Magic 9/5/09-9/12/09 About This Page:

[marnieknight]

9/4
We drove to Cape Canaveral from TN on Friday the 4th and stayed at the Radisson at the Port. This is the second time we have stayed there and both times it was great. They have a cruise package which includes your suite, breakfast for 2 the day of your cruise, and cruise parking for about $185. Our suite was great with a Sleep Number bed in the bedroom and our boys slept on the sleeper sofa in the living room area. The room was super clean and the customer service is excellent at the hotel. I also used the gym that day and it is nice with flat screen TVs. Our drive was right at 10 hrs and we were pooped when we got there about 530pm. We checked in and walked over to Kelcey's, which is an Italian restaurant and had dinner. The food was good. I would recommend the pizza over the pasta dishes as I thought it was better. Back to the hotel after dinner to let the boys swim in the beautiful pool for a while. After swimming to bed to get ready for our big day tomorrow.

9/5
Up at about 7am to shower and get breakfast before our 10am shuttle to the port. We were scheduled on the 10am because it was the first shuttle to go over. We ended up on the second shuttle at about 1010am because there was a huge party that all rode together on the first shuttle. Anyway, at about 1010 we are on our way to the port which is a 2 minute drive at most. We get there and there is already alot of people in the port checking in. Our luggage goes straight in without us and we are headed to the line to check in. I am crossing my fingers to try to catch an upgrade. We are in a Cat 11 presently and I have budged $500 for an upgrade to a Cat 6. We get checked in very quickly as I had done all our check in online and printed them out prior to leaving. That made things much smoother and faster. We inquired about an upgrade and they sent us over to the supervisor's counter. We could go to a Cat 5 for $1200. We couldn't do that. So we headed to the area to get our pictures taken for our Key to the World Cards and then to get our pager for Oceannear Lab and get our son's wristband put on. You need to do this as soon as you can to prevent standing in a long line. We walked right up. By this time it is about 1050am. More and more people are arriving and it is getting pretty busy at the port. My husband had the brilliant idea to check back at the supervisor's desk again after more people had upgraded and changed staterooms for more possibilities. Anyway, we were in luck. We could get at Cat 6 for $670, which is more than I had budgeted, but we did it anyway. There was a man standing behind me that said, "If she doesn't take it, I want it." That will make you decide really quickly. Anyway, we took it and paid. We went from #6551 to #6530. We really hoped to stay on deck 6. #6530 was in the forward part of the ship which proved to be a little more walking than if you are midship but a little walking never killed anyone. Anyway, we were in group 6 to board the ship. You are put in groups based on your arrival time to the port starting with group 1 boarding first. We were able to get on the ship around 1145 and went straight to Topsiders for lunch before the lines get huge. We had a good buffet meal and then to let the boys swim. I brought their trunks with our carryon so they could go ahead and enjoy the pools. I wish that we had brought our swimsuits as well as it was HOT that day & I would have loved to get in the pools. We were able to get into our stateroom at 130pm and our luggage arrived about 3pm which was earlier than the predicted 430pm time. Our stateroom was nice and I would never do without a verandah. It makes all the difference in the world. We had our safety drill at 330p, and then it was time to get ready for the sailaway party at 430pm. It was fun but loud. The kids like it. We then got ready for the show at 615pm. It was kind of an opening variety show and was good. We then had time to play Mickey Mania at 730pm before our 815pm dinner which was at Animators Palate that night. Our dining rotation was APPLAPL. Our food was good but some of the smells bothered me as I am 6 wks pregnant. Anyway after dinner the kids went to their clubs and we just walked around the ship and did nothing. I will continue with more later.

[HeatherD]

Yay! Congrats on the upgrade, I know you were hoping for it (and it was worth it to go over your budgeted amount by that little itty bitty bit!). Any problems with food (aside from smell) when you talked with your servers? I remember I went to Acapulco when I was about 5 or 6 weeks pregnant with DD (now 9). My morning-sickness kicked in that weekend, so to this day, I still can't use the shampoo/conditioner I used on that trip! Even now, my tummy gives a little jump as I imagine the smell. (I also had a hard time with limes for awhile, but I love those too much to give them up).

Can't wait to hear more! Hurry up, so I can read all of it before I leave (in just over 2 weeks!!!).

[unewillow]

Yay, glad to hear you were able to get the upgrade you wanted (even if it was a little more than you planned)! Can't wait to read more!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start and congrats on the upgrade!

[duck addict]

Great start!
Congratulations on the upgrade (even if it exceeded budget a little )

[Mauimouse]

Congrats on the upgrade. Looking forward to reading more.

[lauriep]

Congrats on the upgrade. Verandahs are wonderful!

