New 2 Cruisin Help needed.... MAGIC OCTOBER 25, 2003

[gumball711]

Hi, Let me start with saying we will be goind on the Magic October 25, 2003. We are going with our 2 small children. We are going in to hock for this trip. My husband was placed on active duty this year so we are taking advantage of the Army Salute deal on the cruise. We took a major pay cut when hubby was put on active duty so we are pinching it doing this cruise. I need help though. Our cabin is 2502 and seems to find out this is part of the noise area. Oh well, hoping my 3 year old can deal with this. Can anyone give us a heads up on what this room is like Catogory 9. we are also worried about our 3 year old he is mostly poddy trained but has accidents. Will this be a problem do you think? He wears underware but we put rubber pants on dfor accidents he only made 1 mistake at school this week. He goes to school from 7:15 am until 3:30. At home though he has made 4 or or 5 mistakes. Why can he do it at school and not home. Do we have enough time to get him totally poddy trained. They said he HAS TO BE TOTALLY PODDY TRAINED in order to be allowed to do the 3 year old program.
We scedualed the 8:30 pm dinner is this a good choice. What are some things I should deffinatly not leave home without. How much cash on adverage would be needed. We haven't thought out the excrussions yet since we have been to some of the places before and did them years ago on trip with took that wasn't a cruise. WE have 6 and 3 year old so we must conceder them also when planning out trip. I regret not getting a higher deck room but this wasn't an option with the Army Salute prices I am assuming a since we were only offered the 2 floor we never new there were more level out there to choose from until the other night. Are we going to miss out being out on the bottom of the boat. Like will we still get treated the same with getting a towel animal one night? I have found so much info these last few day on these type subjects and I am dying to see the towel animals. Should I try tro up grade. Or should I let well enough alone. Hubby gets off active duty in 3 months and I dont know if we will ever cruise again after this. We will get caught up on bills when he goes back to his real job. So I am not to terrible short on cash just not used to having such a drastic loss we are survive but we so is everybody. Please provide any and all info as like previously stated this is our first cruise and we really want to make the most of it. Any hint and ideas are welcome thanks tina

 

[dzneprincess]

Christina welcome to our cruise! We have a whole thread dedicated to the Halloween sailing this year!

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=320175

Here is a link to that thread. There are many of us from the DIS boards on your sailing and we are even arranging our own trick or treat activity. Please join us on that thread, and we will be very glad to answer your questions!

Amanda

 

[Hygiene99]

might want to try and get the early seating with the young children , late dinner starts at 830 and we have not finished dining until 1030 or so on several nights ...
at least if u do early and kids r tired u can just skip the shows
witch u will not want to miss hey check out Barbs site for alot of helpful info at www.castawayclub.com and Dave's site at www.dcltribute.com

peter

 

[AnnMorin]

Hi there,
First off welcome and you will LOVE your cruise!
Don't worry about being on deck two, you will have a great time!
As a preschool teacher I think I can give you some help/advice about the potty training, you have a month still so you can get your little one all set. You could set up a reward system such as stickers that he earns each time he successfully uses the bathroom. Don't focus on "mistakes" but rather on successes. You could encourage him to use the bathroom (at least try) at regular intervels, and ask that his school does the same. (for example at 7:00am, 9:00am every two hours etc. Then when he is on the cruise follow that system and his body should be "trained" to react. You could have him use the bathroom right before he enters the club and again right when he leaves. At our school we request that all children be fully potty trained also be we do understand that accidents do happen. I think if he is well on his way you should be able to "sew this up" within a month if you work on a regular routine!

 

[mdvasquez]

Tina: Welcome to the Disboards. We will also be sailing on the magic on Oct.25th. We have stayed on deck 2 once before and will be on there again this time. I have also been on deck 5, 6 and 8. Don't worry about deck 2, it is just fine. You will get the same treatment. A cat. 9 room is nice. You will have a porthole window and a split bath(shower & sink in one and toilet and sink in the other). The 8:30 dinner seating is late, but we prefer it and have done it with a 4 year old and this year we will have a 2 year old and infant cruising with us.

As far as cash goes, we always try not to spend alot, as we just enjoy the cruise. We do always buy a picture or 2 for the memories so I put aside $30 or $40 for that. If you are drinkers, bring your own alcohol onboard. I also always bring bottles of water,as I drink ALOT of it. I also always bring a back pack for getting off at the Islands to walk around town. If you can bring collapsable suitcases that will fit under the bed, that is your best bet because there isn't alot of storage room for them. We use the big duffle bags that have handles and are on wheels.

