7 Night MAGIC Western Caribbean Cruise (10/15/11) lots of pics - COMPLETED 2/13

[It'sWDW4me]

Fantastic TR so far! We're going on our very first cruise next August on a Western Caribbean so I'm hoping to read all the pointers that you have to share!

 

[rk33l4n]

One thing I was really looking forward to was checking out the fitness center, so the next morning we woke up early and were on treadmills by a little after 6:00am.

I was surprised by the size of the fitness center. For some reason I had expected a larger area. The equipment there was really nice, with each treadmill having it's own TV. We both watched the last hour or so of Thor while on treadmills overlooking the ocean ... so cool.

Here's a tip that I had read on the boards that I wanted to share - Use the showers in the locker rooms at the spa. They are large 10ft "rainfall showers" with mosaic tile & some of the best water pressure. There's only 2 showers, but I never had to wait for one all week. Plus each locker has a wonderful robe, shower shoes & an over-sized towel!!!

That morning it was overcast and the ocean was VERY rough. This pic was taken from our verandah. We also noticed, 2 verandahs down from us, someone brushing their teeth while looking out at the ocean.

Being the first time either of us have been on a cruise, the extreme motion was a little unsettling. We would need to shake it off quickly because we had to be in Parrot Cay that morning for Mickey's Island Jam Breakfast!!!

This was actually a nice relaxing meal, nothing like the chaos that is character meals at the parks. We had our pictures taken with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy & Pluto. It was also nice that the character attendants offered to take a picture with your camera as well & didn't force you to have to buy the professional pics at Shutters.

The breakfast was good ... you definitely got a full plate of food.

After breakfast, as we were heading back to our room, we noticed that the motion from the waves seemed to be getting even worse as we headed into Key West. We weren't even back in our room for a minute, when Captain John came over the loudspeakers to make an announcement.

Due to the strong seas, there was going to be a change of plans. We would not be going to Key West today. Instead, today was going to be a day at sea. We would be going to Cozumel on Monday, instead of Wednesday. Grand Cayman would remain on Tuesday & we would be going to Key West on Thursday now.

We didn't have an excursions planned for Key West, we were just going to grab the trolley and hit the major sites. For Cozumel on Wednesday though, we did have an excursion planned. We had booked Nachi Cocom on our own. Now that we weren't going to be in Cozumel on Wednesday, I would need to reschedule it for Monday.

Up until that very moment, for the entire cruise so far, I had perfect cell reception. Now that I needed to send an email ... no bars. Our only option at this point was to book a Cozumel excursion through DCL and worry about the deposit with Nachi Cocom once we reached land.

I have to give it to Disney ... they handled everything so smoothly. Less than 30 minutes later they had new excursion handouts and were quickly getting everybody re-booked. We grabbed a handout and headed up to Deck 10 to decide on what to do in Cozumel.

Since we were doing a beach day at Castaway Cay and Grand Cayman, we chose to do the Off Road Adventure to Jade Caverns. Now that the excursion drama was taken care of, we needed to figure out what to do with the rest of our day.

It was way too cloudy & windy to sit out on deck. That's when it suddenly hit us ... it's Sunday!!! The Ravens were playing the Texans at 1:00, so off to Diversions we went. We stopped along the way to take a picture with Helmsman Mickey.

When we got to Diversions, it was kinda empty. We grabbed seats by a TV and settled in for some football. We ended up talking with a guy from Northern VA who was a big Redskins fan. His wife was up on deck reading while he came down to watch football. We also sat with a family from NY who were Giants fans. There were even some Steelers fans, but we didn't talk to them.

1:00 came around & there was no football?? Apparently due to some blackout regulations, they weren't allowed to show any games except for ESPN or ABC.

So ... that was a wasted hour. We said goodbye to our new friends and brainstormed up a new plan. Let's go see a movie in the Buena Vista Theater. I had wanted to see "The Help". I just finished the book & noticed in the navigator that it was playing that week. Unfortunately it wasn't playing on Sunday. Instead we ended up seeing Tangled in 3D.

