Just back from the April 16-23 Magic - Eastern

[Jen in MA]

We just returned from a wonderful 7 days aboard the Magic. I'll post a more detailed trip report later... have to unpack and do lots of laundry first! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Just a little background... We are in our early 30's, no kids... so I can't comment on the kids program. I'd have to say though that Disney really does a great job of keeping the kids entertained. There were about 1200 kids on the ship... but honestly you would never know it!
The seas were very rough our first night and part of the first day, then things calmed down and the weather was beautiful for the remainder of the week. We did shore excursions in both St. Martin (Rhino Riders) and St. Thomas (Capt. Nautica and Paradise Point tram). They were great! We had a beautiful sunny day at Castaway Cay (snorkeled there as well).
Food was great as were our servers Mahendra from Bali and Uri from Peru. We had both brunch and dinner at Palo (were originally waitlisted for both). All ressies for dinner and brunch at Palo were gone by 1:40 when we got on the ship. We had air through DCL and didn't land in Orlando until 12 noon. Oh well, that sums it up for now... feel free to ask any questions! Now, I'm off to start my laundry... YUCK!!! I miss my stateroom (6076) and want to go back!!!

 

[mommasita]

Glad you had a great Week!!!!!!!!!!! Sucks to be home, but there is always NEXT TIME!!!!!!

Also glad to hear you made it in on time with your flights...And you got Palo ressies...Sounds like a good time....Anxious for your trip report..Take it easy..

 

[jhorstma]

Rhino Riders rock - who was your guide?

 

[Jen in MA]

Our Rhino Riders guide was Sasha.

 

[jlawall]

What did you do for fun?? How were the evening adult activities?? Haven't heard about them in a while!

 

[Jen in MA]

We spent alot of time at the adult pool... just enjoyed sitting on the side of the pool and hanging out. We spent some time at Diversions watching sports games. I'm a huge Red Sox fan and while they didn't have any Sox games on last week, I kept going in to check out the scores. We went to a couple of the adult shows in the evening. One night they had the ventriliquist (sp?) and another a magician/illusionist in Rockin Bar D. Both were good. We also did the Navigator Series (all 3 parts) -- Making of the Magic, Ship Tour, and Magic in Drydock/Q&A session with Ship Officers. We did the Bridge Tour too. Basically we were busy all day every day! We never slept in... were up between 5:45 and 7:30am every day! Went to bed around midnight or so every night... I really need a vacation from the vacation!!! I was really amazed at how much there was to do. We went on a Carnival cruise about 10 years ago and we were bored out of our minds! We don't really drink and even though we don't have kids, we really liked the family atmosphere of the Magic. Plus, we are both Disney Fanatics, so anything with Mickey Mouse is right up our alley!

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

We just got back from the April 16 Magic, too. We had a good time - we met lots of great people - but I have to say, I had to adjust my expectations a bit. I plan on writing a trip report soon, but I think these boards may have set my expectations just a bit too high. I used lots of tips from other Disers (thank you) and we definitely enjoyed our trip. A few times, I joked with DH asking him, "So, just when does the Magical Vacation begin????" Our kids, 9 & 5 had a great time and made lots of friends too. Recognizing our ship was sold out with about 1200 kids on board, I still thought the Kids Clubs were a bit chaotic for the first couple of days. By mid-week, things seemed to be under better control.

The best part of the trip for us was to spend some time together as a family, create some memories and make some great friends. I'll try to get my report up soon. Now it is time to do laundry! And if someone could stop my house from rocking, that would be just great!!!!

 

[Jen in MA]

Glad to hear that it's not just my house that won't stop rocking!!! I literally keep bumping into the walls!!! I'm on my 4th load of laundry... still at least a couple more to go!!!

CTFamilyCruisers - What cabin were you guys in?

 

[aprilgail2]

What was the weather like on the islands?? We leave in 6 days!
I never come home with laundry to do, I hate packing dirty clothes in my suitcases so I make sure to do laundry as soon as we get back on the boat from castaway cay!

