August 29th, 2009--Eastern Magic...Let's Get it Started!

[bellelinus]

Just wondering what everyone's plans are. This is our first time to St. Martin and St. Thomas. In St. Martin, we're going to go to Loterie Farm and do the Extreme Ziplining adventure. Woo-hoo. It looks so fun and exciting. You can see videos of it on you-tube.

In St. Thomas, we're going to take the ferry over to St. John and go to Trunk Bay for some beach time and snorkeling.

At Castaway Cay, some of us want to parasail and jetski. Also debating the wildside tour for teens. I've heard only good things about this. Anyone have experience with it?

Looking forward to hearing what you're doing.

Having been to all these stops before, we plan to just go to the beaches and shop . . . my older girls have done the wild side excursion on CC and enjoyed it -- it helps if they have made friends in the teen club before doing it, since otherwise they may end up kayaking with someone they don't really know. I've parasailed and jetskied other places than CC, but can't imagine it wouldn't be fun there -- only look carefully at the jetski tour because I think it is more or less a guided tour and may not give you as much freedom to zip around as you would if you were doing it somewhere else. The one time we had parasailing booked on CC it was canceled all day due to high winds! We've parasailed on Key West and WDW, though, and the views at CC would be wonderful.

 

[jel0511]

Just wondering what everyone's plans are. This is our first time to St. Martin and St. Thomas. In St. Martin, we're going to go to Loterie Farm and do the Extreme Ziplining adventure. Woo-hoo. It looks so fun and exciting. You can see videos of it on you-tube.

In St. Thomas, we're going to take the ferry over to St. John and go to Trunk Bay for some beach time and snorkeling.

At Castaway Cay, some of us want to parasail and jetski. Also debating the wildside tour for teens. I've heard only good things about this. Anyone have experience with it?

Looking forward to hearing what you're doing.

We wanted to head over to Anguilla from St. Martin, but the excursion seems to have disappeared. I know the dolphin encounter is no more, we weren't interested in that, just wanted to head over for the beach. Otherwise me might just walk around and hang onboard. In St. Thomas, we'll probably head over to Megan's Bay and do the tram up the hill. We own a timeshare on St. John and will be there in Nov for a week, so we'll just stay on St. Thomas and do stuff there, so we don't have to leave St. John in Nov. I'll give anyone advice on what to do on St. John, it's a favorite caribbean island!!!! We've been so many times, I've lost count!

 

[jmefox]

I have been on the dolphin adventure to Anguilla and it was awful
we spent most of the day transporting and very very very little time with the dolphins the food was miserable and the best part of the day ended up being the few hours just sitting on the beach which was amazingly beautiful and enjoying the water and sand. The dolphin area water was kinda gross compared to how beautiful the ocean was there and the people there were way less than friendly.

On the same trip we went parasailing on CC and loved it they were very nice
keep in mind they are contracted by Disney (not Disney owned/operated) to be there and wind can be a factor we went at this same time of year last time and only single riders were allowed to go. At the time they required kids to ride tandem so the younger ones could not go all the adults went and loved it you sail right over the boat it was amazing. I would recommend trying to get an early time slot as the boats leave from right at the top of the pier we had a later time so after spending time on the beach we had to track all the way back to the boat and then back to the beach afterwards not awful just not how we would of chosen to spend that time.

 

[TVEPFOX]

Just wondering what everyone's plans are. This is our first time to St. Martin and St. Thomas. In St. Martin, we're going to go to Loterie Farm and do the Extreme Ziplining adventure. Woo-hoo. It looks so fun and exciting. You can see videos of it on you-tube.

In St. Thomas, we're going to take the ferry over to St. John and go to Trunk Bay for some beach time and snorkeling.

At Castaway Cay, some of us want to parasail and jetski. Also debating the wildside tour for teens. I've heard only good things about this. Anyone have experience with it?

Looking forward to hearing what you're doing.

In St. Martin we plan to shop.

In St. Thomas we're also planning to go to St. Johns. Let's hook up it will be more fun with another family. I have a DD7.

DH has done the jetski twice on CC and LOVED it!

 

[TVEPFOX]

We wanted to head over to Anguilla from St. Martin, but the excursion seems to have disappeared. I know the dolphin encounter is no more, we weren't interested in that, just wanted to head over for the beach. Otherwise me might just walk around and hang onboard. In St. Thomas, we'll probably head over to Megan's Bay and do the tram up the hill. We own a timeshare on St. John and will be there in Nov for a week, so we'll just stay on St. Thomas and do stuff there, so we don't have to leave St. John in Nov. I'll give anyone advice on what to do on St. John, it's a favorite caribbean island!!!! We've been so many times, I've lost count!

