JenLynn
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2004
- Messages
- 716
May 1 8 Magic Trip Report: Day 1 (part 2)
Eastern Itinerary
JenLynn (Me) - 31
Joe (DH) - 34
Teddy (DS) - 6
Madalyn (DD) - 4 (almost 5)
We also travelled with 2 other families:
Terri (DW), Chris (DH) and Jordan (DD)
Kristi (DW), Eric (DH) and Bradley (DS) and Adam (DS)
A few miscellaneous tid-bits about the check-in process (continues from part 1):
· There is a small café that serves drinks and snacks. The hours and selection are limited. In fact, DH went to buy my children a soft pretzel and they had already run out (and they the café had only been open about 30 minutes).
· We were very pleased with the time we arrived. There were perhaps 20 families ahead of us in line to check-in. The line grew quickly behind us.
· The characters paraded out to greet everyone about 30 minutes before boarding began. The ship photographers were there taking photos of the characters with everyone.
· There are televisions showing cartoons and sofas to sit on off to one side of the terminal. So, the kids can sit and lounge and investigate the terminal while 1 person holds their place in the boarding line.
As we stepped onto the ship (and it was just as striking and attractive as we remember it to be!) there were 2 CMs announcing the arrivals. The CM on our side asked our name and where we were from and then announced us. Mickey was there waving to everyone as they boarded and the CMs and other guests in the atrium applauded as each new family was announced.
Upon check-in at the port, you are given a newsletter with the information you will need for the day (when and where to make reservations for Palo and the spa; where lunch is being served, etc). Our group wanted to try for Palo reservations for tea, brunch and dinner. DH and I scurried off to Rockin Bar D where Palo reservations were being taken. There were 2 different sections in Rockin Bar D for Palo reservations. One table was set up for tea/brunch reservations. I headed straight to that table and was able to get the exact times I wanted for both tea and brunch. For Palo dinner reservations, there were 3 separate lines depending on which night you wanted. DH got into the line for the night we wanted and was able to get the time we wanted for our Palo dinner. I was so relieved that we had gotten to the port so early and were able to get the reservations we wanted!
While DH and I were doing the Palo thing, Kristi and Terri went to the spa to make reservations for treatments. Terri made appointments for a manicure and pedicure. Kristi got a reservation for a cabana couples massage on Castaway Cay (did I mention how happy we were that we got to the port when we did? Getting all of the reservations/appointments we wanted was very smooth going for us!).
The hallways to the cabin areas were roped off with signs that said the areas would be opened at 1:30. We decided to go sign the children up for the kids clubs. Terri took her daughter to the Oceaneers Lab and Kristi and I headed to the Club to sign-up our children. We entered the club and sat at one of the small tables set-up. I filled out the form for our 2 children (including choosing a password to use when checking the children out of the club, and indicating that Kristi and Terri could both check the children out of the club). We talked to the CM who was signing us in about having my DD moved to the 5-7 group instead of the 3-4 group. DD is 3 months shy of being 5; she is very mature, has been in pre-school for 3 years, and is accustomed to being with her brother and his older friends. The CM said they could put her in the 5-7 group on a trial basis. She also said that DD had only 1 chance to be in the 5-7 group, meaning that if they felt she needed to be bumped down to the 3-4 group she would not get another chance to be with the 5-7s. That sounded reasonable to me. The CM gave us our pager (it beeps but doesnt vibrate) and made nametags for each of our children. We then waited in line at the front desk of the Club to be entered into the computer (this was the most time consuming part of the process because there was a line to wait in and only 2 computers signing people in). The CM at the computer also put a wrist band on each child with name and age.
From the Club it was on to lunch at the Topsiders buffet. We walked through the buffet line and grabbed a little bit of everything (especially the peel-and-eat shrimp and the chocolate tarts). We then met the bar server who would become one of our favorite CMs throughout the entire trip. Kadir was carrying a try of Bahama Mama drinks and singing Ole, Ole as he walked among the tables. Of course Terri and I each got one (and it was yummy!). From that point on, Kadir took care of us throughout the rest of the cruise.
After lunch we went to the stateroom so the children could change into the swimsuits we had packed in our carry-on bag. The cabins were ready, but luggage had not yet arrived. In each of the 3 stateroom we had booked through allseastravel was a gift of a memory box wrapped with a ribbon and bow. That was a pleasant surprise. We were in stateroom 6554 which is a cat. 6 cabin with verandah located mid-ship. I loved it! When we cruise DCL again, I want the same stateroom. It was convenient to the mid-ship elevators and that made everything else quite convenient (no matter if things were forward or aft, we were only ½ a ship away). The kids clubs were just 1 floor down. It was a manageable walk up the stairs to the pool deck and a decent walk downstairs to the restaurants. (because the elevators are sometimes very slow in coming). The children changed into their suits and DH took them to the Mickey pool.
