Magic Cruise-March 27th, 2010 -Finised! lots of pics!

[FirstTimeDC]

Ok, I've written reports on other cruiselines, but not on DCL. This will be our third Disney Cruise (one on the Wonder & one on the Magic). So, I guess I'll dive in and start a pre-trip report (which I've never done). Here are the key players:
Me - age 33
DH - age 33
DD - age 15 months
DD - age 3 years & 3 months
Nephew - age 16 1/2
G-ma (my mother) - age 60

Thanks to all the helpful people on this board I've finally figured out how to post photos!
Here goes:

This is one from the Magic last August. DH, DD's, and myself

This is my nephew last year. He's so good about taking pictures with the characters. My DD's love him to peices and he makes our cruises so fun for them!

Last but not least, can't forget G-ma!

We booked 3 ppl to each cabin. However, we'll be sleeping 2 & 4. DH & Nephew will share a cabin and G-ma, myself and the DD's will share a cabin. Just works better for us. We booked cat. 12 guarantees. If we'd have booked 2 & 4 we had less chance of getting cabins next to each other. If we booked 3 & 3 the chances were much greater if side by side cabins. This is the second time we've done this and it worked the first time so we figured let's try again. Since the reservations were linked together DCL does try and get cabins next to each other. We have been upgraded from a 12 to a 10. Which is great considering it's a spring break week. We're happy with it. Last year we were upgraded from a 12 to a 9.

We are now 2 1/2 weeks out and we are very excited.

Here is a list of things we've already taken care of:
1. I am flying with the two DD's. Nephew lives in FL (20 - 30 minutes from Port). We are flying in on Friday. My brother will pick us up at Orlando Int'l Aiport, we'll spend the night with them and they'll take nephew, DD's and myself to the port Saturday morning. Gma and DH are driving and will meet us at the port Saturday morning. I have arranged for a company close to my brother's house to deliver two carseats and a pack n play for us to rent for one night. They will deliver it on Friday and pick it up on Saturday when we are finished with it. Sounds great to me! I don't have to take car seats or a pack in play to the airport!! I'll only have myself, DD's, a stroller and a back pack. G-ma and DH will bring all the luggage. I'm only flying one way. We'll be driving back with them. We just didn't want the girls to be stuck in the car driving all night and then straight to the cruise. We'd rather them (and me, for that matter) get a good night's sleep the night before. Got a pretty good deal on a one way fare.

2. Ordered everything we could possibly need for a toddler and preschooler on babiestravellite. We used them last time and they were fantastic! We ordered, diapers, wipes, baby food, snacks, swim diapers, shampoo, head to toe body wash, lotion, diaper ointment, sun screens, Benadryl, Motrin, disposable bowls, disposable bibs, disposable utensils, pull ups (for bedtime), etc., I can't remember everything but we ordered a ton of stuff. Shipping was only $45 for everything. Costs were just a little higher than what we normally pay and no tax. So, rather than take an extra peice of luggage for all of this we defintely would recommend babiestravellite. We were so happy with them last year! It's in your stateroom waiting for you when you arrive. Nice!! Last year they upgraded us three days before our cruise so our stuff was not delivered to our room. However, the DCL staff was great. They tracked it down and we had it within about a half hour.

3. Right now I am trying to decide what clothes to pack for everyone. Could be cold in the evenings. I hate to over pack!

4. Oh, in case I forgot to state the obvious, we have filled out all of our online forms and printed them to take to the port. Sent a minor authorization form for my brother to fill out for my nephew, as well as a medical release for us to seek medical attention should it be necessary.

5. Probably most important pre-trip "to do". Read the disboards countless hours gathering as much info as possible and passing the time until our cruise gets here!

So, now that we have the introductions out of the way, and all of my "to do's" done. I'll tell you a little of what I'm planning and expecting to do on our cruise:

1. Eat at least one lunch at Lumiere's.

2. Eat at least one lunch (if not two - not including embarkation day) at Parrot Cay. Topsider's can get a bit crowded and hard to do with a toddler (last time she was a baby) and a preschooler. You have to find a high chair, juggle food, drinks, etc. Even though Parrot Cay is a buffet - the CM seats you, gets your high chair, drinks, etc.

3. Use the spalsh zone & pools at least once or twice. Last time we didn't do this. We have a pool at home and there were so many other things we wanted to do.

4. Get a picture with Pinocchio (sp?). He was only out once on our last cruise and we didn't go. We thought he'd be out later but he never made another appearance.

5. The new Villians show is going to debut on this cruise. So, we are quite anxious to see this. We love to read reviews. Obviously, no reviews on this show yet. We'll try and write one quickly after returning home.

6. I'd also like to go to the show (can't remember exact name) but the "know your mate", newlywed type show. We've gone on other ships and they are usually pretty funny. Maybe there will be something going on for the DD's in the club or Flounders and we can go see this. We'll see?!?

