A second hand "Live Report from the Magic 1-22-05"
- Thread starter Verandah Man
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HumanCookie
Mouseketeer
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The 3 white ships are from left to right: Star Princess, Mariner of the Seas and Carnival Victory and of course MAGIC. Not shown though is Costa Atlantica which is docked on the other left side of the camera.
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I sent Randy an e-mail with the photos of the Magic at St. Maarten and St. Thomas, but I haven't heard back from him yet, I hope this means he and his family are having a MAGICal time and are too busy to reply. When, or if, I hear back from him, I will post the message here.
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I just received the following report, this morning, from my friend Randy that is on the Magic this week.
Friday-Janury 28, 2005
Hey Andy!
The Smith vacation saga continues...on top of Karen's breaking her toe on Friday (the night before the cruise) and being in a wheelchair or crutches all week, she was dressing Cam for bed when Cam put her hand through the arm of her pajamas right into Karen's eye - actually cut the cornea. Another visit to the ER - this one on the ship. The deductibles are going to be as much as the cruise! THEN...the pain pill Karen took had an adverse reaction and she freaked out - claustrophobic, nausea, dizziness. We finally had a few hours sleep before her eye exam this morning. AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! I'm pretty convinced Karen has sin in her life! (smile!) Anyway, we were very impressed with the medical facilities onboard - better than some hospitals I've been in back home!
All that aside, we've had fun. I'm not that impressed with St. Marteen (I'd give it a "C") however we do like St Thomas and we LOVED St. John. You can even rent a villa there pretty cheap and visit all the beaches. We may do that sometime. Quaint town - awesome atmosphere.
Here's how the day on St. Thomas went...
We decided to do St. John / Trunk Bay on our own BUT because we weren't part of an excursion the ferry didn't wait for us and we missed it by two minutes. So we had a choice of shopping (not a problem for Karen!) or taking a safari taxi to Meghan's Bay until the next ferry left 2 hours later. We opted for the Meghan's Bay trip and 20 minutes later we arrived at the entrance booth.
NOTE: The taxi ride was awesome and included lots of sightseeing. In my opinion, St. Marteen's ONLY advantage over St. Thomas is that its shopping (on both sides)is more condensed and accessible (better sidewalks, all on two streets, etc). Other than that, St. Thomas is cleaner, safer feeling, and much more scenic.) My advise - shop or do water sports on St. Marteen, tour St. Thomas - the town, the ride, the views and the beaches are much nicer.
That being said, Meghan's Beach is maybe 30 yards wide at best - and since there were four very large cruise ships in port those 30 yards filled up fast. The facilities were rustic but the breakfast at the beachside cafe was awesome. As far as beaches go we decided Meghan's Bay was better for taking a picture from the overlook than actually being on it. We left Meghan's Bay immediately after breakfast and decided shopping was a better alternative while waiting on the ferry.
When we arrived back at the tender dock another cruise line's excursion boat was leaving for St John and we talked ($$$) our way onto it. After a 30 minute scenic ride we arrived in St John and found our idea of paradise. The town is much smaller than St. Thomas so your shopping is limited BUT there were many dining choices near the dock area.
Another safari taxi took us to some of the bays and we were impressed (from the seat of the safari taxi) with each. We actually went to Trunk Bay and while it was too rough to swim or snorkel (12 foot waves!) the facilities were decent and the scenery is awesome. HOWEVER! Be warned! While we were there it was a constant stream of 12-15 passenger taxi arrivals. I'd bet this beach gets very crowded. I'd look into the alternatives - some people on our taxi went to Cinnamon Bay.
In any case, we finally went back to the ship and finished off another great dinner at Parrot Cay. Thursday was a "sea day" and we did the Palos brunch - wow!!!!!!! (NOTE: tell your friends that without a doubt the first thing they need to do when getting on the ship is reserve Palos brunch and dinner. We met many people who waited too long and missed out.)
In the evening we saw the big Disney show - Disney Dreams. Very well done. The cast, the costumes and story line were great. All the Disney stories were represented in a very imaginative way and Cam (and her parents) were thrilled.
Tomorrow is a beach day in the Bahamas (Castaway Cay) then it's home on Saturday. I don't wanna go home!!!!!!!!!!!!
Randy
Friday-Janury 28, 2005
Hey Andy!
The Smith vacation saga continues...on top of Karen's breaking her toe on Friday (the night before the cruise) and being in a wheelchair or crutches all week, she was dressing Cam for bed when Cam put her hand through the arm of her pajamas right into Karen's eye - actually cut the cornea. Another visit to the ER - this one on the ship. The deductibles are going to be as much as the cruise! THEN...the pain pill Karen took had an adverse reaction and she freaked out - claustrophobic, nausea, dizziness. We finally had a few hours sleep before her eye exam this morning. AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! I'm pretty convinced Karen has sin in her life! (smile!) Anyway, we were very impressed with the medical facilities onboard - better than some hospitals I've been in back home!
All that aside, we've had fun. I'm not that impressed with St. Marteen (I'd give it a "C") however we do like St Thomas and we LOVED St. John. You can even rent a villa there pretty cheap and visit all the beaches. We may do that sometime. Quaint town - awesome atmosphere.
Here's how the day on St. Thomas went...
