Pictures included: A Magical Vacation Nov 24 - Dec 1...even with seasickness???

[mruhaak]

November 24th, 2007

Great report so far Jaime! Your girls are so beautiful! That's Alex in the background of this photo! It made me smile, he looks like he's having so a good time!

Alex loved his bunk too. I was worried he might fall out since he's only 4 1/2, but no problems with that at all.

But it was really cute every day because he would come in and say "the couch is back" or "hey.... my bed is back." I think he really had no idea where it was going to!

 

[Jaime]

Great report so far Jaime! Your girls are so beautiful! That's Alex in the background of this photo! It made me smile, he looks like he's having so a good time!

Alex loved his bunk too. I was worried he might fall out since he's only 4 1/2, but no problems with that at all.

But it was really cute every day because he would come in and say "the couch is back" or "hey.... my bed is back." I think he really had no idea where it was going to!

Hi Melanie! The kids had alot of fun in the Mickey pool that first day! Alex was playing a little in the water with Alicia & Jacob. Chris was taking pictures too. It was actually one of the best times for the pool bacause the water wasn't moving Hope you have a great Christmas.

 

[Jaime]

I'll try to post a little more tonight...very busy getting ready for Christmas.

 

[naner]

Very nice start to a thread!

 

[Jaime]

Well I was just going through my suitcase for my mom to take on her summer vacation and I found my DCL journal I did for my girls...I thought I should finish what I started...sorry for the very long delay Hopefully I don't leave out to much information...

Supper tonight was at Lumiere which worked out great since we were all dressed up. This was my favorite rotation restaurant for food. It was yummy! I had scallops…yum…Glen had the salmon…which he really like too. Alicia was feeling better but would not eat anything...all she wanted was gingerale…I was surprised that they didn’t charge me for gingerale in the dining rooms. I also brought a bottle of wine to dinner that our friends had delivered to our room on arrival…there was no charge for this either. Our only mistake was this was the night Kierra could have ordered her favorite food lasagna and we somehow missed it on the menu…she was pretty mad at me later in the week when she found out that she could have it.

After supper it was time to go back to our room and listen to the great music on Beat Street. I order warm milk and tea from room service however it took 1hour and 10 minutes…Kierra fell asleep just before her milk arrived.

 

[Jaime]

Monday November 26, 2007

Our time went ahead today…which actually worked out well for us as it is only 30 minutes different then our time zone at home. Alicia woke up with her color back and she was very hungry. Everyone else was still sleeping so I took Alicia and went to Topsiders…Topsiders was just opening. This is when I found out about the great separate section at the back with cartons of milk…dry cereal…yogurt and cinnamon buns. We tried to eat outside but it was too windy! (A CM told me that green apples would help her seasickness...so she ate alot of green apples and ginerale on the cruise .)

Afterwards I took some milk, cereal and yogurt back to the room. When we got back to the room Glen and Kierra were just waking up. Guest Services called saying the Doctor require me to bring Alicia by. So I took her down…when I got there they asked me when she got sick last...since it was almost 24hours they gave me a note so she could go back to the kids club...it was very simple...they didn't even look at her...

We walked around deck for a while since it cleared off nicely...a little windy but nice...the kids went for a swim in Mickey's pool which was pretty crowded today...we had lunch at Goofy's ...they make great sandwich's...I love this place...and once Kierra discovered the free icecream and fresh strawberries...it was her favorite place too.

Kierra decided she wanted to go to the clubs for lava flow...to my suprise Alicia wanted to go too...she even cried when I suggested she stay with me...I tried to explain to her that it was only for children 5-7 but she was not impressed with me...the CM noticed how upset she was and told her if she really wanted to stay with her sister they would give her a special braclet just for this activity...that was such a great moment for her

Wow...we had free time...what to do we took a walk around the ship...then we decided to check out the "secret deck"...there was no one there! We had the place to ourself and there were even loungers here...after relaxing a little we decided to head down towards the clubs to check on the girls...this is when we saw a CM walking around the club with a sleeping Alicia in her arms...she fell asleep at the table making lava...I guess she found it a little boring...we figured she might have been too young when we left her there...since they lava flow wasn't over we gave Kierra the choice to stay or come with us to see "Twice Charmed" she decided to come and I am glad she did because Cinderalla is her favorite princess and she loved the show. I liked Golden Mickey's better though...when the show was over I took the girls to the Aloha Party in the club...Alicia wanted me to stay...so I went in with them...the girls didn't want to stay long so we left again...it was time for us to have a break in the room anyway...it was a pretty busy day so far...we all lied down and watch a movie...then we got ready for supper...the girls wanted to get dressed up in dresses so we all decided too...I am glad we did because it made a really nice picture with Mickey

We even got the picture made to Christmas cards...30 cards cost $30...about what we pay at home...
Since we went to the show early...we decide just to walk around...wow...it felt as though we had the ship to ourself...I guess everyone else was either eating or at a show

Supper tonight for us was our show dinner at Animator's Palate. The show was great...especially the end...but the food was not... least favorite all week.

