May 28 West Coast

[challada]

Well, I'm sad already to be home, and it hasn't even been 12 hours yet!

Since this was our first cruise, I don't have anything to compare it to, but can say a couple of things that do stand out to me:

1. Get to know your Dis-ers before the trip. It really made it so magical for all of us to "know" these other families and the kids had fun! It also helps...you might get a favor from someone or get to sit w/someone b/c you know them thru Dis.

2. Your personal staff is the best! Brian our room attendant was great w/the kids and ALWAYS there to help, to clean, to do anything! Gabor and Anna our servers were fabulous all around...knew our family right away and were very helpful. I asked both of them to come home with me at the end of the cruise!

3. The Guest Service people are less than helpful in my opinion. We had a terribly noisy room under the kitchen (2626) and when I told GS, she said rather snootily, "then call maintenance". When I went to ask for statements, I did get them, but little conversation or anything w/them. No kids navigators available thru them so had to go upstairs. Not that any of them were bad, just they all reminded me of snooty hotel desk clerks.

4.Learn to love your Navigators...I could only get to about half of what I wanted to because there was so much scheduling...always carry one.

5.The stage shows are a must...every one was GREAT!

6.See as much or as little of the characters as you want...we go to the parks regularly, so pretty much avoided the characters and had fun anyway. Photographers were not out in swarms at every corner as I had feared it would be, but tended to stay in the atrium taking pictures of character meets and backdrops.

7. Always have the fish...on any dinner menu, the fish was consistently the best of whatever we ordered at the table...so we stuck w/the fish.

8. Leave a day for the beach...we did it in Cabo and now wish I had not scheduled us so much for the other ports! Next time...no shore excursions!

I'm sure I'll have more!
Thanks all!
Chris

 

[Itinkso]

Thanks for posting! Which beach in Cabo do you suggest going to? And, did you make it to Cabo Wabo?

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Gabor and Anna our servers were fabulous all around...knew our family right away and were very helpful. I asked both of them to come home with me at the end of the cruise!

Oh, I'm so happy to see that Gabor is still on board! We had him a couple of years ago and are hoping to see him when we cruise in a few weeks. What dining rotation did you have?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

[challada]

Cabo...
We went to the family beach which you face when you are anchored....not Lover's Beach...I can't remember the name but will check for ya. Was nice and big w/good sand and little amount of people except peddlers. Got great pics of the kids playing in the sand and surf w/the Magic right behind them.

We did go to CaboWabo and would suggest skipping it on this tight of a schedule. Service was slower than slow, seating was very limited and food was not that great. I would say, go have a drink and get out of there.

Gabor...
Not sure if it's the same Gabor since this Gabor came to us fresh to replace another Gabor who left. He was tall and slender...good Hungarian young man w/big eyes. Very nice guy.

 

[challada]

Your Gabor is our Gabor...I just checked your pictures. Isn't he a darling?

 

[GrumpyMom1]

Your Gabor is our Gabor...I just checked your pictures. Isn't he a darling?

Yes, we loved Gabor. Just within the past week my DD12 said she hopes to see Gabor when we cruise.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

Cabin 2626 was very noisy? You are making me nervous--we will be in 2608, which I assume, is also underneath the kitchen area. What kind of noises were you hearing?

 

[AnnaS]

Hi,

Do you mind listing the movies that were playing.

Thank you so much my dd keeps asking - we are on the July 2nd cruise.

 

[jillane88]

Cabin 2626 was very noisy? You are making me nervous--we will be in 2608, which I assume, is also underneath the kitchen area.

According to the PassPorters field guide, which I refer to almost religiously, #2608 is NOT listed as one to avoid - whereas cabin #2626 is listed as one to avoid because of the noise. I made our TA change our cabin #'s after reading this book. I'm sure you will be just fine...

Heather
Western Magic May 6, 2006

 

[DeeCeeSW]

Thanks for the info. Heather! I need to pick up the latest edition of the Passporter.

 

[imitationcrab2000]

Cabin 2626 was very noisy? You are making me nervous--we will be in 2608, which I assume, is also underneath the kitchen area. What kind of noises were you hearing?

we were in 2511, overall it was pretty quiet, except for Thursday & Friday night, at the end of the cruise, when the waves kicked up a little bit. At first I thought it was an annoying neighbor who had a hanger or something bumping against the wall all night, but then I noticed I could hear creaking in the walls too. Normally I'm a real heavy sleeper, but this was driving me nuts!

 

[challada]

Our cabin was horrible for noise and so was my parents right next door at 2628 which is NOT on the passporter list as one of the noisy ones....but I would say anything in the 2600s is under kitchen and therefore noisy!

