March 10, 2012 - Eastern on the Magic

[son3disfan]

Thought I'd throw out some discussion on excursions. We did the French side beach trip last Fall on St. Maarten. Will probably do this again as the kids loved it. The beach was nice, and the food was surprisely good for a beach side grill. The only negative was the beach chairs were really crammed together. Hardly any room to move, but we spent most of the time in the water anyway.

Our St. Thomas excursion was cancelled due to weather. We were supposed to do Magen's Bay Beach. We'll probably look to do that again.

I think this go around we'll probably just hang on the beach at CC.

I think we might book Bernards tour in St. Martin. I like the idea of someone taking us to several different beaches and the kids really want to see Maho beach ( planes). He is very highly rated.


We are booking a Disney excursion in St. Thomas. Doubloon to Turtle island.
We have $600 stateroom credit that will cover tips and an excursion...and my son LOVES turtles. To swim with them would be amazing ! Sounds like a plan!

We just booked our flights today too. Jetblue.
Not the best fare, ($319 roundtrip / nonstop flights....all taxes in.)it was the times we needed and I really couldn't risk it. The fares have gone up $40 a ticket since this morning.
And I don't mind paying a little extra for Jetlue. Airtran changed our flights so many times last year , I thought we would never have a time! And then the nonstop flight that we booked suddenly disappeared....brutal. Never again.

 

[son3disfan]

I forgot to post the link for Benares tour...in case anyone else is interested.
http://www.bernardstours.com/

Trip advisor has some great reviews too....

Happy planning!

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

I think we might book Bernards tour in St. Martin. I like the idea of someone taking us to several different beaches and the kids really want to see Maho beach ( planes). He is very highly rated.


We are booking a Disney excursion in St. Thomas. Doubloon to Turtle island.
We have $600 stateroom credit that will cover tips and an excursion...and my son LOVES turtles. To swim with them would be amazing ! Sounds like a plan!

We just booked our flights today too. Jetblue.
Not the best fare, ($319 roundtrip / nonstop flights....all taxes in.)it was the times we needed and I really couldn't risk it. The fares have gone up $40 a ticket since this morning.
And I don't mind paying a little extra for Jetlue. Airtran changed our flights so many times last year , I thought we would never have a time! And then the nonstop flight that we booked suddenly disappeared....brutal. Never again.

The Doubloon to Turtle Island does sound fun. How old is your son? My son will be ten when we take this cruise. He would like this. My daughter will only be six, and I don't know if she would like the snorkel part, but would probably like the turtles. Have you done this, or know anyone that has?

I have read great things about Bernard's tours too. Thought about it when we did this cruise last fall. Don't think you can go wrong there.

As far as airfare goes I'm waiting for Southwest to open their schedule up on 7/26 out to 3/9 which is the Friday we will fly down. I'll at least purchase our trip down then, and wait for the return trip later.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

Yes, we did excursions in each port. Our first stop was Tortola, and we did an Island tour/ beach break through Disney. Very well done and glad we booked through Disney.

For St. Thomas, we did the sky tram which was Awesome! Highly recommend it. We brought my 70 year old mother in law with us on this cruise, so we were limited to non-physical excursions.

The sky tram was $18.00 a person, you can walk to it from the ship, and it takes you up to the top of the mountain where the views are OUTSTANDING!
there is a really cute, free bird show( tips are recommended) as well as a bar/ restaurant as well as some vendors.

Also, St. Thomas has the cheapest price for alcohol that we have experience in any of the ports we have visited. It's the local Kmart. Yes, Kmart. Just folllow all the crew members , and you will find it. Again walking distance from the ship, or a short cab ride.
We bought 6 bottles and carried them right on the ship. Kmart had special boxes ready to go or cruise passengers.

At Castaway Cay, we always rent the jet skis. They are more expensive here, but it's a great tour and so much fun!

This year, I think we might just rent bikes and tour the whole island. There is much to see.

Hope that helps.
For St. Thomas this year, I think we are going to hit the beaches. Maybe on our own. Take a cab.

What is everyone looking at doing in St. Martean? The beaches are making me a bit nervous, seeing as there might be some nudity.....
I do have three boys
They would be scared!

