Was live - now great memories from the April 26th Eastern Magic

[iluvdisney]

Sounds like a really great way to start a vacation, Mary. I look forward to reading more - I miss the ship and can't wait til September - sometimes it seems so far off. Enjoy!

 

[tinytink]

Awesome have a great trip!

 

[qohweddings]

Good Morning from the Disney Magic Internet Cafe-

Thought I'd check in and have some coffee while partner sleeps in....

Last night was formal night and we actually had our reservations for Palo- when you get a reservation for there ask for Sylvester - you WILL NOT be disappointed.

My partner is a vegetarian and Sylvester's suggestions were right on target - knowledge of wine, suggestion of Four Cheese Pizza as a starter were all incredible...

We had a 6 Pm reservation (all we could get) and had planned to meet up with tables makes at our regular rotation - NO WAY too much good food, we went to the late showing of the Golden Mickey's and turned in by 10...

Good food and fresh air makes me sleepy....

Day 2 at sea...

Talk to ya later

Mark

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Good Monring Cruisers - thanks for the reports.....

I'll be there soon.....

 

[imheather]

You all are getting me excited for our cruise next week. I can't wait for your updates

Heather

 

[DAKfever]

We're are totally psyched for Saturday....can't wait to board the Magic!!!

 

[jlawall]

Loving your reports........keep 'em coming and have a blast!!

 

[acourtwdw]

Mary and Mark,
Can't wait to read more!! Keep em coming.

 

[dizzneebabe]

I love this! We have friends on the ship with you--1st time cruisers (of any line)!
Mike & Liz Brown along with 4 kids!

Hope all are having a GREAT TIME!!!!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

HI MARY AND MARK!

Hope you're having beautiful weather!

 

[MarkRG]

Hi All!

Havn't forgotten about this- just been having too much fun!

It was a great day in St.Maarten yesterday, and just as equal a day today in St.Thomas.

Really didn't do too much in St.Maarten except shop, there was this big carnival going on that closed up the town starting around 1pm.

Here in St.Thomas, we went on the St. John island and snorkel tour, had a FANTASTIC time. The ship they took us over in was impeccable, Trunk Bay on St. John where they took us was great, saw lots of fish!!

We will catch up, with at least some pictures tomorrow on the sea day.

Now, for the repo crowd, and feel free to quote me all over the place, about the ship itself.

Things have gone well, no big obvious issues that I can find. There are some small signs of regular wear and tear that a ship years out of drydock should have, you know, small trim things, a ceiling panel on deck 9 thats' a bit askew, a light fixture that looks like it needs to be rehung in Lumiere's, that's about as major a thing as I've seen. The engines seem to be performing well, we were running higher than 20 kts in rough(8ft swells) sea, with a headwind, on the way down to here, and made St. Maarten on time, possibly even a bit early. No need to mention St. M to St. T, as we did something like 8 knots last night, I'd forgotten how close they are to each other.

Now about something mentioned elsewhere, I have purposely sat in different sections of Topsiders for lunch. I have yet to see a 'chair so filthy I need to lay a towel on it', as it was put back someplace when everyone was being so reactive about the condition of this ship. This ship is very clean folks. I have seen rather aggressive work going on, on carpeting and other interior and exterior surfaces to keep the ship that way and really don't have much of a complaint about it. As of right now I see this ship as being more than fit to go to the west coast, you guys will have a great time.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Gee thanks for the trip report...I'll take you up on the Quoting......

Have More Fun....

 

[Timon]

Great report guys!! Looking forward to the rest of it

Have a great time

 

[WDWLVR]

Hi everyone! I'll add just a bit to all Mark said. It has been a fantastic cruise!

Our two sea days were kept busy with Palo brunch, massages, and just relaxing.

Yesterday in Saint Maarten we opted to shop in the morning and just relax in the afternoon. Didn't go back into town for the parade. There were 4 ships total in port and it was busy. So instead we headed up to the pool where it was quiet and swam a bit.

Today was up early for immigration and our early morning shore excursion. The early morning was well worth it for a trip over to Trunk Bay. I had forgotten how beautiful it was having been there some 30 years ago.

Some other highlights of the trip so far:

Seeing John Charles in his family show the other night. This guy is fantastic! He was getting off in Saint Maarten so not sure when he'll be sailing again but if he is on when you are go see him. That same night we skipped the show (Twice Charmed) for a lively game of Left, Right Center in the Promenade Lounge.