 

[Jen in MA]

Great weather on the islands... St. Martin was sunny and warm (high 70's/low 80's). St. Thomas was warm too... a few more clouds though. Castaway Cay was gorgeous weather... completely sunny early in the day, then some clouds... again high 70's, I think. Water temps were really warm in St. Martin and St. Thomas... CC water temps seems a little cooler... had to ease yourself into the water.

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

Glad to hear that it's not just my house that won't stop rocking!!! I literally keep bumping into the walls!!! I'm on my 4th load of laundry... still at least a couple more to go!!!

CTFamilyCruisers - What cabin were you guys in?

We were in 8036 - mid-ship, port side.

 

[DIS NURSE]

Hi, I would like to hear more about Captain Nautica's snorkel tour...this is the one and only one excursion we are interested in so i'd love to hear all the details...we are 2 adults and 2 kids.

How many different snorkel sites did you go to, 2 or 3? Was there one better than another and did you spend a equal amount of time at each one? When you were tired or wanted to dry off, could you just hang out in the boat?
Did they provide towels?
Did they let you bring food and drinks on the boat? Like, could I pack a small backpack and they wouldn't really care what was in it?
Does everything on the boat pretty much stay dry? Do you have to wear the life vest the entire time throughout the excursion? Were you ever able to get to land on your stops? What was it like if you could?

Thank You!

Oh, and a few more hundred questions...
Would it be wise to wear a least (half-shortie) wet suits...especially for the kids to not get cooked and stay warmer?
Did you do the early one or the one around Noon? If you went to the later one, did you not have to go through immigration until just prior to you leaving the ship? Like, around Noon aas opposed to early in the am with all the masses of crowds?

 

[jlawall]

Thx Jen for the updates!

 

[MandyMommytoReaghan]

Glad to hear you had a wonderful time! Can't wait for the trip report Mandy

 

[RealMickeysGirl]

We had a group of 6 adults in rooms 2573, 2575 and 2579 (DH and I were in the last one). We had a blast!!
Our group of friends used to live in the same city - most of us in the same apartment complex and now live in different states. We like to get together every year or two for a group vacation. We usually have a great time whenever we are together but this was the second disney cruise we have taken and I think we will continue doing this. It was so much fun.
We have already booked for Dec 9, 2006.

DH will probably do a trip report soon so I won't get into that now.

 

[DavidOH]

Hi Guys
I know we met some of you on the Magic. Had a great time. It is tough being back. I am still on "Island Time"
David

 

[Jen in MA]

Hi, I would like to hear more about Captain Nautica's snorkel tour...this is the one and only one excursion we are interested in so i'd love to hear all the details...we are 2 adults and 2 kids.

How many different snorkel sites did you go to, 2 or 3? Was there one better than another and did you spend a equal amount of time at each one? When you were tired or wanted to dry off, could you just hang out in the boat?
Did they provide towels?
Did they let you bring food and drinks on the boat? Like, could I pack a small backpack and they wouldn't really care what was in it?
Does everything on the boat pretty much stay dry? Do you have to wear the life vest the entire time throughout the excursion? Were you ever able to get to land on your stops? What was it like if you could?

Thank You!

Oh, and a few more hundred questions...
Would it be wise to wear a least (half-shortie) wet suits...especially for the kids to not get cooked and stay warmer?
Did you do the early one or the one around Noon? If you went to the later one, did you not have to go through immigration until just prior to you leaving the ship? Like, around Noon aas opposed to early in the am with all the masses of crowds?

