1/3/09 Magic - First Time To St. Croix

[khakismum]

Welcome Clowers!

This will be our 4th DCL cruise and dd's 3rd. We are very excited! I just came from a belated Mardi Gras party with krhardy and Georgia Peach and we (the girls) decided we will be hanging at the Quiet Cove hot tub and sippin' fruity tropical drinks as much as possible!

I'm sure come cruise time we will have arranged a DisMeet at some time on embarkation day to meet everyone and put faces with names.

Keep posting ideas, tips and other good info for us to all learn from ...and what do you mean,

and hope the character breakfasts return to the old way by then!

what have they done with the character breakfast???

 

[clower5luvzdiz]

Well, here are some ideas to get us thinking about what we might be able to do down there.

What looks good to me is the Cruzan Rum factory tour - complete with free samples! Now *that's* what I'm talking about!
Snorkeling off the reef looks exquisite - *sigh*
The horseback ride into the rain forest sounds good just a bit pricey according to the one article.

http://cruises.about.com/cs/caribbeanports/a/stcroix.htm
http://cruises.about.com/od/caribbeancruises/ss/seadream_carib_2.htmhttp://cruises.about.com/od/caribbeancruises/ss/seadream_carib_2.htm
http://www.travelvi.com/stcroixUSVI/index.shtml
http://www.stcroixhotelandtourism.com/todo.htm
http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=10
http://www.stcroixtourism.com/places.htm
http://www.visitstcroix.com/to_do.html
http://www.mytravelguide.com


The following is a menu of excursions offered on St. Croix by shoretrips.com...you just have to create a user account...so to save y'all the hassle of doing that....here is the St. Croix info.

************************
ST. CROIX HERITAGE TOUR
Narrated by a knowledgeable tour guide, learn island politics, botany, traditions and more.
Departures (Local Time): 09:30 AM (6 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $56.00 USD


Explore by Kayak

ECO KAYAK TOUR OF THE SALT RIVER NATIONAL PARK
Pleasure paddle through pristine places.
Departures (Local Time): 08:30 AM (4 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $53.00 USD


SCUBA Tours

SCUBA... THE RESORT COURSE FOR WOMEN
A perfect introduction to diving especially for women and children, by women,
Departures (Local Time): 09:00 AM (6 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $91.00 USD

SCUBA...BUBBLEMAKERS COURSE FOR KIDS
For those not quite old enough for the Resort Course.
Departures (Local Time): 10:00 AM (1 hrs)
Pricing: Child: $44.00 USD (8 and up)

SCUBA...LEARN TO SCUBA DIVE IN 4 HOURS
Half the beauty is underwater!
Departures (Local Time): 08:30 AM (4 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $90.00 USD (For ages 10 and up)

SCUBA...ONE TANK DIVE FROM FREDERIKSTED
Half the beauty is underwater!
Departures (Local Time): 10:00 AM (2 hrs) 11:30 AM (2 hrs) 01:30 PM (2 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $72.00 USD

SCUBA...ONE TANK DIVE WITH UNDERWATER SCOOTER
The short course in the use of the DPV - Scooter. 1 hour instruction and 1 tank dive.
Departures (Local Time): 09:00 AM (6 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $127.00 USD

SCUBA...TWO TANK DIVE FROM FREDERIKSTED
What's better than a one tank dive? A two tank dive !
Departures (Local Time): 10:00 AM (4 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $90.00 USD


Distinctive Weddings

GET MARRIED IN ST. CROIX
Say 'Aye, Aye' and 'I do'.
Departures (Local Time): 01:00 PM (2 hrs)
Pricing: Charter: $403.00 USD (Basic Swept Away Wedding Package)


Golf Trips

GOLF 18 HOLES ON ST. CROIX
A taste of golf in the Caribbean at the Carambola Golf Club.
Departures (Local Time): 10:00 AM (5 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $155.00 USD


Sail n' Snorkel Trips

BUCK ISLAND SAIL AND SNORKEL ADVENTURE
Why go to Buck Island with a crowd?
Departures (Local Time): 10:00 AM (4 hrs)
Pricing: Boat Charter: $407.00 USD (Price for up to 6 people.)

SNORKEL...FULL DAY CATAMARAN SAIL TO BUCK ISLAND
Buck Island, barbeque lunch, all on a glass bottom boat!
Departures (Local Time): 08:00 AM (7.5 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $90.00 USD Child: $64.00 USD (Children ages 12 and under)

SNORKEL...HALF DAY CATAMARAN SAIL TO BUCK ISLAND
A great trip sailing and exploring Buck Island, a U.S. National Monument.
Departures (Local Time): 11:30 AM (4.5 hrs)
Pricing: Per Person: $74.00 USD Per Person: $59.00 USD (Children ages 6-12) Per Person: $29.00 USD (Children 5 and under)
******************************************

this at least gives us a ball park idea for possible excursions and $$$

I surely can't wait... I am planning on touristy shopping and going to the hilltop bar for a drink when in St. Thomas but I had heard of the rum factory and the great snorkeling in St. Croix and was so excited to see these possible excursions!

