July 2, 2005 West Coast Magic

[mokehil]

Thank you DisBoards for making our first ever cruise a smashing success. The tips and hints and friendships found here are priceless.

I envisioned my trip report as being organized and complete, but alas the memories just come flooding in haphazardly. Having only been home for a day I am still reliving it, last week at this time I ......favorite memory today was....eating brunch at Palo. You are ALL right the stollen was wonderful! With two staterooms we were able to book TWO! My DH wanted to cancel one but I just smiled and told him I would cancel the second one AFTER we finished the first one. Yeah Baby! That meant two mornings of king crab and stollen and yummy tenderloin. Need I say more???

Meeting the other DISer and celebrating sail-away together was very special. Thank you to Tisza for organizing our group raffle.

Thanks Ron and Dave for the Roy Suite party. It was truly a dream come true! What a veranda!! what a wonderful group of people, what fun!!! Cheers!

Among the very special experiences was going on the Los Veranos Canopy tour with 18 other DISers. I have yet to watch our DVD but will cherish that I know all the folks in it. We were the first group (this season) to do the tour in the RAIN. We were splattered from head to waist with mud!! Sharing that experience with all you DISer was GREAT!

Highlight: The Golden Mickeys, our two youngest children were chosen to be interviwed live and then went on stage as dwarves with Snow White at the 6:00 pm show!! My DH got pictures and I recorded it all (on STANDBY).

Thanks to all the DISers we had a good time with Randi's Happy Horses. The six of us were in all different groups of horses. I was able to relax because the other DISer were helping to keep an eye on my kids. DH and I could only be in two places at a time. I travelled most of the way with Steven. He was a perfect gentleman and I truely enjoyed our conversations.

Sorry that I missed the address exchange, but at that time DH and I were in the Spa.


4th of July. Champagne Toast at dinner. That was special for 4th of July wasn't it?

Remember the drinks at the Captain Gala in the atrium are FREE! I took a maitai for each hand.

Night was lots of fun. Dancing at the deck party in the rain was lots of fun. Legalbriefs was dashing in his outfit! Fireworks and buffet were a fun way to end the evening.

My dd12 and dd14 went to all the shows and liked them. The comedy shows were their favorite. They came back and told us some of the funny lines....

Bringing a shoe holder for each room and one sweater hold made the unpacking painless.

We allowed our older dd12 and dd14 to come and go as they wished. We used white boards to communicate and then they would telephone the room. Finally I have a hint for the board. Bring a MAGNECTIC white board (6x8) for each child you need to communicate with. (Found mine at Walmart in a package of 6). Place that ki's navagator under it. Fold back so only that particular day is visible. Have the kid highlight the activities are interested in and then use the white board for time checking in and other notes. We also had a white board on the door for messages.

I was glad that we had door magnets. It helped the kids find the room and it just was festive. Cutting out those home depot mickey heads was a pain! We use a variety of colors with an emphasis on the lime green.

Since we booked two staterooms, DH in one and me in the other, we went to guest services to get spare key for the other room. The bungie cords were invaluable for keeping the doors open.

We were in 2646 & 2648 and they were noisy! They shook and rumbled but it never kept me awake. Heck, you feel and hear a car, you hear and feel a plane, why wouldn't you feel and hear a ship. I loved the oceanview and really don't think I would pay extra for the veranda. Rather have drinks or spa for the money.

Glad we brought on champagne and margarita fixings. Helped a lot with the bar tab. Good rolling cooler at costco.

Never did any night life because after our late seating dinner ds5 and dd7 were tried. Dh and I headed back to the stateroom. Not sure what we would have done in the kids were not tired because I was tired by 10 too. The two time changes on the way down are brutal! I will ask about that if we ever book anther cruise.

Our server was not very good. The assistant server made up for it. But I got so tired of the server telling me that he was providing excellent service.....I personally have a problem with sending back food that I don't like. Everything was ok but I was not really impressed by the food in the main restaurants. I was disapointed that so many of the shrimp dishes were cold. I really like hot shimp and the cold shrimp did not hit the spot. I wish I had the menus to point out my favorites but that information is gone now....stollen and chocloate souffle and pannecota just keeps rising to the surface.