Neither of us had seen Tangled before & it was kinda fun. Not NFL football fun, but still fun nonetheless. Quick tip - don't sit in the last row of the Buena Vista Theater. For some reason the leg room in that row is about half as much as the others.

After the movie, we noticed that we were right off the coast of Havana, Cuba. How cool is that???

We then headed back to the room to order some room service and relax on the verandah. One guess what we found on the TV. Yep, NFL football.

We later learned that while were in the movies, a shipboard announcement was made that they had received permission to start showing the games. Oh well. We ordered some room service, watched the late afternoon games & did some shopping until our dinner time at 8:15.

Dinner that night was back at Parrot Cay.

The food was once again really good. Our favorite thing was the desserts, especially the coconut ice cream.

After dinner we heading back up to our stateroom for an early night in.

The next chapter will be our first port of call in Cozumel.

Click here for a quick video showing how rough the ocean was that morning (plus the toothbrush guy)

 

[AnnaS]

I think toothbrush guy saw you too.

 

[knewton64]

Yes I second that.....


Me tinks the tootbrush guy saw ye!!




SUBBIN!!





T.T.F.N.

 

[Bytor01]

Wow, I was just saying to myself, "Self, I never heard anything about blackout problems and not being able to watch NFL games." We go in January and always watch the playoff games. They have even put the games on the jumbotron out by the family pool. Funny, last time we had bad reception on the regular channel and they had to switch the game over to the Spanish channel. Never heard American football as called by Spanish announcers before.

 

[RavenRob]

RavenRob here. As you can tell I am a huge Ravens fan too!!! Keep going with your trip report. I will be on the Dream on June 15th.....

 

[rk33l4n]

Monday morning we were both up early & at the gym by 6:15am. The ship hadn't yet reached Cozumel and we were still at sea. The ocean that morning seemed much calmer. By the time we showered and got back to our room, it was close to 8:00am. This was the view outside our verandah.

It was another ship ... I think the same NCL ship that we saw at Port Canaveral. We met a couple from this ship during our excursion, but we'll get to that story later on. We went up to Topsiders for breakfast and to plan our day. It was still overcast, but the sun was starting to peek through the clouds.

We didn't have to be at the location for our excursion until 12:00, so the plan was to head into Cozumel right after breakfast to do some shopping. We would then return back to the ship, drop off our packages & meet up with our excursion in the designated lounge.

Getting off the boat was a breeze. We headed down to Deck 2 (or was it 1?) and they swiped our cards. A few seconds later I set foot in Mexico for the 1st time. It felt so good to finally stand on solid land.

About 100 or so yards away from ships was a nice little shopping area. We didn't want to wander off too far since we were on a pretty tight time schedule. This place looked as good as any to pick up some souvenirs.

Picture an open air strip mall shaped in an "S" with 2 floors. We walked around for about an hour. Most of the stores and stands sold basically the same things. Since Sayra speaks fluent spanish, she had some fun negotiating with the different vendors.

Quick tip - The absolute BEST store was called Fiesta Mall. The prices were REALLY cheap and the quality was not too bad.

For $80US, we bought a ceramic Cozumel picture frame, 4 maracas, 3 fans, 2 T-shirts, a luchador mask, 2 painted glasses, 3 different beaded/seashell bracelets & a huge woven beach bag.

One thing I found odd was that we had to show our IDs and KTTW cards to leave the shopping center?? There were guards posted at the escalators checking each person as they left.

We headed back to the ship to drop off our purchases and meet the group for the excursion. In the pic below you can see the new bag Sayra bought (the handle broke at the airport a week later ) filled with all the souvenirs.

We got back on the ship and headed to our stateroom to drop off our purchases and pick up stuff for our Off Road Adventure to Jade Caverns. We got to Sessions about 15 minutes early and checked in.

