February 1st, 2013 ~ 8 MAGICal days we can't wait for!!

[dpequignot]

We did Magic Feb 25-March3, 2012 for my daughter, Sydney's "Make a Wish" it was MAGICAL and addicting!!!!
We live in Indiana but would fly in to Houston. Pros for this cruise is its an EXTRA nite, we loved the MAGIC and didnt feel too packed even tho SOLD out.
Cons are Ive never flown into TX and no Castaway!!
Sydney loved "Dreams" too, we watched it TWICE. My daughter still speaks of ANNMARIE
My husband and son arent too keen on doing Disney again BUT my daughter who has Down syndrome is 9 and LOVES Mickey and Minnie and it just does my heart wonders to see her interact!
Ok there is my introduction, we would do FE!!

 

[shillee]

We did Magic Feb 25-March3, 2012 for my daughter, Sydney's "Make a Wish" it was MAGICAL and addicting!!!!
We live in Indiana but would fly in to Houston. Pros for this cruise is its an EXTRA nite, we loved the MAGIC and didnt feel too packed even tho SOLD out.
Cons are Ive never flown into TX and no Castaway!!
Sydney loved "Dreams" too, we watched it TWICE. My daughter still speaks of ANNMARIE
My husband and son arent too keen on doing Disney again BUT my daughter who has Down syndrome is 9 and LOVES Mickey and Minnie and it just does my heart wonders to see her interact!
Ok there is my introduction, we would do FE!!

depquignot - we were on your cruise! I actually saw you in your 'red' shirts but couldn't get through the crowd to say 'hello' at the dance party as I chased around one of my DD's.

We have put a deposit down on this cruise as well. Not sure if we will keep it or move it. Love the idea of an extra night but DH is super bummed we won't have CC. I was considering maybe a back-to-back out of Miami for 9 nights total on the Wonder but I think that will cost about 2K more. I have to look at the numbers...and a 'lost' day off the ship. Not sure what we are going to do as we haven't ever flown into Houston either.

My DD commented on the drive to day care today that she wanted to be in the family pool...after a bit of conversing she said the one on the boat Ahh, dreaming about our next vacation now!

 

[sissy_ib]

On the topic of our cruise, let's talk Dis Meet! We usually have two meets -- one right after muster for sailaway, up above the pool deck out of the crushing crowd, and one late morning the next day at the Promenade Lounge. A lot of times people have their own plans for sailaway, understandably, so more make it to the second meet.

Would anyone be interested in a bar hop/poker run? I've only done those on RCI, but can't imagine why it couldn't be adapted for the Magic. There are more bars on the RCI ships, but there are enough on the Magic that it would still work and be fun, I think! Maybe? I dunno, lol. What do y'all think??

Meeting for sailaway is perfect for us. On my last cruise they meet up before the muster drill and it was just to rushed for us to make it. Late the next morning should work for us also.
I don't know about a bar hop, but I am going to try to spend more time in Sessions at night. We love piano bars. I plan on taking naps in the Rainforest on sea days so I can stay up late. I also plan on doing all the wine tastings if anyone wants to join us. I had a lot of fun doing them last time. We are also going to try the martini tasting if it is offered.

Oh, and I switched our room. After looking at all the pictures I could I decided the deck 7 rooms are "better" than deck 6. So now we are in 7620.

And that kind of leads in to my crazy dream about the cruise.
I read your post about meeting up during the sailaway party a few days ago and thought at the time we would do that.
Then my in-laws left on Sunday for their first cruise so cruising has been on my mind a little more than normal (which of course is all the time!)

Sunday morning I dream my DH and I take his parents to the port, when we get there we realize we forgot we were sailing the same day! So we rush home and try to pack. (It's only a 4-5 hour drive!) We somehow get to the port just in time and they let us on board. It is the middle of the sailaway party and I feel so bad because I said we would do the group meet but I don't know were everyone is and I'm panicking because we missed the muster drill!
After that we decided to go to our room but couldn't remember what room it is because I changed it! So we are dragging our luggage around looking in to rooms to try to find the one that looks like the pictures I saw online. Thankfully we found what we think is it just before I woke up!
I don't forget ANYTHING so I don't know why my brain would think I could forget something this big!

