Magic Your Way to the Magic Kingdom...sounds like a good idea! COMPLETED

[iloverags2]

Really enjoying your report! We took a Princess cruise this past April to the Eastern Caribbean, and it was with the intention to be lazy, relax, and just enjoy whatever tickled our fancy at any given moment. I'm loving how you guys were just so laid back with all during your cruise!

 

[ukintheus]

By now it was very overcast and breezy, and the sea had a lot of whitecaps as the waves were a bit bigger. We both changed into jeans as it was just too chilly for shorts.




We vegged out watching TV for a while…there were some things we hadn’t seen yet! LOL We decided to order a small lunch from room service...it was the last day, why waste time on real food...we ordered Cake of the Day, which was lime cheesecake (eaten before photographs taken)...but more importantly….these!!!


We hadn’t had one single Mickey Bar yet….and it was as delicious as ever….they are just such a great combination of chocolate and soft ice cream. (Ignore those rude luggage tags that photobombed this otherwise perfectly happy photograph in the background....the luggage tags are such a bummer when they arrive in your stateroom!)


We had signed up for Mixology, so after our quick snack we headed down to Sessions. The class was pretty full. Some of the people that had been in our Martini Tasting were there, plus I think a group from the DIS. I was really looking forward to this as I had heard so much about it.

This was the set up when you first arrived.


We had moved to a table at the back so that groups could sit together (seeing as it was just the two of us) and so we really had a hard time hearing anything that was being said about the drinks. In fact, we just gave up in the end.

This was pink…I asked several times what it was, and what was in it, but couldn’t ever get his attention to find out.



Blue-green drink…


This “might” have been a grasshopper…I’m not sure…


One of the volunteers…


A layered drink…but I don’t know what it was called, and despite the volunteer making a perfectly layered drink....ours wasn't! There were supposed to be three layers here...


We also made the mojito but it was towards the end and I forgot to take a photograph of it. It was the only drink that everybody made.

I have to admit that I was pretty disappointed in our class. All of the drinks were made behind the bar where you couldn't see them being made and IMO they weren't cold enough. They did have a couple of volunteers go up to make a drink or two, but it wasn’t easy to figure out what they were making relative to what was being put in front of us. And bear in mind….I’m no alcohol novice!! LOL I typically know most drinks…and I know what’s in them… most of these were a mystery because we couldn’t hear and the session was conducted so quickly. It was over in under an hour!! That said, I am never one to give up on anything, so I am determined to try another one.

We left as soon as it finished and decided to hit the gift shops for one last time. We ended up buying some perfume and aftershave, and we also each got a jacket seeing as I hadn’t packed any and there was a rumor in the Mixology class that it was going to be really cold in Galveston the next morning.

While we were in Mixology, the G-family were up watching a movie on Funnelvision.



As you can see, no sunbathing was taking place…but the blankets made for a cozy movie watching session.


This last at sea day seemed to have the whole ship in slow-mo. I think 4 days at sea was just perfect, especially with them being spread out. By this last day, and probably because the weather was iffy at this point, you could tell that everyone was vegging somewhere and enjoying everything the ship had to offer. There wasn't one place that was packed.

Up next...Til We Meet Again dinner....

 

[ukintheus]

Really enjoying your report! We took a Princess cruise this past April to the Eastern Caribbean, and it was with the intention to be lazy, relax, and just enjoy whatever tickled our fancy at any given moment. I'm loving how you guys were just so laid back with all during your cruise!

I think sometimes those are the most relaxing and great vacations. We are booked on the Magic out of San Juan next September and my biggest concern is that there is only ONE day that we aren't in a port. We are going to have to make some big decisions on how to make it relaxing, so I totally understand.

 

[iloverags2]

What a perfect sea day you are having! Although, bummer about that Mixology tasting. We had a total bust of a Margarita/Tequila tasting, that prompted me to contact DCL about it (and I NEVER contact Disney with anything but praise and high accolades for everyone and everything, so you know it was bad). Wouldn't you know shortly after I shot off my message to them, I started seeing postings of Navigator's after that with a change in the name of that tasting...to Tequila/Margarita tasting (that was just one of my beefs...the lack of margaritas!).

