Halloween on the Magic 10/25-11/1

[JenniferAtl]

Hello!

This is my first trip report - I have seen so many negative posts about our cruise that I had to post a positive report. We truly had a great time!

We: Me, my DH, DD4, my parents, his parents, my 11yo niece

We drove down to DW on Thursday and spent 2 nights at CBR. We loved the new pool at CBR and enjoyed spending Friday in the MK. We arrived at the port on Saturday around 11:30am and was able to board the ship at 12:30pm.

We went straight up to Topsiders and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Our rooms were ready by the time we finished eating and our luggage was delivered pretty quickly. We hauled our luggage into our rooms and took the parents on a tour of the ship.

After the tour, I sent everyone up to Deck 9 and I ran to Guest Services to drop off matte's for the characters to sign. DD4 and DN11 were very excited to get them at the end of the trip.

The deck party was a blast! They handed out ribbons for us to wave which they did not do on our previous cruise and who can pass up singing, "Hey, Hey Baby! Ooh! Aah! I want to know, if you'll be my girl".

The countdown began and we finally heard the horn! The streamers where shot out and both of our parents were amazed. Disney knows how to throw a sail-away party! We hung out and danced for a while until it was time to get ready for dinner. We had the 6:30pm seating and tonight would be our show dinner in Animator's Palate.

Our servers, Andrea and Lazi, were phenomenal! They made a great team and were so nice to the kids. Our Head Server, Yolanda, took time every night to talk to my daughter. She had a lot of questions for her and Yolanda was very patient.

We proceeded to wait in line for the Welcome Aboard Show after dinner and the comedian was pretty funny. We all headed to bed early since we were exhausted from our day at MK but could not wait until CC the next day!

 

[JenniferAtl]

The day started out overcast but ended up being a beautiful sunny day!

We got off the ship at 10am and headed over to the family beach. We like to walk all the way down towards the end where it is less crowded. The water was a little cool at first but once you got all the way in, it was great! We swam and played in the sand for a long time and then headed over to Cookies BBQ. I wanted to secure a table near the DJ so that we could watch the fun while we ate. Stitch came out at 12pm and DD4 danced with him for a long time. We had to get our fill of cookie dough ice cream - yummy!

After lunch, we ventured to the game pavilion and I laughed watching my mom and mother-in-law try to play shuffleboard. They made up all of the rules as they played and somehow at the end they had a score. We played foosball for a while and then headed back to the beach.

My DH, DD, DN and I swam out to the "thing in the water" that you can climb on. My niece did pretty good but my daughter climbed just enough out of my reach that the only way out was for her to drop. DH was waiting in the water so she let go - and loved it!

We really are beach people and enjoy nothing more than sitting in one of those low chairs at the edge of the water watching the kids play. We can do it for hours.

We boarded the ship with enough time to get ready for dinner and headed to Parrot Cay. This is my favorite dining room. I love hearing the birds right before you walk in. Another fabulous dinner and we headed back to our rooms to change. We love walking around the ship at night and later headed up to Pinochio's Pizzeria for a snack.

The only thing that annoyed me is that they were playing the World Series on the Ariel View TV. Annoyed me because I am not a sports fan, I wanted to sit out on deck and watch a Disney flick. But, I can see how that is a major sporting event and why they played it.

Our next day was a Sea Day.

 

[JenniferAtl]

I love these days, we get to sleep in and have a lazy breakfast at Topsiders. Why are the hashbrowns at Topsiders so much tastier than the ones I can get at home?

We spent most of this day at the Mickey Pool watching the girls go down the slide. The lunch buffet was very good and Goofy's Galley has some great paninis! The grandparents spent all day sitting at a table in the shade - this was great because we left our bag and towels with them and never worried about getting a lounge chair.

I did take DD4 down to the room early to give her a bath and let her rest for a while. She loves playing in the window. She brought some stuffed animals with her and loved making them slide down the inside of the porthole. When ever we were in the room, she was in the window. I also ordered the All Hands on Deck Cheese Platter - ok, I ordered 2. I love it!!!

