March 26, 2011 - Eastern Caribbean Magic and FE Exchange!

[jcarwash]

I booked our DISmoms trips on the Dream for next May but honestly, I don't know if I'll like it as much as the Magic. Jeff is VERY sold on the Magic and keeps saying, "We'll never see the Magic again" because of all the rumors that she is going to New York (announcement to be made tomorrow!!!!) once the Fantasy comes out. So the Dream will do 3, 4, and 5 nights out of PC and the Fantasy will do Eastern and Western 7 night trips out of PC. We are talking about a 5 night double dip next time, but again, wish it was the Magic - the Dream just seems too big?

I agree - I'm sure the new ships are great but we thought the Magic was gorgeous. It'll always be "our ship."

 

[onetothenuts]

Back just one day at school and I have already called in sick. I am so tired from that trip. We really had a great time on the trip but in different ways than we expected. We really don't know what would have happened on this trip if we were not paired up at meals with another family from the Chicago area. Our sons latched on to each other and we were free. Free to search for them at 1:00 AM as they wandered the ship. I took over 1200 picture on this trip and just don't know what I am gonna do with them. We booked onboard like many other for another go around. this time the 5 night on the Dream. We felt like we let ourselves down with Castaway Cay and need to make up for that. My sons now expect multiple courses to their dinners, which is not good. It was nice to meet some of you on the trip and hope that you all made it home safely.

In addition I put up a rather wordy Trip Report up from my point of view.

 

[jac1976]

Yeah, we are home sick today as well. I can't tell if DS is really sick, or if he is just tired, but I caved and let him stay home.

I won't go on the Dream just yet b/c for me, a 5 night cruise just isn't long enough. I am pumped about the Magic sailing out of NYC. (Our server told us on the trip and I almost kissed him for it!) I'm hoping to do another cruise on her, and going out of NYC means no airfare for us which makes it a lot less expensive. But, I will admit, I'm a weird one. I really don't care about the ports of call so much. I just like the experience of being on a boat and not having to cook or clean and having all of the activities planned out for me. I love at sea days.

 

[karajeboo]

Yeah, we are home sick today as well. I can't tell if DS is really sick, or if he is just tired, but I caved and let him stay home.

I won't go on the Dream just yet b/c for me, a 5 night cruise just isn't long enough. I am pumped about the Magic sailing out of NYC. (Our server told us on the trip and I almost kissed him for it!) I'm hoping to do another cruise on her, and going out of NYC means no airfare for us which makes it a lot less expensive. But, I will admit, I'm a weird one. I really don't care about the ports of call so much. I just like the experience of being on a boat and not having to cook or clean and having all of the activities planned out for me. I love at sea days.

We feel EXACTLY the same way!!! We are considering a 5 night on the Dream because we really missed a lot of CC since it rained..... But Jeff wants to do the TransAtalantic!!! Not sure if I could handle THAT many days at sea though.....

 

[Ayeegit]

Finally got home last night - we were originally scheduled to fly home early Sunday morning, but as we were walking out of the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday evening, we got a text from Southwest Airlines saying our flight the following day had been cancelled. Not delayed, rescheduled, or postponed - just cancelled. Of course at that point we hadn't heard about the little "problem" one of their flights had had on Friday, but we did eventually get caught up, and that explained a lot. So we were booked back to Denver via San Antonio on Monday - kids missed school and wife and I missed work, but we made the most of our "extra" day of vacation at least.

SeeJayPandP - I didn't see your reply about our dinning question before we left - sorry we couldn't help out there. We wound up keeping the early seating and were very glad we did - worked out well for our family. We had our own table, but I kind of wish we had been seated with another family so we could have gotten to know some other people on the cruise. But we loved our servers so it was all good!

The cruise itself was GREAT - I guess maybe I should write up a TR; have never done that before. But needless to say, we had a great time.