Ok, off the soapbox Cindy!

I so hate to see your report coming to an end. It has been such a good read up to this point (which I'm sure means it was such a great cruise!).

 

[iloverags2]

I think sometimes those are the most relaxing and great vacations. We are booked on the Magic out of San Juan next September and my biggest concern is that there is only ONE day that we aren't in a port. We are going to have to make some big decisions on how to make it relaxing, so I totally understand.

On that Eastern Princess cruise, we spent about 2 1/2 hours off the ship in St. Thomas and 3 hours off the ship in St. Maarten. Oh, and maybe two hours or so off the ship on their private island (which in no way, shape, or form even comes close to comparison of Castaway Cay). Lazy, lazy, lazy were we ever!

 

[ukintheus]

We headed back to our room to begin packing. The G-family came and visited for a while, I think they had completed most of their packing and A&G were busy finishing their rum so that they didn’t have to pack it.

We had another beautiful sunset while we were getting ready for dinner.




That black dot to the right of the sun on the horizon is an oil rig...


We got all of our packing done and put our bags outside our room to be picked up. Dinner tonight was in Animator’s Palate. I always enjoy the Til We Meet Again dinner. IMO the Beef Wellington is about the best beef they serve all week in the main dining rooms. I was very boring on the cocktail front though, and had a glass of wine instead.



The servers did their parade and everyone clapped and cheered…










I was determined to NOT have the Baked Alaska…I don’t know why I always get it, this was our sixth cruise and I had yet to have anything different! LOL But tonight….voila!!

I can’t even say that I know what this was…but it was good! LOL

Scott took some artsy photographs of the walls…seeing as they were right there....not to mention he'd also been helping the G-family finish their rum.






After dinner we decided to head back to the room and get a fairly early night. I have to say thought that I don’t think we were done with dinner before 10 pm ANY night, so I don’t know that it was that early.

This guy was waiting for us…


“A” had headed to the gift shop or somewhere close to the atrium and realized that there was something going on…so she quickly ran back and grabbed J-bug so that they could get photographs with the princesses.









“A” said that they had a great time at the Final Farewell party & would recommend it if you can make the kids stay awake that long. They got photographs and autographs of the princesses and some of the other characters without having to stand in long lines.

Coming up…debarkation….booooo!!!

 

[ukintheus]

What a perfect sea day you are having! Although, bummer about that Mixology tasting. We had a total bust of a Margarita/Tequila tasting, that prompted me to contact DCL about it (and I NEVER contact Disney with anything but praise and high accolades for everyone and everything, so you know it was bad). Wouldn't you know shortly after I shot off my message to them, I started seeing postings of Navigator's after that with a change in the name of that tasting...to Tequila/Margarita tasting (that was just one of my beefs...the lack of margaritas!).

Ok, off the soapbox Cindy!

I so hate to see your report coming to an end. It has been such a good read up to this point (which I'm sure means it was such a great cruise!).

I think that the Mixology class is very different on the new ships, and maybe that's where I had seen most of the reviews. I know you wouldn't complain to DCL if it wasn't bad. We did the tequila/margarita tasting on the Magic in February and enjoyed it, but there was only 1 margarita if I recall.

On that Eastern Princess cruise, we spent about 2 1/2 hours off the ship in St. Thomas and 3 hours off the ship in St. Maarten. Oh, and maybe two hours or so off the ship on their private island (which in no way, shape, or form even comes close to comparison of Castaway Cay). Lazy, lazy, lazy were we ever!

I think we will have to adopt the same kind of approach next September...but I admit to being really good at being lazy!

 

[iloverags2]

I agree...boooooooo! Oh, how I hate to see trip reports end (since I live vicariously through others while I am not sailing). I do have to agree with your friends...the Til We Meet Again party is quite fun (and so much better on the classic ships...much more intimate experience). So glad they were able to attend and enjoy.