Tonight was Lumiere's and The Golden Mickey's! My mother-in-law made my daughter a beautiful Belle dress to wear that night. She stood in line to talk to Rita Rivers (I think that was her name) on the red carpet and got to say, "The Golden Mickey's are Tonight!". The show was absolutely wonderful and both of our parents were very impressed.

We changed after the show and headed back out for a late night snack. It was a little windy but who cares? I am on vacation, on a Disney ship!

Tomorrow is Cozumel!

 

[JenniferAtl]

It was very windy when we got off the ship in Cozumel. We spoke to a taxi diver who took us to Playa Bonita on the other side of the island. The water was beautiful, clear blue, and calm. The sand was so soft, we played in the water forever. They had a great open-air restaurant - the food was delicous! We laid in chairs under a tiki type umbrella and the kids played in the sand for a long time. When we were ready to leave, our driver took us back to the pier and we did some shopping in the mall area that is there.

I can't resist buying the silver bracelets for friends back home and DD4 had to have those little bobble-head animals. There was a huge (fake) shark hanging up outside and of course we had to climb inside and take pictures. It is such a tourist trap - but we love it!

We got back on board and got ready for dinner. I loved watching the families come running down the pier at the last minute to board the ship. The Officer was already putting the ramp back on the ship when one family with snorkeling equipment came screaming down the pier. We just waved from our window and finished getting ready for dinner. We were back in Lumiere's again and then went to see Twice Charmed.

We had 12 foot seas this evening and the ship was a little rocky. My daughter started to not feel well during Twice Charmed and then proceeded to throw up all over my husband. We went back to the room and he took all of their clothes to the laundry. My DD4 said that her tummy was moving and that is why she was sick. Poor thing, I gave her a bath and put her to bed. She did really well the rest of the evening and slept like a rock. So, it was an early night for us, but I did not mind. I finally had a chance to catch up on my "Shopaholic" book and the adventures of Becky Bloomwood.

Tomorrow is "supposed" to be Grand Cayman.

 

[trekkie518]

This is great, sounds like you had a good time. Thanks for telling us about it.

 

[JenniferAtl]

Well, as we suspected during the evening, the water was too rough for us to tender into Grand Cayman but Disney quickly announced that it would be a Sea Day and we would be heading to Key West. They were very quick about getting revised Navigators delivered to the staterooms. We let DD4 sleep in today and did not leave the room until 10am. We had a quick breakfast and decided to skip the pools today since it was a little rocky. We watched Wall-E, grabbed lunch, and then watched Tinkerbell. We bought a bag of popcorn and DD4 tried to open it and split the entire bag down the side.

I loved both of these movies and Tinkerbell has gone on the Christmas wish list. I loved watching her story and the tie-in to Peter Pan with the music box.

We took DD4 to the kids club this day and let her play on the slide for a while. It was a very laze day for us, but we enjoyed it.

I am getting the shows at night mixed up - I think this night was a variety type show or maybe there was not a show. I will have to consult my Navigator later. Oh, wait a minute, I think this was the night of High School Musical 3. I also think this may have been Pirate Night. The girls both had costumes and all of the adults had Pirate shirts. We all put on Pirate Mickey Ears and headed to Animator's for dinner. It was a little too windy for Mickey to slide down the wire, but he saved the ship from Capt. Hook anyway. We skipped the buffet this night because DD4 was not in a good mood. Oh yes, it is all coming back to me now. Taking her behind a beverage station on deck and having a very firm talk with her. Telling her how lucky she was that she was not going back down to the cabin - lucky because Mommy wanted to stay for the Pirate Party.

All in all, it was a lovely day and we were excited about Key West.

 

[JenniferAtl]

I love Key West. We have been here several times and it never gets old. I love how laid back it is and the weather is wonderful!

We had to dock at the military base and DCL arranged for trolley's and conch trains to take us into town. We walked down to the Butterfly House and had such a great time in there. A butterfly landed on DD4's head but niece was scared to death of them! She loved to look at them but ran if one flew close to her. Seriously, what was it going to do? She was a good sport though!

Several of us had butterfly's land on us and we took some great pictures. When we left, we walked around the corner to the Southernmost Point and took the obligatory picture. We really enjoy walking in Key West and the people are all very nice. She shopped at some booths on the street and then boarded our conch train back to the ship. This was trick-or-treat day so we needed to get ready!

