Nanaheads take over the Magic reunion cruise

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Just a quick note of explanation:
Bananaheads is the name of a great group of people who posted here on the boards in 06 and cruised together last November. We had such a great time we did a reunion cruise this November on 11/24. Plus we are going again in 08 and 09.


This was our 15th Disney cruise. Each one keeps getting better and better and this one was no exception.
Many of our group from last year decided to go again this year, so it was a big reunion for many of us from the dis boards, plus our new friends we met this year on the cruise meets thread.
We live 90 minutes from the port but we decided to spend Friday night at the Radisson to make saturday morning less hectic. On the way to the hotel we went by OIA to pick up a couple from our cruise meet thread, Bill and Shell. With them was another dis family , Cheri and Bill.



At the Radisson we had a few families we met up with before the cruise. It was cold outside in the evening but we braved the cold as long as we could chatting up a storm as if we had known each other for years. It was cold enough the man who was performing live music by the pool even moved inside!

We got up 4:00 am.. saturday and took, Josh (dis teen) and headed to the channel about 4:45 a.m. to watch the Magic come up the channel and dock.
It was AWESOME to see her all lit up, plus we knew we were the next bunch of guests to board.
Cruisemutt (Bill) whimped out on us, he was suppose to come along too. I wont let him forget that since I am several years older and still managed to get up at 4:00 a.m. Ha Ha!!
He is the man in the hot tub pictured above at the back of the tub.

This is me at 4:30 a.m. waiting for Josh/

The Magic was beautiful all lit up in the dark as she made her way up the channel and turned and docked. We saw a couple of fishermen who must of thought we were crazy tourists to be standing out on the dock in the cold at that hour just to watch the Magic come in. Ha Ha!!

We got back to the room around 6:00 a.m. and repacked some, then had a nice buffet breakfast at the Radisson where we saw several friends. Thanks Bill for picking up the tab.

It seemed like forever waiting for 10 a.m. to arrive so we could get into the terminal.
we arrived at 10 but they wernt letting people in quite yet, so we were directed to park in a line of cars across the street. We soon discovered the car in front of us was another diser,
Dawn and her boys whom we met at the hotel.
We all had our bright yellow banana head reunion shirts on .
we got out and visited and took a few photos of each other to kill time while waiting for the terminal to open up.

Dis friends in our bananahead shirts

More dis friends waiting to get into the terminal

Finally about 15 minutes later we had pulled into the terminal, unloaded our luggage and it was time to let the Magic begin!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

As we waited in line to go through security, we saw many yellow t-shirts among the crowds
By the time we had checked in there was probably 20 of us in there visiting and taking photos of each other. We all watch as more yellow shirts appeared at the top of the escalator, which was very exciting to meet new friends and get reaquainted with old ones from last year.

Soon one side of the terminal was a sea of yellow shirts. But one member of our group, Wendyleigh, had a family reunion of 57 people to honor their grandma, they were 5 generations who had their family matching shirts . They had 17 staterooms and they all had matching door signs which they changed each day. by the end of the cruise Grandma Tick Tock was well known by half the ship, maybe more. She is an awesome lady whom we had the priviledge of visiting with many times over the week. I guarantee nobody on the ship had a better time than she did!!

Grandma Tick Tock on CC

Soon it was time to board about 11:45 a.m. We had boarding pass 4, so it was a short wait. Soon we heard our names announced as we entered the beautifully decorated atrium. I love cruising at Christmas time to see the decorations on the ship.

We zipped up to Topsiders for lunch, then off to take photos around the ship while waiting to get to the cabin to leave off our carry on luggage. There were yellow shirts everywhere!!
1:30 we went to our room, unpacked the carry on, put up door signs and fish extender.

this is sideways but this is our extender

Then to drop off a matte frame to be signed for a friend.
Next up.
a fun filled dis board meet!!

 

[Momof1+2]

I love reading your TR! What is really cool is I was sleeping on the Magic as she pulled into port. What is uncool is they made us get off. I have pictures of you leaving if you want to PM me for them.

Erin

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Oops, one of the above picture was NOT in the terminal but at the meet in the Promenade, sorry.


