April 12, 2008, 4-12-08, 4/12/08 Eastern Magic

[aprince&princess]

We just returned last night, or should I say this morning. I think we finally arrived at home around 12:30am. And since Tommy has Jazz band this morning at 7am we were up early!

I thought we didn't sit still at all on the cruise, but then we spent Sat, Sunday and Monday at the parks with a flight out last night at 8:30pm. So today I am doing laundry and catching up on emails.

We had a great time meeting some DIS board members, but also wish that we could have met more.

The kids both had a great time and we all wished that we could of had a few more days to do activities that just didn't fit in the schedule for us. We went to Orient Bay in St Maarten where Kayla kindly pointed out all of the topless woman that maybe we didn't notice. We snorkeled in St John, which was great, but too short time wise. We would have liked to have stayed longer and enjoyed the beach at Trunk Bay a little longer. And we did the Catamaran/Snorkel in Castaway Cay. We didn't want to get back on the boat knowing that we then had to pack and leave the next morning.

We debated booking another cruise, but couldn't make up our minds. In the end (at 10:30pm on Friday night) we decided to add more points to our DVC membership. We figured for only a little more that the price of one cruise we could have more points until 2054!

Hey Deb, when you figure out the recipe for the Debitini let us know!

 

[rachaellou]

Anyone else still swaying?? It is TUESDAY and still the floor rocks and rolls for me!!

 

[dsnyfangoofy2]

We all got home safe and sound Saturday evening. Church on Sunday and laundry ever since!!

I'm also still rocking. I didn't have this problem on the other two cruises we've done. I think it's because the seas were exceptionally rough for so much of this cruise. Not enough to cause any problems for our group, though.

Wish I could have met more of you, but we were busy associating with the fam of 36 as much as possible.

Do we post reports here or do we need to switch over to the reports board?

Bev

 

[Megand3779]

I finally stopped rocking yesterday (I hop). We got home Sunday evening, and ended up at the doctor's office Monday- son has double ear infections and daughter has strep....at least it waited until we finished the cruise! If I ever get some free time I will do a trip report as well.

 

[BirdLover]

Hey to all those that just came back, I leave on YOUR ship this Saturday, can't wait. One thing though, it's just 3 of us in my family. I requested to be at a large table for dinner. How well did/does the cruise line do in accomodating these types of requests? I'dd hate to be sitting just the 3 of us...we want to socialize during dinner.

 

[PokerGrumpy]

Ro and I and the rest of our crew got back Sunday afternoon, pretty well exhausted. At least the ground has finally stopped moving. The only remaining problem is that I seem to have lost the phone number for room service. I miss those chocolate chip cookies!

The cruise was great but Air Tran was a major headache both going down and coming back - screwed up seating both ways, one lost bag (caught up with us thanks to Southwest and Disney), and four damaged bags. If you ever hear of us on Air Tran again, it will be because someone gave us free tickets and put us on the plane at gunpoint.

The kids and grandkids are already making plans for the next trip. We told them to start saving now!

One of my son-in-laws said that a DVC rep told him that I had bought another 160 points. It's something we discussed so Ro believed him! I told her that I didn't, or at least I didn't think I did. I'll just keep an eye on the mail for DVC paperwork.

 

[cvspsych]

We returned Sunday afternoon as well. We stayed at the Orlando Hyatt Saturday night-I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone staying in the area. They offer a day rate as well-we saw some cruisers at the pool who were relaxing and waiting for evening flights.

Facing the reality of life and work has been very difficult after such an amazing vacation. I keep finding myself daydreaming about the cruise.

It was great to meet the people from the boards, but unfortunately there were many others we didn't get to meet.

I am not sure when we will cruise again-I think we will probably wait for the new ships.

Take care for now

 

[aprince&princess]

OK, it is now Wednesday and I am still trying to catch up on laundry. We did get the suitcases emptied and put away, so that is always good.

Yesterday afternoon we were out for baseball practice for Tommy and Kayla was trying to catch up on class work missed on Monday.

And we have had great weather since we got back, so that is a plus.

 

[DisneyMomforLife]

We returned Sunday afternoon as well. We stayed at the Orlando Hyatt Saturday night-I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone staying in the area. They offer a day rate as well-we saw some cruisers at the pool who were relaxing and waiting for evening flights.

Facing the reality of life and work has been very difficult after such an amazing vacation. I keep finding myself daydreaming about the cruise.

It was great to meet the people from the boards, but unfortunately there were many others we didn't get to meet.

I am not sure when we will cruise again-I think we will probably wait for the new ships.

Take care for now

Bonnie,

We feel the same way on a few levels ... it only took about 1/2 a day before we felt like we never left. At least we have hundreds of dollars of Shutters photographs to look at to convince us we were there for a week!

I think I posted this as well, but we will probably try another cruiseline to save some $ while we wait for the new ships. I just wish we knew when they would be booking them. It would at least be nice to know if the 2011 one will replace the Magic or the Wonder. I'm thinking the Magic, simply because it's the older of the two and they would most likely try to get more people on the Eastern and Western cruises. Man, I think Castaway Cay is packed now ... imagine with one and a half times more people on it!

Kat

 

[DisneyMomforLife]

Hey to all those that just came back, I leave on YOUR ship this Saturday, can't wait. One thing though, it's just 3 of us in my family. I requested to be at a large table for dinner. How well did/does the cruise line do in accomodating these types of requests? I'dd hate to be sitting just the 3 of us...we want to socialize during dinner.

I found that DCL goes above and beyond in trying to fill small requests like this one. Not only were we able to change our dining time, but we were also able to change our rotation as well. Double check with your TA (if you booked with one) and remind them. If you booked directly with DCL, give them a call.