Sorry we missed many of you at the "meet & greet" Saturday afternoon - we got to the lounge about 10 minutes late (went on the 2:30 walking tour of the ship), and only had a chance to meet a few folks by that time. Kara - I was hoping to run into you at some point during the cruise to say "thanks" for all of the work you did on the FE stuff and this thread - I guess my wife Ginger chatted with you at one point, but sorry I didn't get to meet you myself.

The FE was a lot of fun - our girls had a great time checking for new stuff each time we came back to our cabin. Sadly I think we had some "sticky fingered" folks near by, as we didn't get the photo album some of you have mentioned - makes me wonder what else we may have missed. But I think we got most of them, and we enjoyed them all!

We left the Colorado magnetic note pads/pens, and Disney silly bands, glow bracelets and Ring Pops for the kids.

More later, after I get caught up more on this "work" stuff - pfffft!

 

[jcarwash]

I posted the first half of my trip report here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=40609715#post40609715

Here's a preview of one of the photos I'll include in the report...all the FE gifts. Well, except for the very last ones like that giant Hershey bar and photo album -- and all the great magnets that were still on our door.

 

[karajeboo]

Finally got home last night - we were originally scheduled to fly home early Sunday morning, but as we were walking out of the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday evening, we got a text from Southwest Airlines saying our flight the following day had been cancelled. Not delayed, rescheduled, or postponed - just cancelled. Of course at that point we hadn't heard about the little "problem" one of their flights had had on Friday, but we did eventually get caught up, and that explained a lot. So we were booked back to Denver via San Antonio on Monday - kids missed school and wife and I missed work, but we made the most of our "extra" day of vacation at least.

SeeJayPandP - I didn't see your reply about our dinning question before we left - sorry we couldn't help out there. We wound up keeping the early seating and were very glad we did - worked out well for our family. We had our own table, but I kind of wish we had been seated with another family so we could have gotten to know some other people on the cruise. But we loved our servers so it was all good!

The cruise itself was GREAT - I guess maybe I should write up a TR; have never done that before. But needless to say, we had a great time.

Sorry we missed many of you at the "meet & greet" Saturday afternoon - we got to the lounge about 10 minutes late (went on the 2:30 walking tour of the ship), and only had a chance to meet a few folks by that time. Kara - I was hoping to run into you at some point during the cruise to say "thanks" for all of the work you did on the FE stuff and this thread - I guess my wife Ginger chatted with you at one point, but sorry I didn't get to meet you myself.

The FE was a lot of fun - our girls had a great time checking for new stuff each time we came back to our cabin. Sadly I think we had some "sticky fingered" folks near by, as we didn't get the photo album some of you have mentioned - makes me wonder what else we may have missed. But I think we got most of them, and we enjoyed them all!

We left the Colorado magnetic note pads/pens, and Disney silly bands, glow bracelets and Ring Pops for the kids.

More later, after I get caught up more on this "work" stuff - pfffft!

That's rotten if you had some things taken! I was worried about the folks across the hall from us - I kept catching them watching our door, but I think they were just checking out the door magnets and wondering whatever possessed us to put up so many!

I hate to hear that you had flight problems! I'm also a little worried about SWA - I'm flying them next month for the DISmoms trip to WDW and I'm a nervous flyer anyway.....

Work stuff? What's that? Oh, and by the way, when you get home tonight (since you're a couple days delayed from the rest of us) I have a warning for you...... You have to make your own dinner.... AND you have to turn down your own bed. I know! I know! Don't shoot the mesenger! It stinks for all of us....

I posted the first half of my trip report here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=40609715#post40609715

Here's a preview of one of the photos I'll include in the report...all the FE gifts (well, except for the very last ones like that giant Hershey bar and photo album).

I'm heading over to your TR now Craig! I love that photo - that really says a lot about all the great FE gifts. I know I looked forward to it as much as Ally did, but it may have contributed to that 3 lb weight gain!!!

 

[KristiMc]

Ok - I am loving the trip reports - so I started one of my own.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=40611931#post40611931

 

[jac1976]

We feel EXACTLY the same way!!! We are considering a 5 night on the Dream because we really missed a lot of CC since it rained..... But Jeff wants to do the TransAtalantic!!! Not sure if I could handle THAT many days at sea though.....

