Welcoming the Magic to TEXAS and sending her off in style!! 9/22/12 **UPDATED 9/21

[Gina]

Add myself and DS Ian (9) to the list.

Party of 2, A, L?, S?

My folks still have a place in Friendswood (childhood home) so we will probably stay down there.

Gotcha added! SO looking forward to seeing everyone... this is going to be so exciting!!

And I wanted to post a quick pic for those of you not on the FB group. This is my son & I -- Find us on the pier, and you will have hopefully then found everyone else too.

 

[princess aleya]

Wow this sounds like so much fun. I definetly want to try to make it for the arrival or departure.

 

[Gina]

Wow this sounds like so much fun. I definetly want to try to make it for the arrival or departure.

I hope you're able to make it!

 

[Gina]

If you're still contemplating joining us for lunch, and you've never been to The Spot, just wanted to toss some more info out there! Their burgers are amazing... in fact, all their food is amazing! The atmosphere is super casual, and the view is stellar. You can see their menu and other info here:

www.islandfamous.com

I'm going to try and get the bigger table upstairs and outside. Hope a bunch of you can join us!

 

[hamm1207]

18 days until we're waving our Mickey hands and greeting the Magic as she pulls into port!!!

 

[Gina]

18 days until we're waving our Mickey hands and greeting the Magic as she pulls into port!!!

Woo hoo!!

And not that anyone cares, lol, but I think I've settled on my plain ole' plush Minnie ears, the headband style. I realized the bulk of my ears are Christmas-oriented, lol, and wouldn't really work... and my favorite pink jeweled ones just wouldn't stand out enough. Wish I had the big plush hands, too!

Is anyone else wearing pins too? I think DS & I are -- it's just such a standard part of the "Disney outfit" for us, and makes us feel like we're at WDW or heading to pin trading onboard.

I just can't wait to see that gorgeous ship in Galveston!!

 

[hamm1207]

16 days!!

Sadly i don't have any Mickey ears, soi'll just be waving our Mickey hands!

Are there any restaurants that will be open early down in Galveston...say maybe a doughnut shop?

 

[shaned]

16 days!!

Sadly i don't have any Mickey ears, soi'll just be waving our Mickey hands!

Are there any restaurants that will be open early down in Galveston...say maybe a doughnut shop?

Sarah - Don't fret, Mickey wont care. I have the Mickey hands or hand not sure which, that my grandson bought when we were at WDW back in 08. I think I'm going to wear my multicolored light Mickey ears we got from Fantasia.

It would be super cool if they let some of the characters come down where we are for just a few minutes and have pictures taken with the group.
Dena

 

[Gina]

Are there any restaurants that will be open early down in Galveston...say maybe a doughnut shop?

Donut Palace would be the most convenient, right on Broadway between 21st & 22nd.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/donut-palace-galveston

Home Cut Donuts gets the best reviews, but it would be way farther out of the way. Sounds really good, though!!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/home-cut-donuts-galveston

And then if you have way more time, there's always Waffle House on 61st, our personal fave. Love those hash browns!!

 

[Gina]

Only 2 weeks from today!!

 

[ukintheus]

Just a heads up that it looks like sail away is going to be 4:30 pm for all the Galveston sailings. I got an email that our 10/13 cruise is 4:30 pm, and saw that the 9/21 has been changed too. Muster drill is 3:45 pm.

I'm also getting nervous that the Magic will sail in REALLY early that morning, even though she's scheduled for 7 am. I mean REALLY early - like 5 am or so. Anyone else think that might happen??

 

[Gina]

Just a heads up that it looks like sail away is going to be 4:30 pm for all the Galveston sailings. I got an email that our 10/13 cruise is 4:30 pm, and saw that the 9/21 has been changed too. Muster drill is 3:45 pm.

I'm also getting nervous that the Magic will sail in REALLY early that morning, even though she's scheduled for 7 am. I mean REALLY early - like 5 am or so. Anyone else think that might happen??

Wow, thanks for the heads up!! That definitely cuts into dessert time... I'm thinking we need to be back on the pier by around 3:45-ish, then, to make sure we get good spots. Maybe 3:30?

