Nov 8-15 7-day "Eastern" Cruise on the Magic

[Family-of-4]

Hello all,

Heard about the disboards from a fellow cruiser last week and thought we'd check it out. This was our first cruise and we LOVED it. We'll definitely be back on DCL in a couple of years. This cruise definitely had a couple of hiccups in the itinerary. Hurricane Palermo turned the cruise from an Eastern itinerary into a modified Western

Sun - Castaway Cay
Mon - At sea
Tue - Cozumel
Wed - Costa Maya
Thu - At Sea
Fri - Castaway Cay

Grand Cayman was not an option as Palermo caused damage. Not sure why we didn't go to Key West. Disney was able to get a stop in at Costa Maya - not a normal Disney stop - and get some shore excursions set up. This was only the second cruise ship into Costa Maya since Hurricane Dean devastated the area last year. We did end up meeting the Coast Guard just offshore of Key West on Thursday for an emergency medical evacuation. We still arrived on-time to Castaway Cay on Friday. Overall, considering the circumstances, DCL did a great job with the itinerary as we had beautiful weather for the entire week. The only thing we didn't like was the pushy sales people in Cozumel and Costa Maya - is the shopping experience the same in Grand Cayman, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, etc? We feel like our house is swaying (how long does that last?), but we'll still be back on the water in 2010!

 

[wuv tigger]

We were on the Magic 1 Nov - 8 Nov and heard that y'all's trip was rescheduled to a modified Western.

Good to hear that y'all have rebooked.

The only thing you might have missed on Grandy Cayman was 7 Mile Beach and the turtle farm. We sure could have NOT visited HELL and spent the time elsewhere. That was a total waste of our families time.

 

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

Hey, glad you guys were able to sail!! We were leaving the ship as you got on, so we were very sad on the 8th! Hope you had a grand time.

I didn't hear about the hurricane until Thursday (had missed the Captain's announcement on Wed) We had downpours all day Tuesday when we were in Grand Cayman, thought the skies looked bad, and guess they were!

The swaying stops in a few days. I swear I was in the bathroom in the airport and thought we were moving!!

We didn't get off in Cozumel for the exact reason you didn't like it. We didn't like all "hackers" trying to get us to buy stuff or braid the girls hair! I think the guys with the machine guns at the end of the pier kinda threw us too. Not sure if they were there this time, but they were in 2004!!

Looking forward to hearing more! What stateroom were you in? Did they try to start the "Photopass" type thing? THe kiosks were there when we were aboard, but they didn't start that week!

Welcome home, and sorry you had to leave the "Magic"

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

Sounds like you had a good time. We were on the October 11-18 Eastern cruise and missed St.Thomas because of hurricane Omar. The only pushy salespeople we found were in Nassau. In St.Maarten we never had any problems and people were actually very helpfull.

 

[dvcmember]

My kids are asking about Pikey- We leave on Nov 22nd for thanksgiving on the magic> Thanks Barb

 

[Mozart]

My kids are asking about Pikey- We leave on Nov 22nd for thanksgiving on the magic> Thanks Barb

Pikey is not onboard the Magic as of the Nov 8th sailing. Last I heard he was working on the Wonder.

 

[mom23boyz]

We'd love to know...what was your dining rotation and theme nights? Did you use the Stack?

 

[Holly&Joesmommy]

has dcl started decorating for christams yet?

 

[Family-of-4]

Hey, glad you guys were able to sail!! We were leaving the ship as you got on, so we were very sad on the 8th! Hope you had a grand time.

I didn't hear about the hurricane until Thursday (had missed the Captain's announcement on Wed) We had downpours all day Tuesday when we were in Grand Cayman, thought the skies looked bad, and guess they were!

The swaying stops in a few days. I swear I was in the bathroom in the airport and thought we were moving!!

We didn't get off in Cozumel for the exact reason you didn't like it. We didn't like all "hackers" trying to get us to buy stuff or braid the girls hair! I think the guys with the machine guns at the end of the pier kinda threw us too. Not sure if they were there this time, but they were in 2004!!

Looking forward to hearing more! What stateroom were you in? Did they try to start the "Photopass" type thing? THe kiosks were there when we were aboard, but they didn't start that week!

Welcome home, and sorry you had to leave the "Magic"

No, no photopass. We didn't even see the kiosks. DW was even wondering why they didn't use photopass as in the parks - it would save them a ton of money from printing all the pictures and displaying them in Shutters. No one brought us our meals today and we have work and school tomorrow - Oh, to be back on-board the Magic!

 

[Family-of-4]

My kids are asking about Pikey- We leave on Nov 22nd for thanksgiving on the magic> Thanks Barb

Not sure if Pikey is a character or a cast member, but we didn't see anyone by that name.

 

[Family-of-4]

We'd love to know...what was your dining rotation and theme nights? Did you use the Stack?

We have a 9 and 6 year old so didn't use the stack. Our family mostly stuck together, but the kids did enjoy the Oceaneers Lab and Club when they did go. Our dining rotation was LAPAPLA (for some reason it changed from the original rotation with the change in itinerary - our room cards had the original rotation but we were then issued dining tickets with the new rotation. Our servers were Ivo and Passayu and were top notch - they really made our experience magical! Monday or Tuesday night was formal night, Thursday night was semi-formal, and either Tuesday or Wednesday was pirate party.

 

[Family-of-4]

has dcl started decorating for christams yet?

They were decorating the Magic as we disembarked on Saturday. Our timing was not good in that regard - missed Halloween and Christmas decor.

 

[mindelmouse]

My kids are asking about Pikey- We leave on Nov 22nd for thanksgiving on the magic> Thanks Barb

I was on the Nov 1-8 cruise on the magic....who or what is pikey???? I'm pretty good with Disney characters...and I've never heard of one names Pikey...could that be a crew member????

 

[Mozart]

Pikey is a crew member and part of the entertainment staff on board the ship. He's one of the people you'll see dancing during the aventures away and Pirates in the Carribbean parties on stage, as well as organizing games (Pikey has done alot of the bingo contests in the past) and the like.

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

Glad you enjoyed it despite the change in itinerary.