Just back from the 7 nt Western. Any ??s

[jeast]

Hi,

We jsut got back yesterday from the 7 night western. Any questions I can answer for anyone? Will do a short trip report after I unpack and do Thanksgiving shopping!

 

[dennismcneely]

Hope you had a great time!! We are doing this cruise in Sept 2009, I just would like to know what excursion or activity you would say it's been the highlight or your cruise. Just trying to figure out what to book or not to book during our cruise.

I thank you in advance for your help.

Take care,


Dennis

 

[Stinasmom]

I too, would love to hear if you did excursions or just explored the ports.

Was this your first time on the Magic?
How'd the ship look? I'd heard mixed reviews since the dry dock but assume they've finished up all the improvements?

How was Palo? Many people on the first sailing outta dry dock said it was BAD, but I think I later heard it was due to a new manager there. Did you go?

Did you have kids? I heard the lighting in the kid's clubs was suppose to be improved... did you notice?

What night did you have pirate night? (leaving which port?)

How late were you in Cozumel?

Thanks so much for offering to answer questions!!

 

[jeast]

This was our second Disney cruise. The first one was a 4 night wonder two years ago. DH and I have also taken a 5 nt Carnival.

The only excursion we did was the Pirate Encounter in Grand Cayman. We have two children, DS8 and DD5, and they LOVED it. It only lasted about 2 hours, but the kids had a blast and it was inexpensive, $35 per adult and $25 per kid. We sailed around the magic and fired at it with the cannon, the kids had to swab the deck with rags and toothbrushes and were doused with seawater. They also took a parent captive, pronounced him guilty of hideous crimes, and doused him with icewater. Then we anchored and swam around the ship for a while. It was perfect for us, and the kids are telling everyone at home all about it. I would recommend it for the 4-10 age group. Older kids will think it's cheesy.

Cozumel was Pirate Night (Wednesday). We chose to take a cab to Chankanaab park. We've been there before and love it. there is a rocky area for snorkeling, a small lagoon area for kids/swimming. A playground, a nature walk with replicas of ruins from around mexico, a fake mayan village with actors doing everyday things from village life (usually only one actor, so not like williamsburg, but still interesting). There are also a couple of restaurants, bars, and shops. You can do the dolphin swim there if your pockets are feeling heavy with gold. Ours were on the lighter side. The cab was $10 each way. Entrance to the park was $48 for the four of us. I think our bar tab was the most expensive part of the day, but the drinks themselves were reasonably priced. We were back onboard by about 4:00.

The kids clubs still seemed pretty dark to me, but my kids didn't care. The magic seemed...normal, I guess. The staterooms were fine. There were some signs of age, nicks and dings in the furniture, etc., but the rooms were clean and nice. No complaints. Pools were up and running, no yucky water, etc.

We did brunch at Palo and really enjoyed it. However, we canceled our dinner ressies, which were prime on a sea day, because we decided that we enjoyed the dining rooms and dining with our family more than we wanted to spend another $50 on dinner. We live in Fl (northwest) and like a relaxed atmosphere more than a froo froo atmosphere. Give me flip flops and the beach with some Jimmy Buffett music in the background anytime. For me, it was almost too fancy to enjoy. Mind you, I'm from NY originally and have plenty of experience with fancy restaurants, I just prefer a laid back atmosphere. As for the future with Palo, been there, done that, probably wouldn't bother again.

My mother took the ruins and beach tour in Cozumel and hated it. Said they told them all about really silly things that weren't interesting. My brother and his kids LOVED the jeep and ruins excursion in Cozumel but it was very pricey.

We stayed at the Radisson the night before and it was lovely. The free parking more than paid for the room and the shuttle (which I was worried about) was hassle-free and quick.

I hope this helps someone out. I certainly owe this board a lot for all of my planning and fun! Any other questions?

 

[clukas]

This was our second Disney cruise. The first one was a 4 night wonder two years ago. DH and I have also taken a 5 nt Carnival.

The only excursion we did was the Pirate Encounter in Grand Cayman. We have two children, DS8 and DD5, and they LOVED it. It only lasted about 2 hours, but the kids had a blast and it was inexpensive, $35 per adult and $25 per kid. We sailed around the magic and fired at it with the cannon, the kids had to swab the deck with rags and toothbrushes and were doused with seawater. They also took a parent captive, pronounced him guilty of hideous crimes, and doused him with icewater. Then we anchored and swam around the ship for a while. It was perfect for us, and the kids are telling everyone at home all about it. I would recommend it for the 4-10 age group. Older kids will think it's cheesy.

