two certified copies of our birth certificates. I guess I'm set for almost anything now. :)

Aloha

Palmfam

01-11-2009, 04:14 PM

Welcome!

I can't wait to hear more and see pictures.

Off to a good start!!:thumbsup2

OurOhana

01-11-2009, 05:57 PM

Thank you PalmFam. I'm thrilled to be here, and I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.

OurOhana

01-11-2009, 06:17 PM

So I had already told my husband about his big birthday surprise. (Thinking back, by the way, I think I should have just booked it and told him after. I think he could have been flexible with work and we both love a good surprise. But it's too late to think about that now.)

But I could surprise him with some excursions. When we did HAL ages ago, we couldn't book all of our excursions online - at least I don't remember doing it. So I knew he wouldn't know that I had a code to get online for the Disney cruise and book away. I could at least surprise him for Christmas and then he would have time to see if he wanted to add anything.

Palo was already booked, so I'll just have to try to get in when we get on the boat. I won't lose sleep if we can't get dinner or brunch, but I'll try to get a reservation.

So for DH's big 5-0, I decided he should try something completely new and different. So for Castaway Cay, he'll be parasailing. :cool1: Well, technically, we're both down to parasail, but I think I'm about to chicken out. I'm just not sure how I'll do. I know I have time to think about it. He learned about the parasailing for one of his Christmas presents. He was jumping for joy. :yay:

After Christmas, we searched for other excursions together. For St. Croix, we booked the miniboat excursion. I do have a little hestitation for this one. As I said, we'll have DD with us. She's 3 and she attends child care full-time now, since we both work. I think she'll not only be fine at the club, I think she'll just love it. (She's our social butterfly.) But the exursion starts at 8:15 a.m. I'm hoping the club opens that early. The told me at DCL that it does, so hopefully other children will be in there that early. My other concern is leaving the boat with her on it. It would be the only day we do this and the excursion is over before noon, but still, it makes me a little anxious. But my DH is a huge water fan and this is right up his alley. I've never snorkeled before in any remarkable place, so I know I'll have a blast too. So yes, I'm a little hestitant about leaving the little one, but I'm sure she'll be fine.

For St. John/St. Thomas, we'll all be doing the Skyride to Paradise Point. It sounds fun and it sounds like we'll have plenty of time to look around the island, and we can head back to the boat at most any time.

So I've loaded an application to my iphone that will count down the days to any event I put in it. 20 days until Disney Cruise. I just can't wait. I'm getting more excited by the day.

fairfax

01-12-2009, 11:03 AM

Hi! I'm enjoying your TR so far. I'm interested to hear your experiences, we are going on the St. Croix eastern on 2/28, I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old. We did the Eastern last year to St. Maarten and St. Thomas and both kids loved the sky ride to Paradise Point.

KingCruisers

01-12-2009, 01:28 PM

We will be cruising right along with you on the 31st! This will be our second Disney cruise (Western Carribean 2 years ago). We haven't booked any excursions yet...still trying to figure out what to do. My kids are 12 and 10...they both LOVED the kids' clubs.:love: We actually had to pull them out most nights!

Can't wait!!!:yay:

mumom95

01-12-2009, 03:24 PM

Great trip report. We are doing this cruise at the end of March, so I look forward to hear your report when you get back. So far, I haven't read many good things about St. Croix from the people that just got back. Hopefully they will have figured some things out by the time you get there and you'll have wonderful things to say about the island. This is our first Disney cruise.

OurOhana

01-12-2009, 08:26 PM

19 days to go. I'm sure this countdown will get very tiresome for my coworkers, but I just can't wait. The documents just arrived in the mail. (It was a little anti-climatic. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Maybe like those commercials with fireworks coming out of the envelope. But the luggage tags were exciting too. :rotfl: (I'm really enjoying these icons. And yes, I've gotten this far in life without really using them before, just the old standbys :) I'm liking the animated ones much better.

And thank you everyone for reading and commenting. (I had this little fear that I would write and write and write and no one would visit. It would feel a bit like telling my daughter to get ready for bed, get ready for bed, get ready for bed and she wouldn't listen to me :rotfl2: Everyone has just been so great about making me feel welcome, and I appreciate it!

First, Palmfam, I promise I didn't ignore the request for photos. I just haven't figured out how to insert them yet. (Yeah, I know it's something I should know by now, but I'm willing to admit I'm not the fastest learner. I'll get there eventually.) :) After this post, I promise to research posting photos and introduce you to goofy, Cinderella and me visually. I've loved getting to see pics of the people who write on these boards. It helps make me feel like I know you all already.

As for St. Croix, mumom95, I've also read about some of the problems at this island. I hope one of the posters is accurate and things get better with time. We're hoping that by doing an excursion through DCL, we won't have many problems. But I promise to let those who haven't gone yet all about our experiences.

Fairfax, I'm thrilled to hear your little ones enjoyed the skyride. It sounds like once you're at the top, there are shops to visit? Any suggestions for what we should do/see while we're there?

KingCruisers - Are you excited or what? I can't believe it's just 19 more day (I just can't say that enough :cool1: I'm glad to hear your children enjoyed their last cruise. I hope our DD is the same away about the clubs. But I also hope she won't mind hanging out with her mom and dad on occasion to go to the pool or see a show or two. As for the excursions, you're lucky your kids are older and able to do more of the excursions. There weren't many where we could include our DD and not think she would be bored. But I think what we have booked will be great. I just can't wait!!!!! I hope all of your packing and planning goes well and maybe we'll meet you on the Magic.

OK, I'm off to learn about posting photos....

OurOhana

01-12-2009, 09:26 PM

OK, I think I did this right. Here are some photos of our Ohana...

Here's our DD
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/1.jpg

Here's me with our DD
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/2.jpg

Here's DH with our DD
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/3.jpg

mumom95

01-13-2009, 09:43 AM

OurOhana

01-15-2009, 09:41 PM

Well, not really goofier. But my DH is getting more excited as the sail date gets closer. We're both new to posting to forums, but he's the one who helped me add the tracker to my signature.
As I've mentioned, he's out of town a lot lately on business, and DD and I really miss him. But it's nice sharing the disboards with him, even if it's long distance.
So while our tracker says we have more than two weeks until our cruise, I'm thrilled to say DH will be home in less than one week.
:woohoo:
Maybe when I get to the trip report, DH will do his own posts on occasion so you all can get the view of both a wife and her husband. I will see if I can talk him into it.

accola

01-16-2009, 08:05 AM

OurOhana & KingCruisers-

There's a Cruise Meets thread for our 1/31 sailing over here if you're interested:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1702203

Being able to do the countdown never gets old :rotfl2: - by the way isn't it now just 15 days :goodvibes

fairfax

01-16-2009, 12:50 PM

Your DD is adorable!

As for the sky ride, at the top there is a nature trail you can walk and also some shops. There was a tropical bird show that my kids enjoyed, it is free but if you want to take a picture with the birds it costs $. I'll see if I can dig up a picture of it for you. There is a bar where we got (very expensive) smoothies for the kids, and the views are just spectacular!

Oh, and congratulations on being switched to main dining! That made all the difference for us when we last did the Eastern. Our kids just do not want to go sit in the dining room at 8:15 at night, even if they have had a nap.

fairfax

01-16-2009, 01:02 PM

Found them!

View from the top:
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc30/fairfax_verde/paradisepoint3.jpg

DD enjoys her expensive smoothie:
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc30/fairfax_verde/paradisepoint2.jpg

DS, who was almost 2 at the time:
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc30/fairfax_verde/paradisepoint1.jpg

OurOhana

01-16-2009, 09:30 PM

Accola, I just posted on the meet thread for our trip. Thank you for letting me know about it. I swear, I'm getting more giddy by the day. I can't believe it's just two weeks from tomorrow. We live in Florida, but we're also going through quite a cold snap. But it doesn't bother me at the moment, because it won't be long before I'm on CC and the other islands!!

OK Fairfax, I was already excited. But I have to say that picture is really beautiful. I can't wait to see that view for myself. And your kids are adorable too! I'm glad to hear they enjoyed it. Since your youngest is my daughter's age, I hope that's a sign my DD will enjoy it too.

TammyNC

01-17-2009, 09:13 AM

Loved reading your pre-trip report, will be back to follow along. Our first cruise is still over 400 days away but I'm surviving by reading so much on the boards.

Your daughter is beautiful!!

OurOhana

01-17-2009, 09:20 AM

When we adopted our little girl three years ago, my DH made a purchase that would have a lasting impression - It was a stuffed Minnie Mouse. A huge one, if I remember correctly, though I'm sure one of the smaller ones could have come first.

So with that Minnie, and dozens more to follow in the form of other stuffed animals, collectibles, clothes, etc., we had created a third Disney fan in our family.

We spent much of her first three years watching all things Disney on the TV. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has been a favorite for a long time. Princess just started to become the rage last year. Now she believes she's a beautiful big pink Cinderella. (We think this is because she prefers a pink dress to the traditional Cinderella blue.)

We haven't told DD where we are going and don't plan to before we get there. Now, this won't be quite the same as if she were a year or two older. We caught on that she doesn't really understand what a "trip" is when we went to stay in our family cabin in October, but had to leave it when we discovered a water leak. DD kept asking if our "trip" was broken. So we decided we'd just wait until we showed up at the ship and let it all sink in for her. Of course, I'm sure she'll want room service and Mickey ice cream bars for the weeks, if not months, after we get off the ship, but we'll deal with that when the day comes.

Here are a few oldies, but goodies, from our photo albums:

Our little Minnie (she was 1 at the time)
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/IMG_3510cropped.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/IMG_3520.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/IMG_3558.jpg

Our little Donald (2 at the time, and Donald was her fav)
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/IMG_6041.jpg

OurOhana

01-17-2009, 09:23 AM

BeccaGrace

01-18-2009, 08:52 PM

Thanks for posting on my trip report...I love yours too!
Your dd is too cute...and our dh's have the same birthday!
Can't wait to hear all about your trip:)

All Things Simba

01-19-2009, 01:41 PM

Hi there!

Me and another Disboard person created a special magnet just for our 1/31/09 cruise! And... Happy B-Day to your DH!

Go here: and look at Post #1 .. Enjoy!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2009013
:cloud9:

jbuckent

01-19-2009, 02:48 PM

I'm enjoying your pre-trip report. Can't wait to hear more when you return! We will be on the cruise heading to St Croix the first week in March.

OurOhana

01-19-2009, 07:49 PM

All things Simba - Thank you for the link to the magnet. In all of the other planning I've done, I've thought about doing magnets, but I haven't started them yet. I think you've convinced me to at least do a few. I've already saved a few ideas from the threads. This will be the one I start with when I stop by the office depot for paper.

Jbuckent - Thanks for reading. I'll be sure to post as soon as I can when we return.

OurOhana

01-31-2009, 07:42 AM

The gps says we'll arrive at 9:47 am. Of course with a 3-yr-old who knows. We think we remembered everything. If not we think we can live without it. We are beyond excited - especially since we had some little dramas in the last couple of weeks. I'll fill you in on more when we return only because I'm not that great typing long posts on my iPhone. I hope everyone has a great week and we'll try to take lots of pics.

Melcatfish

01-31-2009, 03:38 PM

Looking forward to your trip report - I hope your cruise gets off to a wonderful start :)

Mel
x

mumom95

02-06-2009, 12:07 PM

I was just thinking about you today, your cruise will end tomorrow :sad1:

But I am looking forward to hearing all about it. Hope you had a safe trip home.

OurOhana

02-07-2009, 08:37 AM

And it was fantastic. My husband wanted it to last longer. Our daughter truly believes she's a princess now and wants to know when she can go on another trip and back to the club. We met new friends and we are planning our second Disney cruise later this year. More to come later... Still on iPhone so I need to get to my laptop when we get home.

OurOhana

02-07-2009, 06:53 PM

Well, I'm on laundry load No. 5, :laundy: but we are completely unpacked. Still have to put the luggage away. And my daughter took her longest nap in a week - 2 1/2 hours. We already miss the Magic. It was really a great vacation.

I promise you plenty of photos. Also, I kept every navigator and got copies of the menus. (I think many are the same I've seen before, but there may have been some changes.) I tried to keep copies of most everything we got, so if you have questions about something on the boat (anything from drycleaning or spa costs to workout schedules - not that we did ANY workouts) I might have copies of the forms. I'm happy to look to see if I have the answer - at least for our cruise. Please don't hesitate to ask questions.

First, let me backtrack a bit to before the trip:
So about a week and a half before the big day arrived, my DD comes into my room in the middle of the night making a very odd sound.

“Mommy, I have a bark,” she said just before she actually barked, at least it sounded just like a bark.

When she went to bed, she was fine. So this was a little odd. I couldn’t sleep after about 6 a.m., so I got up and called the doctor’s office around 7 a.m. (we have a 24-hour pediatrician – very nice perk to being patients there) The doctor could see her around 7:30 a.m. I brought with me all of her asthma medicine, since I had some older medication because she rarely had a coughing fit anymore. I wanted the doctor to tell me what was still good, so I could toss out the old stuff and also so I could pack it in case she started coughing on the trip.

But it wasn’t asthma. It was the croop. Am I spelling that right? My husband was planning to return to town that afternoon, so I called him and told him what was going on. I got my daughter some medicine for the croop and began to worry that this was the beginning of her getting really sick.
Turns out I was wrong. She didn’t get really sick, just a normal cold.

Here's our princess before we left for the trip
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/1Disney%20PreTrip%20and%20Embark/disneypictures211.jpg

But my husband got home just in time to catch her little cold. His cough didn’t sound like a bark, thankfully, but he was sick over the weekend. I figured I was definitely going to get sick – I just hoped it was sooner rather than later. The cruise was one week away.

On Wednesday, I started getting sick. Darn it. I knew I had time to get over it, but when I get a cold, I sometimes get one of those nagging coughs that lasts for two weeks or more. It’s gone during the day for the most part, but starts up in the middle of the night and makes it hard for me to sleep. I was so worried I was going to get that.:scared:

I worked Wednesday and then most of the day Thursday, but headed home early Thursday afternoon. I tried to rest, while I finished up some work from home. I went to bed early, took tons of vitamin C and tried every other medication known to mankind, or at least it felt like it.:sad2:

Friday, I stayed home. My husband took my daughter to school and I slept in a little. I did the rest of my work from home, and we continued the packing.
I tried to move most of what we would need into a spare bedroom the weeks leading up to the trip. But we still had more to move in to there, and then of course put it all in suitcases, after some last minute laundry.:laundy:

We packed a ton of stuff (despite all of the advice I read on the boards to not over pack.) But it could have been worse. We had four bags, including our hang-up bag and 20-bottles of water in one of the bags. We knew we’d have plenty of room to bring back most of the stuff we’d buy.

We finished packing that night and went to bed a little early. We wanted to get up around 6 a.m. and get on the road by about 6:45 a.m. My husband agreed with what I read on the boards about getting there as early as possible. So we wanted to get to the port around 10 a.m., if possible. We live 2 ½ hours away away, but with a 3-year-old old, there would be at least one potty break. Plus, we needed to make a breakfast stop. I think ended up with a second potty stop.:hourglass

Before we got to bed, we had our last bit of drama.

We heard crying coming from our DD’s room. She was supposed to be asleep, but she had been up playing. Somehow she stuck the antenna from her stereo/cd player in her mouth and it ripped the inside of her cheek. Ouch. She was bleeding a little and very upset. I, of course, worried this was the start of a crazy trip. But she went to bed shortly after. I still never figured out why she put the antenna in her mouth in the first place and how it cut her.:scratchin

I woke up before the alarm went off that morning – which is unheard of. But I was the kind of kid who on Christmas Eve stayed up ALL NIGHT LONG. So I figured the fact that I slept at all was a plus. But considering I was getting over my cold, I knew I had to get my rest.

We sang Happy Birthday to DH and I told DD we were going on a special trip for Daddy’s Birthday :bday: and we got dressed and on the road. (I felt much better, and never got the nagging cough.)

So after a McDonald’s stop, we were on the road. :drive: We arrived at the port at 9:47 a.m – give or take a few minutes :upsidedow

Here was our view as we got to the port
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/1Disney%20PreTrip%20and%20Embark/disneypictures264.jpg

We had to wait until about 10:00, I think, before they would let the cars in. My husband dropped me and DD off with the luggage and I almost forgot to give the porter the money in my pocket. I was petrified of this, because I was afraid they would “lose” our luggage. But I remembered, and we went inside.

DD was very excited when she saw the “Mickey Boat.” Remember, she didn’t know what we were going to do, she just knew we were going on a trip. We went inside, got through security no problem went in to check in. Somehow, even though we were the fourth car in, we got a boarding pass No. 3. We saw a lot of buses pulling up as we came in, so I guess a lot of people got in while the cars were checking in. No big deal, from all of my reading, I knew it would all go fast.

