12/3/11 - Magic Eastern Caribbean

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Well, I fnally got a few minutes free to post a quick review of our 12/3 7-night cruise on the beautiful Disney Magic. The trip included myself, DW and DS (7). We stayed in Category 11B, deck 6 starboard, aft and had late dinner seating. Here are my observations.


1.) First, for the bad. The power failure nearly everyone has heard about by now happened on Sunday during our 3:00 PM Palo Tea. Total power was lost for a very short time before the battery backup kicked in. Propulsion was lost for some hours and as a result of the suituation, the captain skipped the photo opportunity in the atrium (it was also formal night). Also, due to the high seas (13 feet, with 35 knot winds) the pools were closed all day and the presentation of Twice Charmed was cancelled. (It was rescheduled the next day.) Many people on board were ill (personally witnessed two actually "refunding"), but I had no problem because of my ginger pills. I highly recommend these.

2.) Monday became more calm and sunny (we had the Palo brunch - to die for!!) and the pools were re-opened. Twice Charmed was performed and went off without a hitch.

3.) We booked the "French Riviera Beach Rendevous" on St. Maarten. IMHO, this excursion should have been cancelled. The waves were huge and unsafe for swimming and as a result, the water was chocked full of seaweed. We live in Tampa and would not have gone in the water in Florida under such conditions. I spoke with the shore excursion manager onboard and she said they rely on the local operators to determine this. I think this is a mistake on Disney's part as the local operators are not going to cancel an excursion that makes them lots of money unless it's absolutely necessary. I'm not sure what the solution is, but on this occasion the process failed. This was also our Palo dinner night, and it did not disappoint. The show was "The Muppets" showing in the Walt Disney Theater and DS and I attended and enjoyed it, even though it was mostly empty.

4.) On St.Thomas, we booked the excursion to Trunk Bay, which included snorkeling. That morning we were notified that the snorkeling portion was cancelled due to large swells and we could cancel the entire trip if we'd like. We debated but finally decided to go and had a fantastic time. We were reimbursed 25% of the cost because of the snorkeling being cancelled, but I had brought my own snorkeling gear and actually snorkeled and saw tons of fish. It ended up being the best day of the trip. Best beach ever! The show was Villains Tonight! This was our first time seeing this and it turned out to be our favorite show of the cruise. Incredibly funny and entertaining.

5.) On the 3rd sea day DW and I went to the Rainforest Room while DS was in the club. It was OK, but I prefer the free sauna in the locker room. The show was Disney Dreams. DS and I attended and loved it.

6.) On Castaway Cay, it rained on and off all day. But it did stop long enough for me to snorkel. I saw a few fish and a stingray, but fewer fish than Trunk Bay. I also was stung by some kind of jellyfish on top of my foot while snorkeling. It hurt (similar to a wasp sting) and turned red, but eventually faded. DS and I also rented bicycles (he got one with training wheels) and rode to the far side of the island, past Serenity Bay. I wanted to do the 5K, but since I just ran a PR in the half marathon (1:37) in Orlando the morning of our departure and was feeling the effects of eating my way thru the Caribbean by that point, I passed on it. The show was Remember the Magic. DS and I attended, sat in the front row and loved it. Mickey even hugged him when the characters came off the stage during the show and DS proclaimed, "I'm never leaving this ship!"

7.) Disembarkation went smoothly, except that we forgot to return DS's kid's club device on his arm. Luckily, a CM reminded us in the terminal and we returned it to Lost and Found and were not charged the $50.

All in all, a nice reminder of how magical the Magic actually is. This was our 3rd trip on her and I will definitely be looking to go again. Our servers were fantastic and DS loved the kid's club, room service and watching movies in the stateroom. We did an onboard booking of the Dream for 3 -night as a dummy reservation, which I plan on switching to either the Wonder for Alaska or the Magic, as soon as the new dates are released. My rating: 9.5/10. Subtract 1/2 point for the excursion on St. Maarten.


Movies shown:
-------------

Buena Vista Theater:
--------------------
Gnomeo and Juliet
Tangled
Winnie the Pooh
Cars 2
Real Steel
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Toy Story 3
The Help
The Muppets

In Room Features (each played over and over on its own channel)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Cowboys & Aliens
Kung Fu Panda 2
Smurfs
Lemonade Mouth
Green Lantern
Captain America
Zookeeper
Fast Five
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs Evil
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
Thor
Bolt
The Incredibles
Ratatouille
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon

 

[Ajsmom22]

Thank you so much! Me, my husband and our 8 year old son will be on the magic (eastern) in April...our very first cruise ever! I am just soaking up any and all info, because I don't have a clue! Did your son tolerate, like, or love the kids club? Did he wish he had brought a friend?

Thanks again for your report!

Amber

 

[Trinity524]

Where did you get the ginger pills?

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Thank you so much! Me, my husband and our 8 year old son will be on the magic (eastern) in April...our very first cruise ever! I am just soaking up any and all info, because I don't have a clue! Did your son tolerate, like, or love the kids club? Did he wish he had brought a friend?

Thanks again for your report!

Amber

Ds loved the kids club. He would stay there for 3-4 hours per day pretty easily. The counselors were fantastic and really made him feel welcome.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Where did you get the ginger pills?

I bought mine from WalMart before we left. They are next to the vitamins and quite inexpesnsive. Amazing that a 3-4 dollar purchase can save your cruise (or at least the rough part of it).

 

[sdjen]

Thanks for the review. we are on this same cruise in February and cannot wait.