Cozumel was Pirate Night (Wednesday). We chose to take a cab to Chankanaab park. We've been there before and love it. there is a rocky area for snorkeling, a small lagoon area for kids/swimming. A playground, a nature walk with replicas of ruins from around mexico, a fake mayan village with actors doing everyday things from village life (usually only one actor, so not like williamsburg, but still interesting). There are also a couple of restaurants, bars, and shops. You can do the dolphin swim there if your pockets are feeling heavy with gold. Ours were on the lighter side. The cab was $10 each way. Entrance to the park was $48 for the four of us. I think our bar tab was the most expensive part of the day, but the drinks themselves were reasonably priced. We were back onboard by about 4:00.

The kids clubs still seemed pretty dark to me, but my kids didn't care. The magic seemed...normal, I guess. The staterooms were fine. There were some signs of age, nicks and dings in the furniture, etc., but the rooms were clean and nice. No complaints. Pools were up and running, no yucky water, etc.

We did brunch at Palo and really enjoyed it. However, we canceled our dinner ressies, which were prime on a sea day, because we decided that we enjoyed the dining rooms and dining with our family more than we wanted to spend another $50 on dinner. We live in Fl (northwest) and like a relaxed atmosphere more than a froo froo atmosphere. Give me flip flops and the beach with some Jimmy Buffett music in the background anytime. For me, it was almost too fancy to enjoy. Mind you, I'm from NY originally and have plenty of experience with fancy restaurants, I just prefer a laid back atmosphere. As for the future with Palo, been there, done that, probably wouldn't bother again.

My mother took the ruins and beach tour in Cozumel and hated it. Said they told them all about really silly things that weren't interesting. My brother and his kids LOVED the jeep and ruins excursion in Cozumel but it was very pricey.

We stayed at the Radisson the night before and it was lovely. The free parking more than paid for the room and the shuttle (which I was worried about) was hassle-free and quick.

I hope this helps someone out. I certainly owe this board a lot for all of my planning and fun! Any other questions?

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but will add to it.

My family was also on this cruise, our first on DCL, and I can not think of a thing to complain about. The weather didn't cooperate fully, but did not damper anything. We were not able to snorkel in Grand Cayman but ended up at the beach and a quick island tour on the way back to the ship.

The crew of the Magic is fantastic. Everybody went out of their way to make sure we were happy at all times. We have cruised Carnival, Holland America, NCL, and Regent in the past and this by far out shined them all. For instance, Guest Services learned that my son, 4, was afraid on the ship's horn and arranged a trip to the bridge for him and he sounded the horn on our sea day. That would not have happened on any other cruise line.

I didn't find anything wrong with the ship, crew, food, restaurants, lighting, carpets, etc. The only thing I could be critical about is the attitude of one of the kids club counselors. She was a bit condesending and militaristic to the parents. I did not see her interact with the children.

We stayed at the Residence Inn pre-cruise. We actually own a condo in Cape Canaveral but it was rented for the launch, so I know a bit about the area and I will be happy to answer any questions if anyone has them for me.

We're going again in March.........it was that good!

 

[Paula13]

What beach did you go to? Did you do the island tour on your own? We do not want to do excursions.. just do the beach thing & look around the island a bit on our own.

How about cozumel? Any beach idea's there?

 

[pumba's mom]

Was Bolt shown in 3D??

 

[Paula13]

Another question.. did you happen to eat dinner at the buffet any night? We didn't have a very good experience with diner in main dinning rooms last cruise. We learned from other passengers that you could eat the buffet, but not on the last night. We were never able to try it, due to learning of this on our last day. Just curious if it would be good & what they serve?? Thanks!

 

[jeast]

We only ate at the buffet for breakfast and one day for lunch. Didn't care for it too much. After a couple of days we discovered Lumiere's for B-fast and never went back to the buffet. I loved being waited on and not having to balance trays and go back for drinks or more coffee. I highly recommend it for B-fast. It also didn't take much time, as they don't stretch the meal out like they do at dinner.

