September 3, 2005 --- Who is going?

[captaincrash]

Hello!

This is our 1st posting on DIS - and we are on this Sept 3rd sailing! It is the 3rd Disney Magic sailing in as many years! We are a family of 4 - we're just into our 40s and have a DD4 and another DD1. We're coming out from California and we're really pleased to find a "meeting place" for other friendly folks on the same sailng!

AT any rate, Hello again to ALL!

 

[gdulaney]

Welcome CaptainCrash!!! Were your other sailings Eastern, Western or both? We like both routes, for different reasons.

Ginny

 

[disneyfanforever]

DisneyNutMary,

My boys pretty much love anything that other boys love. They are all boy. My oldest who will turn 8 in April loves soccer, video games, and anything gross. My DS who is about to turn 4 loves superheroes, Disney, and anything his brother does.

I just love this board. It gets me even more excited to go (if that is even possible). I would love to meet you guys onboard.

 

[lisa702]

Ginny


I def will drink to a quieter Sept this year!

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Ginny


I def will drink to a quieter Sept this year!

Me too!
One cruise through a hurricane is enough for me!

disneyfanforever, your 8 year old and my 7 year old will get along great. My son loves soccer, video games, and he is a complete Disney nut!

 

[gdulaney]

I'll drink to that too!!!

Ginny

 

[captaincrash]

Gdulany....

Our 1st sailng was a "special" eastern - and the 2nd was a hurricane modified 4 day western - and originally it would have been a normal eastern. Of course, this Sept 3rd sailng is a normal eastern. The other sailings we've had in the carib were 2 westerns; 1 southern; and we had 3 visits to islands only for San Juan and one to St Thomas/St Johns.

 

[lisa702]

Can you believe we are almost down to a 6 month mark????? Woohoo!

 

[gdulaney]

Gdulany....

Our 1st sailng was a "special" eastern - and the 2nd was a hurricane modified 4 day western - and originally it would have been a normal eastern. Of course, this Sept 3rd sailng is a normal eastern. The other sailings we've had in the carib were 2 westerns; 1 southern; and we had 3 visits to islands only for San Juan and one to St Thomas/St Johns.

Our last cruise turned into a modified sailing too. Not that I'd complain about 10 days on the Magic, but I'll be happy to just enjoy a normal cruise this year.

Lisa -- six months really doesn't sound very long, does it?

Ginny

 

[lisa702]

Lisa -- six months really doesn't sound very long, does it?

Not when time has flown since we booked last September!

 

[lisa702]

I have been wondering............. has anyone begun to plan what excursions etc that you and your family might want to do during this cruise?

 

[gdulaney]

Not yet. Last time on the Eastern we didn't do very much. We've done several excursions on each island. I'll try to hunt up my notes on which ones we've done.

Ginny

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I think this year we'll be staying on the ship at St Maarten and St Thomas. Maybe get off to shop a little bit, but stay near the ship. We had so much fun the past few years when we got back to the ship early, and had the run of it to ourselves.
On Castaway Cay, I will probably book the Banana Boat, because we missed them last year.

 

[disneyfanforever]

I was just thinking about how it is just about 6 months away as well. Do you guys that are flying already have you air booked or when do you do that? We haven't booked ours yet, but I am thinking about doing it soon.

I was thinking about excursions too. But is there really anything you can do with a 4 year old? My soon to be 8 year old would love a lot of the things but with a little one I am not sure what we would be able to do. Any recommendations? By the way, what is the banana boat?

Another off the wall question, is St Marten the port where the planes fly in over the beach or am I totally wrong on this?

 

[lisa702]

We have not been to St Maarten or St Thomas. I really enjoy the days in port when we stay onboard and everyone else goes ashore though! We are looking forward to our first visit to CC as well.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I booked my airfare a few weeks ago with the prices at Delta Song had an unexpected drop. We are arriving 5 days before the cruise for some park time

By the way, what is the banana boat?

A banana boat is a long inflatable raft, shaped like a banana, that is pulled by a speed boat or jet ski out in the ocean. It makes for a very bumpy but fun ride. It's for ages 8 and up though, and preferably for swimmers, as you can be knocked off easily on the bumpy waves. My younger son will be with the Oceaneer's Lab counselors in Scuttles Cove while we do this....he not old enough, and I don't think he'd enjoy it very much.

