September 4th (2004) Disney Magic Cruise List

[ThreeCircles]

Here's a few pics from the St. John Eco Hike excursion Travis and I took in May.

http://public.fotki.com/threecircles/

 

[ThreeCircles]

Originally posted by TonyF
I am a bit scared of the Eco hike pictures you are going to post. I saw a picture of the digital camera you were looking at on another thread. If that is your upgrade camera, your camera must have been bigger than a suitcase. Kidding aside, I look forward to viewing the pictures. I'm sure they are awesome.

Oh, you must mean that new digital camera. The most advanced out on the market so far. Yeah, it is tough to carry around but it came with a handy neck strap.

I actually bought my very first digital camera last December. It's a very basic, point-and-shoot, Nikon Coolpix 2200. It's only a 2 mega-pixel but I wanted it so that I could take pictures and post them on the web easily. As you can see from the pictures above, even a 2 MP camera can do that quite well. I've also had some standard sized prints made from the camera and they turned out quite nice too.

But, I am used to the adaptability and adjustable features of an SLR. I have a 35mm SLR but I would love a digital.

SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex camera. Basically, when you look through the view-finder of a camera there are two options. In SLRs, the image that you are seeing through the viewfinder is actually the same image that is going through the lens of the camera. Most point-and-shoot cameras have a "viewfinder" that does not use the actual camera lens to frame the picture. So, when you line up a shot with an SLR, what you see is what you get in the final picture. When you use a camera with a separate viewfinder, the final image is always going to be off a little bit.

Probably the biggest advantages to an SLR include the fact that the lenses are separate from the camera body so you can interchange any number of them and the fact that they are so adjustable. You can have the camera automatically set settings such as shutter speed, exposure, lens aperture, etc. or you can manual set them yourself. Most point-and-shoots may offer some manual configuration of settings but not to the extent of an SLR. And, even though point-and-shoots can do a very good job of determining the correct settings, often they can’t and they yield less than favorable pictures.

 

[TonyF]

Your pictures look fantastic Jason. It looks like you and Travis had a great time along with a beautiful day for a hike.

It's probably a good thing that you got a neck strap for that camera. You don't look like a big guy, so you must've carried it well. I would have thought you would have been stooped over like a 90-yr old grandma after toting that contraption around. Maybe you should get an additional accessory for it, say a push cart. Easier on the back, you know.

Thanks for the info on SLR's. You definitely know quite a bit more than I do. It saved me time researching on the web. I've just started looking, but it sounds like an SLR digital will be the better choice for the long-term.

We plan on cruising Disney again at the same time during 2005, just with more members of the family. We are the guinea pigs on this September cruise. I could think of worse things to try out. I'm sure we will have a great time. A new digital SLR camera will show the rest of the family what they have to look forward to. More likely make them jealous that they made us go alone this time around.

It's not that much longer before we can line up the excursions. I'm going to have to start narrowing down my list. The only for sure at this point is the Paradise Point visit (with the mandatory Bushwacker, of course). I'm hopeful that your pictures of the Eco hike will convince my wife to give it a go. Thanks for posting them.

TonyF

 

[Monstro]

Anyone mind if I join this party? This will be our third DC.

Our party will consist of me, dw, dd 17, dd 11, dd 9. Disney Grandma and Grandpa (from California) will also be with us.

We went on our first DC in 2002. DCL was smart/kind enough to seat us at dinner with a cool family from Georgia. They also have three dd's. Their oldest and middle dd's match age with our middle and youngest dd's. We all became fast friends (our oldest and their youngest included - I have many pictures of them together) and now we do the yearly reunion on the magic.

This will be our first Eastern - I'm a bit apprehensive - there was so much to do on the western - I'm not sure about that extra day on the Magic.

Anyway we're all excited and glad to be aboard.

 

[ThreeCircles]

Hello and welcome Jeff!

Glad to see that you're sailing on the September 4th Cruise and that you found our little thread on the Dis Boards.

We've all been attempting to jump start this thread of late and are more than happy to have help in that department.

We also have created a Disney Magic September 4th Cruise List at <a href="http://www.threecircles.net">ThreeCircles.net</a> if you want to check it out. Also feel free to send in your family's info if you like.

As far as the extra day at sea, that's something that we've really come to enjoy on the Eastern. DCL does a great job of loading up on the activities on sea days, as I'm sure you've noticed on the Western, and it gives you more time to enjoy the beautiful ship.

 

[TonyF]

Welcome Jeff,

I know you and your family are probably as excited as we are. The cruise is going to be here before you know it.

If you haven't had a chance to check out Jason's web site at www.threecircles.net, you should take a moment to do so. Not only does it contain a list of your fellow cruisers, it also contains the download for the official DCL San Juan and CC excursions as well as a cruise matrix for planning those Palo meals and spa treatments. I have found the cruise matrix to be helpful in planning out those sea days.

Welcome aboard again, and hopefully we'll be able to meet up sometime during the cruise!

