February 1, 2013- 4 night Magic from Galveston

[ekatiel]

It's coming up, guys!!! Anyone else surprising their kids on Christmas? I'm hoping to pack some personalized t-shirts in a box and let them open them . My boys are both home sick with strep right now, though, so I can't do any secret planning at this moment! --Katie

 

[tgch123]

I just told mine last week... I couldn't hold it in any longer... I was soooo excited and now they are excited with me

 

[Aggiegrl]

Sometimes on All Ears you can find navigators, but since this is a new itenerary, not sure any will be there. For dining you can go to Disney Cruise Lines website and look under the ship and find out about all the areas of each ship such as dining, lounges, shows. . . . and so on.
I know that Sunday night which is Cozumel is pirate night, not sure if it is the first or second sea day which is the dressy night. We love second dining, but we don't have a little one.
Do you know if you want to join our FE group? If so, we will need your names and stateroom #. You can PM me that info if you wish.
Have a great week and ask any other questions of the group you can think of.
This is our 4th Disney cruise, but the first one on the Magic.

Well, apparently I have two different Dis logins. I didn't remember the other one...this is my primary so I'll be using it from here on out. I think we'll do the FE. It looks like it isn't a huge group so it shouldn't be too overwhelming for a first timer. I'll send you a PM with our info.

I'm sort of concerned about what to do with DS. He just turned 3, is potty trained, is HUGE for his age, and is outgoing/mature. He's probably close to 43" now...he rode ToT and BTMRR as a 2 year old in September no problem. I've signed him up for the kids clubs but I'm concerned with him being probably the youngest kid in there. Because he's so big, older kids think he should act differently and just don't understand his very normal 3 year old behavior.

I'd like to book a spa treatment or maybe Palo brunch, but what if taking him to the kids club doesn't work out so well? Will they let us take him to the nursery then? What if there is no availability when our spa session is booked? I was thinking a brunch on one sea day and spa session the other. I sure wish we had some navigators to go off so I could try and tailor those times to something I know he'd enjoy.

Hello, I'm Aggie and I'm an OCD, Disney commando planner...

 

[twokats]

Well, apparently I have two different Dis logins. I didn't remember the other one...this is my primary so I'll be using it from here on out. I think we'll do the FE. It looks like it isn't a huge group so it shouldn't be too overwhelming for a first timer. I'll send you a PM with our info.

I'm sort of concerned about what to do with DS. He just turned 3, is potty trained, is HUGE for his age, and is outgoing/mature. He's probably close to 43" now...he rode ToT and BTMRR as a 2 year old in September no problem. I've signed him up for the kids clubs but I'm concerned with him being probably the youngest kid in there. Because he's so big, older kids think he should act differently and just don't understand his very normal 3 year old behavior.

I'd like to book a spa treatment or maybe Palo brunch, but what if taking him to the kids club doesn't work out so well? Will they let us take him to the nursery then? What if there is no availability when our spa session is booked? I was thinking a brunch on one sea day and spa session the other. I sure wish we had some navigators to go off so I could try and tailor those times to something I know he'd enjoy.

Hello, I'm Aggie and I'm an OCD, Disney commando planner...

I wish I could help you on that, but my DD was already an adult by the time we started cruising. A lot of the ones I have seen talk on the boards seem to indicate the younger children really enjoy the children's area. It is sometimes the older ones that have problems. Hopefully yours will fall into that area.

I know about the commando planner (at least in the parks). On the cruises, I kinda go with the flow. I now have a general idea of things that go on and I look for those first, and then I add as much as I can once I see the navigators. I know there are navigators from other cruises out there to look at, I just don't know which ones to direct you to that might have something similiar to ours.

We will have 4 of our adult children with us and 3 of the have never been on a cruise, so they will want to do a little of everything I am sure, but my DH loves to sit on the verandah and watch the ocean go by.

We have done the Palo brunch before and are not in a rush to repeat it. It was back in Jan of 2011 and the sea was really rough that day and my DH did not enjoy it at all.

