May 18, 2013 MAGIC EBTA - Who is with us?

[twopeasonepod]

Great job, Mandy! Glad you could all get the lower rate!

Welcome rbw5t and nitrame!

 

[kaseyC]

We are booked... My dh, ds(6) and dd (9) and fg ( fairy godmother). Not a real one but dd and ds godmother and to us a god send

Welcome! My DD is 9, she'll be 10 by the time we cruise.

Yay!! Welcome aboard!! We are definitely getting more kiddos on this cruise. I think it's because it's the end of the schoolyear (versus beginning). I feel less guilty pulling our kindergartener out the last nine days.

I agree. It's much easier to miss the last few weeks of school at least in our District. After the last State test in April, not much new instruction is taking place. Lots of field trips and field day type things. My girls would much rather be cruising!

 

[MandyGirl]

I agree. It's much easier to miss the last few weeks of school at least in our District. After the last State test in April, not much new instruction is taking place. Lots of field trips and field day type things. My girls would much rather be cruising!

In our state, the state assessments at the high school level fall around the first 2 weeks of May. After that, several schools are now just not doing spring semester exams since they kiddos just had various tests. I work with tutoring middle/high school math students around the country, and this past week was a whoopin' - several districts had exams this week. Some wait until mid January, but I will be glad when this week is over so I can focus on the holidays! But the timing of this cruise is perfect - right after state assessments.

 

[Ladyshopper]

For those you've done a transatlantic before, what happens with the shows? Is there something different on every night, or do they just spread the same ones out a bit!

Same for dinner menu, is it a 7 night menu that repeated, or is it totally different every night?

 

[bobbiwoz]

For those you've done a transatlantic before, what happens with the shows? Is there something different on every night, or do they just spread the same ones out a bit!

Same for dinner menu, is it a 7 night menu that repeated, or is it totally different every night?

Great questions!!! I'd love to know these things too!

Bobbi

 

[yorkshire disney fan]

For those you've done a transatlantic before, what happens with the shows? Is there something different on every night, or do they just spread the same ones out a bit!

Same for dinner menu, is it a 7 night menu that repeated, or is it totally different every night?

We were on the EBTA 2011 and there was a different show on every night.

There are 3 restaurants on the Magic and you rotate to a different restaurant each evening.

As far as I can remember the menu changed every night with a good selection of dishes.

 

[valbob89]

For those you've done a transatlantic before, what happens with the shows? Is there something different on every night, or do they just spread the same ones out a bit!

Same for dinner menu, is it a 7 night menu that repeated, or is it totally different every night?

On the longer "on-time" cruises, such as the Panama Canal, Hawaii, and TA cruises they have brought on the Disney Cruise Line favorites, i.e. John Charles, Heidi Mollenhauer and artists from their soundtracks. They may also bring on local folk dancers and singers from the ports of call.

 

[NancyIL]

On the longer "on-time" cruises, such as the Panama Canal, Hawaii, and TA cruises they have brought on the Disney Cruise Line favorites, i.e. John Charles, Heidi Mollenhauer and artists from their soundtracks. They may also bring on local folk dancers and singers from the ports of call.

I heard John Charles for the first time on the Fantasy last week. I would definitely love to hear him again!

 

[MandyGirl]

We were on the EBTA 2011 and there was a different show on every night.

There are 3 restaurants on the Magic and you rotate to a different restaurant each evening.

As far as I can remember the menu changed every night with a good selection of dishes.

Ditto for our WBTA 2011. Great variety in menu and shows. Same thing with activities during the day - plenty of variety. We did things because of our Rollcall group we might not have done on our own... making the masks for Villains night, participating in Goofy's Ship Building contest, Transatlantic Pub Crawl, etc. Always so much going on, we even had a hard time ever taking a nap for our little one - she just napped in her stroller!

 

[Tink1987]

Ditto for our WBTA 2011. Great variety in menu and shows. Same thing with activities during the day - plenty of variety. We did things because of our Rollcall group we might not have done on our own... making the masks for Villains night, participating in Goofy's Ship Building contest, Transatlantic Pub Crawl, etc. Always so much going on, we even had a hard time ever taking a nap for our little one - she just napped in her stroller!

I am getting so excited, how could anyone possibly think the sea days are boring then?? This is exactly why we booked this cruise we wanted time with the ship

 

[heatherb819]

I agree sea days is why we've booked this once again! If you want to do something, there's plenty to do or you can lounge by the pool or catch a movie! We had activities planned and ended up not doing half of them because the weather was so beautiful we decided to stay by the pool. To each his own!

 

[NancyIL]

I prefer port days to sea days - especially in Europe. However, I remain cautiously optimistic about the 10 sea days on the Magic.

ETA - if nothing else, I'll get caught up on Disney movie viewing!