Just saw your older post about St. Maartan's beaches. We did the Oreint Bay beach trip last fall and saw one older lady walk by topless and the guy in a bathing suit that was way to small if you know what I mean. It really wasn't too bad. My son did catch a glimse of the woman, but he was distracted by playing in the waves mostly.

 

[son3disfan]

The Doubloon to Turtle Island does sound fun. How old is your son? My son will be ten when we take this cruise. He would like this. My daughter will only be six, and I don't know if she would like the snorkel part, but would probably like the turtles. Have you done this, or know anyone that has?

I have read great things about Bernard's tours too. Thought about it when we did this cruise last fall. Don't think you can go wrong there.

As far as airfare goes I'm waiting for Southwest to open their schedule up on 7/26 out to 3/9 which is the Friday we will fly down. I'll at least purchase our trip down then, and wait for the return trip later.

Hi there!
I have three boys. My turtle lover is 10 also. He turns 11 by the time we cruise. He is so excited.....
Yes we had friends that raved about This tour. They act like pirates and really are amazing with kids, especially if they are afraid to get in the water. If you read the sticky at the top, there is review from a mom with a daughter( or was it a son?) who didn't want to go in.......Pretty funny!
Here is the link

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1303002




There are 2 excursions for this dubloon sail / turtle island ....one all day that takes you to a beach and lunch is served, but we are going to do just the snorkeling. I want to take the tram on the island too.
Let me know if you are interested in Bernards ....maybe we could plan a group tour. We did that in Puerto Vallarta with fellow disers last march and it worked out great!there were 28 of us, all together.( same sort of family values, you know....looking out for the kids, but still having fun... ) . We were on a tour in Cabo with some 20 something guys ready to Paaaaaarrrty! Not what we were hoping for, but we still had fun.
The bus was an experience for sure.

Anyway, I extend the invitation to anyone who is interested.
His tour is $40 a person, maybe a better rate for a group.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

Hi there!
I have three boys. My turtle lover is 10 also. He turns 11 by the time we cruise. He is so excited.....
Yes we had friends that raved about This tour. They act like pirates and really are amazing with kids, especially if they are afraid to get in the water. If you read the sticky at the top, there is review from a mom with a daughter( or was it a son?) who didn't want to go in.......Pretty funny!
Here is the link

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1303002




There are 2 excursions for this dubloon sail / turtle island ....one all day that takes you to a beach and lunch is served, but we are going to do just the snorkeling. I want to take the tram on the island too.
Let me know if you are interested in Bernards ....maybe we could plan a group tour. We did that in Puerto Vallarta with fellow disers last march and it worked out great!there were 28 of us, all together.( same sort of family values, you know....looking out for the kids, but still having fun... ) . We were on a tour in Cabo with some 20 something guys ready to Paaaaaarrrty! Not what we were hoping for, but we still had fun.
The bus was an experience for sure.

Anyway, I extend the invitation to anyone who is interested.
His tour is $40 a person, maybe a better rate for a group.

Our sons are close in age which is great. Right now I'm leaning towards a beach day or sail and beach day. I saw a post today about Random Wind Boat Cruises which is an excursion you'd have to book on your own. I looked it up on Trip Advisor and the reviews are great. If you google Random Winds you'll find the website. It's all day and it looks fun.

Too many choices right now, but I got to start narrowing it down.

 

[papertraveller]

I booked this cruise for DS (8yo) and I last week!! This will be our second Disney Cruise. Our first was a 3 night on the Wonder. We had a blast but we didn't get to do as much on the ship as I would have liked. The cruise will be during DS's spring break. We can't wait!!1

Welcome! I have added you to the roll call and the FE list on page 2. I guessed, and put you down as "DW". Lemme know if that's wrong!

Thank you, and yes I want to be in the FE exchange!

Consider it done!

 

[papertraveller]

Do you use the DVC points for your cruises?

Hi,

We used points to cover the two adult tickets for our first cruise -- we got bonus points when we signed up and they were more than we were able to use right away. Plus I'd been nagging DH for ages about wanting to do a cruise, so this made it possible. The truth is, they say it's a bad use of points and they're right. It costs far too much in points to cruise, but of course if you're in a position where it's use 'em or lose 'em, the equation differs.

The best part, however, was that by taking that first cruise DH became a total convert. He loves it, and tells everyone who asks (and often those who don't) just how great the experience is.

