~ Mickey's Magical Matey Tour ~ November 6-13, 2010 Eastern Magic

[LisaG520]

Has there been any talk about FE yet?

Sorry I've been MIA - we're cruising in Oct so I've been concentrating on that one right now but since its PIF and I've booked Palo time to move on to this one for planning

We've never done the Eastern before. Are there any good excursions for seeing nature/wildlife or learning history/not invloving snorkleing or beaches?

As for the booking date - there are a lot of different one.
First time cruisers book at 75 days
Silver Castaway club members book at 90 days
Gold Castaway club members book at 105 days
Platinum book at 120 days (I think)

Everyone needs to be PIF in order to book regardless of when they can book

 

[GoofyFD]

Hey hey hey all! Wow you miss a few months you miss a lot. We can't wait until Nov. My wife and I just got back from a wonderful day at Disneyland just the two of us. The kids were in girl scout camp for the week.

 

[Adventurelover'sDH]

Anyone planning on taking a day or two in a Disney hotel prior to heading to the cruise?

We were toying with the idea, but of course its Jersey week and there's NO discounts other than perhaps AAA and I'm having a heck of a time finding cheap airfares down to Orlando...

This is our first cruise, how much prep work do we need to do prior to the cruise? Feels to far away to start working on details yet.

We are planning on leaving our home on Tuesday (driving), spending the evening in GA and arriving in Orlando on Wednesday. We will be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a couple of nights and then driving to the port on Saturday morning.

In regards to the expensive flights: have you tried other airports within a reasonable distance from your home? The prices from one airport to another can be wildly different. For instance, if I fly to Colorado Springs from Richmond, VA., the round-trip cost is $1400. If I drive two-hours north to DC, the cost is $400. However, if I want to fly to Orlando, it's $250 from Richmond and $500 from DC. Long story short...it may be worth the time to drive to another airport if the savings are significant enough.

OK...I've contributed my quarterly post. I guess it's time to fade back in the shadows and watch the posts...(although I may sound a bit cavalier, I am actually REALLY looking forward to the cruise!)

Ciao for now!!

 

[nhpgator]

we just booked on this cruise - can't wait. My DH, 2 DD 4 and 7 years old will be sailing with you all. We'll see how it goes this time - we are in a GTY room so don't know our room number yet. But we would love to do a FE if anyone is up for it.

 

[AdventureLover67]

nhpgator-Welcome aboard!

I've been meaning to put my two cents in lately but seem to be in a constant hurry.....surely the same for many of the cruisers!

For the first time cruisers a FE is a "Fish Extender" that you hang from outside your cabin door (yes, if you google it you WILL find it and for those who are "craft challenged" just go to ebay and order one). For the people who sign up, they take turns putting little goodies in each day. Kind of like a secret Santa kind of thing but you usually know who the gifter is for the day. We did it last cruise and got everything from little candies to a really cool pirate bag! Some other things were pens, pencils, stickers, magnets, handmade picture frames, a CD with "cruise music", travel size soaps and lotions. You name it, it was in there!
We had a lot of fun both giving and getting goodies and I think those with children really enjoy it.

I think it's about time to nail down our choices for excursions and one we are strongly considering is in St. Maarten's the Downhill Mountain Trek (or something like that). Has anyone heard anything positive or negative about it?

Oh yes, for those with little ones, I know somewhere on the official Disney Cruise line site there is a tab or dropdown area that lists appropriate ages for each excursion along with activity level (easy, intermediate, advanced).
By the way, only 105 days till we cruise!!

 

[AdventureLover67]

They do indeed have 2 shows per night..one for early dining and one for the late...we were in late seating and LOVED it! We saw the new Villian's show in April and it was a very good show...We missed the Golden Mickey's last time but heard it was great...so we will def. be there this time! The entire family (even dad) enjoyed the shows!


Who's doing pirate night?

Can we leave next week? I'm getting into planning mode!

Thanks for update on the show! We can't wait to go see it!

I know our travel mates will do pirate night. They go 100% decked out.
Not sure yet if we will or not. Don's kind of like a cat with water playing dress up!

 

[nhpgator]

we always do pirate night - some cruises full out-others just pirate shirts but costumes for the girls

 

[poizenivey]

Pirate Night Disney Magic 4/2010

Here's a pic of our pirate costumes from our cruise in April...cannot wait!!!

 

[AdventureLover67]

poizenivy-Cute pic! I love the little "pirate skirt"!

 

[skylynx]

Argh...have to jump ship. Old job ending and luckily have a new contract to go to but can't be gone that week in November. Lucky to be able to make the change before the paid in full date! We'll still go down to WDW in November, but just for a long weekend. We moved this cruise to a 7 night Mexican Riviera on Wonder in February. Hope you all have a wonderful time!

 

[AdventureLover67]

Argh...have to jump ship. Old job ending and luckily have a new contract to go to but can't be gone that week in November. Lucky to be able to make the change before the paid in full date! We'll still go down to WDW in November, but just for a long weekend. We moved this cruise to a 7 night Mexican Riviera on Wonder in February. Hope you all have a wonderful time!

