9/29/2007 - Tryin' to Reason with Hurricane Season - 7 Day Eastern

[tfc3rid]

Friday, September 28, 2007 - Part 2 - Wilderness Lodge, Lots of Meat and Dreaming of the Magic

So, our fearless travelers drive to our resort for the night, the Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. Yes, I know a one night stay isn't a good idea from a 'point' standpoint but I had a lot of 'use or lose' points for this year... We got a loverly room far, far, far from the front entrance to the Villas. We stayed in a studio on the first floor. Exhausted from our late night packing and flight, we decided to take a nap... Napped until close to 6:30...

I had made dining reservations for Texas de Brazil on International Drive for this evening. I had read a lot of good things about this Brazilian Steakhouse chain and wanted to try it... Well, it was incredible. Sure, at $46 per person, it might scare some folks off, but if you sign up for their e-club, you get an introductory coupon (mine was 25% off)... Oh God, the endless meat... We were assaulted with Filet Mignon, Bacon Wrapped Fliet, Lamb Chops, numerous cuts of Sirloin, Sausages, Chicken, Pork... I could go on... Wow... That was a meal and a half... What a way tp statrt our vacation...

We drove back to the WL and collpased in bed... Tomorrow would be the first day of our cruise and we would be ready for it!!!! So come on, close your eyes and dream of the Magic!

 

[tfc3rid]

Saturday, September 29, 2007 - Part 1 - Anticipation

So... The night passed, we slept in, until 9:30AM, showered and got dressed... Dawdled a bit while we watched, wait for it... Beverly Hills 90210 on SoapNet as we got ready... Yeah, I know... We left our room at 10:45 AM to head for the car. We got to the valet desk and had our car within 5 minutes (another thing that Disney does VERY well).

So, we were on our way to Port Canaveral. As we exited from the Central Florida Greeneway to the Beachline, there was a tremendous, ISOLATED, thunderstorm... I could not see 3 feet in front of me... Typical Southern soaker... However, by the time we got to the Tool Booth, it was sunny again... Yikes... I love those storms...

So, we drove... Through the St. John's River basin, acrosee the Banana and Indian Rivers and saw our home for the next week, the beautiful Disney Magic. We exited and went to drop off our luggage with the porters. Then it was off to the parking lot to drop off our PT Cruiser.

We made the quick walk to the terminal and passed easily throught security. We got upstairs into an almost empty terminal and filled out our cruise contract and Bahamian Immigration form. Easy as pie! We headed to the Castaway Club line (which was longer than the regular cruiser line) and checked in... We got our pins and lanyard and were ready to enter. We took our uber goofy embarkation pics and entered the Magic.

It was about 1:30, so we headed quickly to our stateroom 6128 and dropped off our carry-ons. Then we walked up to Deck 9 and Topsiders for lunch. We enjoyed it and headed back downstairs to empty out our 'day bags'. We also met our staeroom attendant, Jeryll. She was terrific and so friendly and attentive to our needs. We got our bags around 3:30 and brought them inside prior to our departure to the Emergency Drill, which is ALWAYS a great picture opportunity! We headed to our location in Animators Palette and endured the usual stuff... We then returned to our rooms (WITH LIFE VEST ON, unlike half of you out there!!!!!) and unpacked.

We ran up to Deck 10 for the Adventures Away! sailaway party... It had changed from last we cruised and it's cheesy but cute and you can't help but shakeyour booty a lil' bit... We started moving out to sea, very calmly down the channel, excited at knowing it would be over 60 hours till we stop again!!!!!

However, as I look out to the sea, I see whitecaps... Hmm... Whitecaps... Uh,oh...

To be continued...

 

[tfc3rid]

Saturday, September 29, 2007 - Part 2 - Rocking and Rolling and What's With This Evian?

When last we left our fearless sailors, we were headed into a whitecap filled Atlantic Ocean... We headed from Deck 10 to Guest Services in order to (1) put some of on board charges to my disney Rewards Card and and the rest on credit card and (2) sign up for tastings!!! We signed up for Wine Tasting on Sunday, Beer tasting for Monday and Martini tasting for Thursday. Wonderful!!!

