Live from the Magic West Coast July 17th-23rd

[disneylandkids]

Let us know what movies are playing. PLEASE.

The movies showing now might not be the same as when you cruise.

I called DCL about a week before our sailing date (7/9) and they gave me the list of movies for our cruise.

But WHY in the world was there only ONE showing of Pirates--at 2 pm on Puerto Vallarta day--is BEYOND me! I was BUMMED to not be able to see it on the big screen in all its splendor...

 

[DisneyTart]

You are killin' me with the wireless internet tease! PLEASE let me know if it will be a go!! I am sailing Aug. 20th on the magic.....

Okay - here is the scoop!!! If I had a laptop that I could use with wireless I would BRING IT! Talked to a guy this morning who opened up his laptop to do work on the first day and found he had an internet signal He still needed to register and get a user name & password.
The guy I talked with signed a couple papers got his internet name & password and has been on lline through his own laptop the entire cruise!!!! A few glitches though he can only get a signal on deck 9 & 10, Promenade Lounge (Right next to internet cafe) and Atrium area. But he is on his own laptop. So far this is not an advertised service, CM Danielle offered it to me also but I didn't bring a laptop with me.CM Danielle at the "prebooking for your next cruise booth" is also the internet person.

I actually don't mind the internet cafe since it is open 24 hrs and if you want a kids free zone the Cafe Cove is open until 12:00AM. You can print on the printer for 25 cents a page, but I wasn't able to use to plug into a USB to recharge my Shuffle. But really that wasn't that big of a deal.

The only gripe I have is that we were on a 6 day cruise and had to pay the same $89.95 as a 7 day cruise had to. We could have been given a bit of a break from this IMO. The wireless internet guy didn't pay anything...BUT my feeling is that this was simply because it was being tested. I would think in the future there will be a charge for Wireless , but who knows how much???

Exciting news though, HUH????!!!!

~Bethany

 

[JSCTRico4]

SSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOO exciting! I will be taking my laptop..... It will just be nice to not have people waiting for you. Even though we will be on vacation, we will be gone over 2 weeks, and need to stay in touch for various reasons. I wouldn't even mind paying, but, if it's free.... I will be even more excited!

 

[llachance]

Glad the girls are enjoying Ronald and Eddie we were a table for 9 (so probably the same table you are at) on the June 25th cruise. We had a ball with them.

 

[DisneyTart]

The movies showing now might not be the same as when you cruise.

I called DCL about a week before our sailing date (7/9) and they gave me the list of movies for our cruise.

But WHY in the world was there only ONE showing of Pirates--at 2 pm on Puerto Vallarta day--is BEYOND me! I was BUMMED to not be able to see it on the big screen in all its splendor...

Funny my DD16 went into Mazatlan (our pirate day) for only an hour because she HAD to see POTC on a big screen again, it was showing ONLY as a matinee. They really should show it as the 11:00PM movie, IMO. In fact we all DD13, DD16 & myself watched it all the way to the end (to see the monkey ). It got us in a great mood for Pirate night. We all dressed up and got many positive comments. A few people asked how we knew to bring costumes, we said "the disboards!!". I brought gold, coins, mini pirate toys, tattoos and glow bracelets for our table. Our servers were impressed and by the end of the evening they were wearing the bracelets!!! We had a blast at the Deck Party but I thought it could have been a bit shorter, 1 to 2 songs before, brief show/fireworks and 1 song afterwards instead of SEVERAL LONG very aerobic songs before the show/fireworks and MANY dance songs after. We went to the Pirate Deck Party buffet right after the fireworks and sampled some goodies. We all did have a great time & seeing the movie was indeed a treat!

 

[disneylandkids]

when you get back from mazatlan and puerto vallarta can you post whether there were jellyfish on the beaches? we are going next week and i was hoping that maybe they would be washed away by then. thanks.

We sailed on the 7/9 cruise. We did not go to the beach in PV, but did a horseback ride in Mazatlan. I saw some (not a huge amount) of jellies on the beach there. We also saw some on the beach at Cabo and heard stories about people on the snorkeling trips having some stings here and there.

Years ago, when I lived on the east coast and went to the beach, I was told that Accent (the food seasoning--basically MSG) neutralizes jelly stings. It worked for me, way back when. I took a bottle of it for my kids, just in case, and I'm glad I didn't have to open it!

 

[Verandah Man]

Okay - here is the scoop!!! If I had a laptop that I could use with wireless I would BRING IT!

