giljr
Now is the time! Now is the best time! Now is th
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2004
- Messages
- 138
This is not going to be an in-depth trip report. As ministers, my wife and I finished our cruise yesterday, drove back to Tampa to get our dog, and drove home to N.C. and we didn't get in until late last night. We both had to be at work this morning, so we are both tired.
Overall, it was a great trip! This was our fourth cruise on the Magic -- all have been Eastern Caribbean. This was the first time we stayed and parked at a hotel near the port. The staff at the Radisson was great, we will definitely be staying there for our next cruise.
This was our first time staying in a verandah cabin, we were in room 7120 which is one of the secret verandah cabins. The room was great, althought we are not sure we used the verandah enough to justify the cost. We both acknowledge that we might feel differently once we have kids.
We had dining rotation LAPLAPL, which is exactly what we have had for all of our cruises. The only change to the standard eastern itinerary was that the Animator's Palette show was done the second time we were in Animators, so it would not, according to our server, conflict with formal night. So, the second night was formal night, pirate night was St. Croix night, and the last at sea day was semi-formal. All of that is the same as the last standard Eastern we took. My wife and I both agreed that the first three courses were better on this cruise than any our other cruises. I did not have a mean that I did not enjoy a LOT. We both also agreed, however, that the desserts were not as good. They were not bad, they just did not excite us as much as some did in the past. Palo was also very good, although we both missed having Marco as our server.
Our excursion on St. Croix, the scenic island tour, was nothing short of a disaster. The microphone in the tour bus kept going out, and we would not have had any audio at all if it were not for one of the other passengers in the first row of the bus. We did not make the stops we were supposed to make, get the tours we were supposed to get, and the AC spewed water on the last three rows of the bus. The experience in our bus was not unique. By the time we had filed our complaint with guest services, we had a call on our stateroom phone saying that Disney had refunded 50% of the cost of this excursion for everyone on the ship. I would like to have seen a complete refund, but my wife and I decided we just wanted to cut our losses rather than going back down to guest services and complaining again. We heard from many other passengers on other excursions that St. Croix was not ready for the return of cruise ships, and I have to agree. St. Thomas was great, on the other hand.
Finally, a lot has been said about the condition of the ship. Our stateroom was in very good shape. We had no problems with the bed, or anything else in the room. My wife pointed out on one occasion that she saw more rust on the decks than she had seen in the past. The only things I noticed were burned out bulbs in the trim in the atrium and Buena Vista theater. We both thought the ship was still in great shape, overall.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Overall, it was a great trip! This was our fourth cruise on the Magic -- all have been Eastern Caribbean. This was the first time we stayed and parked at a hotel near the port. The staff at the Radisson was great, we will definitely be staying there for our next cruise.
This was our first time staying in a verandah cabin, we were in room 7120 which is one of the secret verandah cabins. The room was great, althought we are not sure we used the verandah enough to justify the cost. We both acknowledge that we might feel differently once we have kids.
We had dining rotation LAPLAPL, which is exactly what we have had for all of our cruises. The only change to the standard eastern itinerary was that the Animator's Palette show was done the second time we were in Animators, so it would not, according to our server, conflict with formal night. So, the second night was formal night, pirate night was St. Croix night, and the last at sea day was semi-formal. All of that is the same as the last standard Eastern we took. My wife and I both agreed that the first three courses were better on this cruise than any our other cruises. I did not have a mean that I did not enjoy a LOT. We both also agreed, however, that the desserts were not as good. They were not bad, they just did not excite us as much as some did in the past. Palo was also very good, although we both missed having Marco as our server.
Our excursion on St. Croix, the scenic island tour, was nothing short of a disaster. The microphone in the tour bus kept going out, and we would not have had any audio at all if it were not for one of the other passengers in the first row of the bus. We did not make the stops we were supposed to make, get the tours we were supposed to get, and the AC spewed water on the last three rows of the bus. The experience in our bus was not unique. By the time we had filed our complaint with guest services, we had a call on our stateroom phone saying that Disney had refunded 50% of the cost of this excursion for everyone on the ship. I would like to have seen a complete refund, but my wife and I decided we just wanted to cut our losses rather than going back down to guest services and complaining again. We heard from many other passengers on other excursions that St. Croix was not ready for the return of cruise ships, and I have to agree. St. Thomas was great, on the other hand.
Finally, a lot has been said about the condition of the ship. Our stateroom was in very good shape. We had no problems with the bed, or anything else in the room. My wife pointed out on one occasion that she saw more rust on the decks than she had seen in the past. The only things I noticed were burned out bulbs in the trim in the atrium and Buena Vista theater. We both thought the ship was still in great shape, overall.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