We headed back to our stateroom and what was there but a case of Evian waiting... Evian?? We didn't order Evian... What the heck?? All righty, so I called Guest Servies and told them about it and they said they would remove it ASAP! GREAT! So, we unpacked a wee bit more and I check a half hour later... Umm...Evian!!!!! Still there!!!! Awesome! I said, I'll wait another while or so... Checked back a half hour later...EVIAN!!!!!! Our stateroom attendant came over and said 'Don't you want your water?' Of course, my answer was, we didn't order it... She snapped her fingers and the Evian was gone... Kidding but it seemed like it!

Evian free, we took a nap... When we woke up, looked outside, we saw an angry sea but a beauty of a rainbow...

Oh yes, of course, I stumbled to the balcony... I stumbled back to the bed... Turned on Channel 12 and saw the seas were considered 'Very Rough' at 15-20 feet. NICE!!!! So, rocking back and forth, we got dressed for dinner at Lumiere's at 8:30...

We stumbled our way to Lumiere's and met up with our tablemates. GREAT TABLEMATES!!! There were Sarah and Jason, honeymooners from Illinois, Victoria, Elizabeth and Michael from Northern Ireland (Victoria and Elizabeth being WDW College Program Cast Members)... Great people, finally!!!!!

Our server was Mario from the Phillippines and our assistant server was Raphael from South Africa. They were awesome over the course of the week, but nothing was as difficult as tonight... Most folks at the table left, including my DGF, who told me to stay as she bought out the Dramamine in Treasure Ketch... I finished dinner and returned very quickly to the stateroom where she was very very sick... The seas were really awful at this point and all we wanted to do was sleep and hope that things would improve by morning...

Would Sunday be better?? Would the ship stop rocking?? Would there be anyone at breakfast?? Stay tuned!

 

[butterman]

ohhhh tell me more
did it stop rockin?
We're goin in 18 days....ohh tell me it stopped rockin

 

[tfc3rid]

Sunday,September 30, 2007 - Part 1 - Is Everyone OK Out Here?

Morning has broken... Did we make it?? I open the sliding door and look out and see this...

It makes me happy... Things are looking better... The Magic's rocking is back to normal! YAY!!!!!!!! The sun is shining!!! And there is only ONE thought... WE'RE STARVING!!!! Time to head up to Topsiders for some Topsiding breakfast! Eat we did!!! Love those Mickey Waffles with a little Whipped Cream!!! Oh baby!

After breakfast we went and basked in the sun on Deck 10... However, DGF had an appointment for a massage (that I made for her) at 11:30. I wanted to hit up the talk that Tom Williams from Disney Creative Entertainment was giving... So we both went our separate ways at this point and agreed to meet around 12:30 outside the Vista Spa.

DGF loved her massage. She had a well-being massage that lasted 50 minutes... Tom Williams was good, but nothing that us DIS'ers didn't already know!!!!! He gave an overview of WD Imagineering.

We headed to Topsiders to grab some lunch... We just had a salad and shared a panini from Goofy's Galley (Turkey, Bacon and Tomato, YES!) After lunch, we wanted headed back to our room, knowing that we had our first tasting of the journey in 30 minutes...

Would we enjoy the Wine Tasting? Would we get a buzz?? Would dinner tonight be another rolling experience????

Will I ever learn how to post a photo?? Stay tuned!

 

[CraftyMouse]

Will I ever learn how to post a photo?? Stay tuned!

Great trip report!

The easiest way I've found to post photos is through Photobucket. Just go to www.photobucket.com, register for an account (free) and upload your photos. Once you have uploaded the photo(s) you will see different codes underneath them. You want the code that starts with

 

[tfc3rid]

Hmmm... All of my pics are online on Kodak...

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Glad that the seas calmed down for you in the morning. I will be sure to pack lots of motion sickness meds, just in case.

 

[tfc3rid]

Seems to me that the worst seas have always been on embarkation day and the night we sail back to Port Canaveral...

There are packs of Chewable Dramamine available at Treasure Ketch.

 

[Deweysgirl]

Subscribing, loving your trip report so far!

We were just a few doors down from you. We also had Jeryll and we adored her. She was sweet and attentive and made the best towel animals. We have 2 daughters and poor Jeryll did a wonderful job trying to keep our cramped quarters neat and tidy with our 2 not-so-neat-or-tidy kids.