 

[alaskanabbott]

We did Magic Feb 25-March3, 2012 for my daughter, Sydney's "Make a Wish" it was MAGICAL and addicting!!!!
We live in Indiana but would fly in to Houston. Pros for this cruise is its an EXTRA nite, we loved the MAGIC and didnt feel too packed even tho SOLD out.
Cons are Ive never flown into TX and no Castaway!!
Sydney loved "Dreams" too, we watched it TWICE. My daughter still speaks of ANNMARIE
My husband and son arent too keen on doing Disney again BUT my daughter who has Down syndrome is 9 and LOVES Mickey and Minnie and it just does my heart wonders to see her interact!
Ok there is my introduction, we would do FE!!

Hi! My son James' Make a Wish trip started all this for us too!! We did GKTW and WDW- you can read his trip report in my siggy, I won't go into details, but boy did we LOVE the cruise last February!!! We don't care much about CC, we love the ship, and the excursions to exotic places. If your daughter likes dress up, I found a lady on Etsy who custom makes the most beautiful Disney costumes, really afordable (under $50 each)
Anyway, welcome aboard!

 

[alaskanabbott]

A sailaway party/meet may be perfect for us. The sailaway was exciting, because we had never cruised before, but it wasn't so engaging that I actually wanted to watch the whole thing. Could we do a meet up on deck so that we could "watch" and meet? Just a thought, I don't really have hard set ideas on this.

 

[Gina]

I don't know about a bar hop, but I am going to try to spend more time in Sessions at night. We love piano bars. I plan on taking naps in the Rainforest on sea days so I can stay up late. I also plan on doing all the wine tastings if anyone wants to join us. I had a lot of fun doing them last time. We are also going to try the martini tasting if it is offered.

I love love LOVE the Rainforest Room!! Makes me feel so calm and peaceful just thinking about it. And I might join you for a wine tasting -- did one last time on the Magic, and had a great time. I've forgotten everything I've learned, though, so ready to do another!

Oh, and I switched our room. After looking at all the pictures I could I decided the deck 7 rooms are "better" than deck 6. So now we are in 7620.

Too funny -- you are now directly across from us! I mean, the same exact spot, but yours is starboard and ours is port. We're in 7120. It's a great location, you'll love it!!

Sunday morning I dream my DH and I take his parents to the port, when we get there we realize we forgot we were sailing the same day! So we rush home and try to pack. (It's only a 4-5 hour drive!) We somehow get to the port just in time and they let us on board. It is the middle of the sailaway party and I feel so bad because I said we would do the group meet but I don't know were everyone is and I'm panicking because we missed the muster drill!

After that we decided to go to our room but couldn't remember what room it is because I changed it! So we are dragging our luggage around looking in to rooms to try to find the one that looks like the pictures I saw online. Thankfully we found what we think is it just before I woke up!
I don't forget ANYTHING so I don't know why my brain would think I could forget something this big!

Gotta love the crazy cruise dreams... LOL. Glad I'm not the only one who has them! Before the last cruise, I dreamt that I forgot ALL my makeup ( ) and that we got back on the wrong ship at one of the ports.

We did Magic Feb 25-March3, 2012 for my daughter, Sydney's "Make a Wish" it was MAGICAL and addicting!!!!
We live in Indiana but would fly in to Houston. Pros for this cruise is its an EXTRA nite, we loved the MAGIC and didnt feel too packed even tho SOLD out.

Cons are Ive never flown into TX and no Castaway!!

Ok there is my introduction, we would do FE!!

Welcome, I hope you can join us! If you can fly into Hobby, do that. Not only is it much closer, but it's a pretty easy airport to get in and out of.

We have put a deposit down on this cruise as well. Not sure if we will keep it or move it. Love the idea of an extra night but DH is super bummed we won't have CC. I was considering maybe a back-to-back out of Miami for 9 nights total on the Wonder but I think that will cost about 2K more. I have to look at the numbers...and a 'lost' day off the ship. Not sure what we are going to do as we haven't ever flown into Houston either.

My DD commented on the drive to day care today that she wanted to be in the family pool...after a bit of conversing she said the one on the boat Ahh, dreaming about our next vacation now!

Another Welcome! I love the way your daughter thinks.

A sailaway party/meet may be perfect for us. The sailaway was exciting, because we had never cruised before, but it wasn't so engaging that I actually wanted to watch the whole thing. Could we do a meet up on deck so that we could "watch" and meet? Just a thought, I don't really have hard set ideas on this.

