Oct 30 2010 7 Night Western

[dizzi]

Did I read correctly in an earlier post that the Magic will be in dry dock a couple of weeks before our cruise? If so, do we know what exactly they're changing? Flat screen tvs would be nice- we've had them on our other cruises and they somehow make the room feel a lot bigger!

(sorry if this has already been discussed- we just signed up for this cruise the other day and I can't believe there are already so many pages in this thread!)

yeah there is alot already......
And no i dont think it has been discussed......
I wish they one thing they would change would be BETTER SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER.

But i think they could to that without dry dock...........

 

[takemetomickey]

I think they put flat screens on the last time they were in dry dock. We were on the 11/1/2008 western and they had just put them in the rooms, at least I hope I remember correctly.

I hope we can find out what they might change.

Oh! That would be nice! The website photos show a regular TV but I think they are older photos. I wonder what other refreshers they'll do? Maybe well be one of the first to sleep on some nice new sheets!

 

[Pudo]

That's great! We've done all types of rooms (except the suites...someday!) and love the Verandah. We had OV last time and really did miss it, so I think you will probably be hooked.

I managed to get the Roy Disney Royal suite on a 7 day western in 08/06 and haven't been able to go back to a regular stateroom yet. We were a cat 3 for the 15 day repo that brought the Magic back in 08/08, I booked a cat 3 for this cruise, and just booked the Walt Disney Royal suite for a 5 day cruise in 08/11.

I have raised the bar too high and literally have to pay the price, but you only live once so what the heck.

 

[Grandma4ever]

Both the Magic and the Wonder have Flat Screen TV. So that piece is complete. I expect they will update and expand the Outlook bar like they just did on the Wonder. It will be a small cafe and connected to the Cove cafe if I am remembering correctly.

Let not forget the improvments being made to Castaway Cay. Lois

 

[tjbaggott]

Both the Magic and the Wonder have Flat Screen TV. So that piece is complete. I expect they will update and expand the Outlook bar like they just did on the Wonder. It will be a small cafe and connected to the Cove cafe if I am remembering correctly.

Let not forget the improvments being made to Castaway Cay. Lois

I wonder if they will do that to the Outlook bar. I know it was done on the Wonder specifically because the Wonder will be doing Alaskan cruises next summer. I did look beautiful last week though. We took a walk through and it was gorgeous both inside and out. I regret not taking photos of that area though.

 

[Grandma4ever]

I wonder if they will do that to the Outlook bar. I know it was done on the Wonder specifically because the Wonder will be doing Alaskan cruises next summer. I did look beautiful last week though. We took a walk through and it was gorgeous both inside and out. I regret not taking photos of that area though.

It is hard to say. That is an area that is not well used so I suspect that they will do something with it. May be a little different but maybe they will try to make it a space we will use more.

I also suspect that they will try to make it so we will want to continue to cruise on the Magic and Wonder once the new ships are fully into play. Part of that will be their new locations but what else will they put into place.

It will be fun to see what they do as we get closer to our vacation dates. Lois

 

[nenner1]

HA must have been drinking when i posted that.....I willgoover and change it.

THANKYOU!!!!

Yes they are all typos........If thats the excuse you are allowing me to use!!!

LMAO!

I managed to get the Roy Disney Royal suite on a 7 day western in 08/06 and haven't been able to go back to a regular stateroom yet. We were a cat 3 for the 15 day repo that brought the Magic back in 08/08, I booked a cat 3 for this cruise, and just booked the Walt Disney Royal suite for a 5 day cruise in 08/11.

I have raised the bar too high and literally have to pay the price, but you only live once so what the heck.

Oh I know I would be the same way!! The suites are just gorgeous! We were considering getting a Junior Suite on our RCCL cruise but we got a huge price drop on our balcony room so we just kept it (for now...I'm not ruling out an upgrade at the port!)

Welll we have not changed categories but our last 2 cruises we have changed the cruise dates at least once.......This is our second cruise date for2010.

