MAGICal Christmas 2008 - December 20, 2008

[tinkerbell_29]

Here is picture one. Sorry I can't figure out how to make it smaller.

 

[tinkerbell_29]

Picture one take two

 

[tinkerbell_29]

And here is picture 2

 

[njmom23grls]

It's great to read everyone's report of the trip. LisaMarie - we were part of the Thrifty/Dollar rental mess and it was after 12:30 pm before my DH received a car and returned to the port to pick me and the kids up. What made me maddest was that there was no apology, no discount for lost time - NOTHING from Dollar. My Dh was inline with a corporate guy who was hung up on by the regional manager - he wasn't rude or vulgar - and hung up on! I've contacted Dollar and Shirley (who is very helpful) and told her what happened. Do you mind if I direct her to your post as additional "back up" of our experience?

Our experience this cruise was mixed. We had a great room steward (Maricar) and a mixed experience in the dining room. Somedays it was great other days it was after 9:00 pm (we had 8:00 dining time) before we even had our drinks or water - dinner at 9:30-10:00 really is too late for us. We were a aprty of 5 and expected to be seated with another party but were not. We had a table behind us on one rotation with an out of control couple of children. Dangerously out of control kids and mom would ignore them or do a really loud stadium whistle to get attention. I can't tell you how many times a server would just barely miss stepping on one of them. One did get tripped and dropped a tray of dishes because of these kids. I don't know if she was a single parent or if dad just never ate with them.

I was also surprised at the obvious change in adherence to the dress code. Its been a few years since we last cruised so it was unexpected. Now, I'm all for people being comfortable, it is their vacation too, and I have no wish to stir the pot, but Board Shorts and t-shirts in Lumiere's on formal night? I felt overdressed in slacks and a blouse on cruise casual night. I wouldn't pack so many "dress-up" clothes next time.

My dd (10) also did not like the kids club and refused to go after trying it for a couple of times. I did make her try it again later in the week and she did stay for an hour. I was disappointed in this as suddenly a trip that had built in activities for the kids so DH and I could have a few hours alone together was spent entertaining a 10 yo. She felt that the clubs were very sports activity oriented or that the kids there were all cousins or friends with each other and she didn't know how to "break" into these established groups.
She did meet a little girl Ashley, who she thought was a DIS'er daughter. Anyone have a 10 yo daughter (with a little sister about 7) who made friends with a 10 yo named Rachael? She would love to stay in contact.

My other DD (14) however, LOVED the trip! Said it was the "BEST WEEK OF HER WHOLE LIFE". She didn't like the teen club initially. Said too many groups established - didn't want to go alone. By Sunday night I said you are going - I don't want you moping around complaining you are bored - so she went and met some nice kids and had a great week. She even met a boy and now has her first boyfriend. (He asked her to go steady after the cruise was over) - Her first boyfriend and its a long distance thing (he's from MA and we live in NJ) - Its sweet and I'm actually relaxed about it becuase who knows when or if they will actually ever see each other again.

DH and I splurged as our Christmas gift to each other and booked the couples time in the Vista Spa. It was heavenly. Cuddled up in a private hot tub on the deck, I got a seaweed wrap and partial body massage and he had a full body massage - followed by Champagnea nd Chocolate Strawberries on the lounging bed. 2 hours of pure spa bliss and alone time with no kids!

DH really enjoyed his Dive on Cozumel and the kids and I went to the Cave Snorkel/Swim - which we enjoyed but I'll detail later - I'm not sure it was worth it.

Anyway, I'm sorry I missed the Ornament exchange. I was pretty seasick on Monday and forgot until it was 11:30. We really enjoyed all the FE gifts- Thank you everyone.

It was so nice to meet everyone and have at least a friendly face or two in the crowd - even if I forgot "real" names.

Happy Sunday everyone!
Lisa

 

[HFC1969]

I was also surprised at the obvious change in adherence to the dress code. Lisa

We noticed that also...


However.. with tux & Mickey Mouse vests... DS and myself accompanied the lady of our life, DW to dinner. Our formal night was Parrot Cay. I did do jeans one night to dinner with a button down and dress shoes. Kinda the style that men are going to. Other than that.. we followed the CODE

 

[nzdisneymom]

Lisa -
Wasn't Maricar so sweet? We just loved her and she took good care of us. It was so nice t meet you and I really hope that we'll be able to sail together as next-door-neighbors in 2010!

