October 21, 2006~Magic~ Who's going?

[yazee1]

Hi, Everyone. We have plenty of time to get this thread started, don't you think? If there is already a thread please lead me to it. I couldn't find one. If not, here we go!

 

[yazee1]

I know we're not the only Disboarders on this trip!

 

[tinkerfun]

Hi there...it's a little early, but we will be cruising 10/21/06 also. Probably won't keep much of an eye on this thread until closer to the cruise. We sailed on the Magic in Oct. 2004. It was our first cruise, had a ball and booked 2006 while we were on board. It's me, hubby & by the time we sail, DD11 & DS9.
Julie in California

 

[yazee1]

Hi, Tinkerfun,

Goodness, I thought having to wait 18 months was torture. How are you dealing with having to wait 2 years? Dh and I might take a short cruise this October on a different cruiseline for "research" purposes having only taken one cruise and that was this past DC. By cruise time our children will be ds (11 yrs) ds (9 yrs) and dd (5 yrs) .

 

[Cheryl N. WI]

Hi Monica and Julie

We will be cruising 10/21/06 also! It will be myself, DH and DD who will be 12 when we cruise. This will be our 4th cruise on the Magic! We've done 1 Eastern and this wil be our third Western. I can't wait to swim with the stingrays in Grand Cayman again!

Cheryl

 

[tinkerfun]

We were really excited about signing up to swim with the sting rays last year and then the hurricanes hit and we didn't even get to go to Grand Cayman! We ended up going to Costa Maya instead. So I will be interested in picking your brain about the excursion when it gets closer to the trip.
-Julie

 

[Cheryl N. WI]

Julie We didn't make it to Grand Cayman on our first Western cruise either Jan. 2003. It was very windy that day and the water was too rough so the port was closed so we ended up with an extra day at sea and getting to Cozumel earlier than we were supposed too on that cruise. We were begining to wonder if we were going to make it when we went last year too because of all the hurricane damage but we were the second Western cruise to stop at Grand Cayman after they reopened. There was still extensive damage to the island when we were there so I am hoping that they are not hit by any hurricanes either this year or next so that they can continue to rebuild. We really enjoyed the turtle farm and snorkeling with the sting rays, but we have no desire to go back to Hell As the cruise gets closer I'd be happy to get you any info I can help with!

Cheryl

 

[yazee1]

Golly, only 17 more months. Dh and I really enjoyed the Stingray City excursion. I booked directly through Captain Marvin's and will do it again. Hopefully, next time, the kids will partake of the snorkelling part. We had them in the water for a very brief time, but it was too much for them. I'm sure it has everything to do with the fact that they had never been in the open ocean before nor used a snorkel, mask and fins. Dd (4) is already talking about how she's going to pet the cuddly stingrays. With two summers yet to practice snorkelling in the pool and improving their swimming skills, we should be in good shape by October of next year.

 

[yazee1]

Just stopping in to see if we have any new "members".

This is kind of neat. We booked on board and then transferred our reservation to our AAA travel agent. About a month ago, we got an unexpected 50.00 voucher from using our AAA credit card. On the attached letter it said we can use it for an AAA purchase of goods or services. I took it to the travel agent to put toward our cruise. I didn't know about the cash back when we got the card, so it's a pleasant surprise. A bunch more of those in the next year and a half and we've got the equivalent of what we'd spend in onboard credit.

 

[tinkerfun]

We booked onboard also and I was planning on transferring it to our AAA agent, but now I'm not so sure. Except for the $50 you ended up getting, are their any plusses for going with AAA?

 

[nrsldy]

Count us in for the Oct 21 2006 cruise. Myself ,DH and DS (11) will be going on our first cruise! We decided to go at that time because my DH's birthday is the 20th and he will be retiring from his JOB. So it is a milestone celebration for us.

 

[yazee1]

Good question, Tinkerfun. I can't remember now. With the trip being so far away, my brain has put all that information in storage. Since I last posted, we've earned another 50.00 rebate from our AAA credit card to use on AAA products and services. So, we've applied it to our cruise again.

Nrsldy, we will have an 11 year old DS (2 wks short of 12 at cruise time) with us, too.

 

[agotta]

Hey everyone. I just wanted to keep updated on this thread. Dh and I are going back and forth about what to do next Oct. We may end up buying a house and scrapping all vacation but right now it is between this cruise and the F&W Festival. Dh is voting cruise! It would just be DH & I, and this would be our second cruise. We saild on the Wonder this past April and I was seasick 2 of 3 nights. Dh really wants to go again for the 7 because I missed so much. I have also heard the 7 night is a little calmer. I am sure it head nothing to do with all the fun drinks!!

 

[tevagirl]

Hello

We aren't officially booked on this yet but we're working on it. I'm in the process of getting quotes now from a couple of different places. So far there are 18 of us. We (DH & I) have cruised on DCL twice before. Both times in October (2003 and 2004). I'm looking forward to talking with you all for the next 14 months. It makes the time go faster and it's fun! It's late and I need to go to bed so I'll check in later.

Good night!

 

[tevagirl]

It's official...we are BOOKED!! Now I'm excited!!! (Can you tell?)

 

[tevagirl]

Where are my fellow cruisemates??

 

[tinkerfun]

It's hard for me to get into cruise mode when it just seems so far away!!!
That and the kids just started school and sports so there is so much going on. Are there any kids going on the cruise with your family reunion? At time of sailing mine will be dd11 and ds9.

Are we going to need passports for this cruise? Last time we just had birth certificates, but I know they are making changes to that.

 

[tevagirl]

I'm always in a cruise mode ( but then I don't have a life!) And look...when you started this thread it was 17 months off and now it's only 14!

My grandbabies will be on board. They are 13, 5 and 3.

I was told that everyone (including babies) will need passports next year. We always used birth certificates in the past so we all have to get them too.

Talk to you soon,

Denise

 

[yazee1]

That's great news Tevagirl, I'm glad there's an experienced October cruiser to ask questions.

We went ahead and had our passports renewed and get new ones for the kids before our April cruise this year. OUCH. What a chunk of change that was. The fees were scheduled to go up the next week and we knew they would be required in the near future, so why not.

It's really hard having cruise time so far away, but the savings for booking so far out helps us feel better. We didn't know how much more expensive it was to book late when we booked our first (ever) cruise. Booking an April cruise the first week of January resulted in our two category 9's costing about 7,000. This time we booked 18 months ahead... booked one category 6 room for dh, dd(5yr at cruise time) and me and a category 10 across the hall for our boys (9 and 11 at cruise time). The total was about 5600.00 Now this didn't go over too well, but I told dh we should use that 1400 difference and go on a little cruise just the two of us sometime this in the middle of our "waiting period".

 

[tevagirl]

Hi Monica,

Do you know what cabins you are in? My dh and I are in cabin 6530 and my dd and her family are next door in 6532. My ds is in a gty category so we don't know where he'll be yet.

We went on a Carnival cruise in July out of New York up to Canada/Nova Scotia. It was nice but I wasn't too thrilled with Carnival.

It is hard having to wait so long for this cruise but I love the anticipation and talking to other people who will be going.

Talk to you later,
Denise