2/19 Eastern trip report - pt. 5

[Mumph39]

Thursday at Sea - Decided to spend the last sea day much as the others, just relaxing most of the day away. We had our character breakfast this morning. The teens slept in after a late night in the stack. Just the adults and the 7-11 year olds. After eating so much at Palo the night before, it was just fruit or yogurt for the adults. The kids loved the characters and got their autographs and pictures. After breakfast, up to the track for a walk while the kids played shuffleboard. After lunch, my husband and I had the Rasul in the spa. We have done this 3 times before. We always enjoy it. It does get rather hot in the steamroom, so you must keep the cold water hoses running. I love trying all the products! After the spa, hubby was off to the wine tasting and I met my friend and the kids at the matinee of Disney Dreams. I've seen this 3 times and love it each time. It is definitely my favorite.

The day before in our mailbox was an invitation to a presentation by Disney Adventures, a new service being offered by Disney. They were looking for 75 families to test two different destination vacations - Hawaii and Quest for the West (Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, Wyoming). We went to the presentation and booked for the Quest for the West. We are going to spend a week in July doing this. We are so excited. My family had been there in when I was in high school and it is just spectacular. I can't wait to go back. One of the other families who were travelling with us will be going as well.

Semi formal dinner in Animator's - Again, not many people very dressed up this evening. Captain's Gala menu.

After dinner we went to see the comedian Gary Delena. We had quite a few laughs. Did some dancing and off to bed. Castaway Cay in the morning (at least we hope, due to the fact that the previous weeks, the ship had trouble docking.)

Friday - Castaway Cay Day!!! - Yes, we are here and able to dock! The guys got off the ship first and found us a nice spot on the family beach. As the rest of us were walking to meet them, the rain started coming down. Oh no! Thankfully the guys got some chairs with umbrellas and we sat out some of the raindrops. My friend siezed the opportunity to get her daughter's hair braided before the crowds came out. As soon as she was done, the sun was shining. We had a great day! As in previous years, we were one of the last families off the beach that day. What a beautiful, beautiful island!

Back onboard and back to reality. The packing begins (but not before Scoops again! - and I wonder how come I gain weight on the cruise!). The packing wasn't too bad. We managed to have most of our bags out before dinner. Met our friends at the Promenade Lounge to share a bottle of champagne and toast a wonderful 'magical' cruise. I must mention Mikey from the Promenade Lounge, he was a great bar server too! Dinner in Parrot Cay. We really are going to miss our servers Steve and Luis!

Saturday - back in Port Canaveral. We were able to do the sit down breakfast and say our lasts goodbyes to Steve and Luis. Our ride was waiting for us and we were off to the airport. Got there in plenty of time for our 12:35 flight. What a great, great trip.

Some more thoughts: Since this was our third cruise, we decided not to do a few things. We never waited on line for formal pictures. We wanted to take it slow and not rush around every night. We only went to see the shows we loved, and it was great getting to see the early showing of Disney Dreams. Even with this being the third cruise, there are still some things we haven't done like the Rainforest Room and seeing the secret aft deck 7. (although we were on deck 7!). We still haven't done the bridge tour or art of entertaining. There is so much to do, so I guess we'll have to go back again!

I also tried not to let anything bother me or get me upset. Being that we've done 4 cruises, my packing list is pretty good. I gave my two teenage sons their lists and had them pack themselves. Well, my 14 year old forgot to pack pants ("but Mom, I thought khaki's meant shorts!). He did, however, pack his dress pants. My 15 year old was just the opposite, he didn't pack his dress pants! Thankfully, they wear the same size, and could switch pants. We made due with a pair of Docker's with my son's sports jacket for formal and semi formal night.

The Stack - If it weren't for the teens having dinner with us, and ports of call, I don't think we would have ever seen them. They made many friends that they are I-Ming daily.

The Club - the younger ones didn't participate very much, but what they did they had fun. They loved the pool and with late dinner seating were able to get it to themselves most every evening.

I know it's out of Disney's control, but I do wish that immigration wasn't the morning after Pirate night and the same day as tendering. But that's just the luck of the draw and nothing to get upset about. We love Disney and believe they put out a quality product. After cruising RCCL last year, I'm glad we came home again to the Magic. It is truly a magical cruiseline.

So, I will wish everyone a "magical day" and thank you for reading my trip report.

 

[DiaLady]

Thanks for the great info on the Easter. I"m still learning about what we can do. Sapphire beach sounded great.

Have a terrific day!

 

[Mumph39]

We loved it at Sapphire. When we went to Megan's Bay, it was truly beautiful. However, it got very crowded. With 6 cruise ships in port that day, we wanted to try something different. I had done some research and found out about Sapphire. If you take a cab, you are dropped off at the Sapphire Beach resort. You can rent chairs and there are restrooms and a restaurant. Snorkle gear can be rented too. We loved it.