We feel very fortunate that the boys enjoyed Ocean Quest as much as they did as I know a lot of the tweens did not find it to their liking. It was a perfect blend for Zachary (our 11 y.o.) of scheduled and free time - and he really clicked with Jaclyn (counselor) so that made it nice for him. Nathan enjoyed being able to do the free-time stuff, but he's more of a loner / non-group activity kid, so whenever he was done, he was done and would come back to the cabin. But at least we didn't have to entertain him - he was perfectly content with ice cream or fries and a movie on t.v. I was concerned that he would end up spending the entire cruise in the cabin, but was glad that he felt comfortable going to OQ - he would go there every morning for the "open house" time - and then when it started more regular programming, he'd stay a little bit and come back.

It's back to work for me tomorrow - I hope those of you who have some time still will post about your experiences so I can have something to look forward to on break! I'm not sure I'll know what to do with myself now that I don't have this trip to plan!

 

[BearFan]

Well, Lisa You are most welcome to refer them to my post. I need to write a letter to Thrifty complaining about the whole situation. We actually went back to Cocoa Beach on Sunday night/Monday morning and stopped into that same Thirfty again. The guy behind the counter never did tell us where to drop off the car in Orlando and we wanted to clarify. He was just a big a jerk on Monday as on Saturday and still wouldn't give his name. They had no maps and he told us just to go to the airport when I just knew that it wasn't on property. There was no one in the office when Paul went and he still couldn't give us the time of day. Pretty bad when Paul's always renting with them and he's a bluechip member. I'll let them know.

As far as our dinner companions go...Let me first say that we have kept in touch with someone from every other cruise we've been on and this was our 11th one. We've made great friends from all over the world and have seen some of these other people since. We like meeting new couples/families. With that said...we sat with a retired couple from Wisconsin now living in FL and a couple from New York. This in no way reflects on either state. The couple from NY were telling us what horrible service they had on their last Disney cruise. We assured them that as far as we were concerned, they had the very best server on the Magic. He's been there since the beginning and is even a trainer for the cruiseline. After we raved about him some more and told them that we asked for him specifically, he came over and greeted the table. It was at that point that Mrs NY gets ridgid , stares straight at her husband and says, "Yeah, but he's Black." Our jaws hit the ground and we were speechless. This server is like part of our family. We were invited to his wedding and we bring presents for his daughter whenever we cruise. It was like my own brother was slighted. It went downhill from there. They rode him and our head server, also from Jamaica, the entire cruise. There was no where else to switch to and keep our server so we sat at one end of the table and the other two couples sat at the other end with empty chairs between us, sort of like the DMZ in Korea. Our server, the asst servers (he was training 2) and the head server did a fabulous job with them. They bent over backwards to give them excellent service. Our server heard the comment and we told the head server but they were the consument professionals. Taking jabs with a smile and always being pleasant. I'm sure it happens from time to time on DCL but it's different when your confronted by it when not expecting it. It's even quite possible that we were more offended by it than they were. It cast a pallor over the dinner conversation, let me assure you, even over the whole dining experience. That first night Paul was so hot, he walked out, not wanting to get in a confrontation over it. It was a shame because we know that it's not what a typical dining experience on DCL is. I'm just glad that it wasn't our first cruise.

Lisa Marie

 

[nzdisneymom]

Lissa - thank you so much for posting the group photo! I love it! Thanks again to Matt for doing the photography work.

 

[CrusinLattas]

It was so nice meeting you on this cruise! We had a wonderful time. I am sorry about your dinner companions - that sounds horrible! I thought Fitz was an outstanding head server - this was the first time in several cruises that the head server was so involved in making everything go well - I thought our servers also did a great job.

Sorry about your stay at AKV - we stayed at AKL last year and were not that impressed but thought the Contemporary this year was fantastic! We can't wait to stay in the new building next Christmas - maybe you can switch your new points to there!

We stayed at WDW last year for New Year's and decided to fly home on the 30th this year - It can be do-able and fun if you only do the Extra Magic Hours and schedule fun meals or down time during the peek times but so many of the parks were full before noon on NYE that we didn't even want to mess with it this year. I did find out that my 2 and 4 yr. old could stay up until 2 am to ride Peter Pan and Pooh rides! Who knew? We did one day starting at 7 am - eating a brunch with Pooh in the Crystal Palace and taking a 4 hour nap and then hitting the parks before the final evening magic! It really worked out well, but wouldn't want to do that for more than one day!

 

[njmom23grls]

Oh Lisa Marie! That dining expereince is terrible. Fitz was our server on our last cruise a few years ago and we LOVED him! I was so excited to see him and happy he received a promotion! Rachael rememberd him and ran over to give him a great big hug - and he rembered her! I was so touched. He is as warm and charming now as he was then and is a real treasure for DCL. I am so sorry about your bad expereince.

