#DibbAfterDarkCruise: WBTA Sep2015

[Stewboy]

So, here we go again! It feels like I’ve only just finished the last Trip Report… oh hang on, I haven’t! Wait a minute I’ll be right back…..

Ok, I’m back. Last Trip Report now complete Before I continue, I’ll give you a quick summary of the dramatis personæ:


Me - Stewart.
38 year old Digital Creative Director at a London marketing agency. Originally from Essex now residing in Hertfordshire. Writer of trip reports.


Joanne - My wife.
30 year old private tutor. Expert planner of Disney holidays.


Isabella - our daughter.
Three year old fan of all things Disney especially Mickey Mouse and the princesses.


Us

Now that’s out of the way I can begin...

As I sit here writing this pre-Trip Report we’re two weeks… Yes, TWO WEEKS, away from another trip to Orlando! There’s a massive difference this time though because it’s going to take us 11 DAYS to get there…

“Eleven Days?, I hear you cry. “What nonsense is this?! Are they flying Norwegian?!”

Nope. Eleven days because we’re taking the the Disney Magic cruise ship to get there. This won’t be our first cruise on board the Disney Magic though. Jo and I did two cruises before Isabella was born back in 2010 (Dover to Barcelona) and again in 2011 when Jo was pregnant (Barcelona to Barcelona round the Med). We had a great time and even made some friends - no stranger danger here! We still see them often!


2011: Jo made a friend

We put cruising on hold while Isabella was little but felt that it was the right time to get on board again. So in April, when Jo happened to be browsing the different Disney cruises, she spotted a good deal for the 11 night Disney Magic Westbound Transatlantic (WBTA) from Barcelona to Miami, with reasonable looking flights for the way home, and after not much deliberation it was booked.

We then had to sort out how to get to Barcelona; Ryanair from Stansted with an overnight stay at the Hotel Icaria SB in Barcelona - rearranged (at ridiculous expense) from a morning of the cruise flight after we panicked about being delayed and missing the boat (literally). This also means we need to get a taxi to the airport (for the first time ever!) as we’re not coming back to Stansted. Fortunately, Jo’s mums neighbour is taxi driver so he’ll be taking us on the short (half an hour) journey to the airport.

We also saw an opportunity to spend some time at Universal, somewhere we’ve not been since 2010; which means we finally get to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! After about 4 trips to Orlando where Jo hums the theme tune every time we see Hogwarts from the I4 Jo is SUPER EXCITED!

We’ve also decided to stay on Universal property at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which we booked through Netflights. It was a great deal which has ended up costing £125 per night for four nights for the three of us and includes the unlimited front of the line passes and £30 cashback through TopCashback. This means that when we get to Miami we have rented a car (through Alamo - with more cashback from TopCashback) so that we can drive the three hours or so up the road to Orlando.

The flight home is from MCO to Manchester, with yet another car hired (from Enterprise this time) to get us back home, which we’ll drop of to an Enterprise nearby.

As you can see, the travel arrangements to Barcelona and home from Florida have been a little trickier than usual, but we got there in the end.

Now, on to the cruise itself.

The Disney Magic has had a bit of a makeover since the last time we were on board so we’re excited to see what it looks like. The new kids clubs in particular look amazing and Isabella is very excited about spending time in them. We’re very happy about this as that means Jo and I hopefully get to spend some real time together, unlike our recent trips to WDW. Don’t get me wrong, we love doing WDW with Isabella but as has been discussed each time we book it, it will be nice to be able to relax together. We always talk about doing a villa but that pesky Disney offer (gift card, free Disney Dining Plan, money off Saratoga Springs and 14 day Ultimate Pass for price of 7) always appears and is too good to pass up…. Incidentally, we’ve taken advantage of that offer YET AGAIN for next year and have booked two weeks in October 2016! Pre-trip report for that one coming some time in 2016…. watch this space!


2011: We met this lovely couple

Right, back to the cruise.

When originally choosing our room Jo chose a category 9B room; Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom on deck two midship. Later on, deciding a balcony would be lovely, she upgraded this to a category 7A; Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Navigator’s Verandah on deck five, six or seven aft. We then decided that we wanted a proper verandah (the Navigator’s Verandahs are enclosed, with a white wall) so upgraded yet again to a category 5C; Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah. We then had to wait for our stateroom to be assigned, eventually getting one on deck six forward, starboard.