Which they were gone, the luggage arrived and I began unpacking all of the clothes. I brought my clear over-the-door shoe holder and put that over the bathroom door to hold all of the misc. junk that seems to accumulate. Once the suitcases were emptied, I slid them under the bed (did need to lift the bed a bit to get the largest suitcase underneath, but that was no problem). There was plenty of drawer space/closet space for all of our clothes.
DH and the children returned to the cabin and we then went up to deck 9 for our DIS meet . We finally met all of the people we had been e-mailing back and forth with over the past few months. It was a lot of fun to finally put faces with names.
Then we got our lifejackets from our cabin and went to our assembly station for the lifeboat drill. It was hot and cramped and I very nearly had a panic attack before it was over (I sometimes have a bit of claustrophobia-type issues). We then put the lifejackets back into our cabin (luckily never to be needed again) and then went up to deck 9 for the sail away party. We saw the CMs at the terminal wave goodbye with their big Mickey hands too cute! Then a variety of the characters came out to the stage and their was music and dancing and lots of fun! Too soon we realized it was time for us to head to the cabin to prepare for dinner.
We had early seating (which means 6pm) and were assigned the APL rotation (we had heard that this rotation is very common for those families with small children and since we had a two year old and 2 four year olds in our group we werent surprised to get this rotation). We dressed for dinner and then went to Animators Palette for our first dinner. We met our server Dean (from Croatia) and our assistant server Jessica (from Sweden). They were absolutely wonderful! The children loved seeing all of the drawing on the wall become colored. The effects and light-show in the restaurant were wonderful. This was the typical Animators Palette restaurant menu and I got the Duck and Goat Cheese Flatbread appetizer (just ok), the Casear salad (loved it), the grilled chicken in a cabornay sauce (quite good), and strawberry shortcake for dessert (wonderful). DH had the Casear salad and the veal chop (very good).
We decided to skip the welcome aboard variety show (but our friends said it was very good) and took the children to the kids club for the evening. It was quite crowded with children.
We walked around the ship and it was extremely windy. I could feel the rocking of the ship and put on my wrist bands to fend-off seasickness (had never had trouble before, but wanted to be prepared). The wrist bands helped a lot. DH and I finally sat at the bar in the Promenade Lounge where we met a wonderful bartender from Australia (named Fleur). We eventually got called to pick the children up from the kids club and when we got back to the cabin they were excited to see that the bunk beds had magically appeared.
The children and I went to sleep while DH went to see what was happening at Rocking Bar D.
And that concluded our first wonderful, magical day on the Disney Magic.
Day 2 will be coming soon!
Eastern Itinerary
JenLynn (Me) - 31
Joe (DH) - 34
Teddy (DS) - 6
Madalyn (DD) - 4 (almost 5)
We also travelled with 2 other families:
Terri (DW), Chris (DH) and Jordan (DD)
Kristi (DW), Eric (DH) and Bradley (DS) and Adam (DS)
A few miscellaneous tid-bits about the check-in process (continues from part 1):
· There is a small café that serves drinks and snacks. The hours and selection are limited. In fact, DH went to buy my children a soft pretzel and they had already run out (and they the café had only been open about 30 minutes).
· We were very pleased with the time we arrived. There were perhaps 20 families ahead of us in line to check-in. The line grew quickly behind us.
· The characters paraded out to greet everyone about 30 minutes before boarding began. The ship photographers were there taking photos of the characters with everyone.
· There are televisions showing cartoons and sofas to sit on off to one side of the terminal. So, the kids can sit and lounge and investigate the terminal while 1 person holds their place in the boarding line.
As we stepped onto the ship (and it was just as striking and attractive as we remember it to be!) there were 2 CMs announcing the arrivals. The CM on our side asked our name and where we were from and then announced us. Mickey was there waving to everyone as they boarded and the CMs and other guests in the atrium applauded as each new family was announced.
Upon check-in at the port, you are given a newsletter with the information you will need for the day (when and where to make reservations for Palo and the spa; where lunch is being served, etc). Our group wanted to try for Palo reservations for tea, brunch and dinner. DH and I scurried off to Rockin Bar D where Palo reservations were being taken. There were 2 different sections in Rockin Bar D for Palo reservations. One table was set up for tea/brunch reservations. I headed straight to that table and was able to get the exact times I wanted for both tea and brunch. For Palo dinner reservations, there were 3 separate lines depending on which night you wanted. DH got into the line for the night we wanted and was able to get the time we wanted for our Palo dinner. I was so relieved that we had gotten to the port so early and were able to get the reservations we wanted!
While DH and I were doing the Palo thing, Kristi and Terri went to the spa to make reservations for treatments. Terri made appointments for a manicure and pedicure. Kristi got a reservation for a cabana couples massage on Castaway Cay (did I mention how happy we were that we got to the port when we did? Getting all of the reservations/appointments we wanted was very smooth going for us!).
