One Is Not Enough! Back-2-Back on the Magic-12/1 & 12/8 (Updated 1/4: Transition Day)

[CraftyMouse]

Okay...we're now 17 days out from our trip (18 until we sail) and I can't stand it anymore. I have to start my trip report. I didn't want to start it too early, but it now feels like the right time so...here goes!

Cast of Characters:
Me – Me, 43, stay-at-home mom, planner, Disney-freak, “The Excited! One”
DH – DH, 42, engineer, all-around-great-guy, Disney-convert, “The Calm One”
DD15 – DD, 15, smart, funny, dancer, “The Over-Reactive One”
DS12 – DS, 12, smart, funny, Lego-obsessed, “The Calm One v.2.0”
DFather – DDad, 74 (DCL Cruise Veteran)
DFather-In-Law – DFIL, 74 (DCL Cruise Newbie!)
DFH – Friends (Husband)
DFW – Friends (Wife)
DFD15 – Friends (Their DD15)


The Pre-Trip Report...Episode 1

Okay…so I admit it…I am about to take one of my DREAM trips. You know, those vacations that you dream about but don’t think you’re ever going to take. My list includes Africa, China, Machu Picchu, a 2-month tour of Europe, and (drumroll please…) back-to-back cruises on the Disney Magic.

DH and I had talked about how completely indulgent it would be to do back-to-back Magic cruises way back in 2003 when we did our first 7-day. These conversations were peppered with phrases like “I wish…” and “If only we could.” and, ultimately, “We could never afford it.” Silly us. What were we thinking? What about “If you can dream it then you can do it?” Didn’t we tell our kids that anything was possible? We were being hypocrites! It turns out that our dream wasn’t out of our reach after all, but that story is yet to come.

Our first DCL cruise was a 3-day on the Magic in February, 1999. DH HATED it! He absolutely HATED it. I, however was in love from the start. I was able to convince him to try the 4-day on the Wonder the following year and, while it was better, he still wasn’t sold. Well, remember the saying “the third try’s the charm”? It held true for our DCL experiences. We booked a 7-day Western for Nov. 2002 and DH promised he’d try to like it. We were to leave the day before Thanksgiving and sail the following Saturday. There was just one problem. A little thing called the Norwalk Virus came along and scuttled all of my plans. In DCL’s history they have only cancelled one sailing because of the Norwalk Virus…guess which one it was? Yup…ours. …sigh… DCL was very good to us, however, and we rebooked for the following October. This time we made it onboard and DH finally fell in love with DCL too. I think the other cruises had just been to short for him because this was where he first mentioned doing the back-to-back thing. We took a 7-day Eastern (an Antigua sailing) in Oct. 2004 and the talk of back-to-backs continued.

In February, 2006 we went to WDW with friends of ours. These friends had also accompanied us in Oct. ’04 and that trip had been their first visit to WDW…ever! On that trip we stayed at OKW on our DVC points and they absolutely fell in love with both it and WDW. They liked it so much, in fact, that they bought into DVC and that led us to our Feb. ’06 trip.

When we returned from WDW that cold, snowy ’06 February our collective thoughts all turned to “Let’s start planning the next one!” (I'm sure many of you recognize this sickness!) Our friends had sailed on the Magic once before and were itching to sail again, as were we. We decided to look into late ’07 as a possible time to go.

During my research I found that the prices for Dec. ’07 were quite reasonable. We all decided on the Dec. 1, 2007 Western sailing and each booked our cabins. A month or so later, on a whim, I decided to price out the week before as well. Now, I say on a whim. Anyone who knows me knows that as soon as I started this process it was not going to stop. I was going to book the second week, no question about it. I, however, was fooling myself into believing that I was just looking. (Foolish me!) That’s the same way we ended up with our last new car.

