3 Generations of "Magic" - Our 8-Night NYC Cruise Photo TR - Update 7/9!

[vickxo]

Hello Everyone!

I'm fresh off the Magic after our June 2nd 8-Night Bahamian Cruise out of NYC and full of photos, memories, tips, and observations! I've tried the long drawn out trip reports before but I just end up rambling on and getting off topic so I thought this time it'd be best if I just let the photos do the talking and just gave my pro's & con's of each day.

I've already posted my navigators in another thread but I'll re-post the link to them here too for "completeness" purposes of the report.

*please note the files I uploaded to photobucket are high resolution pdf files that photobucket converted to jpgs, so when saved to your computer they will be distorted, you will have to copy and paste the images and save them another way. sorry for any inconvenience.

June 2, 2012 - 8-Night Bahamian Magic Cruise out of NYC - Daily Personal Navigators

________________________________________________________________

Introductions:

Vick - That's me! I recently graduated from college, which is the reason why we planned this trip. When I heard about Disney sailing out of NYC I knew I had to go so the first day that booking became available I jumped. Our original plans were for the May 25th cruise but I shortly realized that both me and my boyfriends graduation ceremony's were within days of then and I just wanted a bit more time in between to get settled so June 2nd it was! We hit a few snags in the planning process, the biggest one being my boyfriend, who was originally supposed to be coming with us but a few months before setting sail he said he had to work and couldn't go so it became a ladies-only, 3 generations trip with myself, my mother, and my grandmother. That leads me to my next introductions...

Mom - Just celebrated her birthday in May and could just really use a few a days away from work.

Grandma - Just turned 75 and runs around more than a 25 year old.

This isn't our first Disney Cruise but it had been 11 years since me and my mom last sailed, which meant it would be really different this time around, for me at least. Last time I sailed on the Disney Wonder I was still in the Oceaneers Lab and this time I was too old for even the college outings, although I was told a few times I looked as if I was only 16!
We've been to Disney almost every year since I was 3 and before that my mother and grandma had made numerous trips to both Disney World and Disneyland. We are members of the Disney Vacation Club and this was the first time we've been to Disney since becoming members without staying at the Boardwalk, my home away from home, it was just so strange to plan a trip without including the Boardwalk, but I got over that quickly and wouldn't mind cruising more, I see the Platinum CC in my future

Our itinerary for this cruise included: 4 full days at sea, 1 day at Nassau in the Bahamas, 1 day at Castaway Cay, and 1 day at Walt Disney World.

I think I've rambled on enough and should just "let the magic begin"

_________________________________________________________________

Directory:
Introduction
Day 1 - 6/2/2012 - Sail Away
Day 2 - 6/3/2012 - Prince & Princess
Day 3 - 6/4/2012 - Tea with Alice
Day 4 - 6/5/2012 - Pirates IN the Caribbean
Day 5 - 6/6/2012 - Castaway Cay
Day 6 - 6/7/2012 - The Happiest Place on Earth
Day 7 - 6/8/2012 - Captain's Gala
Day 8 - 6/9/2012 - Til' we Meet Again
Our Disney Vacation Souvenirs

 

[vickxo]

Day 1 - 6/2/2012 - Sail Away!

Highlights of the Day:
- Check in at Manhattan Pier at 11-11:30am
- Getting #3 Boarding! We were on board by noon
- Lunch Buffet at Parrot Cay
- Touring the Ship on our own with little to no people on board
- Getting into our stateroom (7565) by 1pm
- Life Boat Safety Drill
- Sail Away Party
- Seeing the Statue of Liberty
- Dinner at Parrot Cay (Island Dinner)
- All Aboard! Let the Magic Begin (Walt Disney Theater)
- Stateroom Problems! Waiting for the plumber, the awful smell, the beds weren't separated...

Pro's:
- Early Boarding
- Relatively Quick Check-In with Security
- Great Servers @ Dinner (Noel & KenRoy)
- Meeting Pluto!
- Being on a Disney Cruise!

