Guest Post - Cruising for the First Time on Disney Magic

This cruise was our first.  Not just a first on a Disney Cruise Line, but on ANY cruise line.  We had lots of questions, lots of concerns.  Today's blog comes on the heels of our 7 day Western Caribbean cruise on the Disney Magic.  I'm told by other guests that we have set the bar high for any other cruises we take.  We were told that other cruise lines are not as personable, as friendly and well.... as Disney as the Magic was for us.

  My point of view is that of a married couple without small children.  Our particular cruise was just the two of us.  It was our 4 year anniversary this week, the reason for our cruise.  I get motion sickness on boats and some roller coasters, my wife not so much.

  Our cruise departed from Port Canaveral.  Long term parking for 7 day cruises is $120 paid to the port by credit card.  We chose to have one of our sons drop us off and pick us back up.  We only live an hour from the port.  Parking wasn't unsafe or anything, we just didn't want to pay $120 for parking and had the option to get a ride. 

  Disney Magic has 11 public decks, can accommodate 2,700 passengers in 875 staterooms, and has a crew of approximately 950.  We spoke to a couple of the crew and learned that they work 6 month contracts where they are on the boat for 6 months straight.  They don't have days off, only shifts off.  This is remarkable because the crew are always so happy, polite and smiling.  We learned they do have some down time when they can get off the ship and visit the various stops, they also have their own pool on the front of the ship which is not accessible to guests.

  

 We entered the boat on the 3rd floor which is the main atrium and very beautiful.  We were announced on the ship like guests to a formal banquet, we felt like royalty.  We scrambled to our room to drop off our carry on bags and explore.

I was nervous getting on the boat and not sure what to pack and what not to.  We have learned a lot from the experience.  I understand some cruise ships offer a package where you can drink alcohol for a flat price throughout the voyage.  Disney does not offer this sort of thing, probably because it's more of a family atmosphere.  Disney does, however, have 17 locations on board where one could get a margarita, a beer or a typical variety of liquors.  17 locations would make one crazy pub crawl, but that may be for another blog and another trip LOL.  We read that we could pack 1 liter of booze per passenger in our carry on bag and that the room had a fridge.  This worked quite well for us, although we did sample from various bars across the ship and various ports as well.  My wife packed travel curlers and a hair dryer without a problem.  The room did have a hair dryer in one of the drawers but she preferred hers.  We packed about 10 changes of clothes for 7 nights and found that it was about 2 changes short.  With excursions and visits to the pool and changing for dinner on our trip to Palo, we really needed a few more days worth.



The room was plenty big for us, the bed was comfortable.  We were very happy with the 2nd floor location as this was closer to sea level where the movement from the waves was not as bad, which was great for my fear of motion sickness.  Our stateroom hostess that cleaned our room was named Vincent and he was on the ball!  He cleaned our room 3 different times each day.  As we understood it, he cleaned 15 rooms every day.  He greeted us in the halls and was always smiling.  We were not sure what to tip for services like this and we were very pleased that Disney offered a tip option with our cruise package.  We paid a predetermined amount ($168 for this specific cruise) and Disney split it up into appropriate portions to each of the following cast members (crew) for us: Stateroom Host/Hostess, Head Server, Assistant Server, Server.  The amounts are set by Disney to each of the 4 crew members and given to us in our room with little envelopes for us to hand deliver to each person and thank them.  If we forget, it gets distributed for us. 

 

 

 For those new to cruises like we are, this is how dining works. We are assigned a dining time each night, we chose the later time of 8:15 for dinner and the earlier time of 6:15 for the nightly shows.  Each night we dined at a rotating schedule of restaurants with the same servers every night.  They knew us by name, remembered our drink orders and if we preferred fresh ground pepper or not.  The staff was very good at their jobs and they made us feel like royalty.  The dress was cruise casual.  Dinner each night is included in your cruise however one night we chose to eat at Palo and that was a $25 per person upgrade.  The upgrade was well worth it.  We were required to not wear jeans or flip flops for this venue.  The food was amazing.  We enjoyed all of the dining on the boat but this particular restaurant was above all others.  One thing to keep in mind for this restaurant is that the server is not the same as all other nights.  This person is not included in the tips you've prepaid.  We tipped additional on the bill for this evening based on the exceptional service she provided.  Our dinner table each night was a table of 6, 3 couples.  One couple made dinner the first night and then we never saw them again.  We asked, and they were still on board (didn't get left in Mexico lol), but they were newlyweds and must have decided for room service instead. 