I must confess that I'm getting a bit parsimonious about the cruise prices now too, however. On a whim I booked us on an eight-day out of NYC for next summer, but the more I look at the prices and figure out what else we could do for the money, I'm inclined to cancel and put the money towards this cruise. (We don't do this high-end, by the way -- we're strictly porthole people, and in fact this cruise will be our third in the very same room!!!)

 

[papertraveller]

Just wanted to tell you all about the excursions we took on the Eastern in 2010. We hadn't been south during March break for awhile, and my view was that if we were going to be in the Caribbean, I wanted to be IN the Caribbean.

We had never snorkeled before, and are lucky that DD (then 9) is a pretty good swimmer. In St. Maarten, we took the Golden Eagle catamaran tour (booked through Disney). It advertises that you go to the French side of the island, but we couldn't tell. The ride was nice under sail (and power), and the views of the island were pretty, though all the hillsides were developed with lovely villas, etc. We pulled into a cove at a beach that was already well-populated with European tourists, and took steps down into the water, and snorkeled around a bit. There was nothing special about the location, and in fact DD ended up on the beach with a friend playing. Then it was time to return, under power this time. We had a bit of time to browse the shops.

There are high-end retailers in a mall there (Coach was crazy prices, for example, especially compared with the outlet malls in Orlando or elsewhere). DH had a local beer -- I think that's pretty much a must everywhere you go! We found a t-shirt place where he picked up a cool shirt for the pirate party, and then we bought a bottle of wine and meandered back to the ship.

On St. Thomas, the experience was a bit more interesting for us. We booked a Disney snorkeling excursion to Buck's Island (on a fast RIB boat). The snorkeling was good, although the current was stiff and DD had a bit of trouble with it. DH ended up in a great spot closer to the island where he saw tons of fish. After about 40 minutes in the water we were off to the turtle cove.

When we arrived, there were at least five boats already there, with the accompanying load of snorkelers. It was pretty funny to see so many bodies in the water. The turtles were amazing. Our guide said to think of them as sea cows. They are constantly grazing, sinking down to the seabed about 18 feet down, and then rising up whenever they needed air. You would see them rising up among people everywhere -- they are clearly accustomed to having people floating around above them. We were here for around 30 minutes, and got some cool shots on our cheapo underwater Kodaks. DD was cold by this time, and crawled back onboard early to warm up in the sun. Then it was back to port, where we had a nice time browsing the many, many shops, quaffing the obligatory local brew and wandering back to the ship.

Next time? I'm thinking maybe just the beach in St. Maarten, though the Bernard's tour looks appealing. And in St. Thomas, I have this itch to see a bit more and maybe take an excursion over to St. John. There's a DISer whose adventures I follow on these boards who takes an annual trip to St. John, and I'm starting to chat up my friends, neighbours and relatives to see if we can gather a group of people to rent one of the amazing villas over there. I figure we need to check it out in advance, of course!!

Cheers to all -- if you're in this summer heat wave, hope you're staying cool!

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

Hello all. I'm really thinking of booking Random Wind for an excursion on St. Maartin. It's not a Disney excursion. I read some great reviews on Trip Advisor. I've been mailing with the owner a bit this week. She states it is a 20 minute cab ride from the port. The boat leaves around 9am and returns around 3:30 pm. She also said she'll call a cab ahead of time and have it waiting for us to return the ship. It is a bit expensive. For a family of four it would be $345 without tip.

 

[son3disfan]

Just wanted to tell you all about the excursions we took on the Eastern in 2010. We hadn't been south during March break for awhile, and my view was that if we were going to be in the Caribbean, I wanted to be IN the Caribbean.

We had never snorkeled before, and are lucky that DD (then 9) is a pretty good swimmer. In St. Maarten, we took the Golden Eagle catamaran tour (booked through Disney). It advertises that you go to the French side of the island, but we couldn't tell. The ride was nice under sail (and power), and the views of the island were pretty, though all the hillsides were developed with lovely villas, etc. We pulled into a cove at a beach that was already well-populated with European tourists, and took steps down into the water, and snorkeled around a bit. There was nothing special about the location, and in fact DD ended up on the beach with a friend playing. Then it was time to return, under power this time. We had a bit of time to browse the shops.