When my husband came in, he laughed at me when he realized I forgot to check DD into the Club. Not sure how I forgot that, but I had a lot on my mind. It was still a pretty short line, maybe five people ahead of us. So we went ahead and got that done. My DD wasn’t thrilled to be wearing the band, but we told her it was beautiful and she could wear it all week. She seemed to buy it, and rarely mentioned the band again. princess:

While we waited, DD snacked on goldfish and watched television (though the channels had a lot of static.) She didn’t seem to care. And then she saw Minnie.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/1Disney%20PreTrip%20and%20Embark/disney024.jpg

Later, Mickey came out.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/1Disney%20PreTrip%20and%20Embark/disneypictures115.jpg

Finally, 11:45 a.m. rolled around and they were boarding people. At that point, DD and I were in the restroom. When we came out, DH said they had already called No. 1 and No. 2. YEAH, it was almost our turn.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/1Disney%20PreTrip%20and%20Embark/disney021.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/1Disney%20PreTrip%20and%20Embark/disney013.jpg

Sometime just before noon, we walked through the ears and on to the boat. Now I do have to tell you that our DD never realized we got on to the boat. For the next three days, she asked when we were going on Mickey’s Boat. My husband tried and tried to explain, but she couldn’t see the bottom of the boat, so she didn’t believe it. She believed we were in a hotel (or as she calls them, Showl ‘n tell) for days.

UP NEXT: DAY ONE ABOARD THE MAGIC
AND COMING UP: OUR DD FINALLY BELIEVES WE’RE ON THE MICKEY BOAT, SHE ALSO PROVIDES ME WITH ONE OF MY MOST MORTIFYING MOMENTS (You know, children say the darnedest things.)WE MAKE NEW FRIENDS, A FORGOTTEN BIRTHDAY? AND MUCH MORE.

disneynewbee

02-07-2009, 08:26 PM

Lovin your report so far, can't wait to hear the rest.

mumom95

02-07-2009, 08:26 PM

Great start, don't leave us hanging too long!!

DisneyPinDiva

02-07-2009, 11:05 PM

Great report so far!! :thumbsup2 Can't wait to hear more. We are on the 2/28 Eastern with St. Croix, so I'm very interested in what you thought of that port.
Your DD is adorable! princess:

disney13

02-08-2009, 04:21 AM

Love your trip report. Off to read more!

frdeb1999

02-08-2009, 07:19 AM

Great TR and pics!! You have adorable kids!! :)

tinkerbeth

02-08-2009, 07:27 AM

I can't believe you kept it a secret! I'm such a blabbermouth when I'm excited about something. We're doing the Eastern next March and my ds8 and I are trying to keep it a secret from my dh...at least until it's paid for! :) it's a surprise 10th anniversary trip for him.

Love the TR. Keep it coming! Your DD is adorable. What a little princess.

Beth pixiedust:

OurOhana

02-08-2009, 08:56 AM

Thanks everyone for reading so far. I'm working on the next one right now. I just had to mention that we all slept in until 9 a.m. today- which is unheard of for our 3-year-old. She went to bed at 7:30 p.m. and only got up once around midnight quickly - to tell us she was tired. (We always appreciate hearing the obvious :) )

When she got up this morning, she said "I think I will have....Chips."
Now let me tell you, never once on this trip did she have chips in the morning. I'm not sure she had chips at all. But the "I think I will have" start was how she ordered most everything on the trip.
She finally settled on "Mickey pancakes" which again, she never had on the trip. My husband is going to try to get creative in a few minutes. We'll see.

Great report so far!! :thumbsup2 Can't wait to hear more. We are on the 2/28 Eastern with St. Croix, so I'm very interested in what you thought of that port.
Your DD is adorable! princess:

I promise to devote one of the reports to St. Croix, but I will quickly tell you it was our favorite day. :cheer2: We had a wonderful time and the people on the island were great. I know they had some bad reviews previously, but we have nothing but good things to say - that might be because we spent most of our time on the island in the water. I'll be interested to hear what others had to say about it too.

More to come later.

OurOhana

02-08-2009, 09:58 AM

If there was one overall negative to our trip – it was something Disney had absolutely no control over – and it wasn’t by any means horrible. But the weather was pretty cold. Again, it didn’t even come close to ruining our trip, but it was something that changed our plans a bit. But we on the Magic, we were thrilled.

So we have just walked through the Mickey ears (which my daughter believed was a slide – not sure why she thought that, but OK) The plan was for me to run back to add a Palo brunch reservation and also a couples massage for our Castaway Cay day. I was a bit worried that we wouldn’t be able to do one or both. But when I got back to the Rockin D Bar (I think that was the name, but to be honest, we never went back in there again after that) there was no one in line.

I stopped first at a table where the lady was taking reservations for the spa treatments. A couples massage was no problem. Then I went to the table to make Palo reservations. There was one person in front of me and then it was my turn. I asked for a reservation for our last sea day, Thursday. I figured I would spread out some of the fun and didn’t want to set it for one of our first two sea days, which were our first two full days. Again, no problem.

DH took DD to Parrot Cay for lunch while I was doing the reservations. We debated on where to go, but we decided we didn’t need to head anywhere near the pool, since DD would want to swim. It was just too cold. (I should say, it was too cold for us. There were a few brave souls in the water – which I heard was pretty warm. But the wind made it not much fun to get out – or even to bring your head up above water – so we decided to wait.)

Lunch was pretty good – better than I had expected. There were really large shrimp, which were good. Plenty of fruit and salad fixings – some pasta dishes, fish, carved beef (which was good) mac n cheese, breads and more.

The desserts weren’t really great – something we found to be a trend for much of the cruise. But we could live without dessert if necessary, and I was willing to keep trying things until I found stuff I liked. I heard later that the buffet at Topsiders sounded like the food was the same.

By the time we got done with lunch, we had a few minutes to walk around the ship before we headed to our room. We did end up going up on the ninth floor – and DD wanted to go in the pool. We explained it was too cold, which she didn’t really understand since there were some children in the pools. I’m sure she wouldn’t have explained that her mommy was born and raised in Florida and believed that temperatures in the 50s were just too cold for swimming.

But I didn’t need to explain, Chip and Dale saved the day. They were the first characters she saw and she loved them. They spent quite a few minutes with her – even dancing with her and playing ring around the rosy. She even wanted to play catch, but they weren’t running after her. I didn’t blame them, this was our vacation – no running necessary. She had a blast.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disney051.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disney030.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disney038.jpg

Then she spotted the Ariel View. This is probably a great time to explain that in our home, our DD can’t watch television during the week. The main reason is that it distracts her from important things – such as listening to mommy when I tell her to get dressed, clean her room, whatever. So when DD saw the Ariel View movie screen, well she was in heaven. She hopped on a lounge chair, I grabbed her a towel and she was watched some of the movie (I don’t remember what was on at that moment.)

She was fine sitting there for a while, but I took the opportunity of Donald walking by on Deck 10 to get her up. (I was chilly) Again, she danced with one of the Disney characters.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures120.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures184.jpg

When we got to the eighth floor – where our room was – 8014 - the ropes were still up blocking the room hallways, so while I waited the few minutes, DH took DD to the club to give it a quick look. We had thought for some reason that we couldn’t check her in on the first day, just visit the club. So he didn’t leave her there when they said he could.

While they were off, I decorated the door. I told DH I was doing magnets, but I didn’t tell him what kinds. They were a surprise.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneymagic186.jpg

They were back a few minutes later and we looked around our room.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures172.jpg

I will say, there was plenty of storage. Since I was curious ahead of time how much there was, I decided to take plenty of pictures. We were in a category 4, but I think the other veranda rooms were pretty similar for storage (just a little smaller of a trunk) So hopefully these pictures help you see the storage options.

This is the nightstand on one side of the bed. There was an identical one on the other side
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures105.jpg
This was one of the bathroom sinks. They both looked the same.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures185.jpg
Here was the storage in the bathrooms
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures039.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures001.jpg
The desk area
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures102.jpg
TV (There was storage above and the beverage cooler below)
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures009.jpg
The beverage cooler (which didn't keep things very cold, but kept our water from being too warm)
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures026.jpg
Storage next to the closet
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures100.jpg
You can see the trunk in the back of this picture
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures106.jpg

Now DD didn’t eat much at lunch – which is really not like her. I think she was just really excited. And of course, I didn’t need a reason to order room service just 30 minutes after we got into our room, but I used it as the excuse.

Room service menu
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/2ab03eb9.jpg

It would be the first of many, many times I would talk to Diane in room service. She was wonderful and we all became addicted to room service.
We got a cheese platter and fruit bowl. And just because we could, we got cookies. The chocolate chip cookies were huge – and pretty good. I took the advice of the disboards and brought many $1 bills. Actually, I think I brought 100 of them. I was using them at Starbucks today to try to get rid of the leftovers. We still have quite a few.

After room service, we did the drill (which took no more than 15 minutes)
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures053.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/disneypictures090.jpg

Then we waited for our bags to show up – which was one at a time up until about 5 p.m. We decided to skip the sail away party. While I would have loved to see it, DD was tired and it was cold. We decided we’d relax for a few minutes. Daddy took that opportunity to take DH on the balcony to watch the ship leave the port. He continued trying to convince her that we were on a boat and it was moving. She wasn’t a believer.

I took that time to read some of the things we found in our room and we picked up when we came on the ship.

Welcome aboard
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/41fd93a1.jpg
The Navigator
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Disney%20Day%201%20-%20Bigger%20pics/87a76012.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/4219f137.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/b5ffafb4.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/f9cd832f.jpg

The movie schedule
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/aa44793f.jpg

I introduced myself to our room steward, just to find out he was only a relief for our real steward, who would join us in a couple of days. I think the first steward’s name was Jho. He was very nice, but quiet. Margaret came later. My husband thought she was shy, but I found her to be pretty talkative. And she loved DD. Since we weren’t sure if Jho would get any of the tip at the end of the cruise, DH tipped him when he asked him to make up the bunk bed, but then asked him to put it back in the ceiling when we realized DD couldn’t navigate the ladder down very well. (I’m sure many 3-year-olds would be fine, but she’s not much of a daredevil on the playground and not really into climbing a lot.)

UP NEXT: The rest of Day 1, including dinner.

1stdisneycruise

02-09-2009, 01:28 AM

You ar doing a great job. Thank you you adding things I wanted to ask but thought I should not like how long is the boat drill.

YOu little girl is so cute. Believe me write down the cute things she says. I wish now I would have. I have a 9 and 6 year old and they say less and less cute things

I am so happy you got better. I was reading and saying to my self. this is us we are going to get sick. We are only 15 days away. We have two big things and then I think I am going to lock us in the house. Ok maybe I can't but i am thinking it:sad1:

I can not wait to hear about CC. We are also doing nassau but I do not think that you went there. I am so glad you are adding the navigators:yay:

I can not wait to see the menus. How did you get yours. I want them so bad also. I scrapbook:cool1:

lulu0506

02-09-2009, 08:55 AM

Great TR!! :banana: Anxious to see how your 3 yr. old liked the club.

fairfax

02-09-2009, 09:41 AM

First of all, Welcome Back! I am really enjoying your TR so far. Your pictures are fantastic! I'm looking forward to hearing about your day on St. Croix, since I have been wondering what to do with DD5 and DS3 when we are there.

On our last cruise, a Western, we were in a room near 8014 -- that's a great part of the ship and the extra space in the room was awesome! I like your door magnets, and also a big *THANK YOU* for posting the Navigators. I look forward to more!

bellaiah

02-09-2009, 06:52 PM

3Charbys

02-09-2009, 07:52 PM

I too am enjoying your TR! :) Keep it coming... I would love to hear about your St Croix day and excursions as well!!!

OurOhana

02-09-2009, 07:57 PM

Thanks for your trip report! I am also going on the 2/28 7-day Eastern so this is a lot of help.
Even though this is not my first cruise, it will be a first with my DD(3) and DS(1).

I was wondering if you had any advice about leaving your DD in the Oceaneer Club. My DD just turned 3 last month. I guess I'm just worried about leaving her around older kids (since she'll be one of the younger ones).
I'll be waiting for the rest of your TR!! :cool1:
Hi there - I'm so excited for you, and jealous at the same time. I want to go back NOW. :) We loved the club. Malia was 3 last August, but there were some children younger than her. The club splits children up by age group, so she was just with 3 and 4 year olds, most of the time. Sometimes, she was merged with the 5-7 year olds. But even when she was with her smaller group or the larger one, they often split up to enjoy different activities. For instance, on the last night when I went to get Malia, she was in the computer room playing dress up with other girls. Many other children were doing an activity with a counselor. They had a lot of counselors on hand too, who I really liked. There was one male counselor, Fabrice, who was great with Malia. But I also saw the counselors playing with the kids. They were very interactive. It was great. I'll post pictures of the club in one of my future posts. The counselors also are good about paging you if there is a problem or just if your children are tired and want to see you. I'm sure every child is great, but if yours are usually good with a babysitter or child care center or play groups, I would imagine they'd love it.

First of all, Welcome Back! I am really enjoying your TR so far. Your pictures are fantastic! I'm looking forward to hearing about your day on St. Croix, since I have been wondering what to do with DD5 and DS3 when we are there.

On our last cruise, a Western, we were in a room near 8014 -- that's a great part of the ship and the extra space in the room was awesome! I like your door magnets, and also a big *THANK YOU* for posting the Navigators. I look forward to more!
Thank you! We loved St. Croix and will tell you more later. But for your question about your children, I was also concerned ahead of time. Our fears were eased. The club opened earlier than usual so people could go on land or on excursions early. The pager didn't work when we were off the boat (except on Castaway Cay) but we were really near the boat and only gone for 3 1/2 hours. By that day, we'd spent two full days on board and we knew she loved it. I don't think she noticed we were gone. And the next day, when we went to St. Thomas, she said she wanted to go back to the club. We took her back and we left again to go shopping.

Great TR!! :banana: Anxious to see how your 3 yr. old liked the club.
She loved it! She wants to go back right now, and would if we let her. :cool1:

You ar doing a great job. Thank you you adding things I wanted to ask but thought I should not like how long is the boat drill.

YOu little girl is so cute. Believe me write down the cute things she says. I wish now I would have. I have a 9 and 6 year old and they say less and less cute things

I am so happy you got better. I was reading and saying to my self. this is us we are going to get sick. We are only 15 days away. We have two big things and then I think I am going to lock us in the house. Ok maybe I can't but i am thinking it:sad1:

I can not wait to hear about CC. We are also doing nassau but I do not think that you went there. I am so glad you are adding the navigators:yay:

I can not wait to see the menus. How did you get yours. I want them so bad also. I scrapbook:cool1:
Thanks. Don't worry too much about getting sick. I think the trick for us all getting over it was making sure we kept up on sleep and took our vitamin C. I never usually do that, but I figured if I got too tired, I would get really sick.
I'll continue posting navigators and menus for each day as I write about them. The way I got them was just by going to guest services and asking for a copy. They were great about it and made the copies right away. I also wanted them possibly for a scrapbook one day. Plus, I hoped they would be useful for those who haven't seen them yet, or for those looking to see if things have changed since their last trip.

Thanks for reading. I'll update more later.

OurOhana

02-09-2009, 08:20 PM

We had dinner at Lumineer’s the first night. It was a pretty restaurant and we met our tablemates from New Jersey. I’ll be honest, we were most worried about who we would be seated with at dinner. When we went on Holland America the first time, we sat by ourselves. The second time, we sat with family members. This would be the first time we would sit with strangers all week.

Turns out there was nothing to worry about. We became fast friends. Our DDs became even faster friends. They really made our trip much more memorable and fun. In fact, we got a big laugh at the end of the first night when the husband of the other family told my husband that he had been concerned when he first sat down because he thought my husband had large hoop earrings in his ears. (It was the way the band that he wore around his neck to keep ahold of his sunglasses looked.) We all got a giggle out it.
The food on the other hand – well, it was just OK. In some cases, it was less than OK.

Day one menu
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/a92b85ca.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/b239e9db.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/0b2ae7b4.jpg

That night, I had the shrimp medley, (which was pretty good,) I had the Boulllibaise soup, (which was ok but had only a couple pieces of seafood in it, but I didn’t expect much in the soup,) I had Coquilles St. Jacques, (which had scallops, mushrooms and shallots in white sauce. They were baked with mashed potatoes on top. I really like seafood, but it wasn’t good at all. I will say though that there was quite a bit of scallops in this dish.)

DH had the duck appetizer, (which was mostly an empty pie shell.) DH had tomato and basil soup, (which he really disliked because it was very salty, said it tasted like it was made using sea water). DH had the roasted beef tenderloin – (he said it was pretty good.)

