allears
"If I were not upon the sea..." I'd want to be!
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
- Messages
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September 2, 2006 Sailing of the Magic
Heres the report on our 6th magical voyage
First, a disclaimer: We love all things Disney and have been accused with others on these boards of having been blinded by pixie dust - as if thats a bad thing. We think after 6 trips on the Magic we have a pretty good idea of what were paying for and what to expect. And in truth we have very high, yet realistic expectations. You will find no slams, constructive criticisms or our opinions of what we think Disney and DCL could do better. We truly love this product and choose to invest our vacation money into an experience we know will continue to deliver the value we have come to expect. We dont just like the cruise experience, we like the Disney Cruise Line Cruise experience.
That being said, here goes The cast of characters, me DH (44), DW (43), DD (19), DS(16), DS(10)and DDs BF (20). This was the 6th voyage for DW and me, 5th for our kids and the first for DDs BF.
Daily Highlights: Having been on one of the hurricane affected cruises in 04, we anxiously watched Ernesto as it made its way toward Florida. We were quite happy that it passed by without major damage, but the stupid thing still had us antsy even up to the day of our departure. Its remnants came through the Philly area Friday and Saturday the 1st and 2nd. Fortunately it only had a minor impact on our departure, as we took off an hour late due to pilots being re-routed as a result of the storm.
So Saturday, 9/2 we touched down in Florida about a half hour late. We had a pretty early flight so we were on the ground around 11 am. Got to the busses and off to the port. Well never get over the excitement of seeing our ship in the distance when you cross that bridge. We got quickly through security and while I finished checking in (we did on line check in and that worked great) DW signed our youngest up for the kids club & got our pager. (side note: We debated about giving DS10 sign out privileges since he is younger than when we let our other son do it. But we realized, he has been on the ship nearly every year since he was 4. He knows his way around better than we do, and hes not one we have to worry about pushing all the elevator buttons or running past people in the halls. And for us and him this trip it worked out great. Of course we pre-planned and pre-arranged everything. But it really went well.) Then we walked on. Nothing beats the entrance to the atrium lobby and your familys name being called out.
Two quick errands, one at guest services to get extra door keys to our adjoining staterooms, Rockin Bar D to arrange to be in our favorite Head Servers station. My DW commented that as she walked back to RBD she breathed in the smell of the ship and it felt like home. While there my DW was hailed by Annie-Marie from Palo who was our server there on our last two cruises, and was chastised for not saying hello quickly enough!. Its so cool to come back to the ship and have these folks remember you. We dont know how they do it. Then it was off to lunch at Parrot Cay and then to check out the state rooms.
We had a cat 8 on deck 6 with and cat 11 across the hall for the older kids. This was our first time in the ocean view room and we loved the big porthole. We think we like the view better than the veranda rooms weve had. We checked out the new Ocean Quest area; very, very cool. Took my youngest swimming for a bit, then started receiving the luggage and unpacking a little before safety drill. The new life jackets are, as reported, infinitely more comfortable than the older style. And since we were so far forward this time, we got to go to assembly through some crew passageways very cool for us Disney Geeks. Then off to the sail away party.
The Welcome Aboard Variety show was quite good, as expected. Michael Harrison was our first entertainer and though weve seen him a couple of times before, we find him totally hysterical. There was also a magician/comedian Aaron Radatz, whom weve not seen before. He was very funny and did some great tricks.
Dinner was in Lumieres, second seating at 8:30, which is what weve always had and prefer. Our head server, John Cunningham, was also serving as the dining room manager. When we had our assignment changed to his rotation, they told us we could be in his dining room, but he didnt have any tables open in his section. However, when we arrived for dinner, a table had MAGICally opened up in his section. Our server was Mario from the Philippines and Kira from Australia. Both were very sweet and very nice. All of the menus have had some changes since we last sailed and we found all of the dishes to be absolutely awesome. No complaints about the food what-so-ever. Weve always found the quality, quantity and preparation to be excellent and the new stuff was even better.
We actually turned in a little earlier than usual the first night as we were beat from the early morning travel.