2:45 P.M. at the Promenade lounge was our dis meet.
It was AWESOME!! we filled half the lounge .
Many of us had cruised together the year before so it was extra speical to see them again and to meet all the new nana heads ( our dis group name Banana heads). The new people felt like old friends right from the start.
Many have signed up to cruise with us again next year!! Our group continues to grow each year.
We had a gift exchange and many brought gifts and goodies for all the childresn.
Then we gathered on the stairs near Parrot cay for a group photo.
One of our disers is a professional photographer and took our photo.
Chris did an AWESOME job!! accept he wasnt in the photo.

soon the time for the safety drill was arriving so we all headed for our rooms.

after the drill we had the Adventures away party on decks 9 and 10.
The Elite house band was quite good.

haracters at the party

bananaheads at the party

Towards the end of the party I headed for deck 10 with my Mickeyhand on to wave a tthe people along the shore. We had 5 dolpins along side the ship as we pulled out.
That was so great!!! We had only seen them once before. We didnt get a picture but Bill did and we will get a copy from him.

I wanted to stay longer on deck but we had 5:30 dining so it was back to change and off to Animators Palate.

We had linked our reservations with other Dis families but they divided us with 3 tables. I was NOT happy with that, we were even missing another family?
They said tomrrow they would give us 2 long tables which is fine because we could play musical chairs all we wanted to visit. But some how our lost family never got seated with us?
Next time I am checking in with the head dinimg manager as soon as we get on the ship so this doesnt happen again. i will have a list of everyone who was linked together so nobody gets left out.
This really made all the dinners extra special during the week.

Dinner was fun!!

I have to admit that according to many including my DH the quality of the food had gone downhill since last year, plus the menu seemed smaller. It was good, just not great.

After dinner we zipped back to change our clothes, then off to the tree lighting ceremony in the atrium.
Grandma Tick Tock and some of her family were chosen to help light the tree. She was holding Mickeys hand the whole time. I didnt think she was going to let him go!!
The pixie dust lit the tree and then the snow fell, it was Magical to see.

we were tired after getting up at 4 a.m. so we skipped the Welcome aboard show, we had seen many of them anyway.

We heard some music by a duo in the Promenade lounge then turned in by 9:00 to finish unpacking and to bed.

Tomarrow a fun filled day at sea.

 

[mandymouse]

A great start Kathy, I've been waiting for you to post your trip report and I can't wait for the next installment

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Sunday Sea day
Beautiful sunny weather all week long. Highs in the 80's. One day we had some clouds but I must of been inside so I never saw them
The waves were a little bouncy 8 to 13 feet. For the new cruisers it was touch and go, but for us it felt good. If the ride is too smooth I dont feel like I am cruising.

We were up by 5:00 a.m.
watched the sun come up, then off to breakfast at Topsiders. it was good accept for the biscuits were hard as rocks.

We then walked decks 4, 9 and 10 where we ran into many of our Dis friends.
Soon we were going to a trivia game. It was fun, but of course we didnt win, I believe we got 20 out of 25 which for us was very good.

We met Danielle for the first time, she spotted us there. I enjoyed that.

Then we headed for a seminar about digital cameras. Afterwards the man gave us some good tips about using our camera which was really nice.

Lunch today was an Italian theme and we didnt really care for it, so we were off to get a cheeseburger by the pool and fresh fruit at Goofys galley, then back to the buffet for dessert.


At 1:00 p.m. by the adult pool the ladies from our dis group at a meet.
I felt sorry for those around us, we seemed to run them off. We had a great visit and many had plenty of glasses of wine too. A good looking CM dropped by to say hello and one lady who shall remain nameless shouted "Are you the male stripper we ordered?"

