6/08/08 Magic to Mexico

[GrumpyMom1]

Warning: This is my first real attemp at a trip report. It will not be nearly as entertaining as others I have read on this board but I have enjoyed everyone's reports so much that I want to share our experience.

Me
DH
DD1 - 19
DD2 - 15
DD3 - 22 months (yes, there is a 13 year gap in the kids ages)

This was the 4th cruise (3rd on the Magic) for me and the older 2 DD's. This was the 2nd for DH and his first 7 day cruise and this was the first cruise with the baby. Our last cruise was the Mexican Riviera cruise in July 2005. Since this was my first cruise with a little one, I was worried about just how relaxing it was going to be.

Instead of going into detail about every day, I am just going to cover the areas that I think will interest most people. I will be happy to answer any questions. I am going through the 1700+ photos that we took and uploading the best of them. I will post a link as soon as I'm done.

 

[GrumpyMom1]

On Our Way
We arrived at the port around 10am or a few minutes after. We dropped off the luggage with a porter and then parked the car. The parking lot was more crowded than it was in 2005 but that could be because the Royal Caribbean ship "Vision of the Seas" is sailing out of the same port on the same day.

We went into the terminal building and then upstairs to check in. The Castaway Club line was long, I think it was even longer than the regular check in line and it moved very slowly. While standing in line we chatted with a family behind us and it turns out they were another DIS family. We finally got checked in and proceeded to the waiting area where we received boarding #5.

While we waited a live band played and there were pictures with the characters. The line to register for the kids clubs was very long.

Time went by quickly and soon it was time to board. Once they start calling the groups it goes very quickly. I didn't look at the time but I'm guessing we were onboard by noon. We went straight to Rockin Bar D to fix our Palo reservation which I accidentally made for only DH. There was only a short line and by the time it was my turn, the computers were down so they just made note of it and said they would call to confirm. We never did receive the call but we went up to Palo later in the week (the reservation was for brunch on Friday) and they confirmed that the change had been made. We went to lunch at Parrot Cay and then walked around until our room was ready which wasn't until 2:00pm.

We had connecting category 10 rooms on deck 2 - 2107 and 2109. I had never stayed on deck 2 before but it turned out to be a great location. We hung out in our rooms for a little while and soon our luggage started arriving. Our stateroom host Benny from India came by to introduce himself. He also brought us door stops for the connecting doors but we had brought our own from home. There was a Pack n Play waiting in the room since we had requested one on our reservation. But since the little one sleeps with us most of the time we had Benny take it away. Benny went to hunt down the rest of our luggage and we had it all and we were mostly unpacked before the drill.

The drill was at 3:30 and was quick and painless and the little one did very well in her adorable life vest. Our muster station was N on deck 4 outside.

After the drill we went up to deck 10 for our DIS meet. It was great putting faces with all the names.

We were sailing away before I knew it and my heart skipped a beat when they played the ships horn. I've been planning this so long it seemed this day would never come.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Great start!!

You said:

We finally got checked in and proceeded to the waiting area where we received boarding #5.

Does that mean that the numbers aren't handed out until you are checked in??

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Great start!!

You said:


Does that mean that the numbers aren't handed out until you are checked in??

Correct. They don't hand out the numbers when you check in - they hand them out when you enter the waiting area.

 

[jlima]

Correct. They don't hand out the numbers when you check in - they hand them out when you enter the waiting area.

I wish I had figured this out sooner . . . after I checked in, I sat with DH & the kids for a few minutes; then walked to the end of the terminal to try and check in DS8 into the kids clubs; and I was handed the cards for boarding group 5. In 2005 they gave them to us when we checked in. But it wasn't too bad; we were on the ship by about 12:15 anyway.

 

[DMMarla07860]

did they have something for college kids on the cruise?

 

[TotallyAngelic]

That is one of the cutest photos I have seen ! She looks adorable!

 

[GrumpyMom1]

did they have something for college kids on the cruise?

Yes, they did have the college club social on several days and I was just looking at my navigators and see that they even had college club Wii one day. My DD did not participate since she just likes to hang out with the family.

 

[DMMarla07860]

Yes, they did have the college club social on several days and I was just looking at my navigators and see that they even had college club Wii one day. My DD did not participate since she just likes to hang out with the family.

they had wii on the ship I love wii and i totally understand I like to hangout with my family so I will prob do that, but if I need to get away it's good to know I can

 

[GrumpyMom1]

That is one of the cutest photos I have seen ! She looks adorable!

Thanks! She did get quite a few comments when we were walking out to deck 4. And she didn't seem to mind at all having that bulky thing on. Well, at this point she didn't seem too happy but she never fussed.

 

[BrettySpaghetti]

Warning: This is my first real attemp at a trip report. It will not be nearly as entertaining as others I have read on this board but I have enjoyed everyone's reports so much that I want to share our experience.

Love it! Thank you for sharing. More, more, more!!!

I was on the Magic to Mexico May 25 to June 1 and had the time of my life. Your daughters are beautiful!!!

 

[tksbaskets]

We leave on Sunday so I'm trying to get my fix. Nice start!

 

[helenb]

We leave on Sunday so I'm trying to get my fix. Nice start!

Us too! I will see you onboard!!!!

 

[ayumac]

Your daughters are so beautiful.

BTW, what kind of camera do you use? Your pictures are all so gorgeous and colors are crisp.

 

[Disney Debbie]

Great pics - You're DD's are all beautiful - I could kick myself for not getting a picture on our Anniversary last year with that solid white background - it looks so good!

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Love it! Thank you for sharing. More, more, more!!!

