Eastern 1/19/2008 Where is the !@#$ Ship? No seriously... where's the ship?!

[tksbaskets]

Where did you get these most excellent shirts? I'd love to get them for my family for our June cruise!

I am enjoying the trip report too!

 

[podsnel]

Even though i was not onboard! I was in St John with DH and friends for vacation while you were sailing the Eastern. Anyway, we were on the ferry to St Thomas on Wednesday, and I saw the Magic in port! I went absolutely NUTS over her, because we are doing the Western in November and I have been come a DIS geek, completely obsessed with everything on these boards!!! I have to tell you, it was VERY hard for me not to run up to all of you at the excursion tent and freakishly ask "ARE THERE ANY DISBOARD MEMBERS HERE???" Instead i just gawked at all of you from the ferry while I waited to get off. So, if any of you remember some weirdo blonde pointing and cheering and waving like a lunatic from the ferry....uh...that would be me.

Pretty sure you don't have this last one!

 

[Bethipooh4]

tksbaskets:
We got the shirts from disneyoutletdotcom...it was fun to dress alike..so much fun, we did it 4 out of 7 nights..lol

podsnel:
That last picture is truly amazing!!! What a great shot.

I hope you both enjoy your cruises as much as we did.

 

[chepic]

We got the shirts also, and I got the sundress.....Beth....we have soo much in common.

che

 

[cruisin cat]

Love reading all the reviews. the pics are amazing!! can't wait till my next cruise in Dec. with beth's family and my parents.


still can't get pics up. i must be doing something wrong.
Thank you for your help

 

[MODisneyfan]

Thanks for posting. REally enjoyed the stories and photos..

 

[bertalander]

podsnel

How cool is THAT?! I love those pics you posted. Totally made me laugh.

I have the last day to do... I will get to it honest! Been busy, you know how that goes everyone! Soon, honest, soon!

 

[chepic]

Berta....the first day of the cruise, were you all in Red shirts? We were watching the video last night and we were chatting it up with some family with red t-shirts while we notice a family of dolphins swimming off in the distance. I didn't recognize the man, but I couldn't see any of the other family people with him.

cheryl

 

[podsnel]

podsnel

How cool is THAT?! I love those pics you posted. Totally made me laugh.

I have the last day to do... I will get to it honest! Been busy, you know how that goes everyone! Soon, honest, soon!

Glad I could make you smile ! Can't wait to read about your last day....

 

[bertalander]

Cheryl... man, you saw dolphins? I'm so jealous.

No, we weren't matching or anything the first day. I was amazed we all got there on time!
Podsnel...I know... I need to do the last day. I have some pictures on my other camera I need to upload... anyone know where that cord is?

I linked my blog, or I plan to, to your high in the sky shot. It was just so cool.

Okay, I guess I'll go look for the cord already...

 

[woosie]

Berta,
Just wanted to commiserate. My oldest DD will be turning 11 a week after our Aug cruise, and I've been worried because of her irrational mood swings. I was hoping that the Disney Magic would pull her right out of it. However, after reading your thoroughly enjoyable TR, now I'm thinking I'd best prepare for the worst. Oh well, another 10 years and they'll like us again
Counting down until Aug...

 

[bertalander]

Woosie... hang in there. Isn't this age awful? My MIL LOVES it. I don't so much.

Yes, dd made my eye twitch at times... but, as with childbirth, amnesia quickly set in. It's hard to remember exactly what she did to drive me nuts at this point. Well, other than being mouthy and having an attitude.

Don't expect the Magic to transform your tween and you'll be good to go. Hope you have a WONDERFUL cruise.

 

[bertalander]

Our belated Christmas gift to each family group are their own scrapbook of the cruise. I digiscrap. (Photoshop 7.0 yes, I need to upgrade, I know!) So I'll be printing off books for everyone through Shutterfly.

I'm using Shabby Princess for our books. I'm using a combination of a 'Piece of Cake Album' Smarshmallows plus my own pages using the same kit, Smarshmallows.

There, in digiscrapping it's the rule that you always make sure you let everyone know who made the things you are using. Can you tell?

So, here are the first two pages.