He grinned and whispered loudly, Ladies this is Disney, he winked and started to walk away and one lady, who will again remain nameless yelled, We have cash!!
He quickly made his escape Ha Ha Ha!!! I bet he doesnt stop and greet a group of ladies like that again. Poor guy!! It really was funny to see his face.

some of the ladies at our meet

At this point I did leave to meet DH to see the matinee of The Golden Mickeys.
They did make a few changes in the show and they were very good changes. So even if you have seen it before, catch it again because there are a couple of changes.

we returned to the room with a snack of fruit to find we had been tagged on our door.
We had a great tag game among disers who wanted to play all week, so I signed it and left it on someone elses door. All week long we had neat surprizes left in our fish extender and banana head group door signs left on the door.
Thankyou to everyone who left all the presents and goodies all week long, it was a lot of fun to check each time we returned to the room to see what had arrived while we were out.

Late afternoon did get a little over cast and cooled off a bit, although I thought it felt nice outside.

we went inside and visited with many of our new friends, then back to the room for a quick nap so we could manage to stay up later that night.

After being refreshed we headed to the Promenade Lounge for live Music for awhile.

We're not much for dressing up and it was formal night so we decided to go to Topsiders for dinner. They have a good menu and it is sit down service in the evening. The use place matts on the tables and dim the lights some. We had a porterhouse steak that melted in your mouth. The do have a small salad bar if you want,
Dinner only takes about 45 minutes for us in there which is really nice.

That evening the clubs had music and dancing and an adult comedy show with Taylor Mason.

But by 11:00 these old grandparents are pooped out, so off to bed.

Tomarrow is another sea day.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Monday Sea Day

Today we set the clocks ahead an hour.

It was a beautiful morning again, we were up by 6 a.m. to get the most out of the day.
We again ate at Topsiders for breakfast,then a stroll around the outer decks where we of course ran into many dis people.

We decided to check our e-mail to make sure everything was ok at home, then off to The Art of Entertaining series. Today is Dazzling Desserts. It was a white chocolate bomb. We sat with Mutt, Christine and Joey. I always love the cooking demos.

We then decided to relax around the adult pool until lunch.
The theme for lunch was Asian which we are not fond of so we decided to give room service a try. We had used it on the Wonder and it was great.

Unfortunately the BLT we ordered tasted old, had one mushy tomatoe slice and one tiny piece of lettuce which covered 1/2 of one side of the sandwich, It was terrible, we couldnt eat it. We also ordered a bowl of mixed fruit which was all mushy and the fruit looked as if it had been frozen then thawed. If you've ever seen fruit after it thaws you know what I am talking about. I know they didnt freeze it, but perhaps it was in a cooler where it got too cold and it did partially freeze it.

We were so diappointed after having great food on the Wonder a few months ago. I know we should of complained but we were pretty mad and didnt want to raise a huge stink!! We were hungry and just wanted to get some good food. so we went to the pool area for pizza which was delicious.

we ventured inside to watch the Mickey 200 in case we knew anyone who was racing.
Sure enough there were a couple of dis families. The cars were all very creative and everyone had a great time. Parker who was with our group won the final race!! YEAH!!
Good job Parker.

Our champion

photo


This afternoon weha d another Art of Entertaining event. Cake and plate decorating.
It was fun and we ran into Mutt again and sat with him right up front. Mutt is a very accomplished cake decorator himself, and the chef took time to talk with him before and after the demonstration which I thought was really nice of him.

Now the weather was getting cloudy and the seas are 13 feet which really isnt all that bad, but for some it was touch and go with their stomachs.
Dinner was at Lumieres tonight.
since we had 2 large tables we played musical chairs so we could visit with everyone at some point during the week. we had the same wait staff so it wasnt a problem for them.

After dinner we listened to some music in the Promenade lounge. The Wave was the duo int here. They were pretty good, but I sitll like Don and Tommie or Dill and Dana better, of course they have to have time off too, so maybe next time we wil catch one of them.

My mind is blanking out a bit on me, but i think this was the evening we saw Disney Dreams.
We love that show but they have added a lot to it and make terrific improvements. Even if you've seen it before, please see it again, they have added a lot of awesome things.

Later that night in Rock n Bar D was live music then Spring break Bash which we didnt care for the Bash so we left. We felt it was geared for 20 year old college students which fits the theme but we are long past those years. Ha Ha !!

So we caught a little family karoake, a small snack and then off to bed.

This beautiful princess was one of our group and she did an awesome job at Karoake!!

