A MAGICal Adventure from San Juan - May 4-9, 2024

[sadiecatie]

Chapters

Day 0 - Intro and Planning
Day 1 - Travel and San Juan
Day 2/3 - San Juan
Day 4 - Embarkation Day
Day 5 - St. Thomas
Day 6 - Day at Sea
Day 7 - Nassau, AKA Day at Sea #2
Day 8 - Castaway Cay
Day 9/10 - Debarkation Day and Ft. Lauderdale
Day 11 - Travel home and Final Thoughts

Intro and Planning

Welcome! I’m here for my second trip report, and happy to be prepping to get back on board a Disney ship! I’m working to organize my thoughts ahead of time and hoping to complete my report in a more timely manner this time around (I did complete my Alaska report last year, but it took a hot minute!).

The cast of characters:

• Sarah - me - college professor and shameless Disney adult
• Christian - my spouse - engineer and good sport for all of my vacation planning shenanigans
• Audrey - my (very-soon-to-be) 9-year-old daughter - 3rd-grader and super excited to hopefully swim with some sea turtles!

This trip started with the intention of visiting extended family in Puerto Rico (most of Christian’s family is still there, though he grew up in Florida). After some grandparent health scares last year, we decided it was priority #1 to get to the island and see loved ones while we still have the chance to do so (he is fortunate to still have all of his grandparents - I have none of mine and I’ve told him just how fortunate he is to be pushing 40 and still have all his grandparents living). Just out of curiosity, I looked to see what kinds of options there might be to combine a family visit with a cruise - and what do you know, there was a 5-night repositioning sailing from San Juan that would be right after my spring semester and give us the opportunity to visit family on each end (in both Puerto Rico and Florida)! It didn’t take much convincing to get Christian on board, and I was off and running with my planning!

We decided to spend 3 days in San Juan before boarding the Magic. Our plans will combine daytime sight-seeing and relaxation with evening family visits each day. While our evenings are set aside for family, any recommendations people have for things to see and do during the day would be welcome! Right now I would really like to go walk around Old San Juan and visit El Morro, and have some beach/pool time at our hotel, but otherwise we’re wide open! (Christian hasn’t been to the island to visit since he was 13, so he really doesn’t have much experience to assist with the planning!)

We have a paper chain countdown calendar in our living room counting down until we leave for San Juan - it started at 100 days and has gotten noticeably shorter (34 days today)!

I’ll be doing online check-in this weekend, and then it’s just waiting, ordering last-minute stuff we might need, and going over the packing list! (Can you tell I’m a planner? Audrey takes after me, she wants to start “practice packing” now). Can’t wait!

 

[sadiecatie]

Our countdown is almost over! We leave for San Juan Wednesday morning - can’t wait to get this adventure started!

 

[princesserin1350]

Have an amazing trip visiting family and enjoying your cruise! Can't wait to read your trip report.