December 1, 2012 Magic Galveston

[dryvithome]

Hello everyone, this is our 3rd Disney cruise. We were on the Jan 4, 2013 8 night. Got a great rate on airline tickets and then the great price on the cruise! So we just changed our dates.
I love the ships during the holidays.
We have 2 rooms, not sure were they will be, but we would like to join the FE's. We did it on our last cruise, my family loved it! Everyone raced to the room to see our mail.
How did you book the discount for Chankanaab park? I am not sure how to get back and forth from the ship. We had the kids in Cancun last year but I just rented a car and we drove everywhere. There is always so much to do on the ship we don't do to many excursions, but they want to swim with the sea lions.
For my kids we only have 2 rules, they have to show up for dinner, and they must tip room service. If I did not make them come to dinner I would only see them at the start of the trip and when it was time to leave.

Hi and welcome! More DISers on the crusie!

 

[maryrego]

Mel2421 my step daughter Corrinais 13 as well shes super friendly and loves meeting new people shes looking forward to all the teen/preteen activities were in 7100 if your daughter is looking to meet someone her age

As for Excursions were trying to limit things my dd1.5 can do with us.
So far we are looking at the Following:

GRAND CAYMAN
Captain Marvins Island tour (Basically same as the disney excursion but $10 cheaper and they will drop you off @ the public beach at 7mile or the ship...no stop to the rum cake factory but theres a huge store near the port. This tour includes stops at hell and turtle farm as well as some other sites) $30 pp kids under 4 are free. I am going to book within the next couple days for the 6 of us in our group. If any one else is interested let me know and I can add to the reservation.

We are also planning to go to Margaritaville here before or after the tour. Upstairs they have a pool with a slide and cabana like booths. My DD1.5 has been swimming since she was 2 mths and not swimming in the pools onboard is gonna be hard for her so i figure she can swim here for a bit and we can get some munchies and who doesnt love Margaritaville lol The Pool and slide are free to use

COSTA MAYA
We have decided we will just explore the cruise port here. There seems like alot to do right here and it doesnt cost anything extra. Again they have a nice pool Our DD1.5 can swim in. Theres area to tan. Pool has a swim up bar and theres restaurants for food...Although were so close to the ship we may just hop back for lunch. They have a few Mayan replicas in the port area including a lil pyramid and free shows.

COZUMEL
Here is the toughie...We might break down and put DD at Flounders. We are looking at Doing the Mayan Ruins and Beach Break thru Disney. It depends on if We think DD1.5 will be ok for the tour part as i dont know if we can bring a stroller.

 

[msmickminn]

Hello Everyone!
We will be cruising with you and I just put in a request on the FB page.
Looks like our group is a little....ahem...older than you all!
It'll be myself and my DH, this is our 5th cruise, celebrating our 28th anniversary and my parents will be joining us for their first cruise and celebrating their 53rd anniversary.

 

[sparker0699]

Welcome! I noticed that Sally's occupation on FB stated "Cast Member at Walt Disney World"... I want to know more about that!!!

 

[CurtisB]

Hello Everyone!
We will be cruising with you and I just put in a request on the FB page.
Looks like our group is a little....ahem...older than you all!
It'll be myself and my DH, this is our 5th cruise, celebrating our 28th anniversary and my parents will be joining us for their first cruise and celebrating their 53rd anniversary.

Welcome aboard! We are all kids at heart and that's all that matters

 

[Heatherlynn77]

We're cruising in December, too. I'll be with my husband, 12 year old daughter and 4 year old son. It's our first Disney Cruise. What's a fish extender?

 

[CurtisB]

We're cruising in December, too. I'll be with my husband, 12 year old daughter and 4 year old son. It's our first Disney Cruise. What's a fish extender?

Welcome aboard!

 

[sparker0699]

We're cruising in December, too. I'll be with my husband, 12 year old daughter and 4 year old son. It's our first Disney Cruise. What's a fish extender?

Well.. since I didn't see a volunteer for the FE group, I'll give it my best try. I've searched a few other list to gather the details of what all info we need to get started. If you want to participate let me know and I will add you to the list.

