**Live from 6/25/05 Magic to Mexico**

[mgm61]

Did anybody snorkeling in Cabo have trouble with jelly fish?
We would really like to do this excursion but don't want to be stung.
Please let me know.
Thank you and have a great day and night!!
Michele
Crusin' July 17

 

[jlawall]

Thx again for the excellent details in your posts!!

 

[mommykeg]

I have had a heck of a time posting the last few days. Every time I have some down here, the computers were so slow I was unable to post. I'll try to post a few things before I have to go get my boys to go ashore.

A few random thoughts:

WE had a great day with Mazatlan Frank yesterday - i posted a few more details on the Mazatlan thread.

We loved Paradise Beach. The pool was wonderful. We only swam in the ocean for a few minutes before a couple of kids near us were stung by jellyfish.

There were still jellyfish at Mazatlan yesterday so after lunch when Frank dropped us at El Cid we just went to the pool. BTW, at ElCid, be sure to explore the area where the water seems to disappear under the buliding. To be it looked to be separate from the pool and maybe even just for looks, but near the end of the day, my DS 9 went over there and found water slides, cazes, etc.


Twice Charmed was Monday, Pirate night was Tuesday, movie night was Wednesday (Herbie)and last night was Mouseketeer and tonight is Disney Dreams.
I have loved every minute of this week and am actually having to keep myself from thinking that is almost over.

We are headed to Cabo on our own in a few minutes. If I don't have time to sit an post more tonight, I will write up a summary when I get home.


PINEAPPLE - I heard you posted some things last night about our excursion but I couldn't find them. Where are they?

It sounds like they switched the show schedule around...putting Twice Charmed back to Monday and WWTBAM on Wednesday...like it was on the 5/28 cruise. This makes me VERY happy, since I planned Palo on Wednesday based on the reports from the 5/28 cruise...and we don't want to miss Twice Charmed with the kids. If they keep it this way, we won't have to cut our Mazatlan day short to see a matinee!! I'll keep my fingers crossed!! Thanks for all the info!!

 

[Eeyorefan12]

I hope everyone is having a blast, are DJ Pike or Travis from South Africa on bored and when are they getting off if any of you know any of this info let me know please I'm going on the next cruise and wanna know if they will be on it

Travis is definitely here but not sure about DJ Pike. Is "DJ" his job or his initials? We've not been participating in a lot of things because there just aren't enough hours in the day (and night...LOL!) to fit it all in. I feel like we needed a few more sea days.
CB

 

[DMMarla07860]

Travis is definitely here but not sure about DJ Pike. Is "DJ" his job or his initials? We've not been participating in a lot of things because there just aren't enough hours in the day (and night...LOL!) to fit it all in. I feel like we needed a few more sea days.
CB

Yeah, DJ Pike was the DJ on my cruise in may. enjoy the rest of your cruise

 

[DonnettaR]

10 pictures were $89.95 and ea $9.95. 8x10 $19.95 or you can get 2 stock 5x7 for $9.95. (pictures of the ship in each port)

Thanks. Do they have pictures of the ship going through the canal?

 

[got2gp]

We are here as well!! Got on board late and missed the first DIS meet. We have been having a great time, in fact so much fun, I haven't had time to post until today.

Some of our highlights. Palo dinner. Las Caletas excursion in PV- expensive, but well worth it. Won a diamond tennis braclet, Rain Forest room day pass at bingo and $200 to boot! Loved all th major shows. DS loves the lab, in fact we didn't see him yesterday from the time we came back on board till the lab closed. DD is enjoying the stack, sort of. It is kind of hit and miss for her. Can't believe it is almost over. Well ds is waiting impatiently for me to get off, so got to go. I'll post a complete trip report when we get home.

Cheryl

 

[Pineapple]

Sorry but I've been too busy to post much latley. We were able to get the kids in Oceaneers a bit more so I've had time to do more things myself like go to the adult entertainment plus see a movie. Not as much down time to post here.

Have a sea day today so I might have some time later. Got a really good tip for the harbor cruise in Cabo.

Later,
Cliff

 

[jlawall]

Wow Cheryl, everything sounds amazing.......keep up the good work!!

 

[pppiglet]

DonnettaR...I didn't see stock pictures of the canal.

