09/08/07 Early Check in September 8, 2007 Western

[shoes99]

Lois, we also had a death in the family while we were on board. We did not find out about it until yesterday. My cousin's 19 year old daughter was killed in a car crash on 9/11/07 in Jackson, NJ. She was on life support until her parents could travel from Florida to NJ. They donated her organs, and they had a memorial mass on Saturday.
I have a brother, and two sisters in NJ, and nobody in our dysfunctional family notified them of the death. Families are strange.
Michele

 

[Grandma4ever]

Lois, we also had a death in the family while we were on board. We did not find out about it until yesterday. My cousin's 19 year old daughter was killed in a car crash on 9/11/07 in Jackson, NJ. She was on life support until her parents could travel from Florida to NJ. They donated her organs, and they had a memorial mass on Saturday.
I have a brother, and two sisters in NJ, and nobody in our dysfunctional family notified them of the death. Families are strange.
Michele

I am so sorry for your loss. You and your niece's family has our prayers as you all grieve your loss.

It looks like my 14 year old niece will decide to stay with my sister (Twin Princesses). There isn't a real good answer when a person dies before their time.

 

[shoes99]

How do you like this picture Lois?

 

[drclaws]

Make it three. My cousin's wife also passed away while we were away.

 

[Donnica]

I'm sorry to hear about all these losses!

 

[Donnica]

Hey no pickin on Carnival Cruise Lines (especially if you have never cruised them), I happen to be a platinum cruiser with them and had MANY MANY wonderful cruises and cruise experiences.

 

[ladyemmaann]

We have returned to the midwest but with sea legs..
Clothes have been cleaned. cats and in-laws check on and first day back at work.
We did not come back to a family member passing away. (our prayers go with thous tht have to face.). But Mary's mother was put back into the hospital for low oxegn level, Last Tuesday. We now know some med issue she does have. Ox tank is here and ready for her need. (evenings).

 

[fltink]

Well, this is my first time checking into the boards since we came home and I have SO much to say.....

First off.....Hi. My name is Jenn and I am suffering from post-cruise depression. (Come one everyone...."Hi, Jenn....")

Secondly, we had an awesome time! We didn't do any of the DIS Meet stuff but chances are, if you were in Rockin' Bar D any night, you saw us. We were the loud ones who were always dancing and being kooky. On Day One we all had on the DCL Die Hards T Shirts that I made for our group.

I am working on writing up a trip report to post because I have so much to comment on but I'll touch on a few things here.

Can I just say....the DCL Crew is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! We had the BEST time seeing old friends and making new ones. They are one spectacular group of people and I would especially like to aknowledge our dear friends Nyoman (Beverage Manager) and Sasha (Palo server) as well as Giovana (poolside bar server) and Englebert (Rockin' Bar D and poolside bar server). Our servers, Emmanuel and Putu were also fabulous.

New favorite things I found on this DCL trip.....The Ariel View screen. The new chart format of the Navigators. The boarding times for embarkation day being given out by a card with a time on it based on when you arrived as opposed to having to stand in line. The Frangipani Scalp Treatment from the spa (only $25 and AMAZING!). The new Spring Break themed party in Rockin' Bar D with free Jell-O Shots. The Pub Night "If I Were Not Upon the Sea" sketch, which I had never seen. The new lounge chairs by the Cove. The Disembarkation Talk now only being on TV. Room service french fries. SOOO good! The addition of Diet Sprite. Hooray for Diet soda options! And for NON-DISNEY stuff.....The Dolphin Swim in Cozumel booked right through the park. (Disney only allows you to do the "experience" meaning that you interact with the dolphins but you do not get to ride them and swim with them.) Moby Dick Tours doing StingRay City in Grand Cayman. I missed this one but I booked it for my family and they said they were WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheaper than Disney and much more personalized, educational and fun. And the Castaway Cay Eco Tour on waverunners.

Only complaints......who the HELL hired High Frequency? Seriously, let's be honest.....they suck. You can't understand a word they sing. Too much good stuff scheduled at one time. I hated having to pick one thing over another. The wierd marionette show was just plain FREAKY! Rude guests, especially when it comes to elevator courtesy, but that's not Disney's fault. Can someone please let Disney know that pools are supposed to be cool and refreshing, not warmer than your average bath water? The Peppermint Fog shower in the Rainforest no longer works the way it used to and now it's pointless. I am sad, because I used to LOVE it! Was it just me, or were all the inroom movies crappy? And finally.......it was FAR TOO SHORT!!!!!!! Let's go back now!

As I said, I am going to do a trip report incase anyone is interested. I'll let you knwo when it is done. If anyone s looking for navigators or information, I have it all, but have no idea how to upload it so feel free to send my questions!

