November 10, 2007 - MAGIC - Eastern

[woody73]

YES the Pirate Party is a lot of fun! It starts out with lots of dancing and then the show starts ending with lots of Fireworks and the food buffets on deck. . .

I agree!

Woody

 

[PurplePrincess4]

I believe (not having cruised yet either) that it means that the Magic will anchor in the harbor near Charlotte Amalie, and not tie up at the dock (Havensight). So they will bring us to shore in boats.....experienced cruisers - is that right? Not an optimal situation, but what can you do?

When I was on Carnival and Holland America we were tendered to shore in St. Thomas and all I can say is The waves were pretty intense!

 

[woody73]

OK tendering means that DCL will be using the life boats on board to move people from the ship to shore that day. If you are on a DCL shore excursion you will have your meeting time on your tickets and location and then they will get you to your tender. If you are not a DCL shore excursion and want to get off as soon as the ship clears you probably won't be able to. priority is given to the shore excursion time people. they will have a location that morning to be able to obtain a tender time if you are willing to wait around until they have room. if you are doing a shore excurison not thru DCL please contact them and let them know you might not be off right away. this has happened to us before in acapulco. we had booked a shore excursion with a private company and informed them of that we will probably be tendering that day. of course they said that happens sometimes and they said they would wait for a period of time but totally understood.
OK i know its long winded but does it help or hurt.

I think this is very helpful information. The only thing I would add is that the last time we tendered at St. Thomas, we did not take a life boat. We took a passenger ferry boat that seated many dozens of people.

Woody

 

[been2marceline]

ok, but why does it happen to tendered vs not to tendered???

In maritime speak, a "tender" is a vessel whose function is to provide services to a larger ship, the term is taken from to "tend" or handle tasks. ( The root, I beleive is "tendere" or to handle in Latin ).

When a cruise ship visits a port, it can either dock at a fixed platform or anchor out, usually in a protected body of water ( bay, anchorage ).

If the ship cannot dock, smaller ships / boats referred to as "tenders", are used to transfer passengers and cargo from shore to the anchored vessel.

What it means to us, is if we are tendered, that we won't be able to simply walk off the ship, but we will have to transfer to shore in one of these boats, hence the worries about getting to shore in time for non-DCL excursions.

For DCL provided excursions, the excursion operators must agree in advance, to accomodate any delays in transferring participants to or from the excursions.

In exchange DCL agrees to have the ship wait for any passengers that get delayed in getting back to the ship because of tendering delays or any other issue that occurs during an DCL provided excursion.

The reasons that ships may not be able to dock are many, scheduling, contract issues, weather ( usually in the opposiste case ) or the simple lack of adequate facilites.

HTH

 

[woody73]

ok, so what does it mean for us.......it not the best situation possible is that it????

St. Thomas is one of the most popular ports in the Caribbean, and more cruise ships arrive than can actually dock. So some ships will anchor, and their passengers will take a tender to shore.

We tendered the last time we were at St. Thomas, and I found it no more difficult than stepping onto an escalator. But it can be a challenge for some, especially those with mobility issues.

Woody

 

[yndygo]

Well I've tendered before, but was hoping we wouldn't have to with the DD... ah well... it's better than a water taxi!!

Thanks for the info that we are tendering in St. T's... I'll still keep my fingers crossed that we end up docking there instead... but since we're not doing much there excursion-wise, I guess it just means we won't hurry down to the boats after breakfast.

 

[FrenchSnowWhite]

If I understand correctly, it means that they will be a hole lot of ships....!!!!

And thats we we won't be able to dock.........

Oh! boy, me and small boats don't get along very much......hope it won't make me sick

BTW 33 days

 

[PurplePrincess4]

I can't believe how close we are! I am so flipping excited and worried at the same time. I am praying that sickness stays away....as I have been saying to my kids get "sick now not in a month!"

Repeat after me "SICKIES, SICKIES, STAY AWAY, SICKIES, SICKIES STAY AWAY" !

Anyone care to list your excusions if you planned any? I have got kids that are too young for most excursions. Not much planned for us at all.