And by the way, your sunset photos are gorgeous!

 

[mandymouse]

What a shame your trip report is coming to an end Jenny. I finished mine yesterday it was fun reliving it all again though

Wow your Mixology was totally different to ours, but I'm not sure if it was because we had booked it as a private group or not, sorry you were disappointed

Happy planning your next cruises, are you planning any out of Florida next year, maybe May or June ? It would be great to meet up again

 

[ukintheus]

Happy planning your next cruises, are you planning any out of Florida next year, maybe May or June ? It would be great to meet up again

We would love to meet up on a cruise with you guys again. We will have to keep each other posted on what plans are. We don't have anything right now. I booked on the Magic out of San Juan - we would love to do all of the Southern ports, but that's in September and we aren't totally sold on Sept in hurricane season. LOL We don't have any plans for the spring......yet!

I am about to start on photos for debarkation morning, determined to get finished today!

 

[ukintheus]

I didn't have a great night's sleep, I'm sure just because I knew we had to get up and get moving. I also am very nosey and constantly wondered where we were! The flip side to that is that I am also lazy, so I couldn't be bothered to get out of the bed to check! I did pop my head out at one point and we were in the shipping channel coming into Galveston. We didn't bother getting out of bed until we could feel the ship turning.


The seagulls were enjoying the churned water and creating all kinds of commotion back there.

We got ready and packed the last few things into our carry off luggage. Sadly this view was back all too soon.



But on the positive side, Susana from Palo had called us right before we had gone to bed and told us the Palo crew were working Topsiders for breakfast and so we arranged to meet her up there. We popped up there fairly early as we were meeting the G-family at 8:15 for breakfast. Topsiders was fairly busy. We easily found Susana manning the drink station and so we hugged and tried to see if we could stow away in her cabin for the trip over to the Med. I don't think there's enough room for HER in her cabin, let alone us!

We sat out here and drank our coffee.


It was fairly quiet and we watched some of the loading/unloading going on. It looked like most, if not all, of the luggage was already off. It was probably about 7:45 am by this time.




We headed back to our room, picked up our luggage and met the G-family to head down to Animator's for breakfast.

One last picture of us all together.


I think the breakfast menu on the last morning is pretty decent. I think we all got the Route 66...


Finally we had to face the reality of leaving and so with hugs to Sammy and Ayhan we headed to the main atrium. There was a small line to get off but it moved very quickly, one last swipe and we were back to the real world.

When you disembark in Galveston you have two choices, porter or on your own. The porter line was somewhat long and so with the men leading the way we marched right past it and into the baggage claim area. We found our luggage fairly easily, the G-family were still looking for a couple of pieces of theirs. In one of those classic "husband and wife" moments, "A" looks at all their bags and declares there is "no way" they can handle it all on their own, and heads off to the porter line. G is now standing there mumbling and muttering. It did take "A" quite a while to get back to us with the porter....but I'll leave you to decide if you could have juggled this with 2 kids...



I think 4 of those might have been ours, but still, it was a lot of luggage.

We basically walked through customs and immigration. The other "trick" to debarking at Galveston is AFTER you have your bags. If you have a porter you go straight to immigration, if you have done the DIY bag claim, then you stand in line with all other DIY bag claimers. So there's a short line no matter which way you do it (as far as I can tell).

We sent the guys off across the street to get our vehicles and we waited outside. It was busy, but not too bad.

One more picture of the luggage,


And one more of our great little sailing companions.


This trip really helped us see the "other" side of DCL...the one that is there for kids! Who knew that kids would enjoy a Disney cruise - LOL

The guys showed up one after the other with the cars and we were soon all packed and on our way home. We had a fantastic time, despite not being well for part of it, and despite some not-so-great weather. I can't say that I look back and remember anything other than a really fantastic trip, with wonderful friends.