 

[kaseyC]

I agree sea days is why we've booked this once again! If you want to do something, there's plenty to do or you can lounge by the pool or catch a movie! We had activities planned and ended up not doing half of them because the weather was so beautiful we decided to stay by the pool. To each his own!

The large number of sea days is one of the reasons we booked as well. A lounge chair, my kindle, tunes on my iPod and a cold drink is how I plan to spend most of the days when I'm not doing stuff with my dds. Since we have a very port intensive Baltic cruise after the TA, this cruise will be our total relaxed transport to Europe. I've decided not to even plan too much in the ports.

Hope we have great weather and calm seas!!

 

[woody73]

For those you've done a transatlantic before, what happens with the shows? Is there something different on every night, or do they just spread the same ones out a bit!

Same for dinner menu, is it a 7 night menu that repeated, or is it totally different every night?

I've been on four long cruises with DCL -- two Transatlantic cruises and two Panama Canal Cruises.

There will be a different show every night. They'll have the same production shows supplemented with some shows of varying quality and perhaps a movie night or two, especially if there is a premier during the sailing. IMHO, some of the best performers were Susan Egan and Jodi Benson.

As for dinner, there will be a different menu every night. Expect to see the menus from the 7-night cruises, along with 7 new menus. But also expect the new menus to repeat many dishes from the 7-night menus, often with new names. Hopefully, they will preview some of the Med cruise menus.

Woody

 

[bobbiwoz]

We want a restful cruise. I'm happy with on board activities and I will bring books to read. We cancelled the Med cruise we were going on after this one, because it just wasn't in the right order. Relaxing then very busy, not what we wanted. Hopefully one year we'll get to do a westbound TA. That would fill the bill for us.

We're still looking to celebrate June 1st, our 45th Anniversary, but it will be at the hotel that night!

Bobbi

 

[Tink1987]

We want a restful cruise. I'm happy with on board activities and I will bring books to read. We cancelled the Med cruise we were going on after this one, because it just wasn't in the right order. Relaxing then very busy, not what we wanted. Hopefully one year we'll get to do a westbound TA. That would fill the bill for us.

We're still looking to celebrate June 1st, our 45th Anniversary, but it will be at the hotel that night!

Bobbi

I'm too looking forward to lots and lots of reading, it will be the most restful holiday we will have had in 4 years!!

 

[MandyGirl]

I am getting so excited, how could anyone possibly think the sea days are boring then?? This is exactly why we booked this cruise we wanted time with the ship

That's exactly what I try to tell people when they see the itinerary and ask that... no, you're not stopping many places, but there is TONS to do on the ship! With no cell phones, and internet too pricey, it really forces families to spend family time together and build those lasting memories. With my Magic cruise in November, I really had no desire to visit our 3 ports... booked the cruise strictly for time on the ship. My child loved it! And being age 2, she could only do "open house" times at Kids Club, and I had no reason to ever leave her in Flounder's - so it was lots of quality time together for the two of us.

Now for those same reasons, I don't think I would ever book Disney for a port intensive European itinerary. To us, those itineraries are more about the ports of call and being off the ship... and often for much less $$$ on other cruiselines.

 

[Tink1987]

That's exactly what I try to tell people when they see the itinerary and ask that... no, you're not stopping many places, but there is TONS to do on the ship! With no cell phones, and internet too pricey, it really forces families to spend family time together and build those lasting memories. With my Magic cruise in November, I really had no desire to visit our 3 ports... booked the cruise strictly for time on the ship. My child loved it! And being age 2, she could only do "open house" times at Kids Club, and I had no reason to ever leave her in Flounder's - so it was lots of quality time together for the two of us.

Now for those same reasons, I don't think I would ever book Disney for a port intensive European itinerary. To us, those itineraries are more about the ports of call and being off the ship... and often for much less $$$ on other cruiselines.

Definitely, even if Disney did Baltics in 2015 (when we are planning on doing a Baltics cruise) I think we would go with one of the other lines!

 

[Tink1987]

We have now paid in full

 

[sdlong329]

We're IN (and PAID IN FULL)!

After much wrangling ... we're committed! Well, committed to the T/A, that is!

We were on the 2010 EB T/A on the Magic ... loved the 6 sea days in a row! We've been on the Fantasy twice since the Maiden Voyage, and we're in the mood for some vibes from the DCL classic ships. That means, I want CHOCOLATE NIGHT and CHARACTER BREAKFAST!

DW (Donna) and I are DCL Platinum ... no kids in tow. Our "child" is a young adult, and sailed DCL with us when he was a young 'un! We have owned DVC since 1994 (Old Key West and Animal Kingdom).

We will be flying Southwest to Houston (from PHL) the night prior to embarkation ... we usually meet other DISers in the Southwest Terminal at PHL airport. Looks like we have a *little* time to read through the previous posts ... will sign up for whatever we can ... though we will not be doing FE's this cruise.

I sent a request to be added to the FB page.

Stateroom: V-GTY
Dining: Second

Steven