Eastern Caribbean Magic 3/26/11 - 4/2/11 COMPLETE

[KristiMc]

After I got the unpacking done it was time to head off to the Promenade Lounge for my first DISmeet. I was excited to put names/faces together with the people that I had been chatting with over the last few months.

Steve used his new DCL beer mug for the first of many times at the lounge and we chatted and got to know some of our fellow cruisers.

I only got to stay for a few minutes though because the boys were getting restless and wanted to head to deck 9 to check out the pools.

We headed up to the pool and the kids swam for a bit while I got my first of many drinks of the day. It was so crowded up there at this time - probably because there was not much happening elsewhere yet - but the kids still had fun.

After a while, we headed back to the room so the boys could change before the muster drill. Our station was M which was outside, starboard side - deck 4.

For those of you that have cruised before - you do not need to wear your life jackets anymore. This was nice. After the quick drill we went up to deck 10 to enjoy the sail away party.

After the party, we headed back to room to watch us leave port from our room. The boys spotted the US Coast Guard boat that was cruising along with us. They thought the machine gun was pretty cool.

We then got dressed to head to the show and dinner. We learned though, that we had plenty of time most nights to change for dinner after the show.

The show on the first night was All Aboard! Let the Magic Begin. They had two entertainers giving us a taste of what they would be sharing for their other shows. First up was Dale K who did comedy and hypnosis. He went out into the audience to pick a few guys and 1 girl to do a little trick - he picked Steve. He always seems to get picked for this sort of stuff (Laugh Floor at Magic Kingdom).

The second entertainer was Taylor Mason and his puppets. We all really enjoyed him and later in the week went to the family show.

After the show, we walked around for a bit and went back to the room for a while before we headed to dinner. It had been a long and exciting day and we all were getting a little tired.

Before the cruise I had requested the APL rotation. Steve and I were doing Palo on Formal night so this rotation put us in Lumiere's for semi-formal for when the boys would be dressed up. So for our first dinner we headed to Animator's Palette.

Our main server was Leasa and our assistant server was Benny. They were both really nice and were great with the kids.

Not too long into dinner, Shawn pointed to another table and said that the kid rides on his bus. I thought he was just kidding till the boy waved back. They live in our neighborhood. What a small world.

We were seated at a table of 4 but we got to know the family next to us who were from Chicago. It was nice chatting with them every evening.

We loved the meal. I had the mushroom risotto which was very good. I also loved the butternut squash soup. Steve also had the risotto and the phyllo-wrapped salmon. Matt had the tenderloin. He loved ordering from the adult menu every night and tried some new things. Shawn ordered from the kids menu every night.

One of the best pictures of the cruise was of Shawn who had fallen asleep during dessert with his hand still on his spoon.

We headed back to room and called it a night. It had been a long day and we were excited for Sunday and our first full day at sea.

 

[kdwebb]

He is so cute! That picture is priceless!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Signing on for more fun. Hope to learn alot. Cruising Dec 15, 2012 Fantasy Eastern

 

[KristiMc]

He is so cute! That picture is priceless!

Thanks

Signing on for more fun. Hope to learn alot. Cruising Dec 15, 2012 Fantasy Eastern

You will love the Eastern. We loved the ports - but loved the 3 at sea days even more.

 

[Sleeping*Beauty]

That ice cream picture is too cute. I can't wait to hear more about your cruise.

 

[DundasDad]

Great TR so far! We were on the Magic from Mar 19-26 ... we were the really sad looking people leaving as you were boarding

Us -

You -

Doing an Eastern next year - interested to hear what you did!

 

[cyndi-rella]

Stay tuned... I took lots of pictures of the cabana.



He was not hurt - other than his ego maybe. I did book the cabana at the excursions desk.




When we walked up to the excursion desk we were the only ones there. We were able to book one right away. I heard that on the Dream they waitlist you to make sure that no one in concierge wants to book one. On the Magic it seems to be first come first serve.

Our boys loved the Oceaneer Lab. My younger one checked out the Club but thought it was too young for him.


