January 13, 2007 - 7 Night Magic Western

[pdarrah]

OK - I know it's really early - but is anyone else booked on this cruise yet?

We just booked onboard the Magic last week. We have attempted the Western for the last 2 years in October and are yet to do a completely normal Western cruise! Ivan messed up Grand Cayman last year and Wilma turned our cruise into an Eastern this year! Since third time is the charm, we are trying once again! Cruising in January should help also - no hurricanes!

Although my parents cruised with us this year (Oct 22, 2005), we are back to just myself, DH and DS (who will be 7 1/2 for this next cruise).

Would you believe that I already have one of our excursions booked!?! We were planning on snorkeling with Eagle Ray Divers in Cozumel (which we also did last year) and when Wilma messed up our plans we "rescheduled" with them for our Jan 2007 cruise. We have had Capt. Marvins Stingray City excursion booked the last 2 years and then had to cancel - I assume I'll book it again this time, but I'll probably wait until we are a little closer

If there is already a thread for this cruise, please just point me to it and I'll give up on this one - I just couldn't find it!

Pdarrah

 

[Maryoh8]

We are booked on the Magic on 1/20/07 to try to get an Eastern Cruise. We have been to the Western now 3 times all during the hurricane season.

I think yours is the first post for this cruise!

 

[Lisa]

My husband, daughter, and I along with my mother and her husband will be doing this cruise. There is a possibility that our friends with their parents will also be on the cruise.

We've done both the western and eastern cruise, looking forward to seeing Cozumel and Grand Cayman again.

 

[pdarrah]

Hooray! We're not the only DISers on the boat

We took a Western cruise on Carnival back in the early 90's and we did go to Grand Cayman then - but we have missed it the last 2 years when we've tried the Western on DCL due to hurricanes (Ivan last year and Wilma this year!)

We also have friends that may be joining us. We met them last year here on the DIS when we were on the same cruise. A few months before we figured out that we live less than 15 minutes apart. We met before the cruise and immediately became friends. They are thinking of the Jan 2007 cruise since we had so much sailing together last year.

Is you daughter of an age to enjoy the kid clubs? DS6 (7 when we cruise again) LOVES the club and the Mickey pool...

Thanks for posting - hopefully, we'll get more DISers joining us in the next year+.

pdarrah

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

HI Pamela!
We're not with you in '07 but still remember climbing those ruins in Chocchoban with you in '04. (You all have a master planner on board. Wait until you see the web site!)

We actually saw you and Dan and Darrah at the airport the day you were leaving (10/22 Magic) and we were heading out (10/29 Magic). Darrah's gettin' big.

Have a blast on your trip. We'll be on 8/06 and ?/07

Cheri

(now back to your regular thread )

 

[cepmom]

just booked this morning. I was going to wait until summer 2007 prices were released, then I decied to try for January and just take the kids out of school (it will be a 4 day week due to Martin Luther King Jr day off from school). DH and I have a 3 night planned for 8/31/ 06 and I'm not sure I have enough time to save up for both cruises so close together...we may have to cancel the 3 night. We've never cruised in January before....anyone else here have? How is the weather usually? It will be nice to get away from the cold and snow, I'm sure

Our last cruise was in August 2005...the same week Hurricane Katrina blew through New Orleans. Not sure I want to chance going in hurricane season again after that

There will be 5 of us ~myself, DH and our three girls 17, 9 and 6 (at the time of the cruise)

 

[pdarrah]

Hi Cepmom!

I like the idea of getting out of the cold in January also - we live near Chicago and January is just cold, gloomy and depressing. We haven't cruised during January - our last 2 have been late October and years and years ago we did a Western (Carnival) in late February. The February cruise had great weather and since the Western ports are mostly pretty far south I would think that the weather would still be pretty warm there (particularly compared to what we'll be used to at home!)

I actually did a little research on the net - Key West seems have an average high in the mid-70's in mid January. (A few days in the 80's, a few in the upper 60's - but mostly in the 70's). The Bahamas (Castaway Cay) is pretty similar. I've heard that the water is "cold" at CC in the winter - but I don't know if that is a southener or northener point of view! Cozumel has an average high in the low-80's. I couldn't find detailed info on Grand Cayman - but it should be similar to Cozumel. Both islands are far enough south that the water temp should still be close to 80 even during the winter.