Tomarrow St. Maartin


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

St. Maartin

We got up about 5:30 a.m. so we could be up on deck early to watch us pull in to dock.
We ran into Bill up on deck 10 too. We docked about 7 a.m..
It was warm and sunny, suppose to be high 80's today.

We zipped to Topsiders for breakfast where we saw Brantley and his family and Dawn and her family.

Then off early to go shopping.
We took the water taxi over to the shopping area where we bought some pirate t-shirts and tried to avoid some pushy vendors. There were lots of great stuff and low prices.

front of my new shirt

back of my new shirt

We needed to be back by 11:30 a.m. for lunch so we could meet by 12:45 for our excursion, snorkeling at Pinel Island.
Someone called and left a message to meet at Animators Palate instead of the Promenade lounge but when we arrived nobody was there?

So we went to the Promenade lounge just before they were leaving for the tour. That was close!! I don't know who called and pretended to be a CM but we almost missed our excursion due to it, we did tell them about it.

But then we got on a bus and got a short tour of the island as we went to the other side to catch a tiny boat to go 5 minutes across the bay to Pinel island. I thought the boat was too small for how many people were in it and all the lfe jackets were at the back of the boat,not the safest situation in my opinion.

We walked behind the beach where there was a couple of topless sunbathers to where the gear was stored. After Greg got his gear ( i dont swim, just watched) We walked down a dirt path to a rocky area where they had a ramp out into the water for everyone to use.
The water was only 5 to 10 feet deep but a rocky shore so it was difficult to get in and out without using the ramp.

The guides were great and gave personal instruction to all new snorkelers and them swam with them and through out chum to bring in the fish.
Unfortunately the water was quite murky that day so Greg didnt see a lot of fish, but those he did see where beautiful.

About 90 minutes to snorkel, then back to the beach to return the gear and ready to get in those TINY boats again. One note to anyone taking this excursion. If you want to change to dry clothes leave early as there are 2 unisex bathrooms, one single stall so it will line up fast and take a long time to do.
One thing I wondered about as we returned. Our driver was driniking a Heiniekn (beer)
I know beer is cheaper than water but that seemed wrong to me?? What do you guys think?? To me anyone who is in charge of peoples lives shouldnt take in any alcohol while on the job.

By the time we returned to the ship it was 4:45 P.M. We had 5:30 dinner so we had to rush a bit.

It was Pirate night and I had my pirate clothes to put on. We had an exceptiona mount of people dressing up this time. it was great. We made it on time.

At dinner we heard from a tablemate that one of our dis friends decided to try out the clothing optional beach by going topless. You know who you are and you have more courage than I do!! My hats off to your courage, but thats all I'm taking off.
Ha Ha Ha!!! We love you!

After dinner we checked our 3-mail again to see how our doggies were doing.

Seas were a little rough again 13 feet or close to it.

As usual the pirate party was packed so I snuck back to our verandah just as the fire works were about to start and I watched them from there in the peace and quiet of our room


we turned in by 11:00 P.M. because we knew tomarrow was an early morning for customs

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

St. Thomas

Early morning for 6:15 A.M. customs because we had a 7:45 A.M. excursion.
Customs went smooth and quickly and we were at Topsiders for a quick breakfast in no time at all.

Then we met at Animators Palate for our tour.
Blackbeards Historical walking tour.

First we had to tender and our boat took us to Havensite dock which is where you normally dock. The regular tender boats go to the other side of the bay.
There we caught a open air truck for a partial island tour with a few stops for views from the mountain top.

Some of the views were awesome, the photos don't do them justice.

When we stopped at the Castle ( which isnt a castle) we got out to see the courtyard and gift shop and restrooms but 5 minutes later our guide was saying we need to go because another group at arrived. So we really didnt get to see much of it.

Our guide was excellant and really knew his history. There were statues of lots of famous pirates all over the hillside.

Greg wrestling with a statue

We walked downward as we toured the area and 2 historical homes and one excavation site which was an archiological dig.
They said it was 99 steps. The houses were beautifuly refuburished but very HOT.


