The McSparklesons Sail the Magic... AGAIN! $500 Potato Chips! 3/13

[karajeboo]

Glad you liked your inside room. I was wanting to know. We have a balcony for our June cruise out of NYC but we booked a inside on the Dream for next June.

I wish we had done the Facebook page for the cruise last year - we would have gotten to know each other beforehand and would have hung out. Next time! There is still room on the June 2nd cruise. I know you want to do it.

Kristi, I totally agree!!!! No can do this summer, I have to back off on vacays for awhile..... We started a "three year project" in the backyard, and Jeff decided, what the heck, let's just get it all done now! So we expanded our patio from 300 sq ft to 1100!!! And added an outdoor kitchen/bar area, plus landscaping.... Oh, and the car is STILL in the shop! And the tractor is not running right.... It just keeps getting better and better.....

Oh wow! I didn't realize your cruise was the one with the Fantasy! HOW FUN!!! I can't wait to see the video and pictures!

Good to know you went from the Verandah to the Inside without any problems! I can see us taking advantage of some Inside rates on future cruises as well - it can save a bundle!

I see Kristi mentioned the June 2 cruise. There is still LOTS of room! Come join us!!!

I didn't realize you were cruising with Kristi and Steve!!! Watch out for little ones in the bars at night.... That Kristi just lets her kid run wild!!!!

cant wait I watched you sail while at work (SHHHH lol) and it was so neat to watch.


and as long as you find a door your ok.. HECK if Rose would have moved over there was ton of space for Jack to lay... see!!!! ill share a door when we cruise Laura....

That is hysterical Drea!!!!!

Did you actually see us on sailaway???? I don't think my parents saw us, it's kind of grainy..... I was the devastatingly beautiful woman, standing next to Jeff and Ally.....

Me >>>>>

Ally >>>>

Jeff >>>>

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Ohhh, was that large delicious looking drink a Bahama Mama? Let's get the party started.

 

[Simba22]

Ooohh!! Your Big-Girl-Drink looks yummy! Do you remember what it was?

Good to know that you didn't miss the balcony. We're in the infancy stages of planning out first ever cruise for (probably) 2015...(maybe 2014 if I can convince the BF to do Hawaii and a Disney Cruise all in one year... ) and I'm in love with the idea of a balcony room...but they ARE expensive. I'm thinking that since we don't know when/if we'll ever do another cruise, I might just suck it up and go with the balcony but it would be nice to save the money... decisions, decisions.

 

[KristiMc]

Kristi, I totally agree!!!! No can do this summer, I have to back off on vacays for awhile..... We started a "three year project" in the backyard, and Jeff decided, what the heck, let's just get it all done now! So we expanded our patio from 300 sq ft to 1100!!! And added an outdoor kitchen/bar area, plus landscaping.... Oh, and the car is STILL in the shop! And the tractor is not running right.... It just keeps getting better and better.....

Outdoor kitchen sounds great! You will have to post picture when it is all done.


I didn't realize you were cruising with Kristi and Steve!!! Watch out for little ones in the bars at night.... That Kristi just lets her kid run wild!!!!

Hey now - you are going to give me a bad rep! At least Shawn was attracted to your McSparkleson Charm and you were able to get him back to me .

 

[jenifred]

Madame Karajeboo - you positively crack me up. I should be working right now. But I'm not. I'm reading and I'm laughing. I'm wishing I was sipping a Bahama Mama. And I'm getting excited about my upcoming cruise. I LOVE your TRs. Can't wait for the rest. I'm never going to get any work done...

 

[Misskitty3]

Great trip report...looking forward to more!

 

[Carol36]

Your TR is very entertaining indeed!

 

[kgoldenh]

I love my DH. He told me he would make us Konk Koolers and we can read the rest of the reports together. ok now I am ready for another installment.

kate

 

[karajeboo]

Ohhh, was that large delicious looking drink a Bahama Mama? Let's get the party started.

No idea.... it was tasty though!

Ooohh!! Your Big-Girl-Drink looks yummy! Do you remember what it was?

Good to know that you didn't miss the balcony. We're in the infancy stages of planning out first ever cruise for (probably) 2015...(maybe 2014 if I can convince the BF to do Hawaii and a Disney Cruise all in one year... ) and I'm in love with the idea of a balcony room...but they ARE expensive. I'm thinking that since we don't know when/if we'll ever do another cruise, I might just suck it up and go with the balcony but it would be nice to save the money... decisions, decisions.

I kind of thought the same thing.... then we fell in love with cruising and in order to feed my habit, I need to cut back on the rooms now! I think one reason we never really used our balcony that much is that we are pretty social.... I didn't want to miss anything by hanging in our room, so we were in public areas almost all the time!

Hey now - you are going to give me a bad rep! At least Shawn was attracted to your McSparkleson Charm and you were able to get him back to me .

He's adorable!!!! I should've scooped him up and taken him home!

