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

[Eeyorefan12]

We're on our way!

We headed out of San Pedro today with just beautiful weather and mostly calm seas. I know there are other DISers here but I haven't had a chance to meet up with them yet. The day was packed with stuff to do and I'm still getting my bearings. I had to break down and get the internet unlimited package, though, so here I am!

This is our first cruise ever but I've gotten so much great info from this board the past few weeks that I thought I'd pay it forward and offer my eyes and ears. If anyone has questions for the "newbie", I'll give it my best shot.

Observations so far? The staff is terrific, the food is amazingly good (we got Animator's Palette first---yeah!), and I have no idea where they're hiding the rest of the passengers because it doesn't seem as crowded as I thought it would be! Tonight we were told there are 1000 staff members aboard...and I think about 950 of them were serving in Animator's Palette. How else to explain the feeling that we were just in any other restaurant--no "cafeteria" feeling at all, just nice and intimate.

So far, I'm impressed.

CB

 

[pppiglet]

Great newbie! Keep us posted!

 

[DisneyTart]

Yippee!!! any info is great and glad to hear it has been impressive so far. Keep us filled in on the activities you do and what you think of them. My fam of 4 is cruising in 3 weeks (1st timers also) and would love hear your opinions on the cruise. Thanks for taking the time to share with all of us!

~Bethany

 

[WDWLVR]

Thanks for checking in with a live report. Have a MAGICal week!

 

[Dreamer04]

Have a great time!

 

[DareTooDream]

Would you tell us how embarkation went - like what time you got there, how long you waited, when you boarded.......
Thanks and ENJOY
Sherry

 

[mommykeg]

What time was the lifeboat drill...I've heard 3:30 and 4:00...which was it?

 

[tchrmom]

Glad your having a great time! We're getting on Sat. for our 5th Disney cruise. We've never been disappointed!

Have fun!
Fran

 

[rsjj]

glad to read that everything is going great. have a wonderful (shall i say magical??!!??) vacation!! thanx for sharing!

 

[Eeyorefan12]

Would you tell us how embarkation went - like what time you got there, how long you waited, when you boarded.......
Thanks and ENJOY
Sherry

Okay, I'm spoiled. We're in a Cat 3 cabin so we got priority boarding...but our friends are in a Cat 5. We all arrived together at the port at about 11:15 a.m. As we walked in, we were given a card with a boarding priority number. (At that time, it was "8"). They preboarded the Concierge level at about noon (although our tickets had said 1:00 p.m.). General boarding began right after that and our friends (priority 8) came onboard about 45 minutes behind us.

I was amazed at the lack of long lines. Even though Concierge has their own check-in window, our friends only waited in line about 10 minutes longer. I noticed the Concierge window personnel helped with general when no one was in our line...very efficient!

CB

 

[Eeyorefan12]

What time was the lifeboat drill...I've heard 3:30 and 4:00...which was it?

The lifeboat drill was at 4:00...at least, that was when we were supposed to be assembled at our stations. It was only slightly confusing but we ended up asking questions of other guests in the hallway who seemed to know what they were doing. (Must have all been DISers, right?)

CB

 

[4fosterkids]

Can you tell me if they offer Diet Sprite or Diet 7-up at the deck 9 soda area or in the restaurants?
Thanks
Jill

 

[Eeyorefan12]

Can you tell me if they offer Diet Sprite or Diet 7-up at the deck 9 soda area or in the restaurants?
Thanks
Jill

Jill, I'll check on the soda question. I know they have Diet Coke but didn't look for Diet Sprite. (My kids are spoiling themselves with "full lead" on this cruise--something they can't do at home.) They also have pink lemonade and fruit punch at the drink station besides coke (and its derivatives) and coffee, tea, hot cocoa...

CB

 

[Eeyorefan12]

Hello again. Today was our first full day onboard. The character breakfast was at 8:15 for us...so, we didn't go. I see from the board that others did, though. I'm jealous! I actually got up that early but we let the kids sleep because they were too excited to get to sleep last night and we had to set clocks forward as well.

We had a great breakfast buffet at Topsiders. Okay, most was great. Avoid the scrambled eggs. Ugh! However, my friend reports they do a nice omelet on the other side of the restaurant. (It's these little things you don't know about.)

