February 26, 2005, Magic Western

[christinou]

Christy, my girls are 7 and 9. I have to confess that I am not certified to dive, only my husband is, I figure that I will get my certification with my girls, we are planning the same age as you are Brenda.....
Our girls know about the cruise, so no surprise there, what they don't know is that we are going to now spend 2 days at Disney world before the cruise, we are arriving in Florida early Thursday morning, and then we will drive to the port Saturday morning.
We are so excited, we are leaving in 2 weeks today.
My girls starting snorkeling when they were 5-6, and my younger one did not do that great at that age, my older one is more adventurous and was fine, they are both very confortable in the water.
Christy, you could do an excursion in Grand Cayman with someone other than Disney, Captain Marvin appears to have good reviews, Kim has booked with them I believe, and they will take a 4 year old. In Cozumel the girls are I are going to Paradise Beach, it seems like a great place, clean and kid friendly, they have a water trampoline and an iceberg to climb, which I know my girls will love.

 

[banderson]

I think I read somewhere that you can touch the bottom where the stingrays are. If that's the case, Christy, your little one would still see the rays. Hold him in your arms and let him simply put his face in the water (if he wants to, of course). Check with Captain Marvins like Christine suggested. Ask them whether you would be able to touch bottom and still be close enough to the rays and whether the guides would help bring a ray close enough for your son to see well and/or touch. Kim may have posted Captain Marvins email address a while back. I would look into that.

Also, if you haven't already done so, buy your son one of those little swim shirts/rash guards (preferably long-sleeved)...they are fantastic (see www.island-scuba.com/page/001/CTGY/rash_guards for general idea). I swear by those things because my kids are so fair and blue-eyed. They wear them from 10-2 when the sun is at its highest. It's more effective than sunblock. If you cannot find them in Colorado, you'll probably be able to pick one up in Key West. I cannot recommend those shirts enough.

 

[kshabare]

Hey guys, I'm still here!

I'm so excited we have so many DISers on this ship! I have a list going if anyone wants me to post it. I can post it on my personal site if you so desire.

Captain Marvin's site is http://www.captainmarvins.com/secureres/index.html. We're booked for 1/2 day excursion on 3/1/2005 @ 10:00 am. I cannot wait. Yes, children can go along. I'm not sure of the age limit. See, you can choose to stay on the boat the entire time. You do snorkel in 6-10 feet of water (8 ft??) first but then at Stingray City you can touch. My son was 8 at the time and was able to touch bottom. It was an awesome experience. My husband wouldn't snorkel with them but assures me this time he'll be brave enough LOL!!!

Counting down kids. I can taste the Mickey Bar already!!!

Kim

 

[LittleB's Mom]

I would love to see the complete list of all DISers going on our cruise. I am having such a hard time focusing on day to day activities knowing this cruise is right around the corner.

 

[banderson]

I like the list idea too.

I suspect our sons will finally find out in the next few days. If anyone has kids from 7 to 10 who may be interested in exchanging emails/photos with my sons over the next few weeks, send me a PM.

Brenda

 

[LittleB's Mom]

LittleB'sMom...I also have a DD who just turned 5 in July. Maybe we could arrange a meeting of the two . I think DD would like the idea of having a "friend" on the ship right away!


Hi Tracey -- are you still interested in arranging for our princesses to meet? Marissa is my 5 year old and she would love to have a friend on board. We are arriving Friday and staying at the Marriott. Planning on getting to the terminal early Saturday. Let me know.

Susan

 

[kriso]

Hi Christine, Christy and Brenda ! I'm Patti from Illinois I've posted just a couple times before but been following daily! Brenda I have a DS that is 8 and Im sure he would love to exchange an email before the trip with your DSs. This is my families first cruise and I must say we are so excited about it. My 16 year old DD has her suitcase packed except for her dresses.....she's ready!!! We are on the 6th deck also. We are also doing excursions but never taking a cruise before I was worried to book excursions on my own so I booked thru Disney. I have been reading so much and have found this dis board so helpful! Just about 2 weeks for nice warm weather, sunshine and I can't wait to try a key lime marguarita !! Patti

 

[christinou]

Ladies we will be doing the single digit dance very soon , I have to start getting ready with my packing, I have not started yet.....