We also chose this week because of MLK day. This year, DS6 (7 for next cruise) missed 7 days of school It doesn't seem to have been a big problem (the school wasn't thrilled, but didn't complain too much either) but we don't want to do that every year. He'll only miss 4 days this time!

Right now, everyone in our house is fighting a bad cold. I'll probably wait to start a website for our cruise until after the holidays... Fortunately, it will be VERY similar to the websites for the last 2 cruises since we are trying AGAIN to try and get the full Western itinerary!

pdarrah

 

[cepmom]

in my oldest DD's high school, vacation days are considered "unexcused absences" and when you have more than 5 unexcused absences, you get an attendance failure. Sick days without a Dr's note are also considered "unexcused"...it makes me so angry!! I mean....don't people get legitmately sick without needing to go see their doctor?

A couple of years ago, we took her our of school to go to Disney World ~ she missed 5 days on vacation and was out sick (stomach bug) for 1 day. That put us over the limit and they wouldn't consider the sick day excused because I didn't have a Dr's note...give me a break! SO I told them the next time she was throwing up, she would go to school and spread it all around...they finally decided to consider that sick day excused

So she will only miss 4 days of school over MLK week and hopefully she won't get sick (or if she does ~ she better be sick enough to require a Dr's visit )

Do you all fly down the day before? I am hoping to fly down on Friday afternoon (dismiss the kids from school in the afternoon...don't need another unexcused day off, you know) and leave right from school.

 

[pdarrah]

Yes, we plan to fly down before. Of course, we don't have next year's calendar yet - but for the past few years they have had a "teacher's instititute" day off school on the Friday before MLK monday. We are assuming they will do that again and we will probably fly down Thursday night (late flight so no school missed!) and spend Friday at Disneyworld. For the last 2 cruises, we have spent Friday night at the Radisson at the port - but we have talked about that we might just stay at WDW Friday night and drive over to the port on Saturday.

Flying out of Chicago in January is a little scary (flight delays!) so having some extra time there for problems makes us feel better. We've also already bought the trip insurance!

How crazy am I? Here I am making plans for well over a year away!!

pdarrah

 

[cepmom]

can I ask who you purchased the insurance through? I don't want to use DCL's insurance this time and I am so confused by the alternatives.

 

[pdarrah]

We used Travelex both this year and for this next cruise. Our first cruise we used CSA - we had no trouble with them, but we felt that the price/coverage was better with Travelex. Last year, my DH was having major back problems so we went with the slightly more expesive Travelex policy that has higher medical coverage. This year, he is doing well and we decided to save a little and get the more basic policy. I think it is called Travelex TraveLite. We purchase the travel insurance this early so that it will cover any preexisting conditions - I don't think we actually have any at the moment, but I figure it avoids needing to worry or argue about it later.

 

[Lisa]

Thanks for the info on Travelex. I'll have to look into that.

We always fly down either the Thursday night or Friday before the cruise. Have stayed at both the Ramada and Best Western. Both were good places to stay though we really liked being right on the beach with the Best Western.

Can't wait to see the web site. Hope the family feels better soon.

 

[CBJHockeyNut]

Hello All,

Just got back from the 12/17 Western and booked the 1/13/2007 while on board. Figured someone would have a thread started!! (DCL is an addiction--you know) The kids, historically, have had both MLK day and the Tuesday after off school so they will only miss 3 days. About a month later than this year so the weather will be a little bit colder but other than one rainy day in Costa Maya the weather was good to great for the time of year. Water at CC took a little getting used to but your body adjusts to it. The CC water was 77.8 F when we were there.

We are from Columbus, Ohio so mid-70's in December/January is GREAT. Funny to see the Florida folks in long pants and jackets!! I guess it just depends upon what you are used to.

It will be me, my wife, DS (11 at the time) and DD (8 at the time) on this cruise. It will be our 7th. One 3-day (to see if the kids would like it and before there were 7-day cruises), 3 Easterns, and 2 Westerns up to now. This one will "balance us out". We enjoy staying on the boat more often than getting off at the ports of call so itinerary doesn't matter greatly. We did one of the Antigua cruises and it was fun to see some place different as was seeing Costa Maya on the last cruise.

Looking forward to "chatting" with you all over the next 12 months and meeting you all on the cruise.

Nicholas.

 

[Ginny]

Hi, all!!

