June 28th 03 Eastern Magic

[Julma]

Just a quick recap - I must get back to laundry!! Myself, 37 - DH, 39 - DD, 12 - DS, 10. We rented a car from Avis at the airport and headed for the port. Very easy. We stayed the night before at Radisson. This worked out well and the hotel was fine. We ate dinner at Grills and had a great meal along with a lot of fun. We took the advice of some very smart dis'ers and took the rental car with all the luggage to the port. DH dropped the us and the luggage off and headed back to turn the car in. We headed in to check-in around 10:30. We were second in line! The people in front of me did not have their documents filled out and they had 8 people in their party and were putting things on different credit cards. It took them about 20-30 minutes for them to check in. When I finally got my turn it took me about 5 minutes. They really need to bump those people, it is just not fair. We boarded around 12:15 and headed to make reservations in both Palo and the Spa. That all went fairly easy. Some people at the spa were upset, because the massages on the beach were already full. They must have been filled up with people who are able to get reservations early. We did the mud bath and rainforest. I loved the rainforest!!! While I am on the spa - a great place to shower! Large towels, plenty of space and no one yelling "are you done,yet". They provide face cleanser, shampoo, body gel and conditioner. I never saw another person there. Okay - back on track! We ate our buffet at Parrot Cays and headed to the room, our luggage was already there. We were in 6042. A great location and very quite. I noticed on two nights people with rooms near the midship elevators yelling at kids on the stairs. I think I would stay away from those rooms. We had none of the issues with odor or AC problems that I have read about. We had the LAP rotation. I was surprised with the ages of our children, but it is all good. Our servers were okay. They forgot our orders or got something wrong at least once everynight and we were just a table of four. They were friendly and the children loved them. Our room stewart was very good and we had some cool animals. The entertainment was awesome! Our kids loved the club - slow at first, so make sure you keep them going back. At the end of the trip, I was begging them to come back to the room at 12AM, so I could go to sleep. We went to Dawn Beach in St. Marteen, very beautiful. We were going to go to St. John's, but decided on Meagan's Bay (because it was easier). It was also beautiful. Castaway Cays was heaven!! A word of warning - my daughter was stung by a sea anemone (sp?) at Castaway Cays. She was out by a buoy and got stung. Stay away from the buoy!! We ate one night at Palo - it was wonderful. We also did the brunch. If I had to pick one it would be the brunch. It was fantastic. Palo never seemed crowded. There were only about 4 couples the night we ate there. Brunch was a little more crowded, but not packed. I did see many people in shorts and tanks. We had first seating and there were many people who under dressed. I only noticed, because our table was near the door. On the last night we were at Lumiere's and people were in their tee shirts from the Islands.?. Our favorite restaurant was Parrot Cays, lots of fun and great menus. We had the AAA soda package and fyi, they do put a sticker on your card, so you do not have to carry the cups. As has been stated before getting off the ship is so easy. A tip here, if you are not in a hurry, don't hurry off. We got off around 8:30 and there were still many people on the ship. Quick tips that really worked out were shoe organizer, two-way radio (5 mile - we never had a problem), sharpies, post-it notes, extension cord (my blow dryer would not have worked in their plugs), lots of sizes of zip locks, packing clothes in zip locks, id holders, packing sandwiches from room service to take on the islands for lunch with rolling cooler. Thank you to all - you made our cruise much better. The tips were invaluable. Have a magical day!!

 

[preb]

Thanks for the report! You covered just about every one of our plans for our September cruise. Just curious...how did you get back to the airport after the cruise? Also, could you check in for the cruise without your husband or did you wait outside for him? What documentation did he need to get back to the port? We can't wait!

