July 18th - 25th, Magic to Tortola

[BomaGreg]

I've never done a trip report before, but a handful of people were interested in what the trip was like, so I'll throw in some quick stories and hope that fellow cruise mates fill in the blanks and anything I might have missed.

First off, I'll state for the record that this was my sixth Disney cruise, and I had always been really happy with DCL up until a year and a half ago when we took the 07-08 New Years cruise. For multiple reasons, I felt that nearly everything on that cruise was sub-par, from food to service and everything in between, and we had sort of sworn off Disney because of the extra expense for what we felt we could really get on any other cheaper cruise line. However, a short while later we decided to try Carnival, and it was such a torturous trip that it made the New Year's cruise look stellar in comparison. In the end, we decided to take the dive one more time, crossing our fingers that the previous cruise was just a fluke, and seeing Tortola as one of the ports helped seal the deal for the July 18th cruise.

With that out of the way, let me just say up front that this was hands down the best Disney cruise I've ever taken!

With that said, let's go straight to the most important stuff...

The Food

The food not only surpassed last trip by leaps and bounds, but was arguably better than it had ever been. I wish that I'd written a journal for everything I had eaten on the trip to help give a recap, but there really wasn't a single thing that I tried that wasn't at least really good, and most of it was great to stellar. On occasion the food tasted like they added a little bit too much salt, but realistically I rarely add salt to anything, so it's very likely that most people won't notice it like I did. At least, not until the water retention sets in.

My wife has a tendency to gravitate toward fish dishes, and I typically bounce back and forth between shellfish and meat dishes, so we both had a pretty good sampling of everything. On top of that, we have two girls, six and nine, who ordered off the adult menus, and are always adventurous eaters, so we got to try various things from their plates, too. (I *highly* recommend trying to get children to venture away from the kid's menu when they see something that appeals to them... just because they have a kid's menu doesn't mean they have to use it! They can always take a trip up to Deck 9 for more standard fare, or order something else from the menu if they don't like it! ) Though I'm afraid I can't really remember any specific names of dishes (my wife can probably clarify, I'm sure...), I will say that, on a whole, the fish dishes were fantastic, as were the various shellfish dishes. The steak dishes were sometimes a "miss", but on a whole I was very pleased, and I'll admit to being very picky about the quality of steaks.

The one letdown I remember was the meat dish on Pirate night, which I had read that everyone had raved about. For me, it wasn't cooked particularly well, and I found that it was way too fatty to be enjoyable, but it was more of a speed bump on an otherwise incredibly smooth ride. Also, the burgers at lunch in Lumiere's were not nearly as good as I remember them being, but alternately, the burgers on Deck 9 seemed to be better than I remembered, so I'll call that a push and just give them both passing, if not stellar, marks.

Speaking of Deck 9, they changed the panini selection from the last time I cruised, and that was a slight disappointment. It was one of the culinary highlights from the last cruise, particularly since the food in general wasn't all that great (to put it in perspective, I only gained a pound during that cruise... ). Their new panini selection wasn't nearly as interesting, and I ended up only trying a couple, and walked away unimpressed. However, I really enjoyed the tacos, so that offset everything nicely!


The nifty new menu option that allows you to have three small desserts to try them all!


Oh! And one of my favorite things to eat on the cruise is muesli, which I know several people on the board are a fan of. Oddly enough, it wasn't nearly as good as it used to be, possibly because they stopped using berries, and instead are using various other chunks of fruit which aren't quite as delicious. That's not to say that it wasn't good, just not as good as I remembered it when they served it with fresh berries. I still had a bowl pretty much every morning.

We also had Palo reservations for dinner, brunch (my wife's favorite), and for the first time high tea. I'll go on record as saying that the last time we went to Palo (during that New Year's cruise), it was simply bad in every way. The chefs burnt our food, requiring a re-cook, our server was really, really slow (our normal server, the ever-incredible Sasha, was on vacation), and in the end it took us two hours to get the (mediocre-tasting at best) main course. Half way through eating, my beeper went off to get the children (with that sort of two hour Palo hold time being up), and I missed out on dessert. I was so annoyed at that point that I didn't really care that dinner was interrupted, and the fact that various desserts were wrapped up for me did nothing to alleviate my frustration over the whole incident.

