just back from 8/19 magic

[oo138oo]

Hello all,

We just got back from 08/19/06 Magic. I’m too tired to do a trip report, so here’s some info I gathered on cruise, hope it’s somewhat helpful to you all.


Items I found useful..
1. Power outlet extension, especially for those of you with lots of things to be charged.
2. Over the door shoe hanger. Keeps shoes out of the way and in pairs.
3. Cloth pins. Keeps those curtains closed, and the room nice and dark during early mornings.
4. $5 digital clock from Wal-mart. Only way we can tell time in the dark.
5. Extra duffle bag we stuffed in our luggage. At the end of the trip we threw all the dirty laundry in there, and emptied out a lot of room for new purchases.
6. Lap top. We were able to download all of our pictures from camera, and compare with Shutter pictures. We cut down half of our picture purchase since we have same or even better pictures than shutters.


Things that has changed from prior trip.
1. Shutters. You can no longer stack pictures. They want you to purchase a package of your choice, take all the pictures with you if you have to. You’re allowed to exchange, return or add to the package any time you want. You’re issued a picture card where they cross out the numbers of pictures you took so you can keep track of how many pictures you still have left in your package. They do throw out the pictures every 2-3 days according to the photographer.
2. Dinning time. We had the early dinning. They wanted us to show up at the dinning room at 5:30. From what I heard, there’s also a 5:45, and 6:00 group. I do not know the purpose of it, and I feel like we were always rushing to make the 5:30.

Time to go, really quick as a side note. Our head server was able to pre-order Curry for our table after she found out we were craving for it. We showed up next day at dinner with all different types of curry waiting for us. Hooray for best head server ever!

I know I left a lot of stuff out. Ask questions and I’ll tell you whatever I can. Oh we also did the Dolphin Encounter on our own at Cozumel, so let me know if you need info regarding that.

bye for now

 

[RJake1]

Too many teens allowed to roam the hallways unsupervised at night IMHO. That was the worst I've seen it (this was my 8th DCL cruise).

 

[flexsmom]

Also just off the 8/19 - we had a GREAT time. We also noticed more teens roaming around, but we were more in laughing mode at them than anything. Somehow there seemed to be a ton of drama going on amongst the girls with one girl spreading "rumors" about another girl and crying going on about who was doing what to who......quite frankly it made me (a) laugh when I remembered how SERIOUS that kind of stuff seemed back when I was a teenager and (b) grateful that I was now an adult who shrugs off "stuff" and (c) thankful that my kids were 7 and 3 and their biggest challenge of the week was figuring out what color flip-flops to wear that day!

 

[Debbie H]

I really don't find that sort of stuff funny. What if it was your daughter, or you they were laughing at? That's where the bullying starts and needs to be stopped. You may not think it is funny when your 7 and 3 year old become teens...

 

[racrj]

Also just off the 8/19 - we had a GREAT time. We also noticed more teens roaming around, but we were more in laughing mode at them than anything. Somehow there seemed to be a ton of drama going on amongst the girls with one girl spreading "rumors" about another girl and crying going on about who was doing what to who......quite frankly it made me (a) laugh when I remembered how SERIOUS that kind of stuff seemed back when I was a teenager and (b) grateful that I was now an adult who shrugs off "stuff" and (c) thankful that my kids were 7 and 3 and their biggest challenge of the week was figuring out what color flip-flops to wear that day!

Hi. I hope you guys had a MAGICAL time on your cruise. We are cruising this Saturday. My kids are also 7 and 3. DD 7 and DS 3. I was wondering if your children liked the Oceaneers Club. Did your 7 year old seem bored? Did the 3 year old seem overwhelmed? I guess that is a personal opinion since kids are all different, but I just was wondering what to guage for my kids...

Thanks.

 

[jbm02]

