April 1 - 8, 2006 - Magic - Eastern

[pacercolt]

Hey Coltfans, I haven't been on here for awhile. Loook forward to seeing you and the others from Indiana walking around the deck with Super Bowl champions gear on. What do ya think? My sister and brother in law will be with us and they are from Anderson. Can't wait to sail!!

 

[ColtsFans]

I'll certainly be wearing my Colts jersey at times during the cruise, if the heat doesn't keep me from it. And likewise, look forward to meeting you on the cruise.

 

[ColtsFans]

Is anyone else having problems getting logged into the Disney website to book shore excursion and such?
I've been trying for days and am not having any luck. I consider myself above average on this computer stuff, but the site just seems to keep redirecting me back to pages I've already been on. Any help would be appreciated, since they no longer will book the shore excursions via the telephone.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[cinlyn]

HI - I booked my shore excursions yesterday and had a bit of trouble. I got a message that the site was too busy. I just kept trying and finally got it. Have you tried calling DCL?- I called and they directed me to someone who went through the site with me at the same time when I had initial difficulty getting in. While they may not be able to book the excursions for you, they can at least see what the problem is. Hope this helps. BTW - after yesterdays' sad game between the Bengals and Steelers - I WILL now be a COLTS Fan for the remainder of the year!!!

 

[pacercolt]

I really felt for you yesterday cinlyn. Thanks for the excursion info.

 

[JoeLisaAllison]

Hi,

What shore excursions do y'all recommend? We haven't done the Eastern itineray with our daughter yet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Lisa

 

[goofydadeo]

Hi,

What shore excursions do y'all recommend? We haven't done the Eastern itineray with our daughter yet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Lisa

Lisa,

I would recommend a visit to one of the beaches on the French side of St. Maarten (very European). We like Orient Bay and have gone repeatedly to a beachfront restaurant called Kakao Beach - http://www.sxm-restaurants.com/orient/kakao/. It was recommended to us by the crew on one of our first Easterns. We usually rent a jeep (right at the port - $75/day) or take a taxi ($5/person each way) - 15 min. drive/ride. In Phillipsburg (St. Maarten) prices for jewelry, watches, etc. are the best in the Caribbean. Our favorite is Majesty Jewelers - http://www.majestyjewelers.com/ You can take a ferry from the cruise ship dock to get there.

On St. Thomas I would recommend a visit to St. John for snorkeling. Much of St. John is a US National Park - http://www.nps.gov/viis/ . We own a timeshare at the Westin St. John and have been going there frequently for the past two years. We've found many beautiful small beaches with excellent snorkeling. Of course you can stick with the traditional Trunk Bay visit for a more tourist like experience (an underwater snorkeling trail in a US National Park complete w/lifeguards in kayaks to ensure everyone's safety and rental snorkeling gear). It is a little more complicated to reach St. John if you are not on an excursion, you have to take a taxi to Red Hook, then a ferry to St. John, then another taxi to your beach. To return to the ship you just do it in reverse. Allow an hour travel time each way.

If you are just looking for a beautiful beach (but sometimes crowded) Magens Bay on St. Thomas is nice. Not too many waves (no snorkeling) but crystal clear calm blue water. Coki beach is also nice and there you will find some snorkeling. Coral World is right next door - it's like a small open air aquarium -fun for younger kids - http://www.coralworldvi.com/

We almost always do our own excursions rather than Disney (a bit less expensive of course and you get more time).

Hope you have a great time!

John

 

[cinlyn]

Hi,

What shore excursions do y'all recommend? We haven't done the Eastern itineray with our daughter yet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Lisa

Last Eastern cruise we got off the ship and hired our own taxi to tour St Thomas - the price was good and I feel we got an excellent tour. There is a large shopping area which we found enjoyable - if you are so inclined I would reserve at least a small amount of time to visit the market area. Our tablemates did the Magen's Bay thing and really enjoyed that. This go round I am hoping to go to St John's.

St Maarten we did the Catamaran/snorkeling. I was glad that my son (who was six at the time) was not with us as the sea was a tad rough and several kids onboard became ill. One thing to note - it is not uncommon to find nude sunbathers - at least it was not on the French beach we were on. Something to consider if that would bother you.

Personally - I find jewelry shopping in St. M. to be among the best in the caribbean - Certain items that I looked for were less expensive there than other caribbean ports.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[angelsinmyarms]

We're thinking about only driving as far as Ocala the night before the cruise. If we don't pull our DD out of school early that day, we'll get into Ocala around 9:30 or 10:00pm.

Can anyone recommend a nice CLEAN hotel in Ocala that is not too expensive? Doesn't have to have many ammenities since we'll just be sleeping there.