To Be Continued…

 

[thebarley7]

There is a 12/8 specific thread going. Look for it. Welcome

 

[CraftyMouse]

There is a 12/8 specific thread going. Look for it. Welcome

Yes, I posted a couple of times. We probably won't be doing much of the group stuff on the 12/8 as it is our week to just be a family (or fathers and friends are only sailing on the 12/1). I'm sure we'll see you around the ship though!

 

[CraftyMouse]

See! I knew it was the right day to start this. My cruise documents just came via UPS!!! Wheeeeeeeeee!

 

[A fat english gent]

How spooky,we just did a back-to-back a few weeks ago on the Magic and our previous cruise before this one?...You guessed it a 7-day Eastern (an Antigua sailing) in Oct. 2004,great minds think alike CraftyMouse....

 

[CraftyMouse]

How spooky,we just did a back-to-back a few weeks ago on the Magic and our previous cruise before this one?...You guessed it a 7-day Eastern (an Antigua sailing) in Oct. 2004,great minds think alike CraftyMouse....

How funny! I bet we were on the same sailing. It was in early-mid October and it was the last Antigua sailing. Don "Ducky" Williams was onboard. Were you there too?

 

[A fat english gent]

Yes and i have some signed artwork to prove it ,I had drinks with Don "Ducky" Williams on our second Cruise which was the halloween sailing and he was good enough to sign some more of his work for my children,a wonderful humble man IMHO and a pleasure to be around....He's buying the beer on the August REPO...

 

[CraftyMouse]

Yes and i have some signed artwork to prove it ,I had drinks with Don "Ducky" Williams on our second Cruise which was the halloween sailing and he was good enough to sign some more of his work for my children,a wonderful humble man IMHO and a pleasure to be around....He's buying the beer on the August REPO...

We had our lithograph signed by him and were lucky enough to win the drawing of Ursula at his presentation. DD is a huge Villains fan so she was particularly thrilled.

I use his story of perserverance and going after your dreams with my kids all of the time. I hope to sail with him again sometime.

 

[nanatink]

We will be on the 12/8 sailing. We may see you there.

 

[CraftyMouse]

Pre-Trip Report: Episode 2

Okay…back to our tale…

So, when we last left off I was in the process of booking…ummm…er…I mean checking rates…that’s right, checking rates for a second cruise. The prices for the 11/24 Eastern sailing were similar to the 12/1 and…well…I did it! I booked it! Now I know that this is anti-climactic for those of you who read the end of the last installment, but I shocked myself. I actually did it? No! I couldn’t have. But I had. And DH didn’t know yet! I held my breath as I dialed his number at work. “Honey…I have something to tell you.” Well, having lived with me for 16 years he knows that those words are always going to lead to something…well…big. Being the great guy he is, however, he was not only accepting of the idea, he was all for it! Whew!

My plan was to not tell the kids but, again, anyone who knows me would have laughed at the thought. Michele…keep a secret? Hahahahahahaha. That just doesn’t happen. Now, I can keep a “confidence” type of secret. You know, secrets for friends…things they don’t want me to share. No problem. But “surprise” secrets? I don’t think so. Uh-uh. Not happening. I’m the person who buys Christmas presents early but can never hang on to them. I always give them right away because I know it will make the recipient happy. The same was true here. I think I did achieve a record of waiting 2 whole days before I told the kids, so that was something, right? Anyway, there were blank stares at first, as if they couldn’t believe it was actually true. I must forgive them for that as they have spent their whole lives living with me and I am notorious for (good-natured) teasing. They clearly thought this was one of those mom-is-pulling-our-leg situations. When reality finally sunk in the blank stares were quickly followed but much shrieking and screaming. They were excited!

Okay, for those of you keeping score at home we’re booked for the 11/24/07 Eastern and the 12/1/07 Western. The only problem is it is only April of 2006. What are we going to do for a year and a half? How are we going to pass the time? Well, after the initial rush wore off we found other things to keep us busy. I think most people refer to it as “Life”. There was the regular schedule to keep, the schoolwork to get done, etc. Time passed…and passed…and passed.