We saw National Treasures 2 the other afternoon and then saw College Road Trip last night in the Walt Disney theater.

We skipped the pirate party last night but got to see the fireworks from our verandah.

We're skipping the shows tonight as we are beat!

Our dinners have been a blast thanks to linking with our good friends the Patrick's and an awesome server team.

Will post more tomorrow!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Thank you so much for the updates Mark and Mary! I'm so glad to hear you're having such a great time!

 

[WVMD]

Sounds like you are all having fun! Wishing we were with you!

Virgil

 

[DAKfever]

WDWLVR.....who were your servers? I'm anxious to find out who our servers will be this next week. If I called DCL would they tell me?

 

[frdeb1999]

Love hearing about the trip! Looking forward to more!

 

[WDWLVR]

Up until now, we've been tossing out bits and pieces, today we sat down and really did it up right. Might be repeating a bit, but it's the only way to really tell you all of this trip. And we have a few pictures! Pardon the quality of them, we'll fix that when we get home onto a better internet connection than we have here onboard.

Pre-cruise day

Here's a recap of our vacation so far starting from the beginning. It is me (Mary) and DH Mark (aka MarkRG). Traveling with the Crazy Caribbean Cruisers especially our friends from Ohio Karen (ohiominnie), Mike (ohiomickey), KT and Nick.

We got an early start on Friday the 25th with a pick-up by my in-laws at 6 am. Check in at O'Hare was very smooth as was our flight down. We arrived in Orlando just after noon. I had Karen and Mike's cell phone numbers but we hadn't made a firm plan just that we'd meet up after landing and ride over to the port together. As we came down the escalator to baggage claim I found out why. Waiting at the bottom of the escalator were Karen, Mike and the kids holding up a sign just like the limo drivers do. Yeah! It was so good to see them again. They had already gotten a van and loaded up their luggage so we just had to wait for ours and they helped us take our luggage to the van. Soon we were on our way to the port and our home for the night the Hampton Inn.

Arriving in Port Canaveral we stopped for lunch at a combined Taco Bell/Long John Silvers right by the hotel. The Ohio clan opts for Taco Bell while Mark and I did LJS, then it was on to the hotel where we got rooms just a few doors down from each other, we had a beautiful view from the room.

We get settled in and then decide that we are heading out for dinner at 4:30 as the Sovereign of the Seas is in port that we can see leave. We got a little bit later start and when we got to Grills the ship was passing, so Mike dropped us all off and he went to park the car. Grills is a great place for dinner and it was a great start to our vacation.

After dinner we made a quick stop at Publix to pick up some supplies (sweet tea for us and snacks for the Ohio clan) then back to the hotel where we broke out the dice for some games of LRC (Left, Right, Center) which is a fun game the Ohio clan taught us. We then went back to our respective rooms to chill for the rest of the evening and get ready for the next day!

Boarding Day

I'm a morning person so was up nice and early before the alarm even rang. Mark took a walk outside and confirmed that the Magic was in port and waiting for us! Breakfast was included at the hotel, some last minute packing and then we all got in the van! A quick stop for gas where we got our first shock and laugh of the day as a car started driving away with the nozzle still in the gas tank! A quick fill up and we were pulling into the port, which wasn't busy at all yet and we quickly got unloaded and all our bags checked with the porter. Then Mike took the van back to Avis with Mark and Nick going along for the ride. Karen, KT and I made our way to check in. KT grabbed a spot on the couch and we dumped our carry ons and then went to check in. Karen and I were making a "run" to see who could get there first and the CM just laughed and gave us boarding card 2! This will be a big help as we are trying to get Karen and Mike added to our Palo reservation.

After check in it was time to wait for the guys and do some people watching. We also were able to meet up with a number of DISers in the terminal. As 11:30 approached we made our way over to the ropes and got to meet up with even more DISers, the party had started! Before we knew it we were boarding the beautiful Disney Magic, how wonderful to be back on board! The guys headed up to the Mickey Pool while Karen and I went to see about Palo, mission accomplished! We'd be enjoying Palo Brunch at 11 am on Sunday!

We met up with everyone at the pool, Nick had already gotten his first slice of pizza, Mark headed into the buffet. I realized that in my 10 past cruises I had never had the pizza I opted for that. The kids went swimming and the adults just relaxed, I'm really glad we boarded when we did as things got crowded as the day wore on.