DD had hamburger from the kid’s menu. She hardly touched it. She did, however, have some of the pasta from the plate of our 3-year-old tablemate. She seemed to like it. To be honest, though, she was just tired and not interested in sitting still for two hours. We skipped dessert that night.

OK, so I know we sound like complainers when it comes to meals. It gets better for food later on, when we figure out what we think the ship does best when it comes to food. Now, even this first night, it doesn’t mean that hubby goes hungry. We couldn’t let that happen. He went to Pluto’s Dog House and got a hotdog and hamburger. The hamburger was nothing special, but the hotdog was good – He would have quite a few more later in the trip. I had some of the fries, which were really good.

Now, about that forgotten birthday. No one actually forgot DH’s birthday. But the ship was going to give him a cake that night, when I had requested it. But they forgot. I felt a little bad for him, in part because I didn’t want him to think I forgot him. So I told him what was supposed to happen and told him we’d probably get a cake later in the week. No big deal.

Before we went snacking, we went by the club with DD. She asked if she could stay for a little bit, which we said was fine. We went exploring and then went back to get her about an hour later. I actually went to get her, while DH went back to the room. So didn’t know the club had paged us. So when I showed up, I was in shock when they told me DD had an accident. Now she’s been potty trained since just after Christmas 2007. She hasn’t even used pull-ups at night for about 10 months. But the counselors were really nice about it. They said she was just excited. DD wasn’t phased at all. But she was fine about leaving the club that night.

The Oceaneers Club for 3-4 year olds, though sometimes also older children
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/2a69c1aa.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/70d5dedf.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/dc655863.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/230e1010.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/03a23f3a.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/84c13ca9.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/2a8170f5.jpg

I think we had an elephant towel animal that night, but we didn’t get a picture. We were all just so tired.

Before we went to bed, we filled out the breakfast menu for 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. the next day. I know we got coffee and chocolate milk for DD (she lived on the chocolate milk that week. She will have a tough time adjusting to white milk again.) I know I also got croissants, which were pretty good and staple for me most of the week. We loved doing room service every morning, so we didn’t have to rush out of our room. If we were still hungry, we went to a restaurant later in the morning.

Room service breakfast menu
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Navigators/3bdf8e9b.jpg

We were probably asleep by about 10 p.m. – all of us.

UP NEXT: A birthday remembered, our first seat day, a visit with some more favorite characters.

DisneyPinDiva

02-09-2009, 08:47 PM

You are doing a great job with the trip report!!! Looks like a few menu items have changed.. but thank goodness I still see my Creme' Brulee!!!

I had to laugh when you mentioned the large shrimp at the embarkation buffet... I live for that stuff!! See my tag? :wizard: The Tag Fairy knows I am a shrimp addict! One cruise they didn't have the shrimp in Parrot Cay and I almost fainted! :scared1: I think the Tag Fairy must have been on that cruise... ;) I found it later on up at Topsiders thank goodness!!!! Now I check the line before I sit down to make SURE it's there!!

Keep up the great report... Thanks for the navigators and menu and movie schedule especially.. we're looking forward to seeing Bolt! popcorn::

tgropp

02-09-2009, 08:48 PM

We loved ordering the continental breakfast at 7 every morning. We would order orange juice, a pot of coffee and some pastries. They always insisted on taking it out to the balcony, so I would open the door, tip him, climb back into bed for another 20 minutes and then we would go and have our coffee,etc on the balcony. Great trip report. Keep it up and Thanks for helping me relieve our cruise again.

lindaso

02-09-2009, 09:23 PM

Wonderful report!! You got on the day we got off. Yes, it was COLD!! I'm so glad you are posting menus so now I can try to remember what we ate! Looking forward to more.

donmil723

02-09-2009, 11:02 PM

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I am also on the Feb. 28th sailing to St. Croix. Through your memories, you are creating more excitement for us with cruises coming up! Thanks again!

skrause

02-10-2009, 03:37 PM

OurOhana

02-10-2009, 06:45 PM

We went on this cruise. Trying to figure out if we should book the 3 day for 99.00 or go to the longer one. anyone have any suggestions it seems llike such a good deal to pass up? What is the Disney Vacation club is it really expensive? Missing the weather from the cruise it doesnt seem so bad now. :surfweb:

We're planning to book the 3-day for $99 a person later this year. It's worth it for us. We live close, so we don't have travel costs. But for those who do, I can understand it might not be as easy of a choice. We were thinking of making ours a longer trip with a stay at WDW before the cruise. But I agree that $99 a person seems like too a good to pass up. When we searched the cost of an August 3-night cruise for our family it would be like $3,300 for the same category 4 (not considering if we got a Florida resident discount.) Plus, we'd just love to go another cruise. And if we're able, we'd like to do another cruise next year. We're addicted now! :)

I'm only a little familiar with the Disney Vacation Club. I know the disboards has a whole section on it, that I'm sure would be helpful. It's essentially Disney's version of a timeshare. If we ever did a timeshare, I think we'd do DVC. But it is a bit pricey for us right now.

All Things Simba

02-10-2009, 09:59 PM

We went on this cruise. Trying to figure out if we should book the 3 day for 99.00 or go to the longer one. anyone have any suggestions it seems llike such a good deal to pass up? What is the Disney Vacation club is it really expensive? Missing the weather from the cruise it doesnt seem so bad now. :surfweb:

We are going to try and take advantage of the $99 per person 3 nighter! We offered to take my mother-in-law with us. My DH and I had a Cat. 6 booked and there will be plenty of room in our cabin for her. She's never been to Florida and never been on a cruise! It would be a group of 9 of us and we're planning on 1 to 4 nights in WDW pre-cruise. Some of us shorter than others. I'm hoping she decides to go! Me and DH have never seen the Wonder and it's got the new Toy Story Musical on it! I don't know anywhere you can go for only $99 that includes three nights accommodations, entertainment AND awesome food! Anyone that CAN go... should book it!!!!!!!!! :rotfl:

disneydash

02-11-2009, 08:52 AM

Awesome trip report and it is certainly getting everyone in our family fired up to go on April 4th. Thanks for the pictures of the Oceaneer Club. I showed them to my ds (5) this morning and now he is even more excited which I did not think was humanly possible.

Looking forward to the the rest of the report and I am glad that you had such a great time. Thanks.

skrause

02-11-2009, 09:46 AM

1stdisneycruise

02-11-2009, 02:55 PM

[:

Thanks. Don't worry too much about getting sick. I think the trick for us all getting over it was making sure we kept up on sleep and took our vitamin C. I never usually do that, but I figured if I got too tired, I would get really sick.
I'll continue posting navigators and menus for each day as I write about them. The way I got them was just by going to guest services and asking for a copy. They were great about it and made the copies right away. I also wanted them possibly for a scrapbook one day. Plus, I hoped they would be useful for those who haven't seen them yet, or for those looking to see if things have changed since their last trip.

Thanks for reading. I'll update more later.[/QUOTE]

I did not know you could ask a guest service. You are so smart.:woohoo: Thank you for that.:thumbsup2

I will have to buy us some vitamin c.:cheer2:

Thank you for doing all of this for us that have not been. We just love looking at the navigators and menus and to know what you thought. You are doing a great job. Can not wait to read morepopcorn::

PURTYPAT1

02-11-2009, 06:10 PM

loving your report!!!

OurOhana

02-11-2009, 08:07 PM

Talked to my DH and we definetely gonna book. Dont know if we will try to do DW before. My daughter is so sick she got sick Friday and still isnt feeling good at all just sleeps. Takin her back to the dr today. I do hope that whoever got takin by helicopter is ok.

I'm so excited for you! That's fantastic about the trip. But I'm really sorry to hear your daughter is sick. I hope she gets better soon. I know it's a horrible feeling when our little ones don't feel well.

And I also read about the helicopter on Castaway Cay. I haven't heard yet what happened, but I hope eveything is OK for that family.

I'm hoping to post the next day tonight or tomorrow. I loved reading everyone's reports before we went on our trip. It helped me prepare so much. I'm glad to be able to add my little part, and it's a fun way to remember our trip. Thanks again for reading everyone!

OurOhana

02-11-2009, 09:41 PM

So we started our first full day on the Disney Magic with roomservice in bed. We think we set it for 8 a.m., hoping our DD would sleep in. She was up around 7 a.m. But regardless, she watched television and enjoyed staying in the room for a while, and decided what to do that day.

NAVIGATORS
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/NavigatorDay2-1.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/NavigatorDay2-2.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/NavigatorDay2-3.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/NavigatorDay2-4.jpg

We enjoyed our room service, which included a donut for dd (it’s vacation, so why not) but it was incredibly dry and bad. She didn’t even finish it. I had croissants, which I thought were pretty good. DH got an English muffin, which was fine – even still warm when they got there.

** One side note here - The day after our return, we let our daughter have a donut at home. She told me she was starting to feel sick (which she commonly likes to say for extra attention nowadays) so I said, OK, well give me your donut then. She said, "I'll finish my donut and then I'll be sick." :rotfl2: Needless to say, she never got sick, but we got a good laugh.

Now the way breakfast works is you can order it when you get up, or you can order off a menu that you put outside the door before 3 a.m. We did that every night.

The only real complaint of breakfast was the coffee. As I’ve read many times on the disboards, it was just not good. We’re not overly picky people when it comes to coffee (though right now, I think I’m sounding pretty picky :) and though we enjoy a Starbucks on occasion, we usually just make our own coffee at home. But it just wasn’t good. We later tried the Cove Café. DH got a cappuccino and I got a café moca. It was better coffee than room service, but not so great that we needed to spend money on coffee. Instead, we hit the first Starbucks we could find when we got off the ship at the end of the cruise.

After our light breakfast, DD said she was full (again, she wasn’t eating much, which is not like her, but she was excited) She asked to go back to the club to play. No problem, off we went.

So DH and I went to enjoy brunch at Lumineers (we took the idea to heart of eating several small meals a day rather than three large ones. The only problem is the small meals weren’t always so small. But we certainly enjoyed ourselves.

DH ordered a ham and cheese omelet, well done. It came out a little runny and without ham. I had eggs and bacon. The bacon was less than appetizing. The eggs were also runny. It also came with sausage, which was pretty good.
We decided to just get more from room service each morning after that experience. But we did have breakfast on a couple of other occasions later.
Then after some exploring and shopping in the shops, DD had us paged. The page said she was tired.

So we went to get her, took her back for room service (another cheese platter and I think a hotdog). We spent the afternoon shopping and exploring. She spent more time at the club.

Now we would normally have formal night apparently on the Sunday, but in this case, it was Super Bowl. So formal night was moved to Monday. It was casual night, in Animators Palate. (There was also no show, but Bolt was playing instead. We had already seen it, so we skipped the movie.)

MENU
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/MenuAnimatorsPalate1.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/Menu-AnimatorsPalate2_0007.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/MenuAnimatorsPalate3.jpg

I had the seafood wrapper (which wasn't great) the salmon and goat cheese salad (which also wasn't very good) and the salmon entree (which I really liked)

DH had the mushroom appetizer (which he liked) the veal entree (which was pretty good) and the sirloin (which he said was OK)

DD had a hotdog, which wasn't on the menu, but our server was nice enough to get it from roomservice.

After a while, the girls wanted to go the club and one of our tablemates wasn’t feeling well because of all the motion (surprisingly, the motion never bothered me. But I definitely felt it.) So my DH and the mom of the other 3-year-old took the girls to the club and then the mom went back to her room. Soon after the husband left to see the Super Bowl. So my husband and I finished our dinner alone. Our server brought the cake out tonight and the servers sang to him. The cake was really good and moist. And the servers were nice.

Toney was our main server. He was very nice, quick to get stuff, knew his menus very well and great with the girls. Our assistant server was also very nice, but might have been newer. He was a little slow to remember what we liked (ice tea every night, never asked for anything different) But he was very friendly.

After dinner we got some pictures. Now this is another example of what Disney does well. First, the characters were always great with the children. They took their time and let the “handlers” help move people through the time. After doing some pictures, we tried to get one with Mickey and Minnie together. But when we got to the area, the handler said the line was closed.
We obviously looked disappointed, so she told us to stand in a certain area and she would be sure to take Mickey and Minnie that way and our DD could say hello then. Well, not only did they say hello, they took her hand and walked a while with her. It was adorable. I just thought it was also very thoughtful and we appreciated that kind of detail.

Mickey and Minnie photos
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/09b6f30c.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/fada0068.jpg

The only slightly bad part about the character pictures are the lines - though they moved pretty fast. Still, I heard some people complain about waiting in line while on vacation. I can completely understand that, but I’ve tried to think of alternatives and haven’t come up with a great idea. We were just glad DD got to see so many of her favorite characters. She’s still talking about it.

Now, I wish we could say we bought a ton of photos. But we didn’t. Not Shutters fault – It’s more that our DD is going through what I call the “cheesy” phase. When someone says smile, she puts on the fakest smile ever. It’s amusing, but not great for pictures. We finally got around it later when I told her to laugh instead. She didn’t always keep still, but at least she didn’t look like she was faking a smile and posing so much. But I didn’t figure that out on this day, so not many pictures that we’re planning to frame.

Since she loves Cinderella, we did get that picture with a pretty natural smile (We got a few others later in the week and I'll post them on those days)
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/46ee1a78.jpg

I think our daughter went back to the club for just a little bit that night. But if she did, not long. Instead, we let her watch some tv, which she still considers a special treat.

TV SCHEDULE
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%202/7b41e3d1.jpg

Up Next: Another Day at Sea, Our Character Breakfast, Formal Night and that mortifying moment we experienced courtesy of our adorable daughter.

3Charbys

02-11-2009, 10:09 PM

Aweseome report! You are making these last 2 waiting weeks fly by!!

Looking forward to your St Croix day too!

Your daughter is adorable and how lucky to be able to go for a stroll with both Mickey and Minnie!! And a KISS!! WOW!

Thanks again!

TheDisneyGirl02

02-11-2009, 10:33 PM

Loving your trip report! Your DD is so cute! :)

fairfax

02-12-2009, 09:14 AM

"I'll finish my donut and then I'll be sick" LOL! She is too cute. You know, the donuts on the ship always do seem stale to me. I think they freeze them and then defrost them.

I loved the Cinderella picture! And what a lucky little girl to walk with Mickey and Minnie. You are really making me even more excited for our own cruise in just over 2 weeks! Also, thanks for scanning the in-room movie list.

We are also going to do a cake for DD's birthday in the dining room. Glad to hear that it is good.

Looking forward to more!

mumom95

02-12-2009, 05:11 PM

Great trip report, although, reading it makes me so much more anxious about our cruise, that I almost can't stand it.

Your dd is beautiful.

1stdisneycruise

02-12-2009, 06:28 PM

We enjoyed our room service, which included a donut for dd (it’s vacation, so why not) but it was incredibly dry and bad. She didn’t even finish it. I had croissants, which I thought were pretty good. DH got an English muffin, which was fine – even still warm when they got there.

Were the croissants flavored or plain. When we were on the Costa 2 years ago we go bk rs every morning. They had chocolate croissants and espressos (free):worship: my husband and I missed that when we got off the ship.:rotfl2:
We are hoping to get great bk rs again. It mad it nice to start the day off in peace and eat in bed:woohoo:

What is in the fruit bowl. Is it good stuff or like canned fruit:worried:

Thank you again for doing such a nice job on writing this report. Can not wail only 11 more days to go:mickeyjum

jezebella

02-13-2009, 08:55 AM

What is in the fruit bowl. Is it good stuff or like canned fruit:worried:

Canteloupe, Honeydew, Pineapple, and Watermelon.

Timon

02-13-2009, 11:44 AM

Loving your report :lovestruc Can't wait to read the rest :woohoo: :thumbsup2

OurOhana

02-13-2009, 10:37 PM

Were the croissants flavored or plain. When we were on the Costa 2 years ago we go bk rs every morning. They had chocolate croissants and espressos (free):worship: my husband and I missed that when we got off the ship.:rotfl2:
We are hoping to get great bk rs again. It mad it nice to start the day off in peace and eat in bed:woohoo:

What is in the fruit bowl. Is it good stuff or like canned fruit:worried:

Thank you again for doing such a nice job on writing this report. Can not wail only 11 more days to go:mickeyjum
Hi there. Sorry for the delayed response. It was a crazy end to the week. Jezebella was right about what was in the fruit bowl. Now I will say I didn't enjoy the room service fruit bowl all that much. But the one great thing is that Disney always had fresh fruit around. Goofy's Galley had fresh fruit cut up, which was really good. They also had tons on the buffets, also very fresh. And if you miss all of that, they were good about keeping bananas, apples and oranges out at Goofy's Galley, even when it was closed. We'd pick up some fruit at the end of the night, so we could have it in the morning before we left the room.

