July5,2003 Magic...who's going?

[carlfrank1]

Sandy,

Crofton is half hour due south of Baltimore. My 11 year old daughter's soccer coach is a Towson alum and their team goes to Towson now and again to watch the big girls play. (BTW, you listed daughter #2 as 1 yr vice 11 yrs. Thanks though for adding us to the list.)

All,

We too are booked through Captain Marvin, but on the haly day trip; show up time is 0915. I was in the Caymans 18 years ago (Sting Ray city was a big attraction even back then and I missed it). My wife and grils love snorkelling, water and sun. I expect this to be a big hit with the whole family.

Wendym,
I hope you or someone else on the board is getting a kickback from Captain Marvin! You sure have brought them soem business. With the savings over the Disney planned trip, I think I owe you a drink myself.

 

[wendym]

No kick backs I promise! I was just very impressed with them and I only hope they are as good for you all this year. You are doing the same trip we did last year and had no problems making the time - we always get a small thrill organising things ourselves.
Wendy

 

[eye R.N.]

We are also booked with Capt Marvin for that trip! Looks like the boat will be over run with folks from Anne Arundle County.

Plans are starting to firm up here. DS "habitat for humanity week" will be in Fayetteville NC. So it looks like we might be leaving on the third and staying the night in NC in order to pick him up in the morning on the fourth. Anyone know of any decent clean hotels in that area. Isn't it close to South of the Border?

We haven't gotten any info on shore excusions yet, should I be worried? (or happy that there isn't more temptation to spend $$$)

 

[luv2boys]

We got our excursion info this weekend too. I'm feeling left out. My sons will be 4 and 7 so we are somewhat limited on the excursions. They have both said NO! to the stingrays. Here are my thoughts and I would love any suggestions. In Key West, we are going to do the train tour but on our own because we want to be able to get on and off. We heard you cannot do this through Disney. We also want to watch the sunset from Mallory Square. In Grand Cayman, we can't decide between the beach break at Seven Mile Beach or the Rum Point Beach Adventure. In Cozumel, possibly either the Dolphin Discovery or Cozumel Beach Break at Playa Sol Beach. We want to try to fit in the minigolf also here. For Castaway Cay, I bought some cheap floats to leave there when done. The booklet said you have to be 5 to do the boat rentals. Can he not even do the paddleboats?

What do you guys think. Help me make up my mind where I can't decide. This will be our first cruise, so we aren't sure what to do.

Our my kids going to be the youngest of this group? We are wanting to make this trip special because oldest son has a brain tumor and every vacation (well, every day) are extremely special. I booked this trip in August of last year, and I can't believe it is almost here. He asked me today how much longer until the Disney Cruise and everywhere we go he is always telling somebody about the Disney cruise. WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

Amy

 

[carlfrank1]

Eye RN: We'll see you at Sting Ray City if not sooner!

All: We lived in Key West for 5 years in teh mid 90s and have vacationed there since. I'd be gald to answer any questions:

Quick highlights:
Key West, aka the Conch Republic, is a unique and funky tropical town inhabited by a very friendly but diverse group...Bahamians, Cubans, artists, hippys, military, gays.

Sunset at Mallory Square (or aboard a catamaran cruise) is a must see.
Restaurants are outstanding and offer a wide variety but really excel in the seafood dept.

Duval St is walkable and entertaining....many art galleries, bars, souvenis shops, etc.

A nice small aquarium is right next to Mallory Square. It includes a touch tank and several interactive/feeding demonstrations.

Conch tour or Old Town Trolley are geat ways to see more of town without having to walk.

 

[gometros]

Carl, thanks for adding your expertise to the discussions about Key West. I'd like to do the sunset cruise, but the only problem is that I figure we will get the LAPLAPL rotation for dining, meaning that we would miss Animator's Palette for dinner. For those of you who have cruised before, you know what that means. For you first timers, it's a real treat. And they don't do the same thing the second time the rotation hits AP.

 

[AOPI57]

Just got our excursions package in the mail. Is anyone doing the Stingray City and Rum Point Excursion? We're considering it. Also the Tulum ruins- the only thing that's holding me back from this one (which my DS really wants to do ) is that I've heard that the ferry ride over is rough. It also seems like a long day but Sounds really interesting.

