Magic Christmas Cruise 2010 (Dec 18th - 29th) - PART II

[bigAWL]

By the way, how do you add photos to the bottom of your post? I want to put my kids' pics on but don't know how.

Near the top of the page, at the very far left, click on User CP (Control Panel, I think). From there you'll see a list of options on the left. Click on Edit Signature (the signature is the portion that is added to the bottom of every post you make). You'll then see an editor window just like the one you see when you are writing a new post. Once you save it, all your posts (past and future) will have that signature added to the end.

I think you probably need to have 10 posts before you can post a photo. But the photo would need to be hosted on a website like Photobucket (you create a free or paid account and upload your photos to their website). Then you copy and paste the IMG code from that website into the post editor here on the DIS.... and there you have it.

Really, it's more simple than it sounds once you do it a couple times.

 

[Evans Family]

I posted this on the main board but didn't get any responses.

I know there are a bunch of you who have taking the longer cruises (Med/Trans/PC). What does the ship do for menus for the added days. What are the special menus (i.e. Captain's Gala, Till we Meet Again, Pirate Night) over and above the usual offerings on the 7 night.

Do you know if these menus are posted anywhere?

Do you think we can expect more movies on the cruise or will they have the same number with just more showings?

I assume also, they bring in talent to do shows? I wonder if the talent is less because it is X-mas time.

Any tidbits of information from you "seasoned" long voyage cruisers?

 

[TheBeadPirate]

Do you know the Florida Resident Rates? I am just wondering how much they save. When the Wonder finally calls SoCal home, I hope DCL has a California Resident Rate for us. Thanks

Go onto the DCL website and search for this cruise using FLR as the rate code. Or google disney cruise line florida resident and you can get to the list of cruises currently available and choose it that way. We booked using FLR and the difference was significant.

Rumor I've heard is there will be FLR rates for here and California once everything dies down. Don't know if they'll be interchangeable or not.

 

[HFC1969]

86

 

[bigAWL]

I posted this on the main board but didn't get any responses.

I know there are a bunch of you who have taking the longer cruises (Med/Trans/PC). What does the ship do for menus for the added days. What are the special menus (i.e. Captain's Gala, Till we Meet Again, Pirate Night) over and above the usual offerings on the 7 night.

Do you know if these menus are posted anywhere?

Do you think we can expect more movies on the cruise or will they have the same number with just more showings?

I assume also, they bring in talent to do shows? I wonder if the talent is less because it is X-mas time.

Any tidbits of information from you "seasoned" long voyage cruisers?

We took a 12-night Northern European Capitals cruise in June. I took photos of some of the menus. I'll try to upload them soon (you may even be able to read some of them). I'll also post a list of movies if I can find the schedule - I'm not sure if there were more movies, or if they were just shown more often.

They definitely had more talent on board to do shows, though I didn't see any of them. Again, I'll try to find the navigators and give you examples later. I usually save my show nights for the big musical productions. Here's a review I did of three shows I'd never seen before:

Shows:
I tend to go for the large cast shows and leave out the one-man or cabaret entertainers. So I can only offer experiences on the main shows. They had the usual Twice Charmed and and Disney Dreams, which I'm not going to bother reviewing here. If you haven't seen them, you really, really should (especially Dreams - amazing show even on my third time around). The three new shows that I hadn't seen before were Villains Tonight, Walt Disney: The Dream Goes On, and Once Upon a Song. I just listed them in the order that I enjoted them. Actually in some ways I enjoyed Walt Disney better than Villains, but I'll list Villains first because it's the biggest production and the one most are interested about.