I know. I should have him relive the moment to get it on camera.


Thank you. We are wanting to try out the Western. Did you like it?

Yes. It was our first cruise and we loved it!!!! We had followed a trip report for a Western that was absolutely wonderful and was full of so many beautiful pictures that I almost felt like we were there.(nenner1 I beleive, sorry if this is incorrect) It helped me picture some of the places that we may be visiting. So here I am lurking over your trip report now.

 

[luvndizny]

Awww...so sweet!!

 

[Ayeegit]

At 1:30 we headed to our room - 6608.

Wow - you guys were just a few doors down from us! Next time I need to do a better job of a) getting to the meet&greet on time, and b) trying to make sure we bump into the people from the boards & threads and get to know everyone a bit.

With this cruise being our first, it seemed like we were so busy right up to the moment we left that I didn't get to take the time to try and figure out where people's rooms were and putting names/families together with the nicknames here on DIS.

 

[KristiMc]

We started our first full day at sea with a wake-up call letting us know that our room service was on its way. Most nights, we put the little room service card out to have some drinks delivered in the morning. We really enjoyed drinking our tea/coffee out on the verandah every morning. Watching the world go by. Such a nice way to start the day.

This was our morning for our character breakfast at Parrot Cay.

Our assistant server Benny made napkin hats for everyone

My boys have never liked waitng in line to get pics with the characters, so the breakfast was a nice way for me to get some.

After breakfast we dropped the boys off at the Lab and Steve and I went to deck 4 to read for a bit. The lounge chairs on deck 4 are so comfy - with a nice cushion. We sat there for a bit and then I was wanting a latte so we went up to Cove Cafe.

We enjoyed our lattes and read some more until we got a text from the lab saying the boys were ready to leave.

After we picked them up we enjoyed some lunch at Topsiders and I think Steve and the boys played fuse ball.

I was really enjoying the relaxing day.

Next up: Martini tasting and date night at Palo

 

[SoonerGirl]

Love the napkin hats What a fun server!

Sounds like a wonderfully relaxing day

 

[KristiMc]

Love the napkin hats What a fun server!

Sounds like a wonderfully relaxing day

We really liked our servers - they were great with the kids. All of our sea days were so relaxing - even though we did many activities.

 

[KristiMc]

After hanging out on deck 9 playing fuse ball we headed back to the room for a bit. The boys just wanted to chill and we had our Martini tasting coming up along with Palo for dinner so a bit of a break was good.

I loved having all of the different movies to watch in the stateroom. I only ever sat down and watched one - but it was nice to have. They also have the DVC lady that plays continually at WDW. They should have Stacy on there also.

After a little break it was time to head to Sessions for our Martini tasting. We dropped the boys off at the lab on the way. Sessions ended up being one of our favorite places on the ship. Not only for the tasty drinks but for the crew members there. Nur - the head bartender was great to chat with and he always remembered Steve and I when we came in.

The Martini tasting was great. Nur headed it up and talked to us about the history of the martini. We got to taste 3 different types, a regular, chocolate and fruity. I thought I would like the chocolate one but it was a little too strong for me. Steve got to make a 007 martini - he then got to drink it also. This one ended up being his favorite.

After we were done, it was time to get the kids and decide what they were going to have for dinner since we were heading to Palo later. They both decided that they wanted room service so back to the room we went.

Room service on the ship is great. It usually took 30 minutes or less to arrive and everything we tried was pretty good.

After they ate it was time to head off to the evening show - Twice Charmed: An Original Twist On The Cinderella Story. The show was really good. I didn't know what the boys would think - being Princess based - but they did enjoy it. The costumes are beautiful.

When the show was over we headed back to the room to get ready for Palo. Steve and I dined at Palo on the Wonder so we knew that we were going to have a nice evening.

Our server was Sasha. He was great. For our appetizer, I had the Tuscan White Bean Soup with Prosciutto and Parmesan cheese. Steve had the Grilled Portobello Mushrooom with Polenta. Both were very good.

