Sept. 26, 2009 Magic

[spectrum-turbo]

Dw is finally getting excited about this trip! She also got the doctor to say that she is in REMISSION from her 2 bouts with AML. (acute mylogenous lukemia) so hopefully. I have faith! She is a strong woman.

What wonderful news for you guys!!

Here are a couple of nuggets of info about St. Thomas:

• As of January of this year, no more early immigration call. Take a look at this thread
• There is a Pirate Duck Boat Tour on St Tomas http://pirateduckadventure.com/

Average High Temperatures for late September:

• St Maarten 88
• St Thomas 90
• Castaway Cay 86

DS is going back to school tomorrow, so my ramblings should stop.

 

[sftnslky]

There is a Pirate Duck Boat Tour on St Tomas http://pirateduckadventure.com/
[/LIST] :

I went to their website...but it is VERY simple...basically without any information. Could you tell me more about it..my boys would LOVE the whole car/boat thingy.

 

[Disney Sweetie]

Hi Everyone!!! Just over 6 months!!

Stacy aka Spectrum-turbo is making a nice little spread sheet and is marking all the cabins that are participating in the Cabin Tours.

So far we only have 3 confirmed. They are... 7534, 7636, 8538

KimmySue....we would love to see that Roy Suite!!

If you would like to open your cabin for a few minutes so that we can all take a peak, please PM me and I will add you to the list. Date and time still to be determined, but it will be a sea day. We will start on lowest deck and work our way up.

Weather is beautiful here today...sunny and about 75.....makes me that much more ready to get on the Magic!!!!

 

[spectrum-turbo]

I went to their website...but it is VERY simple...basically without any information. Could you tell me more about it..my boys would LOVE the whole car/boat thingy.

Yeah, their website is a little thin on details.

I have been on duck boat tours in DC, Cape Cod, Austin, Seattle, Ketchican and San Diego (twice). My family & I have enjoyed the first tour we took so much, we look for duck boat tours when ever we are traveling to a place with water nearby.

Generally speaking, Duck Tour narrators are silly and light-hearted while still conveying interesting information. Kid friendly bad jokes and puns abound. I think that it is mandatory to at some point hear the Gilligan's Island or Jaws theme song.

The tours start on land and at some point spend time in the water. Our 'in the water time' experiences have been any where from 15 minutes to darn near an hour. Once we were lucky enough that the driver/captain let the kids on board take turns at the wheel while in the water.

While some duck boats are built for just for the tours, most duck boats are re-purposed DUKWs

From Wikipedia:
The DUKW (popularly pronounced "duck") is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was designed by General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks.

I told my seven year old (8 on the cruise) that there was a duck boat on St. Thomas and he started dancing.

The reviews I was able to find on Cruise Critic were positive, the only complaint was the heat. I think by going in the morning, that won't be an issue.

 

[Paul2003]

Which is EXACTLY why we booked this cruise Personally we would love to take a cruise where you never stopped at a port of call

Yes I agree!!! More days at sea. We would still need to stop at Castaway Cay Thats's a must

 

[lexiconjoe]

Yes I agree!!! More days at sea. We would still need to stop at Castaway Cay Thats's a must

I will agree. Castaway Cay is only place we really get off now. Last year on the Double Dip, we remained on the boat at Grand Cayman. I love the days at sea the best.

 

[spectrum-turbo]

Of the approximate 165 hours we will be on board, 127 we will be at sea

I meant to say 137 hours at sea......even better.


I better go back and check the rest of my math.

 

[Paul2003]

I will agree. Castaway Cay is only place we really get off now. Last year on the Double Dip, we remained on the boat at Grand Cayman. I love the days at sea the best.

Hey, we were on that cruise too. You could't of missed us, we are a family of four and my mother is in a wheelchair. We ate at Parrot Cay the first night, first seating.

 

[FatCat]

More Days at Sea = More Tequila Tastings

 

[BananasTwo]

Hi all. Long time no post. Just busy with work, kids, life. I hope everyone is well. Loved catching up with the last 5 pages of posts. Was laughing quite a bit. LOVED S-T's spreadsheet data. So interesting.

Wristbands: is there kids and adult sizes??

Several several posts ago, I do recall people changing their reservations from one company to another and getting discounted rates compared to where they booked. We have booked our cruise through Small World Vacations. Any idea if switching to Dreams Unlimited would make a difference. Just curious if anyone has any experience with this.