I was never seasick. The movement was much worse as we went higher. I took bonine daily and somedays twice. Next time I will do the patch.

These are my thoughts of the day. We had a wonderful time and hope that maybe one day we will go again. So glad we did the 7 day. I kept thinking after 3 and 4 days how short they would be. I think I could handle a 10 day too!!! I loved the seadays. I liked have seaday last because packing was not a rushed stressful experience. Thank you SO MUCH for tell me to NOT to attend the disembarking talk. I listened to it while I packed. That tip and the PALO tip were worth their wieght in gold!

Maybe more later, but I really need to unpack and pretend like I am going to start laundry. I just noticed my bed is still not made.......life on the Magic. It doesn't get much better than that!!

Thank you

Darcy
My countdown signature is gone... one day since my first ever disney cruise.

 

[Itinkso]

Darcy - thanks for posting your report. A friend was on your cruise with and if she had become a DISer then she would have had as much fun as you and your family did. Though she was a little disappointed in the cruise, I think it was because she didn't benefit from DIS knowledge!! DD and I will be on the 8/6 cruise and are really looking forward to it. We've linked with other DISers and know we will have a great time!! We also have Randi's booked. Were your children able to go in the water at Stone Island?

 

[mokehil]

My children did not go into the ocean at Stone Island. We watched several people get treated for jellyfish stings. Noone wanted to take a chance on that. My dd14 is sensitive to bee stings and did not know what to expect....epi-pen was left on ship in error.
I did have disappointments also, but like you said the DISBoard and building of excitment for 6 months more than made up for it. I would love to go again and see Castaway Cay!! Someday maybe 2007.

 

[AmyJ of Ca]

I was part of the Randi's group with Darcy and just a tip is to let Randi know that you are part of a larger group. We all booked Randi individually although we were planning to ride together. She didn't know and had too many riders to go at the same time so she split us up with one family to go with the group from the Carnival Pride. She was apologetic but she didn't know we were all together. I wasn't riding because I have 2 kids (2 and 1years old) and a 6 old who did ride and a 8 year old who decided to stay with me. Those in my family who rode had a great time. There were jelly fish in the water and we watched the lifeguards take away a teenager in our party who was stung and was probably allergic to the sting. There were many jelly fish washed up on the beach yet we saw many people still braving the water and getting stung. They even had signs on the beach to warn the swimmers. Randi asked the lifeguards if they were present in the water and she let us know they were but it was up to us if we wanted to go in.

It was great meeting Darcy. It seems like we ran into each other alot!! That is part of the fun of meeting Dissers. You don't have to hang out together everyday but when you do see each other it's nice to talk to a familiar face!!
Amy

 

[Itinkso]

Amy - Thanks for the tips. So far, it's only DD16 and me on Randi's...the others don't seem to be interested in riding. I'm looking forward to meeting the DISers especially because DH and older DD won't be cruising with us...they don't want that Disney immersion. I have Palo brunch booked - by myself so far. Did you happen to see many "single" diners? I'm hoping to find someone who may want to experience Palo but if not, I won't mind experiencing the brunch alone.

 

[Vanvmom]

Our trip was truly a MAGICal experience.

Embarkation... smooth! I got a passport before we traveled, and they did look at it for ID when we embarked, but I can't say it was ever opened again.

Days at sea... great! Take some warm clothes for evening walks on deck on those fist 2 full sea days as well as the last sea day. The skies stay overcast, and the breezes at full speed can get chilly. The shows were wonderful - every night! The kids loved being in their show the final day. The 80s and the 70s parties were loads of fun, as was pirate night!

Children's programs - My oldest (DS 11 1/2) loved the lab and the time he got to spend at the stack! He did not like going to dinner as part of the Ocean-ears Lab group, but he was able to check himself out and go order room service, or get food on deck 9. My 9 year old DS was able to be part of the 10-12 group. He did not enjoy the first night (not enough structured activities I think), but quickly warmed up and joined in with the activities as the cruise progressed. I think if he'd read the kids navigator better, and was able to predict what was coming next he would have had an even better time! My youngest DS, almost 5, played with the 5-7 year olds, and he had a blast! As the cruise progressed, it became harder and harder to get him to leave the club! The last 3 days he was in the club right after breakfast until the club closed (by his choice!). Now if the club were open just a little later, we could have danced longer!