The croissants I got (and that they list) were plain - but good. But they had chocolate croissants at the Palo brunch, and I also think on some of the breakfast buffets (if I remember correctly.) I've also since read on the boards that people request the chocolate ones in room service, and have received them. So I'd give that I try for sure. The cholate croissant I had at Palo's was really good.

I hope that helps.

OurOhana

02-14-2009, 10:36 AM

So after a slow start to our Sunday, we had to get up early Monday for our character breakfast.

When we got to our room the first day, we had the character breakfast already assigned for us on the Monday. (They put them on tickets that tell you where you eat all week. The only assigned breakfast is the character breakfast, other than the last day when you depart. )

I really hadn’t been looking forward to the character breakfast. I had read bad reviews about the food, and we had already done a couple of character dinings at WDW. One of them was not very good (Cape May Café at the Beach Club) but the other was pretty good (Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary.)

But we were pleasantly surprised. First, it wasn’t very crowded. You’re seated with the same people who you eat dinner with every night. Quite a few people chose to skip.

The breakfast was in Parrot Cay, where we had already had lunch the first day. We could order off a menu a variety of breakfasts. I think I got a cheese omelet, sausage, hash browns and a bagel. It was all good. DH got an ham and cheese omelet, hash browns and bacon and sausage. He can’t remember if he had anything else. (He also liked his) And DD got a pancake, Mickey waffle and eggs, I think. (How in the world do I forget such things just a week later – It’s an age and Mommy thing, I’m sure :)

Our dinner tablemates came for breakfast too and we all had a lot of fun. The characters all came around and we had plenty of time to say hello and take pictures. The professional photographers don’t come around with them, so bring your own camera. We got some cute pictures.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/f6e4c6c9.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/59fb7060.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/a5798e39.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/72754de2.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/ce8e2365.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/0a87464d.jpg

You may have noticed that our daughter has a thing about kissing the nose of the characters. She even grabbed Chip or Dale by the tie to pull him toward her. I'm not sure what that's about, but she tries it with most of them. Go figure.

Our servers made hat for the girls.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/868c69cf.jpg

After breakfast, we decided to go swimming. It was still cold out, but not as bad since we were continuing to travel south. During the summer, we take our DD to a local water park. She loves it, but is never much of a daredevil. Well, she was dying to try the Mickey slide.

I walked up the steps with her, since it was pretty high up there. She continued up the rest of the way on her own and down she went. My husband was at the bottom waiting, and said she had a huge smile. She immediately jumped up and wanted to go again.

After two or three times, a lifeguard told my husband that she was too short to be on the slide. The height restriction was 38” and she’s only about 3 feet tall. Well, my husband wasn’t thrilled. There was a lifeguard at the top of the slide and one at the bottom. He told the one at the bottom, who made the comment, that he should have said something before our DD went down a few times. The lifeguard said she could continue, but she needed to be careful. He also said he couldn’t promise another lifeguard would allow her to go on again later.
We were a bit bummed. But we understood the restrictions. Again, we just wished they would have said before she went on. And I’m sure we should have known.

After she went down a couple more times, we told her we were moving to a different pool, where movies were playing. We kept her away from that pool the rest of the time (which wasn’t tough considering the cold days other than days we were in port) We didn’t want to tempt her to go up and have to tell her no. So over at the family pool, we played in the water for a while, but I thought it was cold. So we moved to the Jacuzzi, which was nice and warm – and over a little cover – which came in handy when it started to rain.

After a little while, we headed back to the room and took our naps.

When we got up and had room service, I think. DD wanted to go back to the club, so we took her and then went to do some more shopping and exploring. (our favorite pastime. We ended up buying quite few things on the ship, including a sweatshirt for me, jacket for DH, toy for DD, bracelets for DD and me, magnets etc. Actually, I think our shopping trips cost us the most in the end – other than excursions and spa visit.)

Here's what was on the Navigators for that day.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/ec14c984.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/f9844e2d.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/9b8f8795.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/f36cf4b3.jpg

Then we went to get DD – who never wanted to leave the club. She had a blast.

It was in the elevator, on the way back to our room, that we experienced our mortifying moment. :eek:

So there we were, standing quietly minding our own business. A couple was on with us. I can’t tell you much about them, because after my DD opened her mouth, I refused to look at them but a split second.

Now I should tell you that DD isn’t shy, not even close. She’s the kid who runs up to complete strangers and shows them her bathing suit, or tells them the name of her cousin or wants to kiss their little baby. So I wasn’t shocked when she spoke to the woman, just by what she said.

“You look like Piglet,” my DD blurted out (not different than you or I would say, “It’s a beautiful day out.”)

My husband and I just stood there in shock. I briefly looked at the woman, as she took a glance back at the monster who just referred to her as Pooh’s cute little friend. And just in case the woman thought she misunderstood, my DD was kind enough to repeat her statement, again, just as casual as could be.

Now here’s the thing. From my quick glance at the woman, I can tell you my daughter wasn’t referring to her size. She wasn’t a big woman. My daughter honestly didn’t mean anything by it. In her own way, I think it was a compliment. And in all honesty, there wasn't something about the woman's face that reminded me of sweet little Piglet. Even as I write that, I know it doesn't sound like a compliment, but I mean it as one.

Yeah, don’t worry. I didn’t say any of that out loud. In fact, I stopped looking at my daughter (after my face returned to its normal shade of white) :blush: and tried to pretend I didn’t know the little 3-year-old girl in the elevator (which she pronounces alligator, by the way) What horrible parents would leave such a precocious child in an elevator by herself? Thank God it wasn’t us.:angel:

So I’d love to tell you if we snuck off the elevator before the couple or after them. But I think the humiliation of that 30 seconds was just too traumatic for me. I just don’t remember. Neither does DH.

If by chance, the very lovely couple is reading this report – I would apologize, but I don’t know who that child was – her parents should probably not let her ride alone in elevators.:rotfl2:

UP NEXT: Formal night and Golden Mickeys

RLccweems

02-14-2009, 06:17 PM

3Charbys

02-14-2009, 10:32 PM

ADORABLE!! princess: I love the pix from the character breakfast! I am hoping to get quite a few shots of Lauren with the characters that morning!!

Sorry but I laughed at your "mortifying moment", it just is so typical of kiddos and I am sure that the lovely lady took her "compliment" in stride. No worries Mommy and Daddy!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us all I am getting so excited, just over a week to wait!! St Croix here we come!!

mumom95

02-14-2009, 10:32 PM

That is too funny, kids sure do say the darndest things don't they. I wouldn't worry about it too much though, kids love Piglet, maybe the woman took it as a compliment. Now if your dd had told her she looked like Cruella DeVille (sp?), then, I'd worry, because most kids don't like her. :rotfl:

Still loving your TR. Can't wait to read about formal night.

mmackeymouse

02-15-2009, 07:09 AM

“You look like Piglet,” my DD blurted out (not different than you or I would say, “It’s a beautiful day out.”)

My husband and I just stood there in shock. I briefly looked at the woman, as she took a glance back at the monster who just referred to her as Pooh’s cute little friend. And just in case the woman thought she misunderstood, my DD was kind enough to repeat her statement, again, just as casual as could be.

Now here’s the thing. From my quick glance at the woman, I can tell you my daughter wasn’t referring to her size. She wasn’t a big woman. My daughter honestly didn’t mean anything by it. In her own way, I think it was a compliment. And in all honesty, there wasn't something about the woman's face that reminded me of sweet little Piglet. Even as I write that, I know it doesn't sound like a compliment, but I mean it as one.

I know you do not remember much about the lady, but perhaps she was wearing a pinkish striped shirt. :thumbsup2

Just thank your lucky stars that she did not say she looked like POOH!

OurOhana

02-15-2009, 10:14 AM

I know you do not remember much about the lady, but perhaps she was wearing a pinkish striped shirt. :thumbsup2

Just thank your lucky stars that she did not say she looked like POOH!
I'm very thankful :)

That is too funny, kids sure do say the darndest things don't they. I wouldn't worry about it too much though, kids love Piglet, maybe the woman took it as a compliment. Now if your dd had told her she looked like Cruella DeVille (sp?), then, I'd worry, because most kids don't like her. :rotfl:

Still loving your TR. Can't wait to read about formal night.
OK, you're right - It definitely could have been worse. Not sure that I could have even found the positive in her calling someone Cruella DeVille. :)

ADORABLE!! princess: I love the pix from the character breakfast! I am hoping to get quite a few shots of Lauren with the characters that morning!!

Sorry but I laughed at your "mortifying moment", it just is so typical of kiddos and I am sure that the lovely lady took her "compliment" in stride. No worries Mommy and Daddy!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us all I am getting so excited, just over a week to wait!! St Croix here we come!!
Don't worry. We've laughed quite a bit ourselves. It's definitely more amusing after the fact :) And I can't wait to tell our DD the story when she's old enough to understand why we were so embarrassed.

I have to tell you I am enjoying your TR and your little girl is the cutest little thing!! Keep the TR coming and the pics. popcorn:: popcorn::

Thank you - I'm enjoying doing the report.

poohj80

02-15-2009, 10:48 AM

OurOhana

02-15-2009, 11:19 AM

Thanks so much for posting so many pix. My DD is looking at them with me and getting VERY excited for her b-day cruise in a few weeks.

One question about the slide - do they have a measuring stick to measure the kids like on the big rides at WDW? Our DD is 38" but with shoes on so wondering if they can really eye-ball it.

They do have a measuring stick on the wall near the end of the slide. I'm sure if she's close, it won't be a problem. My daughter was still noticeably shorter. Sounds like your daughter is right there.

lindaso

02-15-2009, 03:34 PM

According to my 11 year old, there is a measuring stick at the top of the slide before you go down. She was on the other end of the spectrum...almost too tall to go down.

skrause

02-15-2009, 10:58 PM

Thanks for sharing all the pics. I am missing the cruise ship so much. August cant come quick enough. We are hooked. I didnt really care for St.Croix so I think are next 7 day will be the eastern. I heard from alot of people that Jamaica is fun. We didnt order room service didnt find the sheets till Friday morning. Now we learned so much that the next one we will be more organized.
Anyone going to St.Thomas I would suggest doing the dolphion interaction that was so cool.

How do you post pics?

:yay: :grouphug:

poohj80

02-15-2009, 11:10 PM

According to my 11 year old, there is a measuring stick at the top of the slide before you go down. She was on the other end of the spectrum...almost too tall to go down.

Thanks, we'll remind her to stand tall! ;-)

1stdisneycruise

02-16-2009, 12:59 AM

Canteloupe, Honeydew, Pineapple, and Watermelon.

Oh, thank you for letting us know. I hate to waste. But I love pineapple, grapes and a big bery fan but I do not like melons so the kids will love but I will skip:thumbsup2

1stdisneycruise

02-16-2009, 01:04 AM

Hi there. Sorry for the delayed response. It was a crazy end to the week. Jezebella was right about what was in the fruit bowl. Now I will say I didn't enjoy the room service fruit bowl all that much. But the one great thing is that Disney always had fresh fruit around. Goofy's Galley had fresh fruit cut up, which was really good. They also had tons on the buffets, also very fresh. And if you miss all of that, they were good about keeping bananas, apples and oranges out at Goofy's Galley, even when it was closed. We'd pick up some fruit at the end of the night, so we could have it in the morning before we left the room.

The croissants I got (and that they list) were plain - but good. But they had chocolate croissants at the Palo brunch, and I also think on some of the breakfast buffets (if I remember correctly.) I've also since read on the boards that people request the chocolate ones in room service, and have received them. So I'd give that I try for sure. The cholate croissant I had at Palo's was really good.

I hope that helps.

Thank you for writing me back. I hope your week is slowing down now.

I will do that with the fruit. The fruit you took back to your room is the fruit I like. Thank you for that tip.:thumbsup2

i will for sure try to get the cholate croissants oh my mouth is watering:banana:

Thank you again:surfweb:

Opie100

02-17-2009, 11:10 PM

Please continue this trip report ASAP - including the Navigators. Thx!

disneychic

02-18-2009, 02:57 PM

popcorn:: popcorn:: Great TR!

PaigerPoo

02-20-2009, 01:32 AM

MORE! MORE! MORE! This is GREAT STUFF!popcorn:: :worship:
How often do they change the menus and Navigators anyway? We leave for our 7 day Eastern in Oct.
:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

OurOhana

02-20-2009, 07:35 AM

MORE! MORE! MORE! This is GREAT STUFF!popcorn:: :worship:
How often do they change the menus and Navigators anyway? We leave for our 7 day Eastern in Oct.
:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

Sorry for the delay in the updates this week. It's been a long week, but fortunately the weekend is almost here. I'll update more this weekend.

The menus seemed to change some from what I read on other postings, but they were mostly the same. Others who've gone on more cruises could give you a better feel. But a lot of what people talked about eating on their trip reports were items I found on the menus. As for the navigators, I think they all change a little depending on the trip. For instance, our formal night was a little different than normal, because of the Super Bowl. But the events (such as those for the children) all seem to make an appearance, maybe just in a little different order.

Opie100

02-20-2009, 04:55 PM

Thanks OurOhana. I'm particularly interested in finding out what time the kids club opened on port days, as that will influence my excursion decisions.

ejkjmom

02-21-2009, 12:13 AM

Sorry for the delay in the updates this week. It's been a long week, but fortunately the weekend is almost here. I'll update more this weekend.

Enjoying you TR, we are leaving for St Croix next Sat the 27th, I read where you said it was one of your favorite days, so I was just curious if you had any advice for us as to what to do or see??
Was looking into Carombola Beach Break but it seem so costly to do it thru Disney????
Did you talk to anyone who did this excursion, or any other Disney excursion for that matter in St Croix???

Any suggestions/advice you have would be greatly appreciated:flower3:

Glad you had a wonderful trip, your Little Girl is Beautiful!!!!! :cloud9:

SCDizneyDawn

02-21-2009, 09:20 AM

Thank you for your great review! Eagerly awaiting more:cool1:

OurOhana

02-21-2009, 09:31 AM

Thank Goodness it's the weekend. My main goal, after doing laundry and spending quality time with my cute daughter, is to update this report. It's just been hard to do during the week. Enough about that, it's time to celebrate lazy Saturdays!

Thanks OurOhana. I'm particularly interested in finding out what time the kids club opened on port days, as that will influence my excursion decisions.

I was worried about that too, but no fears. Disney wants you to do their excursions. So they open the clubs early. On this day, we dropped out daughter off at the lab (the area for kids 5-7, I think) at about 8 a.m. It was open at 7:30, which I think was the earliest people could meet for their excursions anyway. And as usual, it was open all day. They switched back to the club just a short time later. My daughter had a blast, and didn't even seem to realize we had gone for a few hours. Later in the day, we took her off the ship to do pictures. You'll see those pics this week. They were some of our favorites.

Enjoying you TR, we are leaving for St Croix next Sat the 27th, I read where you said it was one of your favorite days, so I was just curious if you had any advice for us as to what to do or see??
Was looking into Carombola Beach Break but it seem so costly to do it thru Disney????
Did you talk to anyone who did this excursion, or any other Disney excursion for that matter in St Croix???

Any suggestions/advice you have would be greatly appreciated:flower3:

Glad you had a wonderful trip, your Little Girl is Beautiful!!!!! :cloud9:

It was our favorite day, completely because of our excursion. We did the miniboat excursion. I'll post more on the St. Croix day with pics this weekend. It was $79 a person and we were in the water a lot. We also heard of people just going to the beach within walking distance (bring water shoes with you though if you do this, because it was really rocky) Or you could just catch a cab. The people of St. Croix were really accomodating. More on that to come.

Thank you for your great review! Eagerly awaiting more:cool1:

Thank you for reading - More to come shortly.

OurOhana

02-21-2009, 10:07 AM

After catching our breath from our daughter with the big mouth, we got back to our room to get ready for formal night.

We hoped to get some cute pictures this night and headed out to do so before dinner They have the characters and photo ops available starting around 5 p.m. and usually the same group of characters starting around 7:30 so early and late diners can take advantage. We tried to get our pics before we ate, in case of spills (And I’m talking about the hubby this time, more than the daughter :rotfl: – He’ll be less amused with that comment than me, but it’s true!) But no great pics this night - it was like a day before we realized the code to getting our little to smile for real – and not her cheesy smile.

Dinner this night was the Golden Mickey’s menu. We had it in Parrot Cay. I’ve heard others say they didn’t enjoy formal night as much here because it was a less formal atmosphere. And while it was true that it is a less formal room, it was fine with us.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/d8dcb63d.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/64612333.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/day%203/1bd96377.jpg

The hubby is away at the moment, so I’ll try to remember what he ate, but I may be a little off.

