April 17, 2016 Magic Eastern cruise meet

[wallawallakids]

Hi!

I thought I would start the ball rolling on this one. We are a family of 6 and looking forward to our first Eastern Cruise. We have been on the Magic twice before and love her, but both of those cruises were Westerns. By the time we cruise I will have one 14 year old daughter , a son who will turn 13 the day we debark the ship , an 8 year old son and an 8 year old daughter (twins). I hope we can meet up on here and help pass the time. Only 450 (or so) days left.

 

[IrishCowboy]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list
Have a great cruise
Also, please keep in mind the new DIS policy regarding links/directions to external sites
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=52659395

 

[ccarter]

My daughter, son-in-law and 2 granddaughters, who will be 4 and 8 at cruise time, are booked on this cruise...needed something to look forward to as we just got back today from an 8 night Grammy-daughter-granddaughter DisneyWorld trip!

 

[wallawallakids]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list
Have a great cruise
Also, please keep in mind the new DIS policy regarding links/directions to external sites
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=52659395

Thank you so much!

 

[wallawallakids]

My daughter, son-in-law and 2 granddaughters, who will be 4 and 8 at cruise time, are booked on this cruise...needed something to look forward to as we just got back today from an 8 night Grammy-daughter-granddaughter DisneyWorld trip!

Welcome!! A Grammy-daughter-graddaughter trip to WDW sounds like so much fun!! My twins will also be 8 at the cruise time! Have you all been on a cruise before? Have you been on the Magic before? I love the Magic. I think she is even more beautiful now after the reimagining. It is nice to have someone to count down and pass the time with!

 

[ccarter]

Between us we have been on every ship except the Magic so this will be a first for all of us! I'm happy to know that you have been on the Magic and love it. We all did a western Caribbean on the Fantasy and the ship was great but my daughter and I both loved the Wonder as well. I'm happy they have the Aquaduck since my oldest granddaughter loved that on the Fantasy and probably would have been disappointed to not have it.

I liked the western ports ok, and if we had booked any excursions I might have loved them but we didn't do that. My husband went on that cruise with us and we couldn't figure out what to do that the just under 2 year old could do that he would like as well. He's not a beach person so we didn't want to do a beach excursion as we had Castaway Cay coming up...which as it turned out we didn't as the weather wouldn't cooperate so they couldn't dock. It was so disappointing to be right there and have the ship pull away, we felt like our trip wasn't complete.

I have read good things about the eastern ports so I'm excited to research more!

 

[wallawallakids]

Between us we have been on every ship except the Magic so this will be a first for all of us! I'm happy to know that you have been on the Magic and love it. We all did a western Caribbean on the Fantasy and the ship was great but my daughter and I both loved the Wonder as well. I'm happy they have the Aquaduck since my oldest granddaughter loved that on the Fantasy and probably would have been disappointed to not have it.

I liked the western ports ok, and if we had booked any excursions I might have loved them but we didn't do that. My husband went on that cruise with us and we couldn't figure out what to do that the just under 2 year old could do that he would like as well. He's not a beach person so we didn't want to do a beach excursion as we had Castaway Cay coming up...which as it turned out we didn't as the weather wouldn't cooperate so they couldn't dock. It was so disappointing to be right there and have the ship pull away, we felt like our trip wasn't complete.


I have read good things about the eastern ports so I'm excited to research more!

Oh man! That is a bummer about Castaway Cay. Hopefully in April, there will be good weather and we can dock. It is amazing there and was my kids' favorite stop. I am also excited about the Eastern. New ports!!! The ports on this cruise sound nicer than Cozumel/ Grand Cayman. After doing two Westerns, I am happy to have a change in ports.

I haven't been on the fantasy yet, someday I hope to. The Aquadunk on the Magic is a lot of fun. I believe it is a little different then on the Fantasy, because on the Fantasy you ride in rafts, right? The one on the Magic goes straight down. The floor drops out from below your feet and it is FAST! My oldest daughter LOVED it. She rode it 10 times in a row one day. I am so sure your Granddaughter will too. Even my husband enjoyed it, and the line always went quickly, maybe because the ride is so fast? It was nice to not have to wait. The new splash pad is cute too. Maybe your grandson will like that? My twins had a good time in it this last trip and they were 7, so I think a 4 year old might like it too.

I love that they have added lifeguards now. I always watched my kids like a hawk, but the lifeguards are great about controlling other kids and making sure they are not running around where it is wet, or jumping into the pool. It was a huge difference from our cruise before when they didn't have any lifeguards.

I hope we can meet up on the ship. Maybe your granddaughter and my daughter will enjoy meeting up in the kids clubs. Ava really likes the clubs and meeting all the princesses on board. It will be fun because they will both be 8!

 

[ccarter]

That would be neat if they did play together! I think that since her sister will be old enough for the clubs this time that they will spend more time there so the odds are good they'll meet up.

We are from Maine and will be on deck 6. We had fun customizing our Magic Bands for our park trip so I think we'll probably come up with some fun ideas for our doors.

 

[wallawallakids]

That would be neat if they did play together! I think that since her sister will be old enough for the clubs this time that they will spend more time there so the odds are good they'll meet up.

We are from Maine and will be on deck 6. We had fun customizing our Magic Bands for our park trip so I think we'll probably come up with some fun ideas for our doors.