We had no idea how crazy this upcoming adventure was going to be. Part 2 will detail the Xrails Buggy ride & Jade Caverns. There's also a ton of pics plus video. Stay tuned.

 

[rmcildw2m]

You have done an awesome job so far on your trip report . Can hardly wait to read more .The way you have mixed the pictures and the story is perfect . Thanks .

 

[knewton64]

T.T.F.N.

 

[AnnaS]

Me too - I am really loving your report. Thank you again for taking the time and looking forward to more.

 

[mommyofthreeboys]

great report! Thanks for sharing!

 

[knewton64]

BUMP -


wud live to hear more


PPWWEEAASSEE





T.T.F.N.

 

[AnnaS]

Yes, you need to finish it. Don't leave us hanging.

 

[Linda67]

Really enjoying your TR

We are going to be doing a Western Caribbean Cruise on The Fantasy in May so I am loving all the tips and can't wait to hear about your Cozumel excursion

 

[my2disneyboys]

Great report so far!!

 

[Gailpi]

Great report! Please tell us more...

 

[MandyMommytoReaghan]

Great TR so far!! Cannot wait to hear the rest!!

 

[marhs]

Love your trip report and all the pictures! Can't wait to read more!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this!

 

[rk33l4n]

Sorry for the delay in getting to Cozumel Part 2. I'm just now getting back into my daily routine after the holidays.

When we booked the Xrails Buggy Ride & Jade Caverns excursion the previous day, the agent that helped us gave us a few tips. She had been on the excursion herself a few weeks prior, so she had some firsthand knowledge of the experience.

She let us know that usually the trial is very dusty, but since this part of Mexico had had a lot of rain in the weeks prior, the trail was actually very muddy. She advised us to wear clothes that we wouldn't mind getting dirty & to bring towels, eyewear, and a change of clothes with us.

After checking in at Sessions, we were walked down to the port and introduced to one of the guides from Wild Tours.

From there he walked us through the shopping mall that we had been in earlier, to a fleet of "taxis" parked in the back. I use the word "taxi" very lightly. They were minivans that had blankets draped over the seats.

The drive to our destination was about 25-30 minutes. Sayra enjoyed seeing the non-tourist parts of Cozumel. She said that it reminded her of home in Honduras.

As we were getting closer and closer to our destination, the roads became worse and worse. At one point it seemed like we actually drove through a river. The water had to be about 2 feet deep. I was almost postive that we were going to stall out and get stuck. There were abandoned cars all along that road. Now I understood what she meant by heavy rains. I'll attach some video of the drive.

Finally we arrived and Fernando greeted us & walked us through some safety measures.

After about a 10 minute spiel, he walked us back to the buggies. Along the way we stopped for several different photo ops with different birds and snakes. I remember there being an owl, a parrot, & maybe a falcon. They didn't allow us to take pictures of the birds with our own cameras since they were trying to sell us the pictures later on.

After winding our way through the trail, we came out into a strip that had about 15 of the buggies lined up. Each couple was assigned one. We were somewhat near the back of the pack.

Sayra was going to drive down and I was going to be the one driving back. They got us all strapped in and made any adjustments to the seats and wheel positions. Sayra needed to have her seat moved a lot closer to the pedals.

These things were NOT easy to drive!!! They had no power steering and you had to grip the wheel really hard to keep control of the vehicle. You also had to jam the gas down very hard. Since there was so much mud and water, the engine would skip a lot, so you had to constantly floor it until it caught.

To say the trail was muddy was an understatement. We drove through puddles of mud that were over a foot deep and 20 feet long. Within the first 5 minutes we were both drenched with mud and rainwater. I didn't take any pictures since my camera isn't waterproof. I did take a ton of video though since I had a waterproof case for the Flip Video.

The drive to the caverns was about 45 minutes of winding our way at high speeds through the back trails of the jungles of Mexico. It was both thrilling and exhausting. There were about 5 guides on ATVs spread out amongst the group to help out if anyone needed help or got stuck.