That's about it for my "must do's" so far.

We thought about Palo's but since we can't take the DD's or nephew we are going to skip it. About the only thing we really do "solo" is go to a movie while kids are enjoying the club. Otherwise, we like to spend time together. Nephew usually ditches us on day two though. He meets friends pretty easily and usually prefers to hang with them. FYI for those interested.... He enjoyed the teen club last year a lot! When he was younger (age 10) he hated the children's club. Thought some with older kids might find this interesting. Of course, with anyone ages 10 - 18 it's going to depend on the children/teens that are onboard and in the clubs on how fun the club is that particular cruise. I think for a 3 - 9 year old they going to have fun just because of the fun activities. However, with older children it makes a difference of how much fun they have by the different personalities of the other children their age. Sorry, I'm rambling...hope this makes sense.

Next installment......when we return!

I'm doing my "pre-pack" this week or weekend. Yes, I really do a "pre-pack"!

When we return, I'll finish my report and post pictures! Thanks again to all who helped me figure this out!!!

 

[Disney owl]

lovely photos look forward to reading more

 

[BishopFamily]

hey, we are on the same cruise.

just wanted to mention that on a previous cruise, they did "Match Your Mate" on the first night (Saturday evening around 10:30). we thought it was funny and you shouldn't miss it.

if anyone knows if they had changed their schedule, please let us know

 

[LV Disney Fan(atic)]

We're on this cruise too! Great start - it'll be fun reading your trip report when we get back.

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Subscribing.

 

[FirstTimeDC]

Ok, we're back. We had a fabulous time. I have the trip report written. I just have to add pictures to it. I will have it up soon.

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Look forward to it!

 

[FirstTimeDC]

Ok, we’re back from our 7 night Disney Magic Cruise. I did the pre-trip report and now it’s time for the Cruise Trip Report! First, let me start by saying…this was an eventful, but fun trip. As stated in the pre-trip report, I’ve written trip reports on other websites and other cruise Lines, but this is my first Disboards trip report. So, here goes:
This will be a very long report, as I took notes every day and I have nothing to do on the car ride home expect type (I’m not the one driving). Once again, here are the key players of our trip:
Me (mom), DH, Two DD’s ages 1 & 3, G-ma (my mom), and nephew (age 16)
Room arrangement – DH & Nephew in one room. G-ma, Me and DD’s in another room.

Thursday night – Last minute packing craziness that I swore wasn’t going to happen….again. However, it did. I was up later than I wanted to be trying to get everything packed for this great trip! The girls spent the night with g-ma (not the g-ma that went on the trip)so I could stay up late and not have to deal with dinner, baths, bedtimes, etc. That was nice!

Friday – Up at 6:00am! Took DH to work so my mom (will now refer to her as G-ma) could pick him up at 2:30pm and they could get going as soon as he could leave. He is a teacher and couldn’t leave on Friday until 2:30pm. They were driving straight thru to Florida. Thus, a big part of the reason I was flying with the girls. I didn’t want them exhausted to start the cruise. On the way we drove thru McDonalds and grabbed some breakfast. Ok, DH is at work and I headed to work myself for a few hours. Left the office around 11:30am and headed for home. My aunt and a friend of ours were meeting me at my house and taking me to the airport. Got a Mint Oreo Concrete from Culver’s and went to pick up the girls from g-ma. Arrived at the airport around 2:30pm-ish, got both girls and myself thru security, grabbed a banana for the girls, made potty breaks, and waited for the plane. Had about an hour wait until plane was to take off. I had DD in stroller and other DD playing with Toy Story Figurines. All was well. Then the airline lady came over to say they were going to take my stroller on down so when the plane got there they could load it right away. I wasn’t thrilled, but thought it would be fine if that meant we’d get going sooner. Well, I ended up trying to keep my very tired and fussy one year old happy and still until the plane arrived. She wanted to run around etc. Well, we managed and finally the plane arrived. The flight was great. DD (3 year old) slept all the way. We literally weren’t in the air more than five minutes when she fell asleep. DD (1 year old) lasted about an hour and then she drifted off to sleep. It’s a little over a two hour flight. Although, we were 15 minutes late taking off – we arrived 20 minutes early! Great!! I had arranged for a baby equipment rental company in Florida to deliver to my brother’s house a pack n play and two car seats. They were terrific. Everything was clean and arrived at the scheduled time. Would highly recommend this company if anyone needs their name. Very reasonable prices – I checked different places. They deliver to several areas in Florida. Ok, so my brother and SIL picked the girls and I up at the airport in Orlando. We went to their house for the evening. Everything seemed perfect. And then it happened………Got a call from DH and G-ma. The stress was about to begin!!!!!
They were about 6 hours into their trip and our van started making a weird noise. They decided they shouldn’t continue driving and take a chance on having car trouble in the middle of the night in the mountains. So, they decided to drive it to the nearest Buick Dealer (we have a Buick Terraza Van) and leave it parked there. They called the dealer Saturday morning first thing to tell them the situation. From my brothers house I had to get them a hotel and a flight out of Nashville first thing Saturday morning. They were able to get flights for $265 plus tax each for one way tickets. Not terrible for booking a flight the day before.