 

[banderson]

We arrive at 2 in the afternoon. Have no plans as yet for the afternoon/evening, so may just relax in the hotel.

 

[christinou]

Exactly 2 weeks from now, some of us will be arriving at the port, I certainly hope that the passengers leaving today on the Western cruise will take good care of "our" ship....

 

[banderson]

I'm stuck working on a rush project today, while my family is off skiing . But, once in a while I pop over to www.portcanaveral.org/multimedia/webcam.htm and get a look at the ship and then I feel much better. In two weeks, I'll be looking at the ocean reading a book, not looking at our frozen over pool and translating bank documents...ahhhh, if only we could vacation 46 weeks a year and work 6! Now the Europeans, they know how to live...

 

[kshabare]

Good morning. I just cannot sleep today. So, I completed our VERY BASIC sailing list and plopped it on my family-site.

http://www.shabbyfam.us/WesternSailing02262005.html

If anyone wants more information put on it, let me know. I was reluctant to put our cabin #s on it just because we have children sailing. If this is not a concern, let me know and we can add it.

Kim

 

[christinou]

Kim that is great, can you add my husband Bill 41, my girls are Emilie 9, Camille 7.

 

[natdencro]

Hi guys. Just booked onto 26th Western, so look forward to meeting you good folks.Daughter is CM on board (from England), so cant wait for our vacation for many reasons. Been 5months since she left for the Magic. She rang from Key West an hour ago, and the weather is glorious!Cant believe we will be there in just 14days.Get packing, and have safe journeys. Perhaps me and hubby (Dave) could be added to the cruising list. Many thanks. Take care. Nat

 

[christinou]

Welcome aboard Nat, it is amazing that you could find a cabin so close to sailing time, where does your daughter work, you must be really looking forward to seeing her...

 

[natdencro]

Thanks for the welcome.Yes, had to wait til now before booking, so am very lucky!Ship is full I understand. Daughter is in Palo, so no doubt many of you will get to meet her. See you on 26th!Nat

 

[kshabare]

Okay, I made those changes!

I also made a note on the link that we'll try and arrange a meet on that sea-day Monday at 3:00 pm by Scoops. Kids can get a smoothie. Moms and Dads can get a smoothie(wink, wink). I'm just so excited! Our suitcases have now come upstairs to the foot of the bed and are partially packed.

Nat - I've seen your name around the Dis before. Looking forward to bumping into you. We're on our 4th cruise just Magic so maybe we've bumped into your daughter already. I envy these CMs sometimes.

Kim

 

[walczak4]

LittleB'sMom...Sorry for the late reply. My 2YO has really been giving me a run for my money the last couple of days! Can't wait to relax by the Mickey pool Bethany (my 5YO ) says definitely YES, she wants to meet Marissa. She's already making plans for what the two of them can do "We can go to the club together and swim together" etc.

Natdencro...What is your daughters name? We have the REAS package so we have Palo dinner booked for Sunday evening and Palo brunch booked for Thursday morning. Maybe we can request her as our server

REALLY looking forward to meeting all of you. Monday @ 3:00 by scoops sounds good to me as I'm sure we'll be spending lots of time by the pools (DD is a )

2 weeks from now at this time I'll be getting ready for our dinner at Palo. Our first "Mom & Dad only" dinner in quite awhile! I'm drooling just thinking about it!

 

[Beloreteers]

Hi everyone!

Kim - thanks so much for the captain marvin info! AND for the cruiser list - nice to see so many names there!

Welcome Patti - we look forward to meeting you at the meet and greet! And DH and I hope to get to meet your daughter in Palo.

Have we all started packing? I decided it might not be too early now! I've wanted to pack since booking in January!

Is anyone planning to go on the semi-sub in Cayman? Island tour? What about Xcaret in Cozumel? A bit $$, but underground stream, etc sound worth it. Anyone been?

Check out http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=7634668#post7634668 for a trip report from a recent Western cruiser.
Steve has great info/tips.

Christy

 

[PattiO]

Thanks Kim for the list, that was great and I hope to meet everyone Monday at Scoops too! Hard to believe it's less than 2 weeks now. The weather here in Illinois has been miserable and we are all getting over colds so we are ready for warm weather and sunshine!! Anxious to meet you all soon. Patti