Once we arrived at Jade Caverns, Fernando gave the group a brief history of the area. We then walked down a trail to a staircase that lead to the water. Each person was given a life-vest and we were taken to a small pier that was about 10x10 feet, right next to the water.

These caverns were also filled with BATS. Thousands of them were literally 30 feet above our heads. It was both cool and scarey at the same time.

The water was VERY deep. At no point could your feet touch the ground underneath you. The water was also surprisingly very cloudy. Fernando explained that that was due to the high mineral content of the water. He advised that anyone wearing silver should not get it wet or it would tarnish.

Speaking of jewelery ... Sayra told me before we left to make sure that I left my wedding band on the Magic. Of course I forgot and wore it on the excursion. Sometime during our time in the water, it came off my finger and was lost forever. I was preparing myself for the inevitable "I told you so" ... Sayra didn't disappoint. The band wasn't expensive, but it also hadn't left my finger in 6 years. Sayra was actually very understanding given the circumstances.

It felt REALLY good to get all that mud washed off!!! That didn't last very long though. It was my turn to drive back and within a few minutes we were both filthy again. The pic below was taken right after we returned back to the base.

They had some outdoor showers where you could spray off. Luckily we both wore bathing suits under our clothes and brought a change of clothes with us. We got cleaned up as good as possible and joined the rest of the group for a snack while they attempted to sell pictures. I had a Mexican soda & Sayra had a bottle of water.

It was taking a long time for them to wrap everything up. There was only 1 couple on the excursion not from DCL. They were complaining that they had to get back to port sooner than everyone else, so they grabbed one of the waiting taxis and left.

The problem was that now there wasn't enough room for everyone else from DCL to get back since those 2 people took an entire minivan to themselves. 1 couple literally almost got stranded there. It took some shuffling of kids sitting on parents laps to squeeze them in. For the rest of the cruise, every time we saw that couple, Sayra & I would refer to them as "the left in Mexico people".

Finally after a long day we got back aboard the Magic. Now we had to do something with these dirty clothes in our bag. These clothes were so muddy that we couldn't even put them in the washing machine. Sayra had to rinse everything out in the tub first, then we did a load of laundry.

We both took showers and started to get ready for the evening's activities. That night was the production of Twice Charmed in The Walt Disney Theater and our 1st dinner in Lumiere's.

While relaxing in our room before leaving for the show, Captain John came over the loudspeaker to make an announcement. Due to strong winds forecasted in Grand Cayman, we would not be able to dock there on Tuesday, therefore we would have to skip that port. The Captain wanted to make sure that we got to go to 3 ports as scheduled, so he was going to be taking us to Costa Maya instead!!!

Sayra was excited about going to another Spanish speaking port. I was now worried about my planned excursion in Grand Cayman. I booked, on our own, a Sea Racer excursion to Stingray City. I would have to worry about cancelling and our deposit for that later & now find a new excursion through DCL for Costa Maya.

We headed down to the theater for the show. On our way down we made a detour and stopped by the excursion desk for a handout of tours for Cost Maya. I have to give kudos again to DCL!! They handled these changes flawlessly. We were booked and back on our way within a few minutes.

Twice Charmed was a cute show. See my previous comments about us not having kids yet.

With the changes to the itinerary, it also changed up the dinner themes. I believe this was supposed to be our formal night, but instead it was just casual. Doesn't she look exhausted in this picture??

This dinner was the "French Menu", so of course we had to try the escargot!!

Once again we both enjoyed our food and had a nice relaxing meal. This guy was waiting for us when we returned to the room for the night.

Click here for a video recap of our day including POV footage of the Xrails Buggy ride

The next chapter will be our Snorkeling & Beach Fun Day in Costa Maya & Pirate Night.

 

[Debs Hill]

Thank you so much for your amazing trip report...can't wait for more!! We are considering the buggy trip..would you recommend it for an adventurous 12 year old boy?!
How fast did they go?
Debsx