Disney Magic Western Nov 4/06

[spsneman]

Well this was our 2nd Disney Cruise which was much looked forward too by all.

Cast includes:

DH
DD10
DS9
myself
And our friends and their 2 boys, ages 5 and 7, who were on their first cruise.

We left our rental house in Kissimmee bright and early Saturday am and headed off to Port Canaveral. It was very windy that day and in the back of my mind I wondered if they seas were going to cause me some grief. DH's dropped us all off and the luggage at the cruise terminal and headed over to Budget to return the rental cars. We were soon relieved of our luggage and it was through security we went. I then headed over to check in for Castaway Cay Club members and was relieved that I didn't have to stand in the long lineup that my friend had too for first time cruisers. I had read on previous postings to make sure my husband had his photo ID in order that he could proceed through security so I told him to keep his passport. Well what I didn't know was that they can't check all of us in without all of our passports as they keep all of them together. So I had to wait until he arrived at the cruise terminal to check us in. Thankfully the line was short. My friend just stayed in her long line and luckily by the time she was close to the front DH's had returned. Unfortunately we had #9 for boarding so decided we would register the kids in the kids clubs now instead of doing it on board. Well there must have been about 15 families waiting to do the same thing as well and we just finished up in time before #9 was called to board.
DH's took the kids up to Topsiders for fillup and my friend and I headed over to the Rockin Bar to make our Palo reservations for brunch and then headed over to join in the delicious buffet. On a sad note, it amazes me how many people take way too much food and then end up leaving full plates for disposal. We saw a plate heaping full of shrimp just left sitting at a table with all the dirty dishes.
Anyways, kids then changed and into the Mickey Pool they went while us adults enjoyed a cool beverage on the overlooking deck. It was still windy...hmmmmm...concern......
Soon after we ladies went to check on our staterooms to see if our luggage had arrived. No luggage yet but staterooms were ready. We had book stateroom 7007 while rebooking after having noise problems from our previous cruise on the Wonder so we knew there would be no upgrade. However, we were fine with what we had. The split bath is wonderful in itself. After attending the lifeboat drill, it was off to change for supper. Our server, Ever Lee from the Philipines was excellent. However half way through the meal, I could feel the rough seas (8 to 12 ft swells according to the tv chanel which I checked every day) and started to feel like I better head back to the room. I just made it in time. Then I thought I would go up on deck and get some air. BIG MISTAKE... I arrived on the upper deck to find it totally abandoned and strong wind gusts and my stomach began turning once again. Good thing I bought a bag with me as I never made it back to the room fast enough this time. Hostess saw me coming back into the room and told me the best thing was to just lay down on the bed flat. Told her I would definitely try that and went back inside to have quick bath first. Good thing there is a sink next to the tub. Thats all I have to say. Quickly crawled into bed and within 15 mins I was fine. One by one my two kids were brought back by DH not feeling so hot. Told them both to lay down and again within 15 mins, they both were fine. DH came back soon after to check on all the "sickies" but we had all been rocked to a peaceful sleep.

DAY 2 - KEY WEST

 

[spsneman]

KEY WEST - DAY 2

We docked at Key West and our plans were that we wanted to do some jetskiing with one of the local charters. The wind was still blowing but we got off the boat and talked with the gentleman at Island Watersports which is right on the marina. They had a tour going out in 10 mins that we could join if we wished. DH left it up to me. (knew he would never hear the end of it if he said "yes" and it was rough) So I figured, why not. We were here and planned this for a while so what the heck. Well when we left the marina it was rough needlesstosay. He told us that the faster you go the smoother the ride and I have riden a jetski before so knew he was correct. However was following behind a woman who obviously had never riden before and kept having to slow down in order to maintain a safe distance and we were not suppose to pass. Waves kept crashing over the hood and my daughter and I were both glad we had on goggles. It was terrible. Finally, I thought to heck with this and overtook her and things were much better as I caught up with my son and husband. Our guide took us out quite far and when he grouped us together at one point, another lady with 2 small children riding a 3 seater decided to go back. So her husband and our second guide escorted her back. The rest of us continued on but after 10 more minutes, our guide said that it was way to rough to go around the point and that we could just tool around the area and then would start heading back. Because of the wind, it was very hard to hear anything he had to say unless he was right next to you. So as far as history of Key West itself goes, I didn't hear much of what he said. He gave up yelling after a while as he knew it was pointless with the wind noise. So our 90 minute tour ended up being over 2 hrs long due to the rough seas.
After we got back, we walked around and checked out some of the shops for a bit, but then decided to head back to the ship for our early seating. If seas were calmer, I would definitely do the jet ski tour again, however I would skip the shops, etc. Not much to see and very pricey. Anyways returned back to have a wonderful dinner and took in The Guardian.