 

[Pineapple]

It's the last day of our cruise. *sigh* It's pretty late and I have to get up early for breakfast and debarkation. Let me get in a few items before I leave this ship after an enjoyable week on the Magic.

Mazatlan Frank is for real an he does a pretty good tour. I compared notes with others in our party who took the walking tour and we saw everything they did plus we rode in an air conditioned van when it was 90+ outside while they were dying in the heat. PLUS, we had the opportunity to either go swimming or shopping in the Golden Zone. And we had a nice lunch at Tony's. I think we got a pretty good deal. I got some ribbing from someone in our party for going with a tour guide I found on the internet but ended up with the last laugh.

As to my tip for Cabo, it applies to anyone going on the excursions with a harbor cruise component. We went on the harbor and scenic drive excursion. Others went on the Lands End cruise and I think they rode the same tour boat. It is called the "Fantasea".

First, consider this tip only if you have good physical mobility! Anything less and you might end up in the water.

When you board the tour boat, you will be on the upper deck toward the rear of the boat with bench seats all around. Most of the people on the tour will stay in this area. Bench seats will also be available in an open area downstairs. There is also an enclosed cabin midship that you can enter from downstairs. The tour guide will invite you to go to the forward part of the boat but warn you there are no seats there. On our cruise, most people did not take the tour guide's offer.

We went looking for this forward area and couldn't figure out how to get there. It turns out you have to go out a door to the side of the enclosed cabin marked "crew only" and walk along a small catwalk maybe only 12 to 16 inches wide. There is a railing there that comes up to your thigh, much too low to prevent you from falling over. The front of the boat is just a flat area covering the bow with a low railing around it. Again, the railing is too low to prevent anyone from falling over and the rails are spaced far enough apart that a child could easily slip through.

In spite of the potential safety hazards of this forward area, it has to be the absolute best place to be on the boat. We had a nice warm breeze flowing past us. And best of all, the engine noise all but disappeared. It was so loud to the rear of the boat. My family just sat down on the deck and enjoyed the tour. My daughter even started to take a nap in the warm sun, it was that relaxing. I think finding the forward area increased our enjoyment of the tour by two to three times. It was that big a difference compared to the back of the boat. So if you are on this tour boat, try to get to this forward area.

But again I must strongly emphasize, only try going to this area if you have good mobility. And do not bring small children! I would almost bet that Disney does not know that the operator is allowing people to go to this forward area. The railings are well below the height necessary to keep a standing person from accidently falling over. And even an adult could crawl through the gaps in the railing, much less a small child. The catwalk is very narrow and a large person would not be able to fit on it. And the railing for the catwalk looks like an add on by the boat owner. The weld quality on the railing looks poor compared to the welds on the rest of the boat's railings.

So that's it for tonight. I will be off the Magic the next time I write. I'll try to post more when I get access to the high bandwidth connection at my brother-in-laws house in LA. I'll have my multiple browser windows and editor back and should more easily be able to write.

Best wishes to the cruisers that will be following me.

Cliff

 

[DisneyTart]

Cliff, Cheryl, Debbie & CB THANK YOU!!! for your wonderful updates and tips. I appreciate your taking the time to share.


~Bethany

 

[Eeyorefan12]

I can't believe we leave the Magic tomorrow morning (bright and early...well, early but probably not bright.) Tonight after dinner, I actually found myself walking out of Animator's Palette with tears in my eyes. Wow.

Like Cliff, we'll be the first group off tomorrow so I'll try to write a few more things once we get home tomorrow night. I still need to post my Palo dinner notes...and add today's brunch to my "review". Suffice it to say that I'm still stuffed...and may never need to eat again. (I wish!)

I got to meet several DISers this morning at the Cove. It's always fun to put faces to the names. Thanks for getting together, everybody.

I hope all these posts have been as useful to others as the ones that came before were for me. I'll try to think of some things that might add new info to the experience. I know I learned new things every day and I feel like I'm finally ready to take the cruise. Oh wait...I just did!

Signing off from the Magic...

CB

 

[alohatee]

........As to my tip for Cabo, it applies to anyone going on the excursions with a harbor cruise component. We went on the harbor and scenic drive excursion. Others went on the Lands End cruise and I think they rode the same tour boat. It is called the "Fantasea".

First, consider this tip only if you have good physical mobility! Anything less and you might end up in the water.

