April 28th Eastern Cruise - Two Adults-32nd Anniversary Trip

Eggleboo

<font color=blue>My daughters introduced me to R-r
Joined
Sep 11, 2001
Messages
279
Let me begin by saying we've done the Wonder several times and this was our first cruise on the Magic to celebrate our 32nd Wedding Anniversary. Embarkation was easy enough as we knew the whole process from going on the Wonder. We had a nice lunch at Parrot Cay but our server was no where in site for quite a while and we were thirsty more then hungry. Once he got to us, all was good. We got up to our cabin and everything looked beautiful and clean. Our very special deliveries were there from The Perfect Gift and they were stunning as usual. My gift from my husband was a dozen of the most beautiful red roses. THey lasted the entire week until the last full day when I put in a couple of cups of water out of the faucet. Won't do that again because they were still perfect and the next morning they were dead! Maybe all the salt isn't out of that water after all! My gift to my husband was a brightly colored tote bag filled with all sorts of goodies to eat when we went to the movies! popcorn:: It lasted the entire week and then some! Thanks to Shirley and her staff once again for making our trip a little more special. There is just something delightful about going into your cabin and seeing gifts waiting for you. Makes you feel young again and so special! :love:

As two mature adults :laughing: , because I can't bring myself to say "older adults" we had no problem relaxing and enjoying the cruise. We found plenty to do or not to do depending on our mood that day. This cruise actually ended up being more of a relaxing cruise for us because we both ended up feeling a little under the weather with a cold. For some reason I just felt more crowded on this cruise. I am assuming it was fully sold out and everyone was taking full advantage of all there is to do. I think the other reason possibly was there were many more adults enjoying the adult areas then we have ever seen on the Wonder.

We had late dining and I have no idea how they pick who they sit you with but we ended up with two lovely younger couples, each with a young child. Kids were tired at dinner everyone. I would suggest you feed them before they get to dinner if you have late seating so when they fall asleep at least they had something to carry them through the night and aren't waking you up at 5 for breakfast! The food was pretty good. :thumbsup2 We had a few nights where I struggled with what to eat but got through it by ordering off the lighter fare section. I gained 5 lbs on this cruise. :sad2: Too many desserts! And as I have read on these boards before, most people dress whatever way they want for dinner. While I didn't wear a formal gown on formal night, I did dress as I would if I were going to a 5 star restaurant on land. Our formal night ended up being the night we went to Palo for dinner so I wore a nice very dressy pants suit and my husband wore his best dark suit. We dressed, we ate, we left and changed. Wasn't difficult for us because there are so many degress of formal dress these days depending I think on what region of the country you come from and naturally your financial status can make a difference. When I see people in shorts and tee shirts for dinner I try not to judge just in case this cruise was a trip of a lifetime for them and they struggled to make ends meet to go on it and just don't have the style clothes that are suggested. :flower3: Or who knows they just not care what others think and they are comfortable as they are. I know the one couple we were with had no idea there were different styles of dress suggested. They just came on with casual clothes and that was fine for them. Brunch at Palo was excellent as usual. The High Tea, wasn't so high on my score card. I actually would give it a 1 out of 1 to 10. The tea was eh and to us the food was worse. They need to go take a lesson from the people who do the tea at the Grand Floridian.

Our excursions... We went on the two country tour or whatever it is called in St. Martin. As luck would have it, we ended up with one of the families that we had dinner with every night. We sat in the back of the bus and had a few good laughs. Much of the tour was depressing to us as poverty is everywhere on the island. There are million dollar houses (which I would never pay that for one) and then there are lots of shacks with lots of garbage everywhere. If nothing else this tour made me EXTREMELY thankful for all we have.:angel: Our trip in St. Martin coincided with two things, their Labor Day and their parade so most of the stores were closed for the day. A few were open but we chose not to shop because getting back to the ship would be difficult once the parade started and we were afraid of not getting back on time. I think when you plan these tours you think you are going to see something like "Lifesyles of the Rich and Famous". I understand why tourist dollars are so important to these communities. In St. Thomas we did the Atlantis submarine dive. The submarine was the easy part. The boat ride to the sub was a little more challenging. If you get sea sick be forewarned to be prepared for this little ride. It can get a bit rocky at times. The sub itself was ok. We did it once, won't do it again. I am not a marine biologist but I don't think their reefs are extremely healthy there. If they are, that sea life are very good at hiding. We saw some fish, a turtle and a shark but at least we can say we were down in a submarine. Oh and if you go, bring your singing voice!!! Study any songs that relate to submarines (hint, hint..Beatles) cause you will be asked to sing the chorus!!! The island looked more lush then St. Martin but we didn't do anything but walk around the shopping area by the boat after our sub ride. My stomach was a little off so I didn't want to wander far from the ship.