Day 2 Sunday, 9/3: Day at Sea
We love sea days, and we found the ship was not overly crowded so the pools werent packed and the decks not too crazy with people. We always go to the interdenominational worship service they provide 9:15 Sunday mornings. We feel that the Lord provided us the resources for this extravagance; the very least we could do is devote 45 minutes to him. One of the main stage crew ran the service and for the rest of the cruise every time DS10 would see him on stage hed say hey, theres our minister!
I went to the Behind the Scenes program, with Jonathan Garson, the Executive VP of Special Projects and Synergy for Disney. Very interesting presentation about how they get all of the units to work together for cross promotion. Then we hung out and enjoyed the ship during the day, swam, ate and sun bathed. Our older kids really spent very little time with us during the day. This was their fifth trip and they each have their own routine. Our DS-16 had a great time with the group he met at the stack. And our daughter and her DBF spent most of their time in the sun. We got to do a little more with our DS-10 since we didnt split our time so much, which we enjoyed.
This night was Formal Night and Golden Mickeys: We really enjoy that show, mostly because we love Disney movie music, but we also appreciate the technical aspects of that production. Those performers have a remarkable number of costume and scene changes in a very short amount of time. Then we attended the Captains Welcome Reception, the family cabaret show with Michael Harrison and then dinner at Animators. The show has been changed a little and we loved the end with Sorcerer Mickey coming out to the music of Fantasmic, very nice ending. Caught Michael Harrisons adult show, very, very funny.
Day 3 Monday, 9/4: Day at Sea
Did we mention that we love sea days? Slept in a little bit, then Palo Brunch. This was the first cruise where our DD has been old enough to join us for the adult outings on the ship, and it was great fun having her there to experience these things with us. Annie-Marie was our server, she is so very sweet. There were a few changes and some nice additions to this already magnificent feast. Bacon wrapped scallops were new since our last trip and most of the desert selections were presented in beautiful single serving portions. This allowed our already over stuffed bellies the opportunity to sample several choices. I think we ate for about two hours.
Took it easy the rest of the day, some time in the sun, at the pools and snacks late in the afternoon. This nights show was Twice Charmed, which was added since our last voyage. It was very good, with incredible sets and costumes. We caught Aaron Radatzs cabaret show then off to dinner. Pirates II was showing that night so we went to see that. Very cool to watch a pirate movie on a ship, the movement adds an extra bit of realism to the experience.
Day 4, Tuesday, 9/5: St. Maarten
Decided to have breakfast at Lumieres that morning, before heading out to walk around Philipsburg. Much to our surprise we were the only cruise ship docked that day. The last time we took the eastern cruise, we did the butterfly farm and island tour, which spends time on the French side. This time we explored the local port a bit. We decided to walk instead of taking the water taxi. It was not the most pleasant walk. Not awful, it just went through a lot of parking lots and truck yards. Not exactly straight forward. Phillipsburg is very quaint, but we found a lot of people trying to get us either to look at a time share or come into their store. I have heard of people planning on taking advantage of these time-share presentations as they often allow you to use their pools, beaches and facilities for free. Not for us, though. Back to the ship. (We took the water taxi back).
We had lunch at Lumieres where we met two great guys from Chicago, Walter and Eugene, HI GUYS. This was their first cruise and they were very much loving it. We enjoyed their company and were very fortunate to run into them throughout the remainder of the cruise.
DW and I had the couples choice booked that afternoon in the new spa villas. Man oh man was that awesome. That whole section of the spa is beautiful and though it was pricey for us, we enjoyed it tremendously!!!!!! DW hadnt done any spa treatments ever before except for reflexology (foot massage) and was nervous about the whole thing. But they put you very much at ease. You can dress or undress to your comfort level, and they give you all the privacy you want or need. The verandah over the ocean with the Jacuzzi for two and the beautiful double chaise lounge made for a very enjoyable, relaxing experience. The villas are on the starboard side of the ship and we did have a good view of the container yard at St. Maarten. So I think I might plan the timing differently next time for a better view. But that really didnt take away from the experience at all. And though pricey we are obviously planning on doing it again. We were told by our head server that the addition of these villas makes the Magics spa the most advanced on the seas. And I know that these guys are very proud of their ship, so I took that comment with a grain of salt. But after we got back I read the same comment in an article online about unique cruise experiences. Good to know they are keeping up!
