Live from the Magic!!!

[Suzi Q]

Thanks Minniesota for your great trip report. Have a wonderful week and savor every moment! We will be there next week. I can hardly wait--it is 19° here and blowing, drifting snow. I'm inside reading these boards and packing our shorts, swimsuits, and dreaming of warm white sand and waving palm trees!!

 

[jlawall]

Thx for the update! Weather here in the East is VERY ICY!!

 

[minniesota]

Oh I am so sorry that the weather is so wicked around the country - yeah, real sorry! To answer some questions and requests, I will say hi to Scratch and tell her to turn up the heat! Actually ST. Martiin was much warmer. It was so cool to wake up this morning - 5:30 a.m. and sense land! I heard a dog barking and felt lights on me as I lay in bed waiting for the day> Land is a good thing, too! We had some sun, a little rain and a heck of a good time on the boat ride to Anguilla. My daughter screeched, "this is the most fun I've had the whole cruise!" She's 12 - what can I say? The dolphin excursion was great but do not go on this excursion if you are the least bit unpatient! We spent a lot of time on the boat, waiting, the bus, waiting, waiting. But it's island time! The kids LOVED the beach - unbelievable waves! My kids are used to the ocean - I know, we live in MInnesota - but we travel alot. ANyway, watch the little ones but the kids and DH LOVED the wave action. The dolphins were so cute and cooperative, though bring your own camera. We felt the photos were a bit steep and not that good. We took video and still - we were observers so that Tinkerbell4's kids could do the encounter. (Sign up early for this one folks!) Lots of time with the dolphins and DS-10 loved feeding the stingrays. Lunch was so-so. Just could not bring myself to eat the goat meat! A full day - early start and so we are pooped tonight and it's the tropical party. We may not make it! Last night's diinner was in Lumiere's and it was wonderful - had the herb-crusted Atlantic cod and it was great. White chocolate domes filled with raspberry parfait. Mmmm.

The Promenade Lounge is rockin with the sounds of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". It sounds good - I think I've had too many tropical drinks!LOL The kids are going to see "Teachers Pet" tonight. Other movies include "Cold Mountain" Under the Tuscan Sun". Pirates..., Finding Nemo. I know there are others but I can't remember right now!

Kids did pin trading with the officers last night and DS scored a couple of good ones, according to Scratch! He was very pleased with himself. The sea days seem long for the kids but today just flew. We have to be at the WD Theater at 6:30 IN THE MORNING tomorrow before heading out to the 5Star Snorkle trip. The water is a bit chilly at first but the kids and DH assure me it's warm once you get used to it! I'll let you know after tomorrow. OMG, they are now doing a Monkees rendition of I'm A Believer. This sounds very bad!!! Must get another drink. I really do have a life on the ship - I just needed to drag DD off of IM and so I took over her spot. Hee hee!

Shows...loved the Golden Mickeys and the Welcome Aboard show. Hercules kind of put me to sleep. Either that or the wine! Everyone seems to be having a good time - wish it was a little warmer! But from what it looks like, we are so lucky to be here!
I will try to post again - everyone says hi! DId I say how much I love our verandah? I know I mispelled that earlier - must have been the rocking ship. I really sleep well too - was worried about that because I'm not a good sleeper away from home. Continue to post your questions - I'll do my best! Going back to my verandah now with a good bottle of red zin - Dh will join me while the kiddos take in Teachers Pet. Ain't this the life....

 

[Verandah Man]

Thanks for update Verandah Mom, it makes me feel a little warmer, well, at least inside. We are having an ice, snow, lightning and thunder storm going through our area right now. You might not want to get off the ship on Saturday!!! Oh to be back sitting on the verandah right now.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Thank you SO much for the report, minniesota!

I can relate to sitting in the internet cafe listening to the music in Promenade. My husband was getting a huge kick out of my 'music-relaying messages' last cruise as I IMd him at the cafe. LOL It was neat.

Sounds like you're going to have a nice bar bill! I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself! I am eating up every last word of your report! THANKS!

 

[jlawall]

Great update! Thx again!!

 

[pwcarlson]

Thanks for your updates Minniesota. I can picture myself sitting in the warm sun on those wonderful deck chairs on Deck 4. Oooohhh to be on the Magic right now.