I had the cheese soufflé. It was just OK. I then had the blue cheese soup. I thought it was pretty good. I don’t remember if he had an appetizer or salad, but we both had the lamb for the entrée. It was really good. And it’s about the time we realized that as crazy as it sounds, it was the meat we thought Disney prepared best.:thumbsup2 I would think that’s tough to cook in large quantities without over cooking it, but they were pretty on target. The only problem for us was the lamb was pretty small. And well, let’s be honest, we’re big eaters. And so we learned a new trick this night to make this Disney cruise more magical for us big eaters.

After we took our daughter to the club for a short time, (She wanted to go more and more – especially after sitting at long dinners.) I looked at my hubby and asked if he was still hungry. We skipped dessert at dinner, because DD wanted to go to the club, but I knew DH would want to go to plutos for a hotdog. Instead, I suggested we run by Topsiders. I had heard they served a steak every night, and after tasting the lamb, I wanted more meat. (I should have ordered two at dinner, but I caught on to that idea later)

So we ran to Topsiders. Just as everyone has said on the boards, it’s a sit down table service meal, but you can see the entrees on display when you walk in. They had the lamb, plus they had several other things off the Golden Mickey’s menu. In fact, we could have skipped the main meal, and still been able to try most of what we had that night. But I didn’t want the same. I heard they had a porterhouse steak, and I wanted it. My DH followed my lead, but by this point he decided he was just starving (cue the dramatic music here) and asked for two steaks on the same plate. He later said he would have been just fine with one, and I don’t think he finished the second one.

Anyway, the steaks were great. Well, DH said it was OK, not his favorite cut. But I thought it was very flavorful (And I like a Ribeye as a first choice for steaks) and not over cooked. I asked for everything medium rare. It was more like medium, but I was just fine with that. I suppose if you want it more rare, you should ask for rare, and expect medium rare. We just got the entrees, but others by us got the full four courses.

We were in a hurry. We hadn’t seen the first night’s show. We were all just so tired. But I had heard good things about the shows, so I was determined to go.

We went to grab DD from the club, since we thought she would enjoy the show too. And we were right. Disney puts on fabulous shows. And many of our favorite characters made an appearance. Our DD does pretty well in movies, and she loved this. :wizard: She did talk a ton, but just asking a lot of questions about the characters. I will say the place was packed, and we had to sit quite a ways back. But we still had a great view, no problems there.

After the show, we were ready for bed. It was a really nice night. But we wanted to get our rest, because we had to get up a little earlier than normal for our excursion the next day on St. Croix.:banana:

poohj80

02-21-2009, 10:19 AM

Thanks for continuing to post!

One question - I haven't seen any lids items on the menus you have posted. are the separate or do we just ask what's available?

Opie100

02-21-2009, 11:19 AM

I was worried about that too, but no fears. Disney wants you to do their excursions. So they open the clubs early. On this day, we dropped out daughter off at the lab (the area for kids 5-7, I think) at about 8 a.m. It was open at 7:30, which I think was the earliest people could meet for their excursions anyway. And as usual, it was open all day. They switched back to the club just a short time later. My daughter had a blast, and didn't even seem to realize we had gone for a few hours. Later in the day, we took her off the ship to do pictures. You'll see those pics this week. They were some of our favorites.

So basically kids that would usually be in the "Club" go to the "Lab" during the mornings until the "Club" opens when there is an early excursion, right? That is great info. Looking forward to the rest of the Navigators as well.

Question about the mini-boat excursion - do people get their own boat or do they share two-to-a-boat?

OurOhana

02-21-2009, 02:04 PM

Thanks for continuing to post!

One question - I haven't seen any lids items on the menus you have posted. are the separate or do we just ask what's available?

So here's the amusing thing. I went out of my way to get copies of the main menus, but I forgot to just pick up a kids menu. Go figure. My husband even asked after we left, but I hadn't even thought of it. Anyway, they get a menu every night, already sitting at their seat. It's mostly for coloring, but the menu is on one page. In general, they had chicken fingers, pizza, mickey-shaped pasta, hamburgers, fruit plates or soup for appetizers and a smoothie of the day. My DD did get a burger, but never ate it. She liked the pizza. And then we asked for hotdogs, which wasn't on the menu that night, but they got it from room service. So even if it's not listed on the menu, you might ask if you can get it. Also, the fruit plates were decorated cute for the kids. We never did a smoothie. My daughter isn't much into them. They do cost, but I don't remember how much. I don't recall thinking it was too much. They offer sodas, apple juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, milk and chocolate milk (probably other stuff, but I don't remember what.) You can also order a "shirley temple" or a smiliar non-alcoholic drink, which they'll get from the bar. They cost something, but we never got one, so I'm not sure how much. My DD was addicted to the chocolate milk, so she lived off of that most week.

So basically kids that would usually be in the "Club" go to the "Lab" during the mornings until the "Club" opens when there is an early excursion, right? That is great info. Looking forward to the rest of the Navigators as well.

Question about the mini-boat excursion - do people get their own boat or do they share two-to-a-boat?

Yes, you're right about the club on excursion mornings. I want to say they stayed in the lab for an hour or so. Just make sure to get your little ones something to eat ahead of time. They don't serve food in the club except for lunch and then they go to topsiders for dinner (I'll tell you about that in the next posting) But I never noticed any sort of snacks or drinks (there is a water fountain in there. My daughter never said she was hungry, but I thought I'd just point that out for parents used to child care centers where they're constantly giving snacks. It's possible they gave them out and I didn't know about it, but not that I know.

Yes, for the miniboat excursion, you get your own boat or you can sit with someone else. I only saw one or two people in each, but I suppose they could seat three. I'm not sure if you have to pay to sit in your own, but they had it planned for us to be together. I'll post pictures of the boats with my next report, which I'm in the process of writing now. I'll tell you more details about the excursion in that report.

TotallyAngelic

02-21-2009, 04:23 PM

I am really enjoying your report - it's great to see all the menus as it's reminding me of all the delicious food I ordered and as I had forgotten a lot of it and it will help me a great deal when I write my cruise trip report.

Your DD is so cute - thats a really funny story about the elevator encounter with the piglet lady! Children are so cute when they just say what comes into their head (and when they are someone elses!)

1stdisneycruise

02-21-2009, 06:23 PM

OurOhana

02-21-2009, 08:52 PM

Did you just ask the first night for the copy of the menus. Or did you have to go to guest services every night to get that nights copy?

We are on our 3 night first Disney cruise in just a few days and love readying your TR. I am hoping to here about CC before leaving:cool1:

To get copies of the menus, I went to guest services near the end of the cruise. They were great about making copies of everything, and giving me extras of the Navigators in case I had lost any.

I'm not sure I'll get to CC before you leave. (I'm finding it harder to post during the week, but am trying to get more done on the weekends.) But I'm happy to answer any of your specific questions, if you're curious about something. I'll keep plugging away on my postings, and see where I get by the time you leave.

I'll be curious to hear about the 3-night cruise. We got the offer where we could take one for $99 per person because of when we booked out 7-night cruise. We're hoping to take the cruise in September. We just loved our first Disney cruise, and can't wait to go again.

mumom95

02-21-2009, 09:59 PM

I'm still loving your trip report, can't wait to read about St. Croix.

poohj80

02-21-2009, 11:08 PM

We are on our 3 night first Disney cruise in just a few days and love readying your TR. I am hoping to here about CC before leaving:cool1:

My guess is we'll be getting on next Sunday after you disembark. :)

snargi

02-22-2009, 08:46 AM

Enjoying reading your report - we leave for our cruise in a few days!

OurOhana

02-22-2009, 09:53 AM

I am so excited for all of you who are getting ready to go on your trips - and I can't wait to see what you all think of the cruise. I really think you'll have a blast. OK, I'm working on adding my latest update today. Maybe I'll add two if I really get ambitious. (OK, maybe not - but I can dream :)

OurOhana

02-22-2009, 11:03 AM

So I’ll be honest. I was a little concerned about St. Croix. Before our cruise, I read bad publicity about the island. Apparently, the Disney cruise before us had a rough time, and Disney might have put the island on notice since so many people asked for their money back on excursions. The news story was a little vague, because Disney wouldn’t talk to the newspaper (which was the St. Croix paper) but it was clear that the tourism folks took the warnings seriously. They had a lot of training before our visit, according to the paper.

So I didn’t go into it with high expectations. We started our morning with room service (I recognized the voice on the other line almost the minute she picked up. She was a riot.) We got English Muffins and cereal to serve as a real breakfast, since we weren’t planning to go to a dining room. And then DH dropped DD off at the club before I got my bathing suit on. I just couldn’t put it on in front of her, and tell her she couldn’t come with us. But the excursion was for kids older than her, so I didn’t have the option of bringing her. The club opened early on days when your in port early. It was open at 7:30 this day. (9 a.m. usually.) We actually had to take her to the lab, where they had all of the kids that morning. A short time later, they moved the little ones to the club.

At 8:15, we had to meet at Diversions. The time was listed on tickets left in our room. It was also listed on the front of the navigator for the day. After everyone arrived, we followed a guide off the ship. She took us to a guy named Brook, who was with Island Networks. I can’t say nice enough things about him or the excursion. We really love the water, and this was the first day on this cruise where it was nice enough to really enjoy the water. So this excursion was a highlight for us.

OK, So I didn’t take pictures on the excursion. We should have gotten a waterproof camera. But we didn’t. So the pictures I’m posting we took later in the afternoon, after the guide took his second group out. We also got a few from our window.

This is the one from our verandah. No idea who is on the boats.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/0846a73f.jpg

And these are from when we went back out later in the day. The guy in the pic is Brook.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/2745a56b.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/9cba2292.jpg

So, we followed Brook to the other end of the pier, where the boats were docked. He gave us a little primer on the safety gear (we all had to wear safety vests on the boat.) They had us each pick up our snorkeling gear. Now my hubby has large feet and he said the fins he picked up were a bit snug. They fit, but he thought they were snug. I picked up a smaller pair, and was just fine. They had masks and snorkels for us all, and water vests. Brook said all of the gear was cleaned in a bleach wash between uses. It all seemed clean.

We all got on the boats (now I’m a little freakish about climbing into a boat from a pier. There’s no good reason for this, I’m just crazy and worried I’m going to make a fool of myself – and possibly hurt myself – in front of a bunch of people. :scared: I’m actually more concerned about making a fool of myself more than hurting myself, but we all have our priorities.):rotfl2: But there was nothing to worry about – no falling in the water. No making a fool of myself. All was fine.:thumbsup2

Brook then told the drivers (who in our case was my hubby) how to operate the boats. My hubby has been on many boats, so this wasn’t an issue. But I don’t think everyone with us had operated a boat before, and it seemed like clear direction to someone like me. (None of us had any difficulty with out boats or equipment, that I heard about. And since we were all close, I think I would have heard if there was a problem.)

So a group of maybe eight boats (most of us had two people in a boat, but one person had his own boat) followed Brook and another guide. Actually, the other guide was in his own boat initially, but had technical difficulties, so he ended up with Brook. Brook took us to our first snorkeling area. It was pretty murky, because of a front that had just come through. Nothing the folks at St. Croix could do about that.

But the water was nice, the equipment was easy to use and on this first stop, we had about 45 minutes in the water.

The only downside for this for me was when I felt a stinging sensation (like a bee sting) on my left hand – and then on my right thigh. I was certain this was what people were talking about when they mentioned sea lice in trip report. :confused: It kind of hurt – but the sensation passed enough that I was able to continue swimming (and I really am a wimp about pain, so I can assure you if it was really bad I would have been crying or something close to it.)

After a while, I decided to get back in the boat. (Little bit of a struggle to get back in. My hubby got up first and helped pull me up. Fortunately, everyone was doing their own thing, so I don’t think I made much a fool of myself. I asked Brook if I had been stung by sea lice. He said he doubted it. Instead, he said it was likely a really small jellyfish. Well, now I didn’t feel so silly about thinking the stinging hurt. By this point, I could see little red dots where I was stung, but the stinging was about gone. (I never felt it later, and the red marks were gone that afternoon. So if was a jelly fish, it was a baby one that did very little harm. I'm assuming it wasn't sea lice, because it only got me on those two areas - and that doesn't sound like sea lice.)

We then rode around on the boats a little, stopping on occasion so we could get photos of the ship. We then went to a beach area for more snorkeling.

The water was clearer in the second location. We swam a little, then went to shore to sit on the beach. First thing to note here is the sand was really coarse. When it was on you, it was hard to get off. I found sand for days (I do realize that was Too Much Information, but it’s the truth.) And the water was very rocky near the shore. So if you go to the beach on St. Croix, please be careful of the rocks. The waves were pretty rough, so a few times I got pulled back on the rocks. It wasn’t really dangerous, but you could get hurt if you’re not a strong swimmer. There may be other beach areas with less rocks, and I’m sure plenty of days when the waves aren’t very strong. But just something to warn people about.

OK, now for a little more Too Much Information. We hit the shore and I just have to go to the bathroom. Like RIGHT THEN. :scared: I heard one of the guides tell another person on our excursion that there were bathrooms where we were going, but I didn’t pay close enough attention to where. And the beach area was decently steep. I’m not even close to in shape. (Exercise seems like a waste of time when there’s all that relaxing, reading, eating and watching tv to do. I would love to say I’m joking, but that would be a lie.) So I was just exhausted by the time I got to the area where there were bathrooms. But I made it in time. YIPPEE.

But the thought of walking back to where we left our fins, masks and vests just seemed too much when I returned. So my hubby walked back to get them and I met him half way. Then we walked out in the water backwards with our fins on. This took a little navigating, first not to lose our fins before we actually got them completely on – the waves almost took them away. And then to get over the rocks. But as soon as we did, we just swam out. Fortunately, we weren’t the last to get to the boat. This time I slipped when getting on the boat, but my hubby helped pull me up.

The bottom line on this trip was it was great. I really had a wonderful time. In retrospect, I would say I wouldn’t have gone to the beach area, but I would have had to anyway to go to the bathroom. So not much I could have done differently there. The cost was $79 a person through Disney, which I thought was pretty reasonable.

We then took the boats back to the pier and climbed out – no problems there either. We were back by 12:30ish, I think. Now we didn’t bring any money to tip our guide, which I never thought about. So my husband had it in his mind that he would try to tip him later, if we saw him. Turns out we did.

We headed straight back to the boat – didn’t look around the island yet at all. We decided we would grab lunch (since our DD would have already eaten at the club) and then get our DD. I think we ran by topsiders, but didn’t love what they were having. I think it was Asian day. Just nothing appetizing. I ended up getting a burger at Plutos. The fries were fabulous. Really very good. Then we went back to the room. But my burger would have to get a little cold, because I had to get a shower to get all of the sand off of me – or most of it.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/3fd13776.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/5361a912.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/0173aab4.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/31b41742.jpg

Up next: Afternoon on St. Croix, Twice Charmed and Topsiders for dinner

OurOhana

02-22-2009, 11:22 AM

OK. This shocks me too. But I've finished the second part of Day 4, so here you go....

After we ate, we got our DD and we all took a nap. When we got up, we headed off the ship again. We stopped by to see Brook and give him a tip from our earlier excursion. It’s not required, but it was a good idea from my hubby.

Since before we really went straight for the boats, now we had time to pay attention to the island. It was really beautiful – which we could also see from the water. The area where Disney docks the boat isn’t really built up much. Many of the shops are vacant. But the local vendors set up a little market right near the ship. There wasn’t a ton of stuff there, but there were some local items. We bought three T-shirts for $10. When could you find such a deal like that? They were all St. Croix shirts. Very cute. I guess since it was later in the day, the vendor really wanted to make a sale. We looked around a little more, and then my husband suggested we get closer to the water for some pictures. It was a great idea, there were many picturesque areas. And finally, we learned the way to stop the fake, cheesy smile from DD. We just asked her not to smile, but to laugh. Now she looked more natural and we got a few cute pics.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/eaf9cc29.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/4cd25b8a.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/f02040af.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/dd0cd953.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/fd699933.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/1491d8e1.jpg

(I would highly recommend getting off the boat for a little bit with your family to get some great pictures with or without the boat in the background. The area is really close to the boat, not a far walk - and just really pretty.)

And then we headed back to the ship. Now if we had really wanted to do shopping or sightseeing, we easily could have grabbed a cab. But we just wanted to let my daughter get off the ship for a while. (If you remember from earlier, my daughter didn’t believe we were on a boat the first few days. So this was the first time we were able to show her that we had been on a boat, and she could see us getting on – not like in Port Canaveral, when we got on board from inside a building. We even told her Goofy was painting. Well, she realized he wasn’t the “real” Goofy, but she enjoyed seeing it.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/7ac86908.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/2a2fdf2d.jpg

Anyway, my overall impression of St. Croix was the people were very friendly. No one was pushy about selling us anything. And we felt very safe. I’ll be interested in hearing what others thought of their stop there.