We didnt get out of the spa until after the movie started (they were showing Invincible in the WD Theatre) so we had a snack, cleaned up and got ready for Pirate Night. I took our youngest down, who was dressed in a Captain Jack costume, complete with drawn on beard and mustache, to get his photo with Captain Jack. Wow the line for this character rivaled that of Mickey Mouse. Very popular.
Dinner at Lumieres, once again we found all of the meals to be completely excellent. Nobody does a theme better than Disney. The deck party was a blast, we like the changes to this too and the Jumbo-tron adds some nice touches. The fireworks were great, though some folks seemed disappointed because the fireworks arent what they are in the Magic Kingdom. But it took them two years of paperwork to get the permission to do this and the Disney ships are the only cruise ships that have fire works. So we just think its a great accent to the party and happy that we can have them at all. Despite just having finished dinner, I couldnt help but indulge in a smoked turkey leg and some dessert, while we watched some of the Curse of the Black Pearl on the big screen.
Day 5, Wednesday 9/6: St Thomas
Up early for some food and immigration, which just is what it is. It didnt take that long and they had coffee available. Then off to the Buena Vista Theatre for our St John Island tour. We took a passenger ferry over to St John, nice trip, despite a little rain squall. Then you board safari buses to tour the island. St John is nothing short of stunning! While the tour doesnt allow for much shopping or beach time, we enjoyed the pleasant overview of the island, and could not get over just how beautiful each and every vista was.
The trip back was a little more eventful, the ferry developed engine trouble. Apparently 2 out of the three engines quit. This meant a rather slow moving ride to St. Thomas. It was a little hot in the sun, though you could go below, and it felt like we were crawling back. Because of the loss of maneuverability, it was determined that they couldnt take us back right to the ship but to the down town area and taxi us back. This didnt seem to set too well with some of our fellow passengers, a number of whom were very vocal about their displeasure while waiting for taxis. From our perspective, it really wasnt that bad; we were on the last taxi back to the ship and arrived at the gangway about 1:45 (we still had time to get to Topsiders for lunch). This was about 35 minutes later than our original return time. So it wasnt as if the afternoon was totally ruined. The shore excursion manager put a voice mail out to all of us who were on that ferry and we made sure to stop by the desk and let them know, we didnt think it was such a big deal and stuff happens. They got us all back to the ship safely and as quickly as they could.
Rich Purpura was the show that night, and that man also cracks us up. We think Disney does a great job of hiring entertainers. He does magic - well sometimes - and lots of comedy. We caught the cabaret show with David DiMuzio, an accomplished juggler. Then dinner at Palo.
Annie-Marie was once again our server and we had an awesome meal. This was DDs first dinner there and she told us we did not over sell the experience. Our youngest hung out in the clubs and our stateroom, while our older son escorted two female friends he had made to dinner at our table. He thought he was all that and a bag of chips, until getting to the dining room and John promptly won them over with his Scottish accent and took the girls away from our son as he led them to the table.
Day 6, Thursday, 9/7: Day at Sea
Have you heard, we love sea days?
After a huge Topsiders breakfast, my DW and I headed to the Stage Works tour. This isnt always offered as there are times when either re-hab has to be done on sets and props or special rehearsals have to take place, but when it is you should take advantage of it. It is a fascinating behind the scenes look at the WD Theatre and the very advanced stage and equipment. We found out a lot of details, like the fact that the golden gown Belle wears weighs 35 lbs! You can hardly lift the hanger!
I then went to Jonathan Garsons second talk about how they marketed Pirates I and what they did for Pirates II. I really enjoyed his talks and we were privileged to get to view a few minutes of raw footage from Pirates III!
