angelsfort

I would be willing to wager that they'd also enjoy getting in on the fun of hiding! If you join your sailings group page, you can likely discover the many others that will also be hiding on your cruise.

You'll have to be sure to share your thoughts on the ROTI if you end up going there... I'm a huge roti fan and you definitely piqued my interest here! (maybe photos too?)

In our past cruises, we were able to ask our room steward to get us a copy of the FunTimes. We never had to go to guest services to pick one up. I honestly don't know if it was an inconvenience for him, we just mentioned it on our first day and asked how we could get physical paper copies each day and he told us he'd take care of it. and he did!

Since then, have you joined in on the fun?

the good news is that if we don't want the kids to know what we're writing, we can just write in "code" (ie: in cursive!)

SAME HERE! Just know that we can still get the printed Fun Times, you just gotta ask for them.

LOL seriously, that's not usually how the "hides" go... it may have been a child playing with their ducks up on an upper level and the ducks got away from them! But it's rare that ducks get dropped on folks from above! 🤣

sure! It's basically a scavenger hunt (or hide & seek, however you wanna look at it) Rumor has it that it was made popular by a 10 year old girl back in 2017 / 2018, who just wanted to make other guests smile. She & her dad brought on a handful of ducks, created a FB group where folks could post that they found them and it just LEAPED off from there. most put tags on their ducks stating something like "oh what luck, you've found a duck!" and instructs the finder to either keep it or re-hide it for others to find. It also either has a QR code with the group linked to it or a hashtag of some kind that directs folks to the group page. I do it because I really enjoy the spirit of the game - when you watch a little one come across a duck unexpectedly, the joy that they experience is contagious! (many adults have the same reaction when they come across a duck! Which is also fun!) I'm a tumbler maker and work with resin crafts as well - many of my hides are my own creations (as you saw from my original post). I like to hide things that are completely different - I guarantee you that NOBODY is hiding keychains like mine around the ship!! I've also hidden a tumbler or two (duck themed, of course!!) and for those, I definitely stick around to see who finds them! (you're welcome to check my tumbler album out - it's called out in my signature below). Part of the fun, for me, is coming up with what I want to create for our next cruise - I've already got two tumblers in the works, just for that reason, even though we don't even have our next cruise scheduled! LOL I work on things in between custom orders when I have the time to have a bit of fun with what I'm creating 🥰 Unfortunately (and for reasons I just don't understand) the hiding of ducks also annoys some people... I don't see how it affects them when they spot a duck in one of its hiding spots (some are really not hidden very well but are instead, right out in plain sight!) but apparently it does... so if you choose to participate in the game, just be aware that there are a few that have an open disdain for the game too. Don't let that deter you though! far more joy is achieved with these little ducks than there is annoyance...

Its funny that so many mentioned having the staff know you by name... on our last cruise, our server called me by the wrong name every single night. Just once, when he had to look at our sign/sail cards to charge our bottomless bubbles, he actually said my name but never did it again. He got my boyfriends name right every time! LOL we only saw our cabin steward on the first day, when he introduced himself ************************* for me, the very small thing that hits big is the ducks. I know that it's a bit controversial - some people love them, some people hate them... I'm on team "love them" for sure. We bring 20-30 ducks on board with us and hide maybe 10-12 of them - the rest we drop in mailboxes of cabins where we've seen little ones coming & going OR we'll put them directly on their tables while at lunch on the Lido deck or at dinner in the MDR, then we get to watch them light up when they find them. My ducks aren't the typical "rubber duck" though, I have little duck magnets and rubber duck keychains that I've made to hide/give away. (the attached photo is the keychains - little ducks on water, with teeny tiny fish in the water below them)

I think that most of the roll calls are on Facebook now - I didn't see any on here for my last cruise but there was a group page on FB that had well over 500 members. I did a quick search for your cruise date (just typed in "Carnival Magic January" and found your group... they have over 700 members already)

being a Florida resident, we tend to exclusively sail out of the Florida ports... but for our next vacation (that we will need to save for a while to be able to accomplish) I'd like to sail out of California. my plan is to spend a few days at Disneyland and then jump on a cruise for a 5-7 day - so our next ship will be whatever ship happens to be sailing out of that port when we book it! again, as a Florida resident we've got annual passes to Walt Disney World and I've always wanted to make the trip across the country to go see Walts original park. But cruising is my absolute favorite vacation - I can't NOT book a cruise! As Vizzini would say "that's inconceivable!" (for all you Princess Bride fans out there LOL)

my favorite CD moment is when Julie McCoy fell for Barry Corwin but later found out that he was also Rose York, the ships entertainment. apparently the real Rose became bed-ridden was unable to make the cruise so Barry volunteered to impersonate her while on board, so she wouldn't lose "face". Barry didn't count on falling for Julie though! (and seriously, who wouldn't - Julie was adorable and charming!)