I take some advide for St. John. How about ferry information from the dock in St. Thomas and a nice beach for a family on St. John?

Thanks!

 

[jel0511]

I take some advide for St. John. How about ferry information from the dock in St. Thomas and a nice beach for a family on St. John?

Thanks!

The best beach on St. John for day visitors is Trunk Bay. It has TONS of facilities and a snack bar. There are also taxis which will wait there to take you back to the ferry to get back to st. Thomas. My favorite beach is Hawksnest, as it doesn't get as crowded at Trunk, but there aren't any facilities there for day trippers, so I don't recommend it, though there are bathrooms, that's about it. Here is the ferry schedule http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/#St. John Passenger Ferry: Red Hook to Cruz Bay
The downtown ferry from Charlotte Amalie, takes 45 min and can be a farely rough ride, not for the faint of hear, but it's REALLY near where the ship should dock, so really convienent. We usually use the Red Hook Ferry, as it runs more frequently and you get a psudeo tour of St. Thomas going to/from it. Now if you do head over, make sure you catch the 2 to Red Hook or the 2:15 back to Charlotte Amalie, as with coming back from Red Hook, there is usually significant traffic trying to get back to the ships. Also, the 2:15, should get you back around 3, where as the next downtown ferry leaves at 3:45, which wouldn't get you back in time for the ship. The 3 from Cruz Bay, would get you back onto St. Thomas around 3:20, but with a major traffic jam, you could still miss the ship. There is only one road to/from Red Hook on St. Thomas, so you have to allow ample time to navigate this route. Any more questions, ask!!!

 

[jel0511]

I have been on the dolphin adventure to Anguilla and it was awful
we spent most of the day transporting and very very very little time with the dolphins the food was miserable and the best part of the day ended up being the few hours just sitting on the beach which was amazingly beautiful and enjoying the water and sand. The dolphin area water was kinda gross compared to how beautiful the ocean was there and the people there were way less than friendly.

On the same trip we went parasailing on CC and loved it they were very nice
keep in mind they are contracted by Disney (not Disney owned/operated) to be there and wind can be a factor we went at this same time of year last time and only single riders were allowed to go. At the time they required kids to ride tandem so the younger ones could not go all the adults went and loved it you sail right over the boat it was amazing. I would recommend trying to get an early time slot as the boats leave from right at the top of the pier we had a later time so after spending time on the beach we had to track all the way back to the boat and then back to the beach afterwards not awful just not how we would of chosen to spend that time.

We're luckily not interested in the dolphin adventure on Anguilla, just wanted to head over to enjoy the beaches. If it doesn't work out, we'll survive, though I like the golden eagle catamaran excurison. There is a snorkling excurion to Anguilla offered through shoretrips.com which I"m also looking at.

 

[TonytheWop]

What I heard is that there is still availability as long as you aren't booking children -- so our cruise is not sold out but is over-run with kids! Not sure why, since many kids are back in school then (but not in NYC).

I know -- I was longing for that PIN code as well . . .

We did not get the pin but we did get the AAA special.
We were able to get a Cat.4 for all 5 of us for $5780 less $150 obc on the Aug.15 Eastern with Tortola. So for a few hundred more, we get a verandah , the kids don't miss any school and most importantly..we are 2 weeks closer to our Disney cruise !!
So we will be leaving your group and wish all of you calm seas !!

 

[bellelinus]

We did not get the pin but we did get the AAA special.
We were able to get a Cat.4 for all 5 of us for $5780 less $150 obc on the Aug.15 Eastern with Tortola. So for a few hundred more, we get a verandah , the kids don't miss any school and most importantly..we are 2 weeks closer to our Disney cruise !!
So we will be leaving your group and wish all of you calm seas !!

Great deal! Sorry you won't be with us, but I know that you and your family will have a wonderful cruise

 

[Baldrick2]

Mark,
Glad you decided to join the thread. One more thing in common besides doing the celebrity cruise, it looks like at least our children will cross paths on this ship, as I too, will have one in each of the clubs, as it looks like you will too. Mine though, are all boys!