We did the parks a few days before Christmas last year and I swore I would NEVER go again that time of year. It was unbearable (imho).
Good luck on your letter - and welcome home everyone

 

[minnie1]

My dd (10) also did not like the kids club and refused to go after trying it for a couple of times. I did make her try it again later in the week and she did stay for an hour. I was disappointed in this as suddenly a trip that had built in activities for the kids so DH and I could have a few hours alone together was spent entertaining a 10 yo. She felt that the clubs were very sports activity oriented or that the kids there were all cousins or friends with each other and she didn't know how to "break" into these established groups.
She did meet a little girl Ashley, who she thought was a DIS'er daughter. Anyone have a 10 yo daughter (with a little sister about 7) who made friends with a 10 yo named Rachael? She would love to stay in contact.

Lisa

Lisa,
My dd (10) is Ashley. She will be so excited that I found you because she was really bummed that she was not able to get Rachaels address or phone number. She had a great time hanging out with Rachael.

Robin,
If you are still on the boards, I wanted to let you know that Madison was crying last night because she missed Meghan and the cruise. It was so cute. I told her we will send a letter to Meghan soon. I have a cute picture of Madison, Meghan and Ashley (Madisons sister) on Castaway Cay that I will send with the letter. It will probably take a week or two until I get it sent out because we are just trying to get back on track.

In regards to the Disney Cruise. We had a wonderful time. Then again we had no other Disney cruise to compare it to. We havn't book another one yet because we are waiting for the new ships.
After the cruise we went to WDW and stayed at OKW from the 27th to Jan 3rd. We had a great time because we did not go into the parks at all. We mostly swam and spent time at Downtown Disney. Madison had her 8th birthday at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and dinner for her birthday at T-REX. It was a very relaxing week and a geat way to come down from the cruise. On the way home from WDW (we drove) we stopped in Atlanta to see my brother and his family (who were supposed to go on the cruise with us but cancelled). I showed them all the pictures and video and they said they probably should have gone. We spent two days there and just got back last night (Monday) at 6p.m.

It was great meeting everyone.

Angie

 

[dbxazd]

Lisa,
Robin,
If you are still on the boards, I wanted to let you know that Madison was crying last night because she missed Meghan and the cruise. It was so cute. I told her we will send a letter to Meghan soon. I have a cute picture of Madison, Meghan and Ashley (Madisons sister) on Castaway Cay that I will send with the letter. It will probably take a week or two until I get it sent out because we are just trying to get back on track.

Angie

Angie -
I'm still here! Meghan had a blast with Madison and Ashley (DS Ryan did too especially in the Mickey pool with Brynn and her sister too!) I'm positive that Meghan would love to keep her letter reading and writing up with Madison!

Glad you had a good week at OKW and that Madison's birthday was fun!

Robin

 

[njmom23grls]

Angie - Rachael will be so excited! I'm so glad! She, too, was disappointed because she didn't get Ashley's address or Phone number. I'll send you a PM.

Lisa

 

[pogopossum]

hi everybody,

i am so tardy with this, haven't been on the boards in a while.

this cruise was so great, but once in a lifetime, we have so many vacations planned out that we won't be cruising again until at least 2013, hello new ships! that made this trip a little bit melancholy, our fifth and maybe last aboard the Magic.

sorry we didn't meet up with ya'll, we just had so much going on, i had to hang the stockings and lights saturday afternoon, then i got sick monday morning and sent to my cabin for 24 hours.

we loved the christmas decor and all the special touches that came with this cruise.

shannon, that was me that gave you the shout out at dinner on thursday. and rachel enjoyed meeting and hanging out with morgan.

we had a pretty uneventful trip there and back, except for rear brake trouble on the suburban, which was supposed to have been fixed two years ago. thankfully those brakes don't do much of the stopping and we were able to get home, where i can get it fixed for labor only.

we hit the road out of dallas on tuesday the 16th, ds' school was delayed opening two hours due to ice, so we just kept him home, dd went to school on the bus, but was able to leave by 12:45, so we got on the road about three hours early, when it finally up to over freezing. once we made the turn at shreveport and drove about a half hour, the temperature started going up and it moved up a degree about every 20 miles from then on til we got to lafayette, and it was finally 60, and we putting away the sweatshirts and jackets for a while .

sad news with a happy ending, our traveling friends from home didn't get to make the cruise. they got to the airport for flight saturday morningwith plenty of time to spare, but freakin' Airtrans (am i allowed to give their name, oops), only has one line to get to checkin and to the gate for all flights, they had already checked in online, but it didn't matter, and the family in front of them was the last to get on the orlando flight. being the weekend before christmas, they couldn't find an alternative anywhere, even called the a/v minister from our church and he couldn't fly them down. so they missed the boat. lesson there about flying down the day of the cruise, but it couldn't have been helped.
so she called dcl from the airport and kind of was told she was out of luck, so she got dreams unlimited on the phone, and on monday she was hooked up for a cruise spring break to the virgins, but no refund on the difference in cost, and she had to buy the insurance this time. still she was happy to get to cruise. on tuesday she got a call and dcl was now going to refund the difference ($1300) which will pay for airfare, since at this point airtrans has not given them anything back. they say that they could have gotten them to atlanta and finally to orlando sat night, too late to sail. dw had a similar experience with airtrans in atlanta on a group mission trip, same problem with line.
another nice thing was that their dd was bummed at first, but then decided it was ok and wanted to go to homeless shelter and serve food. then at our christmas eve services at church, a favorite of hers, jason castro made a special appearance and sang. and now she gets to go for spring break, with no saturday morning flight this time.