DAY 3 - AT SEA

Spent a wonderful day at sea. Had relatively calm seas and it was nice to relax on deck under the sun.

more to come........

 

[spsneman]

DAY 4 - GRAND CAYMAN

Booked a private Jeep Safari Tour and had an excellent time. Tour guide met us at the Blue Iguana and transported all parties on the tour by SUV to AVIS where we picked up our Jeeps. We stopped at the Rum Cake Factory and then from there onto a coral reef spot overlooking the ocean. Absolutely beautiful. From there it was on to Rum Point Beach where we spent 2 hrs relaxing on the beach and enjoying the water. A local there came over to a bunch of us in the water and had a large stingray in his hands. He let us all take turns holding "her" for pictures. It was great! Didn't ask for any money or anything. After about 40 mins he said she was getting tired and was going to feed her some squid and release her back to the wild. Tour was good however the only thing I wish our tour guide would have had was radios in each vehicle so we could hear him describe the various areas of the island and other interesting tidbits as we drove around. The couple that was riding with him probably got the best tour with first hand narration. After we were dropped back off at the Iguana, we shopped at a few stores on the main street and then headed back on board for our next delicious feast.

DAY 5 - COZUMEL

We booked the Atlantis Sub Tour with Disney and were very pleased with our choice. It was an excellent excursion and we spoke with several people who did the Dolphin excursion and were very disappointed. Tour guide picked us up at the end of the pier and transported us in taxis over to the Atlantis office, about 7 mins away. From there it was onto a tender boat for a 20 min boat ride out to the submarine passing along the coastline for a beautiful view of the country. From the depths, the sub rose out of the water and other tourists exited onto the tender boat and then we were allowed to board the submarine. The water was crystal clear and there were many species of fish to be seen that day. After the excursion and upon boarding the tender boat back to the mainland, the tour guides passed out orange drinks for everyone and then came around with a bottle of something to "spice" it up with if we wanted. Alot of people were impressed.
After we arrived back at the pier, we hit the mall and shopped around and bought a few items and then it was time to head back to the boat for dinner once again.

DAY 6 - AT SEA

Had another beautiful day at sea once again. Managed to see several more movies on the trip: Santa Claus 3, The Prestige, Cars and also managed to get in a game of bingo. My first time playing bingo. Jackpots were all won by people from New Jersey as school was out that week I believe that most of the passengers were from Jersey. The blackout game was worth $4000 and was won by 1 person. My husband was ready to book another trip if we would have won.
We did Palo for brunch and it was excellent. I wished I could have sampled everything, but unfortunately my tummy, which had already begun expanding since the beginning of the trip, was not stretching further at that particular time. Our friend has to stay back with his son so only his wife was able to attend. She asked if she could take a plate back for him and our server said no problem and only charged them for 1 person instead of 2 plus let her take a plate back. Very nice...

DAY 7 - CASTAWAY CAY

Awesome day and best by far. DD and myself did the tandem parasailing which was well worth it. It was so peaceful up in the air. DH and DS did the jetski eco tour and really enjoyed it except my DH wished it would have been longer. Cookies BBQ was excellent as always. I can taste those ribs now...mmmmmmmmm

DAY 8 - Up a 5 am for disembarkation at 6 am. Way to early. Only complaint we had about the entire cruise is that every time we cruise they damage our luggage. On boarding it was the bottom area of the suitcase. On disembarking it was the handle on the same piece. Go figure. Waived goodbye to the Magic as I think next time we are going to try Norweigan and take in the sites of Hawaii....

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Great TR report... glad you all had a great time

Liz

 

[Babs417]

Good trip report you didnt keep us waiting