Just off the Magic - It was Fabulous!!!

[queenofeverything]

Just finished our wonderful week on the Magic. It was absolutely outstanding. We had so much fun, the crew was amazing and the food was really delicious. The ship looked great. The only problem now is the inevitible post cruise depression!! They said there were 2200 passengers and over 1400 of them were Texans! Happy to answer questions and will post more later!

 

[sinnika]

Thanks for posting! We'll be sailing in 3 weeks! Did the characters dress in any western duds for photo ops? Also, do you remember what movies were playing?
And, are they still holding character breakfasts?
Thanks!

 

[Ajojo]

OOOOOHHHH Pleas post soon. This Texan is having a girls gettaway in a few weeks. Tell us about the ports and any excursions you may have taken

 

[Mayakad]

Just off the ship as well, my kids actually left with tears in their eyes and I'm talking about Tweens!
Can't wait to be back, thank you Disney!

 

[queenofeverything]

Thanks for posting! We'll be sailing in 3 weeks! Did the characters dress in any western duds for photo ops? Also, do you remember what movies were playing?
And, are they still holding character breakfasts?
Thanks!

You will have so much fun! The only western attire we saw was Cowboy Goofy. Tried to get a pic, but he was leaving. That was too bad, I think cowboy duds for all the characters would have been fun! Movies - here is the list: Toy Story 3 in 3D, Chimpanzee, The Avengers in 3D, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Brave, People Like Us, Finding Nemo in 3D, Tangled, and premearing (spelling intended) on Friday at 12:01 a.m., Frankenweenie.

Yes, you will have a Character Breakfast. It is in Parrot Cay and will be on the morning after your first dinner in Animator's Palate, lots of fun!

 

[queenofeverything]

OOOOOHHHH Pleas post soon. This Texan is having a girls gettaway in a few weeks. Tell us about the ports and any excursions you may have taken

We did the Stingray City Reef Sail and Snorkel in Grand Cayman. It was great - only 26 people! Short bus ride to a beautiful big catamaran and about 45 minutes to the spot. It is just off the sandbar where the other excursions go (we were the only ship there that day, so happily no one else there) We could see the stingrays and also snorkel over the nearby reef. Very pretty, only downside was the water was rough because it was raining off and on. Definitely got our workout!

In Costa Maya, we stayed at the port and enjoyed the pool. I know some people badmouth the port, but we have always enjoyed it. We have been there 3 times now. We were also the only ship in there so that makes it much nicer.

Cozumel is always our shopping day. We go to Cinco Soles and have lunch at Pancho's Backyard and do a little shopping.

Our friends did the submarine in Grand Cayman and really enjoyed it. They did the dolphin swim in Cozumel and said it was amazing.

Have a great time on your trip!!!

 

[2boogersmom]

We leave ONE WEEK from today!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So excited I can hardly stand it!

How was embarkation? We have the 11-11:30 check in time but plan to get there early, just to soak it all in. Our kids still have not found out, so only 7 more days to keep it all in.

Just give us any tidbits that might be interesting! I am so excited, I can't think straight, so have no idea what to even ask!

OH! How did you get to the port? If you did park'n'cruise, did it go well?

ETA: Do they have the yellow Mickey head thing to enter through when you go from terminal to ship? I really want to go through those (but not sure why I am so obsessed with the idea).

TIA!
Terri

 

[kcashner]

Thank you for posting. With all the talk about how supposedly run down the Magic is, it is nice to hear that you didn't find it to be so.

 

[queenofeverything]

We leave ONE WEEK from today!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So excited I can hardly stand it!

How was embarkation? We have the 11-11:30 check in time but plan to get there early, just to soak it all in. Our kids still have not found out, so only 7 more days to keep it all in.

Just give us any tidbits that might be interesting! I am so excited, I can't think straight, so have no idea what to even ask!

OH! How did you get to the port? If you did park'n'cruise, did it go well?

ETA: Do they have the yellow Mickey head thing to enter through when you go from terminal to ship? I really want to go through those (but not sure why I am so obsessed with the idea).

TIA!
Terri

I'm jealous - I'll be ready to go back in a week! (as soon as I get all of this laundry done!)