We did a transatlantic on Cunard in 2007 (DS was 23 months) and we had a blast! However, we had great weather. I was told that the sailing before us was rough- most people never even made it to the dining rooms for meals.

The FE was a lot of fun - our girls had a great time checking for new stuff each time we came back to our cabin. Sadly I think we had some "sticky fingered" folks near by, as we didn't get the photo album some of you have mentioned - makes me wonder what else we may have missed. But I think we got most of them, and we enjoyed them all!

I have extra albums. PM me your address and I'll pop one in the mail!

 

[karajeboo]

We did a transatlantic on Cunard in 2007 (DS was 23 months) and we had a blast! However, we had great weather. I was told that the sailing before us was rough- most people never even made it to the dining rooms for meals.



I have extra albums. PM me your address and I'll pop one in the mail!

Tell me about Cunard....... We fell in love with cruising and know we could never do Carnival or RCCL (I'm not a snob, really!!!!) mainly because I could never feel comfortable letting Ally have free rein like I did on DCL. I think we are DCL snobs now....

 

[KristiMc]

Kara - I think we are DCL snobs now too.

We did book another cruise on-board to get the benefits. We are booked for a Western on the Magic in January 2012. We are not planning on cruising again until 2013 so I will be moving the date when the 2013 dates come out (The CM said that would be sometime in October).

 

[karajeboo]

Kara - I think we are DCL snobs now too.

We did book another cruise on-board to get the benefits. We are booked for a Western on the Magic in January 2012. We are not planning on cruising again until 2013 so I will be moving the date when the 2013 dates come out (The CM said that would be sometime in October).

What are the benefits of booking onboard, other than 10% deposit? I've seen much better prices on other websites, so not sure I get the "deal" of it. Even though I did it too!!! But I will continue to look for other deals and then transfer my ressie (which is what I did with this cruise, too).

 

[KristiMc]

What are the benefits of booking onboard, other than 10% deposit? I've seen much better prices on other websites, so not sure I get the "deal" of it. Even though I did it too!!! But I will continue to look for other deals and then transfer my ressie (which is what I did with this cruise, too).

10% discount, deposit was only 10% (usually 20%) and the $200 OBC. They told me once I pick my date I can transfer it to another TA and get there OBC also.

What sites did you find that do good discounts? I thought DCL didn't do that - the price is the price - other than OBC's that TA's offer. Any help getting a cheaper price is always welcome

 

[karajeboo]

10% discount, deposit was only 10% (usually 20%) and the $200 OBC. They told me once I pick my date I can transfer it to another TA and get there OBC also.

What sites did you find that do good discounts? I thought DCL didn't do that - the price is the price - other than OBC's that TA's offer. Any help getting a cheaper price is always welcome

vacationstogo.com is one that I've been on today...... But I booked this cruise through Dreams Unlimited and got $200 OBC from them. Then if I would have used my Disney Visa I'd have gotten $75 from them but I used another card for the deposit so I missed that. So really the OBC is the big savings? Because this cruise I only got $25.....

 

[Ayeegit]

jac1976 - thanks for the offer! Just sent you a PM...

Anyone else experiencing any post-cruise motion sickness? Both my wife and I felt a bit "off" yesterday (3 days after getting off the boat!), like the house was slightly swaying. Neither of us (or our daughters) had any problems on the boat (although the first evening, it did take a little getting used to the motion), or immediately after getting off over the weekend - odd that it took that long...

As an aside, I found this article this morning about where the Disney ships will be in 2012, including our Magic! http://micechat.com/forums/disney-c...d-hawaiian-destination-3-new-port-cities.html

 

[KristiMc]

vacationstogo.com is one that I've been on today...... But I booked this cruise through Dreams Unlimited and got $200 OBC from them. Then if I would have used my Disney Visa I'd have gotten $75 from them but I used another card for the deposit so I missed that. So really the OBC is the big savings? Because this cruise I only got $25.....