Great news, thanks for sharing!!! I just bought a new laptop this week that has wireless connection. In fact, I'm using it right now!!!

 

[DisneyTart]

SSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOO exciting! I will be taking my laptop..... It will just be nice to not have people waiting for you. Even though we will be on vacation, we will be gone over 2 weeks, and need to stay in touch for various reasons. I wouldn't even mind paying, but, if it's free.... I will be even more excited!

Funny if I didn't have the occasional "break" to go check the internet this cruise wouldn't be as much fun for me. It's one of the things I've really enjoyed, Having a dish from scoops, my diet coke and checking in with friends has become very important to me. My DD16 has also liked keeping in touch with friends. In a day and age where we almost all carry cell phones to keep in touch it's nice to still have some of that same technology on vacation.

~Bethany

 

[DisneyTart]

Oops almost forgot ...yes there were Jelly fish in Mazatlan and not sure about Cabo. We went to beach after horseback riding but only got our feet wet. the waves were huge and the undertow was VERY strong. Also while we checked in for our excursion (in Cabo) we heard the "Snorkling/Scuba" Tour had been cancelled due to rough seas. Guests were offered a full refund or an exchange to another harbour cruise.

~Bethany

 

[stingfancb]

Okay, so help me out with this wireless laptop thing. Do I still pay the internet fee except use my own laptop?

 

[Eeyorefan12]

One thing that I thought was interesting was that the room hosts cannot turn down your beds or service your room while you are in them. It's against the rules according our host. He did pull the top bunk down and made us a snake towel animal! He was very sweet and apologized more than once.

This might be the rule (to protect guests and crew) but it got bent for us. My DD11 came down with a bug (fever, sore throat) while on board and spent two days in the cabin. The first day, we kept the Do Not Disturb on and told our steward what was going on. The second day, we accidentally left off the DND sign and he came in at the end of the day while my DD and DS9 were there watching movies. (We had gone to Palo's.) He asked the kids if they'd like the room freshened up and they said it would be okay...so he worked around them and did a wonderful job. I have to admit, it was getting a bit "icky" in there with an unmade bed in the middle of the room and a sick kiddo who kept calling room service and leaving soup bowls all over. It was so nice to come back to it looking so fresh again and I think my DD felt better about it, too.

I understand why this kind of rule would be implemented and I'd have been uncomfortable with the same situation in a hotel or something (strangers in the room with my kids!) It was different on the ship...you just form "relationships" with the staff and feel so taken care of. (I could also feel the pride this man took in his work and it probably drove him nuts not to be able to take care of the room properly.) Now I'm glad I didn't compliment our guy in my comment card, though. He might have gotten in trouble!

CB

 

[Pineapple]

What you want for jellyfish stings is a meat tenderizer containing the enzyme papain. I don't know what Accent contains but Lawry's Adolphs Meat Tenderizer should work.

Adolph's Meat Tenderizer

"The white powder sold as "Meat Tenderizer" is composed mainly of an enzyme extract from the papaya, called papain, usually with added salt, sugar and anticaking agents. The enzyme papain breaks down tough meat fibers. Papaya juice has been used for centuries in South America to tenderize meat."

"...a lifeguard in Hawaii who had to deal with insect and jellyfish stings... used a paste of meat tenderizer and vinegar and claimed it was magical."

Eeyorefan, are you still around? Still reliving your cruise, huh?

 

[DisneyTart]

Okay, so help me out with this wireless laptop thing. Do I still pay the internet fee except use my own laptop?

I'm not a technical wiz but I think you need a laptop with a wireless card. Some come with one built in others need to add one. Not totally sure how it works.

~Bethany

 

[DisneyTart]

This might be the rule (to protect guests and crew) CB

Hi CB - I completely understand the rule, and felt very sorry for our host because he wanted to make the room nice for us but was hurrying around so not to get caught. We really bonded with him and even gave him one of our family t-shirts (an extra DH didn't wear). I think he was touched. We also tipped him over and above. He was really wonderful!

Tonight we had our final dinner in Parrot Cay, not my favorite restaurant, very noisy, bright colors. I guess it would called festive? We asked our head waiter if he could arrange a "special" dessert for my teen daughters and he did. They were thrilled!!!

We just finished a bit ago with the Pub Night show. Do not miss this show!!! It was very funny, haven't laughed so hard in quite awhile!