Saturday – After leaving the van at the dealer they took a cab to the hotel to get a little sleep before their 6:20am flight. Saturday they were up early, on the shuttle and at the airport bright and early! My SIL took the girls and I to the cruise terminal to go ahead and get everyone checked in. We arrived around 9:30am-ish. I was the second person in line to get into the terminal. I called DH to see how far away they were…..they can’t find our luggage! They think it’s headed for Ft. Lauderdale. After a lot of stress and running around they found out Disney Cruise Line had picked up our luggage (we had already put the tags Disney Cruise Line sent for our staterooms on our luggage). So, they found out our luggage was on the way to the ship. So, I checked all of us in (I had all the passports). Once, checked in I got the pager & wrist band for DD. We then got a bag of Cheetos and sat and watched a cartoon until DH and G-ma arrived. After all the checking in, restroom breaks, snacks, etc. we had about an hour wait until we could start boarding. We got a “2” boarding pass!

After taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie it was time to board! We were on the ship around noon. Finally, we’re on Mickey’s Boat (as DD calls it)! We head straight for Parrot Cay for lunch. Not great food, but pretty good for buffet food. As always, the Chocolate Chip Cookies were very good! Stopped at restroom outside Parrot Cay. They have a handicapped accessible with changing table. I’m amazed that many of the restrooms on a Disney Cruise Ship don’t have changing tables! This is a cruise ship for kids. I realize not everyone travels with babies/toddlers, but many do. If you are on the third floor the nearest is at the back of the ship by Parrot Cay. If you are on deck nine by Topsiders, the nearest one is up a level on deck 10 by the adults only restaurant Palo. It makes no sense to me to not have a changing table by the pool or main buffet, but instead by the adult only restaurant. Oh well. We did seem to have one available when we needed it – just had to take a few stairs – which after all the food we ate didn’t hurt anyone. OK, next stop – Flounders to connect DD (age 1) to the pager we were assigned to DD (age 3). Also, we needed to confirm our reservations I had made for Flounders online. Everything was just as I had booked! We then stopped by Oceaner’s Club to check it out and play for a bit.

Finally, it was 1:30pm – our rooms were ready! First thing, checked out Babies Travel Lite box I had ordered. Everything was there and accounted for! Here is a picture of what we ordered...

We ordered as many things as we could to make the trip easier. I’m so glad we did! I highly recommend this company!! Only one minor problem. They had put several of my baby food jars inside a smaller box and that was in the big box. I picked it up and moved it to the counter – no problem. The second time I moved it … the bottom fell out! I dropped about 12 jars of baby food. They of course were all glass. Only one jar broke, but it splattered and made quite a mess! So, we quickly found out our room host was terrific! He was right there to clean, vacuum, etc. I felt terrible. Well, while we are talking about him – his name was Efren. He was great. He always called the girls by name and was very nice.

So, once the Babies Travel Lite stuff was put away – we had no luggage yet so we decided to take a nap. Ahh, vacation at last! Well, the Life Boat Drill was about 4:00pm. Guest services called to see if we needed assistance. I don’t know if it was because we had two little ones or my mother?!? Anyway, the girls were still asleep and I asked if they could stay with Gma and skip the drill. The man said it was fine as long as I attended. G-ma was thrilled! She hates those drills. She doesn’t do steps well (knee replacement surgery last year). So, off we go to the drill just DH, Nephew and myself.

After the drill I didn’t want to go back and wake them up. I went to guest services and got Tea with Alice tickets. I also made a few phone calls before we set sail. Went to DH’s room to wait for girls to wake up and luggage to arrive. We decided to order room service. Pizza, Choc. Chip Cookies & Milk – YUM! It was all very good. DH & Nephew ordered Hot Dog, Cheeseburger and Fries. They said it was all good. It just looked ok to me. The pizza was way better than the pizza at Pinocchio’s on deck nine – and it was better than the kids pizza on the kids menu in dining rooms. I don’t know if it was because it was fresh and hot or what, but it was really good! While waiting for our luggage to come and the girls to wake up I decided to journal a bit. Thus, the reason my trip report will be so detailed. Finally the girls woke up and I got to unpack! Next on the agenda was the Welcome Aboard Show. We enjoyed it. We were pleasantly surprised our DD (age 1) sat thru the whole thing. I’m sure throughout this report you’ll find me comparing this cruise to last year. It’s only been 8 months since our last Disney Cruise. However, it made a huge difference. Our DD (then 8 months and now 16 months) was much better this trip. Our DD (age 2 then and 3 now) still loved everything! It was so sweet to see them enjoy the characters. Pointing in awe as they came on stage. Along with the characters at the show there was a ventriloquist, comedians Alfred & Seymour, our cruise staff and the cruise director Peter. I’ve heard mixed reviews on Peter vs. Brent. After experiencing the Disney Magic with both cruise directors (Brent was the CD in August, 2009) I personally liked Peter better. Neither one was overly funny or personable (not that I go out of my way to get to know the cruise staff though). I personally enjoy cruise directors with more humor. I guess between the two I felt Peter was a little funnier. Here is a picture of nephew with Peter.