So on this evening, we skipped the meal in the dining room. We decided to get our DD something for dinner in our room, her favorite hotdog, I believe. Then we went to see the show – Twice Charmed – early. We were concerned that our daughter would be tired, since we didn’t take a long nap and she was busy in the club most of the day. Anyway, she loved the show, and we were glad we went early. Cinderella is her favorite character, and the story was really unique. My husband and I both really like it.

Then our DD asked to go to the club, so we went to Topsiders for dinner for us. It is only open from like 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. for dinner. Not a ton of time. In fact, when we first went there for dinner (I think at 7:30ish), there was a line to get in. They don’t have a lot of tables available for the dinner service. We ended up going for a walk, sitting out on one of the decks and relaxing for a while. Then we went back, and there was no line.

Even though we didn’t go to the regular dining room, we did get a copy of the menu for all of you to see.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/7b245d24.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/c24f51b8.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%204/833c649e.jpg

The Topsiders menu didn’t look just like this, but it had many of the same items.

I know I got the crabcakes, which were pretty good. Then I think I had a Caesar salad, but I didn’t love the dressing. Then getting into the swing of ordering whatever I wanted, I got both the shrimp and scallop meal, plus the beef tenderloin. I actually ate most of the beef tenderloin, but only had the seafood off the other plate. Both were very good, but I wasn’t much in the mood for the pasta that came with the seafood dish. I will say, the shrimp were rather large, which I found a little surprising.

My husband got the pineapple appetizer, which he liked, if I remember (He’s still not here to ask – but we can update this later, if I’m wrong. He also got a Caesar salad, but added chicken to his. He liked it and finished mine. Then I think he might have gotten the pork shank and tenderloin too. I could be wrong about that (he might have gotten a steak), but I do remember he liked his meal.

Then for the first time, we ordered dessert. We both got the chocolate cake. Our server, who was incredibly nice, said they had run out of the dessert, so he had to get it from one of the dining rooms. That was really nice, we thought. But it really wasn’t very good. My memory is it was kind of watery, as if it was soaked in something. But I’m not sure if it was. Now, I’m a dessert girl, and not overly (or at all, I would usually say) picky. To leave chocolate on the plate? Well, I must be sick or it must be bad. I wasn't sick. But overall, the desserts weren’t that great. But we had finally found meals we liked for the rest of the time.

After dinner, we headed to get DD and went back to the room. We would have loved to have seen the fireworks, but they were on the other side of the ship than where our room was (8014) so we couldn’t see them from our room. And it was just too late to keep DD up this night. But that was OK. It was a long, fun day for us too, so we all settled in. I'll be interested in hearing about pirate night from other cruisers. I know people we talked to had fun.

UP NEXT: St. Thomas/St. John day

bonzie1

02-22-2009, 03:10 PM

Thanks for a wonderfully detailed personal trip report. You've prepared those of us leaving this Saturday for the same trip! :goodvibes

THANK-YOU!!!

1stdisneycruise

02-23-2009, 01:13 AM

candiedoug

02-23-2009, 04:41 AM

There is no problem. Last year on the Magic, Arnold, our head server ordered one of each dessert on the menu for us. This is a cruise. Eat all you want.

lbgraves

02-23-2009, 07:17 AM

OurOhana

02-23-2009, 08:14 AM

I was wondering if your waiter was nice about you ordering two of something. I did that on our first cruise (Carnival) and the waiter acted like that was not right. Then I did it on (Costa) he asked like I was rude for asking. So I do not like to seem rude or wrong. So that is why I am asking if they make it seem like it is not a big deal. I see some nights I would like two appitizers and no main dish or saddly two desserts:cool1:
Our server, Toney, was just wonderful. Very nice, efficient and as with most everyone we encountered on the ship - he wanted to make sure we had a great vacation. He often asked what he could do to make that happen. He never blinked when we ordered double of something. We had done the same on our HAL cruises a few years ago, but then I read of many people doing it when I was looking at trip reports on disboards before our cruise. And it really made our trip better. If you'll remember at the beginning of the trip, we had some disappointing meals. By the end, we mixed and matched what we wanted to have a more enjoyable meal.

There is no problem. Last year on the Magic, Arnold, our head server ordered one of each dessert on the menu for us. This is a cruise. Eat all you want.
Arnold sounds great. :)

We normally have not had a problem with doing this and the servers usually encourage it BUT last cruise the server made a big deal about it and sometimes only brought us one thing even when we had asked for two.
Wow, I can't imagine. I'm curious if you ever said anything about it to him? I wonder why he wouldn't bring two of things.

TammyNC

02-23-2009, 08:35 AM

Thanks TammyNC. I've been doing the same thing, enjoying the boards to help me pass the time. It helps that we booked late, but I have a feeling I'll have a longer wait next time.

You live in Burlington? I used to live there too. I went to college at Elon (before it was a university) and then worked in Burlington for a few years. I absolutely LOVED Burlington. It's a beautiful area.

Yes, we are in Burlington...I grew up in Gibsonville and my kids went to Elon Elementary for a few years before we started homeschooling. We love the area, it is growing a lot though. We enjoy being just a few hours from the mountains and the ocean.

I am so enjoying your trip report, ours is still a long ways off but I get more and more excited with every report I read.

Can't wait to hear and see more from you.

OurOhana

02-23-2009, 09:30 AM

So my little one was sick this weekend, and still not up to par this morning. So we've stayed home. And I've had time to do some updating. I might even have Day 6 up today too, depending on how we're doing here.

So here's Day 5 -

When we were planning our cruise, we knew we didn’t want to leave our daughter on the ship for more than one day. No particular reason, other than we wanted to do some family activities. The problem was there aren’t a ton of those excursions for younger children. So we’ll have a blast when she’s a bit older, but for this day, we chose the St. Thomas Tram Ride. It was $18 per adult. DD was free. I can’t remember if the cutoff for free children is 3, her age, or older. I feel like it was older, just not sure.

On this excursion, we just had to walk to our destination, which wasn’t all that far. (There was nothing in writing that told us what to do, so we called down to guest services to ask.) So we walked through a little shopping area and went a few blocks. I’m horrible with distance. I know it took maybe 10 or 15 minutes. And it was a little warm out, but it wasn’t a bad walk. I will say that in this port, we were asked quite a bit about if we wanted a cab or to take a tour. There were a lot of people lining the streets. And there was a lot of traffic near the port. I wasn’t as comfortable here as I had been on St. Croix. It wasn’t bad, but just letting you know for a comparison.

So we got to the tram, which is a skyride. We had quite a few steps to get to the area where we got on the tram. And then we rode up. I’m not really sure how high we got, but it was a pretty view.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/fcbf7f18.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/02e87e25.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/49750f41.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/a70dde77.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/b3c33128.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/71af7a93.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/f73f33a2.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/463ab5f9.jpg

At the top, they had some shops. They were pretty cheesy, nothing special there, and no great prices. And then the rain started. So we sat down at a little bar (I think it was also a restaurant, but we just got drinks – and we only did that because it was raining.) As soon as the rain slowed down – we hurried back to the skyride to go back down. And then we caught a cab back, since it was still sprinkling – and I was lazy.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/debb6f8f.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/6c447275.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/83e21bbd.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/52bde59b.jpg

We then grabbed lunch – I think in the room. I believe this is the day after my hubby realized the steak sandwiches on the room service menu were really good. He loved them. So I got one, and he got two. And we got DD either her favorite cheese platter or a hot dog. I can’t remember which. She loved that cheese platter, and I really did too.

After lunch, we took DD to the club, and we decided to go back out for just a little bit to do some shopping. She decided she didn’t want to do the shopping. (And not that she’s horrible to shop with, but I knew it would be easier without her, so I was OK with her staying on the ship.) The shops are right next to the ship – so we weren't far. We got some more shirts – with St. Thomas on them.

Here's the St. Thomas guide you get from the ship
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/da4bc176.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/1dd5d04e.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/513d3449.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/b92cd29f.jpg

Then we headed back for a late nap. When we got up, we got ready for dinner. DD said she wanted to go to the club. She said she wasn’t hungry. The problem was that the club was at Topsiders at 5:30, I believe, which is when our dinner started. So I told her she had a choice, we could go to dinner with her clubmates, and then go back and play. Or she could have dinner with us. We know she loved the little girl sitting at our table, but she decided to wanted to go to the club.

After dropping her off at Topsiders, we went to Parrot Cay. But our tablemates didn’t show this night. (Remember, we didn’t show the night before.) So it was just me and DH, which was really rather nice.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/546718e1.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/dd3951ad.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/66866dbc.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%205/46fe13bd.jpg

I had the crab/cheese dip for the appetizer. (I thought it was OK.) And then I had the onion soup, which was surprisingly good. My hubby tried mine, and thought it was good too. I then followed my trend of ordering more than one entrée and got the ribeye of beef (which was sliced beef, not a steak) and the grouper. I ate most of the beef, but only some of the grouper. Both were good though. I thought the beef was the best.

Hubby had the fritters, which were really good. He highly recommended them. I tried them, and agreed. He got the Caesar salad, which he liked again. For his entrees, he also did the beef, plus he did the mixed grill. It had a little of something from different entrees over the last few nights. He liked both, if I remember correctly.

Then I think we both got an ice cream sundae, which was really good.

After dinner, we did some shopping. Then we went to get DD to let her pick out a gift to take back. For a 3-year-old, I thought she did a good job of not wanting everything. She stuck with an Ariel toy, even after looking through everything else. But we took notice of what else she looked at, so we could go back later and get her a little surprise. (We ended up getting me and her matching bracelets, with different charms on them. We both love our little keepsakes from our cruise.)

A nice little note about shopping in the stores. The cast members will deliver your packages to the room later for you. The people who work the shops do the deliveries, so it’s not immediate. But it only took a few hours – and it was nice to shop whenever we wanted and not have to worry about carrying it all around with us. Of course, we didn't need this if we were going back to the room, but other times we didn't want to go back just then.

After shopping this evening, we headed back for bed.

Up next: Our last sea day, palo brunch, Friendship Rocks and more.

lulu0506

02-23-2009, 12:24 PM

OurOhana

02-23-2009, 12:59 PM

Sounds like your DD really loved the club! :thumbsup2 I am hoping the same for my DS3. Is your DD completely potty trained? My DS is doing great with the pottty but I am worried he will have trouble doing it all himself when at the club. Were the bathrooms easy for your DD to manage (were the toilets suited for little kids?)

Thanks!!!

She really did love it. It looked like all of the kids were having a blast. Now I will say, my daughter is an extrovert, and used to child care. But she far prefered to be in the club than with us much of the time. :)
My DD has been potty trained for more than a year. However, the first night she had an accident - just too excited and not wanting to miss out on the action. The counselors were very nice about it. I thought they might question is she was potty trained, but they didn't ask. She never had a problem the rest of the trip.
The counselors aren't allowed to help the kids in the potty in anyway, so they have to do it all on their own. Fortunately, the bathrooms were all kids-sized. They were adorable.
If there's a problem, you could pop by every couple of hours to make sure he's OK. (and to be honest, there's so much to do on the ship, you might find that two hours is as long as he would be there at one time. I can only think of a few times when our DD was in the club longer than 2 or 2 1/2 hours. When were on an excursion off the ship, and the last night are the two that come to mind immediately. But we would get her to eat, or go swimming or see a show, etc.) It might help if you put him in shorts that easy to get on and off himself.
Now my daughter isn't regular about when she has to poop. If she was, I would have made sure I was with her to help with the wiping. She did it herself, but not always great. If by chance your son is one of those who goes at certain times, you just might want to be around during those times if wiping is still an issue.

1stdisneycruise

02-23-2009, 04:49 PM

We normally have not had a problem with doing this and the servers usually encourage it BUT last cruise the server made a big deal about it and sometimes only brought us one thing even when we had asked for two.

Yes the same here for us. I think this time if that happens I will talk to the head guy. We want great meals like the TR is talking about. That is what we are paying for not feel bad that we want to eat up that is what we like about vacation trying lots of new things:cool1: . That is why I wanted to ask to make sure that it is ok to do. Thank you for the great waiter that brings two.

Ok only 24 hours to go. We have weighed our selfs and ready to gain weight:banana:

I know that sounds weird. But on our first cruise it was a 7 day and a week after we got back I went to this fitness thing and I told them my weight They said why not let us weigh you.:rotfl2: I said ok. I was 10 pounds over:scared1: . Now I had some idea I had gained SOME weight with my pants getting smaller with the sea air :laundy: :dance3:
But that is ok I will lose it when I get back. :yay:

OurOhana

02-23-2009, 07:41 PM

Yes the same here for us. I think this time if that happens I will talk to the head guy. We want great meals like the TR is talking about. That is what we are paying for not feel bad that we want to eat up that is what we like about vacation trying lots of new things:cool1: . That is why I wanted to ask to make sure that it is ok to do. Thank you for the great waiter that brings two.

Ok only 24 hours to go. We have weighed our selfs and ready to gain weight:banana:

I know that sounds weird. But on our first cruise it was a 7 day and a week after we got back I went to this fitness thing and I told them my weight They said why not let us weigh you.:rotfl2: I said ok. I was 10 pounds over:scared1: . Now I had some idea I had gained SOME weight with my pants getting smaller with the sea air :laundy: :dance3:
But that is ok I will lose it when I get back. :yay:

I would agree. Talking with the head waiter would be a good idea if that happens. But it sounds like it's somewhat rare. Hopefully anyway. I would have felt horrible if the waiter had questioned us. What I wish they would do is let you build your own plate - pick the meat, starch, veggie and only add the sauce if you want it. But I know that's a tough thing to do when you're feeding so many people. But often, I only ate the meat off of one plate. In fact, one night my husband asked the waiter in Topsiders to just double the portion of something, rather than bringing out two full plates.

As for losing weight - I say the best trick is to not weigh yourself ahead of time, that way you won't know if you gained or lost weight on the cruise :)

I hope you have a blast on your cruise. I can't wait to hear about it when you get back.

1stdisneycruise

02-23-2009, 10:54 PM

OurOhana

02-24-2009, 06:22 PM

I would agree. Talking with the head waiter would be a good idea if that happens. But it sounds like it's somewhat rare. Hopefully anyway. I would have felt horrible if the waiter had questioned us. What I wish they would do is let you build your own plate - pick the meat, starch, veggie and only add the sauce if you want it. But I know that's a tough thing to do when you're feeding so many people. But often, I only ate the meat off of one plate. In fact, one night my husband asked the waiter in Topsiders to just double the portion of something, rather than bringing out two full plates.

I agree with you. I hate wasting but I am there to try new things and I my only wanting the one thing on the plate. But at the same time I also agree that they are prbly premaking the plates so they can get them out as fast as the orders are going in.

I hope to do a great TR but you guys are really good at it.:cool1:
I hope to figure out how to add photos because that always makes a TR so much betterpopcorn::

Ok I am now counting hours and yes I have jumped up and down today like a 9 year old.:banana:

tomorrow before we leave. I have a busy day. I have to do all the reg. things and we have to take our puppy to a friends to be watched. You would not think that is a big deal but we got Ramon two months ago (the same time we booked this cruise) from a man that could not keep him. He is only 10 months old and he is the best dog ever. Really.
Plus, we have had some bad luck with dogs. We have got in the past 6 years 4 dogs and they are sick when we get them and die from parvo (sp):sick: or get attacked when we are taking them out in our own back yard by a lose dog. So we are over protective of Ramon. He is small and loves us and tells you when he has to go potty and everything.:banana:
So our friends are like yea we will watch your dog not a big deal:scared1:
But we know they will do a good job and he does not like other dogs and could not go to no dog retreat he would not do well and we would be scared he would get sick:confused: Plus he loves the kids and they have 3. We are just hoping he does not forget who we are when we get back:idea:

Sorry you had to here my dog worry:sad1:

No worries - You're talking to a person with three dogs. We always worry when we leave them - especially when they were new to the family. but I'm sure Ramon will do great, and he'll definitely remember you.

As for the trip report - the best part of these boards is everyone does them a little differently. I've seen people only write a post or two, and others who've written novels. I've enjoyed reading those and everything in between. Even if you don't get a chance to write something, I hope to hear how much you liked it.

As for adding photos, I'm happy to help you figure that out - and I'm sure there are others who are experts on here who could help even more. I've been using photobucket.com. I hadn't heard of it before reading this boards, but I like it. I just move my photos there and then copy them into the report. It doesn't take too long. And I write my stuff in a word document ahead of time. I only learned to do that after losing one of my posts early on because of my computer. It's all trial and error.

Well, by now, you're probably already gone - or at least getting ready. So if you see this - I hope you have a great time!!!

OurOhana

02-24-2009, 07:00 PM

After a couple of port days, I was looking forward to another sea day. But it didn’t take long for the weather to start getting chilly again. Not that it was that bad, just chillier than it had been when we were in port.