My youngest (currently 6) is a lad ......... it might feel just like the celebrity cruise as I fear we may not see much of the children!!! (Last time we had to drag them out of the clubs as they were having soooo much fun with their new friends!)

We did make them come to dinner with us every night but half the time they just couldn't wait to get back to their friends or activities straight afterwards!!!!!!!

 

[Baldrick2]

Welcome to all the newcomers!!! Mark, Julianna was VERY excited to get Emily's email yesterday, she answered it straight away!!! She can't wait to meet her in August!!!! We're staying at PBH at Universal 24 Aug until we leave for the Magic. If our time overlaps there, we should try to get the girls together prior to getting onboard.

Emily is equally excited & I know checks her email every day!!!!!!

We arrive over in the US on 20th Aug..... we're then booked into the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal until 24th...... we're then moving to the Marriott Vaction Club at Cypress Harbour (right behind Seaworld) for a few days to relax & maybe do Seaworld (love it there!) after all the running round Universal before joining the magic on 29th

Our time at Universal does overlap so would be great to get together! (Our kids dont know about the time at Universal yet - we kept that under wraps as a bit of a surprise so far!!

We'll sort out getting them together nearer the time! Sounds like fun!

 

[Baldrick2]

I've parasailed and jetskied other places than CC, but can't imagine it wouldn't be fun there -- only look carefully at the jetski tour because I think it is more or less a guided tour and may not give you as much freedom to zip around as you would if you were doing it somewhere else.

I've done the jetskis at Castaway Cay (they describe it as a "personal watercraft tour" if I remember rightly!!!!!). It was a guided tour which takes you out to a sandbar about a mile out of the shore where they stop & tell you a bit about the history & ecology of the Cay then back to the ship again. It was great fun (& the jetskis are very quick) but you do have to stay in line / formation & don't get the freedom to "play"....... if you're a speed junkie (like me!) & want a bit more freedom then best to hire one on one of the stops from the beaches. (I did one on a recent cruise stop in Grand Caymen recently for $60 for 45 mins with total freedom)

I'll likely do the tour again when in castaway but will take one of my daughters with me as well as they'd love it (but means I can't go too fast with her on the back for fear of a divorce!!! )

 

[Cinderella1001]

I just got back from WDW for a quick cheerleading trip with DD. While there I was able to check with the Grand Floridian about doing the scavenger hunt for DD and best friend. They stated not a problem they would be happy to assist. DD has no clue that they will only be at the GF for one night and then off for their sweet 16 birthday cruise the next day. I have already started the packing of some of the stuff that can be packed (ie bathroom stuff) I am soooo excited only 114 days til we sail.

Yay!!!!!!

 

[TVEPFOX]

114 days, that means payment in full is due soon!

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

114 days, that means payment in full is due soon!

Anyone know of any banks that have coin counters so that I can pay off this cruise

Joe

 

[Cinderella1001]

Navy Federal does...we've been dumping our change there for the tips and excursions.

 

[jel0511]

114 days, that means payment in full is due soon!

I'm luckily paid in full... with DVC points... only have to worry about tips and excursions.....

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

Navy Federal does...we've been dumping our change there for the tips and excursions.

I might bring some of those gold dollar coins for tips I'm also thinking about getting some of those two dollar bills

They will be lighter and take up less space.

Joe

 

[TVEPFOX]

Come on folks, we sail in a little over 3 months!

We really need to get this party started!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone staying pre-cruise with the mouse?

How's the weather?

How's the dog?

Do any shopping yet?

Come on... be honest.... who started packing?

Anyone want to do a group dinner at Palo?

We're sooo quite, the other boards are making us look bad!!!

 

[MakingScrapbooks]

Hey!! I'm here!!

Weather is good, cats are good, kids are good most of the time.

I'm debating on staying with the mouse and paying to park at the port OR staying near the port and doing one of the parking packages with the hotel OR coming a few days early and doing the mouse, then the port hotel. I can't make up my mind.

No shopping yet. Holding out for end of summer sales!!!

I would LOVE to do a dinner a Palo with someone. I'll be cruising with the kids, but my hubby has to stay home to work (poor guy). I don't want to do Palo alone. Let me know if anyone plans a group. I don't want to intrude on anyone's romantic evening.

My kids still don't know we're going!! I'm trying my best to wait and suprise them, but it's killing me! They've been dying to go on another Disney Cruise, so I'm so excited to see their faces when they find out!!

We're in the FE group!! So I'm working on ideas for that!!! Yippee!!! I cant wait!