 

[Jaime]

Monday continued...

We got out of supper just in time to run back to our stateroom and quickly get Alicia & Kierra changed in their princess dresses...Bell & Cinderella were making a appearance... since they are our girls favorites we had to go...we get in line at 9:55 and the CM said Bell was leaving and we couldn’t see her…Alicia was so up set…I was really confused since in the Navigator it said she wasn’t suppose to be there until 10:00…I asked the CM what time she got there and was told 9:30…I showed her the Navigator and she said they must have changed the time …as we were leaving to go it in the line for Cinderella…more people came looking for Bell…and they got upset with the CM…so the CM told us we could go back and get in line and see Bell after all…Alicia was thrilled but her eye’s were very red in the pictures from crying…

Everyone was really tired so we went back to our room to go to bed...and again we had a wonderful suprise waiting for us...

 

[Jaime]

Tuesday November 27,2007

Today we were going to go to St. Maarten and I was so excited! I pre-ordered breakfast to be delivered to our room...this worked out very well for us...we went up to deck to have a look around...it was a beautiful sunny day!
We decided not to take a excursion...instead we would just go to the beach close to the ship and I am glad we did...we took the water taxi to the beach...it was just at the end of the cruise dock and it made three different stops on the beach. We rented a beach chair for the day...found out later it was a couple dollars cheaper half way down the beach...

I had brought sand buckets from our dollar store at home...they came in great use for us and saved so much money...I had a mom tell me she paid $15 on the ship for beach toys...I paid $1 for two buckets & toys. We just left them on the ship after the cruise...that way we had more room in our luggage for everything we bought

After spending the morning on the beach we decided to go back to the ship for lunch and to get cleaned up...we decided that we were going to go again shopping...Kierra really did not want to go and begged us to let her go to the kids clubs with some of the DISer's children we were crusing with...I was a little unsure but decided to let her. We did a little shopping and then we went back onboard to check on Kierra...she was having so much fun and didn't want to come with us...since Alicia was still asleep in her stroller...we went for a walk around the deck.

Kierra talks the most about this time in the clubs..they went to the sports deck and it started to rain It didn't rain on us so I guess it must have been a short shower Anyway they brought them in the hall and they all sang a song about a worm who ate the magic...she loves that song!

Next Pirate Night....

 

[Jaime]

Our girls really wanted to see Enchanted...since it was at 5:30 and it was 5:30 I told Glen to take Alicia get some popcorn and I would pick Kierra up at the club and meet him there. The movie was just starting when we got there and we couldn't find dh&dd anywhere...so me and Kierra got to watch the movie by ourselves...the movie was great! We found out after that dh & dd were on the otherside of the theatre watching the movie.

We then headed to our stateroom to get ready for pirate night...we were very excited about it! Once we were ready we went delivering a few gift ito the fish extenders...on the way Kierra meet a few pirates who wanted her to join them

On the way to dinner we made a stop to see Mickey...we were very lucky with the character lines...they never seemed to be too long...I am not sure if this was because we had late dining.

Supper was alot of fun...most people were dressed for the part. I had a first time cruiser come up to me and said she loved out outfits and asked how many times we had been on the Magic...when I told her it was my first time she looked so confused...she had no idea about dressing up for pirate night...I told her I got all my information from my friends at Dis...so thank you everyone for your help! The menu looked so neat printed like a treasure map...and we felt very much like Pirates...our rotation worked very well for us...as we were in Parrot Cay for Pirate night...and Lumiere's for formal night. Our wait staff were dressed just so...and our girls loved the parade at the end...we did find dinner was very slow coming tonight though...most of the tables around us seemed to be empty way before we were finished. After a long hot day onshore our girls were very tired and a little cranky...we decided to skip dessert and go right up to deck for the pirate party...it was very crowed by this time so we went to deck ten...just as we got up there Mickey went flying through they sky and fireworks went off...