In your stateroom is a TV that displays the GPS location of the boat at any given time, it also provides the ship time and sea depth.  This cruise took us around Cuba which was very interesting to us as the diplomatic relationship with the US and Cuba is improving.  When we reached within 5 miles of Havana the captain notified the ship and we made our way to the deck where we were able to see the island.  I was told this is the closest we could travel to the island in a long time.  

On our cruise there was only one night where the seas became rough enough for me to begin feeling squeamish.  I brought some wristband things from CVS Pharmacy that seemed to help. I have problems feeling very tired when I take Bonine so this was a welcomed relief.  I did find that being on the 2nd level in our stateroom was much better than up on level 10.

Would you believe they have fireworks off the ship one night during the cruise?  It was a huge production with Mickey and his friends and a pirate night theme.  Most everyone was on deck for this and it did not disappoint!

Castaway Cay was, by far, the best stop of all stops.  While each island was beautiful and provided for amazing excursions, this one was care free.  Two locations offered a BBQ of epic proportions complete with drinks and shaded tables.  This food was all included in our cruise package, and the only thing extra were adult beverages.  We headed to the 18+ beach, which was quiet and beautiful.  We saw starfish, conch shells, corals, sponges and white sand beaches.  We chose this day to be a slow day, no excursions.  We just relaxed at the beach, took a walk and enjoyed the great BBQ.

Speaking of excursions, our favorite was in Cozumel.  This was a tequila tasting sponsored by Jose Cuervo.  Martin was our host and he was very informative and entertaining.  This excursion involved Margarita's and Tequila.  It also included Tacos, a live show, a museum of art and duty free shopping.  We bought one bottle of tequila and Disney allows guests to bring this bottle back to your room.  This was different that other cruise lines that allow you to bring it on board but hold it for you until you reach your home port.  We would recommend this particular excursion and will be sure to go back again on our next cruise.

Brent, our Disney Cruise Director, was the voice that echoed in the halls after the 'when you wish upon a star' chime sounded.  This sound and his voice would notify you of all important information such as dining, excursions, ports, seas and all other goings on.  He was a funny and energetic individual that kept us informed and smiling.

This was our entire senior staff aboard the Disney Magic.  This stage was set up for both live performance and digital movies.  One night, on the eve of the release of Cinderella to the public, both theaters on the Disney Magic showed Cinderella at 11PM ship time.  One thing I was somewhat bothered by was that Disney charged for popcorn.  It seemed a bit odd that room service, quick service and scheduled dining was all included but a simple cardboard container of popcorn was $4 extra.  Can sodas and bottled water was also extra, but one could simply go to the 9th deck and grab a free drink and bring it down for the show.  It wasn't a huge issue but seemed a bit ticky tack to charge for it.

Since this was our first cruise I can only say it was perfect.  It was Disney themed and that was exactly what we wanted.  It was friendly and fun and we could not imagine a cruise being any better. The boat was well maintained and exceptionally clean.  The crew were all friendly, professional and personable.  The food was great, the pools were clean and inviting.  The events on board were entertaining and the excursions were at a Disney level that made sure we were satisfied.

There were so many photo opportunities during our 7 night cruise, but this was my favorite.  Watching the sunset, the smell of the ocean and the cool evening breeze.  It was paradise on a boat.  Before we left the Magic we made sure to stop by the reservation desk and made a 'place holder' reservation for a future cruise.  It was minimal money and allowed us to take advantage of the 10% discount on the future cruise and $100 ship credit for 7 night cruise, $200 for 14 night cruise.  They knew who our travel agent was and sent her a confirmation as well as us.  This 'place holder' reservation reserved us a trip for two on the shortest cruise leaving from Miami (which happened to be the least expensive).  We may now decide when we want to make the next cruise and transfer this place holder onto a different cruise.  

We recommend the Disney Magic for anyone new to cruises like we were, although our opinion is only based on one experience on our first cruise.  We look forward to cruising on a larger boat next time just to see the differences.

I only wish I had captured a video of the Disney Magic blasting her horns to "When You Wish Upon a Star".  

Thanks for reading.

Doug Spence

Guests Without Bags