Just back from Feb 26th Magic

[michamato]

Hi Everyone,

Well..I only posted here twice, but I thought that I would give my opinion on the cruise that I just came home from yesterday.
EXCELLENT!!

I have 3 small children, and the Oceaner's Club was fantastic. They really went out of their way to occupy my 4 and almost 3 year old. They didn't love it like some kids do, but the staff tried everything to make them comfortable and to stay and have fun. They really earn their money in that room, and I have nothing but excellent comments about them!!

Flounders Reef Nursery was another A++. They too, went above and beyond to keep the babies happy and to try and fit everyone in. I never had a problem with making a reservation, and I got every spot I wanted.
They also earn their money, it is very hard to keep babies happy, and keep the parents happy as well.

Overall my experience was a great one!! I was sad to have to come home and so were the kids. My children had many meltdowns throughout the cruise, but even so, we all managed to have a great time.

The weather didn't cooperate much, and it was mainly just OK. But...there is so much to do there, that really if you don't have your heart set on getting sun, you can spend the time doing hundreds of other things.

A tip for parents with infants. There is NO BABY FOOD on board, what I mean by that is the jar food. NONE. Please pack enough for your baby or you will be in trouble. Mine can eat some table food, and I had more than enough in the jar. I wanted to donate my extra to the nursery, but do to the USDA codes, they can keep the jarred food. Please remember that!
They do sell some formula, I saw Carnation good start and Similac Isomil, unfortunatly, my baby is on Similac Advance, and I almost ran out, but do to luck, I found some extra.

I hope my little note helped anyone that was worried about the Nursery or Kids Club, and I hope you have a great time on board, just like we did.
We can't wait to go back!!

 

[jennat]

Thanks for the review. Glad you had a great time!!

 

[mommasita]

Glad to hear what a great time you had onboard. Sorry you had to come home to reality.... Until next time...

 

[newfamilyman]

I appreciated your trip report because it was one of the rare ones where the poster had small children. Similar to your situation, my children will be one and four when we take the cruise, and I had a few follow-up questions:

1. You said that you had no problems getting Flounders reservations. Was your cruise full? I'm going during the summer, and I'm expecting the boat to be pretty packed. How much time did you leave your baby in the nursery?

2. You mentioned that there were a lot of activities. What did you do with your baby together? I was a little worried about the lack of things to do, especially with the reports of the pools being so packed.

3. I appreciated your openness about the meltdowns. Is there anything you did, or anything you thought in retrospect you wish you had done, to help with those?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

 

[Echo queen]

Hello, quick question. Was it warm enough to wear shorts everyday? I dcl 3/10. Thanks

 

[PattiO]

We were on the same cruise and also had an EXCELLENT time. Weather was ok. 70-80's. Only 2 really sunny days otherwise cloudy and breezy. But still Much better than Illinois weather!!!!!! We did wear shorts everyday, though a couple of the days the wind was a little chilly. I also wore capri pants in the evening. Bring sweaters for the airconditioning. One thing I did bring for my 8yo DS and I know my older kids wish they would have brought theirs was wind pants.

 

[Echo queen]

Thank for the info PattiO, I am from Illinois too. We moved to Texas 14 years ago, so I guess I'm a Texan now, the best thing we ever did. I have experienced your pain. Thanks again. I must go regroup my packing.

 

[PattiO]

Have a great trip!!!!! I can't believe how FAST that week flew by!!!!

 

[michamato]

HI

Yes, my cruise had a little over 2700 people on board. I made two flounders reservations the first day, I was a bit nervous leaving the baby there. When I saw how they played, Donald Duck was in there on the floor playing with all the babies, I felt comfortable enough and made serveral more reservations. I wasn't particular on the times, so I had no problem at all. I did have Palo reservations, and they even took my 4 year old, because she didn't want to go to the Kids Club.

Having an 8 month old wasn't without challenges. Because the weather wasn't so hot, I could have him in his carriage by the pool in the shade, and he was happy. We took him in the fountain area in the pool also. That is the only place where he is allowed. I also spent time in Flounders Reef during their "family hours" where you can go and let your child play and you stay in there with them. That was great because the baby really wanted to crawl and play!! I do have to say , the BEST thing I bought to take on the cruise was called the TriplePLAY carseat stroller. It is a carseat and it has a handle and wheels that POP out when you want to use it as a stroller. I brought it everywhere and used it all the time. I especially used it in Mexico in the taxi's and any other trips by cars. It was really important to me that the baby had a SAFE seat to sit in. The girls used seatbelts, and I wasn't crazy about only seatbelts, but they were big enough, but having a small child, a carseat was a must for me.

