4 Night Magic 1/4-1/8/05 ~ Romantic cruise for 2

[Verandah Man]

Tammi,

What a great report, I really enjoyed reading it!!! It was nice meeting you and Jim in the DCL Terminal!!!

Our couple only, 30th Wedding Anniversary Cruise, was the first vacation that we have taken by ourselves since we adopted Angelina nearly 15 years ago. We might be taking a few more of these couple only trips in the future!!!

Because of Hazel's IBS, we decided not to leave the ship in Nassau, which turned out to be a wise decision, we did however have a MAGICal time staying onboard. We did manage to spend about fours hours on Castaway Cay just relaxing and taking a cool "QUICK" dip in the water on the family beach.

We had lunch on embarkation day with fellow DIS'er Melody and her hubby EB, they are the sweetest couple, we also got to share our evening dining time with them except the last night when they ate at Palo.

We turly enjoyed seeing all the shows onboard, even though we had seen most of them before, Disney Dreams still got to me at the end. The couple that sat down next to us at Disney Dreams lives just about 10 miles from us here in New Jersey, just goes to show, "It's a small world after all."

The highlight of our cruise was being invited to meet Captain Thord on the bridge, and getting to push the button that sounded the Magic's horn as we were sailing away from Castaway Cay, it will be something that I remember for the rest of my life!!!

January 4-8, 2005 Cruise Photos link:
http://community.webshots.com/album/247829913vYLSJL

Andy

 

[suzannef]

Tammy what a wonderful well written report I even went back and read some of your other reports. I have 3 kids too and it's amazing how fun it is to read about someone else having all the excitement. I have promised myself that after our cruise in May I will take the time to write an honest and hopefully interesting report. I'm glad you had such a great time .





Suzanne

 

[TammiMcMan]

Andy, I ran into Robin on our last day and she told me about your experience on the bridge. What a wonderful memory for both you and Hazel. Be very careful, these couple only trips can be very additicting. Jim and I did our first one last January and it's now becoming a yearly tradition.

Suzanne, thank you. I think I had just as much fun writing the trip reports as I had in planning and actually being there. Each day of our trip, I'd just take a few minutes for myself and jot down some notes. My memory just can't capture every moment of our vacation, so it's great for even me to look back and re-read them. I have them all printed and tucked away. When I got married, I started the habit of summarizing what happened during the year. To make it easier on myself, I would do it at Christmas time. I would purchase a special ornament, write a little note to capture what had gone on that year and then enclose it with the ornament. Now every year when we decorate our tree, we take some time to read through all our past notes and vacations. It's a lot of fun.

 

[suzannef]

Tammy
That is one of the cutest ideas I've ever heard. I hope you don't mind but I'll have to copy that. Unfdrtunatley life gets so busy there probably isn't time to do it more than once a year, but what a great keepsake for the kids. I know that after my mom died at 44 my sister and I savored reading her journals because it was usually stuff about us or just normal family life stuff, but it was priceless to us. Keep up the great work and I can't wait till your next report




Suzanne

 

[Goofy's Muse]

Enjoyed reading your latest trip report, Tammi! How wonderful that you both journal for yourself as well as share your reflections with us. I'm glad you left the link in your signature... I don't typically venture out to the cruise-related threads and never would have found it otherwise. So much reading... so little time!

 

[goofygal1975]

Wow...what a relaxing vacation!!! I fell relaxed just reading it!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing it with us!

 

[Cruisin]

Nice trip report Tammi.

I enjoyed talking to you onboard. It is just too bad that we didn't run across each other more often.

In response to your comment about the "smoke" in the adult clubs. Most of that "smoke" was not cigarette smoke but special effect stuff used by the tech people.

We spent every night in RockingBarD and never once had a problem with smoke or smelling like smoke when we left there.

Hi Andy

 

[TammiMcMan]

Robin, it was great meeting you. I guess I never realized just how big the ship was, or how many different things that could be done. There were many DIS'ers that we saw at the meet, but never saw them again on board. I didn't know about the special effects in Rockin D. I just attributed it to smoking. We couldn't stay in Sessions too long, because even the furniture smelled smoky. Maybe we'll try a night at Rockin D sometime in the future. We were pretty happy with our Baileys and backgammon in Diversions though.