TonyF

 

[Monstro]

Thanks for the welcome. I checked out www.threecircles.net - Looks good. Jason - you did a lot of work there.
It should really help once we get our dinner rotation. Does anyone know if there is a way to get that prior to getting our tickets?

I'm planning on sending you our info soon. Do you just want it via email?

 

[ThreeCircles]

Hello all--

I uploaded a few more shots from the St. John Eco Hike excursion to a Fotki (www.fotki.com) account I just set up.

Here is the link to the gallery: http://public.fotki.com/ThreeCircles/


Jeff--

I believe that only way to get your dining rotation prior to check-in is by booking either the Romantic Escape at Sea package or by booking at the concierge level. Either of these two options let you select a specific rotation, I think. Other than that, you pretty much have to wait until check-in.

E-mailing the info is fine: jason@ThreeCircles.net

 

[Monstro]

I swear we knew it when we got our tickets last year.

I'll have to confirm with Ann.

 

[ganurse]

i am sooo ready to make our last payment so we can get our papers in the mail. has anyone gotten anything in the mail yet?

 

[Monstro]

You read my mind. I'm ready to get the tickets and get going....

vacation, vacation, vacation

 

[Doctor P]

We made our final payment about six weeks ago. We have not received anything in the mail except for a medical form I had to fill out.

 

[ganurse]

we close on our house on thursday and then we finish paying off the cruise..lots to be excited about. hopefully this will be our last cruise as a childless couple but who knows. some say we are still young. i look forward to meeting everyone on the cruise and really appreciate everyones posts!

amy

 

[ThreeCircles]

Amy--

It makes me feel better to see that I'm not the only one up at 2:00 A.M. ET!

 

[ganurse]

i work night shift so you will see me posting at all funky hours. i could spend hours reading the boards and printing things out!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Hello everyone! We are in the process of switching our reservation to the Sept 4 - 11 Eastern cruise! We were originally scheduled for the Thanksgiving Western, but the flight prices were just too much for us. I was able to secure really inexpensive flight arrangements from our home airport (15 min. away) for September (not to mention this cruise will be about $1000 less expensive than cruising for Thanksgiving) so here we are!

We'll be flying in the night before the cruise, staying at the Sheraton Suites near the airport (gotta love those Starwood points!) and using Disney transfers to and from Port.

I can't wait to meet everyone here and I think we'll have an awesome time!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A little bit about us:
Cruising will be me (Melody, 29) and dear hubby (EB, 32). It will be my 4th Disney cruise and his 3rd Disney cruise...both our second Magic cruises. Our first cruise was the Christmas Eastern for our honeymoon in 2001 and we are really looking forward to returning to St. Thomas and St. John as that was our favorite port of call.

As of now we have late dinner seating. We'll be celebrating (about a month early) our 3rd wedding anniversary. We are hoping (once all is secure) that we will be able to add on the REAS package. After a few Disney cruises, we have yet to eat at Palo! I will also be getting the Rainforest weekly pass because I love sitting in the heat -- hubby isn't too fond of it, though! He really wants a pedicure so we'll have to schedule that as well. We would also like to see if we could get into Palo brunch. We can't wait!

Some excursions we're hoping to secure are:

-->St. Thomas: 5 Star St. Thomas Snorkel and Beach Adventure (we did the Champagne Catamaran last time and loved it!)

--> San Juan: Seven Seas Snorkeling Adventure

--> Castaway Cay: We'll do the day-long snorkel and float rental and try to be as lazy as possible at Serenity Bay.

I guess that's it for now. I'm going to start back on page one of this cruise thread later today....I started on page 8 and read to this point so far.

 

[WILDCATMICKEY]

WELCOME ON BOARD! My DW and I are also looking forward to a week in the Rainforest. How peaceful and relaxing. We have the REAS package and have all our Palos Ressies, along with the couples message booked. Just have to make a couple of other Spa Ressie and we are ready to cruise.

 

[Quirky Cruiser]

Hi Everybody,
Just wanted to say hi and let you know that I'll be cruising September 4th as well! I'm actually cruising with a larger group, but I figured I would introduce myself here. I'm 24 and this will be my 5th Disney Cruise (can we say addicted????). I'm still unsure of what excursions I'll be doing - but I did the 5-star snorkel in St. Thomas last time and it was fantastic, so I might do that again. We have the late dinner seating. If only the days would go by a little faster!!!! I can't wait!!!!
-Tenley

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by WILDCATMICKEY
WELCOME ON BOARD! My DW and I are also looking forward to a week in the Rainforest. How peaceful and relaxing. We have the REAS package and have all our Palos Ressies, along with the couples message booked. Just have to make a couple of other Spa Ressie and we are ready to cruise.

Did you go through a travel agent for your REAS or did you get a call OR did you call DCL directly to reserve your REAS?

 

[WILDCATMICKEY]

Went through the Ta. Keyboard problems excuse mistypes. Then called Debbie at customer service for ressies.