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.
Dena

 

[gumball711]

Hi and thank you such a warm welcome and all your good advice. Now I am looking for info on making reservations for the nice resterrants onboard can anyone give advice here. Ok, plan on eating at some of the Adult places what are those how do we make resurvations and such. What places are must to do in case we never take this cruise again. Where do we put kids if we don't want to take the kids or if kids are not aloud. How does this all work. The meal things have me totally confused. We would like to do the formal night and maybe semi but not sure yet. What exactly do I need to know. Do kids stay in the programs all day unless we want to take them to something else how often should we go into check on them. Can they eat on nights we want to eat alone or do we have to take them to eat first then go to any resuvation meals. I need help lol can you tell. I know Disney World like the back of my hand since we have gone 6 times in 6 years but now I feel totally overwhelmed without much knowledge in DISNEY CRUISES. I don't want to loss out just because I didn't know such info. thanks all luv tina

 

[AnnMorin]

ok lets see if I can clarify things for you. There is only one adult only restaurant . That is Palo. You may make a reservation there upon embarkation. The other nights you are already "reserved" at your table in the various restuarants. You will get a dining rotation and will always have the same table number and waitstaff just in different locations. Semi formal and formal nights are in the regular restaurants. Children may eat in the kids club, up on deck or room service if you prefer to dine at Palo one night. Kids are welcome at the club from I believe it ia 9am until 1am. They do not have to go at all or go as much as you want them to.

 

[gumball711]

I am so glad we found these boards. They are so HELPFUL!!! Now I think I have my children mostly packed except need to go by some pants and shirts for them. Most of thier cloths are NICE SWEATS and my oldest like those skater cloths so his are those sort not to good I assume for the resteraunts. Thank you so much for all your help luv ytina

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Are we going to miss out being out on the bottom of the boat. Like will we still get treated the same with getting a towel animal one night? I have found so much info these last few day on these type subjects and I am dying to see the towel animals.

Tina - there is no caste system on DCL. Every category gets equal treatment. You will have the same quality towel animals as the guests in the Walt and Roy Disney Suites.

Also, you are not on the "bottom" of the ship. You'll still be above the water line on deck 2. There are decks below deck 1 but they are not open to the public

I agree with mdvasquez, Tina, regarding your dinner seating time. The 8:30pm seating is kind of late for families with young children. Just a thought...

 

[patches-4]

gumball711,
we were in 2500 on our first cruise and would not mind being in that part of the ship again. As far as noise the only time we heard anything was on the days we docked and we wanted to be up early on those days anyway. You will get a towel animal everynight and the staff are just great. They will help in anyway they can. Just ask them. I'm sure you will love your cruise and I hope you can go on another in the future.

 

[floridaminnie]

I think that I'm the odd ball in the group. I LOVE the late seating. I have a 4 yr old DD who eats dinner with the kids early and then eats again with us at the late seating. Now we've been on 3 cruises so far, so there are some shows that we do NOT go to. It works out great for us. DD is a late owl though and she does take an afternoon nap with me in our room. I think we were in 2507 on our last cruise and it was nice and quiet!

 

["Ginger"]

Tina there are 3 dining rooms, Lumiere's, Parrot Cay and Animator's Palate. You will receive your dining room rotation assignment when you check-in at the ships terminal. You will find it on your Key to the World Card. It will look something like this PLAPLAP, P is for Parrot Cay, L is for Lumiere's and A is for Animator's. Now don't lose these cards because they are going to be your door key, your safe key(in room safes) and your charge card onboard the ship, no cash is accepted anywhere onboard until it's time to pay the bill, the end of the cruise.
As soon as you board the ship get a Navigator, one will be in your stateroom. If you board the ship early and can't get into your room then go to Guest Services on Deck 3 midship and grab one. The Navigator will have the schedule of the times for making reservations at Palo, the Spa, and signing the kids up for the kids clubs.
Pack a carry-on with the kids bathing suits in it or let them wear one under their clothes. That way you or your husband can stay with them by the Mickey Pool while the other goes to get the reservation made.
If dinner is to late you can always get room service but not the first night, it doesn't start till much later so don't depend on that. Topsiders is another place to eat, breakfast and lunch daily along with 2 of the other dinner dining rooms. Check your daily Navagator to see which diningrooms are serving breakfast and lunch. You can also have dinner at Topsiders but again not on the first night out. It's casual you can wear jeans and short. The food is great and children are welcomed.
Other places onboard to grab a bit Pinocchio's Pizzeria on deck 9, Pluto's Dog House also on deck 9. On Sea Days the Outlook bar on deck 9 has chicken wings and Panini Sandwiches from 11;30 am-2:00pm. Scoops serves ice cream and fruit. A must do is brunch at Palo only served on Sea Days plus on Sunday's. There is a $10.00 charge per person for that, well worth it. Dinner at Palo is $5.00 per person.
Don't forget to pack the kids costumes, they do have Trick-orTreating onboard. We are having our own just for the kids who's parent(s) post on this board. Pack costumes for you and your husband also they will have an adult contest with prizes.
Your daily Navigator will tell you everything, it's a must read every morning over breakfast.
I could go on and on Tina but it's getting late and I have to get up early in the morning. Feel free to ask away this will be our 6th Disney cruise also our 3rd Halloween cruise with DCL.