Just to keep you up to date in Minnesota - It is noon here with the wonderful balmy -13 degrees. It might even get to 0 maybe this week.

Have a wonderful time. Wish you were here. NOT!

 

[minniesota]

Oh this is going too fast! We headed out nice and early for St. John's and Trunk Bay. The good news is that the weather was absolutely perfect today - warm. light breeze, sunny skies.We could not believe the view of the harbor from our verandah! We are on starboard side - Deck 7. Unbelievable! The color of the water matched some of the gems we saw in the Havensight Mall stores. But more on that later...

The bad news was that the 5 Star Snorkle trip to St. John's was detoured due to rough waters, cloudy water conditions, etc. Boo. We had a very pleasant ride to full moon bay I think it was. The scenery is fantastic - hillsides in bloom with gorgeous pink flowers, striking properties of the rich and famous. We were all disappointed to be missing Trunk Bay, though. The snorkeling was not that great where we ended up. Some rays, a few schools of fish, nothing too exciting. ANd then DH got caught in some coral and cut up his leg pretty good. He says it doesn't hurt - much! He also has some urchin spines in his hand but refuses to go to the clinic. I told him they were not going to quarantine him for crying out loud. But sometimes men and health centers just don't mix! Suffer, my man!

The guys on the excursion were great - they opened the bar since we missed Trunk Bay, which was nice. But I certainly would have liked better snorkeling instead! Can't help Mother Nature. We got back to the pier (oh and by the way, they announced on Tuesday that we would not be tendering in St. Thomas as we had expected. This worked out very well.) After returing from the 5 Star the kids wanted some wave action again at Magan's Bay, but Dh thought they needed some down time so we got them settled in the room with some pizza and headed up to Topsiders for a few shrimp and some fruit, then off to do some shopping. I bought the kids some t-shirts, hats, souvies. Dh bought himself a hat and he bought me.......a beautiful tanzanite ring! I guess all that planning paid off! What a guy!

We have Palo's tonight so I'll be sporting my new ring - and I guess I'll wear something semi-formal. People might stare if I only wore the ring! Dh has asked if he can wear the tux with his tropical shirt tonight. After that purchase, I don't care if he goes in his swimsuit! But alas he will wear the tux! Looking forward to this dinner!

Let's see, any tips? Next time we would not do back-to-back excursions. Too much running/pressure. Kids are wiped and they are 12 and 10. I have to say we are seeing a lot of crying, screaming kids on this ship so if you are bringing little ones, please give them the time and rest they need. We would all appreciate it but mostly, think of the little ones. They really do tire easily and memories of mom and dad losing it every other minute do not make the best vacation memories - IMHO.
Better run. we want to be either on Deck 9 or our verandah as we cast off. Let's see - Deck 9 or verandah....I think you know where I'll be!

PS Dh says he thinks he wants to do this again and again - the cruise that is! Should I book on board? What if you don't know when we want to go? Oh and the bar bill - not too bad since we took the advice from the disboards and brought our own with us! Spa treatment tomorrow and lobster for dinner! Can you spell s-p-o-i-l-e-d? Life is so good! Wish you were here and Verandah Man, we're trying to collect cards for you!

Signing off in St. Thomas,
Minniesota aka Verandah Mom

 

[musicgirl]

Hey Minnesota, love the reports! That's too funny about your man! Why is that they won't go to the DR's??????

BOOK ON BOARD!!!!!!

You'll be sorry if you don't. Both times that we cruised, we didn't. I was sorry!!!

You can always change your mind and cancel. Just remember that you get on-board credit if you book on board! You won't be able to get that from DCL later!

 

[Verandah Man]

The Magic docked at St. Thomas on Wednesday January 28, 2004.

A while back someone had posted that the QM2 was supposed to be docked at St. Thomas today, is this fact or fiction? I did see the QM2 on the news Tuesday, it was pulling into Ft. Lauderdale.

 

[steveandtonya]

Andy, What website did you pull that picture from? It is alot closer than most of the others. Thanks


Steve

 

[rob'n]

Minnesota!! Thank you so much for taking precious time away from your vacation to appease us. We have not even booked our cruise yet (will be our first in late '05) and I am addicted to all of you and your wealth of information. What thoughtful and considerate people you all are. Enjoy your family and savor every second.

