Just back from 8/17 Magic--any questions?

[Mama2sean]

Hi everyone. We just returned from the most amazing trip!!! This is our third cruise w/ DCL and it keeps getting better and better! I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone might have as small thanks for all the help and information this board has given us in preparation for our cruise. We took the Conch Train tour in Keywest (booked on our own), Atlantis Submarine in Grand Cayman (through DCL excursions) and hired a taxi in Cozumel to take us to Mr. Sanchos' beach. We also walked to Cozumel mini-golf and played a round...lots of fun. We loved all the excursions. If anyone has any specific questions about anything, fire away! I'll do my best to answer in more detail.
P.S. We also rebooked on board for Eastern in Oct. 2003 and got really lucky, a secret porthole room #5022!!!! Anyone ever have this room before and have any comments? Do you know if the view is totally or partially obstructed? Thanks again everyone!
Kathy

 

[hazmat1212]

1) how did change in dining times go? (we have late, so i don't think i care all that much)

2) how was debarkation? was customs smooth? (we have friends picking us up at the end of the cruise to spend the day before an 8:00 p.m. flight ---)

3) what cabin did you have? did you like it?

4) did you do palo and which nite?


thanks

cin in NJ
call me NOSY, NOSY, NOSY

 

[kshabare]

How long did it take to walk to the mini-golf in Cozumel? How much was it?

Thanks

Norm

PS: we have 5022 for our trip in february we will let you know as soon as we get back.

 

[Mama2sean]

Hi Cin. In answer to your questions:
1) We had early seating(5:30) and IMO too early. I always felt rushed getting ready for dinner (having to get a 6 and 4 year old dressed too) and were always late getting to the dining room. 6:00 for us would have been much better and that extra 1/2 hour would have given us some breathing room.
2) Debarkation went smoothly once the doors opened allowing people to exit. Until then, there was a LONG line through the atrium, all the way down to the internet cafe. I believe we were off the ship before 8:15 am. (boo hoo)
3) We were in an inside cabin #2577 and loved it to my surprise. Last two cruises we had verandahs and really thought I'd be disappointed. Sure I missed the verandah, but not as much as I thought since we were rarely in the cabin, the most important thing to us was that we were on the ship!
4) We did Palo on Cozumel/Mexicali night (thursday) and had 6:30 reservations. Dining room was not even full. Food was excellent as good as everyone says it is. Do not pass us the Chocolate Souffle it's heavenly. We did the champagne brunch too. Even if you don't drink champagne go for the food, the buffet is amazing.
You must be so excited....if you have any other questions, just ask...I'm jealous and want to go back now!!!!

 

[Mama2sean]

Hi Norm:
The walk took us about 10-15 minutes. Make a left coming out of the pier, take that down about 7 blocks (you will see a HUGE flag on the waterfront on your left) at that point make a right onto Calle 15 and walk straight up another 7 blocks or so. For 2 adults and 2 children it cost us $24.00 USD. We had a blast! They give you a walkie talkie to order drinks delivered to your hole. Course is landscaped with palm trees, tropical flowers, small streams running thoughout. There are shaded tables and chairs at almost every hole. It was alot of fun and I would recommend it for both children and adults. The lady who runs (owns?) the place name is Sally. She is originally from Pennsylvania and has been down in Cozumel for about 5 years and seems like a very nice lady. This was a good alternative to taking an excursion. Hope this helps.
Kathy
P.S. keep me posted about #5022!

 

[hazmat1212]

probably won't do palo on an island nite, probably will do @ sea

LOVE cozumel, and have a favorite dining spot in outskirts of town

had not considered brunch, we do LOVE champagne (thanks for that tip!)

have 2 btls with our name on for sail away (toasting like thurston howell and lovey on gilligan's island!)


did u see any MOVIES on BOARD? not sure i can do that without popcorn!

thanks for the help!
cin in NJ

 

[sara]

Hi! Glad you had a great time!!!!
I'd like to know about the Atlantis Submarine. I noticed there are a few choices of what seems like similar excursions. So, if you don't mind...tell all. Thanks!

