I Was on the Bash on the Boat 10/24/09 Magic Eastern with Pictures

[captchris]

Hello everyone! We have just returned home from an absolutely wonderful cruise vacation. We settled on the specific cruise in August of 2008 and spent the last 14 months getting to know fellow DISers here on our cruise meet thread. While I didn't get to meet all of them onboard, seeing familiar faces throughout the day really made the cruise that much more special. Okay, enough gushing now for the background and housekeeping information.

I am Christian...the writer of the report and DISname CaptChris. I don't profess to want to be the captain of anything except my that it is my professional title. Although being a Captain on DCL would be kind of cool! I am a Captain in The Salvation Army. What that means is that I am responsible for all Salvation Army operations in the community that I am stationed in. In addition to that, I am also an ordained minister with The Salvation Army and responsible for the church programs in our community.


DW Elaine...the Captains First Mate and also a Captain herself in The Salvation Army. We live and work together. That can sometimes be a challenge, but its more good that bad.


Samantha and Jay...our two kids. They can be hyper, they can fight like none other, but we love them and they probably love each other a little bit. Samantha is 9, Jay is 7. There is NEVER a dull moment when the two of them are together!


We also cruised with my mom, dad and sister. It was great to have this TOTAL vacation with them. More clarification on that a little later.



This was our third cruise. The first was on RCCL Nordic Empress/Empress of the Seas. It was in March 2004 and was a 7 day Western Cruise out of Tampa.

Our second cruise was on the Disney Magic in 9/2006. It was also a Western cruise itinerary.

My parents have been on 4 previous cruises, 2 on the Magic and 2 on Norwegian (SS Norway, and Norwegian Sea)

We were really looking forward to visiting the Eastern Caribbean for a couple of reasons.

-Additional Sea Day
-More "texture" to the land

Now on to the report...

My vacation started officially on 10/22. Elaine and I spent the day at home getting things packed, and finalized before picking our kids home from school at dismissal time. After the kids were picked up, we headed north to Portland, Maine where we would stay with my parents before flying out on 10/23. I know, I know, its kind of bizarre to drive north to fly south, but the flight times were perfect and the price was as well. The bags were packed and in short time the car was loaded.




We arrived in Maine around 6:00 PM and enjoyed Pizza and Stromboli with my family before watching the Yankees and Angels.

The next morning we woke up and mom cooked a wonderful brunch. However prior to brunch, Elaine sent me out for some Dunkin Donuts coffee. After brunch, we loaded up the cars and got ready to head over to Portland International Jetport for our flight to Orlando. Everyone was excited and after a 5 minute ride we were checking in at the JetBlue kiosk.

Before we knew it we were through security and walking to the gate. It didn't seem long before our plane landed and pulled up at the gate.




It was our first time flying JetBlue and I must say, I really liked their product. We had a direct flight from Portland to Florida. We left on time and arrived a few minutes early. That's always a good thing. The baggage claim was also lightning fast as the carousel started moving just a few minutes after we arrived at the Baggage Claim.

After securing our bags, Dad and I headed to Budget to get our cars. He was not a FastBreak member so he had to go to the regular counter. I stood up there with him to make sure his reservation was good since I booked it for him. While up there he succumbed to peer pressure from the agent and myself and ended up with a very nice ride.





Yep, my dad was styling in a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. A red one at that! It's funny because when I was a kid my parents had a red Camaro, but much different that this one! They have changed a lot in 30 years. Since he needed me to take a piece or two of luggage, I resisted the urge to buy an upgrade. I settled for an Impala, but it was a brand new Impala with only 800 miles on it. Sorry, no pictures of that! I will say that the Cadillac CTS parked in the first slot in the garage looked awfully inviting, but I didn't want us to have a luggage issue.

We drove to Port Canaveral, keeping it under 80mph. We arrived at the Radisson, checked in and quickly headed over to Grills for dinner. The Radisson is a great property and I will stay there again for future cruises.





Dinner was great at Grills. After dinner, we came back to the hotel, and as I was pulling in Dan (DISname danandnan) sent me a text message asking me if I was coming down to the DISmeet. I responded an affirmative and that I would be there in a few minutes. I let the kids swim for a few, then Elaine and I went over to meet the DISers that were over there. We met, Dan, Nancy K, Nancy G and Chuck, Joanne and Roger, Tom and Leisha, Mike and Robin, Rose and June, Heather and Rick, Jennifer and Ariel, and Ron and Dianne. I think I got everyone but if I omitted you I am sooooo sorry!

