March 15, 2015 MAGIC Cruise!! :)

[3Goofy's]

Oh and we decided to bite the bullet and stay at the airport Hyatt the night we get in! I am really excited! Technically they say they allow five a room, but our youngest DD who is three can sleep with us in the king, so we should have plenty of room. Its more than where we were going to stay for sure, but we decided the convenience of not having to haul our stuff on a hotel shuttle and back was worth it. Plus I always thought it might be cool to stay there. Anyone else?

Dh always wants to stay there, but we always rent a car and squeeze some fun in, so there is no reason for us to stay at mco. Very exciting atmosphere, especially on arrival! You will have so much fun!

We are going to Aquatica on the Saturday pre-cruise, and will drive to Port Canaveral that evening. Where do people like to stay near port?

I felt I needed a bit of relaxing last night and went to read the port excursions - for the hundredth time. Well, some of my top choices were gone! They aren't offered anymore! Bummer! I feel like I'm starting all over again and it is overwhelming. I can't quite find the right excursions.

Papertraveller, did you say you did some wicked fast boat ride and then fabulous beach in Cozumel? The Twister-thing? I'll have to read back.

Has anyone else firmly decided upon excursions?

It's going to be almost freezing here in the next few days. Must bring in the pumpkins so I can clean them out tonight without freezing my hands.
Happy Halloween everyone!

 

[Disneyfamilyoffive]

Good Evening, We will be traveling on the Magic for the first time. This will be our fourth cruise. First one on the Wonder. The other two have been on the Dream. Looking forward to cruising for along time frame. First for 7 night as well as a western Caribbean. We have never been a part of fish extenders. How does it work?

Thank you in advance

 

[papertraveller]

Dh always wants to stay there, but we always rent a car and squeeze some fun in, so there is no reason for us to stay at mco. Very exciting atmosphere, especially on arrival! You will have so much fun!

Papertraveller, did you say you did some wicked fast boat ride and then fabulous beach in Cozumel? The Twister-thing? I'll have to read back.

We stayed at MCO once, though not before a cruise. We arrived at around midnight, so didn't want the hassle of getting to Disney. We really liked the hotel, and in fact wished we had a bit more time to enjoy it. There was plenty of room in the room that we had, as I recall. There is always (amazingly) no noise from the aircraft outside.

Good Evening, We will be traveling on the Magic for the first time. This will be our fourth cruise. First one on the Wonder. The other two have been on the Dream. Looking forward to cruising for along time frame. First for 7 night as well as a western Caribbean. We have never been a part of fish extenders. How does it work?

Thank you in advance

Welcome to our growing and enthusiastic crew!

There are lots of Fish Extender threads throughout the cruise board, but simply put, it's a Secret Santa group. All participants agree to bring a gift for the others -- it can be a single gift for everyone in the stateroom, or it could be a gift for the adults and separate ones for the kids, or whatever. It's fun! The kids love it, especially. They get very excited to see what's waiting for them at their stateroom.

The actual "Fish Extender" is the contraption you hang outside your room. Ours is a panel that I made with two pockets below -- one for the grown-ups, and the other for the kid. I used Mickey fabric and found an appliqué to iron on as well. I made another one for WylieGrin in a Tinkerbell theme, just to get them into the mood for the cruise!

We have completed the first group of participants, but if you're interested you can be the first family in the second! The groups are capped at 12 people. I'm sure we'll get more, but in case we don't get a lot for another group, I know that I would join the second group too!

 

[papertraveller]

Oops -- forgot to reply about Cozumel. We did a fast boat ride and snorkel in St. Thomas, not Cozumel.

In Cozumel we did the Fury Catamaran, which was extremely well run. We're considering it again. There is a short time for snorkelling not too far from where the ships dock, but we saw a lot of fish and they took some amazing underwater photos of the family.

Then we went under power to a nearby beach where the kids played on tethered inflatables that were not too far offshore, while we lay on beach chairs and had a couple adult beverages. The trip back was under sail with the tunes blaring and dancing on the deck.

It took half the day, so there was a bit of time to wander the streets of the town.

 

[kuhltiffany]

Nice to see some chatter happening here! I went ahead and PIF early so I wouldn't have to worry about it with Christmas. Flights are booked, just working on hotels now. We're heading straight to Universal for 3 days after (staying at Hard Rock for 2 nights), then to my parents who have a house in Brooksville.

Got my FE cabin-gift supplies (thanks to Ebay and Etsy), now can organize the rest of the goodies since we know everyone's info!

Here's hoping the next few months fly by

 

[Madzac]

We are PIF too, glad to have it taken care of. I have been researching excursions as well. I know we want to do a dolphin encounter, so am trying to decide between Cozumel or Grand Cayman for that. Cozumel has the Chank park access which sounds cool, but Grand Cayman has the turtle farm. If we dont do dolphins in Cozumel we will probably go to Playa Mia. That is at the top of the list for my three older kids. I cant really find anything else that is grabbing me in Grand Cayman since my little one is too small for the stingrays and I think would be afraid anyway, so we will probably do the dolphins there. I want one beach day since I am worried the water at CC may be too chilly to swim?

Welcome Disneyfamilyoffive! We did FE on our last cruise and the kids loved coming back to see what we got. I am not terribly crafty so I ordered my fish extender on etsy and put together a variety of stuff for gifts. I havent decided what I will do this time around yet, but need to start thinking!

