February 7, 2004 Eastern

[JenGang]

I just have to finish getting all the the last minute things together and then we're ready! We're flying out of Minneapolis around 4:30 this afternoon but we won't arrive at MCO until just after midnight because we fly to Dallas first, have a 2 hour layover and then on to MCO. I'm just hoping and praying that my girls sleep on the plane or I'll be dealing with some mighty crabby girls tomorrow morning!

I'm so excited that I can hardly stand it! I can't wait to meet all of you tomorrow at Studio Sea. For all of you that haven't left home yet, I hope your travels are nice and easy!

 

[schrei]

Just wanted to be the last one to post...We'll be leaving about 5:30 this evening (FRIDAY). If anyone is still here. Be safe and looks like the weather tomorrow is chilly.
Your Disney Friend.

 

[Verandah Man]

Here you go all you lucky 2-7-04 Magic Cruisers. Here is a pic of the Magic in port on Saturday morning 2-7-04. Have a MAGICal cruise!!!

Disney Magic at Port Canaveral February 7, 2004

 

[Verandah Man]

Disney Magic sailing up the Port Canaveral Channel on 2-7-04

Disney Magic sailing past the Two Palms cam on 2-7-04

 

[Verandah Man]

The Magic in St. Thomas on Wednesday February 11, 2004

 

[disneygal58]

Andy,
Thanks so much for the photos.

Well, we're back to reality. We disembarked at 8:15 yesterday, I rushed to get to work for a 9:30 appointment and they no-showed. I was rocking quite a bit all day - that had never happened before!
I had a lovely time at brunch - it was a pleasure putting a face to all of the names.
It's so hard having to go into the kitchen to look for food when I really just want to walk through the doors to the buffet and have it ready for me.
We enjoyed our service team at dinner - it did take them a few days to come around and socialize. Our tablemates were a bit odd and made for a slightly uncomfortable dining experience. Unfortunately there were only 4 of us at the table.
We rebooked for January 8th - I had to have a date to hold onto and a reason to visit the Dis Boards.
It was delightful meeting all of you that made it to our little meet. I hope you had as "magical"a time as we did.

Happy Unpacking,
Dawn

 

[JenGang]

Andy, I also wanted to thank you for the pictures! Now can I get tips on how to print them out? LOL

And Dawn, thank you for making the brunch reservations! It was great to meet so many of you and to put faces with the screennames.

We are also back to reality and can I just say I DON'T LIKE IT! LOL We had a wonderful time but unfortunately, my 7yo dd got a horrible cold that started on Weds. And that makes me pretty angry because on about Monday, dh was waiting to check her into the club and there was a kid outside the club with their mom and he was coughing and sneezing. The mom told him that he he had to stop it or else they weren't going to let him in the club. :::GRRRRRR::: Now today my 10yo dd has started throwing up. Thank goodness there is no school tomorrow but I was really hoping they'd both be feeling good so that today and tomorrow we could get a good amount of school work done. Oh well, I guess it's just not going to get turned in on Tuesday like I had hoped.

We had wonderful servers. Ritesh and Ronald were very good to us and I have considered asking for them again when we go next Feb. Yep, that's right, we rebooked too! And what's really nice is that I already know that JBorman and Annie12345 and thier families will both be there too! I've already started a thread for that cruise so if anyone else happened to have booked for that week, make sure you drop by and say "Hi".

 

[lotsofboys]

Let me just echo the thanks to Andy for the pictures, what a wonderful way to start the first day back to reality.

Dawn thanks again for the bubbles and Annie for the kazoos, my DSs were shocked beyond belief that "someone we don't even know" gave them something!

We didn't make it to the brunch, but I hope you all got to meet mmouse37, she is even more sweet and wonderful in person if you can believe, than she is on these boards and I personally think she is one of the BEST and MOST helpful around. We actually just ended up sitting next to her and her gang at Castaway Cay, what a coincidence

Jen, we had Ritesh and Ronald as well, but you must have been at the first seating, we were at the second. This was our second cruise and we had requested our servers from that cruise but both were out on vacation. I was hesitant about these two, but we came to adore them and will also request them, if you can believe..........next Feb 12th as well. How great that so many rebooked for the same week

Carla, what a great story about your upgrade I hope you and your family had a wonderful trip, it was nice to meet you at the Castaway Club reception. Safe travels to your husband.

Susan, how did you enjoy your first cruise? We saw you loading your van yesterday morning but didn't have a chance to say goodbye before you drove away.

Kathryn, how was your daughter's birthday? Did you manage to embarass her with the door decorations? Everytime I saw you on the ship you were alone so I assume she had a great time in the Stack after all.

I really miss the ship and the all the wonderful people. My DS 10 has cried real tears at least five time in the past 24 hours because he is so sensitive and gets so attached to people. He went back to say goodbye to Ritesh at least 3 times after breakfast yesterday!

Back to the washing machine.

Michelle

 

[sbatty]

Andy, thank you for the pictures!

Dawn, thank you for making the brunch reservations! I am sorry I had to cancel. My Dad was travelling with us and he isn't the social type. I had hoped to do brunch twice but it turned out our reservations overlapped. I was really looking forward to it.