Another quick note, the older boys went to dinner in AP the night we were at Palo, and loved dining alone. It was our servers suggestion too! As for servers, our assistant server was great! Our main server was not what we expected of "Disney Excellence" but still did a fine job.


PV - WOW! It felt like a sauna to get hit with that full on muggy steam bath walking on deck after 2 cool days at sea. All in all, not a pretty port. We did Canopy de los Veranos with other DISers (not booked through the ship so that younger kids could go, and it saved a little money too). The excursion was great, professional, wonderfully fun group and all that! One of my sons did get a little dehydrated on the trip - his fault, they had bottled water available at many of the tree tops. He also got motion sick after the drive down the hill - likely due to not feeling well from the mild dehydration. He was fine by dinner time.

Mazatlan - fun one to get up early and see the ship come into port. The houses on Stone Island are a very artistic view of Mexico. We did the Stone Island excursion through the ship. Our tour guide was Alma, and she was wonderful! She's a native of Mazatlan and gave us tons of history about Stone Island, she learned the names of the people in our group, got the kids involved in a "dance" on the way back to the ship. We had a great time. Yes, there were jelly fish, but no one in our group got stung (and we spent most of our time in the water). A few locals got stung, but their reaction was much like what a bee sting is like. The lifeguards and tour operators were there right away to treat it. Just a reminder, the sting may be quite painful, but unless you have some sort of allergy to stings, there is no long term effect from the sting. One thing that was not mentioned about this excursion is that all the beverages were free (yes, including beer and margaritas - very yummy ones too)! The included lunch was good, and my sons like the pinata party at the end. Be aware though, it is a public beach and there are many people peddling their wares on the beach!

Cabo San Lucas - Our Los Arcos kayak and snorkeling excursion was canceled by the tour operator due to high swells on lovers beach so we walked around town all day. We had fun, got to sample the atmosphere at Cabo Wabo - no crowds at 11 am, and the weather was wonderful! This was the most "resort like" port on the cruise.

Disembarkation: Early dinner gets early breakfast (6:30 am) on disembarkation day. YUCK! Our cabin steward told us to go ahead and leave our carry on items in the cabin and come back after breakfast to get them - nice since that is not what they tell you to do at the disembarkation talk. As for passports - No stamps to say I even left the country, and that customs form we filled out was simply placed in a stack and never even looked at.

Would we cruise DCL again? You bet!

 

[Tammy1]

Darcy, Your trip report was GREAT We leave in Sept on our first DCL (third Cruise) and I have one question...you had mentioned a rolling cooler....I had planned to take one on board filled with the good stuff But then I read somewhere that you can't take coolers on board unless your meds have to be stored. Did you just roll it on board with you??

Thanks so much

 

[mokehil]

I had planned to take one on board filled with the good stuff Did you just roll it on board with you??

Thanks so much

I found a softsided insulated rolling coller at Costco. I used it as a carry onto both the plane and the ship. It was filled with two bottles of champagne, two bottles of Martenellis, one bottle of tequila (wished it was the half gallon size) and two bottles of limeade mix, and a bottle of tripe sec, and 6 bottles of vitamin water without ice.

The stateroom host kept it filled with ice, she rolled it to the ice machine. Although it was supposed to have a leak-proof liner, the carpet under it did become damp. Next time I will use 2 gallon ziplock bags to prevent that. It may have been condensation because I never really found a leak.

We rolled off the ship with our alloted two liters of duty free liquior. One bottle of Martinellis we never drank and the sailaway plastic glasses; bought two, found 4 more at the end of the party. Would have grabbed more but my kids were so embarassed by that behavior and would not help me carry any.GOOD DIS TIP!! Bring a bag to help carry away more!!! Ok I'm cheap, but I was not the first person to do it. It also held the 6 champagne glasses we got on the 4th of July.

