disneycruiser4
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2004
NEW YEAR'S EVE 2003-04 CRUISE ON MAGIC. TRIP REPORT.
DAY ONE.
We arrived the night before and flew into Melbourne. The airfare was cheaper for us and the airport is so much easier than Orlando. It has a friendly, small town atmosphere and we went through deboarding, baggage claim and car rental in less than 15 minutes! Rental cars were just outside baggage claim. (We drove to Cape Canaveral and stayed at Cape Canaveral Courtyard by Marriott, a new Marriott property that is lovely (ask for an ocean view, $79). We went swimming and had a great Italian meal at a nearby place. Woke up the next morning--cruise day--rested, non-stressed and ready to go. After breakfast (10:00) we returned the car to Avis ($35.00) and the Avis shuttle took us to the ship (free). (If you do not take the Disney transportation, you are now dropped off at a white tent across from the port. Don't worry though--Disney takes your bags right there and you take a short stroll to the terminal. We got inside the terminal at 10:30 and went right to the Castaway Club private line--no wait--and got our KEY TO THE WORLD cards, first Navigatior and ship map. Boarding took place at 12:00 (boarding is at 11:30 now for concierege class), but the kids entertained themselves with Disney videos showing around the terminal, chatting and getting pictures taken with Mickey, Pluto, Chip n Dale and Goofy, looking at the ship model in the center, walking outside to see the ship, and meeting new friends. My wife stayed in the line for baording to hold our space. Then at 12:00 we started boarding. We entered the ship after being introduced and Mickey was on the next level and waved to us! Nice touch) Our stateroom wasn't available until 1:30, so I went to make reservations for Palo (make reservations in Rocking Bar D at Beat Street) where all days and times were available. My wife and the kids went to Topsider's and I met them there for lunch. Then the kids changed into theiir swimsuits and have Mickey's and Goofy's pools to themselves. The sail away party 1t 4:00 was a lot of fun. We didn't sail away at 4:30 as planned because a bus was late. That night we ate at Animator's at the early seating. (We had reservations for the late seating, but requested a change and got it. We also requested a private table for our family and got it without a problem.) Animator's can be noisy and it was. It's the servers least favorite place because the kictchen is cramped. We've been on 3 Disney cruises and the food at Animator's is always the least favorite. STICK TO THE CHOICES YOUR SERVER RECOMMENDS! We bought the $145 wine package and it was convenient. These are $10-$15 bottles on wine retail that Disney marks up 3 fold on the menu. Nothing special, but drinkable. Do try to Santa Margareta Pino Grigio! After dinner, we saw the Welcome Aboard show, that I was prepared to miss, but liked a lot. After the show it was bedtime for everyone. The seas were high and the ship rocked quite a bit. Our other 2 cruises were gentle, but it was to get rougher . . .
DAY ONE.
We arrived the night before and flew into Melbourne. The airfare was cheaper for us and the airport is so much easier than Orlando. It has a friendly, small town atmosphere and we went through deboarding, baggage claim and car rental in less than 15 minutes! Rental cars were just outside baggage claim. (We drove to Cape Canaveral and stayed at Cape Canaveral Courtyard by Marriott, a new Marriott property that is lovely (ask for an ocean view, $79). We went swimming and had a great Italian meal at a nearby place. Woke up the next morning--cruise day--rested, non-stressed and ready to go. After breakfast (10:00) we returned the car to Avis ($35.00) and the Avis shuttle took us to the ship (free). (If you do not take the Disney transportation, you are now dropped off at a white tent across from the port. Don't worry though--Disney takes your bags right there and you take a short stroll to the terminal. We got inside the terminal at 10:30 and went right to the Castaway Club private line--no wait--and got our KEY TO THE WORLD cards, first Navigatior and ship map. Boarding took place at 12:00 (boarding is at 11:30 now for concierege class), but the kids entertained themselves with Disney videos showing around the terminal, chatting and getting pictures taken with Mickey, Pluto, Chip n Dale and Goofy, looking at the ship model in the center, walking outside to see the ship, and meeting new friends. My wife stayed in the line for baording to hold our space. Then at 12:00 we started boarding. We entered the ship after being introduced and Mickey was on the next level and waved to us! Nice touch) Our stateroom wasn't available until 1:30, so I went to make reservations for Palo (make reservations in Rocking Bar D at Beat Street) where all days and times were available. My wife and the kids went to Topsider's and I met them there for lunch. Then the kids changed into theiir swimsuits and have Mickey's and Goofy's pools to themselves. The sail away party 1t 4:00 was a lot of fun. We didn't sail away at 4:30 as planned because a bus was late. That night we ate at Animator's at the early seating. (We had reservations for the late seating, but requested a change and got it. We also requested a private table for our family and got it without a problem.) Animator's can be noisy and it was. It's the servers least favorite place because the kictchen is cramped. We've been on 3 Disney cruises and the food at Animator's is always the least favorite. STICK TO THE CHOICES YOUR SERVER RECOMMENDS! We bought the $145 wine package and it was convenient. These are $10-$15 bottles on wine retail that Disney marks up 3 fold on the menu. Nothing special, but drinkable. Do try to Santa Margareta Pino Grigio! After dinner, we saw the Welcome Aboard show, that I was prepared to miss, but liked a lot. After the show it was bedtime for everyone. The seas were high and the ship rocked quite a bit. Our other 2 cruises were gentle, but it was to get rougher . . .
