PiperG
Can't wait to enjoy our one day of summer here in
- Joined
- May 5, 2002
- Messages
- 1,617
I am incredibly depressed today, but am hoping that this post will cheer me up in that I get to re-live some of the "magic." BTW, if you are looking for excursion information, don't look here. We did spend a little time shopping in St. Thomas and St. Maarten, but returned to the Magic to enjoy a quite day on board.
We traveled from MN to FL on Friday after DS's school was out. We stayed overnight with points at the Hilton Garden Inn. We had stayed at the Marriott before our land and sea in Dec. '01 also with points. I can see where the airport Hyatt would be a bit more convenient, especially if you have very young children. However, if your kids are older and you have some points to use, I think this is a very good way to go. Both times the shuttle came quickly and also got us back to the airport fast to catch a DCL bus.
All the time spent on the boards really paid off Sat morning. Our goal was to get back to the airport about 9:00. Even with a leisurely breakfast I think we got back around 9:10 and were on a bus to the port within 20 - 25 minutes. Once we got to the port, checkin was very quick and we were about the 20th family in line. We met Tinkerwife and MotherHubbard. It was great meeting other Dissers. We saw MotherHubbard and her family quite a bit on the ship and on Castaway Cay!!
We quickly made wine tasting and Palo ressies and got DS 5 registered in the club. Then, onto lunch at Parrot Cay, which was great. It was more crowded than I expected. That is probably because it was quite cool for FL and maybe folks didn't want to sit outside at Topsiders. Regardless, we were seated promptly and had a great meal.
We then went to stateroom 6092. O.k. . . .here is my only real problem. . . the verandah was flooded with water. I had heard on these boards that some verandahs tend to flood when they washed the side of the ship (? a design problem). We asked our cabin steward (O'Dell, who was great), to have it cleaned up. That took place sometime the next day. We had to use water shoes out there that night. They washed the ship down later in the cruise and the same thing happened. Once again, O'Dell had it cleaned the next day, but I think they should automatically take care of that. I commented to that effect on the survey at the end of the cruise. It appeared that cabins adjacent to ours had the same problem.
The two days at sea were amazing, even though the weather on Sunday was a little cold, windy and grey. We had a dismeet in the Promenade lounge by the Internet cafe at 11:30. It was great to put faces and names together and this was a great place/time for a meet.
Cruise director Jim said the second day at sea would also be a little cold, but Tinkerbell sprinkled some pixie dust on the Magic and the day was much better. The Mickey pool was really crowded, although I can guarantee you I will never set foot in that pool again. At one point, we saw a child vomit in the pool (we were waiting for food at Plutos). We were around for a while and the pool was never drained or cleaned after that. I don't know if that means the CMs didn't see it or the parent did not report it. I saw the DW trying to catch the vomit (the DS threw up three times) but ultimately she just rinsed her hands off in the pool. My only regret is that I didn't report that myself.
I only saw the pool closed once during the cruise due to an "accident." I kept my eye out, and didn't see any non-potty trained kids in the pool. I did speak to one parent with a DS 3 who was abiding by the new rule even though it was tough. Good for her!
Shows - we attended the welcome aboard variety show, Morty the Magnificent, the juggler (can't remember his name) and Disney Dreams. They were all fun! DS 5 was in the club at those times. . .its so great to have some "date time" with DH. We just don't get that at home. I heard Hercules was good to, but didn't see it. Disney Dreams is awsome! I hope everyone gets to see it.
Character Breakfast - First, I want to say the food was better than I expected. Someone posted that the meal was the worst of the whole cruise, but I felt it was equitable to Topsiders. DH and I pretty much had the same thing every day and could not see any difference. DS asked for 5 Mickey waffels, which they brought, no problem. On the other hand, the characters don't spend much time at the table. They barely stop for a picture! Minnie was the big favorite this trip, and we really lucked out. As we left Parrot Cay she was also walking out. She went to take the elevator so we rode with her up to the next deck. DS got a hug and a kiss, which he talked about non-stop for the remainder of the cruise. That was really a Magic moment!!!!