Tammi

 

[Verandah Man]

Nice trip report Tammi.

I enjoyed talking to you onboard. It is just too bad that we didn't run across each other more often.

In response to your comment about the "smoke" in the adult clubs. Most of that "smoke" was not cigarette smoke but special effect stuff used by the tech people.

We spent every night in RockingBarD and never once had a problem with smoke or smelling like smoke when we left there.

Hi Andy

again Robin,

Seems like we were always running in to one another during the whole cruise, I'm sure it was at least once a day, if not more, it was always fun bumping into someone you knew on the ship!!!

 

[Angel16]

Tammi,

Thank you for the wonderful trip report. I remember when you had just returned; I wanted to hear all about your couples cruise. However I did not have the time to read it until today. Tammi, it is wonderful writing, I felt as if I was right there with you.

How far in advance did you have to book? We are thinking very seriously about a family reunion cruise in the not too distant future. Our one DD lives in Indianapolis with her DH and GD age 3, GS age almost 3 months. We have another DD and SIL that live in Wisconsin. I would like to plan a trip for everyone to meet for a Disney 7 day cruise. This would be our treat to thank them for all the help they gave us during my father’s death and cleaning out his Hugh, fill to the brim house.

The suite you stayed in sounds perfect for DH and myself, perhaps even the one daughter and SIL that do not have children. But I think I would want a cabin just for the other two adults and two little ones.

You made the 4 days you had on the cruise sound like so much longer. But I am sure it went by fast. Thank you again for the informative and fun trip report.

Angel

 

[khoffman923]

What an excellent trip report. This has to be the best one I've ever read. Our first cruise isn't until next Summer but I'm trying to start early to gather information. Unlike you, my husband and I will be taking the kids, who will be 20 (DD), 18(DD) and (15 DS) at the time of the cruise. This brings me to my question. You booked a Cat 3 room, the one bedroom. I know it was just you and your husband but would you find the one bedroom comfortable enough for you both and throw in 3 older kids? Right now there are no Cat 3's available but I am on a waiting list. I'm also on the list for a Cat 2, but I'm sure that will be much out of my price range. I currently have booked a Cat 6 for my husband, myself and my son and a Cat 11 across the hall for my daughters. I would just love someone elses opinion on spaciousness of the Cat 3 should one become available and I have the option.

Thanks,

Karen

 

[TammiMcMan]

How far in advance did you have to book? We are thinking very seriously about a family reunion cruise in the not too distant future. Our one DD lives in Indianapolis with her DH and GD age 3, GS age almost 3 months. We have another DD and SIL that live in Wisconsin. I would like to plan a trip for everyone to meet for a Disney 7 day cruise. Angel

Hi Angel. I think a cruise is a perfect idea for a family reunion. Big enough for everyone to find something to their liking, but not too big that you'll never see each other. Plus the assigned seating is a great way to reconnect after a long day. We've actually done 2 cruises and both were sort of spur of the moment, with only a few months advance notice. We didn't have any problem booking, but I think that was primarily because they were both during off season. The sooner you can book, the better price you will get and if you're interested in a category 3, there are 18 on board, but 4 of them are bigger mid-ship designs. It's definitely worth it to request one of them.

Tammi

 

[TammiMcMan]

What an excellent trip report. This has to be the best one I've ever read. Our first cruise isn't until next Summer but I'm trying to start early to gather information. Unlike you, my husband and I will be taking the kids, who will be 20 (DD), 18(DD) and (15 DS) at the time of the cruise. This brings me to my question. You booked a Cat 3 room, the one bedroom. I know it was just you and your husband but would you find the one bedroom comfortable enough for you both and throw in 3 older kids? Right now there are no Cat 3's available but I am on a waiting list. I'm also on the list for a Cat 2, but I'm sure that will be much out of my price range. I currently have booked a Cat 6 for my husband, myself and my son and a Cat 11 across the hall for my daughters. I would just love someone elses opinion on spaciousness of the Cat 3 should one become available and I have the option.