Should go up and turn in since we get booted off the boat for the next group of cruisers. We have breakfast at Parrot Cay at 8:30, where we get our stickers. They call your group by what sticker you have and then you disembark.

So the next time I post I will be on land. I do want to say THANKS to all the disboard members who made this first cruise a true delight. Without the knowledge and extra tidbits I got from here it would not have been the same. Thank you so much for sharing!!!

~Bethany

 

[Eeyorefan12]

Eeyorefan, are you still around? Still reliving your cruise, huh?

LOL! Y'know, I keep TRYING to stay away from the boards...or at least not visit so often. Then I get a note in my mailbox that someone has replied to a post...well, you know the drill. Plus, I've gotta stay up on things if I'm going to plan our NEXT cruise.

CB

 

[Debogan]

LOL! Y'know, I keep TRYING to stay away from the boards...or at least not visit so often. Then I get a note in my mailbox that someone has replied to a post...well, you know the drill. Plus, I've gotta stay up on things if I'm going to plan our NEXT cruise.

CB

I know the feeling! I can't seem to stay away either!

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Well after a very magical week, we just rolled in the door. Have many stories and pictures to share once we get unpacked. Thanks to everyone here for the incredable information that made our trip as excellent as it turned out.
Roger

 

[Mom2Belle&PeterPan]

Hello to you and your family Roger! We stood next to you & your family at the San Pedro harbor to see the Magic leave on its first Mexico cruise. So glad to hear that you had a magical trip! Please tell your dw hello for me, and we look forward to your trip report! We'll be bringing the Magic home on August 20th!

 

[mgm61]

boy what a great time to be had. Everyone should get to go on this cruise.
There are plenty of places to hang out if you want to get away from all the kids. Make sure to go to Sessions bar if you have a late dinner. I found nachos and all the fixins up there. Guagamole (sp) is excellent.
I lost my cookies from the storm. I orded the meat med rare. Thats when it hit me. Our server Sandra walked me all the way to the room. lol
When we first got on board we went to the room and started unpacking. Hubby was hot and we ordered a fan right away when we set up our acct.
We got our bags pretty quickly so we unpacked. Hubby was so hot that we didn't make it to the first dinner. We went swimming instead when no one else was there. We had early dinner to start with and got it changed by the 3rd night.
There are things to do all the time on the ship. Or you can do nothing if you want to just relax. Which is what we did most, relax.
We were a Make a Wish family and had the best service just like everyone else, but it was so much fun and we were so happy to be there.
We had a bridge tour with other Make a Wish families we met Mickey up there and pictures. The captain actually said we had 12 to 18 ft seas.
It was great the shows were great and the food for the most part was great. I tried champagne and cavair for the first time at the Palos brunch. I like cavair. If you didn't like something that they brought for dinner, change it. My son had ordered something he didn't like and they brought him another dinner. No problem. I didn't gain anything because of all the walking around the ship we did. The elevators are full almost all the time and if we had to go up 1 or 2 flights we did on foot. We did come all the way down by stairs from the 9th floor. Son and I raced. He won because he jumped at the end.

We went on the Mazatlan tour with Frank. It was nice but Mazatlan is a dirty town. He took us up on the hill where he had his picture, I think I got stung by a killer bee. By the time we got back in the van there were about 20 buzzing outside. I kept ice on it and when I got home went to the doc. Tetnes (sp) shot and antibotics for 5 days. We also went on the Pacifico brewery tour. Your kids have to be 18 or look it to go. We have been on the budweiser tour before and this is nothing like it. You get up close. We could have grabbed a beer off the line. It's different.
We went to the glass bottom boat and stopped at lovers beach. We shouldn't have gotten off. You had to jump in the water and you got knocked down by the waves. Good thing we had our suits on under our clothes. It was just as bad getting back on. You had to pretty much belly flop on the boat. They had guides to take you stuff off the boat so everything wasn't soaking wet and then they have there hat out for tips.
The water was cold but refreshing, from Mazatlan. It was too hot and humid.
I wish I would have bought more Kalua. It was only 10 a bottle for the big one. Also got the good Cabo Wabo for 45.00 Thats the year and 1/2 stuff. Anejo, we didn't get to the bar, because of the tendering trouble we had less time. I would go back to Cabo for sure.
Michele

 

[rsjj]

Michele...thanx for the mini trip report! just a quick question...where did you purchase your kalua? in one of the ports? or on the ship? thanx!