My daughter was Cruela de Ville and were all of her puppies. We each had a shirt with a pic of a puppy on it and a name. She had so much fun walking around and getting candy. We all barked as we walked behind her. I'm sorry if that was annoying to everyone else - my dad barked really loud.

We ended up on deck and had our pic with Mickey. The kids danced and then sat down to eat some candy. I was really suprised with how much candy she got - her bag was almost completely full. All of the staff were dressed in graduation outfits from High School Musical and gave out hand-fulls of candy.

Dinner was in Parrot Cay and it was so fun to see everyone dressed up. There was a great Halloween display going into the dining room with fabulously carved pumpkins.

We went to the show that night - Disney Dreams. This is my favorite show and always makes me cry. We changed after the show and went up on deck. They were playing Haunted Mansion on the screen so we grabbed some pizza and sat down. It was windy and chilly but the pizza was hot!

One more day at CC!

 

[JenniferAtl]

Today was our last day. It started out rainy but the sun made it out and it ended up being beautiful!

We got off the ship around 11am and found some chairs on the family beach. The BBQ was yummy - as usual. We swam for a while and then my DH, DD4, DN11 and I rented a 4 person paddle-boat. DH and DN did the paddling and we went around the entire perimeter. We paddled out to the Flying Dutchman, down the side of the Magic, and then along the rocks and made it back to shore. We saw a few stingrays and the water was so clear.

I took my niece snorkeling after this. This was her first time snorkeling and my first time snorking at CC. It was amazing! I did not know there were so many things "sunk" out in the water. We saw a pretty big stingray and 2 barracuda. Very scary looking with jacked up teeth. We swam away from them and went to all of the spots - the sub, boat, Minnie. I dove down and found some beautiful shells. My niece really loved it and I'm so glad she did not get scared. We stayed out for an hour and had a blast.

We got some ice cream and headed back over to the family. We swam for a long time and then chilled in the chairs.

I hate leaving CC on this last day, it is so depressing. This is why we book another cruise while still on board. We love having another trip to look forward to!

That night was dinner in Lumiere's and then the Remember the Magic show. The comedian that juggled was hysterical! I would have loved to see his adult show. We did some shopping after the show and visited Shutters to make some more purchases.

We got a great place for the Farewell and everyone really enjoyed it.

Somehow, we got everything packed and out in the hallway by 11pm.

The next morning we were off the ship by 8:15am and headed back over to CBR. We checked in and then proceeded back to MK. We were so exhausted by 9pm, we headed back to the room, set the clocks back and went to sleep.

We did not wake up until 9am the next morning. We grabbed breakfast at Old Port Royale and then drove back to Atlanta.

We had a fabulous time and cherish all of the little moments we have during vacation.

Kisses from my daughter telling me what a great time she is having, the smiles on our parents faces, watching my niece laugh herself silly at dinner and sharing a pizza on deck - all 8 of us crowded around one table.

Thank you Disney for giving us such a Magical Vacation! We can't wait to do it again.

 

[jns]

Hello!
This is my first trip report - I have seen so many negative posts about our cruise that I had to post a positive report. We truly had a great time!

Hi we were on the same cruise too and had a great cruise too

Our servers, Andrea and Lazi, were phenomenal! They made a great team and were so nice to the kids. Our Head Server, Yolanda, took time every night to talk to my daughter.

We had Andrea and Lazi too for the 8.30 seating and totally agree with you they made our cruise
They looked after the boys the night we went to Palo and they had a ball Yolanda was wonderful too

you are doing a great job of your report
love reading about everyones views on the cruise

 

[TotallyAngelic]

HI
We were on this cruise too and had a great time! I have really enjoyed reading your trip report. We must have been somewhere near you on Castaway Cay family beach, as we were on the last group of sun loungers on the beach before the path to the Heads Up Bar (my DS was the only person on CC with a woolly hat on!)

 

[dvc4life]

JenniferAtl -

I have thouroughly enjoyed reading your report. I am so glad to hear you had such a wonderful time. We did as well. In fact, on your last post I was almost crying. It is sad to leave CC that last day.