I hope you and the rest of the group have a good rest of the week and don't have a lot of stress with last minute shopping.

 

[twokats]

Not sure what I am doing. But we are taking our four kids along with 4 other couples and kids. One of which is Mboeker. What do I do with the FE and getting with y'all's group of things to do?

Moe

You are doing fine. Since you have posted you are now a member of this thread and if you want to join our FE group all you have to do is tell me the parties in your stateroom and the stateroom #.
Mboeker has already expressed her interest in joining.
If the others in your group have not posted or are not able to post and want to join their information can be listed under your id. Like I have my ds and his wife under us on the rollcall. They are not members of the DIS so do not have a screenname.

Now we give you and mboeker a big and we look forward to getting to see you in 50 days!!!

Moe,
Since we are getting close to the cutoff date, I wanted to double check if you wanted to join the FE. I just have you on our roll call, so if you will give me the rest of y'alls names (ages of kids) and stateroom, I can update the roll call. I think one other of your friends joined the DIS and posted. If the 4th one wants to be included just let me know and we will get them on there also.

 

[deltapilotwife]

Aggie,

DD is 2.5 and we're not sure how she's going to react. she's in daycare but sometimes she's not great with new surroundings. we have the nursery scheduled b/c potty training is not going well.

my only suggestion is if you and DH are going to do the spa, maybe schedule them back to back rather than the same time in case one of you needs to do pick up.

we're not scheduling anything, just using the nursery for and hour in the morning so we can go to the gym and during dinner b/c she doesn't sit for very long.

 

[tgch123]

ok, more questions..

when you go to the port and get through the check in process and get onto the boat.. can you go and do anything right away. Is everything open and ready. Say we wanted to go straight to one of the restaurants and eat or go straight to the room and order room service. Will you even be able to get into your room right away? I think I read somewhere it could take until 2 for your room to be ready??

And what time does the boat actually push off and leave Galveston?

Sorry for all the questions... I'm a crusin' newbie

 

[tgch123]

Aggie,

DD is 2.5 and we're not sure how she's going to react. she's in daycare but sometimes she's not great with new surroundings. we have the nursery scheduled b/c potty training is not going well.

my only suggestion is if you and DH are going to do the spa, maybe schedule them back to back rather than the same time in case one of you needs to do pick up.

we're not scheduling anything, just using the nursery for and hour in the morning so we can go to the gym and during dinner b/c she doesn't sit for very long.

My DS is 2.5 too, he'll be 3 in march, he isn't getting the pooping in the potty part down too good but he pee's like a champ. I don't think he will do well in the nursery especially if our DD 6 is in the Kids club with out him. He goes to daycare too but has issues when the normal teachers aren't there so I don't think he would be ok with the nursery

 

[Syd Macs Mom]

OMG - got home to a package waiting on my front porch - our Fish Extender arrived today. I am not to handy with sewing so I ordered one online - it is so cute - I absolutely can't wait to hang it outside our cabin door.

I was wondering about last names - one of the gifts that I am was hoping to make for everyone needs a last name. Just wondering how everyone feels about giving their last names - should I try to come up with something different?

 

[twokats]

OMG - got home to a package waiting on my front porch - our Fish Extender arrived today. I am not to handy with sewing so I ordered one online - it is so cute - I absolutely can't wait to hang it outside our cabin door.

I was wondering about last names - one of the gifts that I am was hoping to make for everyone needs a last name. Just wondering how everyone feels about giving their last names - should I try to come up with something different?

I don't have a problem giving you ours, it is Self. That covers us and our son's name.

 

[Syd Macs Mom]

I don't have a problem giving you ours, it is Self. That covers us and our son's name.

Thank you!

Will you send us a final list with all the room numbers and everything when we close the exchange? I was just looking at our roll call and noticed there are not too many room numbers listed there. Our room is 7132 - was not sure if I gave that to you or not.

Thanks so much for organizing this for everyone - I really appreciate it!

Jana

 

[ekatiel]

We just booked this cruise with out 3 year old son. Will be our first cruise with Disney and DS' first cruise ever.

