Disney Magic - Nov 10, 2012 - Western Caribbean from Galveston - Sun, Fun & Beaches!

[vmedisneymom]

If you would like to participate in the Fish Extender exchange, please fill out this form:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFhWMTdZYnRVQmFBSWxWdWJzQ0JZdlE6MQ

When should we have the cut off date for this. Does 4 weeks prior to sailing work for everybody?

Corinna

Just wanted to thank you for organizing. I love the FE, but had no idea on how to give people a list etc? Not that technically savvy. If I can help with anything thats not creating maps etc. let me know I think 4 weeks prior to sailing should be fine!!!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Hi Everyone!!

We are so excited to be joining you all on this cruise. We will not be participating in a FE, but DolphinGirl, I am all in to participate in Secret Mickey's, jewelry making classes, scavenger hunts, ect. Theses ideas sound great! There are 5 of us in 2 GTY staterooms, hoping that we are not waiting until the last minute for room assignments.

Our Cast of Characters:

Emily(me) 41
Mark(DH) 38
Madison(DD) 16
McKenna(DD) 11
Drew(my Dad) 64, loves singing the Beatles song "When I'm 64"!


We will be celebrating our DD's Super Sweet 16, her birthday is on 11/10! We have lots of things planned but if anyone has any ideas to make this extra special please share.

-Emily

Welcome on board. Those examples were from a 15 night cruise with 9 sea days and a huge DIS group. However, I could be convinced to host Secret Mickey if there is interest.

Hi! My name is Jenny -age 24, and I'm traveling with my boyfriend -age 30. We are from SoCal and we are huge Disney fans...soooo excited that we get to experience the Magic! This is our 2nd Disney Cruise, we had a blast on our first one (Disney Wonder 7- night, Mexican Riviera).

We got lucky on our first cruise and met some seasoned cruisers w/o kids- ended up purchasing a few shore excursions off the ship (some exact companies that were offered on the ship) for much less with them in Mexico and had a lot of fun.

***Please reply if you'd like to do some off-shore excursions together (trying to be safe and travel with a group without having to pay for outrageous cruise excursion prices)!

Although there are some excursions DCL offers on ship that aren't too expensive. We're nature lovers and my BF is a great navigator so we are thinking about doing some of the following on-own or buy off-ship excursions:

Grand Cayman Day
Seven mile beach (snorkeling or renting fun floaties)
Diving @Kittiwake Shipwreck & Artificial Reef
Spirt of the West(Horseback riding)
The World-Famous Stingray City
Butterfly Farm
Boatswain’s Beach
If we cab it to the north side:
Rum Point
Go To Hell gift-shop
....and definitely indulge in some Cayman cuisine!

Costa Maya Day
Visit Chacchoben, Dzibanché and Kohunlich Mayan
Ruins.
Cab to Mahahual ($20 massages, cheap snorkeling, and hair braiding)
Do a "Beach Break"
Possibly do some of this:
"Stroll along "The Malecon" of Mahahual and enjoy the variety of restaurants, Bars & Shops.

Discover Bacalar, magic lagoon of Seven Colors.

Get intouch with one of the greatest biodiversities in the world on the BiosphereReserve of Sian Ka'an.

Observemarine turtles laying the eggs along Puerto Angel's beach."

Cozumel Day (I noticed this stop is very similar to Costa Maya)
paradise beach and mr sanchos: fun beach
Nachi Cocom: relaxing beach
chankanaab

Welcome on board. We are a couple without kids, but we are somewhat older than you. I will celebrate my 38th birthday on the cruise and DH is 54. However, if you decided on Chankanaab in Cozumel, we could share a taxi. We still have to look into what we are going to do in Grand Cayman. I think we may be looking at heading to the beach. We did the turtle farm in 2009 and it was OK, but I have no plans to go back. On the way back, we did a detour via Hell and that was amazing, but does not need long.

I just had a little look on Shoretrips and those excursions look amazing:

http://www.shoretrips.com/excursion...vate-nature-walk-down-the-famous-mastic-trail

http://www.shoretrips.com/excursion...re-walk-down-the-mastic-trail-with-beach-stop

They are a bit pricey for just two people, but are becoming real good value if 6 or 8 people get together.

Hi Corrina!

My BF and I saw this on our first cruise and thought that it was super fun! This will be our second Disney Cruise and we're curious if this is more of a family with kids activity? Are there other fun group activities that couples can participate in as well?

Thanks!

We are a couple with no kids and have participated in the Fish Extender exchange on all 8 cruises that we have done so far. I never had the feeling that this was just for families with kids. Indeed, on some of our cruises, we had more couples and solo travellers participating than families with kids.

Just wanted to thank you for organizing. I love the FE, but had no idea on how to give people a list etc? Not that technically savvy. If I can help with anything thats not creating maps etc. let me know I think 4 weeks prior to sailing should be fine!!!