Thanks,

Karen

Karen, we've actually done a 3 night cruise with DD18, DS15 and DD8. If you want to read that trip report, just check out my signature and click on the 5/04 link. We had one of the standard size category 3's on that trip and it was great for us, plenty of room and enough bathroom space for 3 people to shower at the same time. The only drawback is that the murphy bed is in the master bedroom. If you can get a mid-ship category 3, with the murphy bed in the living room, that's a lot better setup. There was so much room to relax, a couch, 2 comfortable chairs, nice entertainment center in the living room, plus a second tv in the master bedroom. Even though there was so much to do on the ship, we really loved being able to relax in our stateroom or sit out on the verandah. Another plus to the mid-ship cat 3's is that the verandah is triple length. The standard cat 3's are double length.

Tammi

 

[Angel16]

Hi Angel. I think a cruise is a perfect idea for a family reunion. Big enough for everyone to find something to their liking, but not too big that you'll never see each other. Plus the assigned seating is a great way to reconnect after a long day. We've actually done 2 cruises and both were sort of spur of the moment, with only a few months advance notice. We didn't have any problem booking, but I think that was primarily because they were both during off season. The sooner you can book, the better price you will get and if you're interested in a category 3, there are 18 on board, but 4 of them are bigger mid-ship designs. It's definitely worth it to request one of them.

Tammi

Thank you Tammi. The mid-ship Category 3 sounds great. Our one DD has motion sickness and has wanted to take a cruise with her DH but did not due to her problem. I have told her that large ships are much different than small boats. I was hopeing to get a mid-ship cabin. The whole idea of a family reunion cruise will have to be planned in the future as our one SIL is being shipped out June 23rd for 18 months under operation Noble Eagle. We just got the word this past Sunday. The cruise will be a wonderful welcome home. Can you book and plan for 2007 now?

Thank you

 

[TammiMcMan]

Can you book and plan for 2007 now? Thank you

Check with DCL. If the rates aren't released yet, you can have them put your name in for a mid-ship category 3. Once the dates are released, they'll contact you with your reservation and deposit information.

Tammi

 

[debloco]

Great trip report Tammi! The perfect report for me to read since my DH and I are doing our first "Romantic cruise for 2" on Disney this October.
I didn't think you could eat at Palo every night! On our 2 other Disney cruises they limited you to just one reservation. Did you make all of those ressies the first day?
And you and DH had spa appointments on the first evening of the cruise. I was wondering about this as well. I couldn't remember if they just did the tours and seminars that first evening or if you could book stuff.
Oh, and do you remember which night they had the Castaway Club reception with the Captain?

 

[TammiMcMan]

Deb, thanks. It was incredibly romantic. We were booked in a category 3 suite, which comes with concierge service. They were able to secure us all 4 nights in Palo's. I believe if you are sailing in a standard room, you can book your preferred night and then be placed on a waiting list for the others. In my experience, the final night of the cruise was the most crowded in Palo's. The first and second night were almost empty. If I were you, I would book the final night and go on the waiting list for the others.

Spa treatments began at 4:30 on embarking day. I had my hair done in the salon and my DH did the Chakra capsule.

I'll have to look through my documents to see if I still have the invite for Castaway Club members. We didn't go to that reception.

Tammi

 

[debloco]

Tammi, thanks for the info! This will help for the planning. We are adding on the REAS package so we will be able to book our Palo night prior to ressies being open for Castaway Club members. And it's great to know that the spa opens on that first evening. I really only want to do Palo twice, whatever night we're in Parrot Cay and whatever restaurant we repeat. But it's good to know that the last night is the most crowded! Don't want to skip Animator's Palette or Triton's and I would really like to be in Triton's for the formal night. I know with REAS you can request your rotation, I'm just not sure if *everything* will fall right where I want it to be! Come join me in my dream world! If you can find the CC reception invite that would be great, if not I'll do some more scouting on the boards

 

[Alicnwondrln]

your trip reports are great!!
i have enjoyed reading them all today
i was impressed with yacht club

 

[cruiseletters]

Loved the report, dh and I will be going on a dc this Aug by ourselves and we're looking forward to it. Your report just sounded so relaxing. I especially had to smile when you mentioned the kids club pagers going off for other parents and you were just enjoying an unhurried dinner at palos.Thanks for writing such a detailed couples report.