 

[MamaKoss]

High Frequency was definitely not a great band. Theye were "ok" at best. I was a little disappointed in the choice of band for Rockin Bar D. They also had a tendency to play the same songs over and over. Gets a little old when you listen every night. We did enjoy Taylor Mason and the other comedian's that we saw (can't remember names). Twice Charmed was excellent. We saw the Disney Dreams already, so we didn't go to see again. I wish we would have made the Golden Mickeys because even though we saw it three years ago, I believe they changed it up a bit with different songs and such. I do enjoy the productions. Didn't get to see any movies in the Buena Vista Theater. Didn't get to go to Studio Sea either. It seemed they had everything good going on during our dinner time (6PM), and afterwards, we were too full to go and sit, so we usually walked around the open decks and socialized. We did enjoy many people who we met (outside the DISer's that is). I'm sure everyone know's Bob Morrison. He was the very lively gentleman who was in charge of the group of disabled people cruising with us. He was such a blast to party with! What a free-spirit. I'm actually a little jealous of his energy and excitement for life. What a wonderful person he is. Also, people we met in Diversions and Rockin Bar D. I wasn't crazy about the wait people at Rockin Bar D. The one waitress/barmaid was actually rather stiff. Not very friendly. The barmaid (the Jamaican Queen Benita!) was awesome. Also, barmaid at Diversions Agniesjka was a blast as well. Absolutely loved Kwesi (Signals/Rockin Bar D waiter) and All the guys in Cove Cafe.

I have to say, I did spa treatments this time and had such an awesome experience. Had the manicure and pedicure (my tootsie never looked so good!) which included a treatment to the hands, arms, feet and legs. I highly recommend it. Kisien was the girl who took care of me on the Magic. I had the half body massage as well, and I can't remember the girls name, but she was wonderful as well. Walked outta there like jello!

All in all, I feel we had a magical vacation/cruise. Met some very interesting people, met some rude elevator people (Fltink is right; not Disney's fault), and even met some really great kids. We will definitely return to Disney for our next cruise.

I do still have my sea legs; still wobbling a bit on land. First day back to work today wasn't so bad. Jumped right in and worked away! Was over before you knew what hit ya. Back home is a different story. Trying to get all the laundry done. We have to work on getting our family room and bathroom back in order now. Lots of work ahead.

 

[stina]

Hey Jenn, thanks for that recap of all the good stuff on board! We had such a great time with you guys. It was so nice to eat dinner together and dance together every night.

Yes, one of my favorite "new" things on the Magic was the Ariel View screen. On pirate night they showed Pirates 2 from 11pm-1am and it was heaven! Pull up a deck lounger, face the screen, ocean breeze, someone brings you a drink of the day, yup, life doesn't get any better than that! It was like being at a drive in except with a fabulous breeze. So what if I slept through MOST of the movie it was just so darn relaxing!

I also enjoyed the new Navigator with the easy to read chart. The Spring Break theme party was fun, and yes, I actually DID do the limbo and get a free jello shot! I was with Jenn's family on the Stingray City excursion through Moby Dick tours and I can personally testify that it was phenomenal! Honestly, it was so much better than the stingray excursion we did through DCL two years ago. I think mostly because there were a lot less people on it, it was very unstructured (2 guys with a boat), they let us off at stingray city for quite a long time, and we also got to go snorkel at the reef afterwards. And oh yeah, it was 1/2 the price of the Disney excursion! I know for some money is no object, but even if this excursion was the same price as Disney I'd still do it, those Moby Dick guys were fabulous. And totally tough! One of them even dove down at the reef to feed a moray eel and even held it so we could all see it! Now that's service.

I agree that I couldn't decide if I liked the marionette show or not. I liked the part with the panda, the rest of it just seemed odd. But I think it's good that Disney experiments with different types of entertainment, it provides a nice variety when mixed in with the Disney-themed productions. And I always enjoy the adult caberet. I still can't get Romeo from the adult caberet out of my head... he has "Pinocchio Syndrome"

I too am suffering from cruise and Disney-withdrawal. I am back in the land of Disney-haters and it's no fun at all!!!

 

[fltink]

Mama Koss, did you ever have Englebert as a server in Rockin' Bar D? He was the BEST!!!!! Can not WAIT to cruise with him again!

Wait a minute...you spent a lot of time in Rockin' Bar D? Hahaha! You must have caught some of my groups "stellar" performances, then! Did you happen to see my sister in law on 80's night tool herself when she attempted a Dirty Dancing lift off of a chair??????