i guess i'll quit there and write a real trip report, but i was back killin' time on here and reading all the posts from the 16th on and decicided to jump in with a mini report.

hope everyone is doing well and back in the swing of things at home. we are such typical dvcers that we were planning and booking (already been on the phone with ms 3 times this week), as soon as we got home. we'll be at beach club and kidani village next august, if you're in the neighborhood say hey.

 

[nzdisneymom]

this cruise was so great, but once in a lifetime, we have so many vacations planned out that we won't be cruising again until at least 2013, hello new ships! that made this trip a little bit melancholy, our fifth and maybe last aboard the Magic.

I would be so sad if I didn't have another vacation planned - sounds like you all have a lot already planned, just not on the sea.

sorry we didn't meet up with ya'll, we just had so much going on, i had to hang the stockings and lights saturday afternoon, then i got sick monday morning and sent to my cabin for 24 hours.

ugh - sorry you were sick. Do they check on you to make sure you were staying in your cabin? Did you go to the medical center?

sad news with a happy ending, our traveling friends from home didn't get to make the cruise. they got to the airport for flight saturday morningwith plenty of time to spare, but freakin' Airtrans (am i allowed to give their name, oops), only has one line to get to checkin and to the gate for all flights, they had already checked in online, but it didn't matter, and the family in front of them was the last to get on the orlando flight. being the weekend before christmas, they couldn't find an alternative anywhere, even called the a/v minister from our church and he couldn't fly them down. so they missed the boat. lesson there about flying down the day of the cruise, but it couldn't have been helped.

We were wondering if anyone had missed the ship because of travel delays.

so she called dcl from the airport and kind of was told she was out of luck, so she got dreams unlimited on the phone, and on monday she was hooked up for a cruise spring break to the virgins, but no refund on the difference in cost, and she had to buy the insurance this time. still she was happy to get to cruise. on tuesday she got a call and dcl was now going to refund the difference ($1300) which will pay for airfare, since at this point airtrans has not given them anything back. they say that they could have gotten them to atlanta and finally to orlando sat night, too late to sail. dw had a similar experience with airtrans in atlanta on a group mission trip, same problem with line.

Sounds like Airtrans is not the airline to fly with if you actually want to get where you're going on the day you want to be there. That really stinks that they missed the flight, but they are really fortunate that without trip insurance they have been able to move their cruise. Sounds like the Dreams Unlimited guys stepped up and really helped her out. Our TA requires us to purchase trip insurance for cruises, even if we book it ourselves and transfer it.

another nice thing was that their dd was bummed at first, but then decided it was ok and wanted to go to homeless shelter and serve food. then at our christmas eve services at church, a favorite of hers, jason castro made a special appearance and sang. and now she gets to go for spring break, with no saturday morning flight this time.

Sounds like all is well that ends well.

 

[pogopossum]

ugh - sorry you were sick. Do they check on you to make sure you were staying in your cabin? Did you go to the medical center?



We were wondering if anyone had missed the ship because of travel delays.

accordihg to capt tom's letter they sent, i expected them to call and check on me during confinement, but i guess i called in so much theydidn't need to. yes i did go to the medical center, that was the mistake. i was taking pepto bismol all morning and if ihad just brought along immodium, i could have avoidedthe confinement altogether.

they did put a block on my kttw, and i woulld not have been able to debark until time was up.

 

[nzdisneymom]

accordihg to capt tom's letter they sent, i expected them to call and check on me during confinement, but i guess i called in so much theydidn't need to. yes i did go to the medical center, that was the mistake. i was taking pepto bismol all morning and if ihad just brought along immodium, i could have avoidedthe confinement altogether.

they did put a block on my kttw, and i woulld not have been able to debark until time was up.

We pack Pepto Bismol with us whenever we travel, especially on a cruise, because sometimes it isn't a bug that causes an upset tummy - it's just a change in diet. I think we all know when we have a bug vs an upset tummy, but I do understand why they are oh so very careful.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We just had a wonderful "small world" happening - we were leaving from Spaceship Earth at Epcot on Saturday when someone called my name - we turned around and it was Tenya and Carly!