 

[wendym]

Amy
Instead of doing the beach excursions with Disney why don't you do it yourselves? Taxi's are all over both Grand Cayman and Cozumel. In Cozumel we did Mr Sanchos beach (www.mrsanchos.com)
We got a taxi from the pier - cost about $15 (that is for the cab not per person) and there is no charge for the beach. It was very clean - restrooms/showers spotless (very important!!) Lovely beach and the drinks and snacks good. This way you can decide when to leave.
I hope you all have a magical time.
Wendy

 

[gometros]

Wendy - since you've been to Mr. Sanchos, maybe you can help me with our decision of where to go. I was thinking either there or Chankanaab. The only thing I'm worried about at Mr. Sanchos is the food. While they seem to have enough non-meat choices, my wife cannot eat anything spicey. I want to make sure that she will be able to eat something. DO you know if their food is gneerally spicey?

 

[wendym]

Gometros
When we there we had the sampler platter which I don't remember being particulalry spicy but as we like spicey food we wouldn't have noticed. I think they're Gringo burgers would be ok but is she vegetarian also? they are very accomodating so I am sure they would come up with something.
Wendy

 

[sbennett]

Mr. Sanchos Beach sounds super...does anyone know how much the activities cost? Their website doesn't say anything about cost of horseback riding or wave runners nor does it give menu costs....anybody have a rough idea?

 

[wendym]

Sorry I have no idea of the costs for the watersports but I found the cost of drinks and food very reasonable.
Wendy

 

[DaveP]

Luv2boys.... We are from Eldersburg, MD and have a girl 7 and boy 4, so your not the only one with little ones.

Question... I am a first timer and received the Excursion booklet; what is the difference between these and the non-Disney and how do you find out about the non-Disney availability?

 

[musicalSaranader]

Dave, who needs anything else when you've got Disney??

 

[luv2boys]

Dave,

Thats GREAT. We definately need to get them together. Mine are really excited about the clubs. It will be great if they kinda know somebody when they go.

Amy

 

[jeanneg]

I/ve been out of town again and am happy to see everybody's getting excited about the excursions.

sbennett: so happy to have you join us with the stingrays!

Sandy: I didn't see if you posted whether or not you actually made your reservation for that trip as well.

WendyP: We're doing the Tulum trip and we're doing that one with Disney. I read some comments a while back on another thread that discussed the pros and cons of doing it with another vendor and Disney came out way ahead. Plus, I'd be very leery of doing such a long trip with someone else. At least if I'm with Disney and the bus breaks down somewhere in the desert, I know we won't miss the rest of the cruise! I'll probably book it this week since I think Tuesday is the 60-day point. Hooray!

 

[gometros]

Originally posted by jeanneg
Sandy: I didn't see if you posted whether or not you actually made your reservation for that trip as well.

Tomorrow is the day I have to make a decision on whether or not we keep the second room. This is based on whether or not my DS can join us. His summer plans are still up in the air (anyone have a good summer job for a Cornell Engineering student? So, I'll be able to make our reservations for Captain Marvin on Wednesday.

For the other excursions, I sent an email to my family. Since two of them are at college, it was the easiest way to get them all focused on the task at hand. I outlined what I thought we should do and asked for feedback.

Speaking of which, Sara - I'm stil waiting to hear from you!
You know you're in trouble when you have to communicate with your family through the DIS Boards.

 

[eye R.N.]

To answer your question, it's a matter of convience vs. cost. By researching and booking shore excursions on your own there is a cost saving (sometimes significant). BUT. . . you need to arrange your own transportation and make sure you are back in plenty of time to catch the ship.

I'll never forget my last trip, it was St. Martin's day, the ship was pulling out when a mother and daughter came running up to the dock. On the ship was a man screaming at them "I told you they'd leave without you." I never did find out what happened to them.

 

[gometros]

Also make sure that you won't get charged for the excursion if for some reason the Magic doesn't stop in the particular port.

Question for all of you concerning the Mickey head stickers. How are you displaying them? I still haven't figured out what to do with mine.

 

[sbennett]

Went to DCL website and booked excursions....was told by someone at DCL when I called that if you go to the website and email them, they will take the information and hold it and book them on Wednesday (the first day they will book excursions for us) So if anyone's interested go to the Disney Cruise.com and go to shore excursions to early reservations and it'll bring up an email address for you.

We're laminating and putting pin backs on our green Mickey heads