There are high-end retailers in a mall there (Coach was crazy prices, for example, especially compared with the outlet malls in Orlando or elsewhere). DH had a local beer -- I think that's pretty much a must everywhere you go! We found a t-shirt place where he picked up a cool shirt for the pirate party, and then we bought a bottle of wine and meandered back to the ship.

On St. Thomas, the experience was a bit more interesting for us. We booked a Disney snorkeling excursion to Buck's Island (on a fast RIB boat). The snorkeling was good, although the current was stiff and DD had a bit of trouble with it. DH ended up in a great spot closer to the island where he saw tons of fish. After about 40 minutes in the water we were off to the turtle cove.

When we arrived, there were at least five boats already there, with the accompanying load of snorkelers. It was pretty funny to see so many bodies in the water. The turtles were amazing. Our guide said to think of them as sea cows. They are constantly grazing, sinking down to the seabed about 18 feet down, and then rising up whenever they needed air. You would see them rising up among people everywhere -- they are clearly accustomed to having people floating around above them. We were here for around 30 minutes, and got some cool shots on our cheapo underwater Kodaks. DD was cold by this time, and crawled back onboard early to warm up in the sun. Then it was back to port, where we had a nice time browsing the many, many shops, quaffing the obligatory local brew and wandering back to the ship.

Next time? I'm thinking maybe just the beach in St. Maarten, though the Bernard's tour looks appealing. And in St. Thomas, I have this itch to see a bit more and maybe take an excursion over to St. John. There's a DISer whose adventures I follow on these boards who takes an annual trip to St. John, and I'm starting to chat up my friends, neighbours and relatives to see if we can gather a group of people to rent one of the amazing villas over there. I figure we need to check it out in advance, of course!!

Cheers to all -- if you're in this summer heat wave, hope you're staying cool!

FYI.... I just booked Bernards for our party of 6.
No deposit required, in case anyone else is thinking about booking too.


Does everyone know there are 8 other ships I port when we are there?
Just saying......things might get booked up, and man, will it be crowded!

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

There were six ships in port last Nov when we were in St. Thomas. Downtown was crazy busy. The weather was bad that day and plenty of excursions were cancelled so I'm sure that fed the busy downtown area. I'd really like to do Magen's Bay Beach, but it may be just too crowded with eight ships in port. I'm leaning now towards the St. John's catamaran boat cruise.

 

[papertraveller]

I think we're also leaning very much to the St. John's excursion. I'd really like to see that whole area.

 

[3Goofy's]

DH desperately wants to do the 12m regatta in St. Martin. It's a big dream of his. I'm torn if I'll do it with him and leave ds on the ship (can't see that happening), or if ds and I will opt for something else. If we book directly with the 12m guys, I might be able to get ds on the boat (he's too young through Disney). We'll see.

I'm also leaning towards the Turtle excursion in St.Thomas. We just got back from a Cape Cod vacation so I had ds practicing his snorkelling. It didn't go so well last time at CC - but he claimed to be just too cold, which it was. We'll see.

Lots to start thinking about.

No flight booked yet, but watching nearly everyday (and having heart palpitations watching them rise!). I'm hoping that once SW releases their new dates we'll lock into them.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

We booked our flight down to Orlando for the cruise when Southwest opened up last week. They were sneaky. They stated 7/26 on their website, but actually opened up a day early. We got four tickets from Philly to Orlando for $500.00. I think in September they open up for the return leg.

 

[son3disfan]

Ok....it's official

I have everything booked.

Yes, I am a nut, but I usually save a lot by booking early. And I did!

Got a great rate at a pre cruise hotel, rental van, and hotel and van after the cruise. we are staying at the Swan ( because we need big suite or two rooms ) this time post cruise!

Also booked Jet blue roundtrip when they first released their flights. Not the best price, ( $159 there, and $ 139 home...direct flights at the perfect times we needed.)
Working for the school board, we are not allowed Friday or Monday off, so it had to be a late Friday night flight. And we
wanted one day in Disney, so a late Sunday night flight home. We have always flown on a Tuesday/ Wednesday....and have paid a lot less.( when I was a supply!) So I think we did ok this time for peak times, not great but it's done!

Now to save up for a cabana at Castaway!

