March 10, 2012 - Eastern on the Magic

[3Goofy's]

Yes, one month TODAY and we'll be on our second sea day. What will you be doing? I will have had my Palo brunch, and hope to be on a warm, sunny deck with a good book. Maybe having fun with some family pool games. Oh, it will be soooo good!

 

[janette311]

How is the weather during the month of March in the Caribbean ?

Weather is perfect! Best time to be on a ship...not too hot and not cold during the day. Nights can get chilly out on the water so bring a sweater.
Have fun packing...

 

[sgpmaxx66]

Does anyone know when formal, semi-formal, and pirate night will be on our cruise? Thanks.

 

[3Goofy's]

Does anyone know when formal, semi-formal, and pirate night will be on our cruise? Thanks.

Formal night is our first sea day (Sunday), Pirate night is St.Maarten night (Tuesday), and semi-formal is our last sea day (Thursday). Planning your outfits?

 

[tecdavidt]

Well all, I did a DIS board search on where we will be when in St. Thomas, much to my surprise -- we anchor! no WICO dock. Yuck. The great big ships are so big there is no room to dock. Our last stop was in 2010 and that was when we had 4 ships docked at WICO (at Havensight) it was so crowded we really couldn't do what we wanted. Now, we are not even at the dock but we have to tender in. The page listed three ships at WICO. My hubby asked about this yesterday, he must have seen a post. After google searches I searched the DIS about docking at St. Thomas, found an old post with the link to where we will be at. March 14, 2012 Disney Magic anchorage. Tenders are really not fun and it takes forever to get off the ship. So much for the mega ships. I remember the days when the Magic got the prime spot for docking at WICO. No more. Kathy

 

[Imacanuck]

that is so cool I am from St. catharines and am also sailing the 10th of march, I work as a supply teacher in dundas and waterdown on the occasion!!

 

[Imacanuck]

hey there you are from waterdown? I am from St. Catharines smallworld afterall indeed

 

[Imacanuck]

That is cool I'm a supply for the Hamilton catholic, so still have the luxary of extending our travel time. My son and I are taking a train from Niagara Falls to Orlando and flying back!

 

[Imacanuck]

We booked the Turtle cove excursion, but the half day excursion.... We want to shop for a bit in town. Hoping it will be warm.....
We booked a private tour with Bernard in St. Maarteen.
We were hoping to get a cabana at Castaway Cay, but they were already all sold out at midnight at the 90 day mark.....oh well, that's $500 dollars that I'm sure I will have spent somewhere else....
Those darn platinum and concierge cruisers! Lol!

I did book alone time in the spa! I have been wanting to do it for all the past cruises, but just couldn't spend the money on myself....this year, I am going for it!

Has anyone done " Alone Time".......would love to hear about it!

I am still trying to figure out how this posting works and I think I did it wrong. You are from waterdown correct? I am also doing the turtle cove excursion

 

[Imacanuck]

Is there anyone who will be leaving st. maarten to go to Anguilla. I have never done this before and would like to here others experiences

 

[son3disfan]

I am still trying to figure out how this posting works and I think I did it wrong. You are from waterdown correct? I am also doing the turtle cove excursion

Yes' we are from Waterdown! Small world!
And yes we also booked the turtle cove excursion...looking forward to meeting you. Do you have any children?

Also, my kids are in the Hamilton Catholic board, so if you worked in Waterdown, you might have worked at their school.

Opps.......edited to add I see you have a son. I have three boys! What club will he be in?

 

[son3disfan]

Well all, I did a DIS board search on where we will be when in St. Thomas, much to my surprise -- we anchor! no WICO dock. Yuck. The great big ships are so big there is no room to dock. Our last stop was in 2010 and that was when we had 4 ships docked at WICO (at Havensight) it was so crowded we really couldn't do what we wanted. Now, we are not even at the dock but we have to tender in. The page listed three ships at WICO. My hubby asked about this yesterday, he must have seen a post. After google searches I searched the DIS about docking at St. Thomas, found an old post with the link to where we will be at. March 14, 2012 Disney Magic anchorage. Tenders are really not fun and it takes forever to get off the ship. So much for the mega ships. I remember the days when the Magic got the prime spot for docking at WICO. No more. Kathy

Here is the website to see where we dock, for those interested....

http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/cruiseship/ship_schedule.php


Yes tentering is not fun.
But hopefully, because we booked an excursion through Disney, we will have no trouble getting off the shop! Usually Disney excursions are the first off.