Now when it comes to Hotel stays we change our mind worse than the weather.......DVCProbablly hates when we call them.

Yeah we have changed it three times. I promised my TA no more, I know she cringes when she gets an email from me!

Did I read correctly in an earlier post that the Magic will be in dry dock a couple of weeks before our cruise? If so, do we know what exactly they're changing? Flat screen tvs would be nice- we've had them on our other cruises and they somehow make the room feel a lot bigger!

(sorry if this has already been discussed- we just signed up for this cruise the other day and I can't believe there are already so many pages in this thread!)

Oh! That would be nice! The website photos show a regular TV but I think they are older photos. I wonder what other refreshers they'll do? Maybe well be one of the first to sleep on some nice new sheets!

It is hard to say. That is an area that is not well used so I suspect that they will do something with it. May be a little different but maybe they will try to make it a space we will use more.

I also suspect that they will try to make it so we will want to continue to cruise on the Magic and Wonder once the new ships are fully into play. Part of that will be their new locations but what else will they put into place.

It will be fun to see what they do as we get closer to our vacation dates. Lois

Yes the flat screens are a wonderful addition onboard -the best part is how they are on an arm that extends out from the (? cabinetry) and you can turn it to face you if you are in bed. That was great since we had the baby in a pack & play over towards the coach area of the room so we would draw the curtain when she was asleep then pull the TV over around the curtain so it faced into our area and the light from it didn't bother her!

I'm interested too to see what they do. I would expect some TLC to the staterooms. The last dry dock was very heavy on engine work, plus they did do a lot of painting and carpet replacement (some of it was still going on when we got onboard) But there was nothing done inside the rooms aside form the TV's (so the new sheets may be a possibility!). I know our stateroom report here on the DIS for our last room mentioned a plastered part of the wall in 2006 and it was still there in 2008 so...

Since speculation is heavy (or has it been confirmed?) that the Magic will head over to Europe after the Fantasy comes online, then maybe some of the dry dock additions will focus on retrofits apporopriate for that. It will be interesting to see!

 

[tjbaggott]

So has anyone started a countdown chain yet? If not when do you think you'll start one, how do you plan on making one?

OR

Is this cruise going to be a Surprise for anyone you are travelling with (kids, spouse, other), and thus, like me, CAN'T do a countdown chain.

So because this is a surprise for my kids, I'm trying to think of a way to pass the year. We can't share our excitement and plan together.

So if this is a surprise, how do you plan on Breaking the News?

 

[dizzi]

No I Will not do a countdown chain BUT what i am doing is making sure i dont do what i have done in the past and that is PLAN todo alot of stuff for the cruise and NOT get it done.

Last time i missed out on making my Pjs and a dress cause i ran out of time.

So i have already started my clothing graph and i plan to give myself at least 45-hour every week on my day off to work on clothing AND TOT.

I am doing first day tshirts
Gotta spruce up the Halloween Outfits
Do soemthing for Halloween for the kids as they both dont want what they had this year
Most likely some kind of tshirt for Pirate Night
I have a formal and semi formal dress that need a little sprucing....beads or shimmer or something.


No surprises for us.........This is sort of My DS last hoorraah with us,

How fun to have a surprise cruise!!!!

 

[lsjones]

Does anyone know how to attach an Excel spreadsheet so everyone can view it??

 

[nenner1]

Does anyone know how to attach an Excel spreadsheet so everyone can view it??

Yep..kindof!

You can't view the actual document on here, but you can take a screenshot of it (printscrn) paste it into paint, save it as a .jpg and upload it to photobucket then post it like a pic. I've done that with my (IN)famous spreadsheet (which for those who don't know is this one posted below) ...This is how it will look but of course nobody can save the actual document or edit it, for that you need to upload it to a file sharing site (if that's what you want to do with it..a screenshot may just be all you need for now)

 

[knewton64]

So has anyone started a countdown chain yet? If not when do you think you'll start one, how do you plan on making one?