Thanks for the offer of help. This will be really low key. I collect all the info through the form and then I just edit it into a spreadsheet. I will try to sort it in a way that will keep walking to a minimum depending on how many people we get and where the cabins are located. I am not overly computer literate either so there won't be any maps.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Thanks to the following for filling out the form for the Fish Extender exchange:

Heard02
Golden Rose
vmedisneymom
surberd

I will have the weekend off and will send PMs to the people who have stars against their names on the roll call so that they are aware of the form as well as not everybody always has the time to check in here.

Corinna

 

[Nanny2004]

Hi, everyone! I am new to this board and new to cruising. This will be my first cruise ever. I am so excited that it is a Disney cruise!! I love everything Disney! It will be me-Linda (52 when we leave and 53 when we return), my DD (29), her DH (31), and my 2 DGS (8 & 3). I noticed that I'm not the only one celebrating a birthday on this cruise. I think this will be a fantastic way to celebrate a birthday.

 

[Tower]

Hi Folks!
I found a couple of sites that may have economical travel to Galveston if you're heading in a day or 2 early. I think we'll go with the Super Shuttle for our group of 5, others may find other more economical transport.

We're still looking for someone to share a ride back to Hobby possibly to split the cost even further on the 17th.

Super Shuttle
https://reservations.supershuttle.com

Airport Shuttle
http://houston24hourairportlimo.com/cgi-bin/houston24_limo.pl

Elite
http://www.elitelimohouston.com/cruisetransfers.htm

Hope this helps for some as I think the Disney ground transportation is a bit too pricey.

 

[Tower]

Hi Again Gang!
Darn! Again I did not get a notification of additions to this thread so I just read it now!
The roll call at the top of page 5 has again been updated! Welcome to the new cruisers! If there are any changes, let me know and I'll hopefull get right on it.
It's pretty busy here now with work, hockey and school volunteering on, but I hope I can keep up.

 

[Cruisingbuddy3]

Welcome on board. Those examples were from a 15 night cruise with 9 sea days and a huge DIS group. However, I could be convinced to host Secret Mickey if there is interest.



Welcome on board. We are a couple without kids, but we are somewhat older than you. I will celebrate my 38th birthday on the cruise and DH is 54. However, if you decided on Chankanaab in Cozumel, we could share a taxi. We still have to look into what we are going to do in Grand Cayman. I think we may be looking at heading to the beach. We did the turtle farm in 2009 and it was OK, but I have no plans to go back. On the way back, we did a detour via Hell and that was amazing, but does not need long.

I just had a little look on Shoretrips and those excursions look amazing:


They are a bit pricey for just two people, but are becoming real good value if 6 or 8 people get together.



We are a couple with no kids and have participated in the Fish Extender exchange on all 8 cruises that we have done so far. I never had the feeling that this was just for families with kids. Indeed, on some of our cruises, we had more couples and solo travellers participating than families with kids.

Corinna

Corinna,

Age is but a number! Lets take a taxi to Chankanaab in Cozumel together. The excursions on shoretrips look fun and the price difference for 2 vs 6-8 is significant! I wonder if these trails are open to the public, if we can't get more?

Thank you for answering my question about the FE so quickly! I am a kid at heart and am soooo excited to be able to participate!

Best,

Jenny

 

[Cruisingbuddy3]

Ok, trying to post this for our Roll Call. (Now I'm asking for it! I'll have to update it everytime we get someone new! Just created more work for myself didn't I?)
If you have any updates or modifications, just let me know and I'll make the appropriate changes.

Hi! DBF and I will be participating in the FE!

Thank you for making the list!

 

[Tower]

Hi! DBF and I will be participating in the FE!

Thank you for making the list!

Done! (at least in spreadsheet) I'll post it as soon as there are other updates.

 

[Brooke3L]

Is anybody going to Mr. Sancho's while in Cozumel?

 

[Tower]

Is anybody going to Mr. Sancho's while in Cozumel?

One bar I'm planning on attending is Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, just for the sake of saying 'I did it!' Because it's a family cruise, we're trying to keep it family outside of that.

 

[Cruisingbuddy3]

This is an amazing thread if you are making your own FE for the first time!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=46069833#post46069833

 

[Cruisingbuddy3]

Is anybody going to Mr. Sancho's while in Cozumel?

The DBF and I are planning on it... we are going on the Travel Agent Rate too! wooo hoo

 

[tammie shaiq]

Hi Corinna, I sent you the form to enroll in FE's. I hope I did it right. How will we hear or get the list of the people in the group? Also, how will I let you know my room number, since I don't have it yet? Sorry, I am not very good with this stuff. I did FE's on my last cruise and loved it. Can't wait to participate again!!!!
Thanks,
tammie

 

[Goofysrus]

Hi everyone! Super excited about our Nov.10 cruise out of Galveston. They'll be 8 of our family joining you on the Magic. We loved this ship 12 years ago! We have never done an FE so we're still talking about joining but would love to be included in other activities like scavenger hunt, jewelry class ect. Our group includes (me) DW Debbie and DH Terry, my daughter and her husband plus my sister and her DH, DD and DS. Thanks for all the hard work everyone is putting into making this an amazing cruise!

 

[Brooke3L]

The DBF and I are planning on it... we are going on the Travel Agent Rate too! wooo hoo

See you there!