Oh definitely!! I would never be at a meet during sailaway that wasn't where we could actually enjoy sailaway! To me a great spot is up on deck 10, near the forward funnel. That way you're out in the fresh air waving to everyone, but not down in the mosh pit that is the "official" sailaway party on the pool deck. To me sailaway is SO exciting... watching land go away, waving to all the people below, and being so happy that I'm finally not one of them -- that I'm on the ship waving this time.

 

[JohnsPrincess]

You are going to love the Magic!!!! Quick clarification, though.. Your sig says you sail 3/1, but we're all sailing 2/1... Would hate for you to miss the ship by a month.

And sorry, all, that I've been so absent from here -- work has just been going gangbusters and keeping me stupid busy. But busy is good, right? Makes the time go faster.

I keep trying to think about the suggestion for a name for our group... We'll be sailing during the Superbowl, so there's that, and Groundhog Day, and right before Mardi Gras. Any ideas with that stuff??

I just can't wait for the Magic to actually get here... DS & I decided we wanted The Spot for dinner Friday night and wanted to go get some candy at La King's, so we hopped over to the island. When we were down on The Strand we decided to walk over to where we always watch the ships leave from, since we were right there, and we tried to imagine the Magic being right there. Right THERE!! We were practically dancing around.

I'm still trying to figure out when the Magic is actually going to get there... There's like a two week gap in between New York and Galveston, and DCL can't tell me anything. I would just love to be there to see her come in for the first time!! Hopefully as September gets closer there will be more info.

Have you all seen the thread on the main board with the ringtone downloads? So excited -- my text notification is now the 7-note chime they play onboard right before they make an announcement. Puts a huge smile on my face every time I get a text.



-gina-

I think something to do with Groundhogs Day since that occurs while we are on the ship...but I'm not sure what? Something about Groundhogs? Phil? Shadows?

 

[JohnsPrincess]

I'm jealous that your mom had a business there and got to be there all the time!! If you're familiar with it at all, we live directly on the Pearland/Friendswood line, right by FM 2351. Straight shot of about a mile to 45-S, and then we're only about 20-something minutes from the island with traffic. We're there a lot... In fact, during the jaunt this past weekend, my son & I were talking about how we just feel better once we're over the causeway -- it's just a happy sigh that comes out by reflex. I love that island! So much history and so many interesting things to do, and so much beauty. I would live there if I could!

Anyways, if anyone else wants to come down for a mini-meet either when the ship comes into to Galveston or to watch her sail away for the first time (or both!) just let me know! That would be great fun to meet some of you ahead of next February!

Did I tell y'all that I'm surprising my son with a trip to Disneyland in October?? With all the trips we've taken to WDW, he has never been to DLR and I've only been once when I was 5. My only brother lives in SoCal and has been trying for 10 years to get me out there to see "where it all began", but airfare has always been so crazy high from Houston to California for some reason. Plus, no Epcot!!

But all the planets aligned, and I got a really good price on an airfare/hotel package, and we're just going for a long weekend in early October. Neither my son nor my brother knows. When I say the planets aligned, I'm serious about how many factors had to fall into place for this surprise to work!! My son is in marching band and our lives completely revolve around that. It's just the nature of the beast. So between football games and competitions, weekends between oh, August and at least December are ridiculously busy. But that one lone weekend, the game is on Thursday night instead of Friday, so he wouldn't miss a game which would cause his band director's head to explode. And it's an away game! That means that I don't *have* to go, and that he'll be going straight from school to the game, and I'll be able to fly home from work and take our dog to the kennel and quickly pack all our stuff.

When I pick him up after the game that night, I'm going to give him a Disneyland t-shirt I ordered the other day when everything was 25% off. I'm just going to tell him that I thought it would be cool for him to wear when we go to Disneyland. To surprise his Uncle Scotty. In about 8 hours.

I *never* get to surprise him with anything, so I am way excited about this!! And about getting to go to DLR. If any of you have been, I'd love to hear tips or suggestions!!

Sorry this got so long... I think I ramble too much when I haven't had enough coffee, lol. But enough about me -- I'm looking forward to getting to know you guys over the next 10 months! Please feel free to share whatever you feel like sharing.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!


-gina-

DLR is so fun!!! I am partial to WDW but wouldn't ever turn down a trip there!! World of Color is Gorgeous, yes. Even if you normally don't do the shows because of crowds, do this one!