Signed,
Freezing her mouse ears off in Maryland

 

[Verandah Man]

Originally posted by steveandtonya
Andy, What website did you pull that picture from? It is alot closer than most of the others. Thanks


Steve

Hi Steve, who had 4 Lobsters two weeks ago, here is the website for the

St. Thomas cam .

 

[gometros]

According to the Cunard website, the QM2's maiden voyage departs on the 31st. SO what was she doing since she docked in Ft. Lauderdale on the 24th?

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Minnesota -- Rebook now while you're onboard. You'll get the 10% off and the onboard credit. Then when you get back home and settle in, you can rethink when and where you want to cruise next and just change your date.

Thanks again for the report! We love hearing from you!

 

[Verandah Man]

Originally posted by gometros
According to the Cunard website, the QM2's maiden voyage departs on the 31st. SO what was she doing since she docked in Ft. Lauderdale on the 24th?

I don't know Sandy, but the reporter said it was the QM2 arriving at Ft. Lauderdale on Monday. It was on one of the national news channels between 6:30 and 7:00 Monday evening. I believe I was watching CBS.

They showed people standing out on their verandah's waving for the cameras.

 

[berly1657]

so they are still doing the trading cards? My son and husband will be thrilled - any tips on/where to get them?

Thanks,
Kim - can't wait for this next week to be done!

 

[jlawall]

Minnesota,.....YOU ARE MY FAVORITE DISER! Your "live" reports are wonderful and you are doing everything right!!! Have a great day at sea and a fabulous trip to CC! I highly suggest that you book onboard. I regretted that last year so we did it this summer and we can't wait for our next cruise! The way you guys are cruisin' I would definitely rebook. Maybe try the western itinerary. I'm pretty sure you can change it if you need to when you return home. (there may be a slight fee but still cheaper than not booking.) Best wishes for continued good times!!!

 

[mmouse37]

QM2 did dock in Ft. Lauderdale monday. Good Morning America had their correspondent Lara Spencer spend two weeks on the Magic on it's maiden voyage from Southhampton England to Ft. Lauderdale. She gave reports from onboard during that time. On Monday they had her up on deck in Ft. Lauderdale...visbly disappointed that the trip was over!!!!

Looks like some ship!!!

MJ

 

[minniesota]

Hi guys! I'm glad you're enjoying my mini-reports! Hey I forgot to mention that we saw the QM2 at sea on Sunday - we passed her going the opposite direction while in the Promenade Lounge (mid afternoon) She is beautiful! It was so cool to look out those porthole windows and see another gorgeous cruise ship. People were waving and it was very cool!

The weather is changing - getting cooler which I'm just in denial about. DH is out on those comfy chairs Deck 4 reading some Magellan tome! He can do anything he wants today. I even bought him a tweezers at the shops so he can extract all those urchin spines. He won't let anyone touch them!

Had dinner at Palo's last night with Tinkerbell4 and DH - it was fabulous. I really would highly recommend it. Ordered the warm shrimp salad which was 4 nice sized grilled shrimp, baby asparagus and a white bean/bacon/onion garnish. Delicious. ALso had the broiled salmon and our server suggested each couple spit a chocolate souffle and then she brought tiramisu, cappaccion cheesecake and the Italian cheese and berries dish. We were happy campers!!! Great service and nice quiet atmosphere. The kids went to our regular rotation and we'll check with our servers tonight on how they did. The older girls reported that the boys both spilled drinks! I wonder if Okim served them my wine by accident!

Lots of activity on board today. Big lines for autographs, Shutters is busy and the line at the rebooking desk is always long! I have the pamphlet and we will talk about dates this afternoon during verandah time.

To whoever asked about trading cards, they seem to be here and there. They have handed them out at the big evening events at WDW theater; the captain had some at his autograph session today. It seems maybe you have to ask around for them. My kids are mostly into the pins and autographs.

Scratch says hi to everyone and says she's too busy to be thinking about you guys! LOL SHe's making up for lost time and DD seems to be healthy and having fun every time I see her! Well gotta go get some lunch and strategize our talk with the rebooking person. Hope the weather is improving. If it could only get above zero in Minnesota! I don't want to get off the ship but it's Castaway Cay tomorrow. Talk to you later!