Villains Tonight:
Hades (from Hercules) is all out of evil, and has to enlist help from all his villain budies to fill up his evil-ometer, or whatever it was called, or he will lose his rule over the underworld (or something like that). Not much of a plot, I guess, but it was enjoyable to see some of the villains come out and strut their stuff. All the actors did great jobs imitating their characters, excpet for Hades, I guess. He was played as more of a stand-up comedian than the Hades I remember from the movie. I really like James Woods (voice in the movie) so that probably took a little away for me. (Edit: I should say that the Hades actor did a great job of carrying the show and got a lot of laughs. It just wasn't the character that I know.) There were some great and elaborate sets, as usual. I'd probably rank it a little below Twice Charmed. (Unfortunately, my camera battery died in the middle of the show, so I didn't get shots of much of it, but this will give you a little taste.)

Walt Disney: The Dream Goes On:
I didn't know anything about this show going into it, but I really enjoyed it. It's a sort of history of Walt's career. A mix of narrated scenes, film montages, and musical production numbers, this is a fun little show. I say "little" because the sets are not so extravagant. But the musical numbers were really pretty good, including Pinocchio, Mary Poppins and a "groovy" 60s recording studio scene for I Wanna Be Like You.

Once Upon a Song:
I didn't know what to expect from this one either. And I was a bit disappointed. It wasn't a full cast production. Instead it was a series of songs to feature the talents of five of the stars. No costumes, minimal sets, and non-traditional arrangements made this more like a lounge act to me. But indeed those are five talented performers, and if you like all the Disney movie standards (and a few lesser known songs thrown in), it's worth seeing.

 

[Meemous]

Hey all,

This is our second Disney Cruise and we are VERY excited to be going on the 11 night Southern Caribbean!!! We just booked this Monday and made our final payment today! We did a cruise last Fourth of July. We would love to join any groups that have events planned. We even have our fish extenders from last year. Looking forward to learning all about this festive group!

I put in a request on the FaceBook page and hope to be included there soon!

Thanks!

~Lorrie

 

[3princessMommy]

Hey all,

This is our second Disney Cruise and we are VERY excited to be going on the 11 night Southern Caribbean!!! We just booked this Monday and made our final payment today! We did a cruise last Fourth of July. We would love to join any groups that have events planned. We even have our fish extenders from last year. Looking forward to learning all about this festive group!

I put in a request on the FaceBook page and hope to be included there soon!

Thanks!

~Lorrie

Check out the first page for all the fun activities we have scheduled so far!

 

[bigAWL]

Hey all,

This is our second Disney Cruise and we are VERY excited to be going on the 11 night Southern Caribbean!!! We just booked this Monday and made our final payment today! We did a cruise last Fourth of July. We would love to join any groups that have events planned. We even have our fish extenders from last year. Looking forward to learning all about this festive group!

I put in a request on the FaceBook page and hope to be included there soon!

Thanks!

~Lorrie

Welcome! You are offically on the roll call list on the first page.

 

[disneycruising]

Hey all,

This is our second Disney Cruise and we are VERY excited to be going on the 11 night Southern Caribbean!!! We just booked this Monday and made our final payment today! We did a cruise last Fourth of July. We would love to join any groups that have events planned. We even have our fish extenders from last year. Looking forward to learning all about this festive group!

I put in a request on the FaceBook page and hope to be included there soon!

Thanks!

~Lorrie

Welcome Lorrie!

 

[Meemous]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

I love the Cruise Logo and can't wait to make it into a magnet for our door!

By the way, I just read that the new Castaway Cay Cabana Rentals opened yesterday to Concierge Level for $499.00! Yikes! That's a lot!

Trying to read ALL the posts for this cruise, it will take me a day at least! Haha.

 

[bigAWL]

I posted this on the main board but didn't get any responses.

I know there are a bunch of you who have taking the longer cruises (Med/Trans/PC). What does the ship do for menus for the added days. What are the special menus (i.e. Captain's Gala, Till we Meet Again, Pirate Night) over and above the usual offerings on the 7 night.

Do you know if these menus are posted anywhere?

Do you think we can expect more movies on the cruise or will they have the same number with just more showings?

