August 28, 2004 "LOST AT SEA" Cruise

[ThreeCircles]

Hello all!

Well, we're back from the Disney Magic and all I can say is that I'm already feeling the PDCD (Post Disney Cruise Depression). I just have to keep telling myself that we only have 111 days until the Disney Magic August 28th Cruise!

This was our second Eastern and I think I've finally decided that the Western route really is my favorite. Although I love the extra day at sea that the Eastern provides, I think I much prefer the ports on the Western.

I'll give you guys a "little" trip report if you would like. Don't think I'm going to write up a long one like I did last August. It ended up being 26 pages in Word and that's just a little too much work for me to take on right now. (You know, PDCD and all. )

I'm going to be update the Disney Magic August 28th Cruise List on <a href="http://www.threecircles.net">ThreeCircles.net</a> soon. I want to add a printable version of the Cruisers List (like I did for the May 1st cruise) as well as the Cruise Matrix for the Western (also like the May 1st). If any of you have any suggestions as to what else you think would be beneficial to the site you can e-mail me (I'll give ya credit for the additions on the site ) or suggest them here.

I hope you all had a wonderful week and I'll tell you that you're going to LOVE being on the Magic in three short months!

Ginny--

SOOO cool to see that you booked the "Bringing the Magic Back Home" cruise too! Looks like we'll look forward to two cruises together!

Jason

 

[SeaSpray]

Welcome back, Jason! I'd love to hear your "little" trip report! Congrats on booking the CA cruise! Let us know when the updates to your web page are posted.

Ginny, Congrats to you on booking the CA cruise!

 

[winnyis]

Jason - it looks like SandyGirl also booked the CA-FL repo cruise as well.. so it will be at least the three of us from this cruise ....

 

[Mjasp]

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!

In 10 days we will be in the double digits

Joanna

 

[sandygirl]

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the moms!

Welcome home Jason. I'm looking forward to your report. We did the Eastern 2x and this Aug will be our 2nd Western. I'm giving the Western a 2nd chance but I'm leaning towards the Eastern as my favorite.

Winnyis - Yes I did book the CA-FL. Woohoo! Embarkation day will be DD's 8th birthday. My price was OK but I know I paid more than could have if I hadn't gotten busy at work. The first time I logged on the cruise wasn't listed yet. Then I got busy (darn work, but it does pay for the cruise, after all!) and didn't get back on for a few hours. I did get a verandah and early seating for dinner.

I'm still concentrating on the Aug 28th Western and don't want to get too excited about the repo cruise . It may end up being just DD and I. DH may not be able to take 2 weeks from work. We'll see.

16 weeks!

 

[ThreeCircles]

Happy Mom's Day to all the Disney Magic August 28th Cruisers!

Still unpacking and doing laundry but I hope to get the mini-report done at some point this afternoon!

And Darlene, I know exactly what you mean about concentrating on the August 28th Cruise. While the "Bringing the Magic Back HOME Cruise" is definitely something to look forward to, I don't want to miss the excitement of the August cruise!

 

[Mjasp]

Looking forward to the mini trip report!!!

And the update on your website

 

[ThreeCircles]

Hi all--

I just finished updating the Disney Magic August 28th Cruise site. I've added the printable cruise list to the site so that all of those that are bad with names will have a little cheat sheet.

I also added some more info on the Southernmost Scavenger Hunt.

The mini report is coming soon!

Jason

 

[ThreeCircles]

Just to get an idea, is anyone considering the Southernmost Scavenger Hunt at this point?

 

[winnyis]

Jason - at this point I would have to say my family is probably a no... I was game but DH said that it would be too hot to go running around Key West with 2 complaining kids in tow. So I think we are just gonna rent one of those little scooter cars and drive around on our own.

Ginny

 

[markºoº]

I'm in the same boat as Ginny. Just too hot to drag DS5 and DS12 around Key West and I don't like the idea of leaving DS5 along on the ship.

