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

[KikiMouse]

Hi Guys- I've updated the roll call and FE info. There are 22 cabins on the roll call, and 10 cabins on the FE list.

I got the supplies over the weekend to make magnets for my door, and I've also been purchasing items for our FE gifts. I just got back from the West Coast, my niece is excited about our trip and is going to make some magnets for me. She's been on 2 Disney cruises, so that's really sweet of her. I'm getting excited about the cruise.
I have not really thought too much about excursions, DH would like to see the Tulum ruins, but its its a long trip... We like beach/snorkel.
We haven't made flight reservations or transfers either. Mostly because I'm not sure where I'll be flying from...I travel a lot! We are staying the night before at a Disney resort, we have a credit we need to use, plus I always like to do Disney World before the cruise if possible.
Can't wait!

 

[peg2001]

although the thought of the logistics of tendering with the little ones makes me think about canceling. I think I'm too lazy to tender!

Oh, but the great thing about little ones is that tendering will be part of the fun and adventure of the whole day!

I'm more concerned now about DCL missing Grand Cayman as I just saw a thread about how often that port is missed due to poor conditions for tendering. We'll have fun even if it's a sea day but Grand Cayman was the only port adventure we signed up for outside of the stingrays at Castaway Cay.

I was talking up the Hemingway house tour in Key West the other day and neither of my DDs knew who Hemingway was. I'm just mean enough to assign a research paper before our cruise!

Peg

 

[aymekae]

When I read your post I couldn't wait to check for our cabin assignment.
We are still listed as GTY I hope we find out soon!

Aw, keep checking!

Mostly because I'm not sure where I'll be flying from...I travel a lot! We are staying the night before at a Disney resort, we have a credit we need to use, plus I always like to do Disney World before the cruise if possible.
Can't wait!]

If you don't mind my asking, why do you travel a lot... business, personal, mix of both? I don't go much of anywhere, tbh, but I think I've caught the travel bug this year. How fun to stay at the resort! Do you know which one? The only time we went, we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and fell in love with it. I still daydream about Whispering Canyon Cafe's food... isn't that silly? We ate dinner there twice and breakfast once during our 6 days there, wish it could have been more!

I'm more concerned now about DCL missing Grand Cayman as I just saw a thread about how often that port is missed due to poor conditions for tendering. We'll have fun even if it's a sea day but Grand Cayman was the only port adventure we signed up for outside of the stingrays at Castaway Cay.

Oh, really? I hadn't heard that. I don't think I'd be too disappointed if so; we are booked for the Nautilus/snorkeling excursion, but only for lack of anything better to do.

I was talking up the Hemingway house tour in Key West the other day and neither of my DDs knew who Hemingway was. I'm just mean enough to assign a research paper before our cruise!

So cruel! DH also has never heard of Hemingway, and a quick list of some of his more popular books met with a blank stare. I don't particularly care for him, myself, but the reason we're going is the POLYDACTYL CATS that roam the grounds, or so I've read. We adopted a polydactyl kitten a few months ago without realizing how many extra toes she had (7 on each front paw and 6 on each back! Normal cats have 5 on each front and 4 on each back, so she has 26 to a normal cat's 18!) They are also known as thumb cats, mitten cats, or... Hemingway cats! So the Wikipedia article goes, Hemingway received a polydactyl cat from a sailor and fell in love with them and started breeding them. Sailors think these cats are lucky, possibly because they are better hunters with their opposable thumbs and keep the ships varmint-free. And that is your history lesson for the day!

Have a good night, and may visions of cruise ships dance in your heads!

 

[CitaPita]

I'm more concerned now about DCL missing Grand Cayman as I just saw a thread about how often that port is missed due to poor conditions for tendering. We'll have fun even if it's a sea day but Grand Cayman was the only port adventure we signed up for outside of the stingrays at Castaway Cay.

I saw the same thing! Worrisome, for sure.

We booked our flights tonight. Feels good to have more thing scheduled and DONE. Also, we're officially doing WDW the day we get back from our cruise. Now we just have to book our room!

I'm loving all the positive reports about the Magic lately. Anyone else been keeping an eye on these? I was getting mildly worried by the "lack of pixie dust" thread, but nearly everything since the Magic returned to the Caribbean has been high praise. SO EXCITED!

 

[WDW Enabler]

Hi, Grumpy! Nice to meet you. I think we're turning out to be a pretty great, active group. It will be awesome when we all get to meet on the trip.