I sure hope she doesn't end up coming in at any 5:30 in the morning... I'm going to contact the Port again and beg for someone other than that useless PR person to maybe give me any updates they might have/get.

Good news is, DCL will be sailing out of terminal #2, so will be the closest ship to where we'll be standing!

Thanks again for letting us know about the sailaway time changes!! I'll go update all my various posts!

 

[Gina]

Aaaaand more changes... lol. SO, who's ready to be up & at 'em much earlier than we had planned?? Dylan over at my thread on the CC boards suggested we might want to be there much earlier, so I called the Port yet again. Tessa told me that there are so many variables, especially since the Magic will not be carrying passengers at that point, and that she could arrive as early as 5 or 5:30am. She suggested we all maybe meet at like the Denny's at 14th & Seawall at around 4am and just make an early morning coffee meet out of it, have fun with it since we're going to be up so early anyway. I'm definitely glad I went ahead and booked us in at a hotel, even though we live fairly close anyway. Closer is better at that hour of the morning, lol.

So what do y'all think, meet at Denny's? Still meet at the pier, just way earlier? Is it going to be just DS & I now?

I have a ship tracker site loaded up on my phone, as well as the Shipmate app that has a tracker, but I don't know how real-time either of them are... Real-time enough for our purposes, I mean. I'm going to try and figure that out.

So what are everyone's thoughts on when & where to meet up that morning?

 

[ukintheus]

Aaaaand more changes... lol. SO, who's ready to be up & at 'em much earlier than we had planned?? Dylan over at my thread on the CC boards suggested we might want to be there much earlier, so I called the Port yet again. Tessa told me that there are so many variables, especially since the Magic will not be carrying passengers at that point, and that she could arrive as early as 5 or 5:30am. She suggested we all maybe meet at like the Denny's at 14th & Seawall at around 4am and just make an early morning coffee meet out of it, have fun with it since we're going to be up so early anyway. I'm definitely glad I went ahead and booked us in at a hotel, even though we live fairly close anyway. Closer is better at that hour of the morning, lol.

So what do y'all think, meet at Denny's? Still meet at the pier, just way earlier? Is it going to be just DS & I now?

I have a ship tracker site loaded up on my phone, as well as the Shipmate app that has a tracker, but I don't know how real-time either of them are... Real-time enough for our purposes, I mean. I'm going to try and figure that out.

So what are everyone's thoughts on when & where to meet up that morning?

This is going to make things tricky!! The chances of me getting my DH to agree to a 4 am start that morning are probably slim-to-none. I'll have to work on it. He gets in from a 2 week out of town trip (he's already gone) on that Friday night - so he'll be very resistant to something that early.

I'll have to play it by ear for now and make a decision closer to the time.

 

[shaned]

Good news is, DCL will be sailing out of terminal #2, so will be the closest ship to where we'll be standing!

Gina - I don't think that is correct when you look at the map of the terminals #2 is the farthest for the Elissa. I could be wrong. The metal looking building is what I thought is terminal #2
Dena

 

[Gina]

Gina - I don't think that is correct when you look at the map of the terminals #2 is the farthest for the Elissa. I could be wrong. The metal looking building is what I thought is terminal #2
Dena

Ugh, of course you're right... I swear, I have the directional sense of a dead houseplant. Okay, so it looks like, at least, that they will be the only ship in port that day, if I'm reading this correctly:

http://portofgalveston.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=157

Is that right?

 

[shaned]

Ugh, of course you're right... I swear, I have the directional sense of a dead houseplant. Okay, so it looks like, at least, that they will be the only ship in port that day, if I'm reading this correctly:

http://portofgalveston.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=157

Is that right?

Don't feel bad I consider myself directionally challenged. That why I always add, I could be wrong. And for the only cruise line in that day that's how I read it also.
Dena

 

[ukintheus]

No worries on the directionally challenged.

Yes, I think they are the only ship in port that day. The following week, and every other week from that point on, they and the Triumph will both be in port as far as I can tell.

 

[hamm1207]

I will have to check with the husband. It maybe hard to get him and our friend out of bed that early.

 

[hamm1207]

The husband says it is a no go to the 4am! Sorry!! I will keep an eye on it and see if we can still head down early (just not 4am early)