2004 Disney Cruise

Julie and James Go Sailing

We were lucky enough on October 16-23 to experience a wonderful vacation on a 7-Day Eastern Caribbean Cruise aboard the Disney Magic. What follows is our "log" of the opportunities we took to see the sites as well as catch some time to relax. We hope you enjoy looking at our pictures and reading our stories. We would recommend cruising to anyone who asks.

Why, you might ask, a Disney Cruise? (besides the obvious, we are Disney freaks) We talked to several people and what we learned was, like their resorts, the cruise side of Disney takes that extra step to make sure their guests enjoy the experience. Many people feel there would be too many children on the cruise; however, with the dedicated programs for kids 3 to 17, they were actually far less obtrusive than one might expect. There are also an abundance of 18 and over only excursions and locations on the ship where parents/adults can rest without children.

As usual, we got the "What the heck do you think you are doing?" looks from the cat as we prepared to go away.

Angry cat laying in partially packed garment bag
Angry cat protesting apparent abandonment



Saturday, 10/16/2004 – Welcome Aboard and Bon Voyage

James got up at 6a, fed the cat, and got ready for the day. Julie rose around 6:30a. We had pretty much everything packed so we puttered around the house doing this and that until about 7:45a when we headed out for breakfast at Steak & Shake. We had arranged for Richard (neighbor and one of James' coworker's) to pick us up at 10:45a so we had a couple more hours to putter. Richard arrived right on time so we loaded up, said good bye to Shadow and left on our adventure. We got to the airport around 11a and got in line for our ground transfer. We then boarded the bus for our trip to the cruise terminal at Port Canaveral; we were on our way.

When we arrived at the cruise terminal, we went through a security check (like at the airport) and then got in line to check in. Definitely Disney: line - ride on bus - line - ride on boat. But no fast pass. We stood in line for 1 1/2 hours. There are 3 check in groups: Non US Citizens, Castaway Club, and US Citizens. The Castaway Club is for people who have sailed before and by sheer volume, the CC and Non Citizen lines move much faster since there are fewer people to process. Anyway . . . Once we got checked in, we checked out the model of the ship in the lobby. They have a full section showing several of the major locations on the ship. Then we boarded the ship and found our stateroom. On the table was a Welcome Aboard gift from AAA. It was a little tight getting around, but we both agreed we were glad we got the Veranda. By now it was about 2p and we wanted to get a bite of lunch since our dinner seating was at 6p. We found our way (almost accidentally) to the aft buffet and sat outside enjoying the lovely weather in port. We then walked around the ship finding some of the key locations: restaurants, pools, shops, and theaters. We checked a couple of things at Guest Services and headed back to our stateroom to wait for our luggage and the mandatory safety drill. We read about the ship and checked our shore excursion packet against what we had ordered. At promptly 4p, we donned our life vests and headed to our designated meeting locations. We got back to our room about 4:20p and then headed up one level to the Aft Observation deck. James wanted to take a picture of the VAB with the zoom lens as some of the damage was visible from the ship.

Our room was on the starboard (right side of forward motion) and overlooked the terminal. We stood on our veranda as they slackened the tie back ropes and finished loading the valuable supplies (yes, those are Krispy Kreme Doughnuts). Then at 5p we watched as the ship slowly moved away from the dock and we were on our way out to sea. The Disney Wonder had just completed a dry-dock for some interiors upgrades and was still in port so we went back to the observation level to take some pictures as we passed by. We stayed there for 10 minutes and headed back to our room to start getting ready for dinner. We stepped out on the veranda and watched as we passed completely out of the port.

We headed to dinner at "Animator's Palate" which was first on our rotation. We met the families at our table and the one next to us. We shared a table with two families each having a boy around 3 years old; one from Nashville, TN and the other from Gaithersburg, MD. The family at the table next to us were from Boone, IA; Julie was really surprised. After a wonderful dinner, we headed for the live stage show theater for their "Welcome Aboard Variety Show". They had a couple of singing numbers and a couple of magic performers who were very good and very funny. After the show, we stopped at one of the stores to pick up a scrapbook to use for our pictures when we got home and headed back to the room. We were surprised to see a Snake waiting for us on the bed. We watched some TV and read the flyer about Sunday's activities before finally going to bed around 11p.