Eventualy we wound up in a gift shop with free punch for about 5 minutes. I was waiting topay for a couple of souvenirs as they started out. The guide said they would wait for us outside as there was another lady waiting too. So if you do this tour, it moves fast!!

By then we were down by the shopping district directy across from the tender boat.
We were hot and tired by now so we only did a few minutes of shopping then back to the ship to cool off and have a late lunch.

After lunch we went to the adult pool to relax, then we relaxed on deck 4 and visited with more dis board friends..

4:00 was all aboard.

We deiced to go to Topsiders for dinner tonight since we were tired and wanted a quieter evening. When we arrived it seemed everyone else had the same idea.
There was along line. Luckily for us we saw dis friends at a large table and there were a couple of empty chairs for us, so we got right in. But they were lined up the entire time we had dinner.

This is a HUGE Porterhouse steak that melts in your mouth!!

Rich PuPura was performing tonight so we went to the show and it was hilarious as usual.
one of the dis kids got on stage, WAY TO GO RACHEL!!!

After the show we walked the ship and put things in friends fish extenders, then shopped in the store a bit before retiring for the night.

We spent lots of time taking off the wall photos of others in our group.
One certain man took a photo of us snoozing on deck 4 last year so I was out for revenge for a photo to post of him. I got a few but here is my favorite. I actually got it the night before the cruise at The Radisson Hotel.
Here is one of my revenge photos!

tomarrow another great day at sea .

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Sea Day,


we slept in until 7:00 a.m. which is late for us, we are early risers.
Off to Topsiders for breakfast. Biscuits were hard as rocks again?? On the Wonder they are perfect but the last 3 times we sailed on the Magic they were rocks so NO biscuits and gravy for us.

Soon after breakfast we had another Art of Entertaining event, this time it was Stuffed Lemon Chicken with a risotto side dish. It was a fun demonstration with plenty of samples.
All the Chefs during the week were very friendly if you took the time to talke to them.

Then we decided to try our hand at trivia again. We did a little better this time. We got 22 out of 25. But Grandma Tick Tock and her family beat us by 1 point, it was a lot of fun.
You really learn how dumb you are. Ha Ha !!

We decided to go to Shutters to see if we wanted any photos. We did buy 3 pictures.
The others were very good but we have a ton of photos of us in the restaurants already from previous trips, so we were particular about what we bought this time.

We had just enough time to walk the outer decks and visit with friends before lunch.
Today was Seafood day and even though they did have one othe rmeat it wasnt enough to fill us up. We have allergies to seafood, so again we went out on deck for food, then went back to the buffet for dessert.

They had a sugar free chocolate cream puff that was AWESOME!!!

Shortly after lunch they had live music around the pool so we hung out there for a long time with friends, hoping to get more sneaky shots of our friends. It was an all out war with the cameras this time. Everyone was on guard and on the look out for people with cameras.
You would have to of been there to appreciate the humor in it.

Just before dinner at Lumieres we checked our e-mail once more. I will warn you that the service is very slow, so it will eat up your minutes quickly.

Tonight was semi formal night, which means Lobster for dinner.
Oh my gosh, Larry and Trent ate 4 tails each plus the rest of the meal. It was hilarious because they come along and drizzle butter over your Lobster but Trent insisted on a bowl for dipping which they gladly brought, but before he got the dish he kept asking for more and more and more butter.' At our other table Dawn also had 4 tails I believe.
if you havnt cruised DCL before I can tell you these are HUGE tail, not like what Red Lobster would give you.

The rest of the cruise we called Trent the Butter man and Larry the Lobster man. They were great sports about it.
Between our 2 tables we put away 20 lobster tails!!!


I think tonight was Twice Charmed for the show which we have seen and really didnt care for so we skipped it. Instead we had a leisurely evening and went to Rock n Bar D for live music and dancing then Rich PuPura did his adult Cabaret show. He was so funny.
One man in our group had a birthday so someone ask Rich to include him in one of his jokes, which he did. Trey was so embarassed. He will NEVER forget this birthday.