We started our day with room service – as usual. And we got the same stuff as the other days. But we had a light breakfast, because was Palos brunch day.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/e027aa6d.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/05fc6346.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/1d7f27eb.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/e6a1e816.jpg

Then we decided to take DD to Playhouse Disney. We weren’t sure what it was. I was thinking they would have characters from some of her favorite morning Disney shows. But it didn’t. There was a cast member there who led the kids in song and dances from the shows. My DD was only a little into it – she was more interested in playing with the babies in attendance. But she did some dancing.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/ad443c6f.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/6f38ddc0.jpg

Then we took her to the club, and we went to see a Question and Answer segment with castmates. It started at 10 a.m. They were all in the shows and it was interesting. Now I wish I took notes, because I don’t remember much of what they told us. But they were great about answering questions. We had to run out a little early in time for our 10:30 brunch at Palos.

Now, I’m glad we tried it, but I wouldn’t need to do the brunch again. I might try dinner one time, just to see. There’s a large buffet for most cold items – There’s plenty of breads and pastries (all fresher than we had most of the week – so pretty good.) There was also quite a bit or fruit, very large shrimp with cocktail sauce. Crab legs and claws. Caviar (Not sure how it was, I don’t like it.) I can’t remember what else, but it was an OK selection. I probably have this opinion because I’ve been to many incredible buffets, and this didn’t qualify as incredible. But it wasn’t bad. The server took us around to show us all of the self-serve items. She then explained that she would get the hot foods for us. Those included pizzas (pretty good) pastas (I had a seafood one, but wasn’t overly impressed with it.) and entrees – We had the Chicken Parmesean, which was good. I think they had veal or something like that, whatever it was – my hubby got it. Anyway, I would have liked to have a beef selection – only because we thought Disney did beef rather well. I assure you we left full, and found plenty to keep us happy. They were very nice in there. It just wasn’t on the top of the list for us.

I’m pretty sure we then went to get DD for lunch (probably room service) and a quick nap. I only say this because I thought we did a nap every day, but it would have had to be a short one because we wanted to go to the 2 p.m. Disney Dreams show.

First, I love that they offered the show earlier. I wish they had done that for the shows on the other sea days. It was just nice, not to feel so rushed at night – and not to have to stay up really late. The show was really wonderful. I think they just got better every night – which is hard to believe since the first one was pretty great too. DD just loved it. In fact, she liked it so much that she wanted to meet Anne Marie (the main character) and Peter Pan the next night. But that story comes later.

After the show, it was time for DD to get back to the club for the rehearsal/prep for the Friendship Rocks show. So while she was in there, we decided to give Bingo a try. It was our first time the entire trip. (We played quite a bit when we were on HAL twice in 2003, but just hadn’t tried here. I saw that it was expensive, and didn’t really want to spend all of our money on that. I think we ended up spending $69 for like 40 some odd cards. They have these electronic holders for the cards and you really have to do nothing. The machine tells you when you’re close to winning and alerts you if you win.

Needless to say, we didn’t win. But it was still fun. The Bingo staff was entertaining. It is something I would recommend trying at least once, if you like that sort of thing.

It wasn’t long after Bingo that it was time for Friendship Rocks. And of course, there’s a story.

So, all of the kids are in shirts – different colors for different ages. Our DD was in a yellow shirt.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/e1781ad1.jpg

They bring the kids in the Walt Disney Theater and get them up on the stage. They're greeted by Mickey and Minnie. Then a couple of the counselors lead the little program, which includes a slideshow of pictures from the cruise.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/57d79418.jpg

Anyway, while they’re all on stage, kids and the big mice SMILEY HERE, I’m taking video and DH is taking pictures. And then we see it – DD makes a run for it. She is determined to see Mickey or Minnie. Not sure which, but I have to say, I felt like the counselors turned into the secret service at that point. I don’t mean that in a mean way, it was just funny. The pictures are kind of amusing when they realize she’s running toward them.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/a6aa7ade.jpg

(I have to say, the characters always do a good job of staying in character and never trying to shoo a child away. I didn’t think of it until later, but it probably would have freaked my DD out if Mickey had scolded her – not that she didn’t deserve to be scolded for running on stage when she should have been sitting.) Anyway, the counselors quickly got her back to her spot, and kept a hold on her.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/db3e69c2.jpg

(Though I do think she once tried to make a run for the audience. I think she thought she spotted us – but I’m not sure if she really did see us. We weren’t that close.)
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/77710405.jpg
Anyway, obviously, we’re going to have to discuss not stalking, hmmm chasing, Disney characters before the next cruise, because she had another problem with this the next night.) Anyway, the program was pretty short – not much to it.

After her show, we headed for dinner.

And then off to dinner.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/12f3f1d9.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/613d898a.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/c657e720.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/73fc4249.jpg

This time, we were in Animators Palate and it was semi-formal night, which means – LOBSTER.

Yeah, I had decided I would go against my new rule of staying away from seafood and get the lobster. It was a little overcooked, but not bad. And I enjoyed it. I also had the shrimp for an appetizer, which I think I remember was pretty good. And I had the mushroom soup. But to add to my meal tonight, instead of a second regular entrée, I had the risotto off of the vegetarian menu. It was really very good.

DH had the fruit salad, which he liked. He also got the garden salad, which was basic, veal, which was good, and the fettuccini, which was also good, but not as good as the veal.

I believe my daughter had a pizza that night, but it might have been chicken. Not sure. And she may have had a Mickey Ice Cream Bar for dessert - but for the life of me, I can't remember if she went to the club for a while when we waited for our dinner to come (the dinners could last two hours often, just too long for her)

DH and I had came back and we had lava cake for dessert. It was pretty good, which was surprising since we weren’t fairing well on the desserts. But I liked this one.

And we finished it off with a decaf coffee. I started liking finishing dinner off with coffee. It was just relaxing, for some reason to me. Go figure.

After dinner, we wanted to get some more pictures. I know I got DD changed from her earlier show - though I don't remember if did before or after dinner. But we did get a few pics.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/591bbace.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/ccd6a115.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/1ca54d0c.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/555e65ca.jpg

(The funny thing about this Tinker Bell pic. They tried to get us all to do this picture a night or two before. But we didn't know it was a Tinker Bell pic. Obviously, a tiny Tinker Bell didn't jump in our DD's hand. So when the guy told us to look at her hands, but didn't say why, we didn't understand. Those pics didn't turn out. But when I saw other Tinker Bell pics, I thought they were cute. So we tried again - just with her this time. Plus, we got some cute pics with our tablemate's daughter.)

And then off to bed we went.

Actually, the more I think of it, maybe we did the pictures after dinner this night. I just can't remember for sure. Maybe my DH will remember later.

We did do most of our packing that night, by the way. It was a suggestion I read on the disboards, to leave us time the last night for more fun things. It was a good idea, and worked out well.

Up next: Chilly day on Castaway Cay, but fun nonetheless. Some tears, but many smiles, as our cruise neared an end.

disneynewbee

02-24-2009, 10:42 PM

The picture of your dd with Tink is absolutely adorable.

Billinaz

02-25-2009, 12:37 AM

There is no problem. Last year on the Magic, Arnold, our head server ordered one of each dessert on the menu for us. This is a cruise. Eat all you want.

You must mean this guy... we met him on our very first cruise in 2004 and have always looked for him ever since!

http://members.cox.net/billinaz/Arnold.jpg

TotallyAngelic

02-25-2009, 02:34 AM

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%206/555e65ca.jpg

(The funny thing about this Tinker Bell pic. They tried to get us all to do this picture a night or two before. But we didn't know it was a Tinker Bell pic. Obviously, a tiny Tinker Bell didn't jump in our DD's hand. So when the guy told us to look at her hands, but didn't say why, we didn't understand. Those pics didn't turn out. But when I saw other Tinker Bell pics, I thought they were cute. So we tried again - just with her this time. Plus, we got some cute pics with our tablemate's daughter.)

This photo is absolutely beautiful and so natural.

bonzie1

02-25-2009, 05:13 AM

Your daughter is precious! LOVE the picture with Tinkerbelle! :goodvibes

fairfax

02-25-2009, 07:43 AM

Oh my gosh, that picture with Tinker Bell is the cutest thing ever! I'm going to have to see if I can get my DD to do that.

I just wanted to say again how much I've enjoyed your TR and it's helped me pass the time and get even more excited (if possible) for our cruise this Saturday. You've answered so many questions for me with the menus, navigators, St. Croix report, and now the description of Friendship Rocks which I've wondered about. Also, we'll be doing the Palo brunch for the first time ever this cruise. So thank you again! And your DD is so adorable.

LisaSp

02-25-2009, 08:28 AM

You must mean this guy... we met him on our very first cruise in 2004 and have always looked for him ever since!

http://members.cox.net/billinaz/Arnold.jpg

We loved Arnold--he was our head server on our cruise last year and he was fantastic.

Enjoying this trip report too--the Tink photo is beautiful!

lbgraves

02-25-2009, 09:59 PM

That Tink picture with your daughter is priceless!!! I wish they did that when DD was little. :)

OurOhana

02-28-2009, 03:03 PM

Thanks everyone for your comments about our Tinker bell picture. It really is a favorite. We have it in a frame on top of the TV now. I know our daughter will love seeing it when she's older.

OurOhana

02-28-2009, 03:19 PM

It was pretty apparent late Thursday that our parasailing excursion on Castaway Cay would be canceled. It was really windy, the ship was rocking more than on most days, at least in my opinion. But guest services said they weren’t sure late Thursday.

So not too long after we woke up Friday morning, we had a message on our phone telling us the excursion was canceled. In all honesty, it didn’t break my heart. I was a little nervous anyway, but I would still like to give a try – maybe on the next cruise. But my hubby told me I should be grateful. He thought if they had gone ahead with the excursion, with the winds, I wouldn’t like it.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/23836745.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/359b721f.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/fbe0f445.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/0506822a.jpg

So we had our normal room service. (Boy do I miss room service) but not a ton, because we decided to try a restaurant for breakfast. We had already tried Lumineer’s the first day, and didn’t love it. We liked Parrot Key for our character breakfast, so we decided to give it a shot.

It was tasty. We highly recommend it. It seems so odd to me that food could be better in one restaurant than another on the same ship – especially things like eggs – but it’s true. I wasn’t starving, but I got cereal and I think a chocolate croissant. DH had an omelet. DD had cereal and yogurt. It was a nice easy morning, as we waited for the ship to dock at Castaway Cay, and for us to hear we could get off.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/6ac6abb5.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/6bd7fdfe.jpg

Once we did, we stopped for pics with a few friends
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/154135cb.jpg

And then grabbed the trolley to get to the Family Beach. We did a few more pics.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/fcf348b3.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/8e3a0548.jpg

There were still plenty of chairs. We took a few closer to the beach, so DD could build sandcastles and play in the water a little. Our tablemates met up with us, so the girls could play together, which was perfect.

Well, maybe not perfect, only because it was chilly. But at least it was sunny. But I definitely kept my sundress on over my bathing suit – and later needed my husband’s jacket, which he only brought because I refused to bring one. I knew I wouldn’t need one. OK, I thought I wouldn’t need one. (I hate saying he’s right – but since it doesn’t happen often, I’ll give it to him on occasion.

DH went to get DD a Nemo bucket and shovel, since her friend had brought one with her.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/52698521.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/6c61f1e3.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/71d14783.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/6572e200.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/5fc3f737.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/7f044e35.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/27e274fb.jpg

Then after a while, we took DD to the club on the island because we had a noon appointment for a couples massage. I apparently wasn’t paying attention as we started walking toward Serenity Beach. I wanted to get a trolley (It was a vacation. What’s with all the walking?) But DH thought a walk would be great. We missed the stop for the trolley. (I’m also not overly excited when he wins, but it happens on occasion.)

We got to the cabanas a little early, so we sat in some chairs and waited for our massage therapists. Now I’m forgetting their names, but they were both great. The guy took DH, who wanted a deep tissue massage. DH said the massage was great, and he’s really picky about them. The girl took me, and I wanted a little more than a Swedish massage, but I couldn’t handle a real deep tissue. She was also great.

But by this time, I was getting cold. Being the not-always –bright-person I can be on occasion, I suggested they open the cabana doors so we could enjoy the breeze. About a second later, I suggested they close it again. Even with the towel and sheet on me, I was cold, but the massage was still good.

So it was right after the massage that I put on the jacket, and we grabbed lunch in Serenity Beach, since it was right next to the cabanas. It was really very good – we had a burger, plus they had ribeyes. Both were pretty good, I thought. And I really enjoyed the cookie dough ice cream, which I had read about ahead of time. I had a second cup.

Feeling very full, and relaxed, we waited for the trolley (I guess that means I won this time, but I’m sure even DH wanted to continue feeling relaxed.)
We went to get DD, but she didn’t want to come with us yet. (They don't take the kids near the beach, but they do have water for them to play with, to help them build sandcastles - plenty of toys in there too - and they were playing games when we went by.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/87f0629b.jpg

Her friend was with her. So we decided to let her stay, and we’d go shopping. I don’t remember getting much of anything, but it was around 2:15maybe, and I knew the club would close soon – and I knew DD would need a nap. I think we did a few more pics on our own about this time.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/5c8cc411.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/19063337.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/14e95656.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/20fff963.jpg

So we thought we’d go back for her and go back to the ship. By our tablemates’ daughter was with our DD, and she started to get upset when DH took DD. So we decided we’d just sit and wait for our tablemates to come back to get their daughter, so she wasn’t left alone. (Again, it was so nice for the girls to have each other to play with – and who would have thought we’d all get along so well. It’s one of the nice perks of sitting with other people at dinner. Our daughters felt like they knew each other well.)

So after our tablemates got their daughter, we got ours, and we headed back for showers and naps.

Next up, dinner, goodbyes and Til We Meet Again

poohj80

02-28-2009, 07:47 PM

I know our daughter will love seeing it when she's older.

Until her first boyfriend comes over? :rotfl:

We leave on our 1st cruise tomorrow! :mickeyjum :mickeyjum

OurOhana

03-01-2009, 07:57 PM

We were all at the table tonight, for the final dinner. This is where it had started just a week before. And I was definitely sad to have it end – but a week’s vacation was really a nice time. I just appreciated the time we had, and hoped I wouldn’t cry tonight!

Within just a few minutes of sitting down, my DD was getting cranky and wanted to go to the club. Our tablemates’ daughter also wanted to go. So the guys took the girls to Topsiders for dinner with their clubmates. DH told me what he wanted for dinner, but when I started to order, I knew he would change his mind.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/70b989b9.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/1fe5ec19.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/0aa6d4b7.jpg

He said he wanted the split pea soup, but Toney told me it was cold. So I said go ahead and bring it, but please bring him a romaine lettuce salad too. He had the lamb, and a ribeye off the lighter menu. He liked his meal.

I had the lobster bisque (which was just OK) and the spinach salad, which was really good. I also had the lamb and ribeye. I didn’t finish the steak, but I loved the lamb. Both were really good, actually. It was a nice end to the cruise.

DH had the apple pie, and I had the baked Alaska. We both really liked it. And we finished it off with coffee. Then we gave our servers their tips. And we all got some photos together.

Then we did some shopping, and went to get our pictures. They couldn’t find the one of DD with Cinderella, and they were having problems with the kiosks. But they were able to pull the negative sheets so we could find the Cinderella picture. The other pictures were still on display. They told us to come by in the morning to pick up the print of the Cinderella picture. So after paying for the pictures, we headed back to get DD.

But she was having fun in the club – dressed up as Cinderella (I loved that they had costumes the kids could wear all the time – and said she didn’t want to leave yet.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/a600c782.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/6835b2dd.jpg

Now we let her stay in there later this night than any other night, but I figured she could stay there for a few minutes more – I was trying to keep her awake for the Til We Meet Again. It’s not a traditional show, like the others in theater. This one is in the lobby, and all of the characters come down the stairs, mingle a little, let parents snap pictures, give autographs and then head out.

I told DD I would wait for her, and she could play a little more. But she told me, “No, Mom, You have to leave.” Great, DD turned 13 on the ship. What in the world was that about? (Yeah, I guess I didn't need to feel guilty all week when she was in the club. She had a blast.) I decided to go sit outside for a little bit. A short time later, I told her the time was up, we had to go. She was already starting to cry, as we turned the beeper into the counselors. But I told her we were going to see some more characters, so that stopped her. Of course, by this point, she should have been in bed (she’s just used to going to bed early) so I knew I was pushing it by keeping her up.

I figured DD would love it. DH wanted to get some pictures, so he went upstairs to try to get a good shot- it was already getting crowded in the lobby. So DD and I stood in the lobby and waited for the characters to come down. I brought the camcorder with me, and was trying to get some video. We were standing in an area where the characters were coming straight down the middle. As Mickey, and then Minnie started coming down the man-made aisle, my DD darted out to hug Minnie. Again, the characters were always great, as I tried to grab my daughter.