The hallways to the cabin areas were roped off with signs that said the areas would be opened at 1:30. We decided to go sign the children up for the kids clubs. Terri took her daughter to the Oceaneers Lab and Kristi and I headed to the Club to sign-up our children. We entered the club and sat at one of the small tables set-up. I filled out the form for our 2 children (including choosing a password to use when checking the children out of the club, and indicating that Kristi and Terri could both check the children out of the club). We talked to the CM who was signing us in about having my DD moved to the 5-7 group instead of the 3-4 group. DD is 3 months shy of being 5; she is very mature, has been in pre-school for 3 years, and is accustomed to being with her brother and his older friends. The CM said they could put her in the 5-7 group on a trial basis. She also said that DD had only 1 chance to be in the 5-7 group, meaning that if they felt she needed to be bumped down to the 3-4 group she would not get another chance to be with the 5-7s. That sounded reasonable to me. The CM gave us our pager (it beeps but doesnt vibrate) and made nametags for each of our children. We then waited in line at the front desk of the Club to be entered into the computer (this was the most time consuming part of the process because there was a line to wait in and only 2 computers signing people in). The CM at the computer also put a wrist band on each child with name and age.
From the Club it was on to lunch at the Topsiders buffet. We walked through the buffet line and grabbed a little bit of everything (especially the peel-and-eat shrimp and the chocolate tarts). We then met the bar server who would become one of our favorite CMs throughout the entire trip. Kadir was carrying a try of Bahama Mama drinks and singing Ole, Ole as he walked among the tables. Of course Terri and I each got one (and it was yummy!). From that point on, Kadir took care of us throughout the rest of the cruise.
After lunch we went to the stateroom so the children could change into the swimsuits we had packed in our carry-on bag. The cabins were ready, but luggage had not yet arrived. In each of the 3 stateroom we had booked through allseastravel was a gift of a memory box wrapped with a ribbon and bow. That was a pleasant surprise. We were in stateroom 6554 which is a cat. 6 cabin with verandah located mid-ship. I loved it! When we cruise DCL again, I want the same stateroom. It was convenient to the mid-ship elevators and that made everything else quite convenient (no matter if things were forward or aft, we were only ½ a ship away). The kids clubs were just 1 floor down. It was a manageable walk up the stairs to the pool deck and a decent walk downstairs to the restaurants. (because the elevators are sometimes very slow in coming). The children changed into their suits and DH took them to the Mickey pool.
Which they were gone, the luggage arrived and I began unpacking all of the clothes. I brought my clear over-the-door shoe holder and put that over the bathroom door to hold all of the misc. junk that seems to accumulate. Once the suitcases were emptied, I slid them under the bed (did need to lift the bed a bit to get the largest suitcase underneath, but that was no problem). There was plenty of drawer space/closet space for all of our clothes.
DH and the children returned to the cabin and we then went up to deck 9 for our DIS meet . We finally met all of the people we had been e-mailing back and forth with over the past few months. It was a lot of fun to finally put faces with names.
Then we got our lifejackets from our cabin and went to our assembly station for the lifeboat drill. It was hot and cramped and I very nearly had a panic attack before it was over (I sometimes have a bit of claustrophobia-type issues). We then put the lifejackets back into our cabin (luckily never to be needed again) and then went up to deck 9 for the sail away party. We saw the CMs at the terminal wave goodbye with their big Mickey hands too cute! Then a variety of the characters came out to the stage and their was music and dancing and lots of fun! Too soon we realized it was time for us to head to the cabin to prepare for dinner.
We had early seating (which means 6pm) and were assigned the APL rotation (we had heard that this rotation is very common for those families with small children and since we had a two year old and 2 four year olds in our group we werent surprised to get this rotation). We dressed for dinner and then went to Animators Palette for our first dinner. We met our server Dean (from Croatia) and our assistant server Jessica (from Sweden). They were absolutely wonderful! The children loved seeing all of the drawing on the wall become colored. The effects and light-show in the restaurant were wonderful. This was the typical Animators Palette restaurant menu and I got the Duck and Goat Cheese Flatbread appetizer (just ok), the Casear salad (loved it), the grilled chicken in a cabornay sauce (quite good), and strawberry shortcake for dessert (wonderful). DH had the Casear salad and the veal chop (very good).
We decided to skip the welcome aboard variety show (but our friends said it was very good) and took the children to the kids club for the evening. It was quite crowded with children.
We walked around the ship and it was extremely windy. I could feel the rocking of the ship and put on my wrist bands to fend-off seasickness (had never had trouble before, but wanted to be prepared). The wrist bands helped a lot. DH and I finally sat at the bar in the Promenade Lounge where we met a wonderful bartender from Australia (named Fleur). We eventually got called to pick the children up from the kids club and when we got back to the cabin they were excited to see that the bunk beds had magically appeared.
The children and I went to sleep while DH went to see what was happening at Rocking Bar D.
And that concluded our first wonderful, magical day on the Disney Magic.
Day 2 will be coming soon!