 

[Brooke3L]

A great company for shore excursions in Grand Cayman is Captain Marvins Have booked with them a few times.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Hi, everyone! I am new to this board and new to cruising. This will be my first cruise ever. I am so excited that it is a Disney cruise!! I love everything Disney! It will be me-Linda (52 when we leave and 53 when we return), my DD (29), her DH (31), and my 2 DGS (8 & 3). I noticed that I'm not the only one celebrating a birthday on this cruise. I think this will be a fantastic way to celebrate a birthday.

Welcome on board. I agree the Magic is a fantastic place to spend your birthday. DH had three Disney birthdays in a row: on the Magic in 2009, at Bay Lake Tower in 2010 (we just had got off the WBTA on the Magic) and on the Wonder in 2011. This year it is my turn.

Hi! DBF and I will be participating in the FE!

Thank you for making the list!

You are welcome. I will post an update tomorrow.

Hi everyone! Super excited about our Nov.10 cruise out of Galveston. They'll be 8 of our family joining you on the Magic. We loved this ship 12 years ago! We have never done an FE so we're still talking about joining but would love to be included in other activities like scavenger hunt, jewelry class ect. Our group includes (me) DW Debbie and DH Terry, my daughter and her husband plus my sister and her DH, DD and DS. Thanks for all the hard work everyone is putting into making this an amazing cruise!

Welcome on board.

Sorry about the confusion. The things mentioned I tend to organize on the longer cruises 14 or 15 nights. My Scavenger Hunt for the Magic is about two years out of date.

Corinna,

Age is but a number! Lets take a taxi to Chankanaab in Cozumel together. The excursions on shoretrips look fun and the price difference for 2 vs 6-8 is significant! I wonder if these trails are open to the public, if we can't get more?

Thank you for answering my question about the FE so quickly! I am a kid at heart and am soooo excited to be able to participate!

Best,

Jenny

I agree about the age thing.

I have the weekend off and will check out if the trails can be done the DIY way.

Corinna

 

[UCFALUM]

Hi! My name is Jenny -age 24, and I'm traveling with my boyfriend -age 30. We are from SoCal and we are huge Disney fans...soooo excited that we get to experience the Magic! This is our 2nd Disney Cruise, we had a blast on our first one (Disney Wonder 7- night, Mexican Riviera).

We got lucky on our first cruise and met some seasoned cruisers w/o kids- ended up purchasing a few shore excursions off the ship (some exact companies that were offered on the ship) for much less with them in Mexico and had a lot of fun.

***Please reply if you'd like to do some off-shore excursions together (trying to be safe and travel with a group without having to pay for outrageous cruise excursion prices)!

Although there are some excursions DCL offers on ship that aren't too expensive. We're nature lovers and my BF is a great navigator so we are thinking about doing some of the following on-own or buy off-ship excursions:

Grand Cayman Day
Seven mile beach (snorkeling or renting fun floaties)
Diving @Kittiwake Shipwreck & Artificial Reef
Spirt of the West(Horseback riding)
The World-Famous Stingray City
Butterfly Farm
Boatswain’s Beach
If we cab it to the north side:
Rum Point
Go To Hell gift-shop
....and definitely indulge in some Cayman cuisine!

Costa Maya Day
Visit Chacchoben, Dzibanché and Kohunlich Mayan
Ruins.
Cab to Mahahual ($20 massages, cheap snorkeling, and hair braiding)
Do a "Beach Break"
Possibly do some of this:
"Stroll along "The Malecon" of Mahahual and enjoy the variety of restaurants, Bars & Shops.

Discover Bacalar, magic lagoon of Seven Colors.

Get intouch with one of the greatest biodiversities in the world on the BiosphereReserve of Sian Ka'an.

Observemarine turtles laying the eggs along Puerto Angel's beach."

Cozumel Day (I noticed this stop is very similar to Costa Maya)
paradise beach and mr sanchos: fun beach
Nachi Cocom: relaxing beach
chankanaab

Cozumel and Costa Maya are very different IRL even if they seen similar on paper. Cozumel has been an established cruise stop for 30+ years (at least that is as long as I've been going, since I was a mere babe-lol) and Costa Maya was carved out of nothingness for a cruise stop by adding a long dock 10 or so years ago? (not sure but recent and then a Hurricane came through and they had to rebuild what was there) There is closer Mayan Ruins to tour in CM, a $2 taxi to beaches/street of local small bars or the port has a pool w/a shop area. Cozumel has a real town like feel to it and you can just step off the ship and walk around with "corporate" type Carlos n Charlies etc. It is hard to explain but they are very different.

We live at the beach so beach days are not at the top of our list. Esp. since ours is nicer-lol. I do think we will be doing the Cozumel Bar Hop Tour without the kiddies. In the 6-8 times I have been to Cozumel, have never ventured to the other side. We always book our excursions direct with the operator and saw first hand how much $$ we saved in Alaska. Internet research is such a help and it looks like you have all the great ones on your list!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Only 9 weeks until we are on the Magic.

Corinna