I can't wait! Remember the GREAT thing about booking through Disney is if the weather is bad and it is cancelled you get a refund garanteed... also if the excursion runs long and it is Disney sponsored the boat will wait and not leave you! Yahoo!!!!

St Croix here we come in 2009!!!

 

[khakismum]

I can't wait! Remember the GREAT thing about booking through Disney is if the weather is bad and it is cancelled you get a refund garanteed... also if the excursion runs long and it is Disney sponsored the boat will wait and not leave you! Yahoo!!!!

True....but since DCL hasn't posted the negotiated excursions yet....the list was just to get an idea of what might be available through DCL. I will definitely book through DCL if we do a big excursion.

 

[krhardy]

I take a break for a couple of days, and the thread grows by 2 pages

We are soooo looking forward to this...Khakismum and I were talking last night that it has been almost 4 years since our last couples cruise, and by the time of this cruise, it will have been 3 years since the last cruise period. WAAAAAY too long! It is getting harder and harder (for me) to keep the secret from my kiddos...as Khakismum will attest, I can be rather, um, obsessive. I nearly spilled it in front of the 7yo Wednesday night...YIKES! Just totally forgot!

Diane...they have done away with the character breakfast for now...at the moment it is something like a "party", but the characters don't rotate through the restaurant like they used to...I'm hoping this will change by our cruise and go back to the way it was, and the way it should be I'll see if I can find the thread and post the link. I guess it went away with 70's and 80's night. Although, I did see in Barb's most recent Navigators that they were having some sort of a Disco night again...I guess they had some unhappy folks. It's not like we're not going to have a good time regardless, but I FEAR CHANGE!!!

 

[krhardy]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1716277

 

[trekkie518]

DH and I will be on this cruise. We will be celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary on 1/6. This will be our 5th cruise. We've taken the kids 3 times so far, and are leaving them home this time.

I am so excited. I am ready to go now.

At least we have a trip to Disney World to look forward to in September to keep me semi calm until it's time to go.

 

[plutojudy]

Welcome! Another Angie (MrsMork is an Angie too).

 

[clower5luvzdiz]

We are booked on the PLA rotation late seating, sooooo if you are on the same rotation you WILL see us!

we are currently working on the main group cruise theme and from there will spring the nightly themes... we shall keep you posted!

Just wondering after reading this how you can know your dining rotation? I thought you didn't get that til you got on board the ship?

Thanks for any help as I become a more experienced planner for our St. Croix
Magic-al cruise!

 

[clower5luvzdiz]

Welcome Clower Clan!
This will be our 7th Disney Cruise and we hang out at the Quiet Cove Pool. See you there.
Where do you live in Tennessee? I have family in Lebanon and Mt Juliet. We love country music so we love to visit Nashville.

We live not far from Lebanon. My brother and SIL and their 3 DK live in Mt. Juliet.

We live in Lafayette where the tornado struck and ran on ground for 41 miles without lifting up! So we will sooo be ready for this cruise after all the help we have been doing for all those that lost their homes.

I look forward to meeting you on the cruise... we love to hang at Cove Cafe when the kids aren't dragging us around.

We took a couple cruise 01/31/08... first Wonder-ful cruise.. and now we are sooo excited to be back on a Magic-al cruise...

Anyone know what the 2 new boats will be called? I found out on our last cruise that the new ships can't do the Panama Canal because they are too big... I am thinking they may leave one on the Atlantic and one on the Pacific to expand Disney to Alaska and Hawaii on the west and more Europe locales on the East.

Anyone have any other info?

I am sooo excited to meet you all! and esp you with family almost next door to me We will only have 2 of our kids with us... so 4 in a cabin with a window.. but inside isn't bad on Disney either... the cabins are sooo nice!

 

[clower5luvzdiz]

Welcome Aboard!

This is our 8th DCL cruise and are very happy to be in an inside cabin on deck two!

Cove Cafe is a favorite place to hang out for some of us. A latte and some friendly conversation are always welcomed.

There will be lots of tips to share with one another. So we'll see you here soon.

I can't wait til we hit double digits on Disney cruises.... what of the 8 cruises you have been on is your favorite? Do you have a favorite time of year to go?

We live in Tennessee so going this year in January for a 3 day was a Wonder-ful break... now for a Magic-al time by the equator and worrying about sunburn in January.... Yahoooo

Also... I like your signature area! Very cool!

 

[clower5luvzdiz]

Welcome Clowers!