We had bought more than two liters (only another 500ml of tequila, opened too) than the duty free allotment. DH went down early to pay the extra duty. The custom guy said don't worry about it and signed our custom form. Never did anyone look in the colloer or even bat an eye. It was heavy to lift onto the security belt, but a strong college boy helped me with that. Dh was already through the scanner with the four kids by that time.

That was a long way to say: Fill up your cooler and enjoy!! Wish I was going with you in September.

Darcy

 

[Tammy1]

Thanks so much darcy....all I can say is come on and I'll bring the drinks

 

[mgm61]

I keep telling my DH that we should get the rolling cooler. We leave in 5 days!!!

 

[Tammy1]

I keep telling my DH that we should get the rolling cooler. We leave in 5 days!!!

Don't know if your any where near a Sams but they have them

 

[mokehil]

I keep telling my DH that we should get the rolling cooler. We leave in 5 days!!!

Does you DH like to drink? Does your DH like to save money? IMO this item is the most worthwhile item you can carry on. My DH thought it was a bad idea, but he did changed his mind quickly when he had to buy that sail-away drink for me at $6:50!

I know I will be using mine around home too. It would be nice to bring a cooler of ice cold ones to sit next to ya at the pool or park!!

Good luck, you still have time, you won't regret it. Just add it to your last minute items to get. Do you have your shoe holder? Signifant others think those are dumb too, right up to the point they realize they can find all their stuff....quickly and easily. Hon, where is my...,? In the shoe holder. HON,where is my....? it's in the shoe holder.

 

[Vanvmom]

Along those lines... we too used the over the door shoe holder, as well as the extension cord, $1 bills, door decor, and holder for the KTTW (especially for the kids). Never opened the book I brought once (I did journal some each day). The highlighers for the navigator were useless for us, but having the magnetic dry erase board was priceless! We did not bring a nightlight. We got a small package of glow bracelets/necklaces at a party supply store, and the kids used them each night as nightlights. I also brought a large plastic envelope to put all of our items to scrapbook into so that none of them got left behind or damaged in the room.

 

[AmyJ of Ca]

Along those lines... we too used the over the door shoe holder, as well as the extension cord, $1 bills, door decor, and holder for the KTTW (especially for the kids). Never opened the book I brought once (I did journal some each day). The highlighers for the navigator were useless for us, but having the magnetic dry erase board was priceless! We did not bring a nightlight. We got a small package of glow bracelets/necklaces at a party supply store, and the kids used them each night as nightlights. I also brought a large plastic envelope to put all of our items to scrapbook into so that none of them got left behind or damaged in the room.

Wendy, Just wanted to let you know how much our little ones loved your doors. Everytime, and I mean EVERYTIME we went anywhere, my 1 and 2 year old stopped and yelled Mamo. That's baby talk for Nemo. We must of spent HOURS looking at your door. Thanks alot!! (It was cute the way they'd be running full steam down the hall and hit the breaks at your door and start yelling MAMO, MAMO) Amy

 

[jlawall]

Thx to all for the great tips on this thread!!!

 

[macbaby]

We did the Stone Island excursion through the ship.:

What is the transportation to and from Stone Island like?

 

[Vanvmom]

Sorry it took so long to respond, my mind wanders when I start thinking about how fun our cruise was

As for the transportation question: We got off the ship on deck 1, then the Mazatlan Port shuttle drove us down to the left end of the dock (right in front of the Carnival Pride which was docked in front of us). We signed up for a "lunch choice" then were loaded onto double level boats that ressembled oversized colorful tender boats. Very safe, and the distance is a very short boat ride. When we got to Stone Island we were loaded into open air covered farm carts (they jokingly called them Mexican Limos) which were pulled by tractors. The island is very rural yet has a pleasant friendly feel to it.

If you do the Stone Island excursion, try to get Alma as your guide. Before the tour leaves the ship they had us all meet in Rockin Bar D and divided us into groups to leave with tour guides. Alma is a Mazatlan native with a great personality. Our family thought she was great (much better than the guide our friends were with).

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[mattmommy]

can somebody e-mail me all the tips and suggestions that started this thread? Also, do they do anything special for the 4th of July? We're doing a family reunion with four cousins. 8 years and three 5 year olds.

colleenandmark@yahoo.com