All the dinners were great and our servers were amazing. We had Emmanuel (from the Phillipines) as our server and Robert from Hungary as our Asst. server. We had previouly done a land and sea (3-day wonder) and you can tell the difference. The servers really get to know you on the longer cruise. Our dining companions always had coffee with dinner and we always had wine. Robert had the coffee cups and wine glasses at our places before we arrived. He would also serve my after dinner coffee with cream, as he quickly found out that is how I like it! Our tablemates were tremendous fun and I really hope to keep up a correspondence with them.
We ordered room service a couple of times late at night. The food was always delicious. We had the cheese pizza and chicken fingers both times. Yummy! The 24-hr drink station is no longer. . . .a CM fills your cup with your desired beverage upon request. I asked, and the CM said the stand was open 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. I think they must tent it after that. I am sure this is all due to the NW virus.
O.k. . . some posters have wild stories to tell (example, the family left on St. Thomas with kids in the club and the ship went back to get them making the boat late to C. Cay). Here is our wild story:
One night I sent DH up to Deck 9 around midnight to see if there was any food up there. The deck was empty, except for a lady laying on the circular landing that goes up from the Mickey Pool to deck 10. She was dressed to the 9s, and clearly had passed out. He was just about to find a CM to assist, when she woke up and tried to walk. She tilted over to a 45 degree angle, so he caught her and asked if she needed some help. She thought her cabin was on deck 6, so since he was going back he took her down in the elevator. When he asked her room number, she said 660600. Too many numbers, he says! She just claims there are lots of 6s and 0s in the room number, so they decided to try 6600. Once they arrive at room 6600 she just starts banging on the door. DH is hoping a big tatooed guy doesn't answer and punch him in the face. She asks to be taken back to the ESPN bar to which DH says no. She then starts going through her purse looking for a KTTW card. DH tells me she had this little purse that was filled with receipts, coffee cards and grocery saver cards. She kept going through it while he kept her upright. Finally she finds her KTTW card and it works! Just then, the phone starts ringing so she runs for it but starts to fall. He pushes her towards the bed (so her head does not hit the floor) and she picks up the phone. She tells the person on the other end to talk to my DH, but he tells her to just hang up the phone and beats feet out of there. He figures it won't take long for some big guy to get down to the room and knock him out for being in the room with his drunk wife. As he is leaving she calls out, "You are my angel." LOL Well, we saw her a couple of times on the ship and on C. Cay. She seemed to survive thanks to her angel!
Let me know if you have detailed questions I can answer.
We traveled from MN to FL on Friday after DS's school was out. We stayed overnight with points at the Hilton Garden Inn. We had stayed at the Marriott before our land and sea in Dec. '01 also with points. I can see where the airport Hyatt would be a bit more convenient, especially if you have very young children. However, if your kids are older and you have some points to use, I think this is a very good way to go. Both times the shuttle came quickly and also got us back to the airport fast to catch a DCL bus.
All the time spent on the boards really paid off Sat morning. Our goal was to get back to the airport about 9:00. Even with a leisurely breakfast I think we got back around 9:10 and were on a bus to the port within 20 - 25 minutes. Once we got to the port, checkin was very quick and we were about the 20th family in line. We met Tinkerwife and MotherHubbard. It was great meeting other Dissers. We saw MotherHubbard and her family quite a bit on the ship and on Castaway Cay!!
We quickly made wine tasting and Palo ressies and got DS 5 registered in the club. Then, onto lunch at Parrot Cay, which was great. It was more crowded than I expected. That is probably because it was quite cool for FL and maybe folks didn't want to sit outside at Topsiders. Regardless, we were seated promptly and had a great meal.
We then went to stateroom 6092. O.k. . . .here is my only real problem. . . the verandah was flooded with water. I had heard on these boards that some verandahs tend to flood when they washed the side of the ship (? a design problem). We asked our cabin steward (O'Dell, who was great), to have it cleaned up. That took place sometime the next day. We had to use water shoes out there that night. They washed the ship down later in the cruise and the same thing happened. Once again, O'Dell had it cleaned the next day, but I think they should automatically take care of that. I commented to that effect on the survey at the end of the cruise. It appeared that cabins adjacent to ours had the same problem.
The two days at sea were amazing, even though the weather on Sunday was a little cold, windy and grey. We had a dismeet in the Promenade lounge by the Internet cafe at 11:30. It was great to put faces and names together and this was a great place/time for a meet.