After a long fun filled day we went back to our room and on Kierra's bed pirate Minnie was waiting for her

We had a noticed when we went back to our room stating our time and meeting place for international traveller for customs in the morning...so we set our alarm clock and went to bed...

Next up...St. Thomas and customs...

 

[Jaime]

Wednesday November 28th...

When we woke up it felt as though we were already anchored...we got up and went to our meeting place to go through customs...we were surprised how quick it was...it took less than 10 minutes...maybe there wasn't many international travelers onboard.

We went up to deck to see St. Thomas...another nice day...the deck was a little wet...I think we may have had rain through the night...we got some breakfast from Topsiders...again just colder items at the back...we normally eat big breakfast on vacation but ever since the first day and Alicia getting sick we have had smaller breakfast until we knew everyone's stomach was settled for the day...since we were tendering ashore we went Buena Vista Theatre to wait...they showed a few children's show on the screen and we didn't have much of a wait before we were put on a small tendering boat. Once we got off we were approached by a man asking where we wanted to go...he got us a taxi to Magen's Bay. It was a truck with bench seating in the back to seat about 16. He gave us a 2 for 1 deal for the children and offered us a small discount if we gave him a time to pick us up. The taxi ride felt like a roller coaster...it is all hills and seeing the cars on the opposite side of the road can be a little strange...however it was a very beautiful drive.

This place is so pretty...I would recommend anyone who visits St. Thomas to go here. They had bathrooms...a change room and a restaurant. The restaurant gets very busy...but not badly priced we got a pizza for the same price as home. It tasted okay...a little greasier then we are use too. The beach gets busy but if you walk down the beach a little ways there is hardly anyone there. After lunch we headed back to town...we did a little shopping but found everything in St. Thomas cost a lot more than in St. Maarten. I was concern at first about doing excursions on our own but I am really glad we did...I liked flexibility of it and it also saved us a lot of money. On the way back to the boat we were on a much larger tender boat...it was even playing movies...

We were all really sleepy from the extra early morning so we went back to the room to relax...then Glen took the girls to story time with Mrs. Claus.

Since everyone was sleepy...we didn't think we would be able to sit through a long supper we decided to skip supper and go to Topsiders...this was a mistake. DH quickly went and told someone in the dining room we wouldn't be there. I really wish we skipped topsider and just got something to eat by the pool instead. It took a really long time to be served...the food took a long time to come out and they had a very limited children's menu...just mac n cheese. So DH went and got them chicken fingers and brought it into topsiders for them. The girls wanted a drink but they had no children's glasses with lids! Just large glasses...I requested the glasses to be fill 1/4 off the way but they were filled to the top...and off course water ended up everywhere. Kierra finished her supper and asked if she could go to Goofy's PJ party. I took her down and when I got back I was surprised to find that it was still going to be another 10 minutes before our food was ready. On the bright side...the food was really good when it did come. After dinner we took Alicia shopping...we met a very nice CM. He spent 10 minutes trying to make her laugh...she was very sleepy and shy...at the end he gave a very special Tinker Bell Pin and a magical moment certificate. She was very impressed and on the way back up to get Kierra we saw Bell in her Christmas dress with no one else around...

When we picked Kierra up from the kids clubs she was very exicted about getting to color a pillowcase and getting to be in the club with Goofy.

When got back to our room and had another wonderful towel animal waiting for us...

 

[Jaime]

November 29...our last full day at sea

I got up first today so I took Kierra's pillow case she colored last night to guest services to get the characters to sign it for her as a suprise. She loved it!

Glen and Kierra woke up not feeling the best...it was a little rough during the night as we started to pick up speed again...we went up on deck to get a little air and to relax by the pool for the morning.

We went to the DVC presentaion at 12:30...DVC is something we are intersted in but because of where we live we can never get any information on it. We found the presentation to be very informative and our girls got coloring books to color during it. We decided to catch the early show of Dreams...it was really good! Golden Mickey's was still my favorite though. After the show we brought the kids to the clubs...Alicia was not happy about staying but after a few minutes she went off with the CM...all the staff in the clubs a really wonderful with the children

We decided to go for a game of Bingo...I am not a bingo player however on our NCL cruise in 1999 I went to one game and won! So I wanted to try my luck again...when Bingo was over we waited around to watch the Celebrate the Journey show...Kierra, Bradley and Jacob came out on stage with the other kids...and there were alot of children but I couldn't see Alicia!! I started to panic! I felt horrible...she didn't want to go to the club and now she is missing! Once all the children got on stage I went up to see where she was...the CM told me she had fallen asleep so someone stayed with her...they were very sorry for not paging me...she was sleeping and they tought they would just let her sleep and let me watch Kierra in the show.

