Halloween on the Magic 2013

[emtmom]

Welcome lchute1158!

Glad to see you and your family will be sailing on this cruise!!

My son will be 7 at the time of sailing and my younger daughter will be 4.

No experience on that Cozumel excursion, though in the past we went to Chaankanab Park and the kids loved it.

 

[lchute1158]

Welcome lchute1158!

Glad to see you and your family will be sailing on this cruise!!

My son will be 7 at the time of sailing and my younger daughter will be 4.

No experience on that Cozumel excursion, though in the past we went to Chaankanab Park and the kids loved it.

Thanks! Cool...we will have to introduce the kids...mine are already talking about the kids club!

 

[HalloweentwnPrincess]

My brother and I are booked on this cruise too. I can't wait! It's our first cruise ever! I've been reading up about the FE exchanges and would love to participate, I'm just a little worried about getting gifts over from Sydney and then having room for them after a visit to WDW and Universal. Is there somewhere at WDW or close by where I can send them to Port of Miami?
Thanks

 

[hamm1207]

My brother and I are booked on this cruise too. I can't wait! It's our first cruise ever! I've been reading up about the FE exchanges and would love to participate, I'm just a little worried about getting gifts over from Sydney and then having room for them after a visit to WDW and Universal. Is there somewhere at WDW or close by where I can send them to Port of Miami?
Thanks

Welcome to the cruise and welcome to cruising! Cruising is our favorite type of vacation. There is a way to ship a box/package to the port/ship before your cruise. I'm just not sure on how to do it-I would suggest calling dcl and asking them. If you send it to the ship, it should be in your stateroom when you arrive (at least that's how it works for port Canaveral).

 

[HalloweentwnPrincess]

Thanks for the info. I'll give DCL a ring when I ring WDW to make ADR's and book a couple tours next month

 

[emtmom]

Welcome, HalloweentwnPrincess!
Congrats on your first ever cruise! You're going to love it!!

 

[HalloweentwnPrincess]

Thank you both for the welcome!
I know it's still 7 months away but I'm so excited for this cruise it combines two of my all time favourites, Disney & Halloween!
Just wondering, does anyone know if we will have a Pirate Night on board? I'm planning on booking MNSSHP as soon as possible and I want to dress up for it.
I've been thinking of just buying a pirate costume and wearing it to both events, killing two birds with one stone...
Any thoughts/suggestions? I'm a little worried about how much I have to pack.

 

[emtmom]

When I sailed in October in 2009 on the 4 night Wonder, there was a pirate night and a Halloween night. Lots of people wore pirate costumes for both, some had two separate costumes, others had no costumes at all. I have no idea what to do myself! I think we'll pack just pirate stuff for my husband and I and then pirate and Halloween stuff for the kids.

 

[melaniesposa]

ALMOST there...well, 6 months (but considering we booked this cruise in August, I'll take it ). It's been a hectic year for us since our last cruise...we live in Hoboken, NJ so immediately were met with Superstorm Sandy (FEMA, flooding, etc.). My DD has been displaced from her school due to environmental contamination from the storm. Despite the hardship, we are now relocating to Philadelphia (tomorrow, in fact!) and are going to start a new life in a slower city...boy, will we NEED this vacation!

Thanks to hamm1207 for creating an FE. My MIL purchased her FE gifts as soon as we were off our first cruise and my DD still can't stop talking about the Mickey mailbox and all the treats she received.

And to hear the news on the DRY DOCK report - we are SO super excited! We were all laughing how we booked the exact same room from our cruise in August; however, now with all the rumors of changes it will be a 'new room'! We are so excited to see all the changes they will make. We thought the ship was amazing as is, and Disney always has a way of surprising us for the better!

To answer a few questions from folks earlier...we will be arriving in Miami either Friday evening or Saturday morning. My MIL has swanky business connections so we will have a rental car and will be staying at the Biltmore before and a day or two after the cruise. Also, I did not do the Castaway Cay 5K last year; however, look forward to doing it this year - Yay!

And a few questions for others, to keep everyone excited...

1. How many DCL have you been on? This is our second, so are only 'silver' level.
2. For those who have cruised on DCL (or any cruise) during Halloween - was the ship crowded? I keep checking the site and it still seems as if many rooms are still available. Will be fun to have a more intimate cruise if this is the case
3. Cozumel - any suggestions for excursions for a 5 year old? She's a city kid so can handle quite a bit of walking...
4. Is anyone looking to get a cabana on Castaway Cay? We serendipitiously were able to acquire one the day before on our last cruise and are seriously thinking about doing it again this go round!
5. Also, my DD who is typically an introvert and enjoys hanging out with adults more than children strayed away from the kids club last cruise; however, after seeing the final show with the kids performing she has been eager to give it a shot. Anyone else with girls about 5 or 6 aboard?
6. Where is everyone from?
7. If you have participated in FE in the past, what was your favorite you have received and/or given?

 

[emtmom]

And a few questions for others, to keep everyone excited...

1. How many DCL have you been on? This is our second, so are only 'silver' level.
2. For those who have cruised on DCL (or any cruise) during Halloween - was the ship crowded? I keep checking the site and it still seems as if many rooms are still available. Will be fun to have a more intimate cruise if this is the case
3. Cozumel - any suggestions for excursions for a 5 year old? She's a city kid so can handle quite a bit of walking...
4. Is anyone looking to get a cabana on Castaway Cay? We serendipitiously were able to acquire one the day before on our last cruise and are seriously thinking about doing it again this go round!
5. Also, my DD who is typically an introvert and enjoys hanging out with adults more than children strayed away from the kids club last cruise; however, after seeing the final show with the kids performing she has been eager to give it a shot. Anyone else with girls about 5 or 6 aboard?
6. Where is everyone from?
7. If you have participated in FE in the past, what was your favorite you have received and/or given?