That took us to lunch. Sea Food Buffet Day, yum!!! Then some deck and pool time before getting ready for our youngests participation in Celebrate the Journey. This was done a little differently from last time, but we liked the changes. It is very cute and now he has a new t-shirt, the old one has just about had it.
Dressed for the show, Disney Dreams, which despite having seen it 6 or 7 times, still makes us all cry. Caught Rich Purpuras cabaret show, again very funny, then off to a lovely dinner. Then the 70s night dance party. For some reason this was the only one we managed to get to, though on the last cruise when it was just my DW and I, we made sure we got to each party and danced every night. Something to look forward to again when we are without the kids.
My DW and DDs BF were selected to participate in the Gloria Gainor Lip Sync and John Travolta Dance contest. It was very funny and my DW, who does not ever like to be the center of attention, did one heck of a job!
Day 7, Friday 9/8: Castaway Cay
This was our first time back to the island in nearly three years. In 04 she had been hit by at least two hurricanes, so cruises werent going there for a while. In 05 we tried, unsuccessfully, a couple of times to dock, but the currents were too intense and we couldnt. This day was picture prefect and we backed in and docked with no troubles.
We had breakfast on deck at Topsiders, which presents an amazing view of the island. We hadnt told our youngest about the Flying Dutchman being anchored there, so he was very excited.
We got of the ship around 10, got our picture taken, well most of us, DD and her BF werent quite together enough to leave the ship yet. Tooled around the walk ways a bit, then my oldest son and I checked in for our personal water craft eco-tour. This was AWESOME. You ride jet skis out from the boating lagoon, to about ½ the island. Then the guide gives you some information about the islands and the ecology, which was very interesting. Then you travel out away from the island to about a mile out, where you dismount the Jet Ski and stand in waist deep water on a sand bar that stretches more than a mile. What a cool experience. Then you ride the jet skis back and we circled the Flying Dutchman.
Meanwhile my DW & youngest DS took a bike ride to the end of the bike trail and back. He absolutely loves this ride. They have added to the bike trail but when they went it wasnt open yet. Then they rented a tube and headed for the beach to wait to meet us for lunch.
Then it was time to meet DW, and younger son for lunch, older son now ditched us in favor of the his friends from the Stack. We enjoyed cookies BBQ, then DS and I hit the beach while DW did some shopping and returned to the ship. A little later DS I headed to Marges Barges for our afternoon parasailing excursion. We had a great time and he was so excited about the experience.
Back on board after a bit of rain, but the day at CC was pretty much over. Cleaned up, snacked, finished packing and off to the Farewell Variety Show. We very much enjoyed the changes to this show as well, and the story line was cute. Final dinner was at Lumieres. We also made it to Pub Night, which is a lot of fun and the cruise teams sketch is so very funny. Try to catch this if you can. Finally DW and I wandered the decks for a bit, sadly saying good bye to our ship. Though we had in the past experienced a bad end of cruise crash, it didnt seem so bad this time. I guess because now we know we will be back, and we can see these people weve become so fond of again. The people in the vacation club talk about how great it is when they go visit their home property and feel so welcomed. Well, thats how we feel on the Magic. It truly is a home away from home.
Day 7, Saturday 9/9: Home
We hate leaving the ship, but certainly cant complain about how easy it is. We of course had late breakfast and enjoyed the last few minutes with our new friends. Then walked off the ship, porters waiting at the bottom of the steps, collected our mountain of luggage, whizzed through customs, checked in with the air line and on to the bus. We had a mid-afternoon flight, so plenty of time to get to the gate. Once there, we did get to watch the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch from the windows. This was totally cool and not something I think well get to experience again. We also ran into one of our former servers from the ship, Adrian Doward, who was on his way to visit family with his girl friend. He was our server in 2003 and weve stopped and chatted with him on each subsequent cruise. We had looked for him on the ship and found out he was on vacation. We were really shocked to run in to him at the gate next to ours!
Back home and reality sinks in fast. Now time to plan the next trip. Overall, we loved every minute of the cruise, only down side was how fast it went and that they just wont let you stay on board. Were now trying to figure out when well cruise next, Im still holding out hope for the August repo-cruise back from Europe, but well see! It never hurts to dream!