OR

Is this cruise going to be a Surprise for anyone you are travelling with (kids, spouse, other), and thus, like me, CAN'T do a countdown chain.

So because this is a surprise for my kids, I'm trying to think of a way to pass the year. We can't share our excitement and plan together.

So if this is a surprise, how do you plan on Breaking the News?

....I already have one up on the outside of my kitchen refrigerator door that is complete with a Snoopy motif (hheeyyy....I like Snoopy!) and with each day passing, that means more open space for me to put other DCL /WDW or ABD "Stuff" up on my refrigerator.

I am ssooooooooo bad when it comes to the Disney department...

 

[tjbaggott]

I'm thinking of turning my kids surprise into a treasure hunt. But as we are sailing in October, I'm not sure WHEN to do this?
Their birthdays are in the summer, so thats great weather for digging in sand at the beach to find Treasure, but I was hoping to wait till literally just before we leave!
Perhaps sending them a letter in the mail that has instructions and a clue as to their first action. I want photos of them in their pirate costumes again, so the instructions might be to dress up into those, then visit the neighbour for their next set of instructions. The neighbour will then have a Pirate Treasure MAP they must figure out/decode, follow, and take their metal detector with them. The map will indicate to either head to our local beach, or to the park up the street. They will then use the metal detector to search an area where they will find a few different this (U.S. Coins for one thing), and the big thing they find will be a metal tin, kind of like a small lunch box. It's a Disney Tin and inside would be one of my disigns, Mickey holding the scroll in front of the Magic and it's reads "Tim and Daniel, PACK YOUR BAGS........".
Well,thats one scenario running through my mind.
This is what my mind does this far in advance!! lol, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!

 

[lexandme]

How often does DCL send their ships into drydock? I know the Magic was there late summer/early fall of 2008. I didn't think they went that often.

 

[tjbaggott]

I think it's every 1 1/2 to 2 years? We were on the wonder 3 1/2 years ago, and again two weeks ago. It was in drydock twice during our absence.

 

[gometros]

I keep changing my mind on the Cat. we are booked in. I"ve already changed it once, and just as I sent the 2nd upgrade request to our TA, I checked the price of a Cat with a VERANDAH! Now we think we want that!

First we were booked into Cat 11GTY. Then I decided that there just wasn't going to be enough storage room in that for a 7 night cruise for 4 people. So I had us upgraded to a Cat. 10. Then DH decided he needed a WINDOW so I checked about those prices, then decided we'll wait and upgrade at port if it would cost less then. Then I noticed we were booked in a Cat 10 on DECK 1!
Now there is nothing wrong with Deck 1, BUT we have cruised twice before in CAT 9's on Deck one. For once we'd really like a different Deck. So thats when I emailed our TA asking her to upgrade us to a 9 on Deck 2 and if thats not available, book us in a 10 on deck 2 or 7. Thats when I decided to check out the verandah rooms, hmmmm 7 night cruise, Beautiful ports of Call...... Wouldn't it be nice to relax in the early a.m, in our PJ's while sipping coffee out on our verandah, watching as we pull into the ports? Or watching a sunrise or sunset from our own room? Those thoughts are definately worth the $1060 the upgrade would cost ( to me at least). But then I'm a budget concious person and part of me wants to do this the least costly way, so I consider staying in the Cat. 10..... UGGGHHHHH, Decisions, Decisions! At least we are booked and partially paid onto this ship!

Does anyone else here flip back and forth as much as me over their booking?

I've always been of the mind that vacations are one place you don't want to skimp. For my money, the thought of sitting on your verandah with a hot cup of coffee, watching the sunrise over (put name of favorite island here) is as close to heaven as one can get. And for those who say you aren't in your cabin much, I say that's a load of hooey. On a 7-night cruise, you're in your cabin plenty. Our first cruise on DCL I had booked an outside cabin, then upgraded to a verandah at the last minute. Best decision I ever made. I can't ever see not sailing without some kind of verandah, partial or whole.