I assume also, they bring in talent to do shows? I wonder if the talent is less because it is X-mas time.

Any tidbits of information from you "seasoned" long voyage cruisers?

Ok, I found some info from our 12-night Baltic cruise. I don't know how much of this will be applicable for the Holiday cruise. Obviously some of the stuff is specific to the Baltic cruise. Looking at it again, all the talent guys did multiple show, sometimes as the featured show in the Walt Disney Theater, sometimes as an "Adult Cabaret" show in Rockin' Bar D. Anyway, here's what I have (I'm still trying to upload the menus that I have):

Night 1 - Embarkation: Let the Magic begin
Dress: Cruise Casual
Show: Welcome Aboard: Let the Magic Begin!

Night 2 - At Sea: Prince and Princess Night
Dress: Formal
Show: Twice Charmed
Adult Cabaret: Jimmy Tamley, Ventriloquist

Night 3 - Oslo: Individual Restaurant Menus (AP Show)
Dress: Cruise Casual
Show: Jimmy Tamley, Ventriloquist
Adult Cabaret: Jay Lamont, Comedian

Night 4 - Copenhagen: Individual Restaurant Menus (AP Show)
Dress: Cruise Casual
Show: Once Upon a Song

Night 5 - Warnemunde: Individual Restaurant Menus (AP Show)
Dress: Cruise Casual
Show: Nark Nizer, Juggler

Night 6 - At Sea: Villains Night
Dress: Cruise Casual
Show: Villains Tonight!
Adult Cabaret: Mark Nizer, Juggler

Night 7 - St Petersburg: Dinner of the Czars
Dress: Cruise Casual
Show: Men in Coats, Comedians

Night 8 - St Petersburg: Master Chef Dinner
Dress: Cruise Casual
Show: Movie Special - Toy Story 3D

Night 9 - Helsinki: Pirates IN the Caribbean
Dress: Cruise Casual/Pirate
Show: Jason Bishop, Magician
Party: Pirates IN the Caribbean

Night 10 - Stockholm: Flavors of Scandinavia
Dress: Cruise Casual
Show: Walt Disney: The Dream Goes On
Adult Cabaret: Andy Ford, Comedian

Night 11 - At Sea: Captain's Gala
Dress: Semi-Formal
Show: Disney Dreams
Adult Cabaret: Jason Bishop, Magician

Night 12 - At Sea: Til We Meet Again
Dress: Cruise Casual
Show: Remember the Magic: A Final Farewell

And here's a list of the movies they showed in the Buena Vista Theater (and occasionally in the Walt Disney Theater):

Toy Story (3D)
Toy Story 2 (3D)
Toy Story 3 (3D)
The Princess and the Frog
Up (3D)
Old Dogs
Disney Nature: Oceans
Up in the Air (3D)
The Last Song
WHen in Rome
Alice in Wonderland (3D)
Prince of Persia

 

[bigAWL]

Based on what I found when looking back at our Baltic Cruise, I added some pretty safe bets to the Cruise Itinerary section on the front page. I also added the following notes:

Other Schedule Notes:
- The three restaurants should have their specialty menus on Dec 20-22. Lumiere's will have the French Dinner menu. Parrot Cay will have the Island Dinner menu. And whichever night you are in Animator's Palate during these three nights is when you would see the "Show Dinner."
- I'm not sure where they will put the Villains Tonight! show. I'm guessing either Dec 24, 25, or 26. I can see them not wanting to do it on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but I'm not sure they would do in the 26th, because I'm assuming Disney Dreams will be on the 27th. Would they do two major productions back-to-back? I guess they could do it on Dec 21 or 22.

 

[HFC1969]

Amy got her new pirate costume..

She can wear it next month and on

3 more costumes to go.. This weekend is the Pirate Fest here locally hope to get some good stuff.


Welcome to all the new cruisers...


.

 

[bigAWL]

Ok, I'm on a roll tonight and can't stop posting.

