Jun 1 Cruise

[gatour]

This was the best cruise I have ever had in regards to things, controllable by the cruise line....

1. We had a car (as opposed to a minivan/suv) so were able to park in the lot that was right accross the road from the terminal.

2. Check in was a breeze, I have waited in long lines for other cruises on other lines but we only had to wait for one other group to clear before we were checked in.

3. Once they announced they were boarding, we were on-board in 15-20 minutes. For boarding lines of similiar lengths, I have waited up to an hour plus to board. The line moved almost constantly.

4. The food was great. The food was consistently well prepared, the only caveat was the fish, to me sometimes it was slightly overcooked.

5. We got massage reservations for Sunday morning. We find that if we get a massage eary in a trip, we get in a more relax mode faster. Like Saunder's, we didn't attemp to get Castaway massages, it being June I also figured it would be too hot and sure enough it was toasty on Castaway Cay.

6. They had a "drink of the day", but didn't push them hard like other cruise lines.

7. We liked the lack of smoke, and agree that the ESPN club had the most, the rest of the inside places that allowed it had a manageable amount.

8. We also had a deck 2 outside cabin, I was blown away by the size of the "porthole". I was able to sit in the couch, put my glass of wine on a shelf/ledge, read and periodically look out the porthole comfortably.

9. Disembarking was a breeze, 7:45 they announced we could disembark, 8:05 we were on the causeway heading to I95.

Awesome,
David

P.S. I was the one in the Promenade lounge every afternoon reading a magazine and having several glass of wines.

 

[bray]

We were on the June 1 Magic Cruise. Our party included my DH and 6 year old DD. We travelled with another family that had a 5 year old DD.

This was the second DCL for each of us (previous trip on the 4 day Wonder). The 7 day is SO MUCH MORE RELAXING!! ! ! !

My daughter did not want to leave the kids club. The counselors were WONDERFUL.

Took the Golden Eagle Catamaran in the morning on the day in St. Maarten. TERIFFIC trip--well worth the cost. The crew was great in assisting those who needed help leaving and boarding the vessel. My daughter loved sitting up front on the webbing.


Shopping in St. Maarten was good. The shopping places that our shopping director suggested did not give me the best buy as anticipated. However, what I did buy was on the preferred list.

Took the Trunk Bay Beach excursion on the St. Thomas Day. Overcast morning but beautiful beach. A bit surprised that I did not see lots of colorful fish though. Maybe I had to high of an expectation.

Very brief shopping trip to main street in St. Thomas.

LOVED the days at sea!

Castaway--much better than last year when it was very cloudy and rainy. Daughter loved the jungle gym.

WOULD LOVE TO DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR...however, think we will take a year off.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by gatour

1. We had a car (as opposed to a minivan/suv) so were able to park in the lot that was right accross the road from the terminal.

Does this mean if you have a minivan you cannot park at the terminal? Clarification please!

 

[bray]

The lot immediately to the left of the terminal is now reserved for cars only--that is where we parked in 2001.

However, now all SUV, minivans, and trucks must park across the street. The lot is fashioned like the one right next to the terminal--just bigger. We drive a suburban and therefore had to park in that lot.

I did notice that we had a couple of check points to go through as we approached the terminal. This did not happen last year. Last year all we did was drive up drop off luggage and park.

However, now don't be shocked whenever you are asked for id before pulling into the terminal area. They will once again stop you and check your id and names against a passenger list. You can then proceed to the curbside drop off. That is where a porter took our bags for them to be loaded onto the ship. Thank goodness we had 3 very large suitcases and a couple of large duffle bags!

We then pulled into the secured lot and walked across the street to the terminal. Whenever I say street, it is just part of the parking lot--not the main street or highway.

It was not a big deal at all. Whenever we disembarked, we had 6 very large bags. The porter was very good about helping us locate them and took us right through customs. Not even a stop and look at id delay.

There is a change this year in that you do not have to fill out any type of customs declaration unless you went over the allotment. Last year, we had to fill it out regardless of what we spent.

Have a great cruise. We loved it and wish we were still on vacation!