Tonight was the dessert buffet in Lumieres. it smelled heavenly and so far it wasnt line way up. You can eat it there or bring it back to the room with you.
Even if you dont want to eat dessert that late, stop by to see the decor it is great. sorry I didnt get a photo of this, it was awesome to see.

By now it's almost midnight, so we are off to bed.

Tomarrow castaway cay

 

[sherry]

Thank you for sharing, I am looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

CASTAWAY CAY Our favorite place!!

We rose with the sun to a beautiful sunny day headed for 88 degrees.

Off to an early breakfast at Topsiders which we finished in time to go on deck 10 to watch us pull in at CC. Of course many of our dis friends were watching us pull in too.

We docked about 9:15, but wernt allowed off the ship until 9:45, so I packed one of our suitcases while we waited, to make the evening less stressful. I always hate that last evening.

But at least we had the entire day to enjoy the island.

We walked to the beach and saw Captain Jack along the way, and some other friends too.

It was a beautiful 10 minute walk.
After grabbing a shady spot Greg went to get the snorkel gear so he could snorkel, while i just relaxed with my camera in hand . I got several photos of friends that day.
Greg used up the underwater camera and got some great shots of Mickey under the water.

We went to Cookies BBQ for lunch, then took the tram to the adult beach for awhile.
As we returned more friends were just going.

The adult beach will never be the same after this crazy group arrives

Then back to the family area to shop some. They had some new shirts that were on sale so we did buy a few things which we had them send back to the ship for us.

I wanted to be back on the ship by a little before 2 p.m. to go to the movies. I was the only person i knew who hadnt seen the newest Pirates of the Caribbean At Earths End. So we went to see it and I really enjoyed it.

By the time it ended we had 45 minutes to dinner.

So as we dressed i started packing the 2nd suitcase.
Of course the last nights dinner always takes longer as you thank your wait staff and say good bye to your table mates.

After dinner we had to go to Radar Trap by Diversions to pick up the tiems we bought on the island today.. Then it was off to see the farewell show. It was very good, as usual, but always kind of sad because the cruise is almost over.

We finished packing and set the luggage out about 9:30 P.M.
Then off to the clubs for some last minute live music in the clubs and off to bed.

Of course the last mornng we are up early to get every minute of our vacation. Greg went up on deck and watched us pull in ans I packed our carry on bag.

After breakfast we met Bill and Shell in the atrium and got off the ship together.
We dropped them off at OIA in plenty of time for their flight and then drove home where our doggies went nuts after we got home.

It was an AWESOME cruise, with so many good friends. But no time for post cruise blues here, We are all going again on 11/29/08 for the second reunion cruise of the Banana heads.
Care to join us??

Look out Magic we'll be back!!

mom x4,grandma x4

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Here are a few photos I thought you might enjoy.
They are in no particular order:

One of our unsuspecting dis friends.

Me and Pluto

Dis friends by the pool

characters on CC

gingerbread house

wild flower on CC

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Beach on CC

The Flying Dutchman

We always seemed to catch Bill eating

The Magic at St. Maartin

2 beautiful princesses who joined us for dinner

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Parents of the princesses

me and my strong friend

3 of the men from our group got all excited when they saw the fire hydrants.
we told them they were there for Pluto.
here is one of them.

DCL bus

Our LITTLE puppies making sure daddy doesnt leave again. they are 66 and 70 pounds

hope all of you have as magical a cruise as we had!!

mom x4,grandma x4

 

[woogal]

A good looking CM dropped by to say hello and one lady who shall remain nameless shouted "Are you the male stripper we ordered?"

He grinned and whispered loudly, Ladies this is Disney, he winked and started to walk away and one lady, who will again remain nameless yelled, We have cash!!

P.S. I tried later in the week too and he still wouldn't give in

 

[jd99]

Great report Kathy!

 

[mruhaak]

Good job Kathy!

 

[lvstitch]

Thanks Kathy...this was perfect. When I upload my pictures I will add some to your report.

 

[Auntmeme]

Great report Kathy I love all the photos! I have to agree about the food quality, though quite good but not as good as last time.
I especially love your new pirate sea dog t-shirt and wish I had gone shopping, maybe I can find one on the next cruise.