Magic April 6, 2012

[jennifera]

One more movie I forgot-War Horse. We saw it already. Very intense good movie but my kids were upset by it. Very graphic.
We are also at the Hyatt the night before because of a late flight in. We are planning on going down for the bus around 9:00.
We were thinking of doing the beer tasting and my husband wanted to do the Martini tasting. Maybe we can try to get a group together for one of the tastings. That would be fun! Starting to pack this weekend!Woo Hoo!
Spent way to much money on clothes for everyone!LOL!
We were thinking about asking about upgrades to veranda rooms at the port but I'm afraid it will screw up the fish extender list because I won't be able to get in touch with everyone on list to tell new rooms if available. Is there a way to do it? Otherwise we will just stick with our Cat 10's.
4 more days of work!

You have a list of all our room numbers, you could always jusy call ther rooms like in a hotel, Right>

 

[jennifera]

I'm not sure what we are doing... My son really wants to see the ship tour thing but he "really really" wants to go to the kids meet. It doesn't matter to my oldest either way and I want to go to the meet so I'm sure we will be at the meet, if I can find it... lol.

We are not passing out the FE gifts until day 2 at sea, i'm not sure why that day but my youngest put it all together and wants to pass everything out himself and he said it must be that day. He worked very hard on what to get people and made part of it himself so I'm just letting him do the whole thing like he wants. He made our FE out of Duct Tape too! (Here's a question... he is not putting a name of who it's from because he things it should be "magical" and just show up. How many others are not putting names on it? Should I tell him to put his name or room # or something on his gifts, or just let him do what he wants? Having never done this before I'm clueless.)

If there are any room changes to the FE can someone please slip a note under my door if we don't make it to the meet. Like I said, as of today we plan to go but my plans never work out just right.

Thanks.

Hi Jillian, how very sweet is your Son! Sounds like a real cutie. Anyway we did put our names on our Fe Gifts, just as a than you.

 

[jennifera]

So starting to feel a bit stressed. When I planned our spring break cruise I didn't really think about it is the end of the semester then day we leave and a bunch of school projects, tests, exams, etc are happening AND spring sports got into full swing a week or so ago.
I had to buy another suitcase....lol.
My, dd 10, gets motion sickness so I have spent a small fortune in seabands, etc to try to help her not get sick. However, most of the over the counter "less drowsy" versions are for kids 12 and over. I am thinking of calling pediatrician on Monday to see if there is any prescription meds for kids that won't knock her out.
Anyone have suggestions?
My dd8 is dressing up for pirate night. I wanted us all to, but seem to be running out of time.

Call you Doctor. There is a patch that you wear behind your ear it lasts for 3 days and then you change it. It comes in different dosages, so Definitely ask your doctor! Good luck, Jenn

 

[katleg]

That sounds like a great idea.

We are kinda dressing up for pirate night. We all have pirate t-shirts and jeans. My kids are teens and "beyond" dressing up for things. I would but ran out of time to get something. How about you guys?

My DD11 is bringing her Pirate of the Caribbean shirt with jeans and also a Pirate costume. I guess she'll decide which one to wear when that night comes. I may run over to our local Disney store to see what we have. Running our of time here so we may just do the t-shirts with bandana's for us. Hopefully we can pull this together soon.

 

[katleg]

Is anyone out there doing their own excursions? If so, are you renting a car or using a private tour company? I was looking to get a tour up to the Mountain Top in St. Thomas and I couldn't find one with space available.

 

[Stimpy]

My DD is dressing up for PIrates night but she already has the costume because she was Penelope Cruz's character from POTC 4 for Halloween...who I am completely drawing a blank on her name! Can't believe it b/c DD was obsessed with her for the longest time DS used to dress up as a pirate mate & has a costume but I'm not sure if he will or not this year. He's at the in-between age. hard to tell with him anymore...everything changes in a heartbeat with him!

DS gets motion sickness too. The seabands have worked wonders for him...not sure if it's really all just psychological or not but he won't go anywhere without them now! Quite honestly after one too many long distance car rides & a flight home from Europe with a pukey kid & no seabands...I am sure we have at least 1 pair with us! I do have to add though that (knock on wood) he has never had an issue on the cruises themselves! We've taken the bands with us but he hasn't had to wear them on the ship itself. My BIL also gets very bad sea sickness & had no issue on the Magic when he went with us.

