February 21, 2009 Magic Western Caribean

[stacieps]

I was just looking at the DCL site and noticed that a Secret Porthole room has opened up for our cruise - if anyone is interested room #5524 is available.
We had originally booked connecting Cat 10s on deck 2 and a few months ago were able to get connecting SPH rooms 5022 and 5024.

I'm really looking forward to this cruise - only 2 months to go!

 

[DMMarla07860]

I can wait for this cruise

 

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Not much longer now! and Christmas is almost here! 1 week until Christmas Eve!!

 

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Hope everyone is having a great holidays!

Did you guys here that we are getting our fuel surcharge back as an onboard credit? I read it on a different forum. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[DMMarla07860]

hope everyone had great holidays,this cruise is getting so close can't wait

 

[pouncingpluto]

Happy Holidays!

C&D... I don't know anything about the fuel surcharge. I'm not even sure if we were supposed to pay one, since we are cruising on DVC points.

 

[mc2]

Happy Holidays!

Just realized we're heading to Florida in 52 days!!!

I remember hitting the 70s in our countdown chain and thinking that I hoped the time would go by quickly - nothing like the holidays to make the time go by on warp speed!! lol!

We still haven't sent out our Christmas cards yet (time kind of got away from us this year! oops! ), so if the next 52 days go by as quickly, we'll be there in no time! woo hoo!

Re: the fuel surcharge, I had also read on another board that they would be giving an OBC - I have emailed our TA to ask her if we paid it - we paid in full early in the spring to maximize the exchange rate while it was still good (which actually worked out really well for us), so I think we may have escaped paying it because we didn't have an outstanding balance when they introduced it in the first place? I'll let you know if she offers any insight that would be of note.

If I close my eyes, I can feel the sand between my toes.... I'm either REALLY excited to be getting so close, or in complete denial of the 30 cm of snow and high winds we have forecasted for tomorrow night!

Take care!

 

[pouncingpluto]

I've started looking at swimsuits!

 

[mc2]

I've started looking at swimsuits!

SWIMSUITS!!!
Bought an eliptical machine 3 months ago with the intention of starting a serious workout regimen in advance of the cruise - makes a great spot for hanging clothes!

Guess we all know what MY New Year's resolution will be for this year!!

 

[mc2]

OH MY WORD!
Just found out that we don't just have a winter storm warning for tonight, but we have an actual BLIZZARD warning - upgraded to 45 cm of snow and winds in the 100 km/hr + range!!

There's no place like the cruise....there's no place like the cruise...(clicking my heels)....

Side note aside, I wanted to post to share with you that I called the Disney reservation line this morning (1-800-951-3532), and anyone who booked our cruise before May 28 would not/should not have been charged the fuel surcharge. Those who booked after that date and are on our cruise will be receiving an on-board credit equivalent to the amount of the surcharge. If you give them a call, I'm sure they can tell you a) if you paid the surcharge or not and b) the amount of your on-board credit.

 

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Thanks For checking on that!!

I hope Everyone has a good New Year! mc2: Dopey and I may be stuck in the house tomorrow due to the blizzard. (although I am supose to work at 9am) I hate snow....can't wait for the warm weather!

 

[Dave and Micha]

Hey fellow cruisers...we're Dave and Michael from Braunfels, Germany and just booked this cruise as a 2 week B2B! It will be my 68th cruise, but my first Disney. We are really excited! I'm a total Disneyfile having grown up in Orlando (my first job was in the Liberty Tree Tavern) and can't wait to see what Disney has done on the high seas!

Any past Disney cruisers here with some tips on what to expect, bring, etc?

We've been to most of the ports several times and can answer/advise anyone who might have questions.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Dave

 

[pouncingpluto]

Welcome! So you're from Orlando, but is Michael German? I'm a Germanophile myself. Spent a year outside Cologne as a high school exchange student, and I just spent this past summer in Berlin working at an office of an American law firm.

 

[Cinderella&Dopey]

Welcome Aboard! This is our second Disney Cruise!

My tip to you would be!
Make sure to book Palo's! Dinner, Brunch, High tea! If you can't get a ressie don't worry you can get one once on the boat!