Fish Extenders are a fun activity for the entire family to participate in while on your Disney cruise. Each participating family makes or buys a FE to hang outside your stateroom door. Each FE has at least one pocket for gifts to be left in, most have multiple pockets, one for each member of the family. Either one is perfectly acceptable. There are tons of pictures available online for you to get ideas. Also if you would prefer to buy your FE check out sites like ETSY and ebay. As for the gifts that are put in your FE they are either handmade or purchased. Don't break the bank with the gifts it is the thought that counts. Gifts can be anything you can think of, candy, pencils, magnets, etc. The gifts can be personalized to each individual or family in a stateroom or generic. You can gift as many times as you would like to on the cruise or just once, there is no set of rules. So if you are interested in participating please send me a PM with the following information:

Disboard name:
First names of everybody in your stateroom:
Ages and gender of kids, tweens, and teens in your stateroom
Your stateroom number if you know it:
If you will be celebrating any special event on the week of the cruise:
One FE thread also asked about allergies, that might be a good idea too?
Cut off for FE list is: October 15th. Afterwhich, I will PM each of you the full list of participants.

Let's get creative!!!

Heatherlynn77 hope that repost helps.

 

[dryvithome]

Hello Everyone!
We will be cruising with you and I just put in a request on the FB page.
Looks like our group is a little....ahem...older than you all!
It'll be myself and my DH, this is our 5th cruise, celebrating our 28th anniversary and my parents will be joining us for their first cruise and celebrating their 53rd anniversary.

Hello! I think the term you were looking for is "more experienced" rather than older. All ages of Disney fans are welcome and one day I'll be an experienced Disney fan.

 

[dryvithome]

We're cruising in December, too. I'll be with my husband, 12 year old daughter and 4 year old son. It's our first Disney Cruise. What's a fish extender?

Hello! We've also a four year old son going on the cruise, along with this two year old brother. Hope you guys enjoy the cruise! We've been looking at the Navigators (daily planners) from the first cruise and our son is getting excited when we tell him about all the activities he has a chance to do. Granted, I have no idea what some of them are, but he seems to like "Slide time" just fine.

 

[Heatherlynn77]

IS there a Facebook page?

 

[Belle4]

IS there a Facebook page?

Yes there is. Welcome aboard to you and your family!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/484779074879768/members/

 

[Heatherlynn77]

Any tips, tricks or secrets from previous cruisers? So glad I learned of door decorating and FE before getting on board (would hate to have missed out on those). So...anything else like that? Or tips (I heard we should bring a surge protector for the extra outlets to recharge all of our devices over night).

 

[msmickminn]

I guess I should have introduced myself on my earlier post!
Hi! I'm Sally and my DH is Martin.
Nice to see all of you on FB too!

 

[jkhilgeman]

I know Disney does a great job of cleaning the ship and handing out wipes, but I always bring a can of Lysol - to spray the pillows, beds and such. I do this for all our trips. The staff is very busy and things can get over looked. We also all got a Hepatitis A shots. It was recommended by our doctors. Better to be safe than sorry. On our last cruise there was an outbreak of something, we missed the whole thing and read it in the paper after our trip. I also pack all the over the counter medicines we use at home. I keep it in a bright red bag. Band aids, pain relievers, motion sickness meds. If you have used it at home pack it with you. I also take a cloth ice pack (it's empty and I can put ice in it when needed) - my DD was swimming and twisted her foot. I had the meds, ice pack and a Micky ice cream bar and we were good as new in about an hour.

 

[jkhilgeman]

Mel2421 my step daughter Corrinais 13 as well shes super friendly and loves meeting new people shes looking forward to all the teen/preteen activities were in 7100 if your daughter is looking to meet someone her age

As for Excursions were trying to limit things my dd1.5 can do with us.
So far we are looking at the Following:

GRAND CAYMAN
Captain Marvins Island tour (Basically same as the disney excursion but $10 cheaper and they will drop you off @ the public beach at 7mile or the ship...no stop to the rum cake factory but theres a huge store near the port. This tour includes stops at hell and turtle farm as well as some other sites) $30 pp kids under 4 are free. I am going to book within the next couple days for the 6 of us in our group. If any one else is interested let me know and I can add to the reservation.