1. This will be my 6th cruise, I am now Gold level, it's the 5th for my husband.
2. When I cruised around Halloween in 2009 on the Wonder, the ship was crowded but it wasn't sold out though that was out of Port Canaveral and it seems that DCL is having a tough time selling the Miami cruises in general.
3. Chankanaab park (they have dolphin encounters here too) was really nice and my daughter loved it there when she was 6. On our cruise last year (not DCL) my kids were 12, 5, and 2 and they were all perfectly content to walk around the main street and browse all the shops. The owners, while definitely looking to sell things, were very friendly and welcoming. Fairly certain we'll just be doing that this time around...the best meal we had the entire week was a street vendor and my kids actually asked if we could go back there this time!
4. Don't think we plan on a cabana but that could change between now and then!!
5. My youngest daughter will be 4 on the cruise, not sure if that will be too young for your daughter.
6. We're from Massachusetts, just outside of Boston.


I am so sorry to hear all you've been through in NJ with Sandy. I hope that Philadelphia will be a wonderful new start for you and your family. Hubby and I will be in Philly in two weeks!

 

[hamm1207]

This will be my 10th (gold) and my husband's 11th (platinum) Disney cruise. We don't have any children and don't have any plans of getting a cabana.

Some of our favorite FE gifts have been: mugs, customized photo frames, customized tiles, luggage tags, pirate tattoos, keychains etc. we greatly appreciate any and all FE gifts that we receive and we look forward to coming back to our room to see what has been left for us.

 

[starlightprincess]

Hey everybody! I'm Debs and I have booked my first Disney cruise!!! I have wanted to do it for a while but finally bit the bullet and decided to go for it. I will be travelling with my niece (5 on the cruise) my best friend and her daughter (5 onthe cruise) so I am looking forward to Halloween. So can somebody tell me what exactly a FE is? I've seen stuff around about them and really want to participate but I'm still a bit confused LOL Where do I sign up and is there a FB group? x

 

[mmcxiiad]

Hey everybody! I'm Debs and I am just waiting for Payday to book my first Disney cruise!!! I have wanted to do it for a while but finally bit the bullet and decided to go for it. I will be travelling with my niece (5 on the cruise) my best friend and her daughter (5 onthe cruise) so I am looking forward to Halloween. So can somebody tell me what exactly a FE is? I've seen stuff around about them and really want to participate but I'm still a bit confused LOL Where do I sign up and is there a FB group? x

Welcome aboard! This thread is a good place to learn about 98% of DCL. You can scroll down to read about Fish Extender (FE). If you decide you want to sign up, hamm1207 has a link in her signature for a google doc to sign up. As for the fb group, I am not sure about that one. Let us know if you have any other questions, and come back soon so we can all count down the clock together!

 

[hamm1207]

Welcome aboard starlightprincess!

Feel free to ask away with any questions you have!

 

[starlightprincess]

Woot thanks for the welcome and the info. So I paid for the cruise officially and I can't wait!
I have a question about you guys LOL
Where is everybody else travelling from?
I'm from Ireland and will be travelling with my niece and my best friend is from Missouri and will be travelling with her daughter. So I will be flying over to her for a few days then we will be roadtripping to the port (because it's cheaper than flying). x

 

[starlightprincess]

In response to Melaniesposas Questions:

1. How many DCL have you been on? This is our second, so are only 'silver' level.
This is our first! We are so excited.

3. Cozumel - any suggestions for excursions for a 5 year old? She's a city kid so can handle quite a bit of walking...
I have no ideas but would be interested as we are travelling with two 5 year olds.

4. Is anyone looking to get a cabana on Castaway Cay? We serendipitiously were able to acquire one the day before on our last cruise and are seriously thinking about doing it again this go round!
We have read really mixed reviews about the cabanas and I don't know weather we are going to rent one. From your experience was it worth it?

5. Also, my DD who is typically an introvert and enjoys hanging out with adults more than children strayed away from the kids club last cruise; however, after seeing the final show with the kids performing she has been eager to give it a shot. Anyone else with girls about 5 or 6 aboard?
We are travelling with two 5 year olds! My niece is rather outgoing and would talk the hind legs off a donkey, but my best friends daughter would be like yours very quiet and cautious so maybe we need to introduce them.

6. Where is everyone from?
Ireland

I am so doing the 5k tho I will prob walk it LOL I am also so excited about the FE and starting to plan my gifts. I'm thinking of something hand made, Disney related with a flair of Irish

 

[hamm1207]

We're heading in from Anchorage, AK.

 

[starlightprincess]

We're heading in from Anchorage, AK.

Oh hamm1207 that is somewhere that is on my travel bucket list! x

 

[hamm1207]

Oh hamm1207 that is somewhere that is on my travel bucket list! x

Come on up! We're heading into spring now, which means break up season for all of the snow and ice that we've accumulated since October. Temps are finally getting into the 30s and low 40s (F), and we're up to almost 13.5 hours of daylight!

 

[hamm1207]

So Alaska is laughing at us, as we thought it was spring, she decided to dumb some snow on us! 3 + inches and still coming down.