Coming up…our group gets bigger, scheduling conflicts, a mis-informed DCL CM, a tenacious mom and our plans change.

To Be Continued…

 

[fairfax]

How awesome to be doing back to back cruises! I can't wait to hear all about it! I'm enjoying the TR so far.

 

[tidoublegger]

Whoohoo! Hopefully we'll see you on the 8th!! Keep the report coming!

 

[CraftyMouse]

Pre-Trip Report: Episode 3

And Onward We Go…

In the fall of 2006 we convinced my parents and father-in-law to book the 12/1 Western and come with us. Again, for those keeping score it is now just us on the 11/24 Eastern and us, our friends, my parents and DH’s father on the 12/1 Western. The only kink in this plan was my grandmother who lives with my parents. At that time she was 92 and, while in very good health, she couldn’t be left home alone for a week. My parents decided to book, with the understanding that they might not be able to sail. It would depend on how my grandmother was doing and whether or not we could find someone to stay with her.

Okay…bored yet??? So, let’s skip the winter. We live in New England, it was snowy, cold and dark and we dreamed of the next year when we’d escape a bit of that to sail off to the Caribbean (twice!) on that beautiful ship. Okay…more time passes…can you feel it?

Then...it happened. A kink in the plan!

In late summer of ’07 DD15 decided to switch dance studios. Now, anybody who knows DD knows that dancing is her life. Changing studios was a big decision but one that has worked out wonderfully for her. The only problem was that there was a potential conflict with the dates of our first sailing and a dance event! What to do, what to do? I gave DCL a call and spoke with a CM about changing our 11/24 sailing to the 12/8 Eastern instead. Nope. No can do. He told me there was absolutely no availability in any cabin category. Huh? The DCL website is showing the cruise having tons of availability. What gives? I asked him to check again. Nope. Nothing. I asked him to check the date to make sure he had the right one. Big sigh on the other end of the phone. “Yes, ma’am I have the right date. There is nothing available.” Well…I knew he was wrong. Instead of arguing, however, I said thank you, hung up and immediately dialed DCL again.

This time I was connected to Jessica. What a difference! She was absolutely fantastic and the kind of CM DCL should be proud to have! She not only was able to switch us to the 12/8 sailing (keeping score?...we’re now going 12/1 Western, 12/8 Eastern) she was also able to get us the same cabin for both weeks, although we did have to move further down the hall from our friends. She went so far out of her way for us that she even called us back later that night to tell us that she had done some research into our reservations. It turns out that for both reservations I had made one payment on a card other than my Disney Visa. She asked if she could refund those payments to the card used and re-charge them on my Disney Visa. That way I’d get the $50 OBC for each week. Wow! What Guest Service! Like I said, she was fantastic. I made sure to write to DCL to let them know how great Jessica was. A DCL rep called me when they got the letter and promised to share it with both Jessica and her management team.

Okay…so I think we’re up to speed. We’re now sailing with our friends/family the first week (12/1) and alone the second week (12/8). We got everybody’s airfare straightened out and booked, rental cars reserved, etc. Oh…I almost forgot. Just before the final cruise payment was due my mother decided to pull out of the trip. My grandmother is still with us (thankfully) and my mother didn’t feel comfortable leaving her. While I was sad that my mom had to miss the trip, I understood. She said that she would come on the next trip if the rest of us would still go on this one and we all agreed. (Later I secretly booked a 12GTY for a January 4 day for mom and I so she will get to cruise after all...just not on this one.) I called DCL and straightened it all out. My father and father-in-law would now be sharing a cabin, which is great as they get along very well. It will also give them company and saved them each quite a bit over booking separate cabins.

Up next...Palo, Ports and Packing, Oh My!

 

[DisneyDadFaNaTic]

Back to Back?!? I'm incredibly jealous! That would be awesome!

Tell DD that she can just dance on the ship!! Wouldn't that solve it?

Keep up the great work!