Ok the good, the bad and the ugly of our trip. The good was we never were bored, the food was good, our stateroom host was excellent and our servers were excellent as well. The bad, it was a little more crowded then we were use to, we didn't feel the price of our excusion was worth it if you are looking for all the pretty parts of life, but definitely makes you grateful. The ugly, ok this is a tough one. The ugly was our toilet in our cabin failed twice and by that I mean the first time it wouldn't flush at all. We had to get maintenance there to repair it. Said it was fixed and it worked for two days and broke again. Let me see how I can put this as delicately as possible as not to offend anyone, if you have anything in the toilet other then liquid :scared: , flush often in between innings? How's that? :rotfl2: That darn thing just was tired of flushing I think. Also be careful with your KTTW cards as they are damaged very easily and then you have to have someone come and open your safe for you. So after all that, maintenance and guest services called us every day to make sure our toilet and safe were working. Talk about wanting to hide under a bed!!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

So in closing this novel up, let me just say that Castaway was still our favorite and we rebooked a cruise for 9/08 that has two Castaway stops. If you are going on the adult beach, rent those floating devices early as they do run short on them. With the water being so shallow there it's worth getting a float to enjoy the water that way. Oh and when we were leaving Castaway and were about a 1/2 a mile away from the dock I was standing on our verandah and got to see a shark swim along side the ship. That did freak me out a little bit about it being so close to shore and I better never fall off those wave runners or when we are swimming!!! My best suggestion to anyone is always to try something for yourself because everyone's opinion are different. My glass is raised and I toast all that get to go on these beautiful vacations and wish you nothing but good times ahead! :drinking1
 
Hi there! Glad to hear you had a good time. I too, hoped my toilet would do it's best! I thought a couple of times it wouldn't come through for me.

Anyway, glad to hear about the shark AFTER our parasailing!;) in castaway.

Doing another cruise just for the 2 days in CC would be worth it.

About the dressing part, I saw a lady wearing jeans in Palo when we ate there friday night. I don't do the sequin thing, but I would think jeans would definitely be a no-no.
 
Oh and when we were leaving Castaway and were about a 1/2 a mile away from the dock I was standing on our verandah and got to see a shark swim along side the ship. That did freak me out a little bit about it being so close to shore and I better never fall off those wave runners or when we are swimming!!!

Speaking of scary fish, anyone know what kind this is?

IMG_2178.jpg


I ran into this snorkeling at Serenity Bay. It was probably about 4 feet long, and it scared the living daylights out of me when it turned my way to face me. It is a bit tough to see from the picture (for obvious reasons I did not want to get closer than 10 yards or so) but it's teeth were incissors and were about an inch in length.

Joe
 
Yikes! Is that a Barracuda by any chance? and I was afraid of the little fishies swimming at the water's edge when I first walked into the ocean. The other thing we saw was a big fish head with a great big eye staring at us and the rest was buried in the sand. Total freaked me out. I don't think it was a sting ray either! Told my husband I am floating on this tube and I am scared to death of my butt becoming the sushi of the day!!
 

mormadsmom, I remember seeing your little girl getting her pic taken at the Port. Didn't that week fly by! I had more fun watching the kids enjoy themselves then any other activity on the ship! Glad you had a great time! Hope you have many great future cruises ahead for you and yours!
 
Told my husband I am floating on this tube and I am scared to death of my butt becoming the sushi of the day!!

Aha, I'm not the only one who was floating in the tube wondering what would come up and bite me in a not-so-fun part of the body!
 
Eggleboo--
Happy Anniversary!

A question about the tour in St. Marten. It sounds like you did the Under Two Flags Tour, which is something that we were considering. Where did it take you? Where did you stop for pictures or sightseeing or shopping? Other than the poverty that you saw, did you think the tour was worth it? I have a 13 and a 10 y/o. Will it be boring for them? Thanks.

Lauri
 
Joe that does look like a barracuda! Look up a pic online and see what you think. Good decision not to get any closer! I looked for you the whole cruise and never saw you. I think I might have either Friday or Saturday but at that point I was to tired to strike up a conversation. How did this cruise compare with your western cruise?
 
Meet Barney the Barracuda!
IMG_2178.jpg


"He" has had his picture posted on the DIS many times!
....ok, maybe not the same one, maybe his cousin! Barracudas are attracted by shiney objects, so you shouldn't swim or snorkel with your jewels!
 
yikes, that would have scared me! Looks like a barracuda to me.

Eggleboo, that's funny you remembered our embark. photo. She did that many times too. I so wanted those lifestyle photos with the white background of my girls together. Everyone's that I saw turned out sooo nice. All of them but mine. We did manage one with sorcerer Mickey. I'll put that in my tr later.

Yes, the week did fly by. Just think, what were we doing this time last week?
 