 

[FatCat]

Hi all. Long time no post. Just busy with work, kids, life. I hope everyone is well. Loved catching up with the last 5 pages of posts. Was laughing quite a bit. LOVED S-T's spreadsheet data. So interesting.

Wristbands: is there kids and adult sizes??

Several several posts ago, I do recall people changing their reservations from one company to another and getting discounted rates compared to where they booked. We have booked our cruise through Small World Vacations. Any idea if switching to Dreams Unlimited would make a difference. Just curious if anyone has any experience with this.

There are travel companies that offer an onboard credit incentive for switching to them. In some cases it is in your benefit.

It may come down to a bit of moral ethics as well as money.

If you switch from Disney to a private TA then you take money away from Disney and potentially gain an incentive bonus compared to your original booking.

If you switch from TA to TA then you take money away from your original TA and potentially gain an incentive bonus compared to your original booking.

Having said that there are several other factors to consider

Relationship with your current TA. Good/Bad/ indifferent
Will TA match the proposed TA transfer
Past experience with prior TA on cruise and WDW or WDL

etc...

 

[spectrum-turbo]

Wristbands: is there kids and adult sizes??

That depends on how many we end up ordering. Right now, we have orders for about 50 wristbands and that works out to be about $1.75-$2.00 a band. Hopefully, we will get enough orders to be able to order both sizes at a reasonable price.

S~T

 

[becky1980]

Hello everyone! I'm getting soooo excited for our cruise!!! I'm fully addicted to reading anything and everything on these boards!

Question for experienced cruisers - do many adults dress up in parate attire on Pirate night? I don't think my son will dress up unless I do but I want to save myself the embarrasment of being the only adult in costume!

Are you planning on dressing in theme?

TIA!

Becky

 

[Fire14]

Hello everyone! I'm getting soooo excited for our cruise!!! I'm fully addicted to reading anything and everything on these boards!

Question for experienced cruisers - do many adults dress up in parate attire on Pirate night? I don't think my son will dress up unless I do but I want to save myself the embarrasment of being the only adult in costume!

Are you planning on dressing in theme?

TIA!

Becky

I've always seen more adults than kids dressed up on our cruises. I know the 3 "kids" in our cabin are dressing up.

 

[becky1980]

I've always seen more adults than kids dressed up on our cruises. I know the 3 "kids" in our cabin are dressing up.

Yay! Good to know I won't be the only "kid" in costume!

 

[fourgonefishn]

Yay! Good to know I won't be the only "kid" in costume!

I am thinking our 2 boys will be dressed up, as for Mom and Dad, we don't know yet. I hopefully will be getting a dress shirt from pirates of the carribean ride. Sister is going over easter and told her to watch for it. They were out of my size in Oct when we were there.

 

[FatCat]

At dinner on pirate night you get a pirate bandana so that can add to your ensemble

 

[Disney Sweetie]

Hello everyone! I'm getting soooo excited for our cruise!!! I'm fully addicted to reading anything and everything on these boards!

Question for experienced cruisers - do many adults dress up in parate attire on Pirate night? I don't think my son will dress up unless I do but I want to save myself the embarrasment of being the only adult in costume!

Are you planning on dressing in theme?

TIA!

Becky

We have 4 adults in our group that will be dressing up on pirate night....that is if I dont forget to go get us new costumes that fit!!!

 

[fourgonefishn]

We have 4 adults in our group that will be dressing up on pirate night....that is if I dont forget to go get us new costumes that fit!!!

whats wrong with the others..... ummm too much cruising?

 

[hal001]

S~T:: put us on the list for 3 adult bracelets and 2 kids bracelets please! and thanks for the info about the duck tours! i took a duck tour in boston when i was in college (more fun than going to class) and it was a blast. i know the kids would love the whole idea. i wonder if there's enough of us interested to find out about a group discount maybe??

i will have to get back to y'all on the stats for our group...i think our cabin #s may have changed and we have added an adult (MIL) and may possibly be adding more to the group if the $$ works out. have to keep ya posted.

fourgonefisn: so excited to hear about the aml remission!! hope you've been celebrating everyday! i know we do!

backtotx: i will send you a pm and hopefully we can get our dd's communicating a bit beforehand. in the meantime, there's some pix of both kids on her website in my sig (there's a couple from the last disney cruise too!)

gotta get back to work