 

[alleluia5]

We were the loud ones who were always dancing and being kooky. On Day One we all had on the DCL Die Hards T Shirts that I made for our group.

We did see you with your shirts - in fact I commented to my husband how great they were - very cool!

My DH is totally with you on the pool temps too - he hates how warm they are and won't go in them!

 

[alleluia5]

Ah yes Romeo and his swagger - who could forget - I have to say Taylor Mason was one of the highlights of the cruise. Did you happen to catch the juggler and his paddleball(s)?

Now for the Marionnette - the jury is still out - I was a little impressed with the Panda and had he stopped with that I think it would have been ok but the scarecrow who kept losing his head was a little disturbing....

Was anyone at the 6:15 show for Rich Purpura - that was hilarious!

That last nights show always tears me up!

Oh and for some reason this cruise we saw the performers every time we were in the Cove - seems they had a coffee need!

 

[fltink]

Oh! One thing I forgot to mention! Did anyone else have any problems with how slippery the decks were? My mother in-law fell one morning while walking on deck and killed her knee. Then the next day, I was trying to take my niece into the Goofy pool. I took one step down off the wooden floor surrounding the pool (you know how steep those steps are) and slipped the rest of the way. I banged my head and hit my back very hard. I am sure if you saw it, it was hysterical, infact, I was laughing....till I realized how bad I hurt myself. No fun! Plus I saw two other incidents at the adult pool. People tooling themselves everywhere on deck! Yikes! You would think Disney would want to do something about that! I know that they put in a new no-slip rug around the Mickey pool and it seems to reduce a lot of the problems. Maybe they are planning on putting them in elsewhere but haven't gotten there yet.

One other thing, as much as I LOVE the Ariel View....I liked the old deck party better, when the dancers came out with the characters, etc. They seem to rely on that screen a lot now for entertainment and it really shouldn't be taking the place of live music and dancers. I know that the old band (Charles Marshall Band) used to play much more often on deck. In fact, everytime we sailed away from a port there was a mini-sail away party, it seemed. Not anymore. Now they just have a movie on the screen.

 

[TXBzean_DizKruzr]

I also noticed quite a few weddings taking place, or was it just one wedding with many ceremonies? I remember seeing a bride passing on Deck 10 one evening, and then there was a wedding ceremony by Head's Up on Castaway Cay.

What a rude awakening I had this morning - I had to listen to new email notifications on MS Outlook; a stark contrast to the PA announcement signal followed by Rachel (or other crewmember), "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys..."

BTW, FLtink and posse...I sure loved y'alls shirts...those were very original.

 

[fltink]

Thanks for all the props on our shirts! We put a lot of thought into them!

We did see the 6:15 Remember the Magic and what happened to Rich Purpura was awesome! Those kids got him so bad!

As for the marionettes, though I won't take away the fact that his skills are impressive, those puppets are still freakin creepy! I kept picturing them with little knives, attcking people in their sleep. (I know....a bit over the top.)

The adult cabaret section with the paddle balls was hysterical! I can still picture him gyrating, trying to get that third paddle ball going!

 

[TXBzean_DizKruzr]

I feel the same way about the marionettes. I will give mad props to the guy for the talent, but the puppets were kinda weird looking.

I thought of sharing some of my photos.

Here we go:

This was taken at the Disney Dreams show. It is the early scene when the fairy enters into Ann Marie's bedroom.​

Here is my favorite - the lobster entree on seafood night. Ours was at Animator's​

I went to eat some tacos at Mr. Chile's in Cozumel and saw this on the stairs up to the restaurant. I just had to capture it.​

We had 2nd seating and had LAPLAPL rotation. Here was our server team: Server, Brendon and Asst. Server, Melroy​

And this says it all...from the Remember the Magic Final Farewell show​

I hope these photos aren't too boring. As I continue to upload, I will post more.​

 

[stina]

Love the photos! Especially the "Mexican Elevator", those Mexicans have a wonderful sense of humor. When we did our dolphin swim the trainer told us to kiss our dolphin like a Mexican...which he described as long and raunchy!

 

[stina]

Happy TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY y'all!

I know we DISers never do that!

 

[fltink]

Thought I'd add some of our photos...

This is my sister in-law, Heather with the "men of the Magic", our servers Putu and Emmanuel, and our servers from our last cruise, Roberto and Aswald.

Here's the whole Self Party Posse, or the DCL Die Hards, as our shirts said.

A Castaway Cay Dream...

This was, I believe, Cuba, as we passed it one night...

My husband and I with our favorite cruise director, Rachel...

How cute is this cappucino mousse from Palo?.....

And the reason I always want to go back....