Funny story...I was trying to explain to DH about Dis Meets and how the group thing worked. I told him how we were picking a theme, and might do a magnet or shirt or some other sort of thing to identify us as a Dis group.

He pretended to be horrified and asked, "So, does this mean we've joined a Disney gang?"

That said, he's excited to meet you all, too!

I Like the DISney Gang idea

 

[KikiMouse]

If you don't mind my asking, why do you travel a lot... business, personal, mix of both? I don't go much of anywhere, tbh, but I think I've caught the travel bug this year. How fun to stay at the resort! Do you know which one? The only time we went, we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and fell in love with it. I still daydream about Whispering Canyon Cafe's food... isn't that silly? We ate dinner there twice and breakfast once during our 6 days there, wish it could have been more!

The travel is a combination of business and personal.
I haven't decided which resort yet. I have AP's, so it depends on what's available. My favorites are Animal Kingdom Lodge and French Quarter. I love AKL because of the Savannah and its architecture/artwork. And the pool, which is beautiful. You might like it since you like the WL. AKL has fabulous restaurants as well. I'm not sure what your schedule is but you might be able to have dinner there and check it out, its fabulous at Christmas.
AK is one of our favorite parks, so that works out well for us. And we usually have a car, so we can drive to the other parks rather than wait for buses. The French Quarter is my other favorite, its a very nice, especially during the holidays.
I haven't stayed at the WL, maybe I will try it sometime. They have some good passholder rates occasionally but I'm afraid to try it because I may not like it as much as AKL! I'm so excited about the cruise that I want to just fly down for the weekend and go to WDW!

 

[aymekae]

AKL was my second choice, and sadly, we didn't even go see it in person. DH is very picky, and he wouldn't have been able to eat much at their restaurants! Seriously, I think he'd be just as happy with a kids' menu as anything else. Hamburgers, hot dogs,pizza, chicken nuggets, mac n' cheese... all staples of his diet. Lol... anyway, if we ever get to go back to WDW, I would love to stay at the AKL. I don't think DH will let us go back anytime soon, though. We go on vacations infrequently as it is, and I know he's been dying to go to Hawaii (he's been once, I haven't). I told him about Aulani, and he said he'd never heard of it before...uh... not only has the radio been blasting us with ads, but we spent a day and a half at Disneyland a few weekends ago, and they had DVC booths and banners and stuff all over the place. Observant much?

I wish I could find a similar forum for Universal planning. I just don't feel like I know what I'm getting ourselves into. In particular, I want to know the best way/place/time to buy tickets and get a good price. All I know is that their prices fluctuate. I like to be prepared ahead of time, so I'm tempted to just order them online. My sister recommended waiting till I get there, and hoping for discounted tickets through my hotel or something. Anyone have any experience?

 

[CitaPita]

Okay, I've got some major questions for our WDW vetrans here.

We decided to do WDW for the day post-cruise. My TA managed to snag us a great deal on two rooms at Pop. My questions is how they handle check-in...

We're hiring a limo to pick us up from the port. I'm imagining that we'll be in Orlando by 10:00 or so. The Pop's check in time isn't until 3pm... What on earth do we do with our luggage in the meantime? Does anyone know if they allow early check in if you're coming from a Disney Cruise?

 

[sesame_123]

No worries Carmen, Disney will take care of it!! Yes your room is not guarented until 4 (and even then not always ready) but you can "check" in and bells services at the front desk will hold your luggage until your room is ready. If you have text with your cell service you can even check in they will give you your keys and then just text you with your room number so when you get done at the parks you can just go straigt to your new room and then call for your luggage. Hope this made sense.

Tracy

 

[HannahNoahMommy]

Aymekae, there is a section under the main part of DisBoards all about Universal. I don't know if you've already looked there, but if not they may be able to help with your Universal planning.

-Renee

 

[CitaPita]

Tracy, thank you!!! That was exactly what I was hoping to hear! Full speed ahead with our plans, then.

In exactly 50 days we'll be on the ship! I can't believe how fast time is going...not that I'm complaining!

 

[Sinderelly]

Tracy, thank you!!! That was exactly what I was hoping to hear! Full speed ahead with our plans, then.

In exactly 50 days we'll be on the ship! I can't believe how fast time is going...not that I'm complaining!

We loved Pop! We liked it better than the Beach Club CL We checked in early and our room was ready! Have a great time! The food court is great.