We loved our first cruise. There is so much we did and so much we didn't. We have to go back. The islands were beautiful. We went to Le Galleon beach on St. Martin and it was perfect. On St. Thomas my DH took my MIL to St. John and I took the kids to Megan's Bay. I had wanted to go to Coki Beach but didn't have any luck finding a cab. Megan's was fun but very crowded. I also loved the Sea Days. I loved being able to drop the kids off at the club for a couple of hours during the day.

 

[disneygal58]

Hello All!
Brunch was one of the highlights of the week for me. It was much fun being escourted to the private dining room and partaking in great food and conversation.
Today I just want to be back in St. Martin!
Did anyone else rebook?

Dawn

 

[Cyberkashi]

A few of us rebooked for the second week of Feb 2005. We did and so did JenGang. I also heard that Annie12345 and LotsofBoys also rebooked. Jen already started a new thread for next year's cruise!

 

[lotsofboys]

Yes we did rebook for Feb 12th Western, but are really hoping to be able to move it to the summer over here in California. I have a feeling even if the repositioning happens it will be cost prohibitive and we will keep this date. I loved the weather last week, just hot enough but not stiffling like the middle of summer. We had so much fun, I am truly amazed that we can still say it is the BEST family vacation we have ever taken. Take care all.

 

[mrsdon]

I called about rebooking today also. Im waiting for the point charts to come out.
I had a blast meeting all of you...

 

[kcashner]

Michelle:
The door decorations for DD's birthday were great! She freaked when she first saw them, and all the little girls on the floor kept commenting about them. In the end, I was required to take them home with us. Yes, she spent a lot of time in The Stack. Really loved it. Besides, she decided that Schrei's son is "hot." She also distanced herself from the male friend she'd met before the cruise on the first day.....young love (hee hee).

I'm so sorry that I forgot about the dismeet....just a lot to do on the first afternoon, and it slipped my mind. However, it was great to meet many of you.

Tea at Palo was great. I've got to remember to buy some cream to make scones. I have a great recipe from an English friend, but don't make them often enough. They didn't serve the trifle, although it was on the menu.

We re-booked for September. At that time, we may book for Feb. 2005. Such fun. I miss the Magic!
Kathryn

 

[schrei]

We rebooked, out of our normal time frame, Feb/March. We're gonna try May 7, western this time. We are waiting for the BIG Announcment Capt Tom talked about and we'll see then if we need to make changes. Kathryn--what is GTY, I saw you've used that...does it have to do with NOT guaranteeing you a room and then they'll move you? I also saw you said you got better rates. Of the 3 you mentioned you priced, I could only get one Allseasons to even give me a quote for the May time frame. I'll keep lurking!
Nice to meet you folks and see ya around here. This place is great!

 

[kcashner]

Carla,
GTY stands for Guarantee. It means that they can put you in any cabin at that level or above. For instance, if you book a gty 11, they can't put you in a 12, but can put you in anything an 11 or up. It gives you the best chance for an upgrade as you are not assigned a room. The downside is that you cannot pick your cabin or even your part of the ship. If you book a gty 9, you can be in a 9 or above.

However, on 10 cruises, we've been all over. Maybe I'm goofy, but I've found good and bad about every location we've had.

The May dates and prices are out now. Any agency should be able to give you a quote. However, they might not be able to quote you with a military or GA resident discount. I know you'd qualify for both, but don't know if you used them on your last cruise. Often the discounted rates become available much later than the general public rates. Of course, if you use these discounts, you can't combine them with the on-board re-booking discount. You can use whichever is the better deal for your family. Again, a good TA will track any discounts that you qualify for and notify you if something comes up that will give you a better rate.

Many large agencies ask for all sorts of info--castaway club number, Disney Visa info...as well as state, military, etc....they then track it all on their computers in order to watch for anything that helps you out. The only kicker is that the deals have to be the same date/same category as you booked in order to trigger most of the programs.

 

[schrei]

I appreciate your input and info, alot! We love to cruise and need to pinch pennies when possible. Thanks again for everything and sharing your knowledge. we'll be changing to GTY!

 

[Mikem861]

Hi Everyone!!
We finally returned home today after our extended stay in FL with my parents!! I wish I was back in FL already!! It was GREAT meeting everyone. I still can't believe the first people we met when we got on the cruise were Dawn and Erin!! We haven't booked a return yet, We have to wait for our DVC points to catch up. We are looking at sometime in 2006. It may take that long to work off all the weight I gained on the cruise anyway We got lucky and had a real great bunch of folks at our table for dining!! I hope we can see some of you on our future cruises!!

Mike

 

[disneygal58]

Mike,
Welcome home. It was pretty amazing that we sat down to lunch on Embarkation Day and found such nice fellow Dis-ers. I'm glad that you enjoyed your maiden voyage aboard the Magic and I'm certain that you, too will become as obsessed as the rest of us.
I am meeting friends at Downtown Disney today for lunch and tomorrow taking Erin to Vero Beach. She has never seen the Resort and we only live 30 miles away. I will drive by the Port and wave to the Wonder for everyone!

Take Care,
Dawn