Live From the 9/27 Magic

[MarcyIn Florida]

Yes, my friends, there is a 9/27 Magic!

I will not waste anyone's time by discussing what today was like -- let's suffice it to say that it was quite horrible, with a lot of misinformation and resulting mass hysteria.

But I digress.

Once we stepped on board, we put the events of today behind us. The ship is quite beautiful, the crew is charming and attentive, and despite the fact that we missed dinner at Animator's Pallette, we had a very nice evening. I took my oldest daughter to the Club so she could look around, and in her best 4 year old going on 15 year old voice, she said, "Mom, I think it's time for you to go. I'll be staying here." And stay she did, until I dragged her out at 11, 2.5 hours past her bedtime.

In addition to the various "perks" DCL has given us for the changed cruise, their unlimited internet is only $39.99. I don't know why that makes me so happy, but it does.

I do want to thank this boatrd profusely for the information I've gotten here. As soon as we boarded, I dumped the kids with dh, and ran up the stairs to book Palo's (got brunch and dinner of our choise), ran to register dd1 at the Club, ran to make Flounder's ressies, and then ran to gues services and got Tea With Wendy tickets -- apparently I was the first to get the tea tickets. Since I ran up and down the stairs, I was able to eat an extra chocolate chip cookie at Topsider's. Regardless, I think I need an extra 10 minutes on the elliptical tomorrow since I also had about 8 plates of shrimp.

Tomorrow we're looking forward to a nice day at sea after brunch at Palo's. This is the first meal my dh and I have had alone in months, so we're really looking forward to it.

Oh, and our Castaway gifts were in our stateroom waiting for us. Very nice surprise.

Cheers,

Marcy

 

[JLSE50]

Prayers and Pixie dust that the trip continues to go well.

Jan

 

[queenof2princesses]

Forgive me for asking, what is Tea with Wendy? Where have I been? I hope you have a wonderful trip!! Wish I were there...

 

[CM_Mom]

"Mom, I think it's time for you to go. I'll be staying here."

Marcy, I can just hear your DD. Reminds me of my DD when she was that age.

You guys have a fantastic MAGICal cruise. I've really enjoyed your attitude and the decision to look forward and enjoy the moment.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by MarcyIn Florida

I took my oldest daughter to the Club so she could look around, and in her best 4 year old going on 15 year old voice, she said, "Mom, I think it's time for you to go. I'll be staying here."

LOL!

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

_

 

[budwmn]

Marcy,
Thanks for taking the time to post! Sorry about the difficulties in getting onboard, but I love your attitude!

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

[RellingTwin]

Marcy, glad you are all on board and starting your vacation. Can you tell me what time you were able to board?
Have a fantastic trip!

 

[Verandah Man]

Have a MAGICal time Marcy!!!!!

 

[WDWLVR]

Marcy - sorry to hear that the day was bad, but I love your attitude about going forward and enjoying your cruise.

Have a great time at brunch and enjoy your cruise!

 

[mickeyfanmom]

Yeah Marcy!

I am so glad that you are enjoying your MAGICal cruise! Even if things get crazy with changes and other "stuff" remember what another poster said earlier- "sailing on DCL at sea is much better than sailing through work, the grocery store etc."

Enjoy yourselves and if you see my friends the Schroepher's from Gainesville, FL tell them I said "hi!"

Dawn

 

[glindamood]

Hope you have smooth seas, sunny skies and a very MAGICal cruise. If you see Anne Marie in Palo's (she is awesome) tell her David and Gail said Hi.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Enjoy your cruise!!

Bobbi

 

[plutospup]

Originally posted by MarcyIn Florida
in her best 4 year old going on 15 year old voice, she said, "Mom, I think it's time for you to go. I'll be staying here."

Oh that sounds so familiar! Thanks for a big smile this morning.

Have a wonderful vacation, and please have an extra plate of shrimp for me, Andy, Rae, etc......... They're calorie free on vacation!

 

[mmorizio]

I am sitting in the Internet Cafe right now.

The rest of my party is getting ready for breakfast, so I will make this short. The weather right now is beautiful, as is the sea.

DCL did a horrible job UNTIL we got on the ship last night. then everything became fine. Rick Purporro (sp?) is still here and still very funny.