 

[gometros]

Yep..kindof!

You can't view the actual document on here, but you can take a screenshot of it (printscrn) paste it into paint, save it as a .jpg and upload it to photobucket then post it like a pic. I've done that with my (IN)famous spreadsheet (which for those who don't know is this one posted below) ...This is how it will look but of course nobody can save the actual document or edit it, for that you need to upload it to a file sharing site (if that's what you want to do with it..a screenshot may just be all you need for now)

Or if you have somewhere on line you can upload it to, you can always post it as a link. I did that for one cruise thread in lieu of a web page.

 

[gometros]

I think it's every 1 1/2 to 2 years? We were on the wonder 3 1/2 years ago, and again two weeks ago. It was in drydock twice during our absence.

That's correct. The Magic was in dry dock last fall and will next be in dry dock shortly before we cruise.

 

[knewton64]

I'm thinking of turning my kids surprise into a treasure hunt. But as we are sailing in October, I'm not sure WHEN to do this?
Their birthdays are in the summer, so thats great weather for digging in sand at the beach to find Treasure, but I was hoping to wait till literally just before we leave!
Perhaps sending them a letter in the mail that has instructions and a clue as to their first action. I want photos of them in their pirate costumes again, so the instructions might be to dress up into those, then visit the neighbour for their next set of instructions. The neighbour will then have a Pirate Treasure MAP they must figure out/decode, follow, and take their metal detector with them. The map will indicate to either head to our local beach, or to the park up the street. They will then use the metal detector to search an area where they will find a few different this (U.S. Coins for one thing), and the big thing they find will be a metal tin, kind of like a small lunch box. It's a Disney Tin and inside would be one of my disigns, Mickey holding the scroll in front of the Magic and it's reads "Tim and Daniel, PACK YOUR BAGS........".
Well,thats one scenario running through my mind.
This is what my mind does this far in advance!! lol, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!

...like a cute idea. I agree....wait until right before you leave.

Anywho - I also feel like a Kid on Christmas morning cuz look out below but I just added another trip report onto my "things to Do list."

I am sooooooooooooooooo looking forward to the Grand Californian Hotel and what not. Never been and first time visitor too.

And that reminds me....where in the heck is my DISNEY LAND RICE KRISPY TREAT?? Never had one and looking forward to it as well.


T.T.F.N.

 

[nenner1]

Or if you have somewhere on line you can upload it to, you can always post it as a link. I did that for one cruise thread in lieu of a web page.

Yep...4shared and box.com are examples (there are others). 4shared is free but you have to keep your account active by using it every 30 days. There is also a minimal waiting period to downlaod each file (10-30 seconds or so).

The Digiscrapper in me speaking: I really do not care for rapidshare or mediafire (two other file shaing sites) at all- those hold bandwidth limits and download limits for free users.

And I referred to these as "file sharing sites" - they aren't for illegal downloading and pirating (of course they *could* be used that way if someone uploaded copyrighted files) but I know not everybody is familiar with these types of sites so I wanted to make it clear it isn't used for illegal stuff. (Or..it isn't supposed to be anyway) I guess the real name for them is file hosting sites.

So Leslie what did you create?

We don't do much of a countdown thing around here. Ron has an app on his itouch that counts it down and our tickers (we can still have them on Cruise Critic since signatures are bigger over there) are pretty much all we use. Our kids know it gets close when luggage is strewn around and mom is losing her mind..

I can't imagine us ever pulling off a secret/surprise cruise. I would love it- I can't imagine how excited the kids would be..but we just can't help but share it with them. We just wouldn't be able to hold it back. They love to help plan too.

Mickeyhead Rcie Krispy Treats....oh...mmmmmm. I was looking for some chocolate covered ones when we were there a few weeks ago but they all had white chocolate dippings (mostly orangefor Halloween)..bummer. Not a huge fan of the white chocolate. And again we were at DTD and did not make it to Goofy's Candy Co..what the heck? Where are our priorities?!?!!