Kuhltiffany- how awesome universal! I love disney but really am anxious to see the harry potter stuff one of these days. Waiting for my youngest to get a little taller!

Ok this is a bit off topic... sort of... but I do a monthly countdown night for our cruise. Our next night in November we will be doing the movie Malificent. I havent seen the movie yet, so I am having trouble coming up with a themed meal. Any ideas anyone?

 

[lltthatsme]

In Malificent a main plot point is about her wings. It is also a castle setting. What about a medieval chicken wing sort of theme?

We did a count down last year from Christmas (when I gave the gift) to our cruise. It was 10 weeks so for 10 Saturdays we had a disney movie - I didn't do a theme dinner for all, but it was fun.

 

[Madzac]

What a GREAT idea! Thank you!

 

[papertraveller]

Great idea! We have not yet seen Maleficent, but I saw the disc on sale at Target and am thinking about getting it for DD for her birthday. She's gonna be 15, but she's a Disney kid through-and-through!

 

[3Goofy's]

Loved Malificient!!! A 15 yo will love it too!

A medieval chicken wing night is a great idea for Malificient!

Welcome DisneyFamilyoffive. I hope you get to participate a FE because it is a lot of fun. I'm sure there will be another group starting soon. Usually around Christmas, cruisers start connecting.

 

[papertraveller]

It's -2 C this morning (though sunny!). The thermometer says it feels like -6. There is frost on the grass, the leaves on the trees are dropping steadily, and the water in the bird bath is frozen. I have had to dig through the boxes of hats, scarves and gloves so everyone is ready for the day.

I keep trying to modify "The cold never bothered me anyway". Because it does!

I'll sit here with hot tea and dream of the Caribbean!

 

[papertraveller]

Just saw on another thread that there will not be a character breakfast -- too bad.

Learned also that we will need to check the Port Navigator thoroughly before boarding. I believe my niece will definitely want tickets to the princess gathering, while the adults will want mixology or a wine tasting lesson or two! Past cruisers have said the former can be picked up at Port Excursions, and the latter at the Promenade Lounge.

I'm also looking forward to trying out the SmartPhone app instead of the Wave phones. As I understand it, we'll be able to text onboard using our own devices. Just as well, since DD has had to learn a bizarre variation of English in order to decipher my texts using those old phones!

 

[3Goofy's]

LOL! Yes, those wave phones were made to ensure parents stayed sober enough to contact their family! I hope the new app works on an iPod as ds doesn't have a good cellphone yet.

We had snow flurries all through Halloween night and woke up to slushy wet stuff on Saturday! Yuck!

Does anyone have a recommendation for a hotel near the port?

 

[Madzac]

Oh papertraveller, that is some cold weather already! Ugh!

I am bummed to hear no character breakfast. My kids were looking forward to that. We will definitely be keeping an eye on any tickets we need to pick up. I know princesses, frozen people and the disney jr will all be priorities for my little one. She is SO excited that Doc McStuffins has been on board lately.

I dont have any port hotels real close to recommend. Our cruise in June we stayed at the Radisson in Melbourne. It was absolutely beautiful and we loved it. But it was a good 25 min drive.

Got my FE plans in place and going! Getting excited!

 

[papertraveller]

Four months to go!

I need to make that final payment so that we can book some port excursions at the end of the month! We've never had any booking problems in the past, but it'll be nice to have a perk for being Gold!

 

[Madzac]

4 months indeed!!! We are getting closer to check in dates! Do we have any platinum cruisers here that checked in today? One more month for us!!!

We had our Malificent night tonight. LOVED the movie! Way more than I expected! And the wings and "fairy wands" aka breadsticks were perfect! Thanks again for the idea litthatsme!!!

How is everyone!? Please check in when you can!!! We are having our first measurable snow of the year already tonight! I am so not ready for this!

 

[Nike4000]

We have completed the first group of participants, but if you're interested you can be the first family in the second! The groups are capped at 12 people. I'm sure we'll get more, but in case we don't get a lot for another group, I know that I would join the second group too!

Do you have the list for the first group available? We're going to spend some time over the Thanksgiving break working on our FE gifts. Knowing ages would be a huge help!

I'm also looking forward to trying out the SmartPhone app instead of the Wave phones. As I understand it, we'll be able to text onboard using our own devices. Just as well, since DD has had to learn a bizarre variation of English in order to decipher my texts using those old phones!

What app? Did Disney update their app to now allow communication while onboard? Why didn't someone tell me?

Papertraveller, did you say you did some wicked fast boat ride and then fabulous beach in Cozumel? The Twister-thing? I'll have to read back.

We did the Isla de Pasion excursion last year. You can read my summary of our most recent Western Caribbean excursions HERE (sorry, don't know how to link directly to the post). In short, we LOVED the Twister Boat & Beach trip. It was awesome.

 

[papertraveller]

Hi,

The list for the first FE group is on the first page of this thread. Ages of the kids are in parenthesis. I confess that I also have started organizing my gifts!

Hope this helps!

 

[Nike4000]

The list for the first FE group is on the first page of this thread.

THANK YOU! I looked past it about 5 times before my last post. If it were a snake it would have bit me! We cannot wait to get on board and enjoy the fun.

 

[CraftyEmily]

The list for the first FE group is on the first page of this thread. Ages of the kids are in parenthesis. I confess that I also have started organizing my gifts!


_____________SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!_____________________