Hey fellow cruisers...we're Dave and Michael from Braunfels, Germany and just booked this cruise as a 2 week B2B! It will be my 68th cruise, but my first Disney. We are really excited! I'm a total Disneyfile having grown up in Orlando (my first job was in the Liberty Tree Tavern) and can't wait to see what Disney has done on the high seas!

Any past Disney cruisers here with some tips on what to expect, bring, etc?

We've been to most of the ports several times and can answer/advise anyone who might have questions.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Dave

 

[DMMarla07860]

Hey fellow cruisers...we're Dave and Michael from Braunfels, Germany and just booked this cruise as a 2 week B2B! It will be my 68th cruise, but my first Disney. We are really excited! I'm a total Disneyfile having grown up in Orlando (my first job was in the Liberty Tree Tavern) and can't wait to see what Disney has done on the high seas!

Any past Disney cruisers here with some tips on what to expect, bring, etc?

We've been to most of the ports several times and can answer/advise anyone who might have questions.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Dave

welcome, your doing a b2b, will this be your first week or second week, I'm doing a b2b as well, this will be my first cruise then the cruise after this will be my second week

 

[Dave and Micha]

welcome, your doing a b2b, will this be your first week or second week, I'm doing a b2b as well, this will be my first cruise then the cruise after this will be my second week

This will be our first week. We've been in all of these ports before except, oddly, Grand Cayman. We are really excited about this trip. Disney brings out the kid in everyone, eh?

 

[Dave and Micha]

Welcome Aboard! This is our second Disney Cruise!

My tip to you would be!
Make sure to book Palo's! Dinner, Brunch, High tea! If you can't get a ressie don't worry you can get one once on the boat!

Thanks for the advice... we are booked for dinner one night each week. Are the formal nights on the second and sixth night like on most cruises? I reserved in Palo for the first night since that is usually kind of quiet and everyone is getting adjusted and settled in. We really would like to attend the high tea, do you really need a ressie for that? Should we check as soon as we get on board?

Is there any nightlife on this ship or are all the tired parents in bed by 11?

 

[Dave and Micha]

Welcome! So you're from Orlando, but is Michael German? I'm a Germanophile myself. Spent a year outside Cologne as a high school exchange student, and I just spent this past summer in Berlin working at an office of an American law firm.

You had a Disney wedding? How jealous am I!!! I can't think of many venues better than that! I'd like to hear about it over a cocktail!!!!

As for being from Orlando, yeah, I grew up there; born in Philly, lived in Orlando from 78 to 97. Loved it!!!! Although glad I don't live there anymore...way too much traffic and congestion and development.

Michael was born in Köln/Cologne and we live halfway between Köln and Frankfurt on the border of the Western forest and the Taunus mountains; this is the area where the Grimm brothers did their etymology research by gathering the various folklore and combining them into the cohesive fairy tales that we know and love today. (Kannst du Deutsch sprechen?) Since our castle (from 1275) was the inspiration for Neu Schwannstein we like to say it is the grandmother to Cinderella's castle in DW.

Berlin is awesome, eh?

 

[DMMarla07860]

Thanks for the advice... we are booked for dinner one night each week. Are the formal nights on the second and sixth night like on most cruises? I reserved in Palo for the first night since that is usually kind of quiet and everyone is getting adjusted and settled in. We really would like to attend the high tea, do you really need a ressie for that? Should we check as soon as we get on board?

Is there any nightlife on this ship or are all the tired parents in bed by 11?

there is some nightlife, not much but some

 

[Dave and Micha]

Kind of what we figured... we've found that on our last cruises the bars were so smoky that they were no fun to hang out in... so there weren't that many late nights.


Does anyone know what they are doing in Cozumel?

If you are looking for a nice beach with swimming activites, food and drink in an all inclusive price we always go to Playa Mia. They have a pool, a decent changing area, unlimited drinks and use of all the non motorized watercraft, play and snorkel areas, etc. We've been there 4 or 5 times and always loved it. It is a short taxi ride away and you can stay as long as you want to (unlike a ship tour that will whisk you away just when the fun is getting started.) The web site is PlayaMia dot com

It costs around $50 per day with food and $35 or so without. The taxi ride costs less than $10 for the whole cab.