Madame Karajeboo - you positively crack me up. I should be working right now. But I'm not. I'm reading and I'm laughing. I'm wishing I was sipping a Bahama Mama. And I'm getting excited about my upcoming cruise. I LOVE your TRs. Can't wait for the rest. I'm never going to get any work done...

I will try to get an update tomorrow.... I spent all day yesterday finishing my photobook so I can get it ordered from Shutterfly, and then I started the movie, combining photos and videos with music.... It's already up to 21 minutes and I have a lot more to add!

Great trip report...looking forward to more!

Thank you!!! Tomorrow I hope!

Your TR is very entertaining indeed!

I even crack myself up sometimes!!!!

 

[CRdisMom]

glad some one has my back drea! I'll bring the cards

and kara this is what I saw

 

[karajeboo]

I love my DH. He told me he would make us Konk Koolers and we can read the rest of the reports together. ok now I am ready for another installment.

kate

Kate you are hilarious!!!!!

glad some one has my back drea! I'll bring the cards

and kara this is what I saw

Not sure who the boy is, but aside from that, the Griswolds just WISH they were the McSparklesons!!!!!!!!

Trying to get in an update today, but little McSparkleson isn't very sparkly today..... in fact I may have to name her little McBarferson......

 

[karajeboo]

We bailed out of muster drill, well not BAILED exactly, that is not exactly the best term to use when getting ready to head out to sea...... But as soon as we EXITED muster drill, we ran back to the cabin... well, not RAN exactly because that would be dangerous.... we WALKED BRISKLY back to our cabin to check for our luggage.

Dang Flabbit! The bag of water was there, but still no sign of my luggage or Ally's..... And we're the pretty ones!!! We need our "stuff" for fixin up!

So off we BRISKLY WALKED to Deck 10 to scope out our spot for Sail Away. I wanted to be near starboard forward area (that's the right front for you land lubbers) so we would be visible on the Port Canaveral webcam for sailaway. I had already posted our spot on Facebook and by golly I was gonna be there to wave to all those poor saps back home!!! Especially those who were watching from work (Drea......)

I found a nice spot by the rail, right behind a little "table" so I could rest my DOTD.... Priorities, my friends..... priorities.

Ally and Tori were wedged in right by the rail and we all had our streamers to wave......

And then.

It

Was

Time!

Tisa came out to introduce us to some very important folks.... "Moms and Dads, these are your new best friends for the week.... The youth activities team!!!!!"

Oh yeah, we cheered.... we sang... we danced...

Some obviously better than others....

We then got to meet our Cruise Director.... he was no Peter Popper (aka Peter Hoffer)......

This time we got....

Darren McBlarneystone (aka Darren McBarney).

Something about those microphones at sea... they distort names something AWFUL!!!! Or maybe it was those Drinks of the Day!!!!

Loved loved LOVED Darren McBlarneystone!!!!

Especially when he introduced his friends!!!

McBlarneystone instroduces the Big Cheese! - VIDEO - click to play!

Yes, that was JEff filming me crying..... hey it's what I do - don't judge me!!!

What is it about that stupid mouse???? He makes me so stupid and happy and weepy and happy and, oh heck, just keep reading....

Shake it Pluto!!!

We sang some more.... we danced some more.... we had another DOTD.... until it was THAT time...

Sail Away Countdown - VIDEO - click to play!

As soon as we were finished shaking what our mamas gave us.... (no offense, but Donald's mama gave him a LOT!), we moved into position to be webcam stars!

And here we goooooooo!

Right on top of the blue roof of Fishlips is the webcam. We waved like crazy - seems the more active you are, the closer they will zoom in on you. So Ally was gonna make SURE we were on camera!

There were a lot more people up on deck this time than there were last year.

And it's all because of this....

Ole McBlarneystone told us all about the "firsts" this trip - first time two Disney ships in Port Canaveral together. First time two Disney ships in ANY port together...... And he warned us of the "epic horn battle" that would soon begin.....

So....

Who's ready for the horn battle?????

EPIC Horn Battle - VIDEO - click to play!

One thing I did learn.... even though the Dream and Fantasy have several different tunes their "horn" plays, they don't have real horns. The Magic and Wonder have REAL horns you can see from the Quiet Cove Pool if you look up at the base of the stack. The Dream and Fantasy have digital "horns."

So there. We win!

Although it is kinda sad listening to the Magic play the same tune over.. and over... and over.... She's like the little runt who just won't give up!!!!!

The Fantasy can play all those different tunes, but by golly the Magic will When You Wish Upon a Star until the cows come home!!! Or the fishing boats in this case.... Or at least until someone throws themselves overboard....

In any case (we still won!), the crew of the FAntasy was all up on deck, too, I guess to be a part of history!

There were stateroom attendants on the balconies, maintenance crew all gathered below on that little "gangplank" plus tons of crew up on deck!

Very cool to be a part of this.....

And yes. I cried. Don't judge.

