DCL MAGIC low cost or no cost shore trips

[3lilkids]

Hi. My family and I are doing the disney magic in october,eastern carib.!!! THe DCL shore excurisions are expensive. Does anyone have any ideas on what a family of 5 w/kids 11,3, and 5 that would be low cost or no cost. I will do one shore excursion on St. Thomas but jut cant do it all financially. Am i the only one?. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Also, how formal is the captains dinner. Can i do sundresses for the girls or should i go a lil more formal..

 

thanks so much

[crusinmama06]

I don't remember Disney as being exceptionally formal on Captains night. I dont know why, but people didn't seem to be dressed to the level that I have seen on other cruiselines.

 

Like, my hubby always wears a tux on formal night, but for the Wonder cruise, we aren't going to bother.

 

What are the other ports for your itinerary?

 

I know St. Martin and Castaway Cay right? Any others?

 

For St. Martin, you can just take a taxi to the beach. There is a small beach very close to the ships called Divi Little Bay. Some like this beach better than Orient Beach because you won't see as many naked people. ;)

http://www.st-maarten.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=61

 

Castaway Cay - obviously a great beach day.

[lagbunch8]

Also, how formal is the captains dinner. Can i do sundresses for the girls or should i go a lil more formal..

 

thanks so much

 

You could but, most people do dress up. Maybe not tuxes(don't recall a ton of those on my other cruises) but suits and gowns/nice dress. I have heard that the 7 nights on the magic are more formal than the wonder cruises. I have only done the 7 night cruises on the Magic so far. We dressed for dinner every night and wore formal wear on the "formal" night. My girls did Easter type dresses or a nice dress we found at Kohls.

 

We just did a beach day at Orient beach. Kids loved the waves. My sister did the butterfly farm. Just take a taxi to either. There really is no need to book those through Disney.

 

Have a magical cruise. :)

[crusinmama06]

I have heard that the 7 nights on the magic are more formal than the wonder cruises. I have only done the 7 night cruises on the Magic so far. We dressed for dinner every night and wore formal wear on the "formal" night. My girls did Easter type dresses or a nice dress we found at Kohls.

 

 

That was the last Disney cruise we were on, 7 day Disney Magic. No one was as formal as some of our other cruises.

 

And yes, on other cruises, especially late seating, many men wear tuxes.

 

And to the OP - I actually found some shots of the dining room - you can see how people dress in the dining room - some actually have shorts and t-shirts on (no I don't know what night it is)...but Disney is considerably less formal...you can see just by looking at the pics...

http://www.wdwinfo.com/Photos/DCL_Magic-Dining/pages/Dining_Animators-Palate_02.htm

[lagbunch8]

That was the last Disney cruise we were on, 7 day Disney Magic. No one was as formal as some of our other cruises.

 

And yes, on other cruises, especially late seating, many men wear tuxes.

 

And to the OP - I actually found some shots of the dining room - you can see how people dress in the dining room - some actually have shorts and t-shirts on (no I don't know what night it is)...but Disney is considerably less formal...you can see just by looking at the pics...

http://www.wdwinfo.com/Photos/DCL_Magic-Dining/pages/Dining_Animators-Palate_02.htm

 

Maybe things have changed since 2005?

 

I have been on 9 cruises on 3 different lines and I have seen very few men in tuxes. I would only know about the cruises I have been on just as you would only know about the cruises you have been on. The OP asked a question and I gave MY experience. I am sorry if that puts your panties in a wad. lol.

[cb at sea]

In most ports, going to the beach is an easy process--just grab a cab at the dock and tell them where you want to go. Before you leave, you should read up on your ports--a good travel guide (libraries are free) will give you tons of info and you'll be one step ahead of the game! You'll know what's available on each island, how to get there, and what it will cost to get there!

You don't need to pay those exorbinant excursion prices, if you don't want to! But researching where you're going is a must!

[crusinmama06]

I am sorry if that puts your panties in a wad. lol.

 

Nope, no panties in a wad here. It takes more than that to get me mad. ;)

[All4fun1]

I have been researching St. Martin & St Thomas for our December cruise. Here is a thread I started with some ideas for things to do on either island:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=822039

 

Btw, we did the Disney Magic 7-day cruise in 2000 but haven't been back (yet). It was a wonderful cruise and I think you'll have a great time. Since it's been so long things may definitely have changed but I do remember that we saw lots of formal wear on the formal nights.

 

hth!

[MnAsMom]

It's been a while but when we were in St Thomas on our honeymoon cruise we just hopped in a cab and asked the driver to take us to a nice beach! We ended up at Coki Beach and it was fantastic! Coral World is right there, your kids might like that and the water is crystal clear.. rent some snorkels from the guys there and they will hand you a couple of dog biscuits... stick them in the water and you will be surrounded by fish!!! I have pics of my hubby chest deep in clear water surrounded by fish!

 

http://www.threebestbeaches.com/centralamcarib/usvi/2006/05/coki-point-beach-st-thomas-usvi.html

 

It was the best port visit we had on our cruise! I wanna go to St Thomas now!

 

St Martin again we ended up taking a cab to Orient Beach and the cab driver gave us a little info while we drove. It was much more crowded than any of the other beaches we visited! Nice though.

[MrsPete]

Hi. My family and I are doing the disney magic in october,eastern carib.!!! THe DCL shore excurisions are expensive. Does anyone have any ideas on what a family of 5 w/kids 11,3, and 5 that would be low cost or no cost. I will do one shore excursion on St. Thomas but jut cant do it all financially. Am i the only one?. Any help is greatly appreciated.

There's a board on this webpage with pages for individual islands. That's the best place to get good information.

 

Even if cost wasn't involved, I'd recommend private excursions. Without exception, we've found better prices and we've enjoyed being part of a smaller group. On our last cruise we did a private excursion at every port, and our tablemates did a ship excursion at every port. By the end of the cruise, they'd spent their day in Jamaica waiting and waiting and waiting for their turn to climb Dunn's River Falls, then they were hurried as they did it -- it was all they got to do in Jamaica. We were the second group to climb (before the ship excursion people arrived), and we were allowed to stop at many levels to swim and play. Afterward we had plenty of time to do other things. They were disappointed that they drove for hours to the Mayan ruins, and then were allowed less than an hour to tour the place. After getting wet in the rain in Cozumel, they froze for the 2+ hour drive home because the bus drivers wouldn't turn down the air conditioning. Meanwhile, we had a total blast driving ATVs through the jungle (and we saw three small Mayan ruins!). When the pouring rain started, we were able to forego the beach portion of our plans and head back to the ship. Overall, our tablemates came away with the idea that shore excursions really aren't all they're cracked up to be, and if I'd had their experiences, I'd agree! We, on the other hand, had a great time on every island. Lower cost, smaller groups, more control over your own day . . . private excursions are the way to go!

 

You should thoroughly check out the vendors whom you plan to use. The aforementioned shore excursion board is a great place to verify that people are trustworthy. And, of course, you should be 100% certain of your timing and your transportation plans, but that's just not too difficult to manage.