Thanks for everyone that has followed along. The Magic is still our favorite ship, and we are lucky enough to have the Wonder coming to Galveston in the Fall this year and are booked to cruise on her. I just wish that the sailings out of Galveston had been busy enough to tempt Disney to come back, as having them within an hour or so driving distance has been the biggest luxury of all.

 

[tennesseemo]

Loved the trip report Jen. So glad you guys had a great time

 

[franandaj]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your Mixology class. We did the week before with Claudette and while I was not pleased that we didn't make anything but the Mojito (which we enjoyed first) and the three layered drink. She explained every drink very well, we were up front, but I think she spoke loudly enough that everyone in the room could hear her. She also let us pour our own top layer of the three layered drink and it was our last shot.

Cindy, I think it was, we were the beneficiaries of another group of ladies who did not understand the "Tequila/Margarita" labeling to the tasting. They ended up giving us all their shots of tequila, and then they gave us their Margaritas (that the staff gave them extra of) because they were too strong for them. Let's just say it was a very fuzzy evening!

I'll have to try the Wellington one day. My partner always get that, and I always order a 1/2 order of the seafood pasta on that menu. I too get the Baked Alaska!

One more picture of the luggage,

This looks like about as much luggage as we had between two of us!

This trip really helped us see the "other" side of DCL...the one that is there for kids! Who knew that kids would enjoy a Disney cruise - LOL

Thanks for everyone that has followed along. The Magic is still our favorite ship, and we are lucky enough to have the Wonder coming to Galveston in the Fall this year and are booked to cruise on her. I just wish that the sailings out of Galveston had been busy enough to tempt Disney to come back, as having them within an hour or so driving distance has been the biggest luxury of all.

This is funny that you would say this about kids. We are two adults who have never traveled with kids and we do all the adult activities, we never really see all the fun things they have to offer for kids, but I'm sure they have them, we just never see them.

It was fun to follow along on your trip! I completely understand about having a ship so close. While the Wonder was sailing out of San Pedro (25 minutes from home), we were going through some serious illnesses and couldn't consider a cruise. Now that we are ready to cruise there aren't many itineraries going out of San Pedro. I have to hope for a new Hawaii trip! Look forward to following your Fall Wonder Cruise!

 

[jennorthernireland]

It has just been lovely to read all about your cruise on the Magic. I've particularly enjoyed some of your fantastic photos, especially the sunsets! I will try and summon up the nerve to post a trip report after our time on the Magic in August. Thanks again

 

[ukintheus]

... we were up front, but I think she spoke loudly enough that everyone in the room could hear her. She also let us pour our own top layer of the three layered drink and it was our last shot.

Thank you so much for reading. We were up at the front for the martini tasting, and it was the same CM for both. We didn't have a problem at all but he used a microphone at that session and didn't at this one. Interesting about the last layer, maybe they just forgot it?

This is funny that you would say this about kids. We are two adults who have never traveled with kids and we do all the adult activities, we never really see all the fun things they have to offer for kids, but I'm sure they have them, we just never see them.

Yes, we usually avoid all the children's "areas" of the ship for the most part. It was very interesting to see and hear their take on it. It makes you realize what a great job Disney does at catering to the different age groups.

I read your recent TR on the Magic out of Galveston. It was very interesting to see all that you did, as we did the same itinerary in October. How sad that your partner wasn't well enough to travel while the Wonder was so close to you. I hope that you get to enjoy some more of her closer to home in the near future. It makes such a difference not having the flights to contend with. We have found the cruises out of Galveston to be so much more relaxing for us just because we don't have the travel to worry about.

It has just been lovely to read all about your cruise on the Magic. I've particularly enjoyed some of your fantastic photos, especially the sunsets! I will try and summon up the nerve to post a trip report after our time on the Magic in August. Thanks again

I really hope that you do! I'd love to read it and see how your trip went. TR's are as easy or as difficult as you want them to be. The key is to set the time stamp on your camera to the correct time, it's an easy way to have a timeline of what you did. Have a fantastic time on your Med cruise.