No way!! We live in Maine too!!! Portland area. Small world! We are on deck 2 this cruise.

 

[ccarter]

Too funny! We live near Belfast. Today's temperature makes me long for Castaway Cay!

We have 2 rooms, the daughter and family will be in a verandah room. We were going to get 2 of the same type of room as usual but it seemed crazy to spend that much so I decided it made sense for me to take an inside room right across the hall. I've always been a verandah person, love sitting out there, so we'll still have that and a second bathroom for far less $. I'm kind of looking forward to my little nest as I call it!

 

[wallawallakids]

Too funny! We live near Belfast. Today's temperature makes me long for Castaway Cay!

We have 2 rooms, the daughter and family will be in a verandah room. We were going to get 2 of the same type of room as usual but it seemed crazy to spend that much so I decided it made sense for me to take an inside room right across the hall. I've always been a verandah person, love sitting out there, so we'll still have that and a second bathroom for far less $. I'm kind of looking forward to my little nest as I call it!

Belfast is beautiful! My husband actually asked me to marry him in Belfast. On the side of the highway. Not sure he planned that out too well, but we were young and crazy in love, so it didn't matter.

Your room configuration sounds perfect! I know the pain of needing two rooms. Our family of 6 needs two connecting rooms, and they can be hard to come by on some sailings! We love the verandas as well, but our last cruise we went without and managed to live through it so we thought on this cruise we will try again. I missed sitting out there, but the ocean view was still very nice and I figure, if it gets me on the ship then I am OK with it!! I think your configuration is perfect because you get the best of both worlds but save a bit too. Once our oldest two are a little older, I think we could do something like that. Deck 6 is nice because you are so close to a lot of activities.

Stay warm today!!! I think I lost a few fingers waiting at the bus stop this morning and you are even colder than us! Brrr...

 

[Alleigh]

I will be cruising for the first time and I can't wait! I will be cruising with my husband, my aunt, and my daughter who will be 8 at the time of the cruise. Any tips would be greatly appreciated I just finished reading the other posts here, and we are also from Maine! Sounds like there will be quite a representation for our state.

 

[wallawallakids]

I will be cruising for the first time and I can't wait! I will be cruising with my husband, my aunt, and my daughter who will be 8 at the time of the cruise. Any tips would be greatly appreciated I just finished reading the other posts here, and we are also from Maine! Sounds like there will be quite a representation for our state.

Welcome to the group! Wow, I can't believe so many of us live in Maine! What are the odds?! You will love the cruise. It is so much fun, and after a long winter in the cold, by April you will be ready for the sun! The Magic is a wonderful ship. Feel free to ask questions! How fun that all of us will have girls the same age too?!

 

[ccarter]

I posted earlier but it's not showing. Too funny that so far it's all Maine folks with will be 8 year old girls with us. I think I'll be spending the next few days reading about the ports, ship, and Castaway Cay and avoid looking out the window!

Alleigh we haven't been on the Magic before but we have been on the other ships and are happy to answer any questions if we can!

 

[Alleigh]

Wouldn't I like to be on that cruise ship right now instead of digging out from this storm while waiting for another! Is it too early to start the countdown?

 

[Alleigh]

We are trying to decide between main seating and second seating for dinner. I've read a lot on different boards but still can't decide. Any suggestions?

 

[ccarter]

We've only done early so I can compare for you but we have no complaints about early seating. We haven't done an actual excursion at the ports yet so I don know if that will make a difference but we haven't felt rushed to get to dinner ever. We also have never felt rushed at dinner so they could flip the table for second seating, but with 2 young active granddaughters we weren't slow leisurely diners anyway! Eating first seating and then heading to the shows later works great for us.

Not looking forward to the snow today!

 

[wallawallakids]

We prefer early, but I think it is really subjective. We tend to eat early at home, so that is why we prefer it. 8:30 is just to late for our family. First does seem more rushed then second, which is fine for our family. We don't really have kids who want to sit for more then 30 minutes! (An hour is pushing it, so we are not in the dinning rooms for long). If it was just my husband and I, then I could see wanting 2nd to have more time. I will say, with first, you do seem to have to rush to the show after. Our last cruise we barely got a seat each night. It was a little frustrating. I could see how if you had second dinning, you could get to the theater earlier for the shows and get a better seat. Our service was really slow this last time around though and our servers were hard to find. Our first time we had much better service at the main dinning rooms. The only time early dinner interfered with ports on our trips was our Key West day. Our all aboard was 6:30 at night. We came back early for dinner, but I could see how some people would want to maximize their time in ports and prefer 2nd seating for that issue. Overall, 1st works best for our family but I think there are pros and cons to each. In second they will come pick up the kids for you and bring them to the clubs so you can finish dinner alone, which is a nice perk as well. Hope that helps a bit!

Right now it is raining here, but I hear it will turn to snow soon enough. Not sure we need more then the 2 feet we currently have, but what can you do?! Dreaming of Castaway Cay today. Wish April 2016 wasn't so far away.

 

[ccarter]

Ugh, fellow Mainers....this snow is starting to get old!

 

[Alleigh]

Thanks for the advice. We booked early seating because we are early eaters.

Can we cruise now? I don't want to shovel anymore(said in my whiniest voice).

Is anyone doing Fish Extenders? I can't decide. I seems like a lot of fun but also could be a little stressful. I went to the page to find out more but I couldn't get in for some reason.