Magic In Paradise: 10/8-10/15 2011. All cruisers check in here. (#2)

[Zippydacat]

A heads up for Zippy:

Found this last night clicking the New Posts button. Since we are both going through SC on our way, I thought I'd copy it here:

Thanks, saw that last night. The good thing for us we will be coming down I-26 so we will just miss it

I am guessing you will be heading right over it, sorry for you! Hopefully too many people wont be traveling down I95 on a Thursday afternoon.

 

[TIGGER/POOH4]

Love those shots Dan

I think she finally heads for home next week. Can't wait to see her back in PC in a few weeks time

Yes the Magic left yesterday on her last Med cruise. That means she heads home to PC next Saturday with arrival 2 weeks later. Our crusie is getting closer.

I love this view of the Magic. The sheer size of the Magic is very impressive in person.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Thanks, saw that last night. The good thing for us we will be coming down I-26 so we will just miss it

I am guessing you will be heading right over it, sorry for you! Hopefully too many people wont be traveling down I95 on a Thursday afternoon.

Yeah, looks like we will be. Debating on using 17 the trip up. Gotta get goin on that planning Like I don't have enough projects. With luck it won't be too bad going South, but ya never know with things.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Yes the Magic left yesterday on her last Med cruise. That means she heads home to PC next Saturday with arrival 2 weeks later. Our crusie is getting closer.

I love this view of the Magic. The sheer size of the Magic is very impressive in person.

Oh it really is very impressive. Even when you read the dimensions in the Passporter you still cannot truly grasp it until you see it for the very first time. And that is an awesome picture. I feel like I can put my hands right on the bow and stop her.

 

[TIGGER/POOH4]

Yeah, looks like we will be. Debating on using 17 the trip up. Gotta get goin on that planning Like I don't have enough projects. With luck it won't be too bad going South, but ya never know with things.

Are you driving through in one shot or making it a 2 day trip? I almost made a trip from Ft Myers to Delaware solo. Finally had to call it in Richmond Va. Good luck and have a safe one. Are you leaving on Thursday?

 

[Octoberbride03]

Are you driving through in one shot or making it a 2 day trip? I almost made a trip from Ft Myers to Delaware solo. Finally had to call it in Richmond Va. Good luck and have a safe one. Are you leaving on Thursday?

2 day trip. Stopping in Brunswick, GA on Thursday night. Hooking up with DisneyFed on Friday morning(looks like) before heading all the way down to the Port.

Next you do that trip head for 17 instead, we are less than 10 minutes away from there and you can stop here for the night. In the morning just take 64 to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and its a straight shot up the Eastern Shore on 13. No DC traffic, just a $12 toll for the bridge tunnel. Much easier drive. 5-5.5hrs to your house should be from mine.

 

[TIGGER/POOH4]

2 day trip. Stopping in Brunswick, GA on Thursday night. Hooking up with DisneyFed on Friday morning(looks like) before heading all the way down to the Port.

Next you do that trip head for 17 instead, we are less than 10 minutes away from there and you can stop here for the night. In the morning just take 64 to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and its a straight shot up the Eastern Shore on 13. No DC traffic, just a $12 toll for the bridge tunnel. Much easier drive. 5-5.5hrs to your house should be from mine.

Thanks for the direction tips , maybe next trip. For this trip we are flying down on SouthWest supporting Alan's company. You should be in PC before we even leave BWI. We are not due into MCO until 7:50pm Friday night.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Thanks for the direction tips , maybe next trip. For this trip we are flying down on SouthWest supporting Alan's company. You should be in PC before we even leave BWI. We are not due into MCO until 7:50pm Friday night.

You're welcome. Offer is good for anytime as long as we are home

Gotta get a time estimate from Brunswick, but we'll be happy in our hotel by then. Should be a good day, and a fun meet with another DISser on the way down.

 

[Octoberbride03]

All the t-shirt orders are now Paid in Full. Thank you very much I have enjoyed working with you all. Plans for the t-shirts are to carry them onboard in a day bag so we will be able to distribute them at the Pool side meet OR drop em off at staterooms if you prefer that.

So for those of you who have ordered and not made a specific request please let me know when/where you want them

 

[TIGGER/POOH4]

Good morning fellow cruisers.
We now have only

days to go to the Magic.

 

[TIGGER/POOH4]

Happy Labor Day everyone.

Everyone must be a BBQ. We are almost on page 2

Picture bump. The Gazebo on CC 10-22-10

 

[LKShep]

I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day holiday. For anyone outside the U.S., I hope you are having a great..., uh..., Monday!

We've got a family BBQ this afternoon where I am going to practice my overeating (a skill that I fully intend on employing for a week in October).

Tomorrow we may have to go back to work and back to serious cruise preparations (we've got pirate costumes to make) but let's party today!