 

[JohnsPrincess]

Thanks so much for the info, Amanda!! I can't WAIT to ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride again... I have the song stuck in my head just thinking about it. I've heard the Alice in Wonderland ride is really cool, and I am sooooo jazzed to ride Space Mountain at DLR!!! It's my son's fave ride at WDW, but it's way too jerky for me. I've heard the version at DLR is 1000 times better.
Fantasmic is okay, but I'm never usually much for shows anyway because of the crowd factor. But I keep hearing World of Color is a do-not-miss. What do you think?

On the topic of our cruise, let's talk Dis Meet! We usually have two meets -- one right after muster for sailaway, up above the pool deck out of the crushing crowd, and one late morning the next day at the Promenade Lounge. A lot of times people have their own plans for sailaway, understandably, so more make it to the second meet.

Would anyone be interested in a bar hop/poker run? I've only done those on RCI, but can't imagine why it couldn't be adapted for the Magic. There are more bars on the RCI ships, but there are enough on the Magic that it would still work and be fun, I think! Maybe? I dunno, lol. What do y'all think??

What's a poker run? I love bar hopping, but I'm not sure how that'll work now that we have our little guy. I have no issue having him in a bar, if he's allowed...but I don't know if he is!!

Dis Meet is a necessity though!

 

[MedicGoofy]

DIS meet is a definite must!! Would love to meet up at some point with everyone, put some faces to names.

Would also love to meet with anyone staying overnight in Texas. I threw this question out on the facebook page, but will put it out here. Anyone from Texas know where might be a good place to stay the night before, or for 2 nights before? Or what area might be a good place to look at. Right where the ships are at port....or something called the Seawall? They are two different places, no? Just wondering what anyone thinks?

It's coming!!!!! Only.....278 days

 

[MedicGoofy]

Oh Oh Oh.....you can add me to the roll call

It's me. Just me. Sailing my FIRST DCL cruise. Can't flipping WAIT!!!!!

 

[Gina]

Howdy all!! So sorry that I have once again been MIA... work has been super busy and once I get home it's not much better, lol. And I apologize for not being on the FB group page -- I can't access FB here at work, and I usually spend what little FB time I have at home just playing games and turning my brain off for a while, trying to relax.

Would also love to meet with anyone staying overnight in Texas. I threw this question out on the facebook page, but will put it out here. Anyone from Texas know where might be a good place to stay the night before, or for 2 nights before? Or what area might be a good place to look at. Right where the ships are at port....or something called the Seawall? They are two different places, no? Just wondering what anyone thinks?

Yes, they are two different places. The Seawall is on the opposite side of the island from where the cruise terminal is -- but the island is less than 3 miles across at its very widest point, so it only takes a few minutes to get from one side to the other. As far as hotels go, it really depends on what you're wanting to do/see/etc! If you're just going in the night before the cruise, probably someplace close to the terminal like Harbor House would be perfect. Very small boutique-y type hotel with a nautical theme, really beautiful. And literally right there. Not cheap, though, and they might have a 2-night minimum.

There are a ton of hotels on the Seawall, from budget to super-fancy. And there are tons of hotels more off the beaten path. Sometimes my son and I will go stay the night, even being as close as we are, because it feels more like a mini-vacation that way. We stay at the Motel 6 just off the freeway at 61st. It's one of the recently redone ones, and while it's not much to look at from the outside, the interior is seriously cool and unlike anything else we've seen. It kinda reminds us of cruiseship staterooms in some way, so we really like it. And at around $50 or less in the off season, it's a great value.

If you wanted to go in a couple days ahead and be close to the beach and touristy stuff, then right on the Seawall would probably work best. The new and AMAZING Pleasure Pier opens at the end of this month, and that's going to be hard to resist for any family. Staying close by to that would be fun.
For anyone visiting Galveston, this is the very best board to bookmark. It's the Gulf Coast Departures sub-board at Cruise Critic. Tons of really helpful info if you dig through the posts:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=414

Tons of info on hotels and restaurants and whatnot, lots of locals post there.
Another must-bookmark is the official Galveston website. Go here, specifically, for a printable map of the island that will come in handy bigtime!

http://www.galveston.com/maps/

Oh Oh Oh.....you can add me to the roll call
It's me. Just me. Sailing my FIRST DCL cruise. Can't flipping WAIT!!!!!