How did this cruise compare with your western cruise?

We actually liked the Western better but most DISsers seem to prefer the Eastern, citing the extra day at sea and not stopping at a "dump" like Mexico. However, we liked having the Key West port day in lieu of the extra day at sea. We treated Key West as a sea day and practically had the boat to ourselves. It was fantastic. I also think "Mexico" gets a bad rap. We took a ferry to Playa Del Carmen from Cozumel, visited underground caverns, and spent some time on a beautiful beach on the mainland. We never felt unsafe. In fact, it seemed as though St. Martin was a much more poverty-stricken place, especially the areas on the way to Orient Beach. Lastly, we're typically not early-risers, so the immigration check at St. Thomas was painful for us, especially after a long day on St. Martin and Pirate Night.

DW and I concurred that if we had to choose again, we'd definitely go Western.

To bad you didn't tap me on the shoulder! Since I posted my family pic from our Western cruise, some other DISsers sought me out. But I had no idea what the rest of you looked like, so I couldn't be proactive.

Barney the Barracuda, eh? I guess I would have been fine venturing closer. From Wikipedia: "Barracudas will stop after the first bite as humans are not their normal food source." I've been chomped a few times by a Doberman (my own, no less, but before we got to "bond") and have some scars on my arm. Hurt like heck at the time, but now makes for a great conversation piece. I'm sure a barracuda bite would be even better.
 
Lauri, First let me say that is my daughter's name and it is spelled the same way. Amen cause I always get told I should of put an "e" on the end.

That is the tour and you go all the way around both the Dutch side and the French side. Kids seemed bored to me. Honestly I couldn't even begin to tell you many focal points. We stopped to look at a few views of the different beaches, a monument which isn't much of a stop cause you don't get off the bus. On the French side they take you an area where there are a bunch of restaurants, I wouldn't eat there honestly. Also stopped in Philipsburg for 40 mins. It was ok but I am not a bargain shopper. Just my opinion. We stopped at a site to take pics with a beach below for 5 mins and slowed down to see the Magic from up above. I really don't think this is a kid excusion unless you want your child to see how some people live differently then most of us do. By the end of the tour we were all pretty glad to get off the bus and head back to the Magic. We should of done the beach and spent the day doing something more active!
 
mormadsmom, we were just finishing dinner and on our way up to the deck to walk a bit of it off!! Life just flies by!
 
So in closing this novel up, let me just say that Castaway was still our favorite and we rebooked a cruise for 9/08 that has two Castaway stops.


The 9/27/08 Alternate western???

That is going to be a TOTALLY AWESOME CRUISE!!!
:cool1:
 
Eggleboo,
Glad to see you made it home safely. Nice trip report.
Thanks for referrring to us as "lovely." I guess you knew there was a chance that I would read this. :rotfl: You could have put something to the effect of "we sat next to this lady and she flapped her jaw the whole time about shopping and was trying to steal our server!"
I would have tried harder to take Ricardo now that I know he has a greencard! Maybe he's reading this.......
Anyhow, we had a lot of fun on the cruise and it was great to hear your story again. Kind of brings it all back. Thanks for putting up with us. You guys are great!
 
SHOOIE.......(tears in my eyes) I felt so bad when we left dinner that last night. I truly was feeling miserable and really wanted to hug everyone goodbye, but I knew we still had to get those darn suitcases out! You were the life of the party girl!!! I was so happy you found all your treasures on St. Martin. I was actually a little jealous of your bravery of purchasing them. I have no guts and you know what they say no guts, no glory. We adore your family and wanted to extend the same invite, if you ever decide to come over towards NYC, we are 20 mins. outside in NJ and would love you to visit. Your little one can sleep under our dining table as well!! HAHA! Our love to your family!!!:hug: And yes, our server was the "MAN". Hey you tried to get him to move West! :rotfl:
 
Hey! Long time!
I hope that all is well with you and your family. Any more thoughts on an Alaskan cruise?
I am so excited to be coming to NYC. Four of us from the salon are going for the hairshow at the Javits Convention Center on April 26th - 30th. I can't believe it but I haven't been there in almost twelve years. So much has changed!
I am so sad to find out you can't go up into the crown of the Statue of Liberty.:sad2:
For the other three ladies, this will be there first trip so, I am sure they will be busy just walking around and taking everything in.
Anyhow, if your are in the city, I would love to meet for dinner or a show. I would also like to ask you for suggestions on your favorite places and things that should not be missed.
Terri
 

GET UP TO A $1000 SHIPBOARD CREDIT AND AN EXCLUSIVE GIFT!

If you make your Disney Cruise Line reservation with Dreams Unlimited Travel you’ll receive these incredible shipboard credits to spend on your cruise!








New Posts












Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE














DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter

Back
Top