 

[ThreeCircles]

Understandable! Central Florida is generally unbearable during the summer months and Key West will only be that much worse!

Still, I think Travis and I are going to give it a shot. The hunt only looks to be about three hours long or so and I'm sure that it's not a "run to the max" pace. After having visited Key West twice now I think it will provide some new excitement during the call.

 

[SeaSpray]

I ran it past my DH too, and since we aren't sure exactly which other excursions we might do at Key West, in addition to the heat factor, I think we're going to pass on the Scavenger Hunt. It does sound like fun for sure, but since this will be our very first visit to Key West we'll either be doing excursions and/or exploring the town a bit on our own.


I called our TA today and added the Romantic Escape At Sea package. Then I called Debbie who is the Dining Coordinator for DCL and left a message, asking when I can make my requests for the spa, Palo, etc. I'm really hoping she is still allowing us to make all of our reservations in advance (dinner, brunch, tea, spa) and also to choose the rotation we'd like. I know it's not included per se, but she's been allowing people to do this for the last few months I'll let you all know what happens when she calls me back.

P.S. Jason: DH is only 40, not 42. I must've made a mistake when I emailed you our info! Thanks for making up the cruise list for us

 

[ThreeCircles]

Terry--

Did I add two years to John's age?!?! Taken care of and thanks for pointing out the mistake!

Everyone--

We've added another cruiser to the Disney Magic August 28th Cruise Site!

 

[SeaSpray]

Thanks Jason




Well my latest cruise update is that I got a call back from Lisa at DCL Dining and she took my dining rotation request, and made reservations for us for Palo dinner, brunch, and high tea, as well as our spa reservations. I am so happy that we won't have to rush to make any reservations once we get on board

 

[Mjasp]

Good for you on not having to do the ressie rush. What dining rotation did you select and why? Just curious. We had LAPLAPL on our last cruise and since Lumiere's was my favorite I was happy with it, although we did Palo's on one of the Lumiere's night so I guess it didn't really matter.

Joanna

 

[ThreeCircles]

Joanna--

I absolutely adore the LAPLAPL dining rotation as well! I think it’s because Lumiere's is my favorite also! I really like the feel of the place, the location on the ship, the décor, and the theme.

We've been lucky enough to get the LAPLAPL dining rotation on all four of our seven night cruises and we even ended up with the LAPL rotation when we did the four night cruise on the Magic in 2000.

Terry—

So cool to hear that you got the ressies. Now all you have to do upon boarding is sit back and enjoy the Magic!

 

[SeaSpray]

I requested the APLAPLA rotation since we'll be on the western itinerary this will put us in Lumiere's for both semi-formal and formal nights, and will put us in Parrot Cay for Mexicali night. I also like that this will mean we'll have our character breakfast on our first morning (Sunday morning, before we arrive at Key West). We chose Tuesday night as the night for our dinner at Palo, so we'll miss Animator's for one night, but that doesn't bother us at all since I read that they only do the "show" on your first night there anyway, and we'll still be dining in each of the 3 rotational restaurants twice.

So this means that DH and I, and DSIL and DBIL will have 3 "formal" nights all together. DH's a nut, he really enjoys getting dressed up in a suit. On the night that we do Palo for dinner our DSs can choose for themselves whether they want to eat at Animators on their own, or get room service, or the buffet, or one of the food places by the pool. I'm sure they'll be happy to have the chance to have dinner on their own.

 

[ThreeCircles]

Wow! Three formal nights! DH really is a nut.

Travis and I always book Palo on either the formal night or semi-formal night to avoid wearing our suits three nights. While we both like to get "spiffyed" up on the cruise, two nights is usually our limit.

Is John going all the way with a tux or is he going the suit route?

 

[winnyis]

Jason - Im with you... we always book Palo on Formal night.... My philosphy is why get dressed up more than necessary - can you guys tell that I am totally spoiled by working at a place that is casual attire all the time - LOL