Anyone else going to try to book one?

 

[papertraveller]

We got some cruise materials this week!

We're just waiting til this weekend to make a seven-month booking with DVC for a few days at WDW before the cruise. We had a vote on the weekend, and it looks like we're going to try staying at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. We've never been there before, and it looks like it will be fun. I love the idea of taking the boat to Magic Kingdom.

We will be driving to the port on cruise day, leaving early as we will want to hit a store on the way to pick up some wine and snacks. We usually take some small bags of SmartFood popcorn to snack on during the shows.

But first, it's off to WDW at the end of the month. Can't wait!

 

[son3disfan]

We got some cruise materials this week!

We're just waiting til this weekend to make a seven-month booking with DVC for a few days at WDW before the cruise. We had a vote on the weekend, and it looks like we're going to try staying at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. We've never been there before, and it looks like it will be fun. I love the idea of taking the boat to Magic Kingdom.

We will be driving to the port on cruise day, leaving early as we will want to hit a store on the way to pick up some wine and snacks. We usually take some small bags of SmartFood popcorn to snack on during the shows.

But first, it's off to WDW at the end of the month. Can't wait!

Lucky you!
Have a great end of summer trip!

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

We got some cruise materials this week!

We're just waiting til this weekend to make a seven-month booking with DVC for a few days at WDW before the cruise. We had a vote on the weekend, and it looks like we're going to try staying at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. We've never been there before, and it looks like it will be fun. I love the idea of taking the boat to Magic Kingdom.

We will be driving to the port on cruise day, leaving early as we will want to hit a store on the way to pick up some wine and snacks. We usually take some small bags of SmartFood popcorn to snack on during the shows.

But first, it's off to WDW at the end of the month. Can't wait!

You will love WL. Have you been following the port time opening thread recently? The port now won't open the garage until 11am. Disney is also not allowing anyone to check luggage or check in outside to enter security until 11am. This all started yesterday.

For our first cruise we showed up at 9:30 and were very early in line to check in and tried for an upgrade to a suite, but nothing was available. This go around I think I'm going to arrive at the port around 11:30am and hopefully not have to wait for anything.

 

[tecdavidt]

Add us to the list of cruisers. We were suppose to be on this cruise this past March but DH was not in the mood. We have been on a DCL cruise every year since 1999. I guess he needed a break. We ended up a Kidani Village and split the stay at our second home in Champions Gate (10 min. southwest of Disney). We now are missing our ocean time. It was March 2010 when I last got to have some sea time and beach time.

It will be me, my husband and daughter who is 19. This is her first year with no teen club. She is looking forward to spending time on the beach, at the adult pool area and at Serenity Bay.

I promised DH no jewelry shopping in St. Martin and a full beach day. It will be nice and relaxing.

At St. Thomas I hope we don't have what happened back 2010. We had two of the super large cruise ships, the ones that make the Magic look tiny, pull into port. Havensight was packed. We couldn't do our tradition of riding the skyride up on top of the hill overlooking the cruise docks. There was a line wrapped around the building. As our daughter told us, "by the time we get up there a whole hour could be wasted in line then it will be packed because there is no time limit on how long people can stay. We might as well go back to the ship." We did and it was a disappointment. The Magic was also at the end on the dock, when we were use to docking in the front position or middle but we were docked in the very back so a l o n g walk back to the ship. That probably was what turned me off of cruising again in March 2011. In my opinion, the ports just can't handle that many people when the ships are the super size ships.

We were lucky that our TA didn't cancel as DH told her, she asked DCL if we could move it to 2012 and was told yes. When she told DH he said go ahead, and of course we had to pay a bit more but not much. We even are suppose to be in the same midship cat. 3 that we were suppose to have in 2011. (Although I know it isn't called a cat. 3 now.)

I just spent last night looking at all of the photos posted on a thread about "post your cruise photos here". Really made me miss the ship. We call the Magic, home sweet Magic. We never have been on the Wonder. I am looking forward to March 2012.

I also checked online to see what is still available for our cruise. I was shocked that the 1 bedroom suites are still available. That has to be because of the Dream being added to DCL. By now, the 1 bedroom suites are usually gone. Just a heads up if anybody wants a 1 bedroom suite.

Kathy