Sunday 10/17/2004 – Enjoying a Day at Sea

We got out of bed around 7a so we could be ready for our 8:15a character breakfast. Each dinner seating gets one chance to eat breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy. After breakfast, we wandered the ship some more and decided to check on getting a couples massage. We made reservations for 7p; it was formal night so we agreed we would rather relax than get way dressed up for dinner. We then sat on the veranda and read (or updated our daily diary.) Julie's sinuses were bothering her and so she took a nap. We had agreed to go to the matinee of the stage show since we were not sure how long the massage stuff would take. We left the room around 1p to get a bite for lunch and then took in "The Golden Mickey's". The show was about different movies from Disney past and was presented as if it was an awards show. After that, we headed over to the Bingo session and did not win squat. It was fun and the 3 Brits running the activity were definitely wacky. That ended around 4:30p and we headed back to our room. We rested awhile and ordered room service around 5:30p. We ate on the veranda, enjoying the weather and company. We were able to actually watch the sun set as the other nights we would be at dinner. It was a sight we were glad we did not miss. We then headed for our spa treatment and arrived promptly 10 minutes before our appointment as instructed.

We filled out some paperwork and then changed into robes in our respective changing rooms. Our masseuses retrieved us from the dressing rooms and then went for a very relaxing 50 minute massage. They also recommended some aroma therapy type products to help with some of our lack of energy and stress concerns. We then came back to the room (and saw the "animal" that decided to sleep on our bed) and lounged until 9p. There was an opportunity to have our pictures taken in front of several backdrops around the ship so we put on some nicer clothes and headed back out. We had pictures taken at 4 locations figuring James could not have a stupid smile in all of them. One backdrop was supposed to look like you were standing along the ship's railing. Another one was with the Captain Mickey statue in the main lobby. The two backgrounds we did not purchase were a plain brown background and one of the ship with us "on the beach" in front of it. We were going to watch one of the comics, but his presentation was in one of the clubs that allows smoking after 9p. We decided it was not worth sitting in that environment. So we went back to the room and watched TV or sat on the veranda until we went to bed around 11:30p.




Monday 10/18/2004 – Enjoying Another Day at Sea

We got up around 7:30a and got ourselves ready for the day. We ate at one of the buffets and then went to look at pictures taken the night before. The photography place was not open yet so we hung out on the aft observation deck until the staff finished cleaning our room. We watched TV for a little bit until we thought the rush would be over and then went to look at the pictures that we had taken last night. To our surprise, James screwed up relatively few. We picked two to purchase and decided which frame from the cruise line we wanted to buy later in the week. We headed back to our room to enjoy the veranda a while. We had a surprise visitor while we read and updated the diary. After lunch, we decided to go to a movie at the ship's theater. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean. The scenes are much more involving when the theater is rocking. We then got our picture taken with Stitch before getting ready for dinner. It was our night to eat at Lumiere's which is the fancier of the 3 restaurants. The food was good and hot. James burned his lip on some fried cheese just in time for one of the ship's photographers to take our picture. We then changed back into more comfortable clothes before seeing the evening's stage show Hercules: A Muse-ical. After the show, we had a couple more pictures taken in front of different backdrops before returning to our room for the night. To our great surprise, there was a baby elephant in our room waiting for us.




Tuesday 10/19/2004 - Welcome to St. Martin

We got up around 6a in the morning so we could get ready for our excursions and watch the 7a docking at the island of St. Martin. Neither of us had slept very well so we were a little groggy. Our first excursion did not leave until 8:45a so we hung out in our room until about 7:30a before heading out for breakfast. We then went back to our room and gathered our tourist tools and headed to the meeting place for our bus tour of the island.

St. Martin is actually 2 countries (French and Dutch) sharing 37 square miles of island. We drove by some historic/socially important sites. We passed the oldest house on the island. We then headed up one of the hills and caught a passing glimpse of the ship docked in the bay. The tour stopped at an overlook at the highest point overlooking Simpson Bay Lagoon which is shared by both countries. We then continued around the island and passed to the French side of the island. There only marking was a road side marker with both countries' flag. We then stopped to spend some time shopping in the French capital of Marigot. A fort overlooking the lagoon stands watch over the shopping district. We then continued around the island. Julie enjoyed hearing about the mining industry on the French side of the island and passing by several beautiful homes with incredible views; James kept dozing off. We returned to the ship in time to have lunch and then meet for our afternoon outing.

One of the families who sat at our dinner table was also on this tour. This time we rode a bus to Simpson Bay Lagoon on the Dutch side of the island and took an open 2 story boat to the French side capital of Marigot. We enjoyed the relaxing ride across the bay and saw where a hurricane had pushed several boats onto small islets as well as some more beautiful buildings. Since we had been there we walked around and then returned to the boat and rested (especially James). We returned to the ship 35 minutes late and barely made dinner.

We were glad we made it since it was "Pirates in the Caribbean" night and we got souvenir menus and bandanas. After dinner we picked up a couple more pictures taken on Monday and returned to the room for the night to find it being guarded by some rare breed of dog.