Hi Dis Nurse,

We had a great time on the Capt. Nautica excursion. We did the early one. We had to meet in Diversions at 7:45am. Everyone on an AM shore excursion had to go through immigration at 6:30am, followed by others depending on which floor you were on. Everyone on the ship had to report by 7:30am at the latest. They claim that everyone on the ship must clear immigration before anyone is allowed off the ship, but we saw many excursions groups get off while they were still announcing on the ship for anybody who hadn't gone through yet to report to the Walt Disney Theater.
After meeting at Diversions, we were led off the ship where we met one of our guides. We were then all loaded into an open-air taxi and brought downtown to the the Capt. Nautica boat. We were docked in Crown Bay, so the cab ride was about 10 minutes. Once on the boat, we were given a little safety spiel. Even though there were several children on the boat, they didn't give out life vests. We were given a big waterproof bag to put our stuff in as well as snorkel masks, fins, and snorkel vests. Then we were off on a fast, bumpy ride to Buck Island about 7 minutes away. Once we arrived we were told a little about how to snorkel and off we went. We stayed at this site for about 30-45 minutes. The water here was probably about 10-15 feet deep. While here we saw many giant sea turtle, tons of fish, a few stingrays, and lots of fire coral. There was also a special type of fish that only comes to St. Thomas for 2 weeks out of the year. The guide said that they were they type of fish in Finding Nemo that spelled out the words. I can't remember the name... but there were millions of them! It was very cool!
Next, we climbed back on the boat, were given sodas and were zoomed off to our next site. This one was off St. John (can't remember the name). This was an awesome reef with tons of different types of colorful fish (about 5-15 ft water) We spent about 30 minutes exploring here. Then got back on the boat for more soda and some melon and shrimp. Our driver said we still had a little more time, so he brought us over to where a shipwreck was buried on the ocean floor. This water was much deeper (40ft maybe) and the water was rough, but it was still pretty neat. We spent about 15 minutes here. Then back on the boat and we were zoomed back to town.
None of the 3 sites offered a beach to swim over to, but if you got tired you could certainly go back to the boat. A few people didn't get off at the last site, either too tired or worried about the rougher, deeper waters. As far as the snorkel vest, you only had to wear it while in the water. It was about 80 degrees the morning we did the excursion and the water temps were beautiful, so you'd probably be fine in just a swimsuit. Towels were provided on the ship by Disney at the meeting spot in Diversions. Nobody on our boat brought extra snack with them, but I don't see why you couldn't. Hope I answered all of your questions... Overall, we LOVED this excursion and would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

[DIS NURSE]

Your are a great DIS'er to reply and so detailed at that! Thank you for the insight and it sounds like a wonderful adventure! I know (from experience off the Hawaiin Islands on our Honeymoon) that a small catamaran tour can be very "sea sick" unfriendly and the speed boats of Captain Nautica sound great for us! Did you see small children aboard the tour? Like 6-8 year olds? Did they like it?
So let me get this right..... even if you were scheduled to go on the later (noon) tour, you were required to go through immigration at 7:30 am? All of us would have to show up at a certain location that early in the am? If that's what we have to do, we'll do it! Otherwise, it would be great if we could have a more leisurly morning......
Thanks again......
DIS NURSE from Oregon

 

[Jen in MA]

Yup, believe it or not, everyone on the ship must clear through US Immigration very early in the AM. It really only took a 10-15 minutes. We arrived at 6:30am and were up at Topsiders eating breakfast before 7am! For some reason or another, we were up before 8am every morning on the cruise (character breakfast, 10:30am brunch at Palo, early shore excursion), so it really wasn't as horribly inconvenient as I had imagined... and I'm honestly NOT a "morning person" either. At home, I happily sleep until 10-11am on weekends... and cry and hit snooze about a zillion times when my alarm sounds at 6:30am on weekdays.

As far as the kids on the Capt. Nautica, I'd say the youngest was maybe 8 or 9 years old. There were a few kids between 11-13ish, and a couple young teens 14-16 maybe. They all seemed to be having a good time. I'd say as long as your kids are good swimmers and are comfortable in deep water, they'll have a blast! Honestly, the only thing that made me nervous was the large amount of fire coral. They show you what it looks like and warn you not to touch it... but there is soooo much of it everywhere. I think maybe it seemed closer through my mask than it really was. Nodody seemed to have a problem though... and nobody ended up touching it. Just make sure your kids know what it looks like.