Heres the report on our 6th magical voyage
First, a disclaimer: We love all things Disney and have been accused with others on these boards of having been blinded by pixie dust - as if thats a bad thing. We think after 6 trips on the Magic we have a pretty good idea of what were paying for and what to expect. And in truth we have very high, yet realistic expectations. You will find no slams, constructive criticisms or our opinions of what we think Disney and DCL could do better. We truly love this product and choose to invest our vacation money into an experience we know will continue to deliver the value we have come to expect. We dont just like the cruise experience, we like the Disney Cruise Line Cruise experience.
That being said, here goes The cast of characters, me DH (44), DW (43), DD (19), DS(16), DS(10)and DDs BF (20). This was the 6th voyage for DW and me, 5th for our kids and the first for DDs BF.
Daily Highlights: Having been on one of the hurricane affected cruises in 04, we anxiously watched Ernesto as it made its way toward Florida. We were quite happy that it passed by without major damage, but the stupid thing still had us antsy even up to the day of our departure. Its remnants came through the Philly area Friday and Saturday the 1st and 2nd. Fortunately it only had a minor impact on our departure, as we took off an hour late due to pilots being re-routed as a result of the storm.
So Saturday, 9/2 we touched down in Florida about a half hour late. We had a pretty early flight so we were on the ground around 11 am. Got to the busses and off to the port. Well never get over the excitement of seeing our ship in the distance when you cross that bridge. We got quickly through security and while I finished checking in (we did on line check in and that worked great) DW signed our youngest up for the kids club & got our pager. (side note: We debated about giving DS10 sign out privileges since he is younger than when we let our other son do it. But we realized, he has been on the ship nearly every year since he was 4. He knows his way around better than we do, and hes not one we have to worry about pushing all the elevator buttons or running past people in the halls. And for us and him this trip it worked out great. Of course we pre-planned and pre-arranged everything. But it really went well.) Then we walked on. Nothing beats the entrance to the atrium lobby and your familys name being called out.
Two quick errands, one at guest services to get extra door keys to our adjoining staterooms, Rockin Bar D to arrange to be in our favorite Head Servers station. My DW commented that as she walked back to RBD she breathed in the smell of the ship and it felt like home. While there my DW was hailed by Annie-Marie from Palo who was our server there on our last two cruises, and was chastised for not saying hello quickly enough!. Its so cool to come back to the ship and have these folks remember you. We dont know how they do it. Then it was off to lunch at Parrot Cay and then to check out the state rooms.
We had a cat 8 on deck 6 with and cat 11 across the hall for the older kids. This was our first time in the ocean view room and we loved the big porthole. We think we like the view better than the veranda rooms weve had. We checked out the new Ocean Quest area; very, very cool. Took my youngest swimming for a bit, then started receiving the luggage and unpacking a little before safety drill. The new life jackets are, as reported, infinitely more comfortable than the older style. And since we were so far forward this time, we got to go to assembly through some crew passageways very cool for us Disney Geeks. Then off to the sail away party.
The Welcome Aboard Variety show was quite good, as expected. Michael Harrison was our first entertainer and though weve seen him a couple of times before, we find him totally hysterical. There was also a magician/comedian Aaron Radatz, whom weve not seen before. He was very funny and did some great tricks.
Dinner was in Lumieres, second seating at 8:30, which is what weve always had and prefer. Our head server, John Cunningham, was also serving as the dining room manager. When we had our assignment changed to his rotation, they told us we could be in his dining room, but he didnt have any tables open in his section. However, when we arrived for dinner, a table had MAGICally opened up in his section. Our server was Mario from the Philippines and Kira from Australia. Both were very sweet and very nice. All of the menus have had some changes since we last sailed and we found all of the dishes to be absolutely awesome. No complaints about the food what-so-ever. Weve always found the quality, quantity and preparation to be excellent and the new stuff was even better.
We actually turned in a little earlier than usual the first night as we were beat from the early morning travel.