Wednesday 10/20/2004 – Welcome to St. Thomas and St. John

We started early as we had to go through a customs meeting before getting off the ship at the US Virgin Island of St. Thomas. As we pulled into the dock, James saw another ship pulling in behind us. After our 6:45a "inspection" (show passport to customs agent and get a hand stamp) we ate some breakfast and met at the designated spot for our excursion. It seemed it was going to be a day of threes and it started with 3 different groups meeting in the same spot to take the ferry ride to the island of St. John.

Once we received clearance to disembark, everyone headed down the stairs and off the ship. We exited into a mass of people from the three ships that were all docked together. We headed away from the island to catch our ferry and James got a picture of our ship as we waited in another Disney line. Our veranda is actually in the second row above the blue paint. We then boarded the ferry to St. John and as we pulled away, James got a picture of the three boats in a row.

After the 30 minute ride, where we saw many nice homes on the St. Thomas coast, we docked at Cruz Bay on the US Virgin Island of St. John. The "taxis" on the island are all converted pick-up trucks. The majority are Fords; the driver said they get better service and the suspension systems last longer. There were three taxis worth of people on our tour.

There are lots of beautiful scenic overlooks; of course this meant the trip was hilly. The first overlook we stopped at looked down on the bay we had docked in. The island of St. John is 2/3 national park and is in relatively pristine condition. The next stop overlooked the land once owned by one of the Rockefeller family who purchased as much of the island as possible to donate it to the National Park Service. What used to be their home, Caneel Bay, is now a resort area. We next stopped to overlook Trunk Bay. This is where one of the other excursion groups was going to snorkel; National Geographic listed it as one of the top ten beaches in the world. We then drove by Hawksnest Beach on our way to Cinnamon Bay. We stopped at Cinnamon Bay Campground which is part of the National Park System. We were able to walk to the beach and look back at some large private homes being built in part of the island not belonging to the park system. We then continued around the island passing Maho Bay and headed for the ruins of Annaberg, the last sugar mill on St. John. This area provides a panoramic view of the Sir Francis Drake Channel which separates the US Virgin Islands from the British Virgin Islands. The structures that were part of the operations are still standing and the park has good signage describing the various areas. After leaving the Annaberg ruins, we headed to the highest point on the island to overlook Coral Bay. We watched the rain blow in over what was the capital before the island became US property. As the rain started, we began to return to Cruz Bay to complete our tour. The Virgin Islands, though US Territories, drive on the left side of the narrow roads.

We returned to the ship in early afternoon just in time for lunch and a walk around to take some pictures of the other two ships: Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas and Holland America's Zaandam. We then rested a bit before doing a little shopping at Havensight Mall on St. Thomas. We returned to the ship in time for a snack and for James to participate in the Chip-It Golf Tournament. We then went to stand on the top deck as we pulled out of the port. The Disney ships have special propellers that allow them to turn a full circle without moving forward. When arriving at or leaving a port, this allows them more flexibility. In this case, we basically unparallel parked and backed past the Royal Caribbean ship. As we passed by, our Captain blew the horn three times; the Royal Caribbean Captain replied with three blasts of their horn (much louder and echoed through the hills). Our Captain then replied with the Disney attention horn which is the first seven notes of "When You Wish Upon a Star." This elicited a large yell from all aboard our ship as the RC Captain could only reply with two short honks.

Once we got out to sea, we got ready for dinner. James did not eat all of his dinner and the wait staff gave him "Nothing" for dessert. We enjoyed the "Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer" show after dinner and then headed back to the room for the night where we were greeted by a friendly swan.




Thursday 10/21/2004 – Enjoying Our Last Full Day at Sea

We had another day at sea so we decided to sleep in and did not get out of bed until about 9:15a. We tried to pick the room up a little as it had gotten pretty cluttered the 2 days we had been at ports. After a late breakfast we walked around the top deck and watched a couple schools of flying fish as they got out of the ship's way. We then returned to the room for some reading on the veranda before lunch.

Though we had had a late breakfast, we ate lunch right at 12:30p so we could go to the napkin and towel folding demonstrations that were a part of the ship's activities. James was chosen to demonstrate a very "Goofy" napkin design as "Minnie Mouse" and "Peter Pan" joined in. When those shows were over, we returned to our room for more simple relaxation time. We walked around again and did our on-ship shopping for souvenirs before getting ready for dinner.

This was the last meal at Lumiere's so Wesley and Matt decided to have fun. After dinner we attended the nightly stage show "Disney Dreams" which was recently voted best in the cruise industry. When we returned after the presentation, we were met by a monkey guarding our room. We thought about going to the dessert buffet at 11:15p that evening, but we both dozed off before 11p and decided not to go back out.