We didn't book another cruise on board, but the next day it took us around 3 hours of calling before we got booked on the DVC Member Cruise in September. I can't wait!!!

Again, thanks for the great trip report!!!!

 

[JenniferAtl]

Thanks for reading everyone! I know there were a ton of Diser's on board.

 

[Jaime]

I love Key West. We have been here several times and it never gets old. I love how laid back it is and the weather is wonderful!

We had to dock at the military base and DCL arranged for trolley's and conch trains to take us into town. We walked down to the Butterfly House and had such a great time in there. A butterfly landed on DD4's head but niece was scared to death of them! She loved to look at them but ran if one flew close to her. Seriously, what was it going to do? She was a good sport though!

Several of us had butterfly's land on us and we took some great pictures. When we left, we walked around the corner to the Southernmost Point and took the obligatory picture. We really enjoy walking in Key West and the people are all very nice. She shopped at some booths on the street and then boarded our conch train back to the ship. This was trick-or-treat day so we needed to get ready!

My daughter was Cruela de Ville and were all of her puppies. We each had a shirt with a pic of a puppy on it and a name. She had so much fun walking around and getting candy. We all barked as we walked behind her. I'm sorry if that was annoying to everyone else - my dad barked really loud.

We ended up on deck and had our pic with Mickey. The kids danced and then sat down to eat some candy. I was really suprised with how much candy she got - her bag was almost completely full. All of the staff were dressed in graduation outfits from High School Musical and gave out hand-fulls of candy.

Dinner was in Parrot Cay and it was so fun to see everyone dressed up. There was a great Halloween display going into the dining room with fabulously carved pumpkins.

We went to the show that night - Disney Dreams. This is my favorite show and always makes me cry. We changed after the show and went up on deck. They were playing Haunted Mansion on the screen so we grabbed some pizza and sat down. It was windy and chilly but the pizza was hot!

One more day at CC!

I loved your trip report! We are hoping to go next Halloween! Halloween sound perfect...not over done but fun for everyone

I have a couple of questions if you don't mind...

Was there a halloween family dance party on deck with charaters?
Were the servers dressed up in the dining rooms too...like on pirate night?
Is it a long walk from dock to the butterfly house? My kids will be 5 & 7 and it sounds like something they would really enjoy!

 

[jollytammy]

great tr!!!!!

 

[BeachPartyof3]

We had Andrea and Lazi too

We had Andrea and Lazi too...the week before at the 5:45 seating. I have tons of pictures with Andrea and my daughter, they adored each other. Andrea would get upset every dinner we came without her (2 times we left her in the kids club for dinner.. at 5 she had trouble sitting through the longer more formal meals.

 

[frdeb1999]

Wonderful TR!

 

[slindamood]

I loved reading your trip report. We were on this cruise as well. Also had a great time.

I know your feeling on leaving CC - we were the first ones in the water in the morning (what's a little rain when it's CC) and I was the last one out of the snorkeling area when they closed the beach!!

Thanks for sharing.

suzanne

 

[JenniferAtl]

I loved your trip report! We are hoping to go next Halloween! Halloween sound perfect...not over done but fun for everyone

I have a couple of questions if you don't mind...

Was there a halloween family dance party on deck with charaters?
Were the servers dressed up in the dining rooms too...like on pirate night?
Is it a long walk from dock to the butterfly house? My kids will be 5 & 7 and it sounds like something they would really enjoy!

Hello!

There was a dance party on deck after the trick-or-treating. Mickey, Chip-n-Dale, and another character were on deck for pictures in the gazebos on either side of the pool. There were characters around the ship the rest of the day in costume. The servers were not dressed up but all of the guests who had costumes wore them to dinner. There was a great pumpkin display in the dining room - I will have to post some pics when I get home.

The Butterfly House is 1.5 miles down Duvall street from where you get off the ship. We walked - my 4 year old was in a stroller. It is completely flat and the weather was beautiful so we enjoyed the walk. My parents took a pedicab (bicycle cab) and it was around $15.

If you exit the Butterfly place and turn right and then an immediate right, you are 1 block from the Southernmost Point.

Here is a link: http://www.keywestbutterfly.com/