March 10, 2012 - Eastern on the Magic

[atrust1992]

Hi,

Yesterday (Wednesday) felt like Thursday, so this week has 2 Thursdays! I think my Monday was missing! At the end of the day it felt like DH had been gone (business trip gone until very late tonight) longer than 24 hours.

Suitcases are coming along and I think everything will fit in as planned.

DS3 is excited and keeps talking about the cruise.

This morning on DS1's toaster strudel, I designed a cruise ship (basic) with the icing. He liked the reminder.

I want you to chime in on this one.... When I look at the weather for St Thomas and St Marteen for the coming week, there is rain in the forecast every day... does anybody know if those are just the "Florida-type-late-afternoon-showers" or could this be "all day" showers.

Thanks and see you all real soon!!!!

Sonia

I was in St. Thomas in January and the forecast looked the same way. Usually it will rain for about 10-15 minutes and then clear up!

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

I was in St. Thomas in January and the forecast looked the same way. Usually it will rain for about 10-15 minutes and then clear up!

I certainly hope this is true as the forecast does not look promising.

John

 

[sauterelledesiles]

The kids and I just saw the Fantasy leave port. DS1 said "it's huge". So we looked up the comparison between the Magic/Wonder and the Dream/Fantasy.

Just in case you didn't know about the live web cam

http://portcanaveralwebcam.com/

Sonia

PS: Thanks for those answers regarding the rain...

 

[Polarone]

Leaving for the airport shortly - Safe travels to everyone and looking forward to a fun and relaxing cruise!

 

[KBennett]

Well, in the blink of an eye it's over! Not sure if anyone will check back on here but just in case just wanted to send a huge thank you out to everyone who participated in the FE exchange. I can't believe how many crafty people there are and how many clever ideas you guys came up with! My kids loved it and were so excited to get their surprises (and CANDY!!! SOOO much candy!!lol) I actually filled a whole carry on with all our treasures. You guys were great!

on another note, we learned something this cruise - never ever go to the medical center unless you have lost a limb or are positive you are about to die! I had to take my 12 year old down there on Monday because she'd been sick all day (I was thinking food poisoning) so I just wanted them to be sure she wasn't dehydrated because she couldn't hold anything down (very embarrassing scene in the middle of Lumiere's and if any of you witnessed it, I'm so sorry!) The next thing i know, we're put in isolation for 24 hours. We couldn't leave the room until 7:30 Tuesday night - totally missed St. Marten! Worst part, she was completely fine on Tuesday! Guest services called my room almost every hour to check if we were there. The guy cleaning our room had to wear a mask and gloves while my daughter was dancing around and eating pizza. 24 hour bug. So annoying.

That Disney Dream passing had to be a marketing ploy, as soon as we saw it my husband was like, that's it. let's go book it!

Hope everyone had a great cruise and a safe trip home!
Kristine

 

[sauterelledesiles]

Yep, already over... But what fun we had!!! I think the only thing keeping us from being absoluterly sure we are cruising again is the fact that DS1 and I have motion sickness. I spent most of Sunday in the cabin sleeping, but, after Dramamine, Ginger Root pill and the sea bands, I felt better, enough to enjoy our formal night. DS1 ended up spending Tuesday and Wednesday in our cabin. Wasn't sick, just queazy. Gave him some ginger pills and convinced him to put on the sea bands and he was able to enjoy Thursday and Friday with us.

We too came back with a full carry on of goodies from the FE exchange. It was so much fun and the kids were excited to get back to the cabin and look into their pockets. If we ever cruise again, with Disney, we will sign up for it again.

It was great to meet a lot of you and really fun to feel like we had friends on this cruise. (3 Goofy's and Janette311 especially)

If you feel like it, I would love to see a family picture from all who want to share!!!

Sonia

 

[son3disfan]

Wow...its really over.

We are still in Florida, leaving tomorrow.
It was great meeting you all and sharing in the planning with everyone!
The weather was just awesome. One of our favorite cruises for sure!

I am so sorry to hear that so many were ill the first few nights. We bumped in to at least 6 families that had someone ill in their party. Really puts a damper on the whole cruise experience doesnt it?

I was so shocked to hear about Direct Air!
Hope none of you are booked on those flights trying to get home this weekend!
We have booked flights with them for Aug. (for Myrtle beach).Hope we can get our money back.

So...
If you care to share....
who booked again, and what did you book? I makes it so much easier to leave knowing that you will be back!

We booked the Wonder (Alaska) for Aug. 2013. I think that is over 500 days of planning !!!!! Oh boy!

 

[3Goofy's]

We're at the airport after taking an extra day in Orlando to soften the post cruise blues. More later but thanks for all the gifts and great to meet you all.

 

[janette311]

Thank you so much to all of you for making our trip sooo special! It was so nice to start a cruise knowing so many people and it made it "home-y" to be able to say HI to someone at least 3 times a day. Also a big thank you for making it so much easier to get Logan back to the room with the promise of "Maybe we have presents!" It was quite a treat to get so many great things.

