Disney Vacation Web Site

March 2004 Cruise

Orlando & Port Canaveral	Disney Magic
St. Maarten	St. Thomas
Castaway Cay

Dad, Mom, and Stephanie took another cruise on the Disney Magic during spring break 2004 (March 19-27, 2003).  We were in room 8548 (Category 3) on the starboard side of the ship.

Disney Magic on-board internet start up page

Mom's post on the discussion board the day after we got back:

We are back from March 20 cruise We had a great cruise despite of unusual weather. I have been on 15 cruises at various times of the year and my husband 14. This cruise was the worst sea conditions we have ever experienced and thankfully, it was only two days of the cruise. One would of thought we were caught in a huricane . Wed. night and Thursday night were rocky, seas Wed. night were 18' to 20' with high winds and on Thurs. night 20' to 30'. Unbelievable for a March cruise but it was happening. Yes, the stablilizers were out, we had the bridge tour on Friday and we were assured the stabilizers were out and the course altered so we did not go in the Atlantic around the Bahamas but through the Bahamas to get to Castaway Cay. Had the course not be altered the seas would of been even worse! The winds Thurs. night were "whole"gale force which is 55 to 63 mph. We survived. Some on board did get sick but in the end we had a great day at Castaway. Water was chilly but the clouds went away and the air temp was warm and toasty. The short cruise back to port that night was more normal sea conditions, rocky through the gulf stream then smooth cruising. For those who have never cruised before and were on this cruise: No, it isn't normally this rough or windy. Please don't let the strange weather conditions prevent you from going again. We did go up on top to check out the conditions at night, before 11:00 pm. The sea spray had the entire upper levels soaked. It was not the waves but the sea spray. We had fun riding out the storm but then, we also were not sea sick. The strange weather had much cooler conditions the first two days at sea, warm but not as warm as last March. St. Maarten was cloudy and rain off and on but we still had a great day. St. Thomas looked like we would get soaked but it rained for a short time on our way to Coarl World then stopped. We had a good turn out for the DIS meet. It was fun runny into each other through out the cruise. I am not a good one to answer questions about childrens programming since our daughter is now 11 1/2 but I am sure more people will post. We did not go to Palo, we did enjoy the Golden Mickey's and of course, Disney Dreams. I will add more later. We had a strange flight route home, via Miami back to Des Moines?!? go figure that one out. Kathy __________________ WDW (Boardwalk) - August 1999 Disney Magic 4 day - August 1999 WDW (Off property) - Jul/Aug 2000 Disney Magic Inaugural 7 day Eastern - August 2000 Disney Magic 7 day Eastern - August 2001 Disney Magic 7 day Eastern - March 2002 Disney Magic 7 day Western - March 2003 Disney 7 Day Land and Sea - booked for December 2003 Disney Magic 7 day Eastern - booked for March 2004

Day 0 (3/19/2004) - we fly to Orlando on Friday.  We will stay in the airport Hyatt.

7-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise Sailing to St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay Day Itinerary Sat (3/20/04) Travel to Port Canaveral to depart at 5 p.m. Sun - Mon (3/21 & 22/04) Enjoy relaxation and fun at sea Tue (3/23/04) Arrive in St. Maarten at 7 a.m., depart 11 p.m. Wed (3/24/04) Arrive in St. Thomas 7 a.m., depart 4:45 p.m. (This day you can choose to enjoy excursions to St. John as well) Thu (3/25/04) The magic of a day at sea Fri (3/26/04) Arrive at Castaway Cay at 9 a.m., depart at 5:30 p.m. Sat (3/27/04) Arrive at Port Canaveral at 6 a.m., debark the ship at 8:30 a.m.

Day 8 (Sat 3/27/2003) - Get up early and get off the ship.  Ship arrives at Port Canaveral at 6:00 a.m.