Just Mark and I Are doing the9 Metre Regatta in St. Martin (may cancel after seeing the pics, may be too much. I'm afraid we could get terribly Sea Sick)

The only other thing we were planning is Coral World and Coki Beach on our own in St. Thomas. Is the snorkeling any good there?

 

[PurplePrincess4]

Check out this link I found on another post. No wonder the most recent cruisers have had high seas! Praying for calm in a month!


Originally Posted by My3sonscruisn
http://www.weather.com/maps/maptype/...ite_large.html

This is the link to the current weather radar in the Carribean

 

[FrenchSnowWhite]

I cannot beleive this.............hope it all clears up for us .....

 

[3lilpigsnprincess]

I went online to check my cruise excursions and noticed that our dolphin encounter is not listed anymore. I can't even find it on the options to select. Anyone know what happened?

I did a search onthe main cruise thread, but couldn't find anything current.

What # can I call to get more info?

 

[leslielightfoot]

I went online to check my cruise excursions and noticed that our dolphin encounter is not listed anymore. I can't even find it on the options to select. Anyone know what happened?

I did a search onthe main cruise thread, but couldn't find anything current.

What # can I call to get more info?

i have read somewhere on this board that it is cancelled.

 

[buf68]

oops, someone already replied....

 

[been2marceline]

Just Mark and I Are doing the 9 Metre Regatta in St. Martin (may cancel after seeing the pics, may be too much. I'm afraid we could get terribly Sea Sick)

I upgraded - I'm doing the 12 Meter Regatta

It all depends on the sizes of the waves - they won't take the boats out in too much wind or too high of a wave - they are racing boats and are not built for big wave action.

They have no desire to wash "breakfast" off the boats, beleive me.

Now through the first week of November can be very active weather wise in the Carribean.

Looking at the historical data, the average wind speed is about 9-12 mph - meaning 1 to 3 waves, but know one can tell if we get better or worse weather until we get there.

 

[buf68]

Does anyone whose been there before have ideas for VERY inexpensive things to do on St. Marteen? DH and I are on our own there and we thought about just exploring off the boat, but I'm not sure how much there is to do....any ideas?

 

[mjofishc]

I have got kids that are too young for most excursions. Not much planned for us at all.

Just Mark and I Are doing the9 Metre Regatta in St. Martin (may cancel after seeing the pics, may be too much. I'm afraid we could get terribly Sea Sick)

The only other thing we were planning is Coral World and Coki Beach on our own in St. Thomas. Is the snorkeling any good there?

Same situation with us. I am doing the Regatta while DW gets a massage. In St Thomas we are doing the Atlantis sub.

 

[Phelpsie70]

Wow, this thread was really hopping since I last checked yesterday! I guess a lot of people had today off for the holiday.

As for excursions, my husband is doing the Regatta- he loves boats of all kinds. On the other hand, I hate small boats and want no part of that excursion so my son and I are staying on the ship. We are doing Coral World and Coki on our own in St. Thomas. I've read that the snorkeling is pretty good at Coki, and if you pay for admission to Coral World, you can put your stuff in a locker there and walk over to the beach. Our only other excursion is the stingrays at Castaway Cay. We signed up late for that one, so our time was noon. Not the greatest time, but I guess we'll miss the lunch crowd.

Michele

 

[Tink's Mommy]

Just found this thread over the weekend. Myself(28), DH(29), and DD(3) will be setting sail on the 10th. First Disney cruise for all. DH and I have been on 2 prior cruises and loved them.

DH read on another board tonight that the last trip for the Magic saw 25ft seas the first night.

Look forward to going back through past posts.

 

[Lauri]

Welcome Tink's Mommy!

Anyone with GTY's get their cabin assignments yet? A few days ago, there were at least 8 choices in each room category, and now most of them are down to 2-3 choices or GTY. Sounds like a lot of people want to sail with us . Just a little unusual that they haven't raised prices with so few cabins now available. What do you think?

Lauri

 

[smye1stdisneycruise]

Hey all! Just checked on line and saw that our family was assigned stateroom # 5639. Anyone know anything about the logistics of this room? Is it a category 12 or were we lucky enough to get an upgrade? Any info would be appreciated.

Marnie