 

[gdulaney]

We're driving down, so no airfare here.

We've done several different excursions at each port. If you have any questions on any of them, let me know.

St. Maartin 12-Metre Regatta
-- Tons of fun. Hubby did the wench thing (lots of work) and I was a bar wench (drink chick...who passed out water, beer and soda).

Under 2 Flags Island Tour on St. Maartin
-- Was okay. Got a good overview of the entire island, but wasn't really worth the price (in my opinion).

Rhino Rider & Snorkeling Adventure in St. Maartin
-- Very fun!!! We had a blast.

St. John Island Tour
-- Was better than the "Under 2 Flags Tour" ... it was a really nice overview of St. John, which is such a beautiful island.

St. Thomas Island Tour
-- Was better than the "Under 2 Flags Tour" but not as good as the "St John Island Tour."

We've also just done the shopping thing and then headed back to the ship, where we lounged by the pool (frothy drink in hand).

On Castaway Cay, we've parasailed, snorkled, and my favorite...spent the day floating on Serenity Bay.

Ginny

 

[captaincrash]

Hello,

On the first general question posed - we purchased our air within a couple of days of booking. We were considering a couple of differnet sailng dates - and as we settled on a cruise date we were looking simultaneously at the matching air fares. We are coming in two days early and flying home the day we dock. Since we're coming in from the west coast the time zone change leads us to come in early to adjust a bit so the cruise is more enjoiable. Also, this allows us to visit a park or two, shop a little or ???
We were interested in leaving the day we dock because we need a day to recover after the trip... and we decided not to use a vacation day for that.

So, as for what shore excursions we hold interest in... we have been to St Thomas perhaps 4 or 5 times and we just enjoy catching a cab to the beach on the other side from the port and shopping. Same goes for St Marteen. We are pretty low key I guess. With a couple of young kids we are happy just to have a "family day" at a relaxed pace on a warm water beach.

In the past we have engaged in some relatively active diversions: we've done a few fixed wing aerial tours, parasailing, the bannana boat and somewhat recently - the wicked pedal boat. And we tried a jeep tour, hired cabs, small buses, and rented cars for independent touring. And now we're back to just the simple diversions.

For us - we have to be a bit realistic as to what we can do with a 1 and 4 year old.

AND now on a different note.... is there anyone out there on this sailing who would be interested in sharing an unlimited access internet account? Once aboard we will settle on a password and split the cost. I would be pleased if 1 or 2 parties would step forward with interest. This cuts the cost by half or 2/3rds~!

Any takers?

 

[gdulaney]

Hi Captain Crash!

Welcome!!!!! It sounds like you guys have done a ton of interesting excursions. Last time in St Thomas, we did a little shopping and then headed back to the ship. It was great to just sip a cold drink, read a good book, and work on nothing harder than getting a good tan.

Ginny

 

[captaincrash]

Well...

Actually we did NOT do all those things on just St Thomas or St Maarteen. We did the fixed wing flights in Grand Cayman and charted floatplanes in Alaska; then we did the helicopter in Maui and Alaska; the rented cab tour in Tahiti; a rented BUS in Grand Cayman and a port in Alaska; and independent rental cars in St Thomas; San Juan; Aruba & Hawaii. Parasailing was in Aruba and Cancun; and the nortorious pedal boat was rented on our 1st Disney Cruise in St Maarteen (or was it St Thomas?). Plus we've taken public transport and negotiated cabs on our own numerous times everywhere.

SO- I don't know if that's more detail then anyone really cared to hear about. And as previously mentioned - we're down to just the "simple plain vanilla stuff" like catching a cab for the beach and hangin' out to make sand castles and such for 1/3 the day. Then we go shop for 1/3rd the day - and the last 1/3rd is maybe something else like snacking in town or stopping enroute to shoot photos, or partonize a steet-side vendor or food stuffs or trinkets.

We have yet to start scuba diving - or do the "bubble submarine" (oh yeah - we've done the "atlantis submarine" a couple of times too - plus a half dozen glass bottom boats). The bubble sub takes just 2 people down with a scuuba diver driving the thing for you - or at least that's what I recollect.

So, we would be somewhat open minded to any new ideas OR things that would tolerate small groups to SPLIT to save a few bucks.

So again - anyone going iinterested in sharing an unlimited use internet account?

HEh-hee....

Adios for now!