2010: The alarm took me by surprise!

There are a number of activities available to book up on board and so far we have booked the following:

Crown Package - Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (for Isabella)
Includes choice of a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique hair style, plus shimmering makeup, face gem, nail polish, princess tote and princess sash

Brunch & Dinner - Palo (for Jo and I)
Palo is an Adult Exclusive restaurant that serves Northern Italian cuisine for dinner

Exotic Rasul - Senses Spa & Salon (for Jo and I)
Exotic Rasul is a sensual treatment that conditions and nourishes your skin. Aromatherapy massage oils are worked gently into the body, and then you're invited to spread various miracle healing muds of different colors and grain sizes onto your arms, legs... and every place that could use soothing…

The Pirates League: Empress Package - Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (for Isabella)
Includes a Bandana, shimmering makeup, a face gem, nail polish, lip gloss, pirate earring & eye patch, pirate tattoo and unique coin necklace for Pirate Night.

We’re also planning on booking a Mixology Class (for Jo and I), tickets for the Princess Gathering, Frozen Meet & Greet and a Character Breakfast.

Also, we’ve purchased the digital photos package which includes all the photos taken on the cruise for a not inconsiderable sum! If you’ve ever bought the Memory Maker package at WDW and think that’s pricey (as we did), this one would give you a heart attack!

We requested and got Main Seating for dinner - 6.15pm, and we’ll find out our restaurant rotation when we get on board. The Main Dining restaurants are:

• Animator’s Palate
• Carioca’s (formerly known as Parrot Cay)
• Lumiere’s

There are plenty of other places to eat including another refurbished restaurant Cabanas (formerly Topsiders).

The 11 days includes a couple of stops, one at Madeira and then one at Castaway Cay. We tried to book a port excursion for Madeira called “Charms of Old Madeira” but it sold out too quickly. At 5:01am in fact, much to Jo’s despair. Fortunately, Jo’s mum has been to Madeira twice and was going to give us some tips for where to go on our own. Jo has also done some research so we should be able to spend our time wisely whilst there - we only get about five hours on the island.

At Castaway Cay, Jo has suggested we do the Castaway Cay 5k which we need to sign up for onboard. At present I remain unconvinced, despite being a regular runner and having completed a few half marathons (including two WDW Half’s), 10k’s and 5k’s - it’s not the distance or the effort that puts me off it’s just… well, we’re on holiday and it’ll be hot and I’ll have spent 10 days eating and drinking and relaxing! However, there are gym facilities on the boat which we plan on using so perhaps it’s not that bad an idea...


2013: WDW Half Marathon

Ok, so this is our itinerary so far:

Day 0: Friday 18th September
8am-12pm: I work from home
11:45am: Jo picks Isabella up from nursery
1:15pm: Taxi to Stansted Airport
4:10pm: Ryanair flight to Barcelona
7:25pm: Land at Barcelona
8:30pm-ish: Taxi to Hotel Icaria SB (Approx. 20mins)
9pm-ish: Eat in the hotel (at the rooftop cafe bar)

Day 1: Saturday 19th September
9am-10am: Breakfast in the hotel
10am - 11:30am: Walk down to the beach - Platja de la Nova Icaria
11:30am: Check out, get taxi to port (Approx.15 mins)
11:30am - 12pm: Port arrival (Moll Adossat. Terminal C)
12:30pm - 1pm: Board
1pm onwards: Go to Lumieres:
book mixology (cocktail mixing)
see what else is available to book
check that Palo doesn’t coincide with Animator’s Palate show night
Lunch at Carioca’s
Room should be ready from 1:30pm, or maybe as soon as we board having just come from dry dock
4:15pm: Sail Away Deck Party
6:15pm: Dinner followed by show at Disney Theatre

Day 2: Sunday 20th September
All day: At sea

Day 3: Monday 21st September
All day: At sea

Day 4: Tuesday 22nd September
8am - 1:45pm: Funchal, Madeira

Day 5: Wednesday 23rd September
All day: At sea
4pm: Crown Package: Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

Day 6: Thursday 24th September
All day: At sea
10:30am: Palo Brunch

Day 7: Friday 25th September
All day: At sea
11am: Exotic Rasul!