Where can I find information on dining/navigators? Specifically, which night is the formal/more dressy night and which night is the pirate night? We've got some planning to do since we're stuck with second dining right now.

Formal night is probably the second night of the cruise (the first full day at sea). That's just my guess based on other 4 night cruises I've taken out of Galveston on other lines. Pirate night is definitely the Cozumel night . Are you on the waitlist for first seating? I'd keep checking. We booked on 12/12 and were waitlisted for first seating, but I called the other day to ask about something, and we were confirmed on first seating. Hopefully, you'll get switched too!

ok, more questions..

when you go to the port and get through the check in process and get onto the boat.. can you go and do anything right away. Is everything open and ready. Say we wanted to go straight to one of the restaurants and eat or go straight to the room and order room service. Will you even be able to get into your room right away? I think I read somewhere it could take until 2 for your room to be ready??

And what time does the boat actually push off and leave Galveston?

Sorry for all the questions... I'm a crusin' newbie

Since we've never cruised DCL, I'll give my best shot at this question based on other cruise lines. Usually your room isn't ready until around 1 or 1:30pm. Remember that you'll be lugging around your carry-on until then, so don't over pack the carry-on. Also, remember that there is a possibility that your luggage won't arrive before dinner (it usually does, but sometimes it doesn't make it). Make sure you either have dinner clothes packed in your carry-on or you are wearing clothes that will be OK at dinner. Usually, the buffet is open when you board. The main dining rooms are usually closed until dinner that evening. The pools are usually open (if you are brave enough to swim in February-- only God knows what the weather will be like-- could be 50's, could be 80's!!), just remember to pack your swimsuit in your carry on if you want to swim right away. We usually grab a bite to eat and then go exploring for a little while until rooms are ready .

This time, we will be in the last boarding group so that our kids can miss as little school as possible. We live 30 minutes from the port , so I'm planning on pulling them out around 2 or 2:15 and then heading down. We usually like to be among the first on the ship, but we've already pulled out boys out for three and a half days to go to WDW this year, so we really need to minimize their time out of school. We're also making them go to school on Tuesday when we get back!!

Anyone who's sailed DCL before, correct me if I'm wrong about anything above. We've sailed both Carnival and Royal, and it's been the same on those two lines, so I'm imagining it's similar on DCL, too. You're going to have a blast! Cruising is SO relaxing!!! --Katie

 

[twokats]

Thank you!

Will you send us a final list with all the room numbers and everything when we close the exchange? I was just looking at our roll call and noticed there are not too many room numbers listed there. Our room is 7132 - was not sure if I gave that to you or not.

Thanks so much for organizing this for everyone - I really appreciate it!

Jana

I sent out PM's and e-mails last night to get the rest of the staterooms that are needed. Some do not show on the Roll Call if they were sent to me in a PM. Only the FE list for the participants will see those.

I did have yours, so we are ok. My hope is to send the final list out to the group no later than New Years Day. The ones that do not have their room #'s yet will hopefully have them before we all leave and of course we will make arrangements to get late notices out to the group in some shape form or fashion.

 

[twokats]

Formal night is probably the second night of the cruise (the first full day at sea). That's just my guess based on other 4 night cruises I've taken out of Galveston on other lines. Pirate night is definitely the Cozumel night . Are you on the waitlist for first seating? I'd keep checking. We booked on 12/12 and were waitlisted for first seating, but I called the other day to ask about something, and we were confirmed on first seating. Hopefully, you'll get switched too!



Since we've never cruised DCL, I'll give my best shot at this question based on other cruise lines. Usually your room isn't ready until around 1 or 1:30pm. Remember that you'll be lugging around your carry-on until then, so don't over pack the carry-on. Also, remember that there is a possibility that your luggage won't arrive before dinner (it usually does, but sometimes it doesn't make it). Make sure you either have dinner clothes packed in your carry-on or you are wearing clothes that will be OK at dinner. Usually, the buffet is open when you board. The main dining rooms are usually closed until dinner that evening. The pools are usually open (if you are brave enough to swim in February-- only God knows what the weather will be like-- could be 50's, could be 80's!!), just remember to pack your swimsuit in your carry on if you want to swim right away. We usually grab a bite to eat and then go exploring for a little while until rooms are ready .