 

[Julma]

When we were leaving we were able to check our bags at the cruise terminal and get our boarding passes. We then took the Avis shuttle back to the Radisson, rented a car and drove to the airport. Our original flight was at 7:15 pm, so we had planned to spend some time at Kennedy. We had a last minute flight change and ended up on a 3:00 flight, so we headed to the airport and hung out there for about 3.5 hours. Not too bad, it is a nice airport to hang in for awhile. Avis again on the return was very easy. I am not sure we would have done it that way if we had the 3:00 flight to begin with. We may have taken a limo. Although, if you don't mind driving the 40 minutes or so to the airport the rental is much cheaper. We paid $46. for a Chevy Blazer. We pulled off the B-line at exit 13 and we were able to put gas in the car and get some snacks. Easy off gas station and mini mart right there and then easy on. Regarding check-in, we did check in without DH. We needed our cruise docs and passports. He kept his and checked in when he got back. He could drive the rental right up and drop the luggage off with a porter and the kids and I headed in. From the time he dropped us off until the time he was standing in line (to board ship not to check in) it was about 45 minutes. Most of this was due to people in line not having their paperwork filled out. This too is were the two-way radios were important. He let me know when he got to the port and I was able to tell him where I was in line, after he checked-in he joined us there. It went very smooth. If you have any other questions, let me know.

 

[Samsma]

Julma - how did I miss you? We stayed at the Radisson the night before, kind of crowded with a party going on, so we didn't spend much time at the pool. We got to port about 10:30, everything went smoothly (it wasn't me who held you up!) and we were among the first 50 on the ship I'd say. Didn't you love the guy barking orders? I wish he had been my server, maybe we could have heard him. LOL. We had APL rotation, 1st seating, and were not impressed at all with our servers. We had a great stateroom host (Alexandro) and a met a great server at Topsiders (Preshawna) who my DD4 really took up with. We also did brunch, with Ellie as our server, who was also wonderful. Wow, what a great meal! We skipped our PS for Palo on Thursday, to just hang out by the pool. We actually only ate 4 meals in the dining rooms, one for each dining room, and then also our character breakfast. Our dinner mates were CallahanJulie10 and her family DD, DDF, DH. They are very nice, and we got along great, and talked each other's ears off! It just seemed to me that dinner was very rushed, our servers were not very friendly with the kids, and just not what I had expected. We saw two dolphins and a stingray from Topsiders at our last breakfast on Sat. morning (We had been looking for Dolphins the entire week, and there they were at Port Canaveral! We did a lot of pin trading every night, and got a lot of autographs and pictures. We don't want to talk about what I spent at Shutters! DD4 and I did Tea with Wendy, really cute. They couldn't get two boys to come up, so she ended up with a sister and brother this time. We took a Taxi to Marigot on St. Martin (not worth the trip unless seriously fashion shopping), and then back to Great Bay Beach for the rest of the day. St. Thomas - I had hired a open bus for the 4 of us to tour the island - definitely worth it. Went to Mountaintop, Drake's Seat, Magan's Bay, Coral World, then to Sapphire Beach for swimming. Most beautiful places I've ever been. Sorry if I took over your trip report - our Dis meeting never really materialized did it? I did meet thedisneymom, Stewblue, and of our CallahanJulie10 for High Tea, and just happened to run into Armyof6 while making spa reservations- then several times more over the week for a quick chat. We also spied Jenny "the bride" getting on the ship with her wedding dress.

 

[Julma]

I am sorry I missed all the dis'ers. I have to say the disboards were invaluable with information. My trip would have been so different without all the tips I learned. Our travel agent was good, but didn't have a fraction of the info I learned on these boards. I am sorry to hear that you too were disappointed with your servers. I didn't even hit on the "rushed" thing. Our servers were putting down our dinners when we still had our salads and believe me we are not slow eaters. You were smart to miss the dining rooms. I would do that if we ever go again. One day at lunch we ate in the dining room and we had great servers, so they are out there. We had our brunch at Palo on Thursday and yes, it was great. The only problem was by Thursday I was so full of food, it was hard to indulge. We skipped the tea at Palo, which I also had on Thursday, because it was just too much. I am glad you all had a good time and enjoyed the islands. Would you cruise Disney again? I think I would if it was within the next few years and the kids were still young. I don't think I would do it alone with my husband. It's over and sometimes I think about it and it is just a blurr!! Have a wonderful summer. Karen

 

[Samsma]

No, truthfully I don't see another Disney Cruise in my future. Been there done that, once was enough. I enjoy WDW a whole lot more, but I'm glad to have had the experience. Now I don't have to wonder what I'm missing. We did have fun, but like I said, I was just expecting that vacation of a lifetime, and spent a lot of money to get it. I'm a little disappointed, but I am glad for those who have found their dream vacation on the Magic. Me, I'll spend my vacation bucks at WDW from now on when I do Disney.