I was on the Magic to Mexico May 25 to June 1 and had the time of my life. Your daughters are beautiful!!!

Thanks Brett. I enjoyed your trip report and your videos were great.

We leave on Sunday so I'm trying to get my fix. Nice start!

Us too! I will see you onboard!!!!

You are going to have a great time!

Your daughters are so beautiful.

BTW, what kind of camera do you use? Your pictures are all so gorgeous and colors are crisp.

Thanks. We actually had 3 different cameras with us since we are major photo people - a Canon Digital Rebel XT SLR, a Canon 40D SLR (DH's new toy), and a Panasonic FZ5 which we used in port so we wouldn't have to carry the big ones around.

Great pics - You're DD's are all beautiful - I could kick myself for not getting a picture on our Anniversary last year with that solid white background - it looks so good!

I didn't plan on getting any of the white background pictures since I have the setup to take those at home but they came out so well I couldn't resist.


I have typed up most of my trip report but I'm still trying to go through the photos. I should be able to post some more before the night is over.

 

[marlinmike]

The line to register for the kids clubs was very long.

Do you register for the kids clubs in the terminal or on the ship? Or is this just if you didn't fill out their information online?

Marlin

Thanks for your report and the work you're putting into this.

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Cabo - I did not schedule anything in Cabo and our only intentions were to go to the beach and shop. Oh, and have a Margarita. DH and I were up early enough that day to be up on deck as we pulled into the harbor. By the time the girls got up and we had breakfast, it was about 9:30 or 10am before we headed to the Walt Disney Theater to wait for a tender. We didn't have to wait long - I would guess it was about 10 minutes. As I'm writing this report, I'm noticing that I didn't keep track of time very well. But I guess that's a good thing on vacation

Tender boat

The Magic from the tender

Welcome sign

Once we got to the dock we found looked for someone to take us to Lover's Beach. It's not hard since there are many many guys waiting at the dock and offering their water taxi's. The first guy we talked to wanted $15 per person to do a little tour and then drop us off at Medano Beach. We politely declined and the next guy said he would take us on a tour and drop us off at Lover's Beach for however long we wanted, then take us to Medano Beach. His price was $10 per person. We took him up on his offer and the first guy wasn't too happy when we walked by with this guy. He took us down to the little boat and we waited for a few minutes for more people and we ended up with 2 other couples. Our guide took us out to Pelican Rock where he threw some bread in the water to bring the fish to the surface. He called them "Mexican Piranha" because they ferociously went after the bread. He then took us to see the rocks of "Lands End", the sea lions, the Pacific side, and Divorce Beach which is on the Pacific side.

The "glass bottom boat"

Mexican piranha

The rocks at Lands End

Scooby Doo Rock

After the tour he dropped us off at Lover's Beach with the agreement that he would pick us up in an hour. We had to jump out of the boat into the water but it wasn't that bad. They have guys on the beach that will help you but of course they expect a tip. The beach was beautiful and we walked over to the Pacific side where the surf is very heavy. There were many small jelly fish washed up on the beach so between those and the heavy surf, there was no way we were getting in the water here. We walked back over to Lover's Beach which still had heavy surf but not as bad. The baby played in the sand while DH and DD1 went in the water.

Divorce Beach on the Pacific side

Jellyfish

The stretch of beach between the 2 sides

Playing in the sand

I could not get over how beautiful it was there. But it was quite warm and sunny and I was ready to go when our guide came back to get us. He dropped us off at Medano Beach where we walked for a while looking for somewhere to eat and get a drink. We walked for a while and then realized that we should have just gone where he dropped us off so we walked back down that way. We ate at a place right on the beach, I think it was called Las Palmas, and enjoyed a yummy Margarita. The only bad thing was the vendors who constantly came up to us. The same ones would come up over and over even after we said no. After lunch was walked back down the street and through town back to the dock. At the end of the beach we ran into the same guy who had rented the water taxi to us and he said he would take us back to the dock for no charge. We wanted to shop so we declined. He then pointed us in the right direction for walking back. We bought a few things along the way and finished our day at the shopping area at the dock. I think we headed back to the ship around 3pm.

Shopping

Back to the ship

 

[koalagurl]

Great report so far!

I'll second the question above about registering for the kids club...do we do that in the terminal only if we didn't fill out the registration online? Or is it for everyone?

Thanks! Can't wait to hear more, especially with the 22 month old...my DS is 22 months old, and would love to hear any tips / advice! (We are leaving Sunday).

Thanks!!

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Great report so far!

I'll second the question above about registering for the kids club...do we do that in the terminal only if we didn't fill out the registration online? Or is it for everyone?

Thanks! Can't wait to hear more, especially with the 22 month old...my DS is 22 months old, and would love to hear any tips / advice! (We are leaving Sunday).

Thanks!!

Since we were not registering for the kids club I'm not sure if the kids club registration is only if you don't register online or if you still have to do it even if you registered online. Hopefully someone else can answer this.

My biggest advice for traveling with a 22 month old - go with the flow and don't try to pack too much into the day. We had a great time just hanging out and walking around the ship. By the end of the cruise she called the stateroom "home" and knew how to get to the elevators from our room. We didn't get many pictures with the characters because she just doesn't have the patience to stand in line. She liked the musical shows - Golden Mickey's, Twice Charmed, and Disney Dreams. We tried to make sure she got a nap each day because she turns into a little stinker without one. She sleeps very well in her stroller so on a couple of days we would put her in there and walked around until she fell asleep. She was then portable and we could walk around and do other stuff. Oh, and don't let him walk through Shutters where they display all the photos. Our little one kept trying to grab all of the pictures that were in her reach.