Sara

 

[SusanMouse]

Hi everyone! We also returned from our 7 day Magic cruise on Saturday. We had a wonderful time!!! I would be glad to answer any questions you may have! We ( group of 17) saw many movies on the ship. The kids (ages 11-15) enjoyed the late showings- usually started at 10:30 PM. We all saw different movies including: Signs, Lord of the Rings, Lilo and Stitch, Spy Kids 2, Country Bears. We didn't book our next (2nd) cruise yet but our TA is planning another group trip on the Magic for summer 2004. Can we wait that long??????

 

[DuncanLL]

Kathy,

Glad you had a great trip. We're going in Nov. and are planning to book the Conch Train over the internet, too. How did that work? I imagine you need to present your confirmation somewhere. How far was it from where the ship docked? Did you have to wait long for a train?

Did you stay in Mallory Square for the sunset celebration?

Linda

 

[Bob Noble]

Kathy, Thanks for the info, Questions...

1. We are looking at doing the trolley in Key West as it seems to allow you to get off and on at more stops, any comments?

2. How was Mr. Sanchos ?, we have the free ice cream/drink coupons printed and ready to go.

3. Did you visit any other beaches in Cozumel?

Thanks again, Bob

 

[Mama2sean]

Hi Sara. We really enjoyed the Atlantis Submarine in Grand Cayman. Submarine seats about 48 people and every two seats shares one large porthole - so everyone on board has good view. Submarine descends to about 104 feet and circles around a beautiful coral reef. Tour lasts about 1 - 11/4 hours. Water was crystal clear on day we went and we saw mostly small assorted colorful fish, a stingray, and one or two turtles. A wonderful way to explore the undersea life particularly, if like my husband, you are a non-swimmer and cannot snorkel or scuba dive. Our two boys (7 and 4) really enjoyed it. A photograph of your family is taken as you board the tender which takes you out to dive site (a five or ten minute ride) and photo in a commemorative "Atlantis Submarine" jacket is available for purchase after dive for $10.00 - it turned out to be one of the only good "family" photos we had taken. You mention that several types of similar excursions are available, the one described above is available in both Cozumel and Grand Cayman. There is also the Atlantis "Deep Sea" Explorer excursion. I believe this is a two person (plus pilot) dive in a much smaller sub which can descend much further down into the water. I think the cost of that one was much more expensive somewhere in the 300.00 range. Sorry I don't know more about that one, as everyone with us was taking the larger submarine. Hope this info helps.

 

[sara]

Mama2sean, sounds great. Thank you!

Sara

 

[Mama2sean]

Hi Linda.
We did not book the Conch train in advance. We purchased tickets from the booth located a block from the pier ($20 per adult). Trams were plentiful and ran about 20 minutes apart. Tour took an hour and a half and our guide, Jack, was very entertaining - part comedian/part key west historian - and kept us laughing. Mid way through you make a ten minute pit stop at a gift shop and are able to purchase drinks/snacks/icecream etc. Our photo's were taken shortly after boarding and were available for $10.00 at the gift shop. We enjoyed the tour and found it informative, however, I am glad we did not bring along our sons ages 7 and 4, as I think they would have been bored. A great excursion for adults though. Enjoy!

