Disney Magic - Dec 10, 2011 - Western Caribbean Cruise - Sun, Fun and Beaches!

[CitaPita]

I got my confirmation this morning!

I still have no idea what to do in Grand Cayman, though. Any ideas or plans?

Woo hoooo!!!! I talked to DH about it last night, and I think we are going to do the massages, too. Can.Not.WAIT.

For Grand Cayman, I'm thinking about booking the Nautilus tour because it's the closest thing we can get to snorkeling with the little ones. But after pricing it, I'm not so sure. It'd be around $150 for the four of us and it's only an 1.5 hour excusion once you remove travel time. That's $1.67 a minute. (Can you tell I overanalyze everything?)

I'm sort of wondering whether it would be better for us just to explore the port ourselves or take a taxi over to Seven Mile Beach. I'm kind of worried about the six boats at port, though!

ETA: Just checked the Cayman Islands Port Authority website and saw that nearly 17,000 people will be in port the day we are there. Probably better to book an excursion, I think!

 

[CitaPita]

Had 2 questions maybe someone here could help me with? Is there a better rotation to request? Like be in a certain restaurant for a certain night? And I can start to book things in 3 days - how does the Kids Club thing work, hours wise? Abd do you HAVE to pre-book? Will they not have any openings once there???? How will I know now what I will be doing then???

Welcome!!! This is our first cruise of any kind as well. I am so looking forward to getting on that boat and having everything taken care of for me. No dishes or cooking for a whole week. Yee haw!

For your dining rotation, if you have one you prefer you can call DCL (if you booked directly) or your Travel Agent (if you booked through one) and request a certain rotation. It's not a guarantee, but they will try to place you on that rotation if possible.

I've thought about requesting a rotation that gets us in PC for pirate night, but I think I've decided to just go with the flow for this trip. I only just had my request for first seating granted, so I don't want to push my luck.

 

[Sinderelly]

Great news for first time cruisers. I just checked the DCL website to "tweek" our Palo High Tea ressie and noticed everything is still pretty much wide open. High Tea is booked for Monday but there are openings for Thursday. Brunch is open for all 3 sea days.

 

[aymekae]

Lol, Carmen, I'm totally the same way! I work in a budgets office and I'm a spreadsheet diva... if it weren't the end of our fiscal year, I'm sure I'd have made the most ridiculous cruise planning worksheet. I may yet, but my brain hurts too much each evening.

I will have to look at excursions again... 17,000 people is nothing to sniff at!

Glad to hear about Palo... we want to do brunch. We are going on a 1 1/2 hr. brunch cruise this Sunday off the coast of central California. Brunch is our favorite kind of date!

 

[CitaPita]

WOO HOOO!! Cruise paid off today!

Anyone else have anything planning related going on? I think I'm going to start thinking about magnets this weekend.

Aymekae, have an awesome brunch this weekend! I'm jealous.

 

[Sinderelly]

WOO HOOO!! Cruise paid off today!

Anyone else have anything planning related going on? I think I'm going to start thinking about magnets this weekend.

Aymekae, have an awesome brunch this weekend! I'm jealous.

I am trying to guess at how many staterooms we will have participating in the FE exchange. I want to order my supplies for making FE gifts so bad. We will probably use magnets we already have from other cruises and add a few holiday ones.

 

[sesame_123]

I am trying to guess at how many staterooms we will have participating in the FE exchange. I want to order my supplies for making FE gifts so bad. We will probably use magnets we already have from other cruises and add a few holiday ones.

I know, me too!! According to the roll call (Thanks Kiki) there are currently 9 staterooms doing the FE. 17 adults (my count) and 11 kids (my count)

I think I will plan on these numbers but throw in a few extras in case. I would really like to know the slogan as I would like to include that into my gifts somehow. If you haven't voted please do so!!

Carmen, How exciting to have the cruise paid and only a couple more days until you can access online booking!! I hope you are able to get everything you want!!

