Live from the Nov. 5th Magic

[SweetSpot]

No way I can compete with the great live reports the last couple weeks but we are on the ship and it is amazing. This is our 4th cruise and so much is different, even the CM's. We've always know so many familiar faces but not this time. The service has been amazing and our room is unbelievable. The concierge Erika has been so good to us already. Denise our Room Host is amazing, we had 3 towel animals last night, all different than we ever had before!

We are about to pull into Key West and the weather couldn't be more beautiful. The seas are the calmest I've ever felt, doesn't even seem as if we are moving.

Saw Nemo on the dumbotron last night WOW!!! I want one of those in my back yard. Freddy Fusion and Gary Delana were great in the sailaway with cruise director Brent who seems to have more personality than the others. Did match your mates again and even though it was the same as all the other times it was really fun.

The kids love the changes to the Lab and the Stack. They haven't hit Ocean Quest yet but will write when they do. Have to give Disney credit for listening to guests and trying to find a solution for the 10-14 yr olds. So many things we have noticed that were changed were things that were complained about on the DIS.

Off to find some coffee, it smells so good in the Cove.

 

[tamicampbell]

Sounds like a great time so far. Nice to hear calm seas. that is always a plus. Hope the weather continues to be wonderful.

Hugs
Tami

 

[ddavis860]

Have a great trip!

How was embakation? Glad the seas are calm for you. Hope they stay that way!

Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

awwww....i miss our Magic...just got off yesterday...if you see Alexsandra the Head server, tell her Kate and Betsy say HI!

 

[Verandah Man]

Have a MAGICal cruise!!! Here's wishing you calm seas and sunny skies!!!

I'm sure you probably have a lot of other Jersey people on your cruise this week, good ole' Jersey Week!!!


Captured this last evening as the Magic was sailing past the Two Palms cam.

 

[gssmks]

Hello! I hope you have a wonderful time. I will check in regularly just to make myself jealous.

Can you find the answer to a questions for me? Someone posted that Topsiders is no longer a buffet, and that you can get the same foods there that the main dinning rooms are serving that night. If this is true, my questions are:
1. Between what times can you order from the dinning room menus?
2. Is it possible to go to Topsiders, and get the food and bring it back to the staterooms?

I was disappointed to hear that room service would not deliver items from he main dinning room menus. I have a DD who loves to try new foods, but simply will not sit still through an hour long meal. I think that everyone will enjoy their meal more, if she could have her's in the stateroom.

 

[Bruno's Mom]

Have a wonderful trip. Sounds as if you are having a great time. So glad to hear about the calm seas. We are leaving in two weeks, and my boys tend to be prone to seasickness. I am bringing the Bonine anyway. Please update us as much as possible on the "Tween" club, as my boys are 11yrs and 13yrs. Thanks for the report!!!

 

[DIS NURSE]

Hi, SweetSpot! Myself and a great group of DIS'ers are right behind you boarding next Saturday AM! We are anxiously awaiting any fun reports from you and we hope you have a great sailing!

Please update and confirm everyone's suspisions regarding the new boarding process.

Would love to hear about the new Ocean Quest!

Your updates and tales are the only ones DIS'ers are going to get for a while...as we have opted to not post live during our cruise.

SO THE PRESSURE IS ON, GIRL!
but do remember to.......
Relax and enjoy every minute of it!

And don't mess up the ship, will ya'?

Take Care.... DIS NURSE
P.S. I thought you guys were switched to the Eastern itinerary? What exactly are you doing?

 

[Echo queen]

Have a great trip I would love to here about new boarding.

 

[Disneyfan37]

Have a great trip!We board in two weeks,and it will be our fourth cruise on the DCL.I look forward to your live reports!We are also doing the western.It will be our first western as we just did the eastern in December.

Maria

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

DisNurse - I can tell you about the boarding...#'s are passed out according to your place in line. We were the second people in line for Castaway Club check in...we got boarding pass #2. When I asked who got #1's the CM said "Conceirge"(sp)
But, they called the #1's from their lounge area, and then we were allowed to board right behind them...we were the first non concierge to board!