On your excursion in St Maarten - how were the facilities/food etc... at the beach? Were there clean bathrooms etc.... Thanks!

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Thanks for the review. we are on this same cruise in February and cannot wait.

On your excursion in St Maarten - how were the facilities/food etc... at the beach? Were there clean bathrooms etc.... Thanks!

The facilities were "spartan" to put it nicely. Plus, lots of vendors on the beach selling t-shirts, hair braiding, etc. In addition, we were charged $3 extra for the umbrella attached to the beach chair. $3 is not a big deal, but it's stuff like that that turns me off. Definitely not like the national park at Trunk Bay, which was very nice and clean and devoid of annoying vendors.

 

[MammaC]

Thanks so much for all of the great information! We are taking this cruise in March for our first ever cruise as well and all information is very helpful!

 

[Trinity524]

I bought mine from WalMart before we left. They are next to the vitamins and quite inexpesnsive. Amazing that a 3-4 dollar purchase can save your cruise (or at least the rough part of it).

Thank you so much!!

 

[tvguy]

Where did you get the ginger pills?

Clear ginger pills with your doctor before taking them, they can interact with some prescription meds and kill you. For those of you on blood pressure meds that interact with grapefruit, it's the same type situation.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Clear ginger pills with your doctor before taking them, they can interact with some prescription meds and kill you. For those of you on blood pressure meds that interact with grapefruit, it's the same type situation.

That seems overstated, to say the least. I'm no doctor, but a quick Google search shows the interactions are, at most, moderate.

http://www.rxlist.com/ginger-page3/supplements.htm

Sure, ask your doctor if you're taking any prescription meds. But to say that they'll "kill you" seems a bit over the top to me.

 

[cwaz]

Can you go to the beach for free in St. Thomas or do you have to book an excursion?

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Can you go to the beach for free in St. Thomas or do you have to book an excursion?

I do believe you can go to a beach on St. Thomas without booking an excursion, but you'd need to take a taxi from the tender dropoff. To get to the beach we went to in St. John, you could do the same, but you'd need to take the ferry to St. John and then a taxi to the beach. The ferry ride is about 45 minutes long, and with allowing traveling time because the Magic now tenders in St. Thomas for some reason, you'd have to really plan it out to do Trunk Bay on your own. When we originally took this same cruise in 2001, the Magic docked in St. Thomas, which made doing your own beach excursion much easier.

 

[cwaz]

Thanks Buzz....I do believe the Fantasy will dock in St. Thomas, but on the itinerary it shows St. Thomas/St. John....what do you mean by "tender dropoff"? Just trying to figure out if we can forego the cost of the exercusions, but do them ourselves! Any more info would be great...it also makes a stop in St. Maarten!

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

Hi, what was your dinner rotation?

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Thanks Buzz....I do believe the Fantasy will dock in St. Thomas, but on the itinerary it shows St. Thomas/St. John....what do you mean by "tender dropoff"? Just trying to figure out if we can forego the cost of the exercusions, but do them ourselves! Any more info would be great...it also makes a stop in St. Maarten!

The itinerary shows St. Thomas/St. John because it actually stops at St. Thomas and there are ferries to St. John. No cruise will stop on St. John itself. When a ship tenders (like the Magic does now in St. Thomas) it means they don't actually pull all the way up to the dock where you could then just walk off the ship. Instead the ship anchors in the harbor and there is another boat, or tender, that must pick up the passengers and take them to the dock. This adds time coming and going. And if you are going ashore without an excursion booked, you have to wait for all the excursions to first go. Again, this will add more time.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Hi, what was your dinner rotation?

We had requested late seating, and to be seated alone. We got these and had the rotation APLAPLA. This means we were in Animator's Palate on the first night, Parrot Cay the second night, and the Lumiere's. Then repeat, with Animator's Palate the restaurant we were scheduled to visit 3 nights. But we scheduled Palo dinner on Tuesday, which would have been Pirate Night with us at Animator's Palate.

 

[cwaz]

Thanks Buzz....I had no idea. We have only done the Wonder and Dream all going to Bahamas since we love Castaway Cay!!! The Fantasy itinerary doesn't say anything about "Tendering" would it or would only a "experienced" cruiser know?? LOL Do you suggest doing Trunk Bay and foregoing the beach? What about going to St. Johns?

Thanks!

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Thanks Buzz....I had no idea. We have only done the Wonder and Dream all going to Bahamas since we love Castaway Cay!!! The Fantasy itinerary doesn't say anything about "Tendering" would it or would only a "experienced" cruiser know?? LOL Do you suggest doing Trunk Bay and foregoing the beach? What about going to St. Johns?

Thanks!

Unfortunately, the itinerary on the DCL website doesn't tell you whether they tender or not. That's why we were surprised when the Magic tendered in St. Thomas this time. In 2001 when we took the same cruise they docked instead of tendering.

As for Trunk Bay, I'd recommend that in a heartbeat. The DCL excursion is the easiest way to go and you'll end up with about 2 hours on the beach itself there. I live in Tampa and have been to many Florida beaches, been to Oahu several times, spent a week in Nassau on vacation once, and have been to Spain's Mediterranean beaches and I can tell you without hesitation, IMHO Trunk Bay is the best pure beach I've seen yet.

 

[tcobair]

There is a cruise ship schedule and docks for the VI at the site -
vinow dot com look under quick links
With more than 5 ships in port someone has to set in anchorage in Charlotte Amalie harbour. It looks like Disney ships will be docking in St Thomas beginning in April.