After a short time together the group broke and we all went to bed. We would have quite the day in the morning!

It was still too early for me, so me and Tracy drove into Cocoa, walked through Ron Jon's, walked on the beach and at Freddie Patrick Park. It was a good time to have that little bit of time together as siblings.

Next chapter...Embarkation Day.

[Karen Mouse]

Great start Christian

[TotallyAngelic]

WOW - great start and really great photos ..... looking forward to reading all abour your adventures to come!

[williamson_ja]

Can't wait to see how you liked your Eastern cruise. We're going on our first one in a couple of months!!

[Verandah Man]

Great start!!!

[Kay1]

Lovin' it already! Thank you.

[KSFrogge]

Great start to the report! Can't wait to read the rest

[Dyerneeds]

Originally Posted by captchris

DW Elaine...the Captains First Mate and also a Captain herself in The Salvation Army. We live and work together. That can sometimes be a challenge, but its more good that bad.

why hello elaine. my name is mike, but you can can me underdog.
thats a lovely red dress you're wearing.

[Dyerneeds]

i had an offer at budget for a camaro also for $20 extra. but i was too cheap.
wish now that i'd have gotten it.

[Alice_on_WONDERland]

Lovin' the TR! Keep it coming!

[GOS]

I would say great start...but you missed off Rick and I I forgive you though.

[captchris]

Originally Posted by GOS

I would say great start...but you missed off Rick and I I forgive you though.

Edited to make the change! I couldn't forget our table neighbors! Elaine and I were just talking about how pleasant you were Heather.

[captchris]

Wow, talk about tossing and turning in my sleep. I woke up early, very early (4:30 or so)and had a hard time getting to sleep. I almost threw on some clothes and headed out to the "See the Magic" home DISmeet at Freddie Patrick Park, but I was worried I would be mad if I got there and missed it. I did eventually fall back asleep, but not for long. I was the first one showered and dressed. I was sooooo ready for the cruise to begin. Sam and I went out to Dunkin Donuts for Breakfast. Elaine is addicted to their coffee and being in Florida didn't change that. When we were heading to the car, Sam saw the Carnival Glory and I told her that we couldn't see the Magic because it was docked behind it. She daid, "Dad, I see the Magic!" I thought, no way, the Glory is taller, but when I looked closer, I noticed that you could barely see one of the Magic's funnels. Sam said, "yes that is what I was talking about." My kid has sharp eyes!

After grabbing some donuts and 2 cups of coffee for Elaine. They made the first one wrong, so I had to get back in line for another one. I didn't want to return to the hotel with the wrong one! I stopped by Raceway and gased up the car as well.

We got back to the hotel, enjoyed our breakfast and then packed things up, and dragged it all back into the car. I must say, I was happy the port had porters! I was tired of lugging the luggage around! After meeting up with my parents at their room, we drove in tandem over to the Port around 10:00 AM. Upon arriving there, I noticed a lot of DISers at the beginning of the line to enter the terminal. Why didn't that surprise me!?!?!? The porters came and assisted us with our luggage, I gave Elaine our documentation and the tip for the porters. Then dad and I returned our cars to Budget.

There was a small line at Budget and the total turnaround back to the ship was probably around 30 minutes. It seemed longer! I was so antsy to get back on ship. When we did finally return, we had to get in line to get our pictures taken for our Key to the World cards. The only problem is that the computers were down and we were just standing there, staring at the ship through the windows. While in line I met Matthew (DISname EpcotVA) and his family. It was great coming across familiar faces, but I would rather not be in yet another line!!! Although, while standing in line my dad kept staring at Verandah's. He asked me to call my mom on my cell (she was sitting across from the terminal) and to find out how much to go from a Cat 12 to a Cat 6. She went back up to the desk and came over and told him the price. He said, if Tracy would split the cost, he would do it. She soon came back with a new KTTW card for him to use for his picture.

Finally...we got our pictures taken after waiting about a half hour. I went back over to where the family was camped out and met some more DISers including Chaz (DISname thegrays) and his family. In typical Chris fashion though, I couldn't sit still for long and decided to grab my camera and take a few pictures.