Day 2 Sunday, 9/3: Day at Sea
We love sea days, and we found the ship was not overly crowded so the pools werent packed and the decks not too crazy with people. We always go to the interdenominational worship service they provide 9:15 Sunday mornings. We feel that the Lord provided us the resources for this extravagance; the very least we could do is devote 45 minutes to him. One of the main stage crew ran the service and for the rest of the cruise every time DS10 would see him on stage hed say hey, theres our minister!
I went to the Behind the Scenes program, with Jonathan Garson, the Executive VP of Special Projects and Synergy for Disney. Very interesting presentation about how they get all of the units to work together for cross promotion. Then we hung out and enjoyed the ship during the day, swam, ate and sun bathed. Our older kids really spent very little time with us during the day. This was their fifth trip and they each have their own routine. Our DS-16 had a great time with the group he met at the stack. And our daughter and her DBF spent most of their time in the sun. We got to do a little more with our DS-10 since we didnt split our time so much, which we enjoyed.
This night was Formal Night and Golden Mickeys: We really enjoy that show, mostly because we love Disney movie music, but we also appreciate the technical aspects of that production. Those performers have a remarkable number of costume and scene changes in a very short amount of time. Then we attended the Captains Welcome Reception, the family cabaret show with Michael Harrison and then dinner at Animators. The show has been changed a little and we loved the end with Sorcerer Mickey coming out to the music of Fantasmic, very nice ending. Caught Michael Harrisons adult show, very, very funny.
Day 3 Monday, 9/4: Day at Sea
Did we mention that we love sea days? Slept in a little bit, then Palo Brunch. This was the first cruise where our DD has been old enough to join us for the adult outings on the ship, and it was great fun having her there to experience these things with us. Annie-Marie was our server, she is so very sweet. There were a few changes and some nice additions to this already magnificent feast. Bacon wrapped scallops were new since our last trip and most of the desert selections were presented in beautiful single serving portions. This allowed our already over stuffed bellies the opportunity to sample several choices. I think we ate for about two hours.
Took it easy the rest of the day, some time in the sun, at the pools and snacks late in the afternoon. This nights show was Twice Charmed, which was added since our last voyage. It was very good, with incredible sets and costumes. We caught Aaron Radatzs cabaret show then off to dinner. Pirates II was showing that night so we went to see that. Very cool to watch a pirate movie on a ship, the movement adds an extra bit of realism to the experience.
Day 4, Tuesday, 9/5: St. Maarten
Decided to have breakfast at Lumieres that morning, before heading out to walk around Philipsburg. Much to our surprise we were the only cruise ship docked that day. The last time we took the eastern cruise, we did the butterfly farm and island tour, which spends time on the French side. This time we explored the local port a bit. We decided to walk instead of taking the water taxi. It was not the most pleasant walk. Not awful, it just went through a lot of parking lots and truck yards. Not exactly straight forward. Phillipsburg is very quaint, but we found a lot of people trying to get us either to look at a time share or come into their store. I have heard of people planning on taking advantage of these time-share presentations as they often allow you to use their pools, beaches and facilities for free. Not for us, though. Back to the ship. (We took the water taxi back).
We had lunch at Lumieres where we met two great guys from Chicago, Walter and Eugene, HI GUYS. This was their first cruise and they were very much loving it. We enjoyed their company and were very fortunate to run into them throughout the remainder of the cruise.
DW and I had the couples choice booked that afternoon in the new spa villas. Man oh man was that awesome. That whole section of the spa is beautiful and though it was pricey for us, we enjoyed it tremendously!!!!!! DW hadnt done any spa treatments ever before except for reflexology (foot massage) and was nervous about the whole thing. But they put you very much at ease. You can dress or undress to your comfort level, and they give you all the privacy you want or need. The verandah over the ocean with the Jacuzzi for two and the beautiful double chaise lounge made for a very enjoyable, relaxing experience. The villas are on the starboard side of the ship and we did have a good view of the container yard at St. Maarten. So I think I might plan the timing differently next time for a better view. But that really didnt take away from the experience at all. And though pricey we are obviously planning on doing it again. We were told by our head server that the addition of these villas makes the Magics spa the most advanced on the seas. And I know that these guys are very proud of their ship, so I took that comment with a grain of salt. But after we got back I read the same comment in an article online about unique cruise experiences. Good to know they are keeping up!