Gotta go. will post later.

 

[NCRedding]

I'm not Marcy, but I will post my experiences aboard the 9/25 (or 9/27) sailing. I agree that yesterday was absolute chaos. A timetable: we arrived at the airport at noon to board buses to the port. We were among the first 3 buses of passengers, We rode the Mears yellow buses, they were equipped with TVs but they had no videos to watch. The temperature was also about 3-4 degrees warmer than it chouls have been, so we were a stinky group of people when we boarded. Spirits on the bus were subdued, but everyon behaved very nicely. The children onboard, including my own, were real troopers--I can not believe how well behaved most people were--I saw no fits or bad behavior.

Anyway I digress: We finally arrived at the port at 5:00, after taking a 30-40 minute stop at a rest area. DCL had provided us a snack bag: granola bar, cookie, apple, small bottle of water. We were originally told that we would be letting off the Wonder pax and all Magic pax would go to the Sheraton to wait some more. When we arrived at the port--it was amazing the number of ships around. Anyway, at the stop, all the Wonder pax got off and we stayed on board. Then all the Wonder people we told to get back on and the magic pax were to get off. We entered the large warehouse type terminal at 5:00. We were the first pax there, so we got to sit in chairs. The terminal was very disorganized although DCL tried to make it better. For some reason, there was no loudspeaker system, so we could not hear the announcements. Once we were through security--which moved very quickly once it opened, we then were directed to another long line for check-in. We entered the ship on Deck 2--they didn't attempt pictures, but did announce us on. We finally got to our room at 7:45.

We received our luggage from 10:30--til 12:30.

There was a good bit of confusion regarding procedures for dinner. First we were told that we were to go to our dinner rotation, just late. Topsiders was open, then we were told to go to any restaurant, at any time we wanted, then we were once again told to go to our rotational restaurant. We ended up at AP at 9, but our table was taken. So we were seated at someone elses table. There was no show.

Revisions in schedule: Today is a day at sea and is formal night; tomorrow is Cozumel; Thurs is Costa Maya and our semi-formal night; Friday is day at sea. We were told in the terminal that if Port Canaveral was damaged, we would be sailing back to Port Everglades.

I have received 3 copies of the navigator for yesterday. The navigator for today was placed under our door at 11:30 last night.

I was surprised to see children last night in the bar areas--Diversions, and several at the 80s bar. I assume that this will change as we normalize.

So far, it seems like a very different cruise line--I haven't meet any of our servers or our room steward--the people have been pleasant, but not quite the DCL "spark"--I know that once things normalize, we'll see the magic. Everyone has been under so much stress.

They did give us an additional $100 ship credit as a result of the problems yesterday, bringing the total to $300, plus a 40 percent discount on this cruise, and 25 percent off a future cruise--must be booked by 12/31/04 and completed by 10/1/05.

They are trying to make the best of the situation--I feel like such a novice--but we all are.

We didn't even try for Palo--only 4 hours available for brunch, and they didn't serve last night, so our availablity is very limited.

I will post as I can--I bought the $39 package--with my credit why not?? Of course, further confusion--DCL had my birthday and my husband's birthday switched in the computer, so even logging on wasn't easy.

Please don't flame me--I know how lucky I am--we lived through Jeanne hunkered down for 36 hours at the Holiday Inn family suites, and we drove through the damage caused by all the hurricanes. DCL is doing there best, and my vacation is not ruined--just very different from my expectations, thus-far.

Time to go walk Deck 4.

Til I reread posts, I ddin't realize the nice guy who tried to help me log on was a fellow DISer.

 

[mickeyfanmom]

No flaming here- I think that you are very reasonable in your post.

I hope that it just keeps getting better and better and you have an AWESOME time!

 

[DutchsMommy]

Hope you all have a magical cruise - I think with your attitudes you will make the most out of a difficult situation for Disney and it's guests.

Have FUN!!!!!

 

[daisy112878]

I hope yall have a great cruise this week. I can't imagine what yall have been through. At least now yall can start making magical memories and have a great time.

 

[Cruise04]

ROFL at Marcy's dd's comment - too cute.

Hope you ALL have a GREAT cruise now that you are on!!!