August 8, 2009 Western Caribbean on the Magic!

[Figment_Fan]

Do I note that there are 4 of us currently signed it at the same time. At least according to the little green lights by our signatures. Can it be. Is this thread alive>

 

[Carlnne]

Yep- just doing some checking. I took some time off the planning while things were up in the air so I feel behind. I have no idea what we are doing before or after the cruise yet but we have friends in the area we have to visit some time. We have stayed at the raddison before as well and it was the perfect pre-cruise but I doubt we will be there this time.

 

[Figment_Fan]

We are leaving for Sanibel in two weeks for a stay with my father and sister and her son. (Her daughter can't go this year as she is on a softball team that will not let her take time off).

I keep blowing it with my son and when I am saying something about the trip in two weeks, I keep refering to it as a cruise.
I am sooo not good at keeping secrets.

 

[dismagic09]

at least you can play it off with another vacation. i know its hard. we suprise our kids all the time and keep secrets so it sooo nice to talk freely about the cruise. last year we drove all the way to the airport before they knew we were going out of the state, we gave them clues all the way there but the final clue was when we were pulling up to the airport. sometimes i wish i could be "my kids".

 

[Figment_Fan]

BTW, I thought my wife had already done it, but she bought the newest cruise passporter today. She bought a hardcopy which is being sent via snail mail, and she downloaded it as well.

We talked about it, and it looks like some changes since our last cruise. The Magic has been in drydock and they made some changes and upgrades. Not only that, but the ages for the kids clubs have changed slightly, so we need to read the updates.

I'm glad DS is 14 as that is the new youngest age in the Stack. He got in last time at 13. Maybe he did something last time I should know about - interesting that they change the age after he was on.

 

[Figment_Fan]

BTW, I thought my wife had already done it, but she bought the newest cruise passporter today. She bought a hardcopy which is being sent via snail mail, and she downloaded it as well.

We talked about it, and it looks like some changes since our last cruise. The Magic has been in drydock and they made some changes and upgrades. Not only that, but the ages for the kids clubs have changed slightly, so we need to read the updates.

I'm glad DS is 14 as that is the new youngest age in the Stack. He got in last time at 13. Maybe he did something last time I should know about - interesting that they change the age after he was on.

 

[dismagic09]

just bumping to get this on page 1 of the meet thread so people can find us

 

[WendyinMaryland]

So what do you think, will this cruise be somewhat empty? My TA says that it is unheard of for a summer cruise to still have main dining available this late in the game.
Unfortunately, our DCL vacations seem to coincide with national disasters. The last (and only) time we went was in 2002, when the 9/11 effect on travel was driving prices down, and now we have this terrible economic crisis.

 

[kimgg]

We're going! We have two boys, 7 and 9. Can't wait! First cruise, never even been to wdw or dl, we are planning wdw Christmastime 2010.

When will we find out our cabins, June?

 

[disneycrazzzy]

We've had this cruise booked for six months or more, but I was able to re-book via my local AAA website (without signing up for a membership) and save $2000 (really $4000) on our cruise.

If you want more information, check out the Kids Cruise Free thread on the main cruise board. I know there was still some availability for some category 6 cabins.

We had a category 6 cabin and a category 11 cabin across the hall booked. We also had two category 12 cabins. We hadn't been able to decide which we wanted to pay for. The Category 6 was $5936, category 11 was $4086, and the category 12s were $3646 (all for 1A2C with no insurance and no transfers).

After reading the "Kids cruise free" thread I wandered over to the AAA website and found side-by-side category 6 cabins on deck 5 no less for $4006 each. So we saved $2000 and upgraded one cabin from an 11 to a 6. I still can't believe it. I've confirmed my new reservations with Disney directly. Wow!

Don't hesitate if this works for you.

 

[Carlnne]

That is a better price than I paid with the pin offer!!

 

[disneycrazzzy]

And to make this even crazier...I was able to upgrade to category 4 rooms for the same price. So essentially, we were able to upgrade from two category 12 rooms at $3646 each to two category 4 rooms for $4006 each.
That is a total of $688 to upgrade both cabins. It would have cost us $10,248 if we were to have upgraded based on the current prices on the DCL website today. Wow!

I keep thinking I am going to wake up and this will be a dream.

 

[dismagic09]

When i go to AAA they quote me $4,875 for a family of 4 me dh ds (7) dd (9)
how many people are in your cabin that has the rate of $4,000

 

[disneycrazzzy]

When i go to AAA they quote me $4,875 for a family of 4 me dh ds (7) dd (9) how many people are in your cabin that has the rate of $4,000

We are just 3 (myself, DS15, DS12)...however you will get the same rate if you book a category 4, 5, 6, or 7.... This saves a ton on the current DCL price of $8K+ for a category 4 cabin even if you have to pay for 4 people.

 

[Figment_Fan]

Wendy, main dining still available, WOW! Last we heard we were on a list for early dining. We had late dining last time, which was fine. Thought we'd try early dining this time.

Kimgg, my DW called and found out that we are assigned cabin #2512. Looks good to me. I don't want to spend much time there anyway.

We have been joking about upgrades if the ship isn't full - maybe we weren't that far off.

As far as I'm concerned, the more the merrier.

 

[Figment_Fan]

There seems to be a large grouping of 14-15 year olds and 8-9 year olds. Am I really noticing that correctly?

Me? I don't want to comment on my mental age (somewhere between the above). I proudly suffer a little of Peter Pan sydrome. My poor DW, I have 2 kids, she has 3 (one of which is chronologically older than her).

 

[dismagic09]

look how fast we went through page 5 - Figment it took us like 2 days to get through page 4

i'm glad to see people coming to this thread.

I don't know what to do about the cabin. We are currently booked in 8 with a gty. We can upgrade for another $1,000 to cat 4. Just not sure if i want to pay that much. i'm also afraid of the veranda with my ds (7) aka spider man. Was anyone else worried about kids this age with the veranda - mini are ds (7) and dd (9) - don't have to worry about her- she keeps us all in line. so i figure i'll take the cat 8 and be happy with the view and gamble on the upgrade. can't wait to hear about kids and the veranda.

oh, one last thing...
what is the difference between cat 6 and cat 4 & 5 - just the location?

 

[Figment_Fan]

We stayed in Cat 9 last time, and are scheduled to do the same this time. So, no information on the verandas.

I will say that I would trust my DD8 over my DS14 to be more careful. I had no concerns when DD was 7 and we went on the cruise. The decks are well set up so that it is unlikely for somebody to fall over. Of course, nothings foolproof. I'm sure the verandas are similar.

And, it looks like we are on page 1 of the meet board. This thread may be taking off!!!

BTW, I'm not into the fish extenders. Not good at that goody thing/type stuff. I have enough trouble just showing up to things in a semi together state. Maybe when DW starts weighing in, she might be interested.

 

[disneycrazzzy]

what is the difference between cat 6 and cat 4 & 5 - just the location?

Category 5 is the same as a 6 except on deck 7. CAtegory 6 cabins are on decks 5 and 6. Category 4 sleeps 5 and has an extra three feet or so in depth for an extra pull down twin bed next to the verandah doors.

 

[kimgg]

I guess fallling over is kind of a fear for me too, my boys like to climb and I would be afraid they might push it farther and farther trying to get a good view on a veranda. Hopefully on the decks other things will keep them occupied other than looking over. Also, are the lifeguards pretty watchful at the pools? We'll be w/ the kids of course but from the looks of the pools it could be easy to lose sight of them, which I try to do. I'm over protective but it is hard to relax watching them every minute.