Ok, that’s my opinion for all that it’s worth. So, the show was good and both girls enjoyed it, as did the rest of us. We had taken a few snacks for the girls to munch on. We also like to purchase the Mickey shaped cheese crackers in the Chip & Dale bag from Preludes. Next up, dress for dinner. Our dinner was in Lumiere Restaurant. Our dinning rotation was Lumiere, Animator Palate & lastly Parrot Cay. So, we got Lumiere Restaurant three times and the other two restaurants twice. That was fine with us. We aren’t that picky. Well, I take tons of pictures of my family on vacations, but I’m terrible at taking pictures of food. So, I’ll tell you what I ordered each night and if I liked it. But since I don’t have pictures I wont go thru everyone’s dining choices. Obviously, my tastes are my own, but I’ll give you my opinion none the less. Just a little info; I love pasta, not a huge meat eater (not vegetarian, just usually prefer other choices), favorite dressings on salad are French or Ceaser. Soup favorites are Lobster Bisque and cheesy potato, love seafood. Hopefully, that helps on knowing my tastes a little. So, for night number one I ordered; Shrimp Cocktail, Tomato Basil Soup, Lobster Mac N Cheese & a Mickey Bar for dessert (I love Mickey Bars and had one every night). I enjoyed my dinner very much!!! We did try to take DD (age 1) to dinner. However, since we had late seating dining (8:15pm), she only made it 10 minutes and then we took her to Flounders. We had planned to try dinner with her and if it went well cancel our Flounders reservations for the week. After this evening, we decided we’d better keep the Flounders reservations. DD (age 3) can make it for a two hour dinner just fine (we always bring little toys, etc.). However, when she was finished eating we always let her go to the club. She loved the Oceaneer’s Club!! She was allowed to participate in the Club in August since she did fine in there. But this year she loved it even more and wanted to be there all the time. Well, after dinner we picked up the girls and headed back to the room to bed. It had been a long couple of days for everyone.

 

[Sonnyeclipse]

subscribing and looking forward to reading more.

 

[FirstTimeDC]

Sunday – Ah, first Sea Day. We love sea days. Well, the girls were up at 8:45am. So, we woke up the guys and headed to Topsiders for breakfast around 9:15am. It was an average buffet breakfast.

I’m not a huge breakfast eater, but everything was good that I had. My favorite breakfast items were bagel with cream cheese, pancakes with syrup and the fresh pineapple. After breakfast we headed to the Club for Do Si Do with Snow White.

We let DD (age 1) play on the toys while DD (age 3) participated in the activity. Both girls were happy! Appx. 11:20am DH decided to take DD (age 1) and get in line for Princess Gathering while DD (age 3) finished the Snow White Do Si Do. The Princess Gathering was at 11:30am in the atrium. DD (age 3) loved this!!! When we got down there DD (age 1) was asleep in her stroller.

DH took DD (age 3) to get an autograph book (her first)!

It was a long line and by the time we finished with all our princess pictures we decided to go back to Topsiders for lunch. It seems like we ate a lot on this trip! DH went to shopping talk at 1:00pm. Nephew hung out with the friends. We didn’t see him again until afternoon. So, DH was at Shopping Talk, Nephew was with friends and it was just the girls, G-ma and myself for lunch. So, we found a great little table by the window inside Topsiders. The ocean looked beautiful and it was sunny and gorgeous. It was a nice lunch.

After lunch we took pictures with the characters in the Gazebo by the Goofy Pool. In August they had professional photographers taking pictures here. This year, they did not and you just took pictures with your own camera. I prefer the professional pictures. Of course, I’m the crazy mom that purchased the big 50 credit picture package and had a hard time sticking with only the 50 credits. For those that don’t know, an 8 x 10 photo is 2 credits and a 6 x 8 photo is 1 credit. You buy credits. 10 credits is $90, all the way up to 50 credits which are $300. Sorry, I got sidetracked there. So, we took pictures in the gazebo with Daisy, Donald, Goofy and Chip & Dale.