YES, we got sucked in and booked another cruise on the ship. We have been dieing to check out the Fantasy since it's new so we will be headed on:
Fantasy, Western Caribbean on August 3, 2013. yippee! Gotta start saving money NOW for that pix cd.

I'd love to post some pictures and as soon as I figure it out...I'll get them up.

Hope you are all settling in back at home and not feeling the motion of the ocean too much.
xoxo
Cherie

 

[lgierling]

We arrived home last night. Youngest had many tears over the end of the trip - "It was so short mommy!"

Thanks to everyone for all the gifts. The girls quite enjoyed the trips back to the room to check pockets.

Sounds like we got lucky on the "motion sickness" front. We had a few boughts of queasiness, but Gravol kicked in quickly and we didn't miss any of the fun!

Sorry we missed everyone at the welcome aboard meeting, but the swimming pool was calling!

Thanks to MsGrandma for holding out spot in line for Donald!!

Not sure yet when we'll be sailing again, but is definitely in the plans after this fabulous experience.

 

[papertraveller]

Hi Everyone!

So glad to hear that everyone is safely making their way home. Please allow me to add our voices to the chorus of thanks for your most generous FE gifts. They were fabulous! I am so amazed at the creativity, time and thoughtfulness you put into these treasures.

If you are one of the people who laminated your gift, how did you do that? I have tried this in the past, but it doesn't work. Do you have your own machine?

It was a great pleasure to meet many of you -- one of my regrets is that we didn't meet more. Loved seeing 3 Goofy's on stage with Freddy Fusion, dining with DundasDad (and the ever-vibrant DundasMom), and just being able to exchange greetings with anyone we saw along the way.

We were able to avoid the seasickness, thankfully. So sorry that it created problems for some of you. Being confined to the stateroom is seriously no fun.

We are booked on the Fantasy for March 9, 2013. It is the eastern itinerary again, this time with stops in St. Thomas, San Juan and Castaway Cay. I had actually booked it the day the new itineraries were released, and I tried to rebook it onboard. Turns out the price had gone up enough that there was no point.

I also booked a dummy cruise -- picked a three-day Dream cruise for late September 2013, inside cabin. The deposit cost us $119 -- but it locks in the 10 per cent discount and the onboard credit for the future. We have no intention of using that cruise, but it gives us a foot in the door if we see something else we like. (It's not like the bank is going to pay me to keep that money with them, anyway! )

Happy settling in to the real world! All the best!

 

[3Goofy's]

Yes, we are back now too. I hope everyone travelled safely and are happy to be home with family and pets (we are).

Thank you to all who met up with us at the meet. I was an unexpected treat to be able to recognize people around the ship and say hi. I wish we could have met more of you or spent time chatting. It was great to see you so often papertraveller (I'm sorry I missed dd's talent show), and I know dh really enjoyed visiting with Sauter...Sonia et al . DS also liked hanging out with your ds Sonia.

I was so impressed with all the FE gifts. I'll have many of them for a long while to enjoy. Whoever gave ds that little plastic dolphin, I have to say that ds loves it! He took pictures of that dolphin all over the place. Thank you for all the great gifts! Each one is special.

Terrible to hear some of you were seasick . I know some of you persevered and trudged on, but awful for those who were down and out. I hope you still found fun.

We enjoyed the Magic very much, but preferred the port days. We are considering just doing an island next time, but booked the Fantasy March 9, 2013 just incase. There is a bit of sticker-shock, so we'll see. We booked a balcony, but had no problem at all with our inside this time. The prices have really gone up since we booked onboard just a few days ago!

So now the non-fun begins and hopefully some fun sorting through pictures.

Welcome home everyone, and thanks for adding to the fun!

 

[MsGrandma]

Greetings to all! I'll add our thanks to the thread. The FE was great fun, and thanks to everyone for the generous, creative, fun and thoughtful gifts!!!!

We enjoyed meeting some of you at the meet and it was lots of fun to see familiar faces around and about the ship. Hope our paths may cross again sometime, on a Disney cruise or elsewhere. We re-booked for a 4 day on the Dream March 17th (though I'm wishing I could afford a seven day every year I just don't think I can do so).

Best wishes to all, and thanks again!

MsGrandma (Heidi and Mariah)

 

[Disney's Fan]

BEST TRIP EVER!!! So sad it's over, but what a wonderful time my family had. Thank you to all who participated in the FE for the amazing gifts. The entire family looked forward to seeing a little something special peeking out of our pockets when we returned to our cabins, and that includes our two teenage boys (15 and 17!) We had so much fun delivering our treats, too, and seeing the different FE pockets people had, as well as the door decorations. We got caught in the act on one occasion which made it quite exciting. For the person who gave the dry erase boards, those came in so handy for us! Every night we would go through the navigator to pick out what we wanted to do and write it on the boards. To the person who knitted the tissue and drink holders....WOW! That must have been a labor of love. Surely you started well in advance to be able to finish them all. They were so impressive. We loved all the candy, and I've decided Canadian Smarties are much better than U.S. Smarties The tic tac case was so clever, and I'm going to use mine as a pill case in my purse when the mints are gone. The frames, bookmarks, pirate gear, nightlight, candy, tshirt, miscellaneous goodies, magnets, and necklaces* were all so clever and fun. (*To the crafter who made these: I like your technique on this better than mine...need to visit the homemade FE list to find out how you did yours!) I truly appreciate the playful spirit that went into each of the gifts we received!
We booked a dummy cruise while onboard and hope to cruise again in 2014. We're not sure which itinerary we'll choose,but definitely a 7 night again, though! That was a perfect length, I thought.