And as far as the meltdowns go, I wish I got them to nap more, but there was sooo much they wanted to do. We tried to go to the pool during early morning hours, since mine are so young. They did well then, but when it got too busy, I found a small (very small) amount of parents not watching their children, and they were big enough to be in the other pools. I was getting nervous about that, since my children are small and were getting jumped on. I actually told a child (with their parent just watching) to knock it off, or he had to get out. Too bad!!! the average age of a child in that pool was between 4-6. The other problem was the "saving" of chairs with towels at 8 am. I just moved some, I waited till 9am, and then when I saw that someone was just claiming chairs all day, I moved them. I felt it was very rude, and I was ready to stand by my decision. Those were the only two problems I had with the pool. I saw many other children that had meltdowns too, so I didn't feel as bad as I did the first time. I had to realize that they are exhausted, and overwhelmed with so much stuff going on. I would just try and have as much patience as possible.
I hope I helped!!!

 

[earpiemom]

we, too, had a small baby (6 months old) and i was furious about the way people put their towels in those chairs and as far as i could tell never returned...i wish now that i had just simply moved the towel and used the chair and then if they had returned i would've had no problem giving them the chair back but i have a feeling it would have been a while before they came back...we experienced this same problem at atlantis(i also have a 13 year old) and i wanted to spend some time out by the pools with him and just watch while with our 6 month old...we could not find a single chair...it is so RUDE for people to put their belongings on chairs and then leave them all day...we had a good time though and i also was very pleased with Flounders...

 

[banderson]

I was also on the Feb. 26 Magic and the best thing I packed was a pashmina. I used in the dining rooms, particularly in Animator's Palate where it was also cold, and on deck both day and night. I wore shorts only twice, the other days I wore capris due to the weather...and I'm from Canada, the Great White North. Bring a sweater for everyone and if you have a pashmina in a neutral color, be sure to pack it.

 

[jennat]

Okay, I can't be the only one....What the heck is a pashmina...sounds like something from Dr Doolittle

 

[walczak4]

We were also on the 02/26 cruise. I booked the REAS package so I had booked Palo dinner, Palo brunch & spa day before we boarded. When I went to register my DS (just turned 2) at Flounder's I found that they were not open at any of the times that I had my reservations! It would have been nice to have known the hours that they are open when I was making the reservations. Luckily, my MIL & FIL were traveling with us so they watched him for us. Our 5 YO DD had a blast in Oceaners Club & my son was able to go as a visitor and play there with my husband every day.

I was a little disappointed with the weather (the hotter the better for me) but we still had a blast. The kids were by the pools every day & yes, I ran into the "chair hogs" also. One day I went by the Mickey pool at 8:30 am and there were towels on all the chairs in the first row. I ended up spending most of my days sitting on the side of the Mickey pool just so I could watch my kids!

We had a really good experience with everyone that "took care" of us on the ship, from our servers at dinners & Palo to the two girls that did our massages at Vista Spa. Everyone was just wonderfull!

We all enjoyed the shows (except the Welcome Aboard show) with my DS especially enjoying Hercules....He was dancing in the aisle at one point which made a lot of people chuckle! MY 5YO DD's favorite was Disney Dreams.

We plan on trying the Eastern cruise in 2007 so I booked 5/13/06 while onboard so we could take advantage of the discount & stateroom credit. We'll change the date to May 2007 as soon as the 2007 dates open up, probably August or September of this year.

Glad that I got to meet some of you & maybe we'll cruise together again someday!

Tracey

 

[newfamilyman]

I do have to say , the BEST thing I bought to take on the cruise was called the TriplePLAY carseat stroller. It is a carseat and it has a handle and wheels that POP out when you want to use it as a stroller. I brought it everywhere and used it all the time. I especially used it in Mexico in the taxi's and any other trips by cars. It was really important to me that the baby had a SAFE seat to sit in. The girls used seatbelts, and I wasn't crazy about only seatbelts, but they were big enough, but having a small child, a carseat was a must for me.

I had a follow-up question about the carseat. Did you only use it in Mexico? I was thinking of bringing a stroller but not a car seat and was concerned about the 30 min. taxi ride we were planning on taking in Mazatlan. Thanks again for your helpful comments.

 

[michamato]

No, I used it as a stroller the whole time I was on board. They also have strollers you can rent, if your little one likes to lie down. My baby was more than happy being pushed around in a plush carseat with wheels, I could steer with one hand, and I used it everywhere, I used it as a booster seat for meals, for eating in the room when we ordered room service, for the limo ride to the port, for the taxi ride in Mexico, which I was scary in itself! ! Oh and of course the airplane, it rolls right down the isle, and you pop the wheels in, and it is the car seat they sit in. When the plane lands, pick it up, pull the level, and out comes the wheels, and you push it down the isle to get off the plane. It was seriously a lifesaver for me. I also brought the double stroller for my two girls, but I never even opened it on board. It was way to big and would of made getting around hard.