I'm still not sure if we are labeling our FE gifts or not. At this point with all the craziness going on, I'll be happy if I remember them! I'll probably leave them as a surprise. We actually got a few so I'll give them out 2 different times I think to spread them out.

We are off to the mall today to find some kind of formal wear...nothing like waiting until the last minute!! Wish us luck!

 

[jennifera]

We have had an addition to our cruise party. My 12 year old niece, Abi, will be with us. No FE gifts expected, but just a FYI we have another girl to join the kids for the kid meet. She is so excited. Her family went on the Alaska Disney cruise last year.

Hi Melanie! We have a gift for Abi also! See ya on Friday!!!!

 

[Ajsmom22]

We did not book any excursions...not even sure if we will get off of the ship, besides Castaway Cay. We are just so clueless as far as cruising, so this is our "let's wing it" cruise. Hopefully, we don't regret that decision.

Formal wear...managed to get that done. Semi formal also. Hope other people dress up. I get so confused reading the main board about attire! I figure we will follow the suggested guidelines for dress, and hope for the best. Trying to explain to AJ why he won't be wearing shorts...but promised I would bring change of clothes so when he escapes to kids club he can change...AFTeR dinner. Lol!

Working on pirate stuff. Had hoped to do a better job, but time got away from me.

Oh and can someone tell me if they have shampoo/conditioner in room? I was hoping there would be enough for DH and DS to use for the week. I could just pack mine.

Cleaning the house, because I can not come home to a mess. My husband thinks I'm crazy every vacation, but it helps me enjoy the time away knowing when I get home, everything will be perfect. But the weather here in Charleston is so amazing it makes it hard to stay inside!

Hope y'all are almost ready!!

Amber

 

[delauzons]

We are dressing up for Formal night but not Pirate night. We went shoe shopping this morning. Last time we packed pirate costumes for everyone and hardly anyone had them on. This time my husband and I decided to do Palo that night and then go to the party after with the kids.
Has anyone done the Palo Brunch before? The only time we were able to get it for was the first morning. Not sure if it is worth keeping. We aren't normally the type to get dressed up in the morning, just for dinner. We enjoyed the regular breakfast last time. We did read great reviews of the brunch though.
We will do the FE the first day. If we change rooms we will put a note on it. I just looked on the website and there weren't any connecting rooms showing availability so we are probably sticking with what we have.
In regards to motion sickness I always feel a little off . I don't get sick just feel a little wierd. I have tried the Bonine and the seabands. This trip I went to the doctor for the patch. I'm bringing the bands and bonine for the kids but they had no problem the last time.
We are doing the full day excurion to Honeymoon Beach in St. John but in St. Martin we are going to take a taxi to Orient Beach and do it on our own. From what i d the traffic can be bad so renting a car although cost efficient could be risky with the traffic.
We can't wait! Getting nervous about the weather though. I have to stop looking.

 

[Stimpy]

They have the H2O "spa" shampoo & conditioner in the rooms & the stateroom attendants replenish it. Depending on your attendant, sometimes everyday, sometimes as needed. At least that how it was last time we cruised 2 yrs ago. Last I heard they were switching to those wall hanging dispenser things, which I hate. I'm not sure if they did or not. If you have thick hair like mine, you might want to bring your own conditioner. My kids do fine with what they have but I need to bring a deep conditioner for my hair. My husband is bald so he has no worries in this department

We never did the Palo Brunch but did the I did the Tea with my sister & mom once. It was nice but not something I'm dying to do again. But then again, I'm not really into fine dining, so you can't go by me. We've never really had the desire to go to Palo for dinner either.

Shhhh..we're going semi-formal both nights. I can't torture my 12 yr old DS into wearing a full suit, he's going to wear his dress slacks, dress shirt & tie. DD & I are wearing cocktail length dresses (hopefully I am, I haven't actually tried on my dress yet ) DD & I found 2 cute dressy dresses at Justice yesterday for her. (Sent DH & DS to find clothes for cruise, they came back with 2 new xbox games....SIGH!!!) We just couldn't justify the expense of buying more formal wear for one night when the kids are going to outgrow them so fast! At least on the Med cruise next summer there are 3-4 formal nights.

Crunch time now! I have a gazillion things to do the next few days & feel like they are NEVER getting done!! To top it all off, I just had to drop off one of the kitties for unexpected tooth extraction...more major stress, worry & $$$ And people wonder why I always look like I've been hit by a semi-truck!