[marnieknight]

9/6
Sunday was our day at Key West. I got up and headed to the gym to use the elliptical for 30 minutes and then we headed to Topsiders for Breakfast. The boys then went to their clubs and we headed to Quiet Cove pool for some sun before we arrived at Key West. I was a little surprised at how fast the loungers went at Quiet Cove. I saw alot of chairs with towels and nobody on them all day which is just wrong. Then there was one day when I was lying out in the sun and went to get ice cream and came back and the lady beside me said that 2 girls were going to take my towels off and take my chair until she told them I had just went for ice cream. I was gone literaly 3 minutes. How rude!!!! We got to Key West about 1230pm. We quickly got off and headed for Duval St. We spent a few hours just walking around and doing some shopping. Then we ate at Margaritaville. We tried to get in Sloppy Joes but it was jam packed so we went to Margaritaville. The volcano nachos are great and enough for a family of four. I had never been to Key West before and thought it was a neat place with no beaches. I had heard there was one beach area on the other side of the island but we did not go there. The Sunset Key Cottages by Westin looked spectacular though. You have to access those by boat as they are on a little island off of Key West. Anyway, we then headed back to the boat at which time I went to Quiet Cove pool while my family napped and took it easy. It was about 330pm by this time. I stayed at the pool until about 5pm. They had live music by Chey & Danielle which was nice to listen to on the pool deck. After going to my room we then just admired Key West from our verandah. They have a lot of entertainment out on the dock area where lots of people flocked. There was a guy that had cats and was doing tricks with these cats which seemed really good as much as we could tell from our verandah. The sunset was beautiful that night. We didn't go to the show that night nor any other night during the rest of the cruise. It started at 615pm and it seemed we were always too tired to get ready that soon or the boys didn't want to go. Something always came up. I heard they were spectacular but can't comment on them. We got ready for dinner and were at Parrot Cay that night which was good. After dinner the boys went to their clubs. My 8 yr old took advantage of the Play & Dine option each night. So at about 915pm someone from the club would come to the restaurant to get the kids that were going. There food came out before ours so they could be finished in time. When you see the yellow shirted youth counselor you just take your child up to them and they check them in and take them. Our 11yr old just came and went from Ocean Quest. No checking in or out which is a little nerve racking but he did fine and was responsible. Anyway, after dinner we headed to the Rockin D bar for the Ventriloquist's adult show. It was HILARIOUS!!!! That was one I am glad we didn't miss. It was also 70s night in the adult section and several of the cast members were dressed in 70s attire. It was fun. We then headed to the room after fetching our 8yr old and turned in. The 11 yr old came in at midnight when his activities were done. Another great day on the Magic. Our stateroom host, Aldo, had nice towel animals for us to enjoy each night. Will continue later.

[Colexis Mom]

Great update!

[marnieknight]

I have a photo album on my profile with some pics from the trip.

[marnieknight]

9/7

Monday we spent our day at sea. We began the day with breakfast again at Topsiders and then both kids went to the clubs for awhile. My husband and I then went to the adult pool for some pool time. I left the pool in the afternoon so I could go do some laundry. It was $2 for the washer & $2 for the dryer. Detergent and fabric softener were $1 each I think. Anyway, the area was in the Midship area of deck 6 which was our deck. I was also able to iron our formal wear for that night as well. After doing all that I just relaxed in the stateroom awhile. We also enjoyed pizza and sandwiches for lunch. The pizza has such a great crust that looked to be a whole grain and the french fries had such a great flavor. You can tell which foods I am really going to enjoy during my pregnancy, starches!!!! Anyway we got ready for dinner early so we could be downstairs for formal pictures at 0715pm. Again, no show tonight. We stood in the portrait lines with 3 different backgrounds and had photos taken. The longest time we had to stand in line was about 10 minutes. We then let the boys go back to the room and change into comfortable clothes, shorts and tshirts. My 11 yr old then went to his club and skipped dinner with us. I let the 8yr old wear shorts to dinner and then let him go to his club again with the Play & Dine. Nobody seemed to care or notice that he didn't have his suit on. I found that as the week went by, I was less worried about what we wore to dinner. By the end of the cruise, I am sure we looked like slobs, but nobody cared or noticed. Anyway after dinner, my husband got a little sick to his stomach and vomited once. No not from the food, but from all the beer he had during the day on the pool deck and then the mixed drink at dinner. He definitely overdid it that day. I just laughed. It is funny to watch someone else overindulge with alcohol when you are the pregnant sober one. Anyway, the boys came back around midnight and to bed we all were. Each night when we returned from dinner, the next day's navigator would be on our beds so I had late night reading to do. I enjoyed that part of planning our next day's activities. Tomorrow is Grand Cayman.

[scubabonk2000]

I am really enjoying reading your TR, it is making me ready for our upcoming cruise, and thanks for sharing the pictures!

Bonnie

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like a great day!

[dsnytina]

Can't wait to read more!

[NanaTink]

Sounds like you had a great time! Looking forward to reading more!