Also here are the different places to dock in St. Thomas.
We will be tendering into Charlotte Amalie.

St. Thomas
(WICO) - West Indian Company Dock
(CB) - Crown Bay Dock
(Anchorage) - Charlotte Amalie harbour, passengers are tendered into Charlotte Amalie.

 

[Imacanuck]

Yes' we are from Waterdown! Small world!
And yes we also booked the turtle cove excursion...looking forward to meeting you. Do you have any children?

Also, my kids are in the Hamilton Catholic board, so if you worked in Waterdown, you might have worked at their school.

Opps.......edited to add I see you have a son. I have three boys! What club will he be in?

I have taught in waterdown many times, so there is a great possibility! I am so looking forward to this cruise, I am doing the whole day snorkel/sail to turtle cove then honeymoon beach though

 

[3Goofy's]

I have taught in waterdown many times, so there is a great possibility! I am so looking forward to this cruise, I am doing the whole day snorkel/sail to turtle cove then honeymoon beach though

Well, hi there. I'm not from Waterdown, but we are a couple of hours north of you. My dh is a teacher too. We are doing the full day Turtle Cove and Honeymoon beach. I'm very excited for it and have read wonderful reviews. There was one just today. Let me know if you can't find the thread. Sounds wonderful. How old is your ds?

 

[tecdavidt]

I had time to research more and tendering is not fun, I am speaking from experience, at Grand Caymen we missed the island 2 out of the 3 times we were there. We missed Grenada due to tendering not possible bad seas. I remember St. Martin before the docks were built, that wasn't fun. I also remember our many Disney cruises into St. Thomas when we set sail at 5:00 pm not 3:15 pm. It just bothered me that Disney got bumped from docking at the prime spots. Businesswise I understand. Bigger boats more people more for venders and smaller boats are easier to tender in people but the Magic is still big compared to other Boats, ok not huge to todays standard but Carnival is still using their Fantasy class which is smaller than the Wonder and Magic.

Enough on that. Had we not cancelled last years March cruise we would have docked at Crown Bay. We have docked there before on another line. It is OK.
The last time Disney docked at WICO (Havensight) was Oct. 2011. Every since then they have anchored.

Now, since we will be anchored and tendered into downtown Charlotte Amalie, it may be OK. As I wrote many posts back in this thread, in March 2010 we were at WICO and three HUGE ships were in port with the Magic and the Magic ended up pushed to the end of the WICO dock and frankly, Havensight was so crowded we just couldn't do anything. Paradise Point is something we always do and we just couldn't do it because it was too crowded. Now on that cruise the Magic left earlier than our past Magic cruises.

Going from downtown over to Havensight area, the roads are packed and traffic is nasty when ships are in port. Normally when we are at the WICO dock we avoid downtown so there maybe our advantage, the WICO passengers may stay over at Havensight area. *I remember how empty the area is when no ships are in port, it was so odd to see WICO empty. We stayed there back in 2005? It was when hurricane Wilma went through Ft. Lauderdale and changed our trip.

I did check on the Disney Fantasy and it is scheduled to be docked at WICO most of the time. In off season, the summer for the Caribbean, it will be only the Fantasy and Freedom of the Seas at WICO. Maybe I can talk wonderful DH in trying it for the summer .

At least I know I will have awesome shopping in St. Martin. (You know, I never can spell that island's name!)

It is hard to believe it is almost here! Kathy

 

[kingdomkeeper]

That is cool I'm a supply for the Hamilton catholic, so still have the luxary of extending our travel time. My son and I are taking a train from Niagara Falls to Orlando and flying back!

Hi there, we are from London, Ontario, so not too far from you. We are flying from Toronto the day before the cruise. I didn't know that you could take a train from Niagara Falls to Orlando ,that sounds interesting. How long does that take ? We would be interested in learning more about this.

 

[Imacanuck]

Hi there, we are from London, Ontario, so not too far from you. We are flying from Toronto the day before the cruise. I didn't know that you could take a train from Niagara Falls to Orlando ,that sounds interesting. How long does that take ? We would be interested in learning more about this.