 

[sesame_123]

Hi all could use some input on airfare, we have not yet commited to airfare and just saw a flight that leaves orlando at 11:40 a.m. Is this too early to make it on disembarkation day? Would it be really stressful? The only other non stop flight option is for 6 p.m. So we would most likely have to rent a car and spend some time exploring orlando (aka shopping). All in all this seems like it could get expensive as well as the fear of unknown. We have never rented a car from one place and returned to another, not sure how to get to rental car place, not sure where to return car at MCO and then there is the cost of the rental (cheaper than DCL transfer) but we would be shopping all day $$$, plus with 2 small children this might be a crazy long day with no down time. Which leads me to option number 3 we could use the DCL transfer and then get a day rate at the Hyatt? in the airport.

I do tend to ramble a bit, this is how I work things out and since my husband is at work and can't respond, I'll leave that up to you. Again should I go ahead with the 11:40 flight or not.

Thanks for any replies.

Tracy

 

[GraciesMommy]

Again should I go ahead with the 11:40 flight or not.

Thanks for any replies.

Tracy

I think it would be a little stressful given you wouldn't leave much time for any unexpected issues. I've left MCO on Saturday 4 times and it has been crowded at the check-in desk as well as security. If you were going to try it, I would at least hire a car to get to to MCO so you wouldn't have to mess with returning a car.

Looking at the time, you should get to MCO two hours before your flight so 9:40. If you make sure you disembark early, with 45-60 minutes of travel, you could make it there two hours early. Just doesn't give you a lot of spare time for issues.

Just my opinion and rambling through it, but I hate to be late and get to the airport 2 - 2 1/2 hours early for any flight.

Kara

 

[peg2001]

Hi all could use some input on airfare, we have not yet commited to airfare and just saw a flight that leaves orlando at 11:40 a.m. Is this too early to make it on disembarkation day? Would it be really stressful? The only other non stop flight option is for 6 p.m.

Tracy

We are driving so keep that in mind.

If it were me, I'd book the 11:40 am and simply be sure I ate breakfast early at the buffet and was one of the first off the ship. I think you'll have plenty of time. I'd hate trying to figure out what to do until a 6:00 pm flight.

If you DO decide to book the 6:00 pm flight, I'd get the day rate at the Hyatt. That would be much more restful than running around town.

Best of luck!
Peg

 

[sesame_123]

Thank you both for your replies. I'm pretty sure we will be booking the flight at 6. I'm the kind of person that stresses about time (espeicially airports) and the 11:40 flight time is a little too early for me and it's the only flight offerred from that carrier so if something happens to keep us from making it we would be looking at the next day to fly home. This way we can be one of the last ones off the ship and just take our time.

Thanks again
Tracy

P.s. I just saw Peg's line about driving DH away with Peanut butter and mayo Sandwich and while that could drive me away too, I use a peanut butter and banana sandwich to drive my DH away!!

 

[Goaliemom30]

Watched the Magic leave port tonight. I can't believe we'll all be there in a few weeks. Wondered, has anyone started their packing?

I am putting summer stuff away and throwing what we'll need on the ship in a suitcase as I go along.

 

[lab0115]

I just found out our flight is cancelled late Friday before the cruise. I decided to price going to MK and staying at WL for one night beforehand. Does anyone have a good site they have used to get great deals? It isn't worth 600.00 for tickets to MK for 2 kids and myself for only about 5 hours of park time. Is there a better way? We will be flying into Orlando about 1pm on Friday.

 

[peg2001]

P.s. I just saw Peg's line about driving DH away with Peanut butter and mayo Sandwich and while that could drive me away too, I use a peanut butter and banana sandwich to drive my DH away!!

Oh yes, p.b. and banana is a classic. I've also been known to eat fried egg sandwiches. I dunno, these all seemed normal when I was growing up. We didn't often have "lunch meat."

Peg

 

[sesame_123]

I just found out our flight is cancelled late Friday before the cruise. I decided to price going to MK and staying at WL for one night beforehand. Does anyone have a good site they have used to get great deals? It isn't worth 600.00 for tickets to MK for 2 kids and myself for only about 5 hours of park time. Is there a better way? We will be flying into Orlando about 1pm on Friday.

We have used undercover tourist for tickets in the past and have found deals. Altough there are not usually many discounts for one day.

Not sure if you know this but MK has the christmas party that evening and those tickets include park admission for about $63 adult and $57 child. Party starts at 7 and goes to midnight but you can enter the park starting around 4. It has some special events including hot chocolate and cookies, most of the rides are open and the lines should be lower. We will be there and I think Lauren too not sure if any others are planning on going or not.

HTH
Tracy