Friday 10/22/2004 – Welcome to Castaway Cay

James got up early and watched the sun rise as the ship passed Large Abaco in the Bahamas. We finished getting ready and ate breakfast before returning to the room to watch the ship pull up to the island dock at 9a. The captain actually backed the ship in so we had a great view of the activity venues from our veranda. One of the families from our dinner table stopped by to see what one of the exterior rooms looked like. A map of the island was provided so everyone would know what was where.

We then headed to the designated meeting spot for our morning excursion. We did the usual waiver, sticker, disembark procedure and met our guide for our Nature Walk and Kayaking tour of the undeveloped area of the island. The walking portions were interesting as we discussed the history of the area as well as some information on the plants and animals. The island has some beautiful ocean views. We then learned Julie and James are not coordinated enough to control a two person sea kayak. We learned about the ecosystem around mangroves and caught a nice view of the ship from across the island. While we were at a small private beach, we saw a small crab and a couple of fish. It was a painful experience we both agreed not to try again. The tour took a little longer than expected and we had to rush to get back for our second excursion.

We enjoyed the glass bottom boat trip to a coral reef. One of the guides took a wonderful picture of the two of us as we pulled away from the dock. There were lots of fish in the area (especially when the guide threw oatmeal over the edge of boat). The coral life had faired the storms ok, but a lot of sand was washed into the reef. The guide said it would take about two years for the reef to return to normal. We then returned to Castaway Cay to look at the shops and take some pictures. They had a map showing the paths of the hurricanes in relation to the island. We then returned to the ship to clean up and attend the disembarkation lecture.

There were several interesting and unique things Disney does to help ease the stress and chaos of that part of the cruise. We returned to our room and began packing our things. Anything we did not want to take off ourselves needed to be outside our room by 11p. We got most of our stuff ready before getting ready for dinner which allowed us to have an enjoyable last dinner and fun at the closing variety show in the evening. We then returned to our room to complete our packing (but not taking the lobster with us) and filling out the required customs forms and cruise evaluation. We had to be up early if we wanted breakfast so we got everything ready and tried to get to bed a little early.




Saturday 10/23/2004 – Back Home

The seas were the roughest we had experienced during the night before we arrived back in port. Since we had put our luggage out the night before, James had to get up in the middle of the night and move the coat hangers so they would stop banging on each other. We were then wakened at 5a when the ship began to rotate for docking inside Port Canaveral. We figured it was the Captain's way of waking up the people who needed to be at the non-US citizen's immigration inspection at 6a. James never really got back to sleep so he took a picture of the cruise terminal as we pulled up. We agreed it was not nearly as exciting when it was getting closer as it was when it was falling into the distance. The dock workers really have everything choreographed as they were taking trash and empty crates as well as our luggage off the ship before customs cleared us for people to disembark. This allowed time for the luggage to be sorted.

Since we were US citizens, we did not need to be anywhere until the late hour of 6:45a; that is when our dinner seating could have breakfast. The expectation was everyone would bring anything they had not put out for pick-up the night before with them so they could leave the ship as soon as it cleared customs. We enjoyed one last meal with the friends we had made (the kids, including James, were not nearly as rambunctious at this meal). We then headed towards the main gangway around 7:45a to return to solid ground.

After getting off the ship, everyone has to gather the bags taken off by the crew before passing though Immigration and Customs Checkpoints. This is apparently one of the "extras" Disney provides; they sort peoples' luggage by a color code based on stateroom location (as is common) but then they sort it within each colored group by stateroom. Disney being Disney of course had both a color code and character assignment. This made finding your luggage much easier. Once we got our bags, we got into the line to the checkpoints. This moved fairly quickly as everyone had been provided with the customs forms the night before so there was no waiting while someone filled theirs out and all the non-US citizens had already gone through their special screens. We actually were sitting on a bus headed for Orlando International Airport by 8:15a. One of the other "extras" Disney provided for travelers flying back home was they actually had representatives of 4 of the airlines they use most at the cruise terminal for people to check in for their flights and check their bags before they even got to the airport. One of the families from our table had an 11:30a flight and was very appreciative of this service.

We got back to the airport and into a cab and arrived back at our house around 9:30a. We called our families to let them know we were home and then unpacked the bags. This was done and we were on to other things before 11a. Shadow was even helping Julie read the paper.

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and now understand why people who have been on them before go on them again and again. We look forward to our next opportunity to enjoy another adventure at sea.




Some Other Links and Images

Review of the towel animals left in our room each evening:



Panoramic Shots

Panning panoramic image of St. Martin port area

Panning panoramic image of St. Thomas port area




Colored Bag Tags used to sort luggage at debarkation