Another Dis'er arrived about 30 minutes after us and got #3...so the first to get there are the lower #'s..does that make sense?

 

[SweetSpot]

Embarkation is different. The whole port is different it seems. The drop off place seems to be in a different place for people in limos and shuttles. Also inside the terminal the lines are in different places. We are in concierge so we recieved a one and were lucky enough to be the 1st ones on the ship. The kids were thrilled with that announcement. I watched as a CM handed people in lines to check in boarding passes. You recieved a number based on when you arrived. It's not random. If you get there early you board early. The terminal did seem much crazier this year than past years. If you get here early you will get on the ship early. You just don't need to stand in line forever. You can roam.

My DD went to Oceans Quest today and loved it. I went in and it's a nice alternative. It's a place where kids can hang, play games and use the simulator. I think DCL did a great job with this.

Another big change. We were teasing our Server about the Excellent Speech last night and he said they don't do it any more. DCL no longer takes away free time from them based on the Excellent rating. I'll believe it as the week goes on but so far so good.

Key West was doing well. Still a lot boarded up and buckling of floor boards but I have to give them credit. They must have worked so hard to get themselves up and running. Wouldn't go back there with kids. But it was an interesting place.

Heading to putt putt now. Tomorrow is a sea day and then Grand cayman and Costa Maya. Should be interesting. Thank you Verandah Man for the picture. There are many NJ people onboard the bar tender says it's a beer cruise. They're running low on Amstel Light LOL!

 

[DIS NURSE]

Thanks to you both for clarifying the boarding procedures. I think for a while there, they had everyone confused and when the DIS'ers talk, people listen!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Chris17uk]

Have a great cruise

 

[lbgraves]

Another big change. We were teasing our Server about the Excellent Speech last night and he said they don't do it any more. DCL no longer takes away free time from them based on the Excellent rating. I'll believe it as the week goes on but so far so good.

This would be wonderful!!! We were lucky to get a server who didn't need to say that word to get an excellent rating from us each cruise. This has been a headache for many however. Thank you DCL!

 

[Buddy Bear]

Hi SweetSpot,

Thanks for the report. We are sailing on the next Western (19th) with the intinerary change to Costa Maya so we are very interested in the drydock upgrades and CM. Keep it coming.

Andy: As per usual, good job with the Two Palms cam.

Jeff

 

[snelsonbrown]

Hello sweetspot - thanks for your exciting report, but most of all thank you for reporting on my hometown of Key West - Norm and I still can't go down due to the fact that any of the places we stayed at, have been damaged beyond repair - I knew that quite a bit of work was being done in what is called "old town" to prepare for the tourist trade again.
Hope you had a great time and yep its an adult playground.
Blessings always
Shirley and Norm
2 ol' conchs

 

[BethA]

who is your waiter? glad to hear they did away with the excellent speech--it got very old.
what do you think of the other changes? how is the self serve ice cream working out?

Have a great trip!!
Beth

 

[ddavis860]

I'm just curious...what was the Excellent Speech? I must not have been paying attention...

 

[SweetSpot]

Shirley, I knew you would be wondering. I've never been to Key West before so I don't know what it use to look like. You could see a lot of damage to the trees and there was a good amount of yellow tape roping off places you couldn't go. I talked to a couple people in shops and they said it was hard and that they are just happy to have the ships back. The buildings look okay but as I said you could see that there was water in them because the floors were buckling in one store. A store owner told me how many people lost everything and so many don't have houses anymore. I give them credit for being so welcoming to us. We watched some of the happenings at sunset from the ship. There were so many people there! Hopefully things will be back to normal soon.

Just came back from seeing Gary Delana. He is so funny and he has changed his routine everytime I've seen him. The men are watching football and I'm heading off to see Freddy Fusion in the adult caberet.

The excellent speech is when your server tells you that everything should be excellent over and over and especially the night before last so you will check off excellent on the comment card. They use to get time off based on their ratings. I do hope that has changed. Our servers are amazing. Our head server I could do without.

So far this has been an amazing cruise. So many changes and beautiful weather with calm seas.