Mario and Raphael - we didn't really connect. They were nice enough I guess but nothing compared to other servers we have had. I got the feeling Raphael was very new to his duties or something???

 

[tfc3rid]

I completely agree on Mario and Raphael... Seems like they were both very new at what they were doing... We have had better service from our dining servers...

 

[tfc3rid]

Sunday, September 30, 2007 - Part 2 - Wine and Palo

When we last left our trip report, your fearless cruisers were heading to the wine tasting in Sessions... We got a great spot and were able to try six different Italian wines. Now, the DGF and I are fans of white wines and were not disappointed in the selection on this day. Very yummy...

Following the wine tasting, we headed back to our stateroom to go off and swim. We went up to the Quiet Cove pool (more like the Quiet Cove Wave Pool) and enjoyed some quiet time in the pool. Here I will give a shout-out to one person we met who was on his seventh DCL trip, a Magic Kingdom Cast Member, who was a great conversation on numerous occasions throught the trip!

On our way back to the stateroom, we picked up a few orders of Chicken Fingers, since we had A LOT of time until dinner. We saw this beautiful sunset...

We were very tired and took a nap, sadly sleeping through The Golden Mickeys, which we really wanted to see. However, it was FORMAL NIGHT and time to get ready to go to out 8 PM dinner at Palo. However, we did first head down to the Captain's Reception in the Atrium... Had a few drinks (FREE) and headed up to Deck 10 Aft and Palo.

We were seated very promptly as always and proceeded to meet our server for the evening Toni, from Spain. Toni was absolutely fantastic and pointed out some of the new items on the Palo menu, that we may not have experienced before. Toni also asked if we were in any rush and we replied not at all, which was perhaps the BEST answer we could have given!

We had the Bianco Pizza (note that the pizzas are now smaller than previous so that diners can enjoy more). We ordered Fried Calimari and the Minestrone soup for appetizers. Toni also brough out the new Shrimp Appetizer and it was fantastic. In between courses, we were given a small serving of lemon sorbet to cleanse the palette. For entrees, I had a special Lamb Chop entree (which was amazing) and my gf had the Beef Filet. Toni also brought us sample servings of Lobster Ravioli and Pasta with Prime Rib slices. Both were fantastic entrees. For dessert, we ordered two Chocolate Souffles and the Tiramisu. Dessert, as always, were fantastic! Following dessert, another palette cleanser as we had some lemon sorbet with champagne... This was our BEST Palo experience to date... While we were tempted to go later in the trip, we did not. But we always recommend Palo for everyone!

After this meal, we were too tired for anything, so we headed to sleep for the night... Here is tonight's towel animal...

 

[tfc3rid]

Monday, October 1, 2007 - Another Fantastic Day at Sea and Parrot Cay Wings

One day at sea complete on our 60+ hour nonstop to St. Maarten and we have nother day at sea. Weather todat is lovely as well, with temperatures in the 80's with less wind. Seas are very nice and calm as we churn at close to 23 knots on our way to St. Maarten.

Today was a nice, lazy day for us as we started at Topsiders and headed immediately to the Quiet Cove Pool for a few hours... After quite some time of swimming and hot tubbing and swimming and hot tubbing, we had gotten hungry again and today was Asian Buffet day at Topsiders... How could we say no??

Following another 'good for you' lunch, we headed back to the stateroom to dress and grab our tickets for this afternoon's beer tasting... But first, we stopped by the Cake and Plate Decorating session at Studio Sea. This was pretty entertaining and the audience members who decorated did a great job!! I only wish we could have TASTED the cakes!!!!!!!

So, we headed to Diversions for our beer tasting. Today we would be tasting Stella Artois, Pirone (from Italy), Bass Ale and Guinness... Yay for me as I love all of those selections... Boo for my gf, as she HATES Bass and Guinness... YAY for me that she hates them because I get hers!!!!! So, following that buzz-fest, we went up to Deck 10 to get some sun... Man,I had a nice lil' buz going... I needed some food, so I went down to grab some Ice Cream... It helped but I still fell sleep on Deck 10... We woke up and headed downstairs, picking up our late afternoon snack along the way!!!