 

[rifgirlsmom]

Great trip report. Doing the eastern in year. Could you or someone point me in the right area for info about immigration. You have to do this before St thomas? Thanks in advance

 

[Mumph39]

Rifgirlsmom - This was the first time we had to do immigration. On our previous cruises, only non-U.S. citizens had to go through. You need your passport or birth certificate and photo i.d. We were given a schedule of when to proceed to the theatre for processing. Those on shore excursions went first, then it went floor by floor. Those not wishing to go ashore were still expected to go. There were many announcements of people's names who had not been to immigration and were risking fines. From what I saw, the people who had passports went a lot quicker than those with b/c's. I would definitely recommend getting a passport if you don't have one already.

 

[bratray]

leave it to kids to forget something!! did you feel less rushed with the late dinner seating- this is what we have but so many others seem to want early?

thanks for taking the time to post a very detailed report!

 

[Mumph39]

We love the late dinner seating just for that fact. We didn't have to rush back from port. We could enjoy the pool later in the afternoon. The kids really did have it to themselves at times (around 5:00). If the kids got hungry earlier, there was always pizza and chicken fingers and tacos and hamburgers and.... you will never starve. The shows for late dinner seating start at 6:30, so you will want to be ready for them.

 

[maminnie]

Mumph39:

Thank you so much for your great reports. We are possibly going in February next year. To be honest the weather scares me a bit. The two Disney cruises we have done were in April and the weather was great for the most part. Overcast in St. Thomas this past April. Rain and possibly rough seas were about the greatest risks this time of year. You didn't have to really worry about the temps too much.

I noticed that you cruised the same week in February of 02, 03, 04, and 05. Could you share with me how the weather was during these cruises? It sounds like '05 was good.

Also do you think Sapphire is as nice of a beach and place to swim as Megan's Bay? I have heard that Megan's Bay is breathtaking but can get crowded. Last April our friends went to Sapphire and loved it although they can't comment on Megan's Bay as they have never been. We went to St. John/Trunk Bay.

Thanks for your help.

maminnie

 

[Mumph39]

Maminnie - First, the weather. '02 and '03 were perfect. Except for one night in '02 with rough seas, the ride was smooth and the weather mid 80's all over. '04 was our cruise with RCCL. We had good weather to start, when we hit Grand Cayman, it was too rough to tender. The weather in Cozumel was wonderful. This year, except for it being a bit windy in the beginning, we had good weather. The only time we missed a port was last year. We are stuck with that week due to our kids being off for President's week. They play spring sports, so April is out for us. Would love to try another cruise at another time of year though.

Second, Sapphire was not as good for swimming as Megan's Bay, but the snorkeling was fantastic. The reef and rocks are pretty close to the beach. There were a few areas off to the left that looked more sandy. We just wanted to avoid the crowds at Megan's. Other people said that Coki Beach was nice. I wish we could have gotten over to St. John. We just couldn't manage it with the tendering and immigration. I think in hindsight that I should have booked an excursion for that so we could have gotten off of the ship sooner.

 

[maminnie]

mumph39:

Thanks so much for the info. The good weather you had for four years in a row makes me feel much better about considering next February.

St. John was nice but it took quite a bit of time to get to and from. The Magic did dock which helped. Once on the ferry, it was a 45 minute ride and then a 10 minute open air vehicle(very fast driver!) to Trunk Bay. We were only at the beach for one hour and a half and unfortunately it was overcast. Never saw the sun but it was warm enough to swim. Just as soon as you got settled and comfortable with your surroundings, it was time to go. I'm glad I saw Trunk Bay as it was as beautiful as I had read but it is a rather small, narrow bay type beach. I prefer beaches that are wider and longer as I love to walk the beach. It looks just like the pictures you see in travel magazines. There was a sailboat anchored out in the water just like in the pictures I have seen; my husband and I laughed that maybe it was a daily prop!!!

If we take the eastern cruise next year we will stay on St. Thomas rather than go to St. John. That's why I was asking about the beaches. Last April in St. Maarten we did the dolphin encounter on Anguilla. So we had two really hectic, long days with a lot of transportation. We will also stay on St. Maarten next year if we go. We are looking for calm peaceful beach days with umbrella drinks on our days off the ship next time!!!

Thanks so much for your help.

maminnie

 

[Mumph39]

You're welcome! That's what this trip was for us. We just wanted to relax on the beach with no worries or rushing around. It really was a great vacation.

 

[gweeptrish]

Hiya!

We were on the Feb 19 Eastern, and signed up for a Yellowstone trip too. Which one did you sign up for? We're doing July 10.

-Trish

 

[Mumph39]

We're doing July 22. You'll have to pm me and let me know how it goes! We are looking forward to it. I was there about 22 years ago with my parents. I hope it hasn't changed too much! I'm not counting on that though.