We didnt get out of the spa until after the movie started (they were showing Invincible in the WD Theatre) so we had a snack, cleaned up and got ready for Pirate Night. I took our youngest down, who was dressed in a Captain Jack costume, complete with drawn on beard and mustache, to get his photo with Captain Jack. Wow the line for this character rivaled that of Mickey Mouse. Very popular.
Dinner at Lumieres, once again we found all of the meals to be completely excellent. Nobody does a theme better than Disney. The deck party was a blast, we like the changes to this too and the Jumbo-tron adds some nice touches. The fireworks were great, though some folks seemed disappointed because the fireworks arent what they are in the Magic Kingdom. But it took them two years of paperwork to get the permission to do this and the Disney ships are the only cruise ships that have fire works. So we just think its a great accent to the party and happy that we can have them at all. Despite just having finished dinner, I couldnt help but indulge in a smoked turkey leg and some dessert, while we watched some of the Curse of the Black Pearl on the big screen.
Day 5, Wednesday 9/6: St Thomas
Up early for some food and immigration, which just is what it is. It didnt take that long and they had coffee available. Then off to the Buena Vista Theatre for our St John Island tour. We took a passenger ferry over to St John, nice trip, despite a little rain squall. Then you board safari buses to tour the island. St John is nothing short of stunning! While the tour doesnt allow for much shopping or beach time, we enjoyed the pleasant overview of the island, and could not get over just how beautiful each and every vista was.
The trip back was a little more eventful, the ferry developed engine trouble. Apparently 2 out of the three engines quit. This meant a rather slow moving ride to St. Thomas. It was a little hot in the sun, though you could go below, and it felt like we were crawling back. Because of the loss of maneuverability, it was determined that they couldnt take us back right to the ship but to the down town area and taxi us back. This didnt seem to set too well with some of our fellow passengers, a number of whom were very vocal about their displeasure while waiting for taxis. From our perspective, it really wasnt that bad; we were on the last taxi back to the ship and arrived at the gangway about 1:45 (we still had time to get to Topsiders for lunch). This was about 35 minutes later than our original return time. So it wasnt as if the afternoon was totally ruined. The shore excursion manager put a voice mail out to all of us who were on that ferry and we made sure to stop by the desk and let them know, we didnt think it was such a big deal and stuff happens. They got us all back to the ship safely and as quickly as they could.
Rich Purpura was the show that night, and that man also cracks us up. We think Disney does a great job of hiring entertainers. He does magic - well sometimes - and lots of comedy. We caught the cabaret show with David DiMuzio, an accomplished juggler. Then dinner at Palo.
Annie-Marie was once again our server and we had an awesome meal. This was DDs first dinner there and she told us we did not over sell the experience. Our youngest hung out in the clubs and our stateroom, while our older son escorted two female friends he had made to dinner at our table. He thought he was all that and a bag of chips, until getting to the dining room and John promptly won them over with his Scottish accent and took the girls away from our son as he led them to the table.
Day 6, Thursday, 9/7: Day at Sea
Have you heard, we love sea days?
After a huge Topsiders breakfast, my DW and I headed to the Stage Works tour. This isnt always offered as there are times when either re-hab has to be done on sets and props or special rehearsals have to take place, but when it is you should take advantage of it. It is a fascinating behind the scenes look at the WD Theatre and the very advanced stage and equipment. We found out a lot of details, like the fact that the golden gown Belle wears weighs 35 lbs! You can hardly lift the hanger!
I then went to Jonathan Garsons second talk about how they marketed Pirates I and what they did for Pirates II. I really enjoyed his talks and we were privileged to get to view a few minutes of raw footage from Pirates III!
That took us to lunch. Sea Food Buffet Day, yum!!! Then some deck and pool time before getting ready for our youngests participation in Celebrate the Journey. This was done a little differently from last time, but we liked the changes. It is very cute and now he has a new t-shirt, the old one has just about had it.