For our main entrees, I had the Beef Tenderloin and Steve had the Lamb. Sasha also brought out the Wild Mushroom Risotto for us to share since we both love risotto.

By this time I was getting quite stuffed and we still had dessert. We both had the Chocolate Souffle. I ended up not eating much of mine so Sasha wrapped it so I could take it back to the room. The boys ended up sharing it later.

The dinner was amazing and if you have a cruise coming up, I highly recommend it.

We went to pick up the boys and they did not want to leave the lab, so we went back to the room to change and then just walked around the ship to rest our dinner.

Our first at sea day was great!

 

[karajeboo]

We loved Palo too! Although, I also had the grilled portabello and did not care for it. I thought it would be more portabello and less polenta..... and FYI, I got the recipe for the wild mushroom risotto and made it on Saturday!!!!! It was really good!!!! But my arm is STILL sore from stirring!

I'm so glad your boys enjoyed the Lab/Club - Ally loved it too and it made it so nice to be able to have some quiet adult time mixed in with the crazy family time, right?

And I keep meaning to THANK YOU for the cd - I'm using it and the other CD we got, for the movie I'm making with all our photos and videos. So far it's at 42 minutes and I'm almost done. I feel sorry for any visitors we have coming over anytime soon!

Also, thank you for all the special bday goodies for Ally! I was just going through our FE gifts again. I really enjoyed meeting you and your family!

 

[KristiMc]

We loved Palo too! Although, I also had the grilled portabello and did not care for it. I thought it would be more portabello and less polenta..... and FYI, I got the recipe for the wild mushroom risotto and made it on Saturday!!!!! It was really good!!!! But my arm is STILL sore from stirring!

I'm so glad your boys enjoyed the Lab/Club - Ally loved it too and it made it so nice to be able to have some quiet adult time mixed in with the crazy family time, right?

And I keep meaning to THANK YOU for the cd - I'm using it and the other CD we got, for the movie I'm making with all our photos and videos. So far it's at 42 minutes and I'm almost done. I feel sorry for any visitors we have coming over anytime soon!

Also, thank you for all the special bday goodies for Ally! I was just going through our FE gifts again. I really enjoyed meeting you and your family!

I am glad you liked the CD and that Ally liked her chocolate. I hope she had a great birthday on board.

I really liked meeting you and your family also. Steve has been reading your TR and said that you are pretty funny and that we should have hung out with you guys - I agree.

 

[TopRowSeat]

FYI, I got the recipe for the wild mushroom risotto and made it on Saturday!!!!! It was really good!!!! But my arm is STILL sore from stirring!

Hey KristiMc! We need this recipe. Impress me with your risotto finesse.

 

[wilma-bride]

Shawn is so cute, I love the t-shirt he wore for embarkation day And that picture of him asleep at the table is priceless.

How did your older son enjoy the clubs - my DS will be 8 (nearly 9) on our cruise in October.

 

[KristiMc]

Hey KristiMc! We need this recipe. Impress me with your risotto finesse.

Kara - If you could send me the recipe for the Mushroom Risotto that would be great. Steve seems to think that I am not capable of making it . I already have the ingredients to make another risotto that was featured during one of the Art of Entertaining sessions.

 

[KristiMc]

Shawn is so cute, I love the t-shirt he wore for embarkation day And that picture of him asleep at the table is priceless.

How did your older son enjoy the clubs - my DS will be 8 (nearly 9) on our cruise in October.

Thank you. He is a cutie - though he seems to know it - and thinks he can get away with stuff .

Matt loved the lab. I am sure your son will love it. They have so many activities to do in addition to the computers, Wii and Xbox.

 

[TopRowSeat]

Kara - If you could send me the recipe for the Mushroom Risotto that would be great. Steve seems to think that I am not capable of making it . I already have the ingredients to make another risotto that was featured during one of the Art of Entertaining sessions.

Hey, I watch Hell's Kitchen.. I've seen a lot of chefs go down in flames because they mess up the risotto.

I didn't say you couldn't... exactly... consider it more of a challenge.

Go Sparky!