Hope you have a wonderful time and best of luck with the new contract!

Safe travels to you and your family!

 

[JoRo]

Hi

I was looking at cruise critic boards and found these tours on the island of St Maarten Bernards and Joyces - so questions?

Has anyone taken one with/out small kids, we like the private affair...like to stop at local stores and get local liquors, spices and sauces - everything else too...

Anyone want to join a family of 5 and go with us that has small kids, Ours are 2 and 4 but should be "ok" without nap.

We thought this might be more fun then a cruise tour.
They are suppose to have buses so we "shouldnt" need car seat

Thoughts?

Lisa

 

[JoRo]

ok more

Looks like we might be able to do all of these things with Joyce - with in reason want to enjoy the day

Butterly Farm, Maho and Orient Beaches, ....then below is quote from Cruise Critic

"French side in the craft market. The curry is excellent! I also walked to the ruin fort that overlook the bay on the French side.
I mentioned to Joyce of my love of hot sauce and local rum. She took me to a local shop not near the tourist area. The woman running it some of the best homemade hot sauce (very, very hot !) and the local rum in colorful handpainted bottles were a big hit as gifts.
I mentioned that I wanted to eat lunch somewhere with a local flavor. Ms. Joyce took me to a small restaurant next to a supermarket (that supermarket had great prices on liquors too!). The goat curry,fried plantains, rice and peas were good!!!"

 

[Cbettencourt]

Hey All! This will be our second cruise but we are bringing my parents this time and they have never been anywhere! Should be interesting!

Cbettencourt
Christine & Jorge (DH)
John (DGP) & Judith (DGM) ~ not sure what Grandpa and Grandma short forms are but these were my best guesses!
Sarah (4.5)
7122 - Early

 

[gwoman100]

nhpgator-Welcome aboard!

I've been meaning to put my two cents in lately but seem to be in a constant hurry.....surely the same for many of the cruisers!

For the first time cruisers a FE is a "Fish Extender" that you hang from outside your cabin door (yes, if you google it you WILL find it and for those who are "craft challenged" just go to ebay and order one). For the people who sign up, they take turns putting little goodies in each day. Kind of like a secret Santa kind of thing but you usually know who the gifter is for the day. We did it last cruise and got everything from little candies to a really cool pirate bag! Some other things were pens, pencils, stickers, magnets, handmade picture frames, a CD with "cruise music", travel size soaps and lotions. You name it, it was in there!
We had a lot of fun both giving and getting goodies and I think those with children really enjoy it.

I think it's about time to nail down our choices for excursions and one we are strongly considering is in St. Maarten's the Downhill Mountain Trek (or something like that). Has anyone heard anything positive or negative about it?

Oh yes, for those with little ones, I know somewhere on the official Disney Cruise line site there is a tab or dropdown area that lists appropriate ages for each excursion along with activity level (easy, intermediate, advanced).
By the way, only 105 days till we cruise!!

Do we sign up for the FE in here?

 

[Yunchman]

My DF and I are getting super excited about the cruise! 3 months PEOPLE!! WAHOO!! We cannot wait to get on board and relax, plus we are excited about getting married on CC, yay! I am most looking forward to the wedding of course but also the activities and as I said relaxing and looking at the beautiful view! Another thing I am looking forward to is, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE to cook, but I also love not having to cook on the cruise for seven days and eating delicious food that looks as pretty as it tastes delish!

Anyways I was just feeling super excited today realizing there are only three months to go so thought I would share my giddiness!

 

[JoRo]

So it was "hot" here in Seattle area about 85 today and it made me think about how much I like the shade...so that made me think about the cruise

Having never taken a Disney cruise to Castaway Cay are there enough sun umbrellas for everyone? I am sure its first come first serve so what do you recommend, have the DH get off the ship first thing and run ???

Thoughts?

 

[Cbettencourt]

I second the question... do we sign up for FE's here?

Let me know!
Christine

 

[Davids-Coco]

FE: Absolutely, sign up here... Just put that you want to participate and your room number, and I will start a list on our main page/post!

I am going to work right now on updating our cruise list as well...

EVERYONE! Please check that I have your correct information for the roll call and let me know if there are any changes. Thank you.

 

[poizenivey]

So it was "hot" here in Seattle area about 85 today and it made me think about how much I like the shade...so that made me think about the cruise

Having never taken a Disney cruise to Castaway Cay are there enough sun umbrellas for everyone? I am sure its first come first serve so what do you recommend, have the DH get off the ship first thing and run ???

Thoughts?

There were PLENTY of chairs and umbrellas..if you want close to the water, though...you may want to send DH out as soon as we dock! We got there late, as we were in no hurry..but still got chairs and umbrellas just not water front. We went and played in the water with the girls for a little while and then they wanted to go over to the kids club on the island and play so we took them over there and they had a BLAST! SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN!!!!