Dressed for the show, Disney Dreams, which despite having seen it 6 or 7 times, still makes us all cry. Caught Rich Purpuras cabaret show, again very funny, then off to a lovely dinner. Then the 70s night dance party. For some reason this was the only one we managed to get to, though on the last cruise when it was just my DW and I, we made sure we got to each party and danced every night. Something to look forward to again when we are without the kids.
My DW and DDs BF were selected to participate in the Gloria Gainor Lip Sync and John Travolta Dance contest. It was very funny and my DW, who does not ever like to be the center of attention, did one heck of a job!
Day 7, Friday 9/8: Castaway Cay
This was our first time back to the island in nearly three years. In 04 she had been hit by at least two hurricanes, so cruises werent going there for a while. In 05 we tried, unsuccessfully, a couple of times to dock, but the currents were too intense and we couldnt. This day was picture prefect and we backed in and docked with no troubles.
We had breakfast on deck at Topsiders, which presents an amazing view of the island. We hadnt told our youngest about the Flying Dutchman being anchored there, so he was very excited.
We got of the ship around 10, got our picture taken, well most of us, DD and her BF werent quite together enough to leave the ship yet. Tooled around the walk ways a bit, then my oldest son and I checked in for our personal water craft eco-tour. This was AWESOME. You ride jet skis out from the boating lagoon, to about ½ the island. Then the guide gives you some information about the islands and the ecology, which was very interesting. Then you travel out away from the island to about a mile out, where you dismount the Jet Ski and stand in waist deep water on a sand bar that stretches more than a mile. What a cool experience. Then you ride the jet skis back and we circled the Flying Dutchman.
Meanwhile my DW & youngest DS took a bike ride to the end of the bike trail and back. He absolutely loves this ride. They have added to the bike trail but when they went it wasnt open yet. Then they rented a tube and headed for the beach to wait to meet us for lunch.
Then it was time to meet DW, and younger son for lunch, older son now ditched us in favor of the his friends from the Stack. We enjoyed cookies BBQ, then DS and I hit the beach while DW did some shopping and returned to the ship. A little later DS I headed to Marges Barges for our afternoon parasailing excursion. We had a great time and he was so excited about the experience.
Back on board after a bit of rain, but the day at CC was pretty much over. Cleaned up, snacked, finished packing and off to the Farewell Variety Show. We very much enjoyed the changes to this show as well, and the story line was cute. Final dinner was at Lumieres. We also made it to Pub Night, which is a lot of fun and the cruise teams sketch is so very funny. Try to catch this if you can. Finally DW and I wandered the decks for a bit, sadly saying good bye to our ship. Though we had in the past experienced a bad end of cruise crash, it didnt seem so bad this time. I guess because now we know we will be back, and we can see these people weve become so fond of again. The people in the vacation club talk about how great it is when they go visit their home property and feel so welcomed. Well, thats how we feel on the Magic. It truly is a home away from home.
Day 7, Saturday 9/9: Home
We hate leaving the ship, but certainly cant complain about how easy it is. We of course had late breakfast and enjoyed the last few minutes with our new friends. Then walked off the ship, porters waiting at the bottom of the steps, collected our mountain of luggage, whizzed through customs, checked in with the air line and on to the bus. We had a mid-afternoon flight, so plenty of time to get to the gate. Once there, we did get to watch the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch from the windows. This was totally cool and not something I think well get to experience again. We also ran into one of our former servers from the ship, Adrian Doward, who was on his way to visit family with his girl friend. He was our server in 2003 and weve stopped and chatted with him on each subsequent cruise. We had looked for him on the ship and found out he was on vacation. We were really shocked to run in to him at the gate next to ours!
Back home and reality sinks in fast. Now time to plan the next trip. Overall, we loved every minute of the cruise, only down side was how fast it went and that they just wont let you stay on board. Were now trying to figure out when well cruise next, Im still holding out hope for the August repo-cruise back from Europe, but well see! It never hurts to dream!
We love this vacation experience and can't wait to get back on board.