We had so much noise that I never slept...but my kids did sleep thru it so was OK for them...I heard all the large tray movers (those things they stack trays on), I could hear the pounding of pots (almost like they were throwing them on the floor during the night) and one night someone must have knocked down a bunch of metal trays as I could hear them all hitting the floor. I assumed the kitchen would be OK but I realize now I must have been under the area they use for prepping for the next day.

 

[challada]

We went to NONE of the movies, but they were playing:

Hitchhikers guide
Finding Nemo
Princess Diaries 2
The Pacifier
Ice Princess
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
National Treasure

probably others that I can't remember too.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

Our cabin was horrible for noise and so was my parents right next door at 2628 which is NOT on the passporter list as one of the noisy ones....but I would say anything in the 2600s is under kitchen and therefore noisy!

We had so much noise that I never slept...but my kids did sleep thru it so was OK for them...I heard all the large tray movers (those things they stack trays on), I could hear the pounding of pots (almost like they were throwing them on the floor during the night) and one night someone must have knocked down a bunch of metal trays as I could hear them all hitting the floor. I assumed the kitchen would be OK but I realize now I must have been under the area they use for prepping for the next day.

Oh boy, this does not make me feel much better. I really researched and asked around about what cabin to choose since I had a horrible experience with noise on my last (Carnival) cruise and did not sleep well the entire trip. I would be VERY upset if this ended up being the same. Several Magic cruisers recommended this cabin to me, saying that they experienced no noise. I don't mind some creaking, etc., but metal trays hitting the floor? Yikes!

 

[challada]

Based on what I could tell, your room would be toward front from elevators while we were toward back (about 2 doors down from elevator)....therefore, you would be under the kitchen section that runs behind the promenade lounge. I don't think you will have the same amount of noise we had (we were under the kitchen portion attached to Parrot Cay), but I would still be wary...double check the passporter info and make your decision.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[mexicocruiser]

Hi gang, We are sailing next week and I have no idea what the Passporter field guide is???We are booked in room 5146 which is a cat 6 room with a balcony as far as we can tell - very exciting as we booked a cat 9. Anyone out there that can help us with info???

 

[challada]

Passporter is a book that is published that is an "unofficial guide" for DCL...it's geared too much to the east coast stuff and not really useful for the west coast cruises...you can get the list of noisy rooms online somewhere.

Congrats on your upgrade...we tried to bump from 9 to 6 but couldn't do it in port (no one knew how) or on the boat (they couldn't tell what was open).

 

[jillane88]

Hi gang, We are sailing next week and I have no idea what the Passporter field guide is???We are booked in room 5146 which is a cat 6 room with a balcony as far as we can tell - very exciting as we booked a cat 9. Anyone out there that can help us with info???

The new Passporter covers the West Coast cruises, but you really won't need one at this point. Room 5146 is on Deck 5, has a solid railing on the balcony, and sleeps 3. It is not listed as a cabin to avoid. Congrats on your upgrade! We've booked a cat 9 for our cruise and would love to be upgraded. Have a wonderful time!

Heather
Western Magic May 6, 2006

 

[mexicocruiser]

The new Passporter covers the West Coast cruises, but you really won't need one at this point. Room 5146 is on Deck 5, has a solid railing on the balcony, and sleeps 3. It is not listed as a cabin to avoid. Congrats on your upgrade! We've booked a cat 9 for our cruise and would love to be upgraded. Have a wonderful time!

Heather
Western Magic May 6, 2006

Thanks Heather for the scoop on the room!

 

[sandysplayhouse]

Cruise pictures from First West Coast Cruise
Here is a link to our May 28 - June 4 cruise photos...
you will have to register, but then you can view them.
Start with Disney Cruise first, then Day 1, then Day 2-7

http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=100...c=SYE/otsi=SALB



What a great cruise! It was really fun to finally put faces to all the screen names.
Jedisan/JediJazzMan-Thank you for the door presents and glow necklaces!
GrammieGail-Thanks for the great cook book!
LegalBriefs-What a fun person you are and what a fantastic pirate!
C&Ssnyders-Congratulations on all the Bingo winnings!

Our check in went very smoothly. Apparently some people had 2 and 3 hours of boarding time, but ours was very quick as was our debarkation, probably about 15 or 20 minutes total once Disney started lining us up.
We had the Early LAP rotation for our dinners and while on the subject, may I say that those meals are all 5 star meals... not Dennys quality. Our server was SACHIN from India and MARTYNA from ????both were fantastic. Well actually Sachin was Fantastic (this was his word).. Martyna was so/so... she seemed preoccupied or deep in thought perhaps concentrating on her job or had a week-long headache, not sure, but she did her job, but didn't "shine" at it like Sachin... but then I guess anyone would NOT shine next to him as he went above and BEYOND his job.