Tonight was formal night...and the Golden Mickeys! Our whole group loved the show, even my 9-year-old DS who thinks there's already too much "girl stuff" onboard. The excited grin on his face when Goofy came bouncing down the aisle next to him in that theatre was worth the price of the entire cruise! After the show, we wandered the ship, stopping for ice cream, to play a little ping pong and to take photos because we still had our "nice" clothes on. I was relieved to see that, although a lot of people REALLY dressed up, you could be comfortable being less so.

One minor snafu: I had made a reservation online for a manicure this afternoon and, even though it showed up on my Disney cruise confirmation page online, they "lost" it here and were unable to fit me in for today. (They said it "happens 2 or 3 times"...each cruise?) I mention it so that if you've made an online ressie and it's important to you, you may want to double-check it the first day. I didn't. Oops.

Dinner at Parrot Cay was pretty good but didn't compare to last night at Animator's Palette. I did have the best glass of champagne I've ever had in my life, though, so that may make up for it.

More later!

CB

 

[Eeyorefan12]

I forgot to mention the weather, which I've seen a few people ask about. Yesterday and today on the water were quite pleasant. It might have been slightly chilly for some up on deck but I was quite comfortable in capris and a cotton short-sleeved shirt. The pools were packed. Tonight we walked around on deck in sleeveless dresses with only light sweaters. I think the high was low 70's today. Tomorrow is supposed to reach 82 degrees.

CB

 

[Pineapple]

Comparing Debbie's experience with boarding compared to mine, it looks like it really pays to get to the terminal early.

The biggest problem I had was that Disney hasn't figured out boarding with groups yet. For a company that is infamous for their execution in people queing theory, the boarding process I went through was atrocious.

The way things were supposed to work was:
- You get a group number as you enter the terminal on a slip of paper called a "boarding pass".
- Disney calls your group number. You get in line to go through security. Those not in the group are supposed to wait until their number is called.

Nice in concept. Not standing around in line until you really have to.

However, Disney didn't study people behavior enough. Anyone who has ever flown an airline that boards by row numbers or flew Southwest in the old days knows that groups don't work without good controls. People stand in line because they see a line. Others just try to beat the system.

What happened was that when Disney was boarding group 14, they had a humongously long line of people who were in groups 15 to 20 (that was as high as I heard) mixed in with some poor 14s. The poor 14s couldn't get to the front where they should have been. A Disney person started to go along the line checking for people who were in later groups and shouldn't have been in line. He encountered several parties who had "lost" their boarding pass and couldn't say what group they were in. After going through a few groups, the Disney person gave up, exasperated.

When my group 16 was called, I went to the head of the line and questioned the Disney person as to whether everyone in line was a 16 and whether I had to wait at the end of the line. The line was even longer now. He quietly asked how many in my party, and then asked me go call my family up. He slipped my family into another line and from there, we were on our way onboard.

I don't know if Disney is going to try the same thing for the next cruise. They know they have to find something better. But if you get caught behind people who should be behind you, go ahead and talk to the people up front. They know what is going on and will try to make things right.

Cliff

 

[DisneyTart]

Hi Cliff, CB any other lucky current cruisers. Can anyone tell me about the bars/clubs and whether or not they have any that are designated Non-Smoking?

 

[alohatee]

Thanks for the great info - keep them coming. But make sure that you have a MAGICal time as well. Hopefully by the time in August when we cruise - all the kinks have been ironed out.

 

[Pineapple]

Has anyone done dining reviews of the food onboard a Disney cruise? My experience has been hit and miss so far.

A few dishes with excellent combinations of flavors. A thick piece of cod cooked close to perfection. And then some really poor execution on simple things like a steak. Going to brunch at Palo in 5 minutes so I hope it lives up to expectations. I'm beginning to worry that maybe my expectations were set too high for dining on this cruise.

 

[challada]

Pineapple- always stick w/the seafood choice....even our servers recommended that to us and consistently the seafood was the better tasting meal.

Have fun in Palos...it's nice but not something I HAVE to do next time.

Say hi to Mexico and Mickey for me!
C