At 2 pm we were allowed in our stateroom and found our Castaway Club gift, it is a nice big black bag, 2 water bottles, a small mesh bag, and a nice little notebook and pen.

One bag was already at our door and the room steward had another in his hands which we took to the room. Our third and final bag came moments later. By 2:45 we were unpacked and settled in so we headed down to the Promenade Lounge and our DIS meet. Had a really nice turnout and it was great to meet in person so many people we had talked to online.

After the safety drill we headed up for the sailaway party, we are on our way! We stay up on deck 10, a quick call to Mark's parents, and once we leave land behind we are off, heading down to our room to get ready for dinner. While standing out on the verandah we see a dolphin! Cool!

Dinner the first night was in Parrot Cay. We had linked with Karen and Mike so we know we are in for a good time. Our motto is that we may not be the best dressed table at dinner but we will have the most fun. We find out right away that we have a great serving team. Ivo is our server and Paola is our assistant server. They are wonderful!

After dinner we go to the welcome aboard show which was a lot of fun. Then we call it a night, but not before I agree to meet Karen and Mike outside the spa at 7 am!

 

[WDWLVR]

Next up are two fun-filled sea days!

Sunday dawns bright and early and as promised I meet up with Karen and Mike by the spa. Karen shows me how to use an elliptical machine but I only last 10 minutes on that. I then head over to the bikes where Mike is working out and do 15 minutes there and then 15 minutes on the treadmill. Not too bad.

Back to the room to clean up and get ready for our morning, first up is the DVC Member Celebration held in Diversions at 10am. We knew we would be cutting it close as we had Palo reservations at 11. Each family gets a welcome bag with 2 DVC hats, a member lanyard, and a raffle card and pen. The night before we had gotten a nice DVC Member logbook with 2 lanyards in it as well. We fill out the raffle card and the show starts, with the usual sales talk peppered with drawings for prizes. As we edge closer to 11 am we are thinking of leaving but the presentation is also coming to an end and they are pulling more names. Our name is pulled and my question is I have to name the person on the left of me. That was easy - it was Mike Patrick! We won a really nice double beach towel that folds into a beach bag. A few people later Karen and Mike are picked and win a cute beach towel. We then rush out apologizing to the rep at the door that we are late for Palo!

We are greeted at Palo by PJ and are soon seated in a wonderful booth. Thomas is our server and after giving us the tour we head to fill our plates. That's when I get a wonderful surprise. Sylvester who was our server back in May of '03 now works at Palo. It was so wonderful to see him again.

In the afternoon we spent time just relaxing. To me a great day at sea is being out on the verandah with a good book and that is just what I did!

Dinner tonight was in Lumiere's. We have table 31 which is a great location right by the windows in both Parrot Cay and Lumiere's. It is formal night and I must say our table looked great. The show was Golden Mickey's but since we have seen this many times we all went to the Buena Vista theatre to see The Game Plan. Cute movie! As we parted I agreed to meet Karen and Mike the next morning at the spa!

Monday morning dawns bright and sunny and as promised we meet up at the spa. I skip the elliptical and instead spend 1/2 hour on the bike. Mark shows up about 20 minutes in and does some time on the bike next to me. We then head back to the front desk to check in for our spa appointment, we booked the couples massage. We did this back in 2004 and loved it. Don't know why we waited so long to do it again but I plan on booking one for our next cruise (the DVC Member Cruise this September). After that we headed into the Rainforest Room, I love those heated tile loungers.

After breakfast we did a little shopping and then just relaxed most of the day.

Dinner tonight is Animator's Palette. I think I'm driving Ivo crazy as I never order an appetizer or soup/salad. The show tonight is Twice Charmed and again we take a pass. We did go to John Charles family cabaret show and he is fantastic. Sadly we find he is leaving the ship in St. Maarten. After that we meet up in the Promenade Lounge for some more rounds of LRC. We were having a great time until after late seating dinner was done and the singing duo came on. The kids had left to go to a High School Musical party in the lab so we moved up to Cove Café to play (it was a little too cool and windy to play up on deck). Lots of tears and laughs with the game. Tears from Karen when she got 3 C's which made all her dimes went into the center and laughs when Mike had to move his seat in Cove Café to find his dice (but it was a dot and he didn't give up this time).

The next day is Saint Maarten and yes I agreed to meet up with Karen and Mike at the spa again!