That took about an hour. For each character we had to wait about 15 minutes to get a picture & autograph. After the shopping talk DH grabbed some lunch while we finished pictures. After the pictures DH took the girls to the Club to play. Gma and I went shopping for a bit. I needed to get my scrapbook, Christmas ornament, pins for lanyards (Chip & Dale Disney Cruise Line Pins)for the girls, & Princess and the Frog movie. That’s all we bought…..for now. Nephew bought several pins, as well. After that we went to the Club to get the girls and DH and we went back to take naps. I got the girls to sleep and I decided to take my shower and get ready for our first formal night. Our show was at 6:15pm. It was Twice Charmed A Twist on the Cinderella Story. Very good show! Girls loved it!! They both sat perfectly still for the show. DD and I stopped to get a picture with Chip & Dale in their tuxedo’s. After the show we stopped to take a few formal night photos. Even got to see Snow White again!

I even persuaded nephew to give her a kiss! He’s a good sport. We then took DD (age 1) to Flounders with her PJ’s – she was happy! She always cries for a minute until we’re gone. She stops immediately. I go back sometimes to peak thru the window. She always stops right away. They would put her in PJ’s and feed her for us. It was nice! There are only four Flounders workers. So, it’s always the same four people in there. So, it’s not like you’re leaving them with someone different every night. It’s always the same people. Dinner tonight was in Animator’s Palate. No show tonight in the dining room. I’m assuming it was because it was formal night. This was a good meal, but enjoyed the first night more. I had Ceaser Salad, Vegetable Lasagna, Ham wrapped chicken (did not like this, but DH did), & Mickey Bar. At 9:00 the club counselors showed up at the front of the restaurant for the dine & play. At 9:00pm each night (if you have late seating dining), the counselors show up and will check your child into the club and take them so you don’t have to leave dinner. They always bring the child’s food out right away so they can eat and go play. It’s great! Our daughter loved it. It was nice for us because we got to enjoy dinner with her, but when she was done she could go play. Then we had some adult time. It was nice. Tonight they were doing girls night in one club and guys night in the other. She made a Hannah Montana pillow case and came back with black fingernail polish. I was a little surprised they painted my three year old’s finger nails black, but I wasn’t upset – just quite surprised. In their defense, she was wearing a black & white dress. After dinner we picked up the girls and headed to the room to bed. We always had the cutest towel animals

 

[Happy100]

looking forward to your next entry...good trip report

 

[FirstTimeDC]

Monday – Sea Day # 2: Awake at 8:30am. Today was our character breakfast. The character breakfast on the cruise is very rushed. Characters are trying to get to everyone quickly, etc. I’m not complaining, just stating that it is a very rushed breakfast and not much eating gets done because you’re trying to get pictures, etc. Again, I’m not at all complaining. I’m thrilled Disney offers a character breakfast for everyone. It’s a nice “Disney” touch! I hope someday they add a princess character breakfast. Just my two cents again! The character breakfast included Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Chip & Dale. DD (age 3) loved it!! Your character breakfast is based on what time your dinner is – the character breakfast is in Parrot Cay. Our character breakfast was at 9:45am.

Next we went to Oceaneer’s Club for Mousekeeter in Training. DD (age 3) loved it & DD (age 1) loved watching and clapping along. Mickey Mouse made an appearance! It was very cute.

After that we headed down to Promenade Lounge where they were having a Playhouse Disney Dance Party. Jo Jo the clown was there to dance with the children. One of the activities people were there to sing songs, etc. It was also very cute! There were probably only 15 – 20 kids at this activity.

Next stop was the Lobby Atrium. At 12:15pm they were doing a Character Dance Party. This is one of the highlights of the trip for my daughter. Several characters come out – Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Daisy & Chip and Dale. Anyway, they come out and dance with the children. It’s so fun to watch your child dance with Mickey and get into the Disney Spirit. Makes all the planning, money, etc. all worth it! Again, just this mommy’s opinion. My husband refers to this time as “organized chaos”. Which it is, but still lots of fun!

We were pretty worn out from all the “kid” activities so we decided to have lunch at Lumiere. It was nice to sit down and be waited on and not have to keep running back to the buffet for this or that. DD (age 1 fell asleep in her stroller after we ate). It was a good lunch. I had shrimp cocktail & steak.

After lunch we went to the spa to see if they could remove the black finger nail polish from my daughter’s fingers that they put on in the club. They did so, no problem. DD (age 1) woke up when they were vacuuming outside the spa. Since she only slept about 20 minutes and DD (age 3) was getting sleepy we headed back to the room for naps and my journaling.

I wanted to have the kids up and ready for pictures with Captain Hook at 5:00pm.

My nephew’s favorite character has always been Captain Hook. Even though he’s 16 he still stands in line for Captain Hook (although, he makes my daughters go too so it looks like he’s doing it for them). He’s trying to encourage my DD (age 3) to pick Hook as her favorite. She’s more of a princess gal though. Here is a picture of Belle in her blue dress. We saw her while waiting in line for Captain Hook.