Exactly this. even if the lady herself gives a "first hand" account of what went down, we're only getting HER SIDE of the story. (which I guarantee will be presented in a way that makes her look all shiny and pretty... while making Carnival the evil horn wearing bad guys) the news has no idea... they report whatever they need to in order to get views. Its very rarely the TRUTH or the WHOLE story (and by very rarely, I mean like almost never!)... they spin the story however they need to, to create drama and generate views. (honestly, I can't believe anyone watches the news anymore... unless they're watching it as they would NCIS or Seinfeld, a purely fabricated show for entertainment only) so we will never know what truly happened... but I also believe that she likely got belligerent when they told her she couldn't bring them on board and made a fuss and turned it into more than it needed to be.

many parents, though, ARE technically paying for their kids to swim. They'll choose a ship / cruise line based off of what amenities there are for their kids and I feel like the pool is a big part of it (as well as the splash pads and waterslides, etc). Take out the pools and they'll also be taking out the "family" unless they replace it with some other equally "fun" activity for the kids to do ALL DAY EVERY DAY

but seriously... what are pajamas? I can't think of a single "pj" that can't also be compared to another form of regular clothing... even lingerie, to be honest, can be similar to the bikini's that you see all over beaches nowadays. You can't even say that the "patterns" on them make them PJ's vs regular clothes since there are SOO many different patterns on everything now! flannel pants are like sweat pants tank tops are already worn everywhere at any time lace? it's on blouses or is the fact that many pj sets have a matching top & bottom, in the same pattern? Don't mens suits do the same thing? the jacket and the pants are the same?

the question I have is... did it work? did the tables stay clear?

Add me to the list of folks that say "Just do it!" I, personally, never cared what other passengers thought about what I was wearing (or not wearing) and I barely even notice what THEY might be wearing. I cruise my way, they can cruise theirs! You should enjoy your Christmas 🎄, in the way that you'd like and not concern yourself with the opinions of others. (as long as everyone is "covered" in their Pj's... if you get my meaning! being able to see your families "bits" and "pieces" may affect the other diners LOL)

It wouldn't hurt to still run to the excursion desk when you get on board. Our cruise in May ended up doing two tours because they had so many people wanting to sign up. I don't know if that was an anomaly or what but it never hurts to try!

they make everyone leave their staterooms by like 8:30 am (or so) and the stewards get started on turning them over right away... once you're out of your stateroom, you can wander the ship - have breakfast (or whatever) until they make you leave (generally around 9:30 / 10 am they start really pushing - in my experience - but every ship could be different) so it's not REALLY so quick... they have several hours to get it done by 1:30, when folks are cleared to go to their cabins. Most people check their luggage, so they don't have a bunch to carry around with them while they wait for their cabins to be ready.

a couple of months ago my daughter and her friends were on their way to the Miami cruise port (from Orlando) when their car broke down about 45 minutes away... they called an UBER and the driver understood her assignment! LOL the driver bobbed & weaved their way through the traffic, exceeded the speed limit and got them to the port with LITERALLY minutes to spare. They were rushing to the terminal just as the doors were closing... that UBER driver saved the day and got a very VERY generous tip for their dedication to getting there. I would say that the UBER drivers (at least that one!) do a good job!

I've always chosen an interior cabin on one of the upper decks... I love the darkness of the interiors (great for afternoon naps!!) but I will say that our last cruise got us a visit from the upgrade fairy and we ended up in a balcony cabin on the Lido deck. It was really great! We were close to all of the action and had our own private space on our balcony for watching the ocean or the ports or just anything!

😞 well now that this adventure has come to an end... what am I gonna read when I'm supposed to be working?!

LOL if I put on long pants, that's me dressing up. Being in Florida my attire is usually shorts and a t-shirt and my open toed sandals. (that being said, generally on a "formal" night - I will choose other dining options and not subject my table mates to my lack of participation in their fun)

I know someone laughed at this comment but it definitely has merit. Cruise lines with a casino make a LOT of money from their casino's. This allows them to offer lower fairs across the board to all passengers. the fact that DCL does NOT have a casino, means they have to make up that money somewhere... and fortunately for them, passengers are willing to pay more to sail with them. Its been a few years since I've been on a DCL cruise (pre-pandemic) but my memories are extremely fond and I cannot wait to sail them again. (funds force us to the "casino" laden cruise lines for the time being) there is literally NOTHING else out there like a Disney Cruise!

all of the bazillion folks following along on this thread (READING it, I dare say!) would certainly disagree with that statement!