JLSM97
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2003
We were on the Magic for the April 5, 2003 Eastern itinerary. I spent many hours researching the trip in the months before we left. I probably found more valuable information on these boards than anywhere else! But knowing what I know now, here is my advice, opinions, and comments, in no particular order:
Recommended items from these boards that I could not have lived without:
Other items I was glad I packed:
To everyone else who has offered excellent advice on these boards, I bow in humble reverence to you! Armed with such extensive knowledge, our first cruise was a huge success!
Click here to read my full trip report: Postcards from the Caribbean
- Most of the DISers on my cruise were planning on wearing the Home Depot green Mickey "stickers" as identification. I punched a hole in mine and wore it with my KTTW card until it ripped off (I should've laminated it!) several days into the trip. I didn't see any green Mickeys after the first day, which means I didn't meet anyone else unless they saw MY green Mickey and introduced themselves. My recommendation is that DISers wear their green Mickeys for the duration of the cruise! The port gets so crowded that unless there's a specific meeting time and location, it's near impossible to locate all the DISers on that first very hectic day.
- I read somewhere that there are no books or magazines available for purchase on board. There's a decent selection of magazines in Treasure Ketch; I don't know about books.
- Even though everything I'd ever read about the Eastern itinerary said that formal night is Sunday and semi-formal night is Thursday, for some reason the nights were switched on our cruise. If this matters to you at all, be aware that what you read as fact may not always be so for your cruise. This did make a difference for us when we made Palo reservations, Flounder's Reef reservations, and planned nights for our entire party to eat together.
- I was sick on the first night of our rotation at Animator's Palate, but wasn't too stressed about missing the color show because I'd read (in the PassPorter) that it's run only on certain nights on the Eastern itinerary, not the first three nights of the cruise. That is incorrect. It ran the first night (Sunday) and I missed it. For me, this was one of the only disappointments of the trip. If you're thinking of skipping a night at AP, try to find out when the show will run.
- There are a lot of things I packed that were hardly worth re-packing to take home. When I shopped for "survival gear" I bought my usual preferred brands with the intention of bringing home whatever I didn't use. It's just not worth it. I left as much as I could to allow myself extra luggage space.
- When going to Palo, walk all the way aft on a deck other than 9 or 10, and THEN use the elevators to go to Deck 10. We came up midship and had to walk across the open deck, and I was a windblown disaster when we walked into Palo.
- I'd heard there are no clocks in the rooms. There were neat little nautical clocks when we sailed on 4/5/03, but they were not alarm clocks. I ordered wake-up calls and kept my watch on the nightstand and that was good enough for me--certainly better than tripping over an alarm clock extension cord in the middle of the night!
- Once we knew our dining rotation, we made our Palo reservations for the night our rotation was at Parrot Cay. (The sample menus wed seen from PC appealed to us less than the others.) By the end of the cruise, though, I realized that there really isnt much difference between the menus in the three restaurants. Food-wise, I didnt prefer one to the other, though the atmosphere was certainly different for all three. My advice here is that if you miss a night or two on rotation dining, you probably wont miss much. I also didnt notice one rotation restaurant being dressier than others, which surprised me after reading about Lumieres being much more formal than AP or PC.
Recommended items from these boards that I could not have lived without:
- Small scissors or a Swiss army knife
- Door hooks, the plastic or metal ones that fit over the top of the door. These were invaluable. They didn't fit on all the doors, but if you can get the narrowest style they should work.
- Highlighter pens for marking your Personal Navigator each night
- Sticky notes. I packed a 3" square pad, and used it to remind us of appts for Palo, Flounder's Reef, etc. It was hard for me to remember what day was what most of the time, so I just put them at eye level on the mirror where I knew I wouldn't miss them!
- Wrinkle remover. Thanks to shower steam and Downy Wrinkle Releaser, I did no ironing all week!
- Clothespins! I can't emphasize it enough! Pack at least four if you have an outside stateroom and kids that will be on the other side of the privacy curtain.
- Duct tape. At the last minute, I threw a roll into our suitcase. I rarely use it at home, but I'm so glad I had it on the ship! I left the remainder there because it was awfully heavy and took up a lot of room. Next time I'd probably buy a small roll just to use for the trip.
- The shoe organizer. We hung it on the outside of the second bathroom door. I won't take a long vacation without it again! Our countertops were messy enough, and this helped important things stay within sight.
- Air freshener. I packed a can because of what I'd read about the bathrooms being pretty smelly. It doesn't take up too much space and it's cheap. I didn't find any strange odors in our bathroom, but I was thankful to have it anyway. Since we were traveling with a kid in diapers it came in handy more than a few times. I left it there when I repacked.
- Large envelopes. I brought two, both transparent plastic because they're more durable, and they came home FULL of souvenirs, photos, and important documents.
Other items I was glad I packed:
- Liquid anti-bacterial hand soap. I packed two, one for each sink. I got the kind that pumps as a foam--you go through it faster and it seems less wasteful when, at the end of the week, you decide to throw out what's left.
- Extension cords. Everyone said to pack an extension cord, so I did. However, the only normal outlet in our room was close to the porthole (the farthest point from the bathroom), and my 15-foot cord wouldn't reach the bathroom. No big deal, I just dried my hair at the mirror near the window every day. But if you need to use something in the bathroom, or if you want an electric clock near your bed, make sure the cord is VERY long. Also, the space between the counter and the plug is too small to fit a lot of larger plug bases--I ended up using one with my hair dryer even though the cord was plenty long.
- Metal hole puncher! As we waited to board the ship, someone in line behind us asked how we got the holes in our KTTW cards, so I handed her my puncher. It ended up traveling a long way down the line! For the first few days people even stopped me to ask how I got the hole in my card. I'm surprised Guest Services doesn't do it (or maybe they do???), or that the cards aren't distributed with holes in them. Either way, I suggest packing a hole puncher if you're planning to wear your KTTW card on a lanyard without a vinyl holder.
- A small pad of lined paper. I like to keep trip journals, and I usually use my Palm or a pad of paper that fits easily into a purse or backpack. This is also handy for writing notes to include with tips at the end of the cruise.
To everyone else who has offered excellent advice on these boards, I bow in humble reverence to you! Armed with such extensive knowledge, our first cruise was a huge success!
Click here to read my full trip report: Postcards from the Caribbean