DD truly loves them all. She’s pretty fond of Dopey, as well! Ok, so next I decided I wanted a nice picture of my two girls and my nephew for the grandparents. My DD(age 1) is a mommy’s girl and if I went she’d want me. So, after bribing him with $20 he was more than willing to take both girls on his own to get what I considered a good picture. To his credit, he did a great job. It’s a bit tough to get a good picture with both girls looking at the camera if you’re in the photo also. Tonight was supposed to be the new Villians Tonight show. However, because of rough seas (which I didn’t notice) they were unable to perform it. So, we were going to see Alfred & Seymour tonight and Villians Tonight would be on Tuesday. That was fine. Alfred & Seymour are all always very funny. They are funny for adults and children. Even DD (age 1) sat thru the show (with snacks, of course). They have music, dancing, etc. I love this photo:

After the show we took DD (age 1) to Flounders and we went to dinner in Parrot Cay.

DH & Nephew photo
DD (age 3) loved the Mickey shaped Ketchup!

After DD (age 3) finished her meal the counselors were there at 9:00pm to take her to the club. By now, we are loving this feature Disney Cruise Line offers!! Tonight I had a ceaser type salad (can’t remember the exact name), Salmon, and Jerk Chicken (didn’t care for it, but DH did). Ok, tonight I loaded up on dessert. I had a sundae, Smores Cake and a Mickey Bar. I love dessert! After dinner we picked out our pictures from Shutters, got the girls and headed to bed. By this point we’ve figured out it’s best if G-ma and I go look and pick out pictures and DH goes to get the girls. Nephew has usually taken off with friends at some point. I don’t think he ever made it in before 2:00am. One night is was 6:00AM the next morning before he went to bed. Ah, to have the energy of a 16 year old again! My energy is more like this though...

 

[FirstTimeDC]

Thanks for the complements, everyone. This is fun re-living our trip. Our next one isn't until 2011...Ugg, too far away.

Ok, back to the report.

Tuesday – St. Marteen today. DH & Nephew were planning to get off the ship, but decided to stay on with Gma, the girls and I. We all slept in a little. I think it was almost 9:30am. Each day the girls slept later and later. Up to topsiders for breakfast. Then we let the girls swim. They had a great time. DD (age 1) never realized there was anything more than the splash area – which she loved!

DD (age 3) went back and forth from the Mickey Pool, to the splash area, to the slide. She loved all of it!

I was surprised she liked the slide that much. I walked her up the first time – it’s pretty high up there. But after that she just ran up the steps like it was no big deal. I think it’s a pretty big slide for a three year old on their own. She just turned 3 in November. She was just barely tall enough. You have to be 38 inches to do the slide. Nephew and DH sat in the Mickey Pool while DD ran back and forth.

Here is a picture of Nephew - looking too cool!

Nephew then decided to go to Goofy’s Pool. G-ma and I went to the adult pool for a little while. The water was freezing though. The Mickey Pool wasn’t nearly as cold. After lots of swimming we decided to eat lunch by the pool. We had pizza, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, fries, fruit and ice cream. All quite tasty after lots of swimming.

Finally, the girls were good and wore out from all the swimming. We headed back to the room for naps. Got the girls down for naps and Gma and I watched the Blind Side on TV. I hadn’t seen it. It was a very good movie! Well, the girls were still asleep, so I decided do take my shower and get ready for the evening. Once they woke up we got them ready and headed to take pictures with Peter Pan and Minnie Mouse.

Tonight’s show was Villians Tonight. This was the debut of that show. I’ll give my opinion and then move on. We did not like it. The costumes were great, the colors, special effects, music , etc were all fantastic. However, it had way too much “glamorizing” of the “underworld” in our opinion. It was a bit much. Had they show cased the Villians in some other way other than glamorizing being evil I’d have been happier. Perhaps, showing the Villians but Hero’s as well and letting the Hero’s win. Obviously, they aren’t going to redo the show, but I just wanted to give my opinion of the new show. I know people are waiting to hear about it. Our “group” all felt the evil and underworld were a bit too much. I talked to one other lady another day about it and she didn’t care for it either. We liked Golden Mickey’s soooooo much better. I didn’t feel Villians Tonight was a good show for 3 – 10 year olds. We will probably skip this show next time. As I said earlier, the show was done well in regards to music, production, etc. Ok, that’s my opinion on that. Moving on…..Tonight is pirate night! After the show we were wainting on Gma in the restroom and I spotted nephew and DD. Love it!

Next we took pictures with Pirate Stitch and Pirate Mickey before dinner.

Took DD (age 1) to Flounders. Tonight we are back at Lumiere for dinner. I had a Pineapple and coconut crusted banana , Conch Chowder, shrimp pasta and chocolate cheesecake and Mickey Bar for dessert. Once again, DD (age 3) left for the Club at 9:00pm. As has become custom, Gma and I went to pick out pictures from Shutters and DH went to pick up the girls. We did not go to the Pirate Party. I’ve heard it’s really nice though. We were just so tired from swimming, etc. we decided to go to bed.