Con's:
- Disgusting smell in the stateroom bathroom right when we got in the room
- Being up til 1am, not by choice, but because that is how long it took to get the plumber in to look at the bathroom, have someone bring up/find an extension cord we requested weeks before, and to have a host come and split the beds we asked them to split at noon!

 

[vickxo]

Day 2 - 6/3/2012 - Prince & Princess

Highlights of the Day:
- Breakfast at Lumiere's
- DVC Members Meeting (Grandma went to, brought back 3 hats and a leather portfolio)
- Animation Class with Crew Staff Brad - Mickey & Goofy
- Disney Trivia with Crew Staff Andy - We Won & got Disney Winner Medals
- Quick Lunch at Deck 9
- Sparkling Wine & Champagne Tasting at Sessions
- Team Trivia with Crew Staff Ryan - We Won again, but gave those medals away.
- Captains Welcome Reception
- Prince & Princess Dinner at Lumiere's
- Switching Staterooms/Getting Upgraded after coming back to the room and finding the floor all wet. We called the host and he came in and was very concerned and told us that it had leaked a month previously and they had just replaced the floors in that room and that between that and the smell he did not want us staying in that room anymore. So after a visit to guest services we got moved and upgraded from an inside stateroom to a private Verandah room (7560)
- "So you think you know Disney Music" with Crew Staff Andy - We won again, since I got 48/50!

Pro's:
- Generous amounts of Sparkling Wine & Champagne
- Getting Upgraded to a beautiful verandah room with the ever important split bathroom
- Winning Trivia
- Free drinks at the Captains Reception - I had a delicious Appletini!
- "Congratulations" dessert for my graduation after dinner

Con's:
- Stateroom stench not going away
- The floor by the beds being all wet

 

[lulubella1609]

We leave next Friday! Your pictures are amazing!

 

[vickxo]

Day 3 - 6/4/2012 - Tea with Alice

Highlights of the Day:
- Animation Class with Crew Staff Brad (Pluto & Donald Duck)
- Meeting "Fairy tale" Characters (Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Alice, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts)
- Laying out by the Pool most of the day
- Dinner at Animator's Palette (Show Dinner)
- Villains Tonight (Walt Disney Theater)
- Adult Cabaret - Alfred & Seymour (Walt Disney Theater)

Pro's:
- Meeting Jiminy Cricket!!
-Seeing Sorcerer Mickey at Dinner
- A show with characters from Hercules & Emperors New Groove!!
- Laughing the entire time through Alfred & Seymour!

Con's:
- Tan Lines
- The Cabaret wasn't long enough!

 

[vickxo]

Day 4 - 6/5/2012 - Pirates IN the Caribbean

Highlights of the Day:
- Breakfast Buffet at Top Sider
- Nassau
- Quiet Cove Pool
- Pirates Dinner at Parrot Cay
- Pirate Trivia Quest - We won key chains in the "limited edition see-through bags" - thank you Ryan, even though we won them with Frankie
- Pirates IN the Caribbean Deck Party
- Meeting Captain Hook & Smee
- Seeing Pirate Captain Mickey Mouse

Pro's:
- The Fireworks!
- Having pirate night at Parrot Cay and not one of the other dining rooms, it just seems to fit better there
- Having the pool pretty much too ourselves all afternoon

Con's:
- Nassau! I honestly could do without ever getting off the boat here. Not my cup of tea!
- The world's longest line for the Buffet after the fireworks

 

[vickxo]

Day 5 - 6/6/2012 - Castaway Cay

Highlights of the Day:
- Castaway Cay!!
- Renting the Aqua-Trike!
- The Castaway Cay 5K
- Lunch at Cookies BBQ
- Shopping at She Sells Seashells & Everything Else
- Mailing my boyfriend a Postcard
- Serenity Bay - Adult Only Beach
- Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer
- Dinner at Lumiere's (French Dinner)
- Disney Trivia with Crew Staff Ryan, We won again, but we gave the medals to a woman and her family who we had played with before.
- The Dream Goes On (Walt Disney Theater)

Pro's:
- Being the only ones out on the Aqua-Trike
- Seeing all the Characters in their Island attire
- Hammocks!
- My new "Mine" Bird Plush!!
- One of my favorite meals of the trip & Bacon wrapped string beans!