Embarcation was a breeze. The only hangup was the traffic on Harborside. We drove and my advice would be to go past harborside to Broadway and turn left on 22nd. That is the street that goes directly into the port. One of the Carnival ships was in that day as well and traffic was bad. We parked at ParknCruise which was right across the street. We would have walked but it was raining. The parking was great - very convenient and nice to have it enclosed. Once we finally got inside the terminal it was very fast, lots of check-in stations only had to wait about 5 minutes. I think it was the fastest check in of any cruise we have taken. No special Mickey thing - not sure what you are talking about, but I asume it is at Port Canaveral. They have their own terminal there, but in Galveston they share one with Royal Caribbean and others.

Post your questions when you think of them!

 

[queenofeverything]

Thank you for posting. With all the talk about how supposedly run down the Magic is, it is nice to hear that you didn't find it to be so.

Yes, I was surprised. We were on it in 2010 and it actually looked better this time. The only place I saw that really needed some attention was on our balcony. There was quite a bit of rust and it really showed its age there. Inside, it was immaculate!

 

[EDelashmit]

Ooohhhh, getting more excited!!!
Thank you for the positive remarks!!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We leave ONE WEEK from today!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So excited I can hardly stand it!

How was embarkation? We have the 11-11:30 check in time but plan to get there early, just to soak it all in. Our kids still have not found out, so only 7 more days to keep it all in.

Just give us any tidbits that might be interesting! I am so excited, I can't think straight, so have no idea what to even ask!

OH! How did you get to the port? If you did park'n'cruise, did it go well?

ETA: Do they have the yellow Mickey head thing to enter through when you go from terminal to ship? I really want to go through those (but not sure why I am so obsessed with the idea).

TIA!
Terri

I can't answer for Galveston but we've sailed DCL out of NYC and Seattle and there were no Mickey ears to walk through. As pp mentioned, the terminals are shared with other lines but I though DCL did a nice job of adding some Disney touches. Banners, signs, CMs waving with big white gloves. We knew it was DCL for sure & we weren't there long, pretty much just walked right through so we didn't miss the ears much. Of course we do love the feel & excitement of PC.

 

[kcashner]

Yes, I was surprised. We were on it in 2010 and it actually looked better this time. The only place I saw that really needed some attention was on our balcony. There was quite a bit of rust and it really showed its age there. Inside, it was immaculate!

We reported some rust in 2011. They contacted us to ask whether the paint smell would bother us--they wanted to do the repairs while we were on board, but if we objected, it would wait till disembarkation day!

We told them to do it; it wouldn't bother us at all.

SO, did you report it? And was it repaired?

 

[Milio99]

Thank you for posting. With all the talk about how supposedly run down the Magic is, it is nice to hear that you didn't find it to be so.

Just got off the same cruise and didn't find it to be run down one bit!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Prior to our Alaskan cruise, the last time my parents sailed with us was last Nov, a b2b on the Dream. While on the Wonder in Aug, my dad commented how the ship looked really good considering its age. He really has an eye for that stuff; he has a boat that he's kept immaculate since he bought it new in 1981. I'm guessing that's a lot longer than the avg lifespan for a typical boat owner.
We guess he kisses it good night.

 

[Mayakad]

And the best tip I can give anyone ask Timur and Juan as your dining team they made our cruise perfect! ( Timur was actually chosen as employee of the month while we were there)
If you do say hi from us

 

[collectoraholic]

We leave ONE WEEK from today!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So excited I can hardly stand it!

How was embarkation? We have the 11-11:30 check in time but plan to get there early, just to soak it all in. Our kids still have not found out, so only 7 more days to keep it all in.

Just give us any tidbits that might be interesting! I am so excited, I can't think straight, so have no idea what to even ask!

OH! How did you get to the port? If you did park'n'cruise, did it go well?

ETA: Do they have the yellow Mickey head thing to enter through when you go from terminal to ship? I really want to go through those (but not sure why I am so obsessed with the idea).

TIA!
Terri

No, sadly they do not. The only port that does is PC because that is Disney's own terminal.

 

[glassslipper2004]

Thanks for the info. We have to wait until next summer to go on the Magic but we can't wait!

 

[queenofeverything]

We reported some rust in 2011. They contacted us to ask whether the paint smell would bother us--they wanted to do the repairs while we were on board, but if we objected, it would wait till disembarkation day!

We told them to do it; it wouldn't bother us at all.

SO, did you report it? And was it repaired?

Wow - never thought about reporting it! It did not bother us in the least, so no we did not report it. Good idea though. I guess anything that bothers someone should be reported. They definitely do not want you to be unhappy about anything!

 

[luv that cruise]

How smoothly did the tendering work at grand cayman? We are on a private excursion and need to be off as early as possible. I've heard disney allows their excursion people off first. When can we expect to get off? Thanks