Here are the menus that I took photos of (sorry, didn't get them all) - I hope you can read them:

Let the Magic Begin:

Lumiere's French Dinner:

Animator's Palate Show Dinner:

Villains Night:

Villains Night Dessert Menu:

Pirates IN the Caribbean:

Flavors of Scandinavia:

Flavors of Scandinavia Dessert Menu:

Captain's Gala Dessert Menu:

Palo Dinner Menu:

 

[thegales]

Thanks for the menu pictures and the speculation for the shows.

We are a family that likes musical theatre, so I don't think we ever missed the evening shows on our previous cruises. But on this longer cruise, I would not be surprised if there are some nights when we did other activities.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Go onto the DCL website and search for this cruise using FLR as the rate code. Or google disney cruise line florida resident and you can get to the list of cruises currently available and choose it that way. We booked using FLR and the difference was significant.

Rumor I've heard is there will be FLR rates for here and California once everything dies down. Don't know if they'll be interchangeable or not.

Thanks for the information. I only hope that they start an interchangeable system. That would work well with my family's "love" for DCL.

 

[Kitster]

Here are our plans for shore excursions. We'd love to join you in Barbados, but with B2B Disney tours, we HAVE to do the early snorkel. Harrison Cavern was closed the last time we visited, so we refuse to miss it this time


Day 1 - Port Canaveral
Day 2 - At Sea - No activities reserved
Day 3 - At Sea - No activities reserved
Day 4 - St. Maarten - Mountain Top Downhill Rainforest Trek - 8:00AM
Day 5 - Guadeloupe - No activities reserved
Day 6 - Barbados - Turtle Shipwreck & Snorkel Adventure - 8:15AM - 11:45AM -----Harrison's Cave and Scenic Drive - 2:15PM - 5:15PM
Day 7 - Martinique - No activities reserved
Day 8 - At Sea - No activities reserved
Day 9 - St. Thomas - Skyride to Paradise Point - Bushwackers here STEPHEN comes. I'm the designated walker, LOL
Day 10 - At Sea - Palo Brunch - 11am
Day 11 - Castaway Cay - Watercraft Ski Adventure - (2) Single
10:00AM - 11:00AM
Day 12 - Port Canaveral

I just received an email from the St Thomas Tramway and here's what it said

"Greetings from St.Thomas!

We will most definitely be open on Dec 26. The ship will be docked at the WICO dock in Havensight so you simply walk across the street to the Skyride.
Be sure to bring your camera!

--
Pam Balash
Skyride to Paradise Point
(340)774-9809 "

So that completes our plans for this cruise.

 

[TeenaS]

My husband and I just booked this cruise. First time ever being away from home over the holidays. I'm a WDW cast member ... work at the Beach Club. Really looking forward to being on the Magic for 11 nights. We are also going on the Thanksgiving 7 night cruise.

Please add us to the list: Bob and Teena Slingluff

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Hey all,

This is our second Disney Cruise and we are VERY excited to be going on the 11 night Southern Caribbean!!! We just booked this Monday and made our final payment today! We did a cruise last Fourth of July. We would love to join any groups that have events planned. We even have our fish extenders from last year. Looking forward to learning all about this festive group!

I put in a request on the FaceBook page and hope to be included there soon!

Thanks!

~Lorrie

Welcome Aboard! I also have a DD (15). She is so excited. She cannot wait to get to the Stack.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

My husband and I just booked this cruise. First time ever being away from home over the holidays. I'm a WDW cast member ... work at the Beach Club. Really looking forward to being on the Magic for 11 nights. We are also going on the Thanksgiving 7 night cruise.

Please add us to the list: Bob and Teena Slingluff

Welcome! Wow, you are going on two cruises for both holidays. That is awesome! We will be in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. Several of our good friends and family members are cast members at DL/DCA. Most perform in the parades. I hope you join all the fun activities that we are planning.