PS. The pirate is Angelica!! I remembered as I was walking out the door yesterday afternoon out of nowhere...hate when that happens!

 

[delauzons]

Our formal wear is my idea of formal wear. I have a black coctail dress, hubby has a black suit and 3 daughters have dressy dresses. My 7 year old is wearing her Sleeping Beauty dress.
I agree about the shampoo and conditioner. Its there but I bring my own conditioner. I also bring my own hairdryer.
Anyway, have a great day everyone!

 

[DCWall]

we're doing semi-formal both nights too. slacks, coat and tie for the boys. dressy dresses for the girls. got the kids eye patches and inflatable swords for pirate night with just pirate tshirts. we might run by the costume shop on wednesday though - just depends if we have time.

my kids have never been on a cruise before so getting some of those bands just in case might be a good idea.

Just finished the FE gifts last night - yeah! I plan to deliver them on Saturday.

I grabbed the over the door shoe organizer, white mats and markers for the characters, push lights for the room. Any other tips from you experienced cruisers?

 

[carolinamom]

Most of my best tidbits and tips came from disboards. My personal tips: bring a refillable cup- there is one free drink station, but cups are small. Bring lots of sunscreen- last month we ran out while at Atlantis resort. A new can of sunblock cost $27.00. Be prepared with some cash for tipping (as in smaller bills for your luggage porter, room service, etc). I'll be bringing zebra binder clips (recognizable and use for everything, esp securing the generic beach towel to a chair so I can find which is mine and so it won't blow away) and a dry erase board for the stateroom.
Seriously, though- as long as you bring passport, underwear, and toothbrush you're good! It's amazing what you really don't need over the course of a week! (that is what I tell myself! Lol!!!) I plan to pack very light in terms of daytime clothes. We'll do pirate costumes, formal, semi formal, and mostly swimsuits and cover-ups during the day. I find that we never get through all the cute shorts outfits, so I'm only bringing a few. We'll probably be buying tshirts while there too.
Good luck with the packing! Have a safe trip

 

[Ajsmom22]

Thank you so much for the info! Oh and my family is doing formal night...and it will be formal to us! But DS does not have a suit jacket and I'm not buying one. We will have to be good enough the way we are! It seems fancy to me! And it way out of our normal attire...lol!

Can not wait!

Amber

 

[LullahBelle]

Trying to get the house in order, (dread coming back to a messy house). also need to do some last minute shopping..wanted to wear my Hawaiian shirts, but alas they no longer fit! They were much easier to find when I lived in CA, than they are here , in the NE. I was also disappointed that my Disney Store had NO pirate merchandise WHATSOEVER, was hoping to find t-shirts to wear on pirate night, oh well, I guess plain black tees will have to do.

Now I'm freaking out that something will happen between now and Friday

 

[Stimpy]

We looked for pirate shirts too for DS at the Disney store here and couldn't find any over the weekend. More surprisingly...no princess dresses for DD...oh except the $150 Rapunzel wedding dress & that wasn't happening

 

[jandbmom]

Hi all, I cant beleive it is finally here. My kids had trouble going to sleep tonight. We are leaving on Wednesday to start out 18 hour drive with 2 kids
We are doing both formal and semi formal nights. I think you will be fine without a suit jacket. Both my boys only have suits only because Brendan's communion is coming up in may, so I figured I might as well get some use out of them
We cant wait to meet everyone and my DS (8) keeps talking about meeting new friends the first day! We also want to do the Martini tasting. Does anyone know where we sign up for this?
Also at castaway cay, if we want to rent a tube do we need to sign up on line or can we do it on the islad. MY husband and older son are doing the stingray excursion so I will be flying solo with my 4 year old.

can't wait to meet everyone! Oh and I am bringing the boys halloween costumes (captain hook and Jack sparrow) for them, but they also have matching kaki shorts with skulls on them. I am going to let them decide.

 

[jandbmom]

Does anyone know if there is a way to check the weather for our days at sea?

 

[katleg]

We also want to do the Martini tasting. Does anyone know where we sign up for this?

As far as I know, we sign up at guest services. I plan on checking into it the first day.

 

[jennifera]

Does anyone know if there is a way to check the weather for our days at sea?

www. weather.com is the weather channel. In the search box type in either saint Maarten, Netherlands or St. Thomas, then you can get the forecast. Last time I looked they were predicting showers. :-(