So I’m decently confident that she knows not to dart out anymore. My hubby is up on the fourth level, looking down, and I’m still holding the camcorder, as Belle makes an appearance down one side of the steps, and Cinderella comes down the other.

By now, you all know DD loves the princess, and this is obviously just too much for a 3-year-old to handle, without chatting with the princesses. So there she went -running up to Belle first.

This is the picture my husband got from above
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/5489acae.jpg

I couldn’t get up to the front – she was so short, she got through people’s legs. I obviously couldn’t do the same. So I literally held my camera up, with the screen pointing down so I could see it – and see her. My husband kept his camera on her the whole time too - since he wasn't sure from where he was if I could see her. But my camera helped (since I was too short to see over all of the people.) That’s how I kept an eye on her, until I could get to the front. By this point, she was trying to talk to Cinderella. The castmembers didn’t seem amused, and who could blame them.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/2a4c3ec7.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/8c9bafa2.jpg

I eventually got DD back near me. And I made a mental note that I shouldn’t bring a camera with me to Disney World, because I would need to hold her hand the whole time we go there next time so she doesn’t run off. (I will say, that’s one of the nicest parts of being on a ship – I knew she couldn’t go that far, thankfully.

So the characters mingled for a bit.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/b8d3950c.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/d21eadb5.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/602c8c1d.jpg

And then they get up on the stairs to sing a final goodbye – the M-I-C-K-E-Y song.
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Day%207/2625582a.jpg

About this point, DD spots Anne Marie and Peter from the Disney Dreams show, and now she’s crying because she wants to go talk to them. But it was getting late, and I was hanging on to her this time.

When the “pixie dust” or little Mickey-shaped confetti started coming down, DD stopped getting upset enough to pick up some. I kept a few – and when we got home I put them by her bed. I also surprised her by putting a pillow case on her pillow at home with the autographs of all the characters. I had dropped it off maybe on Wednesday or even Thursday to see if guest services could get it signed. I left four or five fabric markers with it. (I, of course, got the idea from the disboards. When DD saw the pillowcase and “pixie dust” at home, I told her Tinker Bell must have come by before we got home to give us a little goodbye surprise.

So now it was late. We went back to the room, and ordered our last room service. I got another cheese plate, and used some baggies I had bought to put some away, along with some grapes that came with it, so DD could have a snack in the morning.

We had already done most of our packing, so we just had to take off our clothes from the night, and get our last showers, and put our bags out to be picked up. We kept a rolling duffle we had bought on the ship for our night clothes and toiletries we would need for the morning.

Up next: Goodbye Disney Magic, plus later some overall tips and thoughts about our cruise.

OurOhana

03-04-2009, 09:13 PM

We had decided that 6:45 was just too early to get up on our last day of vacation. So breakfast in the dining room was out of the question. And while we could have gone to Topsiders, we decided to just sleep in late. Plus, we didn’t love the coffee anyway, so we decided to get Starbucks when we go off the ship anyway.

So at about 7 a.m., we got up. DH went to shutters to pick up the Cinderella photo. He also picked up coffees from the 9th floor (just to get us through disembarkation). I think we had a couple of bananas in the room from the night before, (They always had them out at Goofy Galley when it’s closed. It was nice to have the fresh fruit in the morning. And it was better than the fruit bowl that came from room service.)

Once he got back to the room, we decided to leave. We just walked right off the ship – no problems, no lines. When we got out, we went to get our luggage, and found a porter. My DH helped him find the luggage, and then we took our passports and customs form (which we just the items we had bought in the shops and at the ports, and estimated a total based on receipts) to the customs person. I don’t think he even looked at our passports. He did briefly look at our customs form. And then off we went. The porter loaded our stuff in the truck, we tipped him and then we were out of there. The whole thing probably took 10 minutes.

We really had a great trip – from beginning to end. Sure, the weather could have been nicer – but it also could have been much worse. Who cares – we were on the Disney Magic. It was really quite magical. Our DD still talks about it.

Some odds and ends:
This was in our room the last night to prepare us for debarkation
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Last%20day%20and%20others/34d25ef4.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Last%20day%20and%20others/b63a5975.jpg

And our luggage tag:
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Last%20day%20and%20others/146b1310.jpg

Coming up next, I’ve written some summaries by topic of our thoughts on everything from the accommodation, the food, the ports and the service. I’ll finish it up and post it soon.

Thank you everyone for reading our trip report. I had fun writing it, because it helped me feel like it extended out vacation a little bit. Now I’m a little sad I’m wrapping it up. We have definitely decided to take another cruise later this year for the $99 per person. We can’t wait.

If anyone has questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I was able to learn so much from the disboards. I found being prepared made our trip much more enjoyable. So if I can help you, I’m happy to try.

OurOhana

03-04-2009, 09:18 PM

Just another quick note.

Here are some things I've scanned that didn't really fit anywhere else.

The laundry form:
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Last%20day%20and%20others/9ae94aea.jpg

The internet/cell use form:
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Last%20day%20and%20others/9852325c.jpg
http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg400/OurOhana_photo/Last%20day%20and%20others/054a6165.jpg

Also, I wanted to let you all know that the lost and found is pretty good. My husband left his flipflops in the room inadvertently. We called the next day to see if they were found. The lady called us back within a day to say they weren't turned in yet, but she would call back the next Saturday to see if they were turned in them. Sure enough, she called to say she had them. We got them a few days later in the mail.

texfinn

03-04-2009, 09:44 PM

Thank you for your TR and for posting all of the menus, navigators and other forms.

We go on our first cruise in May and all of the TRs have really helped with the planning and the excitement!!!!!!

Our best to you and your darling little girl!

Jumba17

03-05-2009, 07:41 AM

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I have really enjoyed reading your report!

dvc4life

03-05-2009, 08:10 AM

Great report! Thanks for sharing your vacation with us. And your daughter is adorable!!!!!! :flower3:

poohj80

03-05-2009, 04:02 PM

I just wanted to thank you so much for all you shared! We just got back from our 1st Disney Cruise with almost 3 yr old DD and had a blast! It will be better when she's a bit older and the weather's a bit warmer, but it was still phenomenal!

OurOhana

03-06-2009, 07:15 AM

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. It has been fun writing.
And pooh, I'm so glad you had a great trip. I can't wait to hear more. Off to work now, but I'll be back on later or this weekend. Thank goodness for weekends.

dato63

03-06-2009, 01:55 PM

OurOhana

03-07-2009, 08:25 PM

I've also followed your trip report & enjoyed it. Your DD is adorable.

Thank you for taking the time. There aren't many reports on here of the Eastern, which is the one we are booked on. So it was especially nice to see yours with all the wonderful pictures. Now, if only time would go a tad faster! :)

Thank you. I know you will have so much fun. And I know what you mean about speeding up time. We're going on another cruise later this year, and I just can't wait.

TammyNC

03-08-2009, 09:31 AM

Great report, thanks for sharing your time with us.

OurOhana

03-21-2009, 06:49 PM

OK. This is later coming than I thought it would, but it’s been crazy lately (thankfully I finished the trip report already.) But here are my overall impressions/thoughts/comments about our Disney Magic cruise

Food – Overall, not great. But certainly could have been worse. Seafood was not great. Meat was really good, surprisingly considering they have to cook so much. Dessert left something to be desired. But you’ll never go hungry – just find what works for you. And don’t worry if you want to order two items – or double of one item – you’re on vacation. Go for it. I would recommend the porterhouse steak at Topsiders. I loved the blue cheese risotto on the semi-formal night. I got it as a side to my lobster, even though the risotto was actually a vegetarian entree. The lava cake was pretty good in the dining room. We tried a few cakes from room service, but they just weren’t good. The cheese platter from room service was great. And the steak sandwich was great too. Also, try the Mickey bars in your room too, if you want. They’re not on the menu, but they’ll bring them to you. In general, anywhere you are, just go ahead and ask if they have something, even if it’s not on the menu. We also enjoyed grabbing fresh fruit from Goofy’s galley at night before we went back to our rooms – so it there for us in the morning.

Safety – To me, this is the most important part, and I was impressed. And I’m a stickler about such things. First, the lock on the verandah in our room was so difficult at first, my husband had to show ME how to use it. Let’s just say I wasn’t worried about DD getting out without us. We followed the simple guidelines DCL gave us, which was not to let DD out on the verandah on her own. So while there were times we would have liked to keep the veranda door open, we didn’t, so she couldn’t get out without us watching. Also, I liked the glass that lined the railing on the verandah, and all of the decks. I again felt very safe.

I also thought the counselors were great in the kids’ club. They never failed to check our ID, and our daughter’s wrist band every time we left the club. I was watching to see if they’d get less vigilant later in the trip, but they didn’t. Not even when they knew us, and could see our DD greeting us enthusiastically.

Cleanliness – The magic is about 10 years old, and there were signs of it here and there. But that’s to be expected when thousands of people are on the boat every week. I was highly impressed with how clean the ship was – from the staterooms to the public bathrooms. When we got sand on our floor after St. Croix and Castaway Cay, the steward was there vacuuming it up. And every morning and evening, our room was straightened up and cleaned. We always had plenty of towels, and anything else we needed.

Also, while some might think Disney went overboard with all the handwipes, I thought it was great. We had just gotten over a cold when we got on the cruise, and I was so worried we would get a flu or something. But it didn’t happen. They gave out wipes from the minute you got on the ship, every single time we entered a restaurant and again when we got on the ship at a port. Also, when our DD went to the kids’ club, the counselors put soap on her hands immediately and made her follow a star-pathway to the bathroom to wash her hands. I thought it was great.

Service – It was just as great as we had expected. I always think Disney does a great job with service, and this was no exception. Everyone really wanted us to have a great time, and they made sure it happened. I can’t think of one bad server we encountered – not one person who had a bad attitude or anything. Now some people were a little slower than others, but that’s going to happen. But we were on vacation, and for us, this was great.

Photos – I like that there were many opportunities for pictures. There were plane backdrops for formal family pics, plus there were many characters out every evening to get pics with them. I wish we’d had a better idea of when all of the characters would be out each day, but when I look at the navigators, I think they were on there. I just didn’t always notice. They did list them on a tv screen in the lobby, which we checked each day to see where we should go so DD could see her favorites.

Room – No complaints here. We had been on HAL and loved it. But this was a little bigger. Plenty of room for the three of us. We were in 8014, a category 4 family suite, and it was pretty quiet, even on the nights when they had the Pirates Party. The only thing to let those of you know who might want to watch the fireworks from your room, you should book on the starboard side, since that’s where they’re displayed. We were on the port side. Also, I thought the storage space was great. We had plenty of room, plus some to spare. We didn’t even use the over-the-door organizer, since we had plenty of drawer space for our odds and ends. I posted pics of the storage at the beginning of this report for those of you would like to see. One note – large suitcases won’t fit under the bed. We tried. Medium size ones were fine, but we put one of ours in the closet and the other on top of the double trunk.

Entertainment –This was a highlight. My daughter still talks about the shows. I think they got better every night. They also had quite a few movies. My one suggestion for Disney would be to show the movies more often during the day. We never got to see a movie, usually because they were playing at a time when we wanted to see one of the shows in the theater. And we never stayed out really late. But if they had more movie times, we might have made one. Also, I loved that they had a matinee of the Twice Charmed show. I wish they had done that for Golden Mickeys, which was also a sea day. It was just a nice touch.

Another thought – while there were quite a few television channels, I would have liked it if they repeated the movies on the tv a little less. Since our DD was in bed decently early most nights, we watched some tv while she slept. Every other night they repeated the same movies. So by the end, there was little to watch. I ended up watching news, which I would have been just as happy to avoid on this great vacation. Now this wasn’t even close to a problem, just a suggestion. Maybe if they rotated three days of different movies, for those people who are stuck in their rooms at night.

Ports – St. Croix was our favorite. We loved our excursion – the miniboats with Island Networks. We booked it through Disney for $79 per person. Our daughter stayed on the boat, and we felt she was perfectly safe and happy for those few hours. We didn’t love St. Thomas – just too busy, people constantly trying to get you to take a tour, crowded streets, a lot of traffic. Maybe we would have liked it more if we had done an excursion and gotten into the water. We did do the skyride on this day, but we weren’t impressed. We didn’t get to go parasailing as planned on Castaway Cay day because of the wind. We were refunded our money with no problem.

Spa – We didn’t do it on ship, but we did get a couples’ massage on Castaway Cay. They were really very good. My husband got a deep tissue, which he loved. I got something a little less than deep tissue, but not really a Swedish. It was also really good. And the people giving the massages were really nice. We also had gotten massages on HAL, but they were really bad. So we weren’t expecting much on Disney. But we were pleasantly surprised.

Odds and ends - We brought many $1 bills to tipping – great idea. We also got on board early to get palo reservation and had no problems at all. We did all of the registration online, brought a pillow for autographs, which my daughter really enjoys. (We told her Tinker Bell brought it for her before we returned.)

Just2DisneyKids

04-02-2009, 02:32 AM

OurOhana

04-02-2009, 07:29 PM

Subbing! Just getting started reading your TR and am loving it. We are going on our first cruise in just over 3 weeks! Also 7 day Eastern.

By the way, I'm from Orlando (Not living there now though :sad1:) and totally understood about not being able to swim unless its at least 80ish!

Hi there. I'm glad you're enjoying the trip report. I know you'll have a great time on your cruise. We did. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions. I'm happy to help. And I found people on the disboards so helpful as well.

And you are so lucky the weather is so beautiful right now. It seems like this would be the perfect time to go on a cruise - not too hot, but certainly warm enough for swimming plenty!

MagicMe

07-12-2009, 10:36 AM

Just found your trip report (actually found it from the link in your signature from another post) and loved your "take" on your cruise. thanks for much for sharing.

I love the "tinkerbell" picture with your daughter. It really looks like she can see tinkerbell.

Lastly, I noticed that you decided to extend your "bounce back" cruise to a B2B cruise!!!

LindaBabe

07-12-2009, 02:45 PM

Thank you so much for your trip report! You are very good at capturing the information future cruisers most want to know! We're going to St. Croix in November.

Just a note on the luggage under the bed - you have to pick UP the bottom of the bed to get the large luggage under - and push it in far enough so that the bottom rail of the bed misses it - under the mattress is way higher than the rail.

Thanks again!

princess22

07-12-2009, 04:18 PM

Just read your TR. It was great. We are going on a 4night in two weeks. It will be my DD's first Disney Cruise. She is 2 but is potty trained and I'm hoping to be able to do a trial run with her in the kids clubs!

Your daughter is adorable by the way! What a cutie!

OurOhana

07-12-2009, 05:02 PM

Wow, it seems like forever ago when I wrote this report - and even longer since we went on the cruise. But the good news is we are going on DCL again in September - B2B to take advantage of our $99 bounceback. I'm glad more of you have found our trip report and hopefully it'll help you plan. I'm getting back into reading more trip reports as we prep for our next cruises. And I plan to start a new trip report for the next trip.

Just found your trip report (actually found it from the link in your signature from another post) and loved your "take" on your cruise. thanks for much for sharing.

I love the "tinkerbell" picture with your daughter. It really looks like she can see tinkerbell.

Lastly, I noticed that you decided to extend your "bounce back" cruise to a B2B cruise!!!

Hi MagicMe - Thank you. Thank you. I'm glad you like it. And I have to admit the tinkerbell pic is one of our favorites. I'll definitely try to do something again like this on the next cruise.

Thank you so much for your trip report! You are very good at capturing the information future cruisers most want to know! We're going to St. Croix in November.

Just a note on the luggage under the bed - you have to pick UP the bottom of the bed to get the large luggage under - and push it in far enough so that the bottom rail of the bed misses it - under the mattress is way higher than the rail.

Thanks again!

Thanks Linda. I tried the first time around to make notes about things I was curious about. Next time around I'm hoping to take many more pictures. For instance, I never shot any food. I think I just wanted to eat it so fast. :rotfl2: But I'll try to hold off long enough to snap a few pics.

As for the luggage - we were able to put some under our bed. But we brought two of those extra large suitcases. We tried to get them under there after picking up the bed, but they were just too large. But we had ample storage space, so it wasn't a problem. We definitely over packed last time -
I hope to do better on that this time around.

Just read your TR. It was great. We are going on a 4night in two weeks. It will be my DD's first Disney Cruise. She is 2 but is potty trained and I'm hoping to be able to do a trial run with her in the kids clubs!

Your daughter is adorable by the way! What a cutie!

Thank you! You only have two weeks until your cruise. I'm so jealous!! ;) You are going to have an absolute blast. From reading all of these threads, I've heard quite a few people who said they were able to leave their 2-year-olds in the club if they were potty trained. I don't know how close they were to 3, but it seems the potty training is the biggest issue. I know she'll have so much fun and meet a lot of great people.