We had Pirate Night on Tuesday night and it was a blast. This being our first cruise, we were all psyched up for it and brought our stuff from home to wear. We had a great time. The party started hopping when Captain Hook showed up and took over the ship. We had fireworks and music and even a pirate ship off our port side as we departed Puerto Vallarta.

PuertoVallarta - ZipLine Excursion...
that was GREAT... I strongly recommend this for anyone that wants to do a once in a lifetime thing. It was not very physical except for the 10 minute walk at the end as it is UP-hill DUUUUUUH... I had not given it much thought that the walk would be UP-hill. THAT was exhausting! I would have paid $100 for a donkey to ride back up, but there weren't any around. We had team B (as in BEST) and they were all VERY nice, friendly, and helpful. They all spoke English and Spanish, and one even spoke French. The guides strapped us up and showed us how to keep from twirling as we zipped along, and they were always there to keep us from slamming into the trees at the end. They kept us laughing with jokes and pointed out the native plants and trees. Lots of interesting trivia that I don't remember as I was busy trying to take pictures and NEVER got to take one as I was distracted by the fun I was having. They also highly encourage you to leave your camera and valuables at the base camp in a locked container that they provide for your convience because IF you drop something, they aren't retrieving it for you and at times you really are about 90 feet hign in the tree tops. Plus, they want to assure that you will want to buy their video/DVD at the end of the experience. One of the guides zips along with a camcorder filming you as you go. They edit it later with music from Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible etc... so it should be a hoot to watch when we get it in about 6 weeks. Cost is $40w/shipping for Video and $52 w/shipping for DVD. There were 8 in our group so we bought 1 video and will make copies to share. What can I say, we're cheap.

Mazatlan - Old City Walking Tour...
It starts out with a wild fast breath-taking ride in a taxi that Disney had waiting for us as we got off the Magic. We had a driver that spoke great English and he basically gave us the city tour as he drove. His name was "El Gato" meaning the cat and he asked us to ask for him if we needed to go anyplace after the tour. He was incredibly friendly and knowledgable about the town, BUT he drove like a mad man, going THRU stop signs and just plowing into and across traffic to deliver us to a place by the ocean where we met up with the rest of our tour group... My mom was in the taxi behind ours and she said her driver never spoke to them, but drove just as wildly as he seemed to be trying to catch up with our taxi.
The tour began after everyone was delivered to the beach location... about 20 of us. We had a very nice tour guide named Carmen, very friendly, knowledgable and great English. We were there on June 1st and it was quite warm. Be sure to bring a hat, sunglasses, sunblock and WATER. I don't know how anyone will fare during July and August as after 30 minutes I was sweating buckets. The actual walk was nicely paced and not strenuous at all, so most anyone would be able to do it. You do have to keep an eye out for the dog poo on the sidewalk as you go AND for drivers that drive their cars along the sidewalk for a bit before deciding to park ON the sidewalk! This was hillarious as our guide had just told us to stay ON the sidewalk where it was safe. She had just finished uttering those words when a car came towards us and scooted itself onto the sidewalk and drove ON the sidewalk for about 40 feet before parking. Alot of us had to actually jump out of the way and BACK into the street to get out of the way of this car!
Carmen took us to see statues, a bakery, an old museum, (I didn't go in as I was too hot to go into a hot unairconditioned museum) a church, an opera house, and a restaurant where we were only allowed to get a drink as we were too short on time to get something to eat. As I said it was a very warm day and EVERYONE was hot, thirsty and hungry.
I don't recommend this tour unless you are totally into history and old buildings that are being restored and dont' mind being HOT.

CaboSanLucas - Walking Tour
Decided NOT to do this tour as we were burned out from the Mazatlan walking tour. We decided to eat the cost of the ticket than do the hot walk again. Although now I regret not going as it was BEAUTIFUL in Cabo and it was very cool and breezy there.
You must take a little boat called a tender off the ship to get to Cabo as we can not park along the dock as the water isn't deep enough. At least that is the way I understood it. Once we were on land, there are LOTS of local people standing there ready to take you anywhere you want to go. They have all kinds of things to rent and excursions to take and at 1/2 the cost of booking thru Disney. The whole town seems very clean, touristy and friendly and ready to serve you. There were lots of shops and restaurants and lots of Americans everywhere. This is a very nice place and I highly recommend going there and plan on going back to enjoy more of it. The only regret I have is we didnt spend more time there. I feel Disney should drop Mazatlan altogether and spend 2 days in Cabo San Lucas.

Back to the real world... Work, Bills, and dreaming of the next cruise.
__________________