Con's:
- Really hard questions at Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer, no one I saw won.

 

[Shell54]

I was on the June 2 NYC cruise too I'm enjoying your TR and like the way you've organized it. Also your photos are amazing. Nassau wasn't so bad for us as we did the semi-submarine excursion and didn't hang around the city at all.

 

[st8y]

Your pictures are great! We were on the May 25th sailing. What a great time!

 

[Carol36]

Can't wait to see more...

 

[gaporee]

Can't wait to see more...

Yes! Great pictures. For some reason, I really like that picture with the hotdog, corn and watermelon. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Dislaney4n6]

I am going to third the amazing photos. Was it the camera you used or photobucket? (or a combo of the two?) I also wanted to thank you again for the navigators. Great to see all the day's schedules.

 

[vickxo]

Day 6 - 6/7/2012 - The Happiest Place on Earth

Highlights of the Day:
- 6:30am Bus to Magic Kingdom! (First bus)
- Getting to the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hour!
- Riding the New Barnstormer
- The Mad Tea Party
- Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
- Big Thunder with it's new paint job!
- Splash Mountain!
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- The New Haunted Mansion Grave Yard
- The People Mover!
- Lunch @ Pecos Bills - Pulled Pork Sandwich & Taco Salads!
- Watching the Parade & Mini-Parade for the first time in almost 10 years!
- Seeing my uncle and his new family for the first time!
- Spending almost 2 hours hidden under a stroller parking in Liberty Square trying to avoid the torrential rain!
- Riding POTC with my baby cousin!
- Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom
- RAINING all day - except for 2 beautiful hours of Sun!
- Shopping on Main Street
- Mailing my boyfriend a Postcard from Main Street
- Riding Prince Charming's Carousel
- Riding the Train from the new Fantasyland Station
- The Smell of the Main Street Bakery!!

Pro's:
- Being in the Magic Kingdom!
- Seeing all the new stuff in Fantasyland
- Seeing my Uncle & Baby Cousin
- My yummy yummy pulled pork sandwich for lunch!
- Staying dry on Splash Mountain! YAY PONCHOS!
- Bringing my Poncho from home! I remembered this time
- Shopping!! Buying more ornaments & souvenirs!
- Great Bus service back to Port Canaveral. Because of the rain they kept the buses coming as long as there were people at the stop. There was at one point 3 buses already there and 2 right behind!

Con's:
- THE RAIN! ALL. DAY. I can handle a little rain but this was a monsoon! You could barely see in front of you
- The really rude "deputy" at Pecos Bill's - The new "rule" is that you must have food in your hands before you sit, OK - I get it, I guess, it seems a bit much to now force everyone in your family to wait on those lines to order rather then get them out of the way, but the kid was so RUDE! He didn't say "thank you," "please," or "i'm sorry" one time! He was just a pompous teen on a power trip - he really thought the badge, hat and gun were real! I almost lost my appetite watching him berate an elderly woman trying not to spill her food for not moving fast enough "TO THE LEFT!!!"
- Not getting to ride DUMBO - first because it wasn't open during extra magic hour, and second because of the rain!
- All the closed "lands" during extra magic hour
- The lack of an opening for the park - no song and dance or train, just family of the day and characters.
- The distance of the bus stop from the park entrance! I guess I'm just spoiled staying at the Boardwalk all these years where the stop is right up front
- Having to put my camera away most of the day to protect it from the rain! BOO!