The first time we sailed, we were a party of 4 and didn't request to sit alone, but we did ... and I actually liked it. Good luck and have a great time!!

Kat

 

[BirdLover]

Thanks Kat

 

[TaraMom22]

Can you all recommend the best place to post hints from our experiences? I don't want to do a full blown trip report, but I do have a few things that worked well, and a few things we would do differently.

The biggest issue for us was the complex travel from California to the port. I tried to save money by making our own arrangements, but United made sure to increase the complexity from borderline to completely insane. No matter how good the cruise, it is easy to forget what a great time you had when you spend so much time getting home.

We struggled with whether to book another cruise while on board, and decided not to. We will wait until 2011 and hope for an Alaskan cruise. Now that we know the ports are 10% of the fun, and just being on the Magic is 90% of the fun, we will save ourselves the huge travel exhaustion and catch the Mexican Riviera cruise if they don't do an Alaska cruise.

I think the second biggest issue was that I wasn't prepared for how much my mom, DH and kids expected me to be their "everything". I envisioned long hours with my book and a drink with an umbrella in it, but they didn't have the same vision. It seemed every time I got relaxed, one of them needed me for something.

That is it for now. Let me know the best place to post my hints.

 

[aprince&princess]

I would post hints right the main cruise thread. I know that is where I went when I wanted to find out as much as I could before the cruise. Just add a title like "Things you should know while Cruising" or something like that. I'm sure plenty of people would appreciate it.

 

[aprince&princess]

I know what you mean about getting a chance to sit and read your book. I brought along a new James Patterson book that I barely opened. I think I boarded the plane home having read 89 pages and read most of it coming back on our 2 1/2 hour plane ride. It seemed every time I sat down the beeper for the kids club would buzz. I would then get Kayla and by the time she changed into her bathing suit, swam a few minutes, had something to eat put her clothes back on and then head back to the club the cycle would start all over again.

 

[Skuba2]

There is an advantage to scheduling pool time. We tell our kids that we will do such-and-such at a certain time before we check them into the club. Our problem, we budget our time and go to check them out and they usually stomp their feet and whine they don't want to come out. LOL!! There has to be a middle ground.

Deb

 

[ajeent]

I know what you mean about getting a chance to sit and read your book. I brought along a new James Patterson book that I barely opened. I think I boarded the plane home having read 89 pages and read most of it coming back on our 2 1/2 hour plane ride. It seemed every time I sat down the beeper for the kids club would buzz. I would then get Kayla and by the time she changed into her bathing suit, swam a few minutes, had something to eat put her clothes back on and then head back to the club the cycle would start all over again.

Since I am a night owl - I was thrilled that there were lights on the verandah - I sat out there most nights reading and watching other ships pass... while I waited for the boys to wander in from OQ

 

[ajeent]

There is an advantage to scheduling pool time. We tell our kids that we will do such-and-such at a certain time before we check them into the club. Our problem, we budget our time and go to check them out and they usually stomp their feet and whine they don't want to come out. LOL!! There has to be a middle ground.

Deb

I am not a pool person, so I only went in one day - St Thomas day we got back by noon and went in the adult pool for a while. That is the only time the boys went in as well - all other times it was too crowded for them.

 

[ajeent]

Welcome back everybody!!! We are back into the swing of things homework...getting up early..softball, baseball and dance!!! My kids are already asking when can we go again!!!! Sunday we were lying in bed wondering if room service was going to come My dd9 has been making towel animals ever since we got home!

I found a copy of the room service door tag today - I put it on my bedroom door, but still no CC cookies

I still have things to unpack and all of my pictures to download and then upload! It is starting to seem like so long ago!!!

 

[KathleenlovesMickey]

I am not sure if anyone is reading this thread any more but... We were lucky enough to continue our WDW stay until last night. We had a fantastic time on the cruise and I still feel that "rocking" feeling sometimes maybe its just wishful thinking. I am sorry we didnt get to meet more people just not enough time we have to take at least a 10 day next time. Which I think for us will be on the new ships. Ron and I are still talking about our new friends Dennis and Kim. We had a great time with you guys.
I do have a question did anyone have hot water problems with the shower? We only had hot water the first day we complained many times and when they would check of course the water was hot. I know they thought we were crazy. We did have hot water in the sinks which made it even stranger to us. Oh well I was not at all thrilled with how they handled this but it is over now. I would still rather be back on that ship then going to work in the morning.
Heres to more sailings for all that want too!

 

[Megand3779]

I am not sure if anyone is reading this thread any more but... We were lucky enough to continue our WDW stay until last night. We had a fantastic time on the cruise and I still feel that "rocking" feeling sometimes maybe its just wishful thinking. I am sorry we didnt get to meet more people just not enough time we have to take at least a 10 day next time. Which I think for us will be on the new ships. Ron and I are still talking about our new friends Dennis and Kim. We had a great time with you guys.
I do have a question did anyone have hot water problems with the shower? We only had hot water the first day we complained many times and when they would check of course the water was hot. I know they thought we were crazy. We did have hot water in the sinks which made it even stranger to us. Oh well I was not at all thrilled with how they handled this but it is over now. I would still rather be back on that ship then going to work in the morning.
Heres to more sailings for all that want too!

Sorry about your hot water problems, we didn't have a problem with that, but one of the days there was a severe decrease in pressure, as compared to other days. Maybe everyone was taking showers at that time?

I have been considering booking a four night for 2009, but haven't decided yet. The first one we went on was 3 nights, way too short, and now that we have done the seven, I think the four will seem even shorter. I would love to do longer than 7.....we will probably wait for the new ships and go then, and do WDW in 2010.