I've heard from various boards that paradise beach in cozumel is great. They have a water trampoline and climbing iceberg as well as kayaks, etc. The food is good and cheap and the beach is nice. You can get a bracelet for a minimal amount of money that allows you to use the equipment, or you can just chill and they ask that you consume a minimum, I think $10 pp. Food or drinks, either one. You can learn a lot about it at cruisecritic.com. We were torn between that and Chankanaab, but wanted the nature walk and the mayan village for the kids.

Yeah, the weather was definitely uncooperative. Cooollldd!! But we had fun anyway! I would say that the show on the last night was uninspiring. There was one bit that highlighted real life relationships as the happy ending that was a nice message, but I ended up leaving before the end of the show and considered it time not well spent. I would skip it next time.

 

[clukas]

What beach did you go to? Did you do the island tour on your own? We do not want to do excursions.. just do the beach thing & look around the island a bit on our own.

How about cozumel? Any beach idea's there?

We went to a part of 7 mile beach, just past the "public beach" it had a specific name but it escapes me now. It was much calmer than closer to the ship. Out taxi drive, Bigfoot Tours, took us on an informal tour on the way back to the ship, he drove us to the beach and came back for us when be were done. We went to Hell, the Rum Cake factory, and say the Turtle Farm, and stopped in town to buy T-Shirts. If you find Bigfoot tell hime "Big Belly" recommended him......he'll remember.

I've been to Cozamel a few times but never went to the beach.

 

[clukas]

Was Bolt shown in 3D??

We saw Bolt on the ship, but it was not in 3D.

 

[Paula13]

Thanks for the info!!

Is Bigfoot tours something you booked when you got there?

 

[momsully]

Subscribing as we are seriously considering this cruise for October of 2009!

 

[Family-of-4]

We sailed on the Magic the week before. They had to turn the Eastern into a "modified" Western due to Hurricane Paloma, but we had incredibly good weather the entire week. The cold front was on its way as we were driving home (btw, we're from Gulf Breeze, too). What was your itinerary? We ended up double dipping CC and going to Cozumel and Costa Maya (not a usual Disney stop). We had to skip Key West (I guess in case the Hurricane went that way) and Grand Cayman (we were told it was 'destroyed' by the Hurricane). What condition was Grand Cayman in?

 

[alexturner74]

We sailed on the Magic the week before. They had to turn the Eastern into a "modified" Western due to Hurricane Paloma, but we had incredibly good weather the entire week. The cold front was on its way as we were driving home (btw, we're from Gulf Breeze, too). What was your itinerary? We ended up double dipping CC and going to Cozumel and Costa Maya (not a usual Disney stop). We had to skip Key West (I guess in case the Hurricane went that way) and Grand Cayman (we were told it was 'destroyed' by the Hurricane). What condition was Grand Cayman in?

Grand Cayman seemed to be in normal condition. Our taxi driver said that the other two islands were in really bad shape. Although I've read on the Internet that Little Cayman seems to be okay, and are starting to open back up to visitors, but Cayman Brac took the brunt of the storm.

Alex

 

[jeast]

We did the normal western itinerary. I would have loved two days at CC. I wasn't thrilled by Key West. Probably due to living where we live and having access to that Fl lifestyle. I didn't see much of GC as we decided to go back to the boat after our excursion. There wasn't much time on the island and we had to dock on the wrong side of the island due to weather conditions. That meant taking a bus to the main side, which took 20 mins or so. I didn't want to rush around, so we went back and enjoyed the pool.

Hi neighbor! We're in 'proper', how 'bout you. It would be funny if we knew each other!

 

[cindy18]

Can I ask what your dining rotation was? We're getting close to the opening of our booking window for a Western in March and are trying to figure out which night to book Palo. Thanks in advance!

 

[Eric Julie and Hailey]

Is the photopass-type program up and running yet?

 

[alexturner74]

Is the photopass-type program up and running yet?

Not fully...they swiped our room key for certain photos on the ship, but not all. All of the photos in the restaurants and at Castaway Cay did not use the card swipe. Regardless, all photos were printed and available in Shutters, and then you could still use the kiosk to view and order more photos for the ones that were swiped. I had mixed results in using the kiosk, in that it was slow to respond, and froze on me once.

Alex

 

[clukas]

Thanks for the info!!

Is Bigfoot tours something you booked when you got there?

Bigfoot does tours, but it was a slow day for him so we just picked him up in town. No preplanning for us, but I think you could.