 

[CraftyMouse]

Tell DD that she can just dance on the ship!! Wouldn't that solve it?

Nope. That wouldn't have helped.

Her dance company was thinking about performing in Germany during Thanksgiving week (World Championships) so either we changed the date of the trip or she would have to miss it. Changing actually had its other benefits - not the least of which is doing the family-only week with more sea days after the busier family/port-heavy week - and didn't cost us any more money so we decided to change. The company actually decided to go next year instead but this decision wasn't made until after our final payment due date so we just took the initiative and made the change.

 

[CraftyMouse]

Pre-Trip Report: Episode 4

Sometime during the cold winter months of 2006/2007 we started to put together some ideas of what we'd like to do in each port. We had been to each port except St. Maarten once before so we came up with a mix of old and new activities.

Last time we were in Key West we had taken the trolley tour and really enjoyed it. The only problem was that we weren't able to get on and off at any of the stops. We were a large group (11) and the trolleys were very busy that day. Getting off would have been no problem but finding another trolley to accommodate all of us would have been very tricky so we just stayed onboard and learned about Key West. We still enjoyed it but this time we knew we wanted to explore a bit more. So, we decided that we would take a cab to the Southernmost Point and then walk back to the ship, stopping at The Hemingway House, The Blonde Giraffe and Kino's Sandals on the way.

On our 10/03 Western we had loved visiting Stingray City in Grand Cayman and knew it was a must for this trip as well. Last time we booked a private charter through Captain Marvin's. There had been 11 of us and it with so many people the charter price had been very reasonable. This time there were 9 of us sailing so we decided to go for the private charter again. I contacted Captain Marvin's and Ruth helped me set everything up. We booked a 1/2 day charter that includes 2 snorkel stops plus Castaway Cay...total price $500 or $55 per person. Again, a good deal and we get the boat all to ourselves!

For Cozumel I secretly (okay...does anybody still reading know where this is going?) reserved the Royal Dolphin Swim through Dolphin Discoveries. It has become very clear to me just how little time we have left with DD15 before she goes off to college. We have all always wanted to swim with dolphins and so I decided we'd do it now, before it was too late. Of course...get ready to be shocked...I couldn't keep the secret. This time it was because I just knew how excited the kids would be and how they would enjoy looking forward to this activity. I did hold out quite a while and only told them a few months ago. After our dolphin swim we plan to hang around Chankanaab to swim and have lunch.

For our day in St. Maarten we booked a private tour through No Rush Tours. There are a few places we plan to see and then will take suggestions from the driver. We just want to get a feel for the island and visit both the French and Dutch sides. The price for this tour recently went WAY up and I"m glad we got ours reserved before the increase.

On our previous visit to St. Thomas we went parasailing, which was terrific. This time the boys really want to rent jet skis but DD and I weren't too interested in that. We decided that the boys will go off and rent the jet ski while DD and I will go up the Paradise Point tramway and then head into town to window shop.

So, those are our plans. Castaway Cay days will be spent relaxing, relaxing and...ummm...oh yeah...relaxing. DH will probably rent a sailboat and the kids will ride the banana boat but mostly we'll just relax...oh...and eat!

Okay...so that was just the ports. Next up - It's 90 Days Out!

 

[CraftyMouse]

Pre-Trip Report: Episode 5

Okay...the date is getting closer. I can hardly stand it! We are officially in single digits!

On with our tale...

Because we are doing back-to-back cruises that meant I had to do the 90-day dance twice. I was able to get everything we wanted for the first week, with a slight modification to our plans for Palo Tea. Originally we were all going to go to Tea but I was only able to get a reservation for 4. There were no tables for 2 available. So, that meant that not all of the adults would be able to go. On our last trip to WDW with our friends the moms and daughters had gone to the Grand Floridian to have tea. The dads were slightly put out that they didn't get a special afternoon so they decided to have their own "tea". Their "tea" consisted of hitting the Rose & Crown Pub in EPCOT and then sampling some of the "tea" from other countries. Their "tea" seemed to make them a bit tipsy, which was odd since ours didn't have that effect on us at all.