We will also be cruising on the 13 January 2007 Western. I am so excited................I have been in DCL withdrawl. By the time we cruise, it will have been three years since our last DCL cruise. This will be our 5th Disney Cruise and our 6th overall as we just cruised on RCCL's Mariner of the Seas in November (Eastern).

Cruising with me will be DH - Chuck........ and DD - Erin (who will be 12). Erin is so excited because she will finally be old enough to have sign out privileges from the Club. I haven't told her about the "homing devices" I will have sewn into the hem of each outfit, yet!!

We have cruised in January once before and I do remember that the water at CC was cold. But, with that said, cold water at CC in January beats the Beltway in DC anytime!! It didn't seem to stop either DH or DD from snorkeling. We did the Christmas 2003 Cruise and it was wonderful and the water in both Cozumel and Grand Cayman was lovely.

We, too, will fly down early as I want to wake up in WDW and then drive to the Port. And, just in case, we will buy trip insurance with a nice medical transport clause. After reviewing three different plans offered by the Travel Agent who handled our RCCL cruise, we selected TravelGuard. That is who we will use again and they will cover the air and WDW portion, as well.

It is great to "meet" all of you. Pamela, I checked out your website. It is really wonderful! Thanks so much for starting this thread.

Ginny

 

[cepmom]

Hi Nicholas and Ginny ~
welcome to the thread! I just realized today that one year from Saturday we will be on our cruise!

I wish I could put a countdown on my signature, but I am trying to keep this trip a secret from the kids...I thought it would be really cool to surprise them.
I haven't decided yet whether to give it to them for Christmas, or just pick them up from school on the day we leave and surprise them at the airport. They keep asking when we can go again, and I keep telling them not for a couple of years...we need to save up a lot more money"

 

[Ginny]

Hi CepMom -

My hat is off to you!! I could never keep the cruise secret!! Especially when booking so far in advance (we often book two years out). We did keep a WDW trip secret all the way to the boarding gate at the airport. When DD finally "got" that we didn't get up at 4AM to bring suitcases for Daddy's job and that we were the "packages" going to Orlando, the smile on her face was priceless!!

According to dates, we are officially at the one year mark today. The time will fly as it always does. I spent about an hour the other night reading through some of my 2003 posts after our last Western and didn't realize how much I had forgotten.

We booked the Jeep Tour out of Cozumel last time. Somehow I missed one of their e-mails before we left so we couldn't find the group and missed the excursion. We ended up on the Fury Catamaran and had a blast that day but we would still like to do it so I think we will book that one again................and I will check all my e-mails this time!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

[woody64]

Hello,

We're in..for now. We have done 2 easterns and will now try a Western. Myself, DW, DS(11) and other DS(8). I say for now as employment for DW is up in the air but I think we'll find a way.

 

[CTPinkPrincess]

We just got back from our first cruise (the 4 night Wonder), and booked the 7 night Western while onboard.

We're family of 3 - me (Sue), DH (Darren) and DD (Clare). She'll be 5 this time next year. She had a blast in the Oceaneer Club the first few nights onboard and is looking forward to going back.

We're up in CT, so we're flying in the day before (staying at the Poly for the night) and then the Cruise! We are so excited. DH is already starting to research some excursions!

 

[Ginny]

Hi, Woody 64 and CT Pink Princess -

So glad to see more folks who will be joining us on this cruise. I am already counting the days until I standing on deck at the Sailaway Party!

We have done one mystery cruise (Hurricane Floyd), two Eastern and one Western so we are looking forward to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

Take care-

 

[antkim]

Well HELLLLLOOOOO fellow cruisers! You can count me in! Although the cruise is just on hold as of today, I plan on putting the deposit down on Monday!

So, I started a thread saying that this will be our first cruise. I could walk blind folded through WDW but cruise is all new to me...which I have to say is scaring me a bit! I do not want to plan too much as I have a 8 yr old and 3 yr old (boys) so I know we will just have to go with the flow! However, I really just want to understand all that I can about the cruise!

As a "newbie" I am researching, researching ,researching and enjoying every moment!

I have started to read the FAQ thread and have already learned a lot!

I would LOVE any type of advice! Can someone tell me if I have to book a "shore excursion" only to go to the beach???? I am thinking that Grand Caymen and Cozumel may just be beach days with the guys but it seems so expensive to book a shore excursion! There has to be a way to go to the beaches without it costing $150..right?

Oh and....it will be my birthday on the 13th! I will be 25!

Kim