 

[Mama2sean]

Hi Bob.
1)I didn't realize the Trolley allowed you to get off/on, I like that idea better than the Conch Train. Don't get me wrong, the train was informative and a good way to get a feel for Key West in a small amount of time, but it doesn't allow for any stops (with exception of 10 minute giftshop pit-stop). We saw many areas that looked really interesting and it would have been nice to get off and explore on our own....next time trolley for us....thanks for info.
2) We LOVED Mr. Sanchos' Beach (did not visit any other Cozumel beaches). It's a $15.00 cab ride each way from the dock (per cab not per person). No Charge for admittance, plenty of table and chairs under palm trees. Food and Beverage table service, some small open air shops. We sampled some of the Mexican food available and it was excellent. I was initially wary of trying some food out of fear of possibly getting sick but we had no problems at all. We did stick to bottled water though as I'm not that daring. The beach was not too crowded and the water was calm and crystal clear, possibly the most beautiful I've seen of all the caribbean islands I've visited so far. My son and I took the Banana Boat ride which was lots of fun ($10 pp) and lasted about 15 minutes and took you along the beach front past Playa Sol (which looked incredibly crowded)...note however that when the banana boat makes turns you will likely get overturned and will need to climb back aboard, no easy feat in the middle of the ocean. TAKE NOTE that Mr. Sanchos' accepts CASH ONLY NO CREDIT CARDS. We didn't bring alot of money ashore with us and cut it pretty close once we got our tab for food and drink, so bring extra money with you just in case. We would go back there again without hesitation.

 

[snelsonbrown]

Hi there to all,
To anyone going on the western cruise, I have a number of pamplets, coupons, etc on Key West - I was born and raised there and a 4 generation conch so I know all the ins and outs - where to save monies, best places for water sports, food - I will be going back to KW on September 27th and will be bringing back a lot more of information AND I hope that more merchants will work with me to give the cruisers good discounts - anyone interested can email me at snelsonbrown@aol.com - there is no charge for this service - the only expense you will have is to send me a self address 9" envelope with about $3.50 in stamps - there are NO STRINGS ATTACHED and there is nothing in it for me - this is just a way of saying thanks for seeing my hometown.
Thanks for reading this
Always
Shirley

 

[Bob Noble]

Kathy,
Thank you so very much for the information. Especially the cash required for Mr. Sanchos, It sounds like this will be the trip for us. The next time you visit Key West and want to do the trolley you save 10% by booking on line. For anyone headed to Mr. Sanchos reading this post he has a web site (mrsanchos.com)where you can print out a coupon for a free margarita or ice cream, one per person. For our family of 5 it helps. There is also a menu of what appears to be very tastey Mexican food which we love.

Bob

 

[Hopkins]

Thanks for the report on the Atlantis Sub. We are planning on doing the Land and Sea Tour in Grand Cayman and also wanted to do the sub, but due to the cost in doing both excursions, we were going to delete one. Now, we'll do both. It will be a while since we'll get back to Grand Cayman. In Cozumel we'll be doing the Tulum Ruins tour, so we woun't be able to do the sub there.

It's only money. lol.
Tina

 

[tkd lisa]

To whoever asked about the trolley vs. the train in Key West. They are run by the same people, according to what they told us. The trolley just offers the on and off thing. We also did the train, and had Jack as our driver too. He was really pretty funny. Our kids (8 and 10) really got a fair bit of info from the ride, and enjoyed themselves!

I think the train just looks neater, so people gravitate toward it.

 

[Bob Noble]

Ah... that would be yet another reason to take the Trolley.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Rootee]

We were also at Mr. Sanchos during the Aug 17 Western. We used a credit card for both the waverunners AND lunch. A note about lunch: I don't know if it was "siesta time" or what, but our "quick" lunch of just burgers took well over an hour to be served to us. There seemed to be several waiters literally running around from the main seating area to the bar and back, but it took us 45 minutes after our order was placed to received chips and salsa, and then another half hour to get our sandwiches. Because this took so long, we ended up just going back to the ship after we finished lunch because it was getting so late in the afternoon. We really wish we had just gone back to Pluto's on the ship for lunch.

I was a bit disappointed in the beach. We were charged $10 for two lounge chairs and one of the last remaining umbrellas which we definitely needed because it was so hot. I considered the beach to be quite crowded. My son and husband had a great time on the waverunners though.

Ruth