 

[FirstTimeDC]

Wednesdsay – St. Thomas: DD (age 1) woke up at 7:45am. Ugg, on vacation…..ok, changed diaper and put her back in the pack n play….let’s see what happens. Ah, she fell back asleep. One great thing about an inside room (it does stay nice and dark). So, we woke up the second time at 9:30am. Ah, much better! So, we grabbed a banana for breakfast and headed straight to the club.

The girls played a while and we decided to have an early lunch by the pool. It was just Gma, the girls and I. DH & Nephew were doing the Screaming Eagle Jet Boat ride in St. Thomas. Here is their review; It was $49 each. It was about a 10 minute walk and 30 minute boat ride. It was fun, but if it’s your first time to St. Thomas not necessarily the tour you’d want to do. We’ve been to St. Thomas several times so they decided to do it. It did a few fast turns etc in the water and circled around the cruiseships (basically, to promote their company, my DH said). Their name was plastered on the side of the boat and they did fast turns, tricks, etc. around the cruiseships. All in all, they said it was fun, but not great! Probably more of a $30 tour not $50. So, then they went shopping. DH bought a new video camera (ours quit working on this trip). Yes, van had a wheel barring go out ($700), two last minute airline tickets appx. $600, Rental Van to get back to Nashville $300, Broken Video – had to get a new one $300, We thought they lost our luggage. So, needless to say this trip ended up costing way more money and stress than we had planned. Oh well, at least we had great time!! Ok, back to St. Thomas, the guys went back to ship to change clothes after the jet boat ride – they were wet! So, once they changed clothes they got off the ship and headed out to do some shopping. DH got a new video camera and Nephew got a new Fossil watch. They were both happy and headed back to the ship. It was time for DD (age 1) to take a nap. DD (age 3) wanted to swim. So, DH took DD (age 3) up to the Mickey Pool/Slide. Everyone was happy! After swimming DD was hungry again so she got some pizza and a hotdog – she must have been really hungry! She then came back to the room for a short nap. After DD (age 3) got up G-ma and I took her to see Princess and the Frog. DH took care of DD (age 1) while we were at the movie. We got Cheetos and M&M’s to eat. I ran up to deck 9 to get soda & Pink Lemonade. The movie was cute. Not to berate the subject, but why does Disney feel the need to incorporate demons and plain evil into their entertainment. Other than the demons flying around a couple of times I thought the movie was really cute. DD enjoyed it as well. After the movie DD wanted to go to the club. So, we dropped her off there and went to the room to get ready for the show and dinner. Disney was able to show the new Miley Cyrus movie “Last Song”. It came out in theaters on the same day they showed it on the ship. It was a great movie!! DD (age 3) was in the club. We tried taking DD (age 1) to the movie and give her a bottle. She took the bottle, but was not interested in sitting quietly or going to sleep. So, DH took her up to Flounders. He came back and we (adults) finished the movie. Nephew wasn’t interested in watching a Miley Cyrus movie. Although, he said he did come in for the last 20 minutes or so. After the movie we picked up DD (age 3) and I peeked in the nursery to see how DD (age 1) was doing. She was doing fine. Playing and having a good time. We took DD (age 3) to get pictures with Dopey & Snow White. She was very talkative to Dopey. She was telling him a story, etc. He was rolling on the floor, etc. It was really cute. The “Character Escort” said Dopey wanted to know our room number. We gave it to her. Then, I changed DD into her dress for dinner (in the bathroom). As we were leaving the “Character Escort” again came over and made sure she had gotten our room number. So, we kept thinking something “magical” might happen, but it never did?!? Not that we should expect anything special, but since they asked our room number twice we thought perhaps they were going to do something for her. Oh well, she was none the wiser – she’s only three. We were the ones that were more disappointed by it.

Next, we decided to head down to deck 3 and take a picture with Tiana (Princess and the Frog).

Then onto dinner. Tonight was Animators Palate again. Tonight they did the “show”. It was good. Although, DD (age 3) had already went to the club by then and DD (age 1) was in Flounders. We still enjoyed it. I had mozzarella cheese sticks from the children’s menu, some shrimp thing, potato soup, and penne pasta. I can’t remember dessert other than the Mickey Bar and I think some kind of sundae. Here are our servers Dario & Thomas. They were very good!

After dinner we took pictures with Max & Goofy.

Then Gma and I went to pick up pictures from Shutters and DH pick up the girls. Then, to bed, as usual.