This will be our 4th DCL cruise and dd's 3rd. We are very excited! I just came from a belated Mardi Gras party with krhardy and Georgia Peach and we (the girls) decided we will be hanging at the Quiet Cove hot tub and sippin' fruity tropical drinks as much as possible!

I'm sure come cruise time we will have arranged a DisMeet at some time on embarkation day to meet everyone and put faces with names.

Keep posting ideas, tips and other good info for us to all learn from ...and what do you mean, what have they done with the character breakfast???

Someone mentioned so I asked and got an answer that instead of the 7 day cruises having character breakfast for pics and autographs at each table they are now doing an interactive island oriented dance and play time... how will kids eat with this excitement???? and moreover... how will I get all those great pics for my scrapbooking when the kids are all over the place playing with the characters????? I like the personal table by table way personally. There is a thread here where someone posted a link to email disney cruise about our idea to return this to the old way ... so we will see what happens... I will try to find the thread about this if you don't but I think it is in this area... too tired from working to remember.

 

[khakismum]

Just wondering after reading this how you can know your dining rotation? I thought you didn't get that til you got on board the ship?

We are going through a TA and we just told her which rotation we wanted. Poof - it's done. It does help to know what the rotations are - but I think everybody here has a clue! Now, we do have a BIG group and our TA told us that it is easier to accommodate big groups over smaller ones.... But try calling your TA or DCL and see if they can't just go ahead and put you the rotation you want. Personally I'd rather have that nailed down pre-boarding so we don't have to stand in line on embarkation day changing all that mess.

OOoooo note to self....gotta see if Antonio is still serving on the Magic and request him as our server.

 

[khakismum]

Someone mentioned so I asked and got an answer that instead of the 7 day cruises having character breakfast for pics and autographs at each table they are now doing an interactive island oriented dance and play time [snip] I like the personal table by table way personally.

Yeah, krhardy posted the thread and I had found it too after asking. But I agree, I much prefer the table by table experience....that way you can at least get a few bites in between character visits! Even in the parks at a character breakfast or dinner, the characters come by table by table for photo opps! GGrrrrrr

I handle change okay, but some stuff just shouldn't be messed with!

 

[khakismum]

DH and I will be on this cruise. We will be celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary on 1/6. This will be our 5th cruise. We've taken the kids 3 times so far, and are leaving them home this time.

I am so excited. I am ready to go now.

At least we have a trip to Disney World to look forward to in September to keep me semi calm until it's time to go.

Welcome aboard!!! Let me guess y'all are StarTrek fans/SciFi fans??? I'm psychic ya know! DH and I are also big SciFi-ers. The assimilation is complete on our dd too! Resistance is futile.

You will have a great time! We took a couples only cruise in 2004. It was divine. We will have kiddos with us this trip, as we did last trip in 2005. One couple in our crew will be celebrating their 10th anniversary on board - just not the actual day. But we will take any excuse to PARTY!!

We have an October MNNSHP trip planned with a few of the couples we are travelling with in Jan to help tide us over until sail away. It gets really hard for your head to not explode from excitement when you hit the double digit days!!!

Looking forward to hearing more from y'all!

 

[krhardy]

OK...we know I'm obsessed! The gym where I work has "bring a friend week" this week. One of my sweet little 5 year olds brought a friend with him today. His friend's name was "Brad"...guess what I called him for the first 10 minutes of class (until he corrected me)??? BRACK!

 

[plutojudy]

I was just on another thread looking at all the great fish extenders people have made. We used Christmas stockings on our December 8th cruise. I am thinking about ideas for our new FE. I hope we do another gift exchange on this cruise. We really had fun checking our stocking evertime we returned to our room, I told you we are just big kids.

 

[Remember_the_magic]

Hi all,
I will also be on the Disney Magic for its first voyage to St. Croix. This will be my familys 4th cruise with Disney and my last as a teen. Any other teens out there? And just a question what magician was on your cruises? I had Rich Poporia...
It's Magic on the Disney Magic.......

 

[plutojudy]

Welcome to our cruise and the DIS Boards! Sorry, I am not a teen.
Rich Purpura was very good, he was not on our last cruise. We were hoping to see him again.
I'll have to check my Navigators to remember the names of entertainers on our last cruise (December 8, '07).

 

[trekkie518]

Yup, we are all sci-fi fans, the kids too have been assimilated. We had Mike Super on our last cruise over Easter. Before he won Phenomenon. He was awesome. We've also seen Ricu Pupura. I'm hoping Mike will still perform on the Magic.

 

[MrsMork]

Keep posting ideas, tips and other good info for us to all learn from ...and what do you mean, what have they done with the character breakfast???

It is no longer a traditional character breakfast. The characters don't come around to the tables. It is a get the kids up in the aisle and dance party. Not breakfast eaten by the kids and no character interaction for adults without children. We (just 2 old big kids) don't bother to go anymore. I too wish they would go back to a character breakfast.