 

[lab0115]

My two sons, 8 and 17, and myself(mom) will be on this cruise also and I have been reading these threads to prepare myself. This will be our first cruise and we are so excited.
I have booked independently from Disney excursions and will also be doing
the Nachi Cocom in Cozumel and the Ray, Reef and Rum tour in Grand Cayman. We also felt we would just walk around in Key West. It has been
great seeing how many people are coming on this cruise(especially 8 year olds!) Look forward to meeting new people!

 

[peg2001]

I believe the pay-in-full date was yesterday for this cruise so it will be interesting to see how many staterooms are freed up on the DCL reservations website.

Also wanted to recommend for anyone planning to get the flu shot this year, consider getting it by mid-November. It takes a couple week to build up immunity and you certainly want to minimize risk of illness while cruising. One of the main reasons it has been so long since our last cruise (9 years!) is because of the dreaded Norovirus. I wish there was a vaccination for that!

I got my flu shot last weekend but the rest of the family wants the flu mist. Cowards.

Peg

 

[GraciesMommy]

I have booked independently from Disney excursions and will also be doing the Nachi Cocom in Cozumel and the Ray, Reef and Rum tour in Grand Cayman.

Lab0115,

Who did you book your Grand Cayman excursion through? I'm still undecided at Grand Cayman and none of the DCL excursions late jumping out at me.

Thanks!

 

[Sinderelly]

My two sons, 8 and 17, and myself(mom) will be on this cruise also and I have been reading these threads to prepare myself. This will be our first cruise and we are so excited.
I have booked independently from Disney excursions and will also be doing
the Nachi Cocom in Cozumel and the Ray, Reef and Rum tour in Grand Cayman. We also felt we would just walk around in Key West. It has been
great seeing how many people are coming on this cruise(especially 8 year olds!) Look forward to meeting new people!

Welcome aboard!

 

[lab0115]

Thanks for the welcome!

I booked the tour through NativeWay Tours. I emailed the owner, Sharon Ebanks, to doublecheck(as many others have done)as to whether we would
definitely be back for the last tender to the ship. She assured me that we
would. The tour is from 9am to 2:15pm and the ship is to leave at 4:30, so
it should be fine. Also, I am under the impression that as long as my watch
is on ship's time when I leave the ship, it will jive with both Cozumel and Cayman Islands.

 

[GraciesMommy]

Thanks for the welcome!

I booked the tour through NativeWay Tours. I emailed the owner, Sharon Ebanks, to doublecheck(as many others have done)as to whether we would
definitely be back for the last tender to the ship. She assured me that we
would. The tour is from 9am to 2:15pm and the ship is to leave at 4:30, so
it should be fine. Also, I am under the impression that as long as my watch
is on ship's time when I leave the ship, it will jive with both Cozumel and Cayman Islands.

Thanks Lab! I'll take a look at their excursions and maybe I'll find something.

 

[roxiw9234]

Checking in for Roll Call

Roxi (DM), Austin (DS), 21
DISBoardID: roxiw9234
Homestate: Colorado/Florida
Disney Cruises - Lucky #13
Pre-Cruise stay: not sure yet since Austin lives in Orlando may drive that morning or stay near the port the night before
***Not doing the FE****

 

[Sinderelly]

I believe the pay-in-full date was yesterday for this cruise so it will be interesting to see how many staterooms are freed up on the DCL reservations website.

Also wanted to recommend for anyone planning to get the flu shot this year, consider getting it by mid-November. It takes a couple week to build up immunity and you certainly want to minimize risk of illness while cruising. One of the main reasons it has been so long since our last cruise (9 years!) is because of the dreaded Norovirus. I wish there was a vaccination for that!

I got my flu shot last weekend but the rest of the family wants the flu mist. Cowards.

Peg

Ugh the flu shot makes me sick.

 

[lab0115]

Thought I would do the roll call also!


Lauri(dm)Jordan(ds-17)Colton(ds-8, birthday 12/2, so a b-day cruise)
DISboardID-lab0115
Home State-Pennsylvania
Our First Disney Cruise and First Cruise Ever
Pre-Cruise Stay-getting in late on 12/9, staying near airport at Holiday Inn Express
***Not Doing FE***

 

[aymekae]

I wasn't going to stay up and book anything tonight, but it turned out I took a 3 hr nap earlier so I wasn't sleepy anyway.