Hello to you!
The train takes 8 hours roughly to manhattan then another 22 ish hours to orlando. so 30-33 hour travelling time which is no different then driving if you factor in stopping overnight in a hotel. It is supposed to be beautiful scenery, they have a dinner car as well as an entertainment car that shows movies, has board games, it will be nice because you can walk around etc and the serve beer! something you can't do unless you are flying. One way for my son and myself the cost was only $200 for my son and I. The stopover in manhattan is 3 hours so I will be taking my son to timesqaure toys r us to kill time!

 

[Imacanuck]

Well, hi there. I'm not from Waterdown, but we are a couple of hours north of you. My dh is a teacher too. We are doing the full day Turtle Cove and Honeymoon beach. I'm very excited for it and have read wonderful reviews. There was one just today. Let me know if you can't find the thread. Sounds wonderful. How old is your ds?

Hello to you! I am looking so forward to that excursion. my son is 8 and it is just he and I travelling together. I have been on the magic, I went in 1999 when I worked at EPCOT I had a chance to go before the launch of any others so its nice to bring my son on the same ship. Its nice to see fellow Canadians on this trip!

 

[DundasDad]

Not only are there a lot of Canucks in our group - many of us are in the same area. We live in Dundas ...

 

[Imacanuck]

We also booked this cruise! We walked off the Magic on Saturday, March 26 and as DD and I walked through the doorway, I said "Well, 50 weeks 'til we're back!"

This will be our third cruise - one eastern, one western. We loved the eastern itinerary, especially those luxurious sea days. I'll post a bit later on about our excursions, in case anyone is interested in the snorkelling options off St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

We travelled with a great group of Dis-ers this past voyage, including Dundasdad (and of course, dundasmom and dundaskids!). Can't wait to see you guys again! PM me if you're ever down at this end of the QEW.

And finally, I'm volunteering to coordinate and maintain the FE list for all those who are interested. I can start it right here on Page 2:

DISmeet 3 p.m. March 10 in the Promenade Lounge

ROLL CALL

Long Gone: DH, DW, DS 12, DD 10, DS 7, DD 5, DMIL, DSIS
3Goofys: DW, DH, DS 10
Chernabog
DundasDad: DH, DW, DS, DD
papertraveller: DW, DH, DD 12
son3disfan: DW, DH, DS 15, DS 13, DS 11
wdwluvin: DW, DH, DS 12
TCDrummer94
reyna
aubiegal DH, DW, DS, DM
schwenksvillemouse DH, DW, DS10, DD 6
Disney's Fan DH, DW, DS17, DS15
sgpmaxx66 DW, DS8
willoughbyclan DW, DH, DD 18, DD 16, DD 14, DD11
tecdavidt DW, DH, DD tbc
minnieme1 DH DW DD7
minki1977 6 people, details to come
lgierling - DH, DW, DD10, DD7
starseeker1221 - 2 people
MammaC - DW DH DD4
Polarone -DH DW DD 15 DS 9
travelstudio - DM DD 13 DD 8
tammylwood - DW DS 21 DSGF 21 DD 17 3/4
mtambrino - DH DW DD 5 DS 18 months DGM
kingdomkeeper - DH DW DS17 DS 18
sauterelledesiles - DH DW DS 11 DS 9 DS 5 (birthday on the cruise)
KBennett - DH DW DD 12 DD 11 DD 8
barnettcrew - DH DW DS 16 DD 14
MsGrandma - DGM DGD 9
collectoraholic - DH DW DD 16 DD 9
janette311 DW DH DS4

FISH EXTENDER PARTICIPANTS

DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 10, 2012 Please PM Me with your Details!

papertraveller - DW, DH, DD (12 when we cruise)
dundasdad - DH, DW, DS (11), DD (9)
3Goofy's - DW, DH, DS (10)
aubiegal DH, DW, DS, DM
Disney's Fan DH, DW, DS17, DS15
sgpmaxx66 DW, DS8
willoughbyclan DW, DH, DD 18, DD 16, DD 14, DD11
minnieme1 DH DW DD7
minki1977 6 people, details to come
lgierling - DH, DW, DD10, DD7
starseeker1221 - 2 people
MammaC - DW DH DD4
travelstudio - DM DD 13 DD 8
mtambrino - DH DW DD 5 DS 18 months DGM
sauterelledesiles - DH DW DS 11 DS 9 DS 5 (turning 6 on the cruise)
KBennett - DH DW DD 12 DD 11 DD 8
barnettcrew - DH DW DS 16 DD 14
MsGrandma - DGM DGD 9
janette311 DW DH DS4

will you please add me to your roll call. I am travelling with myself and DS 8