 

[FirstTimeDC]

Thursday – We slept until 9:30am this morning. Since it was our last sea day we decided to jump start our packing. Once we finished that I took DD (age 1) with me to return a photo album I had purchased earlier. I ended up getting a different one. I had originally bought the green/blue one with the ship and Mickey. I decided I wanted the one with Pirates in the Caribbean and the characters on it. At some point I had gotten two Pirates in the Caribbean scrapbook albums (one for my family and one for my nephew). I also bought some princess figurines for DD (age 1) – DD (age 3) already has them and loves them, so we (more like I) decided to buy another set. I also bought Sleeping Beauty Figurines and the Alice in Wonderland DVD (the new cartoon one that came out this week not the one with Johnny Depp). I think that pretty much covers the souvenirs for this trip. After my return, I decided to go book our cruise for next year. I booked us on the 5 night Dream in August – for now. We may change dates, but that’s what we are booked on for now. It does Nassau, Castaway Cay twice and one sea day. I wish, like everyone else, the Dream was doing 7 night cruises. Ok, so return is done, we are booked for future cruise and I headed back to the room. The girls had a light breakfast (banana and cereal) so we were ready for lunch. DH decided to go to the Disney Vacation Club talk, Nephew was with friends and Gma DD (age 1) and I went to the seafood buffet in Parrot Cay. It was pretty good. DD (age 3) was in her club. She loves the club and wanted to spend as much time as possible there. After our lunch we went to pick up DD (age 3) and go get pictures with Lilo and Stitch in the Gazebo.

After that we got DD (age 3) some lunch on deck. I then put DD (age1) down for a nap and DH took DD (age 3) to swim for a short time. I took her clothes up to the pool and changed her in the restroom. We had tickets to have tea with Alice and the Mad Hatter at 3:00pm. It was very cute! I encouraged my nephew to go with us since I had gotten tickets for all six of us. He did, a little reluctantly. It was cute and only about 20 minutes. The served cookies and apple juice (instead of tea).

Next we had to take DD (age 3) to the club to “prepare” for Friendship Rocks Show. It’s a show the Clubs put on for the parents. It’s a cute show. Kids sing and dance and they show a video from the cruise. Mickey and Minnie are there, as well. That show was at 5:00pm. Pictures didn't come out that great of the show. After the show I needed to get ready for our second formal night. I then got the girls ready and went to the show Dreams an Enchanted Evening (I think that’ the name of it). It’s a very cute show! Lots of Disney “Magic”. After the show we took pictures with Goofy and the Mickey & Minnie. All were in their formal wear, as well.
Mickey & Minnie - I didn't take any with my camera because I was in the photo. We purchased several from Shutters. Their pictures are always so good!
Here's Goofy:

Took DD (age 1) to Flounders and then to dinner. Tonight we were in Parrot Cay. At 9:00pm DD (age 3) headed to the club. Tonight was Lobster night. My favorite!! I had a shrimp and pasta appetizer (I think it was actually a dinner, I just asked to have it as an appetizer – smaller portion). I then had two Lobster Tails! I finished them both and still had room for my Mickey Bar! I tried the Chocolate Lava cake but it was too chocolat-ie. And I love chocolate. After dinner the usual of picking up pictures at Shutters and the girls. However, tonight we put them to bed, left them in the room with Gma and DH, Nephew and I headed to Lumiere for the dessert buffet at 11:00pm. After eating two Lobsters an appetizer and dessert I still wanted to go. They were having a chocolate fondue fountain with strawberries, pineapple, marshmallows and bananas (all dipped in the chocolate fountain). Yum!!! My favorite was the strawberries, of course. I tried some chocolate cake, as well, but really just wanted the fondue stuff. After we did that we headed to the rooms for bed.

I will try and finish my report tomorrow. We have Castaway Cay and our trip home. Castaway Cay was beautiful.......will finish tomorrow, hopefully.......

 

[pmama]

Wow, you certainly did take advantage of the character photos! You are a fast TR writer too, love it! I'm with you on the packing last minute thing. I tell myself every time that there will be no last minute packing rush but there always is. Glad your DH and mom made it. That is stressfull, especially before a cruise.

 

[pumpkinfish]

I have enjoyed your report as we are taking our 1st cruise and I've gotten a better feel about what to expect. Thanks for being so informative .

 

[Becx N Gav]

I'm really enjoying your TR as a 'married no kids' couple it's interesting to hear what the kids get up to as well as the adults.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the Villians show, maybe it appeals to an older audience? (I know Disney should try and appeal to all ages though) Did you find it scary or was it just that they were glamourising the 'evil' baddies?

Thanks for all the information you have put in, so far we've only done a 4 night cruise on the Wonder (we have an 11 night Med cruise in just over 2 weeks) so it's great to hear what longer cruises are like.

Looking forward to more

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Whoa nelly, that's a whole lotta updates. Fantastic details and pictures! Can't wait for more.

 

[mrskay9]

Can't wait for CC.

Thanks so much for the report!