Anyway...since we couldn't all go to Tea we decided that the wives would go to Palo while the husbands/dads went to Diversions for "tea". During this time I had met another DISer wave2: Gerweniel) and her two sons had begun emailing with my kids. She hadn't been able to get a Tea reservation so we invited her to come along with us. Yay...a "moms' afternoon" with Tea and a "guys afternoon" with "tea". All was good and everyone was happy.

I got all of the reservations I had wanted for both weeks, except for Tea the second week for DH and I. Not bad. I'll try to get that one once onboard but if nothing is open it's no big deal.

We weren't doing any excursions through DCL but I did book the Banana Boat for the kids. I also booked a pedicure for myself at the spa. I'd never been to the spa and thought this was a good way to start. Unfortunately over the next couple of months I read many negative reviews of the pedicure and I ended up cancelling it. Actually, my spa booking has changed a number of times. I changed to a manicure. Then I changed to a CC cabana massage. Then I changed to a regular massage. Finally I ended up with Alone Time during the second week.

So, that's my long-winded tale of my 90-day booking experience. Boring, I know...but the report will get better, I promise!

Next up...A Call From DCL at 16 days out!

 

[CraftyMouse]

Pre-Trip Report: Episode VI

After spending so much time here on the DISBoards I have come to learn that there are two very unique fairies that are often mentioned. One is the elusive Tag Fairy who I have been lucky enough to receive a gift from. The other is the unpredictable Upgrade Fairy who has never managed to find her way to me.

When we orignally booked the back-to-back we booked cabin 2114 for both sailings. When we had to change our date cabin 2114 was not available for the second week, so we moved to cabin 2002. I believe that this simple action sent a signal to the Upgrade Fairy. She was just not going to let us sail in the same cabin, despite my best plans to do so.

So on Thursday, 11/15, at roughly 2:30pm the phone rang. The caller ID said "Disney Cruise Line". Hmmmmm...what could this be? They already responded to my letter about the great service Jessica had given us. As the phone rang again my mind was racing through the possible reasons for the call. The phone rang a third time and I suddenly realized that to find out the answer all I had to do was answer the phone! So answer the phone I did. It was a lovely CM from DCL telling me that we had been upgraded to a Category 6 for our second sailing. I got the new cabin number, thanked her and hung up.

Now normally I'd be jumping up and down with this news. Don't get me wrong, I was happy...thrilled, even. But my mind kept going back and forth between "We got UPGRADED!!!" and "Now we have to move!", between "We get a free verandah!" and "But we love our Category 9". It was like a tennis match. Finally "We got UPGRADED!!!" and "We get a free verandah!" won the point. WE GOT UPGRADED!!!! WE GET A FREE VERANDAH!!! WOO and HOO! For the first time the Upgrade Fairy had bestowed riches upon us.

I did give DCL a call to see if the same Cat. 6 was available for the 12/1 sailing but it wasn't. In fact, that whole cruise is sold out. So, move we will. Others here on the DIS have done it and reported that it is not a difficult process so it's all good. We are now really looking forward to the ability to see exactly what we prefer. The first week we are sailing Forward on a lower Deck in a Category 9 on the Port side of the ship. The second week we are sailing Aft on a higher deck in a Category 6 on the Starboard side of the ship. We've sailed in various locaitons before, but never one week after the other so it will be fun to compare the two experiences.

And now it is Sunday, 11/25 and we have 5 more sleeps until we leave! The weather forecast for Friday morning is calling for light snow showers with a high temp that day of 38 degrees. Sounds like a perfect day to head to Florida and the Caribbean, doesn't it?

Up next...a final goodbye and off we go!

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Congrats on your upgrade!! You must be sooo excited!!!
Have a safe triP!

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

Can't wait to hear all about this vacation! I'm so jealous!