I booked Palo Brunch, and on a whim, decided on Palo Dinner. Hopefully DH won't mind. He loves breakfast foods, so I figured brunch would be safe. He's a pretty picky eater, though, and I am concerned how he will handle fancy food for dinner. Oh well! I figure, if he leaves hungry, there is plenty of other food he can eat, and we will have paid for me/the experience. Right??

I also finally decided on doing the Nautilus (semi-sub) and Reef Snorkel excursion on Grand Cayman through DCL. That will give us a bit of what I want to do, and a bit of what DH wants to do, with plenty of time leftover. Something I haven't been able to figure out is... where to go after that? I am assuming/hoping we can just find a (free) beach area and hang out. Is this possible?

During online check-in, I saw that they asked very specific questions about our travel plans, and won't let me get a port arrival time until I answer them. I was hoping to get our time first, and then book a flight/hotel/transportation. Is it a bad idea to put in approximations to get a time, and then correct it once I book everything? This is all so new to me!

And finally... we talked about post-cruise activities. DH is vehemently opposing WDW for some reason, though I'd love to go for a few days and enjoy the holiday decor and such. He did agree to go to Universal Studios, which I am 100% cool with since I have been DYING to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! We are thinking of going over Saturday after debarkation, checking in to one of the US on-site hotels and getting our "cut-in-line pass" (whatever they call it there), enjoying the parks, stay the night, take advantage Sunday morning with the hour early access to WWoHP, then fly out Sunday evening. I think the shortened 2 days will be cutting it close, but with the fast pass things and the fact that DH does not like rollercoasters, I think we will see as much as we want in that time frame. This is the first trip to US for either of us; any thoughts on our plans?

 

[mareeld86]

For some stupid reson i cant bring up my reservation on the disney cruise line site!! GRRR
Its almost time for only check in!

 

[sesame_123]

Aymekae, We did just what you are thinking of doing for the onine check in. We have not yet booked anything solid other than our hotel and they wanted all flight info. I entered the flights that we most likely will be on so that I could get my port arrivial time. If for some reason we decide on different flights I can modify this info. What I don't understand is why do they need all the info if A. We are flying in early and B. using private transportation. I would understand it more if we wanted to use DCL transfers. Oh well!

I'm glad you were able to get the Palo reservations you wanted!!

Tracy

 

[CitaPita]

Yay for booking an un-populated cruise! We got everything we wanted.

I stayed up last night and booked our activities. I was VERY happy to see that things were pretty wide open! We finally have our plans nailed down. Just need to make all the appropriate reservations now.

Thursday
Leaving town and staying over in Chicago at the airport so we can catch an EARLY flight.

Friday
Flight leaves at 6:30 a.m., so the girls will be pretty tired. Gets into Orlando around 10:00 a.m. Limo to Country Inn and Suites for some much needed rest and relaxation.

Saturday
Port arrival check-in time of 11:00 am.

Sunday (our 10th Anniversary!)
Key West day. We'll try to get off the ship early and catch the CityView trolley. We'll hop on/hop off at a few places, and will get back to the ship early for a late lunch and some swimming. PALO for our anniversary dinner.

Monday
Nothing scheduled for this sea day. We'll probably try to catch a movie (hopefully they'll be playing the muppet movie?)

Tuesday
We booked the 9:00 a.m. Nautilus in Grand Cayman. Depending on how much we like the port (and how crazy buzy it is) we might go right back on board after the excursion to enjoy the ship. OR we might walk around a shop.

Wednesday
Today is the day for the beach! We reserved Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. Beach massages for both of us.

Thursday
Palo Brunch at 10:30 a.m. Lazy day!

Friday
Time at the family beach at CC. Lunch at Cookies. Other than that I'm not sure.

Saturday
Limo to airport. Flight back to Chicago. Staying at The Drake this night in downtown Chicago and hitting up the American Girl store. Maybe also the Shed Aquarium?

Sunday
Back to reality!