When you board the tour boat, you will be on the upper deck toward the rear of the boat with bench seats all around. Most of the people on the tour will stay in this area. Bench seats will also be available in an open area downstairs. There is also an enclosed cabin midship that you can enter from downstairs. The tour guide will invite you to go to the forward part of the boat but warn you there are no seats there. On our cruise, most people did not take the tour guide's offer.

We went looking for this forward area and couldn't figure out how to get there. It turns out you have to go out a door to the side of the enclosed cabin marked "crew only" and walk along a small catwalk maybe only 12 to 16 inches wide. There is a railing there that comes up to your thigh, much too low to prevent you from falling over. The front of the boat is just a flat area covering the bow with a low railing around it. Again, the railing is too low to prevent anyone from falling over and the rails are spaced far enough apart that a child could easily slip through.

In spite of the potential safety hazards of this forward area, it has to be the absolute best place to be on the boat. We had a nice warm breeze flowing past us. And best of all, the engine noise all but disappeared. It was so loud to the rear of the boat. My family just sat down on the deck and enjoyed the tour. My daughter even started to take a nap in the warm sun, it was that relaxing. I think finding the forward area increased our enjoyment of the tour by two to three times. It was that big a difference compared to the back of the boat. So if you are on this tour boat, try to get to this forward area.

But again I must strongly emphasize, only try going to this area if you have good mobility. And do not bring small children! I would almost bet that Disney does not know that the operator is allowing people to go to this forward area. The railings are well below the height necessary to keep a standing person from accidently falling over. And even an adult could crawl through the gaps in the railing, much less a small child. The catwalk is very narrow and a large person would not be able to fit on it. And the railing for the catwalk looks like an add on by the boat owner. The weld quality on the railing looks poor compared to the welds on the rest of the boat's railings.......

Best wishes to the cruisers that will be following me.

Cliff

Cliff - Thanks for the word of CAUTION. We are doing the Land's End Cruise in August. Glad to hear you and your family had a FANTASTIC and MAGICal time on the cruise. Look forward to the same.

 

[jlawall]

Thx again for all the detailed info about the excursions............they are very helpful!! Sorry it's over but thx for sharing!!!!!

 

[Pineapple]

Eeyorefan! What are you doing posting at 4am in the morning? I was posting at midnight and I was tired. And you had to make the 6:30am breakfast too! I'm surprised you still had enough energy to walk around baggage claim

I'm on land again. It's so nice to have my computer back.

 

[neenermom]

Thanks. Do they have pictures of the ship going through the canal?

DonettaR, when we were on the June 4th cruise, they did have stock photos of the ship going through the Panama Canal, I remember two different ones (didn't get those). They also had photos of the ship in each port with the corresponding date (PV on the 7th, Mazatlan on the 8th, and Cabo on the 9th, I did get those ).

Lorena

 

[jilljill]

Welcome home Pineapple. Thanks for your reports, we sail 5 weeks from today

 

[atakaratemom]

Thank so much to all of you for your great reports. It is so helpful. My family and I are traveling on July 23 and I love reading these posts.

Cliff, when you get a chance could you tell us more about your tour with Frank in Mazatlan. I am in contact with him for our trip and it sounds like I am looking into the same tour you took. Is he as great as he seems? I have a DD5 and a DS11. Do you think they would enjoy his tour?

Welcome home to all of you and thanks for sharing your trip with all of us.

Mary

 

[AUDREY BELCHER]

It is funny to read about your cruise when you get home from . I had a wonderful cruise and really enjoyed meeting all the dis's members at the cove yesterday morning. I had a list and room # we collected before we left for the cruise. The weather was the best and even with the winds on Fri my grandsons were out at the pool. I myself did not even walk on the deck. I feel that the food was hit and miss also. And I did go to High Tea and it was very good but just tryed a little of everything since we had 6pm dinner. One thing you need to do is have your camara with you all the time you never know when something would happen and you would need it.
I have put my pictures on the computer and will post some when I find out how to do it. It is funny to be home and I am having company for the weekend am waiting for them to come. We only went to the resorts in both pv and mazatlaln. I feel that EL CID in mazatlaln was the greatest my grandsons just loved it. I have the after cruise let down and have 5 months till I cruise again. I learned at lunch that a talk show host was on the ship. Well as dd was going thru customs the agent said that rickie lake just passed thru. I don't think that you can compair the disney cruise with any other cruise it is very special in every way.