Cruise director Jim said the second day at sea would also be a little cold, but Tinkerbell sprinkled some pixie dust on the Magic and the day was much better. The Mickey pool was really crowded, although I can guarantee you I will never set foot in that pool again. At one point, we saw a child vomit in the pool (we were waiting for food at Plutos). We were around for a while and the pool was never drained or cleaned after that. I don't know if that means the CMs didn't see it or the parent did not report it. I saw the DW trying to catch the vomit (the DS threw up three times) but ultimately she just rinsed her hands off in the pool. My only regret is that I didn't report that myself.
I only saw the pool closed once during the cruise due to an "accident." I kept my eye out, and didn't see any non-potty trained kids in the pool. I did speak to one parent with a DS 3 who was abiding by the new rule even though it was tough. Good for her!
Shows - we attended the welcome aboard variety show, Morty the Magnificent, the juggler (can't remember his name) and Disney Dreams. They were all fun! DS 5 was in the club at those times. . .its so great to have some "date time" with DH. We just don't get that at home. I heard Hercules was good to, but didn't see it. Disney Dreams is awsome! I hope everyone gets to see it.
Character Breakfast - First, I want to say the food was better than I expected. Someone posted that the meal was the worst of the whole cruise, but I felt it was equitable to Topsiders. DH and I pretty much had the same thing every day and could not see any difference. DS asked for 5 Mickey waffels, which they brought, no problem. On the other hand, the characters don't spend much time at the table. They barely stop for a picture! Minnie was the big favorite this trip, and we really lucked out. As we left Parrot Cay she was also walking out. She went to take the elevator so we rode with her up to the next deck. DS got a hug and a kiss, which he talked about non-stop for the remainder of the cruise. That was really a Magic moment!!!!
All the dinners were great and our servers were amazing. We had Emmanuel (from the Phillipines) as our server and Robert from Hungary as our Asst. server. We had previouly done a land and sea (3-day wonder) and you can tell the difference. The servers really get to know you on the longer cruise. Our dining companions always had coffee with dinner and we always had wine. Robert had the coffee cups and wine glasses at our places before we arrived. He would also serve my after dinner coffee with cream, as he quickly found out that is how I like it! Our tablemates were tremendous fun and I really hope to keep up a correspondence with them.
We ordered room service a couple of times late at night. The food was always delicious. We had the cheese pizza and chicken fingers both times. Yummy! The 24-hr drink station is no longer. . . .a CM fills your cup with your desired beverage upon request. I asked, and the CM said the stand was open 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. I think they must tent it after that. I am sure this is all due to the NW virus.
O.k. . . some posters have wild stories to tell (example, the family left on St. Thomas with kids in the club and the ship went back to get them making the boat late to C. Cay). Here is our wild story:
One night I sent DH up to Deck 9 around midnight to see if there was any food up there. The deck was empty, except for a lady laying on the circular landing that goes up from the Mickey Pool to deck 10. She was dressed to the 9s, and clearly had passed out. He was just about to find a CM to assist, when she woke up and tried to walk. She tilted over to a 45 degree angle, so he caught her and asked if she needed some help. She thought her cabin was on deck 6, so since he was going back he took her down in the elevator. When he asked her room number, she said 660600. Too many numbers, he says! She just claims there are lots of 6s and 0s in the room number, so they decided to try 6600. Once they arrive at room 6600 she just starts banging on the door. DH is hoping a big tatooed guy doesn't answer and punch him in the face. She asks to be taken back to the ESPN bar to which DH says no. She then starts going through her purse looking for a KTTW card. DH tells me she had this little purse that was filled with receipts, coffee cards and grocery saver cards. She kept going through it while he kept her upright. Finally she finds her KTTW card and it works! Just then, the phone starts ringing so she runs for it but starts to fall. He pushes her towards the bed (so her head does not hit the floor) and she picks up the phone. She tells the person on the other end to talk to my DH, but he tells her to just hang up the phone and beats feet out of there. He figures it won't take long for some big guy to get down to the room and knock him out for being in the room with his drunk wife. As he is leaving she calls out, "You are my angel." LOL Well, we saw her a couple of times on the ship and on C. Cay. She seemed to survive thanks to her angel!
Let me know if you have detailed questions I can answer.