Here's one of our favorite towel animals:

 

[Tinkerbell2212]

Hi everyone, I wondered if i could get your opinions
When we cruised last year we paid the full recommended gratuity for me, my husband & my then 2 year old son.
This year I also have my daughter Miley who will be 8 months old. Do you guys think I should pay gratuity for 4 this cruise?

Any opinions & feedback would be appreciated

 

[TIGGER/POOH4]

Hi everyone, I wondered if i could get your opinions
When we cruised last year we paid the full recommended gratuity for me, my husband & my then 2 year old son.
This year I also have my daughter Miley who will be 8 months old. Do you guys think I should pay gratuity for 4 this cruise?

Any opinions & feedback would be appreciated

This is a personal decision and can lead to heated discussions on the main threads with lots of flames flying. This is my opinion only therefore please no flames please. I would tip for four. Most likely the stateroom host is going to deserve it as cleaning after four is more work especially if you leave little presents behind that need to be removed. As for the servers they usually go out of their way to entertain the little ones. They know that long dinners are hard on them and try extra to keep them going. In the end it is your call to make the final decision but after 7 days you'll know what is right for you. Good luck and congrats on the little one. I hope you got some Flounders time to have some parents only time.

 

[mariaelenak]

Hi everyone, I wondered if i could get your opinions
When we cruised last year we paid the full recommended gratuity for me, my husband & my then 2 year old son.
This year I also have my daughter Miley who will be 8 months old. Do you guys think I should pay gratuity for 4 this cruise?

Any opinions & feedback would be appreciated

Okay, here is my opinion. For the Room Steward...YES! YES AND YES!! Remember, he'll be clearing out all the diapers every day and if a diaper leaked overnight, he'll be changing messy sheets in the pack and play.

As far as the waiters. I think that depends. Will you be bringing your own baby food? Will you be asking him to warm up a bottle? Most likely the assistant server will be doing any warming up. AND if the baby makes a mess all over the high chair and on the floor during meal times, it will actually be messier to clean up the child's mess than your mess. So again, a tip is in order. I think how much you ask them to do depends on the size tip for the baby.

Okay, that's my opinion for whatever it's worth.

 

[Octoberbride03]

OMG!!!

I KNOW WHERE Y'ALL WENT TODAY!!!

For Pete's sake i have seen it less busy at my store on Christmas Eve. WTH are you buying

BTS is empty, Camping was cleaned out for the hurricane, and the Halloween truck hasn't even arrived yet

Unbelievable

 

[Tinkerbell2212]

This is a personal decision and can lead to heated discussions on the main threads with lots of flames flying. This is my opinion only therefore please no flames please. I would tip for four. Most likely the stateroom host is going to deserve it as cleaning after four is more work especially if you leave little presents behind that need to be removed. As for the servers they usually go out of their way to entertain the little ones. They know that long dinners are hard on them and try extra to keep them going. In the end it is your call to make the final decision but after 7 days you'll know what is right for you. Good luck and congrats on the little one. I hope you got some Flounders time to have some parents only time.

Thanks for that, I hope the servers are better than last year on the wonder. The assistant server was awful hardly spoke leaving the poor head server to do absolutely everything which left him no time for interaction with the kids at our table

We leave for the US of A 2 weeks saturday... can't wait we just love it

 

[TIGGER/POOH4]

OMG!!!

I KNOW WHERE Y'ALL WENT TODAY!!!

For Pete's sake i have seen it less busy at my store on Christmas Eve. WTH are you buying

BTS is empty, Camping was cleaned out for the hurricane, and the Halloween truck hasn't even arrived yet

Unbelievable

Actually we did intend to stop by the Halloween store today and see if we can get new pirate hats for the cruise but it was closed today.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Actually we did intend to stop by the Halloween store today and see if we can get new pirate hats for the cruise but it was closed today.

HAH

I found 1 in the mall on Saturday, must have just opened, but they still only had half the stock ready to sell. Did find me a nice Pirate lady costume. At $60 it was a non-starter.

 

[TIGGER/POOH4]

Thanks for that, I hope the servers are better than last year on the wonder. The assistant server was awful hardly spoke leaving the poor head server to do absolutely everything which left him no time for interaction with the kids at our table

We leave for the US of A 2 weeks saturday... can't wait we just love it

To use a overused quote "the servers are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get". We have for the most part had very good to excellent servers. If you have an issue with the servers mention it to the head server. If you say nothing then nothing will get fixed. On one cruise the service was soooo slow. We were there easily for 2 hours for the first night. We said something to the head server and it was quicker the next night. Not exactly fast but not so painful for antsy children. My favorite servers of all time were nothing but a bunch of trainees. The server that was assigned was a long time vet meant to train them but was injured after the first night and never saw him again. The head server stepped in to help. The assistant servers absolutely tried like no other with the head server guiding them. They were so much fun and the head server at the time Chou we still see at Palo every cruise.

Good luck and have a safe trip across the pond. I guess you'll be the first to leave of all of us Paradise crew.