I will have to check out that site also. I also booked this past cruise through DU and got the $200. I also got $50 for using my Disney Visa and $25 for them booking online.

They told me that I could transfer the reservation to DU and get their $200 plus $200 from DCL for booking on the cruise. So I could end up having $450 in OBC.

 

[karajeboo]

jac1976 - thanks for the offer! Just sent you a PM...

Anyone else experiencing any post-cruise motion sickness? Both my wife and I felt a bit "off" yesterday (3 days after getting off the boat!), like the house was slightly swaying. Neither of us (or our daughters) had any problems on the boat (although the first evening, it did take a little getting used to the motion), or immediately after getting off over the weekend - odd that it took that long...

As an aside, I found this article this morning about where the Disney ships will be in 2012, including our Magic! http://micechat.com/forums/disney-c...d-hawaiian-destination-3-new-port-cities.html

Yes, I've had the "sways" a bit - so sad that today is the first day I have not! It means that it really is over! I didn't get "sick" but I could definitely feel the motion for about the first 18 hours before I settled down. And the first couple days we were home I'd be sitting down and suddenly I would "sway." It made me giggle.....

I will have to check out that site also. I also booked this past cruise through DU and got the $200. I also got $50 for using my Disney Visa and $25 for them booking online.

They told me that I could transfer the reservation to DU and get their $200 plus $200 from DCL for booking on the cruise. So I could end up having $450 in OBC.

Now THAT is a bonus! I really wish I would have booked a family cruise. I booked the DISmoms trip for 2012 but now I'm looking at even 3 and 4 night cruises for us. We enjoyed (but were not thrilled) with the ports of call, so I'd love to just do a cruise to nowhere, but DCL doesn't do that. So I'm considering the 5 night double dip, or maybe a 4 night...... Thinking of February. Why, oh why didn't I just book onboard????

 

[KristiMc]

Now THAT is a bonus! I really wish I would have booked a family cruise. I booked the DISmoms trip for 2012 but now I'm looking at even 3 and 4 night cruises for us. We enjoyed (but were not thrilled) with the ports of call, so I'd love to just do a cruise to nowhere, but DCL doesn't do that. So I'm considering the 5 night double dip, or maybe a 4 night...... Thinking of February. Why, oh why didn't I just book onboard????

I agree with you Kara. We enjoyed the ports - but did not love them. I loved our at sea days. If I did a 3 or 4 night, I would not even get off the boat in Nassau.

I am now toying with the new Canadian itinerary for Aug. 2012. I am getting nothing done today. I am the head chairperson for our book fair at Shawn's school next week and I have a ton of stuff to do for that - what am I doing? - dreaming about the Magic.

 

[karajeboo]

I agree with you Kara. We enjoyed the ports - but did not love them. I loved our at sea days. If I did a 3 or 4 night, I would not even get off the boat in Nassau.

I am now toying with the new Canadian itinerary for Aug. 2012. I am getting nothing done today. I am the head chairperson for our book fair at Shawn's school next week and I have a ton of stuff to do for that - what am I doing? - dreaming about the Magic.

I feel your pain..... I keep emailing Jeff sample itineraries and he replies with things like "did you get a raise?" But I see a trip sooner than 2 years away, even if it's a 3 or 4 day. And I might set foot in Nassau for the morning but I'd be back on the ship by lunch..... For me the cruise was about the Magic!!!!

 

[irishgal_02]

I MISS the warm weather!!!!
Thank you to everyone for the great FE gifts! My girls were thrilled each day!
We gave out a mixture of gifts: Maryland crab magnet, key chains, lip balm, pirate toys, pirate stuff, TS3 figurines and candy.
Unfortunately, we were hit with a stomach bug and it took 3 of us down. It was horrible. It was not until St. Maarten that my husband and youngest daughter were feeling better. We are pretty disappointed in that. The trip cost a lot of money and we lost 3 days.
I enjoyed meeting those of you at the lounge.
Thank you Kara for organizing the FE exchange and thank you to those who let us in the exchange at the last minute!

Until another cruise....take care!