Jay and Mom




The Customary Bow Shot






Before we knew it, it was time to get ready to board. We had a #4 Boarding pass and soon our number was called. This was it! Our vacation was really starting. We boarded around 11:45 if memory serves me right.

Our keys were scanned...pictures were taken



Soon we were on the gangplank walking across.



We were greeted by the customary crew member who asked our name and where we were from. Not surprisingly, he crucified it, but we are used to it. We decided to try going to Parrot Cay for lunch, but there was a long line so we went up to Topsiders. Our first meal on the Magic was quite enjoyable albeit hot. I particularly enjoyed the chicken.

The kids were getting antsy and wanted to hit the pools so like good parents, we said, "sure go ahead." In mere seconds it seemed they were changed and plunging into the Mickey Pool.







It wasn't long however when the kids would start a pattern that they would keep to for the balance of the week. They liked to go back and forth from the Mickey Pool to the Goofy Pool. It seemed as soon as we would get comfortable at one pool, they decided they wanted to switch.



Despite being about 90 degrees, Jay also wanted to try out the hot tub for the first time for the week.


After maybe 20-30 minutes at the Goofy pool, they decided they wanted to switch and go back to the Mickey Pool...The pattern began!

On our last cruise, Jay was pretty much afraid of the Mickey slide. In his defense he was only 4, but this time, he was very eager to go for a few rides, on the first day even!


I was starting to get tired of carrying my carryon backpack. It was hot and dragging it around seemed to only make me more hot. I was watching the time and beginning at 1:15, I began to regular checks every few minutes to see if the rope was lowered to check out our stateroom. Finally 1:30 came and our room was ready. I literally ran down the hall and dropped that backpack in the room. I put the sensitive items in our safe, had a quick look around and headed back up to Deck 9 with the family.

We hung out for a while, then headed to the Mickey Pool for our 3:00 DISmeet. I will say I was slightly overwhelmed at the size of the group. I figured it would be big, but seeing everyone together kind of made me freeze up. I leaned on the railing and just kind of took it all in. It was great meeting people we have been talking to for the previous 14 months. We hung out and enjoyed our time until it was time to get ready for the mandatory muster drill. I was not lookign forward to being out in the hot sun, but at the same time, I totally understand the importance of it. Here is a picture of the kids all decked out in their life jackets.

After sweating like crazy, the drill was over and the party was about to begin. We headed up to deck 10 and watched the party get started. Elaine, Tracy, mom and the kids, watched the party, while dad and I went over to the rail an were checking things out. The party was fun, the horn was sounded and soon we noticed that we were moving out the channel.











Once the sailaway was wrapped up, we headed back to our room to get ready for our first cruise dinner. We had a PLA rotation and I was really looking forward to our first meal in Parrot Cay. It was my favorite restaurant last time so I was looking forward to enjoying it again.

We arrived and were greeted by our dining staff. Our server was Dario from Croatia, and Gerry from The Phillipines. They were great. DISfriends were all around us. Mike and Robin, Heather and Rick, Walt and Di, and Steve and family were at the table immediately next to our, and Jen and family were on the other side. Again, it was great to see familar faces even at dinner. Our first meal was great and we enjoyed it.



Jay with a dirty face. He was kind of wired throughout dinner.


After dinner we walked around a bit before going to the Walt Disney Theatre for the Welcome Aboard show. In addition to the regular "welcome aboard skit" we saw a comedic juggler (can't remember his name) and Alfred and Seymour. They were very funny! I have never heard Elaine laugh so much in a LONG time. My kids loved them too. More of that to come in a few chapters. Captain Tom came out and introduced his senior staff and before we knew it the show was over. I like the shows on the Magic. On our first cruise with Royal Caribbean, the shows were shorter and the content was nothing like what Disney has.

I don't remember exactly what we did following the show. I think we just kind of chilled after our busy day. I did wander around the ship a bit but nothing special. I considered going down to Rockin Bar D, but didn't want to go to Match your Mate without my "first mate" Elaine, so I just kind of wandered around.

Our first day was a wrap and it was a very good one.

[Dyerneeds]

that was a great first day wasnt it?

you should have come out to the welcome home the magic meet. it was a "babefest" for the Tuna and I.

[praisehisname]

Sounds like your vacation is off to a great start!

Denise