Tonight was Michelle & Trevors Palo/Date night so we took all the children to supper. On the way to supper we stopped at the dance party in the Promenade Lounge. The kids all had fun!

Supper tonight was at Animator's Palate...the food was much better this time but no show this evening. Alica finally started eating again...our servers were starting to get concern...but with dinner so late she was never really hungry. Tonight Kierra wasn't hungry at all and she was still not feeling 100% so she asked if she could just have the lava cake...it is her favorite! When I was gone to the bathroom with Alicia...Kierra got sea-sickI took her back to the room and then brought her up to deck nine for fresh air. Glen took the boys and Alicia to play video games...we joined them once Kierra was feeling better.

Tomorrow is Castway Cay day...my favorite part of the cruise

 

[jd99]

Hi Jaime. What a great surprise to see your report here today. Reliving the magic all over again.
jeff

 

[Jaime]

Friday November 30...

Today was Castaway day...we had food delivered again this morning...it really made the morning easier. We went up on deck to see this beautiful island for the first time!

We had the glass bottom boat tour first thing so we got ready and headed to the meeting place on the dock. We were the first ones there which was great. We got to choose our place on the boat so we were able to sit on a bench next to the viewing glass. It was a really neat experience...it was nice to do...I am not sure I would do it again especially with only one day at Castaway Cay.

This is a picture of all the fish on the side of the boat.

We went to the beach and had some lunch...we were surprised that they had a drink & ice-cream station on the island. It was really hot so that really helped. We found a couple of loungers...rent a tube and floated around for a while. Michelle met up with us after and got me to go snorkeling with her equipment. This was really neat! I have never really snorkeled before and I really enjoyed it.

Tonight was our Palo/date night...Michelle & Trevor took our girls to dinner for us.

We were looking forward to it since we had to leave brunch early on Sunday. Aicia wasn't to happy about us not going with her but Michelle told us to go anyway Just after we checked in we noticed Michelle and all the children walking by the window...Alicia looked very happy! Michelle looked in a smiled

Our server was very friendly and always brought out something extra that we didn't order to share...it was a really nice time together On our next cruise though I think we will just do brunch...we were a little sad we had to miss our last dining rotation...

 

[Jaime]

Hi Jaime. What a great surprise to see your report here today. Reliving the magic all over again.
jeff

Hi Jeff!

Yeah I figured I should really finish what I started! Better late then never! How are the girls?

 

[Jaime]

When we woke up we gathered our bags and went to our breakfast with our servers...we wanted to see them before we got of the ship and give them there tips...it was so sad to leave...the good thing about late dining though was we got to have a late breakfast on the last day

It made it easier knowing we still had a few days in WDW. When we got of the ship we got the shuttle to budget and picked up our car. It was a really easy process...we spent one night at the POP century and got to go to MVMCP at the MK...then we got to spend a few nights at Saratoga Springs...it is a very large but beautiful resort. We all ended up with head colds by the last day of vacation which made for a horrible flight home...

It was such a wonderful vacation overall It was really nice seeing everything decorated for Christmas...

Here are some WDW pictures...

 

[jd99]

Hi Jeff!

Yeah I figured I should really finish what I started! Better late then never! How are the girls?

Girls are doing well. I hope yours are too. We are cruising the Mexican Riviera in August! Can't wait.

 

[Jaime]

Jeff I hope you have a great time! I bet it will be neat crusing from LA!

 

[BabyFavorite]

Gosh, I'm sorry you had so much seasickness! How disappointing!

Your girls are BEAUTIFUL. Great pictures -- thanks for sharing!!

 

[Jaime]

Gosh, I'm sorry you had so much seasickness! How disappointing!

Your girls are BEAUTIFUL. Great pictures -- thanks for sharing!!

Thanks!

It was disappointing but we really did not prepare at all for it as my girls had been on small boats in rough seas before and never gotten sick...they really want to go again so it couldn't have been too bad We are hoping to go again in 2009 so we will make sure we are prepared!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Jaime,
great report and wonderful photos.
It really brought back lots of awesome memories for me too.

Hope to see you on the 09 nanahead cruise

Thanks for finally finishing your report, it was worth waiting for

kathy