Hi! We just got back from the Magic Double Dipper too. We had a great time (with one kink but I'll try to get report out soon!) I can't say enough nice things about the people we met on the boards and those who introduced themselves to us on the ship. They guided my family of newbies around nd really made a wonderful experience extra magical for us (especially Andy, Hazel, Angeline, Pete, Denise...the list goes on and on!!)
Anyway, as for the 7 yo, my almost-7 y o (2 more weeks to go) had mixed reactions with the Clubs. She loved the club on board and had lots of fun. But she wanted to check out what was going on each day in the Navigator first and had definite ideas about what she wanted to be there to do. If ot as not something she wanted to do, she absolutely did not want to go. The 5-7 year old groups have awesome leaders in Amy and Jen. Tess came home with projects like door magnets, flubber and something I am still not sure what it is...! She was disappointed that the scheduled time for the pajama party was during the Golden Mickeys so she had to miss the one party she was sooo looking forward to (if any staff reads this at the Clubs, can you consider moving that party to a different night? Maybe the night when there are only jugglers??) She was also visited at the Club by Lilo and Stitch, the Mad Hatter and Cinderella. She was less thrilled with the club when it was at Scuttles cove. That probably has more to do with the fact that the clubs can't take the kids swimming rather than disliking their planned activities.
Tess also liked staying there to play at night after dinner - she was begging to go then.
I am not sure that this helps. Feel free to email me and I'll try to get some more info out of Tess when she wakes up tomorrow!!
Have a great trip
Jude

 

[Tarabra]

Yea, this was the first time we had a problem w/ teens roaming the halls late at night too. We cruised Aug. 5 - 12. Maybe it's because we usually cruise in late Apr./early May, and there aren't as many teens on then.

 

[nittany89]

I too noticed a lot more teens hanging out in the hallways on this cruise than the one we took last year. They were quite obnoxious also. But, we walked past them and kept going...

 

[sftnslky]

$5 digital clock from Wal-mart. Only way we can tell time in the dark. Oh we also did the Dolphin Encounter on our own at Cozumel, so let me know if you need info regarding that. bye for now

First off...a BIG thank you for reminding me about the digital alarm clock.. I am actully heading out to walmart to purchase some forgotten items for our up-coming cruise.

Secondly... We were literally discussing last night about doing the dolphin excurssion on our own...ANY information you could give me would be GREAT. How much did you pay? How long did you get to stay with the dolphins? How did you get there? etc... Thank you again.

 

[Reenieny18]

Just off the MAGIC as well from Aug 19th.. as far as the clock goes.. I would invest in the kind that reflects the time on the wall as well (projector type).. My son had it set up on the desk near the window and I could open my eyes and see it on the wall near my bed by the bathrooms. It was great..

Really used the shoe holder this time for all our meds and bottles this time and hung it up on the closest hook by the bathroom.. worked great.

Didnt over pack this time PHEW .. try to mix and max clothes.. Remember you will buy clothes at all the ports and gifts shops on boards too.. you need room.

One other hint.. since we cant carry liquids with us on board the planes.. think about keeping some trial size items in the room for the morning after you put your luggage out at night. Remember ladies.. no makeup, perfume,toothpaste,mouse, hairspray, mens aftershave.. all these things you forget about.. and then we had to re-pack in the port...
Just in case they slide under clothing... pack small amounts in case they make you throw it out ....

Doreen

 

[oo138oo]

We noticed the thing with the teenagers too. We actually had 3 kids started fighting infront of us in the elevator. They ran out when the elevator stopped, so no idea what happen after.

sftnslky.. I believe DCL is going back to use Dolphin Discovery so you can book through them too. We booked directly through Dolphin Discovery. There were 7 of us, the cab ride was $20 each way. After we average out the cab fare and entrance fee, it comes to to be around $95 per person compare to DCL's $129 (or $139). The park however is under massive construction. There are debris on the shores near the dolphin encounter area. We didn't get to to hang around the beach due to time constraint, so can't give you too much info there. The newly built facility however, is much better than before. There's new bathroom, shower, lockers, video viewing room, and gift shop. Oh and the DVD they sell you is $29. Dolphin program is fantastic as always. The trainer was very patient with all the kids to ease their anxiety. Everyone had a chance to kiss and shake dolphin's fins. You're allowed to bring water camera in the water. Can also have a family member film from up above. Hope I covered everything, let me knowi f you have other questions

Oh, one more tip for future cruisers..

Apparently DCL is linked up with certain Airlines. They have counters outside of the port terminal to take your luggages and even have your tickets ready upon arrival. Simply drop off your luggages and pick up your tickets prior to boarding the Disney bus, you'll be on your way to the airport stress free. I noticed they didn't even weight the luggages off the top of my head, AA was one of the airlines, Delta's the other, not sure about the rest. We're definately gonna book through one of those airlines next time around

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Continental is the other airline that has a ticket agent at the port. But the lady checking us in said they are hearing rumors the regulators want to shut down that port check-in service because of the new security measures.

I heard DCL is the only cruise line that has that check in at the port.

Beware though......last year on our Wonder trip the Continental check in was not functioning due to a computer problem that morning.