That is so awesome!! It'll basically be just me, since I won't see my son except for dinner, so if you want a hang-out buddy just let me know! I'm happy to add you to the rollcall list -- just let me know what info you want there.

My son & I watched the newest DCL dvd the other night, and it got us even more excited. The teen area looks so very cool... he can't wait. Neither can I!!


-gina-

 

[MedicGoofy]

Thanks so much for the links. The Harbour House sounds pretty cool. And seeing as it's right at the port, would be neat to be RIGHT THERE

And def add me. Im Jenn. Celebrating first DCL solo cruise! And, I will take you up on that hang out time!! Will be great getting to know someone

 

[Gina]

Thanks so much for the links. The Harbour House sounds pretty cool. And seeing as it's right at the port, would be neat to be RIGHT THERE

And def add me. Im Jenn. Celebrating first DCL solo cruise! And, I will take you up on that hang out time!! Will be great getting to know someone

Got you on there now! Just let me know if and when you want to add more info to your listing.

And yay for hanging out! Hopefully you'll decide to join me at the singles/single parents/people traveling solo get-togethers they have. I always meet the nicest people at them, and it's a great way to get to know the cruise staff. Every cruise I've been on, they have always gone so out of their way to draw our group into whatever fun is going on. And it's a lot like the kids' clubs, in that you have to go to that first get-together. Things really seem to gel at that first little meeting, and then we all start hanging out together after that. Just SO much fun, and I am so NOT a night-club-hopper sort of person. I'm not shy, but I'm not a clubber in "real life."

And no judgement pretty please, but you can also often find me at the smoking area by Cove Cafe (when there's even a seat available!) I quit smoking for the most part, but enjoy it on vacation without guilt. I get to smoke, my son gets to have M&M's for breakfast if that's what he feels like, and we both enjoy our week of decadence.

I just wish DCL would hurry and release the info as to when the Magic will first be sailing into Galveston, so I can make plans to be there!!

 

[shillee]

Sadly, we are abandoning ship...going on the Wonder out of Miami instead. Have a great trip everyone! Maybe we will be on this itinerary in 2014

 

[Gina]

Sadly, we are abandoning ship...going on the Wonder out of Miami instead. Have a great trip everyone! Maybe we will be on this itinerary in 2014

Aww, hope you have a great time on the Wonder!

 

[JohnsPrincess]

DIS meet is a definite must!! Would love to meet up at some point with everyone, put some faces to names.

Would also love to meet with anyone staying overnight in Texas. I threw this question out on the facebook page, but will put it out here. Anyone from Texas know where might be a good place to stay the night before, or for 2 nights before? Or what area might be a good place to look at. Right where the ships are at port....or something called the Seawall? They are two different places, no? Just wondering what anyone thinks?

It's coming!!!!! Only.....278 days

Wish I could help but we don't know the area...yet! We are moving to Houston next week!!

 

[JohnsPrincess]

Oh Oh Oh.....you can add me to the roll call

It's me. Just me. Sailing my FIRST DCL cruise. Can't flipping WAIT!!!!!

Welcome!! Oh you are going to LOVE it!!! My Dh and I went on one over Christmas in...2008 I think. No kids at that point and we thought we'd feel out of place, Not At All. It was amazing!

 

[Gina]

Wish I could help but we don't know the area...yet! We are moving to Houston next week!!

Wow, just in time for summer AND hurricane season! Lol. What part of Houston are you moving to? At least now you'll have a much shorter drive to the pier!!

 

[sissy_ib]

How is everyone doing? Any fun summer plans?
We've been hiking every Saturday.
Chris managed to get a 5 day holiday weekend for the 4th of July and we will be heading to my BIL's house just outside of Houston. I guess as of now the plan is to head to Galveston on the 4th so I cant wait too see how crazy that day will be there! We may try the new Pleasure Pier but not on the 4th.
I started couch to 5K and I have a few races planed. A 5K next week, an 8K in September and a 5K in October at Sea World. Now that I am getting in to running I am a little sad we are not going to Castaway Cay because I would love to do the Castaway Cay 5K! I guess we'll just have to book on the Fantasy for 2014!

Chris just got home and it turns out he ordered the Disneyland Kinect game! I have been wanting to play it since it came out but could not justify $60 for it. He got it used for about $10!!