August 5 - 12 Eastern (updated 8 - 24)

[Bender]

I saw that there were 4 ships in port when you were at St. Thomas. These same 4 will be there when I go on the Magic in September. How crowded was the island? DId you really notice the crowds?

Thanks!

 

[Tarabra]

There were only 3 that were by us. Not sure if there was another somewhere else or not. It didn't seem too crowded. In fact one of the street 'barkers' or whatever they're called, said to someone one at another store. "Is it a mirage or am I really seeing 3 ships over there? It's so dead." So not sure where everyone was. Everyone seemed to be having 75% off sales. Who knows how good the deals really were. It was pretty hot that day so we didn't walk around too long. Also be sure you catch the $1 taxi into town. If you can get over to the little plaza by the ship, then walk a little ways to the left and you'll get to a Wendy's, a little open taxi/van will pick you up for a dollar and take you into town. On the way back we got duped into thinking we were on one of the same taxis, and I gave the guy $2 and he said it was $4 ea. This guy did take us right back to the ship, were the others drop you off on the other side of the plaza. We would've rather walked the short distance and saved the money. Just be sure to ask where the $1 taxis are.

 

[newtodcl]

From the person you kindly PM'ed about traveling with your DD, thanks so much for posting your report and wonderful pictures.....it is great to see how much fun your DD is having and I am definately going to show my 20m old DD the life jacket pic before our Sept. DD cruise

 

[Tarabra]

O.k. finally getting back around to Day 2. Day at sea. Off to a busy start and faced w/ a dilemma. We already have our character breakfast at 9:45. BUT at 10:00 there is also a Disney Vacation Club Member Celebration. Of course w/ dd21mos, we would NEVER miss the character breakfast. Oddly enough, they had her high chair facing the wall and the other family had already been seated. I would've thought they'd face her toward the restaurant. Not a big deal since I just picked her up and we looked all around at the different characters. She kept saying Mickey, Mickey, but when it came time for the characters to come up to her and get a pic, she became an introvert and curled up against me. I didn't feel it was rushed as some people have mentioned. They do need to get through a lot of people, so I don't blame them for hurrying them along. We bought the baby an autograph book, and the last we saw of it, was when we were walking in and she had it in her lap in the stroller. DH went back to look on the floor, but no luck. Oh well, there weren't any signatures in it, and it had a round circle on the pages from our continuous tanning spray blowing up in our back pack. Well, it didn't actually blow up, per se, but it completely emptied. Wish DH had turned the cap to off before putting it in the bag!! We could've gotten quite a few signatures though. She also loved the "hand jive" dance. It was weird having the character breakfast the first day since we've always had LAP rotation and had it later. Our tablemates were like, "where do we go for breakfast tomorrow?" I think they thought we rotated breakfast every morning. On past cruises, they never told us where to go. We just always went to Topsiders. I think they are trying to limit the crowds up there now. Oh, and on the way out of the restaurant, I peaked behind the little stand at the entrance of the restaurant, and there was her autograph book. So some kind soul turned it in afterall!! After breakfast at about 10:45, we ran over to Diversions for the DVC thing. They were serving coffee and Danishes, but we weren't hungry of course right after breakfast. DD got bored VERY quickly, so DH took her out. I hung around until the end, but sort of missed the "inside jokes" and such. They were giving out prizes, ie. key chains, etc. to people for answering questions. I guess when you went in, you filled out a card w/ your info., then they asked each group a question until you got it right. I missed out on this. They also gave out a nice paper bag of goodies, ie, a baseball hat for each of us, lanyards, and can't remember what else. Nothing too major. If they "caught" you wearing your hat, you got a pin. We didn't wear ours, so don't know too much about the pins.

We then just wandered around, then had lunch at Topsiders. It was Italian buffet and make your own pasta! YUM!! It was heavenly. We took our trays out and ate at the tables around the pool. DD had either hot dogs, pizza or french fries. I think that was her lunch EVERYday. Still at that picky stage, and going against mom's better judgement, but at least she was eating!! Drink of the Day was Bahama Mama. Did I mention that they are now $3.95? Still not too bad, but they used to be $3.00, then $3.50. I had my obligatory drink of the day!! Off to the Golden Mickeys. Our room was forward so the elevator dropped us right off at the theatre. We completely missed the red carpet, so I walked DD out to try to get her on the screen. DH stayed inside to watch if we were on...needless to say, they only had 2 girls left to talk to. Anyhow, as you walk down the red carpet, they pretend they are the paparazzi and four girls are snapping cameras. It was funny, one family of 4 actually stopped and posed for a pic. The girls were like, "no, no...keep going!" I had to laugh. Although w/ photo ops all over the ship, I guess they didn't know this was any different. Back to the theatre and onto the show. We had been watching the little snippets of the shows online on disenycruiseline.com for about a month, so DD would have some familiarity w/ the shows. Anyhow, Goofy and friends come down through the audience and up onto the stage. Did a little dance for a minute or two, then the curtain closed. DD's face scrunches up in a silent little cry, then Waaaahhhh!!!! Let's out this loud outburst. It was so cute and like right on cue. That was seriously traumatic for her that they were gone. Well the show started up again, and she was fine, curtain closed...same thing. It only lasted for a few seconds, then she would stop, but it was funny. I guess this was all going on during her regular naptime, so she was a little fussy anyway. She really got a kick out of the show and loved seeing the characters.

Off to the pool. Even though she is for the most part potty trained, I put her in a swim diaper and kept her in the Mickey ear. I just didn't want to take any chances, but she did not have any accidents the whole time on the cruise. I brought along her Baby Bjorn potty and she did just fine. Anyhow, back to the pool, she had a good time playing in the pool, although the water is a little chilly due to the constant circulation. The Mickey pool would've been a little too rough for her anyway. Older kids w/ NO parents in the pool. The parents were all around the pool, but not IN the pool, so she wouldn't have been able to be in there by herself anyway. At one point, she was just walking around the Mickey ears in about an inch of water, and the lifeguard came over and said that she had to go back in the splash pool. So they take it seriously. She didn't like it when the older kids were running through the splash pool and using it as a slide to the bigger part. I didn't notice any saving of chairs, but then again, we always got a late start and just figure it's our fault for being late. Stayed here for about an hour, then headed back to the room for a nap.

It was also formal night and the Captain's Welcome Reception at 7:15. Of course we couldn't miss that and our opportunity for FREE cocktails! I took advantage and had 1 Manhattan and 2 Bahama Mamas. We were at Parrot Cay that night. I really can't even remember what I had to eat. And no, it's not because of the Free cocktails either!! Mealtimes were sort of a blur w/ trying to keep DD entertained and fed. DH and I agree this was the one downfall of our cruise. We always looked forward to talking w/ our tablemates and relaxing during dinner on our past 5 cruises and w/ a 21mos old, um...it just wasn't the same. Our servers were Martha and Maria, and both were very good w/ DD. Pretty tired after the busy day, so we just went back to the room and crashed! (this is how most of our nights end!!) More later.......

 

[disneypoor]

Thanks for posting! I've been looking forward to your report and can't wait to hear more. Your daughter is a doll!! I loved the life jacket picture!

 

[CourtneyMc]

just subscribing. Thanks for the report so far- I'm waiting for the rest