Tonight's dinner was at Parrot Cay. I recall from our past DCL voyages that PC has a great appetizer of Wings in a great honey coriander sauce... Well, the entire table ordered these and we got a ton!!!!! We loved them so much we put in a special request to our server that we have these every night throughout the trip!!! We shall see if that occurred... Anyway, dinner at PC was fun and our tablemates, were terrific and very east to get along with, which made our dinner fantastic!!!

Once again though, we were beat and headed straight for our stateroom for sleepytime once again... Here was our towel animal...

 

[Brianne&Sami'smom]

Enjoying your report so far!! We are leaving in two weeks for the Magic. Can't wait to read more.

 

[tfc3rid]

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - Part 1 - Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten, NA

So the sun rose and we were in port. Docking in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antillies. It was great to look out our balcony and see this...

After Topsiders, we headed offship and grabbed the water taxi. A really great deal, just $5 bucks to ride all day between the ship terminal area and downtown. We headed downtown to do some shopping and browsing (jewelery, liquor, etc.) Here are some pics from St. Maarten...

After shopping we returned to the Magic for a quick bite to eat. The largest cruise ship in the World, The Liberty of the Seas was docked next to us... Making our beloved Magic look like a Toy...

After lunch, we headed back on the Water Taxi to take a dip at the Beach on Great Bay. After about 20 minutes, it started POURING and we high tailed it out of there... We went back to the Magic to prepare for the evening...

More to come!

 

[tfc3rid]

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - Part 2 - Pirates IN the Caribbean

So, it was time to prepare for the Pirates in the Caribbean Party!!!!! So, after the usual late afternoon snack and nap, we got ready for tonight's Pirate Night menu... Of course, Pirate night just doesn't feel right in Lumiere's but, eh, what can ya' do!!!!

The rundown on food... Appetizers - GF has Pasta Envelopes, I had Pineapple, Soup/Salad - GF had the Hideaway Bay Salad, I had the Chilled Honeydew and Mango Soup, Entree - GF had Beef Tenderloin, I had the Smoked Pork, Dessert - GF had Chocolate Cake, I had Banana Treasure... All were very good, especially the Pork (BBQ Pork)

Some pics...

So, we headed up to Deck 9 for the party!!! Love the show, it's great for the kids and the adults... The fireworks are really a treat... No other cruise line has permission to have fireworks displays from a navigable vessel. The Pirate Party buffet is awesome as well, with crepes, cakes and, of course, Turkey Legs.

Off to sleep, for an EARLY morning and an excursion...

 

[lvstitch]

More please

Hey did you happen to save your navigators If so, would you be will to share?

 

[jns]

More please

Hey did you happen to save your navigators If so, would you be will to share?

thanks for sharing Great photos
waiting hard to hear more
would love to see the Navigators too

 

[tfc3rid]

I do have the navigators... It may be tough for me to scan them in but I will give it a try... I think I'll return with more next week.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[tfc3rid]

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - Part 1 - St. Thomas/St. John

Soooo, waking up, we found ourselves in St. Thomas. It was 6:15 am... YEs, it was time for early morning Immigration. Since St. Thomas is a US territory and we are returniung to the US after a trip to a foreign country, we must endure Immigration even if you don't plan on getting off...

Our session began at 7 am (15 minutes late)... It was actually quick and we headed straight the the Buena Vista Theatre to meet our excursion team. We were off to the island of St. John for the Trunk Bay Snorkel and Beach excursion. We boarded our ferry for St. John and were there in 40 minutes. We then were herded into a jitney taxi and headed on thre 10+ minute ride to Trunk Bay... Here are some pics from St. John...

St. John is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been or seen... The landscape is stunning. Our taxi driver was very good in giving us a goo idea about the island and what island life was like. The beach at Trunk Bay was spectacular, with sand so smooth and clean, nothing like the beaches of the Northeast.

Snorkeling was something else! This was the first time either of us gave it a try and we LOVED it! The snorkel trail was neat and very clear. We saw a lot of fish and the beauty of the seafloor was outstanding! This time at the beach was really incredible and I am thrilled I took this excursion!

Following about 4 hours at Trunk Bay, we returned and caught our ferry back to Charlotte Amalie and back to the Magic. Overall, the snorkeling was fantastic, the trail was great and the National Park Service employees were excellent! But darn, we were HUNGRY!! That morning danish was not enough... Time for some lunch and then...shopping!