Enjoy. I'll bore you with more later, never fear!

 

[bertalander]

Yes, I finally got out the cable and put the last few pictures on my computer. As I type my videos are downloading.

First of all...

OMG!! Do you see the Mickey Head in the clouds?

It was actually the PERFECT shape, I kid you not, but by the time I grabbed the camera it had shifted. Dh says I didn't read my Navigator closely enough to know when the Mickey Head in the clouds port side would appear.

So... the last morning. Got up way too early. As in waaaaay too early it seemed. I tried to convince Albert to let me hide on his cart until the next sailing. He giggled.

We had a nice, albeit, rushed feeling breakfast. By the time we were doing the rounds giving hugs goodbye I was not happy. And by the time I got to my SIL (pregnant with twins) I started crying. It's true. I was the sappy crying mommy as we left. By the time we got into the crazy long line to disembark... they started kicking off, er, allowing everyone to leave. About then my T1 announced she needed the restroom. We told her to hold it.

Uh, if your kid needs to go, go BEFORE you start to leave. Trust me on this one. It all went really fast and really smooth. BUT there was no restrooms. Which really was another 'duh' mommy moment. Anyways, we stayed behind the line, and must have not looked TOO criminal because they let us back in. And suddenly the cruise was totally over. Well, after a quick run to the bathroom (go right when you walk out the doors!)

Dh and the porter loaded up the van. And we headed over to Sarasota to spend the night with our friend/family Aunt R and her baby, Rhaya!!! ---> This made me so very happy. We stayed up too late and had a bit too much wine. But we loved seeing them SO much. (Even if Aunt R poured her soup all over me at lunch! Hee hee... )

We headed out in the a.m. and, of course, stopped for Chipotle burritos (told you we get them when we can!) This sign cracked me up.

And then we were back to the real world.

Sigh...
_________________________

Thoughts about the cruise...

Seriously, this was the best large family vacation ever. I loved that there was plenty for everyone to do. We were together as much (or as little!) as we wanted to be. The adults were able to have adult only time, which can be hard to come by as more kids join our family. Everyone had their own space. Really, I think cruising in the way to go for a family reunion type activity.

And MIL confirmed this when she informed me we would do it again when the new ships were ready. (And yes, I started crying then too... geeeeesh, I am sappy.)

As a smaller family unit (our five) I would cruise again next year if we could swing it. I simply adored it. Even with T1 being a snot... ... it was an amazing family adventure. I am hoping for 2010 sail date. We'll have to see.

But I promise you... we'll be back.

 

[poffles]

Wonderful report ... a very sad moment as the end is felt by all

Oh well, it puts you that much closer to the next trip.

 

[chepic]

Berta, great ending....I finally finished mine too...

And I know what you mean about those Mickey heads in the clouds, the one I have is from the spa and when I was showing the pictures at work, someone said, "are you kidding me, they put them there on purpose."

Love the scrapbooking pages, and what a great idea. All of our group are scrapbookers, so I luckily do not have to do any books for anyone. I will try to photo one or two of my pages to show you ours. We are getting together next Sat. for a post cruise party to chat about all the things we miss.

cheryl

 

[CraftyMouse]

What a great trip report! It brought back memories of cruises when our kids were younger! Thanks for sharing.

Luis Update: Luis is leaving the ship next Saturday for his break. He's headed back to India and will return to the Magic in time to take it to California for the summer. I sent him a letter with more details about all of you guys (he can never chat for long) and he fondly remembers you all. He said to tell you that he hopes you all sail again sometime.

 

[KimAshton]

What a great TR.

 

[bertalander]

Awwww. shucks. I'm so glad everyone like the trip report!!!

Crafty, thanks for letting Luis now how much we liked him. We were on the run so much, it seemed I never took the time to tell him how much we appreciated the extra effort they put into serving us. We truly enjoyed Luis (and Graham) so very much. He'll see us again for sure.

 

[bertalander]

Added a couple of videos

Pirate Night at AP
Yo Ho, Yo Ho a pirate life for me!

And

Castaway Cay Stingray Adventure
Feeding the stingrays

Enjoy.