We decided to do St. John / Trunk Bay on our own BUT because we weren't part of an excursion the ferry didn't wait for us and we missed it by two minutes. So we had a choice of shopping (not a problem for Karen!) or taking a safari taxi to Meghan's Bay until the next ferry left 2 hours later. We opted for the Meghan's Bay trip and 20 minutes later we arrived at the entrance booth.
NOTE: The taxi ride was awesome and included lots of sightseeing. In my opinion, St. Marteen's ONLY advantage over St. Thomas is that its shopping (on both sides)is more condensed and accessible (better sidewalks, all on two streets, etc). Other than that, St. Thomas is cleaner, safer feeling, and much more scenic.) My advise - shop or do water sports on St. Marteen, tour St. Thomas - the town, the ride, the views and the beaches are much nicer.
That being said, Meghan's Beach is maybe 30 yards wide at best - and since there were four very large cruise ships in port those 30 yards filled up fast. The facilities were rustic but the breakfast at the beachside cafe was awesome. As far as beaches go we decided Meghan's Bay was better for taking a picture from the overlook than actually being on it. We left Meghan's Bay immediately after breakfast and decided shopping was a better alternative while waiting on the ferry.
When we arrived back at the tender dock another cruise line's excursion boat was leaving for St John and we talked ($$$) our way onto it. After a 30 minute scenic ride we arrived in St John and found our idea of paradise. The town is much smaller than St. Thomas so your shopping is limited BUT there were many dining choices near the dock area.
Another safari taxi took us to some of the bays and we were impressed (from the seat of the safari taxi) with each. We actually went to Trunk Bay and while it was too rough to swim or snorkel (12 foot waves!) the facilities were decent and the scenery is awesome. HOWEVER! Be warned! While we were there it was a constant stream of 12-15 passenger taxi arrivals. I'd bet this beach gets very crowded. I'd look into the alternatives - some people on our taxi went to Cinnamon Bay.
In any case, we finally went back to the ship and finished off another great dinner at Parrot Cay. Thursday was a "sea day" and we did the Palos brunch - wow!!!!!!! (NOTE: tell your friends that without a doubt the first thing they need to do when getting on the ship is reserve Palos brunch and dinner. We met many people who waited too long and missed out.)
In the evening we saw the big Disney show - Disney Dreams. Very well done. The cast, the costumes and story line were great. All the Disney stories were represented in a very imaginative way and Cam (and her parents) were thrilled.
Tomorrow is a beach day in the Bahamas (Castaway Cay) then it's home on Saturday. I don't wanna go home!!!!!!!!!!!!
Randy
Oh I hope they make it to Castaway Cay! My friends need to see they are not jinxed! And after our September (Hurricane Jeanne) cruise, I really want it to go well for them. So far, it sounds like a wonderful cruise. I am so glad they have had good weather.
Thanks for the reports!
DJ
Thanks for the reports!
DJ
DisneyPoly
<font color=0000FF>A Dream is a Wish your Heart Ma
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Thanks for the updates Andy ... it makes my day at work that much more bearable 
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pppiglet said:
What would you expect coming from the lips of my pastor!!! Randy really is a great guy, and Karen is the sweetest lady. We were so excited to hear that they were taking this cruise, we knew they would really enjoy it!!!
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westjones said:
I'm hoping to hear from Randy, either after he arrives home tonight or maybe on Sunday, to see if they made it to CC on Friday.
1princessesmom
Mouseketeer
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- Jan 2, 2004
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We just got off the Magic this morning (sniff sniff boo hoo). We did make it to CC and and had a wonderful time. Seas were rough last night and we got little sleep. Other than that, we had a great time!
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1princessesmom said:
Great!!! I was happy to hear that you were able to dock at CC yesterday!!!
firsttimemom
DIS Veteran
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- May 10, 2001
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We were also on this cruise and can attest to the bumpy seas last night. And it was exacerbated by our trying to finish our wine package at dinner 
. We were at Palos on St. Thomas night (I have no idea what day of the week that was LOL) and it was a bit bumpy, too, but nothing like last night.
Castaway Cay was beautiful. It was partly cloudy so at times it could be chilly if the wind was blowing. Of course now that we're home and it's about 32, I'd give anything for those 'cold' Castaway Cay breezes.
Verandah Man- is there any way to get emails of those pics? I'd love to have them for our photo album!
Liz
. We were at Palos on St. Thomas night (I have no idea what day of the week that was LOL) and it was a bit bumpy, too, but nothing like last night.Castaway Cay was beautiful. It was partly cloudy so at times it could be chilly if the wind was blowing. Of course now that we're home and it's about 32, I'd give anything for those 'cold' Castaway Cay breezes.
Verandah Man- is there any way to get emails of those pics? I'd love to have them for our photo album!
Liz
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firsttimemom said:We were also on this cruise and can attest to the bumpy seas last night. And it was exacerbated by our trying to finish our wine package at dinner
Castaway Cay was beautiful. It was partly cloudy so at times it could be chilly if the wind was blowing. Of course now that we're home and it's about 32, I'd give anything for those 'cold' Castaway Cay breezes.
Verandah Man- is there any way to get emails of those pics? I'd love to have them for our photo album!
Liz
Liz,
If you send me a PM with your e-mail address I can send them to you.
Andy
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