As soon as we past the Fantasy, it was time to BRISKLY WALK back to steerage so we could get ready for dinner.

Last cruise we had late dinner seating, this time we decided to try early dinner seating at 545pm.

There were good and bad points to each. The problem for us, with late seating, was that we were always so full to really go "out" after dinner and usually ended up in bed by 10pm! We still ended up getting ready in time for early dinner because we'd go to the 615 shows and then have photos taken between the show and dinner. So having early dinner didn't really force us to get ready any earlier..... However, when in port, we did miss our early dinner once because we just didn't want to cut short our time in port to get on the ship that early......

Basically, I think we'd choose late dinner seating (in fact that IS what we have chosen for our next cruise) but if we were assigned the early seating, I would not make a big deal out of trying to change it. For us there just wasn't THAT much of a difference in how we planned our day.....

When we arrived back in steerage, after playing hopscotch with the rats, we... what? OK, so maybe I remember THAT part of steerage from Titanic....

And again, for all those who have posted that the Magic is "showing her age" and "looking old" and other such nonsense? That is the FURTHEST from the truth!!!! She is a BEAUTIFUL ship in great condition!!!! Even when we were side by side with the Fantasy, you would never have guessed the Magic was 14 years old, compared with that brand new ship.

Well, except for the rats....

Up next.... FIRST NIGHT'S DINNER!!!!!

 

[jcarwash]

I have been eagerly awaiting the McSparkleson Epic Horn Battle Video.

That...

was...

AWESOME!!!!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I didn't realize you were cruising with Kristi and Steve!!! Watch out for little ones in the bars at night.... That Kristi just lets her kid run wild!!!!

I am!!! Can't wait to meet them!!! I'll keep that in mind about the kids...

And yes. I cried. Don't judge.

I cried watching the videos!!!! No judging here!

I cannot wait for the Sail Away Party and countdown. I'm going to be a bawling mess!

 

[Beth D]

I finally made it over here! Can't wait to read this one! We were just about a month ahead of you on the Magic - Feb 25th Eastern for us, so this is just a trip down memory lane! We were on deck 7 inside cabin, so close!

Love the Pippi Longstocking pic (aka Ally), and sorry to say, that boy was the first Russell Griswold. At least they cast better ones for the Christmas Vacation!

 

[anewmac]

So off we BRISKLY WALKED to Deck 10 to scope out our spot for Sail Away. I wanted to be near starboard forward area (that's the right front for you land lubbers) so we would be visible on the Port Canaveral webcam for sailaway. I had already posted our spot on Facebook and by golly I was gonna be there to wave to all those poor saps back home!!! Especially those who were watching from work (Drea......)
and I have pics that i forgot at work again. (still catching up from when I watched yall sail away LMAO

Yes, that was JEff filming me crying..... hey it's what I do - don't judge me!!!
so glad he learned where the record button is in time for this!


Right on top of the blue roof of Fishlips is the webcam. We waved like crazy - seems the more active you are, the closer they will zoom in on you. So Ally was gonna make SURE we were on camera!
so which of you flashed the camera?? Jeff?

Who's ready for the horn battle?????

Oh-Em-GE, that was crazy.

And yes. I cried. Don't judge.
We wouldnt expect anything less LOL

And again, for all those who have posted that the Magic is "showing her age" and "looking old" and other such nonsense? That is the FURTHEST from the truth!!!! She is a BEAUTIFUL ship in great condition!!!! Even when we were side by side with the Fantasy, you would never have guessed the Magic was 14 years old, compared with that brand new ship.
well she HAS had some work done to keep her looking perky.. just saying

I cried watching the videos!!!! No judging here!

OK glad I wasnt alone I did too, then E came by asked what I was watching saw it rolled his eyes and walked away , he just doenst get it.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Okay so the video got me. I loved them all but the one with the battle of the horns. The first time it blew When you with upon a star.... I got goose bumps and had tears in my eyes. What can I say? I'm a Disney sap.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Love the horn battle!

kate

 

[teetee830]

Hi, there! I've been lurking on your TR, but just had to tell you the horn battle got me. I got all teary with goosebumps! Had I been there I might have needed sedation or another DOTD. Loved it!

 

[pinkxray]

Joining in. I found your last DCL TR after you were finished but had to read the whole thing. Love your writing style. I'm not sure if I posted at the end or not?

We have only been on a 3 night Dream cruise but we are now determined to cruise as much as possible too. I would like to book cheaper staterooms but DH is still stuck on having a balcony. We are going to be on the Freedom of the Seas in Sept. and it cost $800 more for a balcony over a window. I told him I am going to time each time he sits on the balcony so I can see how much an hour of balcony time is costing us.

I am glad to see that Ally enjoys DCL. Our DD is 7, but I would like to get on the Fantasy Oct of 2014 when she will be turning 10. Sometimes I worry she'll be too cool for DCL especially after the Flowrider and skating rink on RCL.