I wish we had posted photos of everyone before we left so I could have met more of you while we were out and about around the ship. (I'm a little too shy to attend the meet and greet, but somehow a casual meeting is more comfortable for me) We recognized one family from their photo and got to meet them, which was a treat! I'm sure I saw many of you around the ship and just didn't know it.

Welcome home, everyone, and I hope to "see" you again around the boards.

Lisa

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

What a great week. Thoughts include:

Good:
Love the wave phones
Loved the weather
Loved the excursions - Golden Eagle and full day trip in St. Thomas.
Shows were great a second time around
I found the food to be really good again.
Loved the horn battle with the Dream Friday night. Got some great pictures and video.
Kids clubs were great again. Gave our son the ability to check in check out with some rules and my daughter really loved going this time around.

Bad:
Sunday weather. I battled sea sickness, but sea bands saved me. The rest of the family as good.

Got a quote to rebook on Fantasy for Aug 13, but couldn't pull the trigger even at the reduced price. $4,800 for a porthole room was too much IMHO. We are going to look at Freedom of the Seas when they release their schedule for Summer of 13.

Getting off the ship.

Ugly:
Witnessed a family go off at the pool on Thursday. I guess they had their items removed from some chairs and decided to drop F-bombs to crew and people around showing their displeasure.

 

[KBennett]

What a great week. Thoughts include:

[Ugly:
Witnessed a family go off at the pool on Thursday. I guess they had their items removed from some chairs and decided to drop F-bombs to crew and people around showing their displeasure.

I saw them move her stuff! She had put their stuff down and gone to get breakfast. They moved her stuff while she was gone. I was on her side until she dropped that F-bomb.

 

[sauterelledesiles]

Hi all,

Since I asked for pictures, I also need to post some....

Our family on Formal Night

Here are pictures of the FE gifts we handed out. I know some of you got some of the things and others got different things.

Can Cozy

Charm

Aki sac

bookmark

Mickey Pants tissu pocket

And, finally, my nails this past week!!!

Again, thank you all for the goodies in the FE. With us too the kids were excited to get back to the room to see if we got something!

Sonia

 

[papertraveller]

Sauterelledesiles,

I love your family photo! Ours pretty much sucked this time, so we didn't buy a single one.

And you are truly so talented -- I am in awe of your crochet work, so clever and so beautifully crafted.

I'm on load six of laundry now. Not sure where it all came from, since we had only two bags!!

Cheers

 

[papertraveller]

I just took a closer look at the fares for next year. We booked the same cruise, on the Fantasy, for next year. I got it in October, 2012. For the same money as we paid for a porthole room on Deck 2 on the Magic, I got a balcony on the Fantasy.

But here's the rub: that cabin is now a full $1,600 higher than we booked for! That's crazy!!

I noted also that the fares for the week before and after March 9, 2013, are a bit more palatable.

My reasoning in booking the inexpensive Dream cruise as a dummy is that I will wait until the 2014 itineraries are out, and try to get us in again at the cheapest possible rate -- along with those discounts.

 

[sauterelledesiles]

Sauterelledesiles,

I love your family photo! Ours pretty much sucked this time, so we didn't buy a single one.

And you are truly so talented -- I am in awe of your crochet work, so clever and so beautifully crafted.

I'm on load six of laundry now. Not sure where it all came from, since we had only two bags!!

About the photo, we asked a teenager to take it with my iPhone (which we used as a camera). Everytime we asked a crew member to take our picture, it turned out blurry. Teenagers have a better understanding of the technology!!! So it wasn't a professional one, and we didn't buy any pictures either.

Thanks! I love to crochet and making the gifts was a pleasure. It was also a new challenge as I didn't have any patterns to follow. I ended up having extras, because of the two families who did not provide us with stateroom numbers. I gave some of the items to the Oceaneer Lab crew members! They seemed to appreciate it.

I did all of my laundry yesterday. 5 loads!

Had to keep DS2 at home today he spiked a fever at dinner time last night and looked horrible. Woke up this morning fever free and stayed that way all day. He's going back to school tomorrow!

Also, I meant to ask... has anyone else been feeling the rocking of the ship still? It was really hard for me on Saturday, kept feeling as if I was still on the Magic, without its magic Yesterday wasn't as bad, but still felt movement pretty much throughout the whole day. Today was much better, although I still felt it a little.

DS1, who was also queasy on the ship, felt movement on Saturday, but was fine yesterday. Lucky him!

Hope you are all smoothly getting back to your routines


PS: I've started to write a trip report that I hope I'll be able to post before the week is over.