This time, we will be in the last boarding group so that our kids can miss as little school as possible. We live 30 minutes from the port , so I'm planning on pulling them out around 2 or 2:15 and then heading down. We usually like to be among the first on the ship, but we've already pulled out boys out for three and a half days to go to WDW this year, so we really need to minimize their time out of school. We're also making them go to school on Tuesday when we get back!!

Anyone who's sailed DCL before, correct me if I'm wrong about anything above. We've sailed both Carnival and Royal, and it's been the same on those two lines, so I'm imagining it's similar on DCL, too. You're going to have a blast! Cruising is SO relaxing!!! --Katie

You are very close. On the short cruises the "formal" night is classified dress up. I think I remember some from my Bahama cruise taking advantage of a more formal look, but that is up to the person. Pirate is Cozumel.
The rooms are usually ready by 1:30.
Parrot Cay is the restaurant open for a buffet lunch and it is usually very good. The regular buffet quick service and all other quick service are also open to the best of my memory.
Yes you have to keep up with your carry-on until the room is ready and then you wait on your luggage. On the smaller ships we got them quicker than we did on the Fantasy.
We are so looking forward to this trip. It will be the first one we will have taken at that time of year.

 

[tgch123]

Thank you guys for all the great answers!! Ekatiel I'm in Katy! It should take us about an hour to get to port.

SO EXCITED!

 

[tgch123]

I was wondering about last names - one of the gifts that I am was hoping to make for everyone needs a last name. Just wondering how everyone feels about giving their last names - should I try to come up with something different?

Our last name is Garcia

 

[ekatiel]

Thank you guys for all the great answers!! Ekatiel I'm in Katy! It should take us about an hour to get to port.

SO EXCITED!

We live in Friendswood , so we're just a hop, skip, and a jump from Galveston . Can't wait for this cruise. We're telling the boys on Christmas morning . --Katie

 

[Syd Macs Mom]

Thanks, Kathy! Thanks, Courtney!

Hey everyone - I need to get last names if you don't mind. One of the things that I am making for the exchange uses your last name. If you don't want to post it here you could pm me..... please and thank you!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Jana

 

[ekatiel]

Since I'm new to this whole FE thing, can we talk about how it will all work for our cruise (I've read the threads, but I feel like I need more specifics!)? How many gifts do we make? One per family? One per person? I've seen some posts where people have made multiple gifts for each person-- I'm not sure I'm up for that !!! When do we drop off the gifts? Will we each be assigned (or choose) a day to drop of the gifts so that there will be something new in the FE each day? As you can tell, I'm a details person . Thanks for any info you guys have! --Katie

 

[twokats]

Since I'm new to this whole FE thing, can we talk about how it will all work for our cruise (I've read the threads, but I feel like I need more specifics!)? How many gifts do we make? One per family? One per person? I've seen some posts where people have made multiple gifts for each person-- I'm not sure I'm up for that !!! When do we drop off the gifts? Will we each be assigned (or choose) a day to drop of the gifts so that there will be something new in the FE each day? As you can tell, I'm a details person . Thanks for any info you guys have! --Katie

The stock answer is that it is totally up to you. There is no wrong way to do it. Some do a per cabin gift only. I have had other do a cabin, plus a little something extra for any children in the room. (I have done that several times). It is totally up to you, your time and your budget.
It is not a contest to see who can do the biggest, and I have loved everything that I have gotten because even if it wasn't handmade, I know the people put some time and thought into what they gave.
We had one cruise where we kinda assigned days to deliver, but the others we just left it open and we pretty much got something everyday. I used to stress over that also, but now I just go with the flow and have a good time with it.
Anyway, as I said, there really is no right or wrong and if you stress yourself over it then it loses the fun factor. Ask away if you need a little more clarification.