Day 8: Saturday 26th September
All day: At sea
6:30pm: Palo Dinner

Day 9: Sunday 27th September
All day: At sea
2:15pm-2:45pm: The Pirates League - Empress Package
9:45pm-10:30pm: Pirate Deck Party


2011: Pirate Night

Day 10: Monday 28th September
All day: At sea

Day 11: Tuesday 29th September
8:30am-4:45pm: Castaway Cay

Day 12: Wednesday 30th September
7:30am: Disembark at Miami


2011:The queue was too long to meet the Pope...

And that’s that… oh wait. No it isn’t. We have 4 more nights left, and there’s still more fun to be had, including:

• Finally visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Spending an afternoon and evening at Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
• Meeting up with fellow Dibbers and #DADC members Happyhaunt1000 and Tarnabanana83 (AKA The Hardings) who are in Orlando at the same time. We’ve already had three fun packed evenings in London with them but this will be the first time they get to meet Isabella - she’s so excited!
• Having dinner at Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge

Night Out with the Hardings

So here’s the rest of the holiday plans:

Day 12 - Part 2: Wednesday 30th September
Cab from Port Miami Port to Miami International Airport
Pick up hire car and drive 3.5 hours to Universal Studios, Orlando
Check in at Royal Pacific Resort
Spend time at Universal Studios/Island of Adventure/CityWalk

Day 13: Thursday 1st October
Morning: Universal Studios/Island of Adventure
Afternoon/Evening: Go to Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

Day 14: Friday 2nd October
Late morning: Meet Brett & Jo somewhere at Universal Resort
Afternoon/Evening: Universal Studios/Island of Adventure/CityWalk

Day 15: Saturday 3rd October
Morning/Afternoon: Universal Studios/Island of Adventure
Evening: Jiko

Day 16: Sunday 4th October
Morning: Check out of RPR then head over to one of the parks
Evening: Fly home from MCO

Day 17: Monday 5th October
Morning: Land at Manchester Airport
Afternoon: Drive from Manchester to Hertfordshire

So there we go; there’s the plan. To say that we’re all excited is a bit of an understatement. Oh and a couple of other things I forgot to mention:

• At some point we’ll be visiting Downtown Disney and doing a bit of shopping
• We've booked FastPasses for MK on the day we go to MNSHHP - you can use them between 4-7
• We've been able to re-use our MagicBands from the previous trip for use at MK
• We’ll be wearing fancy dress costumes to MNSSHP - you’ll have to wait and see what they are!
• Jo’s trying to convince me to book up a 7 night Norwegian Fjord cruise while we’re on board, also on the Disney Magic in May. I doubt I will be able to resist to be honest, because, you know, October’s trip to WDW is such a long way off...

FastPass+ bookings

Right. So that’s it. I hope that you’ll read along

Laters

#DibbAfterDarkCruise

[disneylover]

the Sears ship sets sail! I shall be looking forward to reading all about this. Have a great trip.

[NatsyNoo]

All sounds great! I'll look out for you onboard!

[Louisiana]

Sounds amazing!
I'd love to try a Disney cruise, maybe next year!

[rens]

Great plans and itinerary!

The cruise and a few nights at RPR sound like the perfect way to keep the Disney blues away until next October

[ely3857]

Sounds amazing!

[DISNEYLIZ]

Have you got room for 1 more? Sounds like a great trip

[mrsdjh]

At sea with the Sears plus the bonus of Universal ... looking forward to it already!

Diane

[Happyhaunt1000]

Exotic Rasul...!

That's is all

#dibbafteryouverubbedwhat?intowhere?

[Happyhaunt1000]

Figured I owed you a little more that two words & a hashtag!
I'll be honest though... Having never done a cruise 90% of what you wrote went over my head. I did enjoy the inclusion of all the pictures of you when you were 12 though.
Seems like you've planned almost every minute of every day. I guess when you're floating out at sea you have to do that or you miss out.

Looking forward to hooking up with you lot for the first International Searding/Hardar meet up.
See you in a few weeks.

#dibbafter-insertyourownsailorseamanjoke