We are also planning to go to Margaritaville here before or after the tour. Upstairs they have a pool with a slide and cabana like booths. My DD1.5 has been swimming since she was 2 mths and not swimming in the pools onboard is gonna be hard for her so i figure she can swim here for a bit and we can get some munchies and who doesnt love Margaritaville lol The Pool and slide are free to use

COSTA MAYA
We have decided we will just explore the cruise port here. There seems like alot to do right here and it doesnt cost anything extra. Again they have a nice pool Our DD1.5 can swim in. Theres area to tan. Pool has a swim up bar and theres restaurants for food...Although were so close to the ship we may just hop back for lunch. They have a few Mayan replicas in the port area including a lil pyramid and free shows.

COZUMEL
Here is the toughie...We might break down and put DD at Flounders. We are looking at Doing the Mayan Ruins and Beach Break thru Disney. It depends on if We think DD1.5 will be ok for the tour part as i dont know if we can bring a stroller.

My dd is 15, Erica, I am not sure of our rooms yet - we took a risk on this cruise. I can send you a PM with her facebook info. if you like. My ds is 17 I can't get him out of the teen hang out. Again, we only see him at dinner. The dd 9 year old won't leave the kids club. Again, we don't see her until dinner, the kids club people stand outside the dinner door and she is gone again until 1 or 2 in the morning. (They close very late most nights). We have never had good luck with our kids hanging out with us. There is so much to do and the staff is so great, we don't stand a chance. Were just lucky they need a ride there and home again!

 

[dryvithome]

Any tips, tricks or secrets from previous cruisers? So glad I learned of door decorating and FE before getting on board (would hate to have missed out on those). So...anything else like that? Or tips (I heard we should bring a surge protector for the extra outlets to recharge all of our devices over night).

Can't think of anything at the moment, but I did note this thread on power strips that was saying they confiscated the power strips. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3001358

Hoping that isn't true, but then I think we can get by with two outlets. Not really planning on using cellphones, either for camera or photos after boarding. We'll probably be wishing we had more plugs, but right now I can't think of what we'd use them for. We're a little on the less technological side of things, so probably not as up to speed as everyone else. I think the digital camera battery is about the only thing we'll need to recharge frequently.

Only other major tip would be having swimsuits packed in carry on or worn under clothes for immediate swimming availability instead of waiting until rooms are ready. I'm sure some other people with plenty of cruises would have more tips, but that's about all I can think of at the moment.

 

[Belle4]

Second sailing is back today. Hopefully we will get some more trip reports from the Magic!

 

[AggieAmy]

Disboard name:
First names of everybody in your stateroom:
Ages and gender of kids, tweens, and teens in your stateroom
Your stateroom number if you know it:
If you will be celebrating any special event on the week of the cruise:
One FE thread also asked about allergies, that might be a good idea too?
Cut off for FE list is: October 15th. Afterwhich, I will PM each of you the full list of participants.

Let's get creative!!!


I wanted to add my four Kiddos to the FE list.
So we have four adults: Grandy, Bubbie (grandpa), Matt and Amy; Carson (DS, age 13); Austin (DS, age 10); Grace (DD, age 10) and Caleigh (DD, age 7)


How many FEs do we have at this point? Just trying to get my ideas flowing!
~ Amy

 

[dryvithome]

I wanted to add my four Kiddos to the FE list.
So we have four adults: Grandy, Bubbie (grandpa), Matt and Amy; Carson (DS, age 13); Austin (DS, age 10); Grace (DD, age 10) and Caleigh (DD, age 7)


How many FEs do we have at this point? Just trying to get my ideas flowing!
~ Amy

Hi Amy and welcome to the thread! If you have facebook it's a bit more active on the facebook page for our cruise as the updates are a little more clear. Without looking at it, I think we have 10 or 11 families signed up so far, as best I recall, but I'm sure sparker0699 will have the actual count since she took the lead in running the FE. Welcome aboard!