 

[Mom24Princesses]

Can't decide. I keep see/sawing between doing the Pinel Island tour in the a.m. OR just going over to Great Bay Beach. With the ages of our girls and the size of the family($$), I'd narrowed it down to these two choices.

Any opinions out there.

Great Bay would be fun with other families. Anyone else thinking of this?


Made 75 day out ressies this a.m.
Got Palo Dinner when I wanted
Got spa when I wanted
Wanted Brunch on Monday, NO Monday times open
Guess I'll try on board.

Happy Count Down
Melanie

 

[angelsinmyarms]

Melanie,

We ended up opting for the Golden Eagle Catamaran (SM-03) on St Maarten. We're going from 1:00pm to 5:30 so we won't have to get out of bed at the crack of dawn. We currently have late seating for dinner, so we should be OK.

We also got Palo when we wanted and I'm happy to report the web site gave us no problems.

What are you having done at the spa? What would you recommend?
I'm thinking of sending my girls there for an updo on formal night but won't the wind just blow any and all hairstyles away?

Linda

 

[ColtsFans]

I think I need to change my log in name and become "SteelersFans".

Well, we finally got our shore excursions booked, and I discovered that my login problems were due to the fact that my PC was always blocking cookies from the site that handles the passwords and logging in, for some reason.

Is anyone else going to Sapphire Beach on St.Thomas? This is the beach we went to last time and really enjoyed it. We wound up there as part of an Island Tour excursion we booked outside of the Disney excursions. We decided we wanted to go back there this time, but without the rest of the tour. Any suggestions on securing transportation?

St. Maarten didn't appeal to us as much last trip, so we didn't plan anything for that stop, other than hitting some shops, and hanging out on the ship.

At Castway Cay, our favorite stop on the Cruise, we're doing the glass bottom boat thing, and building sand castles.

The excitement is building, I can tell by the number of times my sister in-law calls to ask questions.

 

[cinlyn]

Hey - ColtsFan - sorry you had to experience the agony of defeat I can feel your pain!!

We did the glass bottom boat thing last year on Castaway Cay - we enjoyed it. They let the children feed oatmeal to the fish which brought several large schools to the boat.

St Thomas - We're independently going to St John's....don't want to get up as early as necessary for the Disney tours. Last time in St. Thomas we hopped a taxi right at the port to drive around St Thomas. You shouldn't have any problem getting one to Saphire Beach.

 

[jk8]

I signed up dh and dd for the dolphin tour and they are doing parasailing on CC. I hope ds6 is content to just be at the beach. It will be his first time so I don't think it will matter. He and I are not into the dolphin encounter.

We may do a beach together at St. John but we decided to wait and see. I hate being stuck places all day if I don't want to be. I am also nervous about waiting to do the beach until CC as you never know if it could rain right?

Go Colts

 

[JoeLisaAllison]

Hi,

THANKS for replying to my questions about shore excursions and passports. The information was very helpful.

My next challenge is picking a hotel. We're going to check our DD out of school at 11:00 a.m., but we still won't get to Orlando until 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. I don't see a need to spend alot of money since we're getting there so late, but definitely want something clean.

I'm so excited...only 10 more weeks until we cruise!!!!

Have a great night!

Lisa

 

[IndyRosa]

Hello Everyone,

I'm looking forward to my first cruise EVER ! From the sounds of it I'll have no regrets either. I'm from Indy as you can tell, and see several IN people on here. I've enjoyed reading these forums for the great tips, suggestions and FUN that you all have. Thanks !!

 

[cinlyn]

Hello Everyone,

I'm looking forward to my first cruise EVER ! From the sounds of it I'll have no regrets either. I'm from Indy as you can tell, and see several IN people on here. I've enjoyed reading these forums for the great tips, suggestions and FUN that you all have. Thanks !!

Hi IndyRosa - we're from the Cinti area -just down the road from you.

welcome - glad to have you onboard. I think you'll thoroughly enjoy yourself 10 weeks from now!!

 

[allears7]

Welcome, IndyRosa. It is very odd that there are quite a few of us from the Indianapolis and the surrounding areas. I have wondered if some may be on the same flight. Just might have to stand up at the gate and say, "Who's ready for the Magic!"

 

[angelsinmyarms]

Found two web cams pointed at the Port Canaveral dock where the MAGIC is sitting RIGHT NOW!

Go to: http://images.ibsys.com/orlpn/images/weather/auto/portcanaveralcam_640x480.jpg?

or try camera you can control on top of the nearby Radission. (another ship is currently blocking the view from this site):

http://www.opusad.com/radissonwebcam/

 

[JoeLisaAllison]

I missed it!!!! I'll have to try to remember to look next week.

Thanks for posting the link.

Lisa