Thoughts:
I've been to the Magic Kingdom so many times before that the disappointment of all the closures and how it looked all behind walls wasn't really that large, I did however really feel for the families that we saw with "first visit" buttons on the bus over from the ship, what a way to see the Magic Kingdom for the first time, it's pouring rain and everything is closed or looks like a construction zone. But despite that i'm sure they still managed have fun

 

[vickxo]

I am going to third the amazing photos. Was it the camera you used or photobucket? (or a combo of the two?) I also wanted to thank you again for the navigators. Great to see all the day's schedules.

Thank you Everyone for the compliments on the photos!
Yes & No. Yes, it's the camera I used, I have a Canon DSLR that I only use in manual mode so I can control the images more in camera so that the only editing I have to do, if any, is just a little adjustment here or there in photoshop, I don't use photobucket editing for anything. I have a bachelors degree in Fine Art with a minor in Photography so it's actually hard for me to shoot things for fun, I get lazy and try to enjoy the vacation then when I get home I get annoyed I didn't take more photos

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

Your trip report is wonderful! I love your pictures and your format. The three generations of women in your family are adorable, and I'm not just talking about your cousin.

Hate to complain, but if you have some time, would love it if you could identify some of the food you had. It all looks yummy!

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this.

 

[Capt Stitch]

Great trip report we are three generations of women sailing June 30, I am the "middle" generation dd is you the younger generation she is your age. She just graduated college so this trip is her graduation gift, we would have sailed earlier but I want to be on a Disney ship for my 50th birthday.

I understand torrential rain last October we were at HS it went from light rain to a down pour all day, but like the saying goes we donned our ponchos and away we went. Didn't have to worry about sunburn.

Did you do the Pirate Museum in Nassau? Again with three generations we all get to pick something we want to do, dd wants to that hopefully she won't be disappointed.

 

[vickxo]

Great trip report we are three generations of women sailing June 30, I am the "middle" generation dd is you the younger generation she is your age. She just graduated college so this trip is her graduation gift, we would have sailed earlier but I want to be on a Disney ship for my 50th birthday.

I understand torrential rain last October we were at HS it went from light rain to a down pour all day, but like the saying goes we donned our ponchos and away we went. Didn't have to worry about sunburn.

Did you do the Pirate Museum in Nassau? Again with three generations we all get to pick something we want to do, dd wants to that hopefully she won't be disappointed.

It was my gift too! & my mom's 49th birthday, so we're pretty close haha
No - we did nothing in Nassau but sweat, I was uninterested, I'd been before & it's just not my cup of tea. The rain didn't/doesn't bother me because it's all artificial any way - i'm convinced disney funnels it in when poncho sales get low but seriously it was more just a matter of keeping the baby dry so that left us stranded under an overhang. i've done the indy speedway in a poncho in a monsoon before & it was really fun - it's just a little water after all.

 

[vickxo]

Your trip report is wonderful! I love your pictures and your format. The three generations of women in your family are adorable, and I'm not just talking about your cousin.

Hate to complain, but if you have some time, would love it if you could identify some of the food you had. It all looks yummy!

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this.

Thank you
Which food in particular? I wish I could remember them all but I honestly don't - I do have a few of the menu's from the specialty nights that I could look through and figure it out though - i basically remember my meals but not my mom and grandmas, I meant to bring a notebook but i forgot I'm so ashamed, I had planned for over a year for this trip but i still ended up forgetting things and not taking enough photos - oy

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Your photos are breathtaking!

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

Thank you
Which food in particular? I wish I could remember them all but I honestly don't - I do have a few of the menu's from the specialty nights that I could look through and figure it out though - i basically remember my meals but not my mom and grandmas, I meant to bring a notebook but i forgot I'm so ashamed, I had planned for over a year for this trip but i still ended up forgetting things and not taking enough photos - oy

No worries! If you had remembered, great, otherwise, I'll survive .