This time, Sasha wasn't available for dinner, and we ended up with Cecilia (from Argentina, if I remember correctly), who turned out to be equally as fantastic as Sasha. She made excellent suggestions, was incredibly prompt, and an absolute pleasure to talk to. We loved her so much that we didn't mind in the least that Sasha wasn't available again for high tea, just as long as we got him for brunch we were fine!

The food was as fantastic as ever, though I can't remember exactly what it was we had ordered for dinner (I'll blame my memory lapse on all the cheesecake blocking the flow of blood to my brain). I'm not really sure there's anything up there that doesn't taste great when properly prepared, so it probably doesn't really matter one way or another. I do remember that, at some point, my wife ordered the chicken parmesan, which was stellar, and that seems like it was probably a dinner thing, so we'll go with that.


Random dessert food from Palo. I lost track, but trust me, they're all good.


Brunch was similarly stellar, but in this case there was a very stand out dish for me. Scallops are typically one of those throw-away seafoods that I find good to eat, but I can take it or leave it for the most part. In this case, however, the scallops were so perfectly prepared, so absolutely delicious, that my first bite reminded me of that scene from Ratatouille when Remy mixes the food, and they come together in perfect harmony. If I had nothing other than that during the entire cruise, I probably would've walked off the ship in bliss.

Finally, high tea. I can't believe I missed out on high tea after all these years, which I think was probably one of the main highlights of the trip. I love tea to begin with, but the tea we ordered (chai) was absolutely the best tea I've ever drank (drunk? dranken?). Further, I'm not much of a scone fan, despite my family being British, but I have never had anything so delicious as the scones they served in Palo. I was so frustrated that I'd filled up on all the various other things they had available that I probably would've cried had Cecilia not offered up a take home plate of scones to finish off once I digested everything. By dinner, I still wasn't all that hungry, but I found room.

For those first time cruisers looking for good wait staff, Paula from Jamaica was our server, and I will absolutely be looking for her again next trip. She was actually one of the highlights of our trip, and even our kids couldn't wait to go to dinner so they could see her again. She was going on vacation after the cruise is over, so that might've added to her happiness, but I'd have a hard time believing that she didn't always have such a sunny personality.

Anyway, overall our food experience was easily one of the best dining experiences I've had on a ship, and I commented to my wife on leaving that clearly they listen to comment cards about food quality, and it really showed this time around.

[BomaGreg]

Ports

Let me start by saying that we've never been huge excursion fans. Don't get me wrong, I understand why people take them. However, years ago, when we weren't allowed to take our youngest on any of the excursions because of the age requirements, we quickly learned how to get around on our own. It's really very simple, particularly in ports in which DCL docks, and with a little bit of research before a trip you'll get to see exactly what you want, when and however you want it, and there are plenty of times in which we got to see more simply because we hired a taxi driver and told him to take us where everyone else isn't. There are certainly instances in which I'd gladly take an excursion, but for the most part we wing it, and have a fantastic time. This trip was no exception...

Tortola

For the most part, we aimed at snorkeling trips on the islands. In Tortola, we asked the incredibly pleasant taxi driver to take us to the best beach for snorkeling, and preferably far away from the boat. He dropped us off on Brewer's Bay beach, asked what time we wanted picked up, and then gave us a phone number in which we could call him if we wanted picked up earlier.


Empty as far as the eye can see. Well, except for the cows. I found that out the hard way, and had to leave my sneakers out on the veranda for two days to air them out.


The beach was completely empty for the first hour or so, and at its peak there were only about thirty people there. The snorkeling was really good, despite an overcast day, and between the quiet and the empty ocean, it was a beautiful afternoon on the beach.

For snorkelers, this is an easy recommendation. The bay kept the water from being in the least bit choppy, and there were literally walls of fish that lined the coral along the left hand wall (Seen below), and if you swim out far enough along the wall there's even nurse sharks to be seen! The only thing I would recommend at this point is to buy yourself a waterproof camera.



There was only one little bar/restaurant on the beach, and I can't recall if they had snorkel gear to rent. I'm pretty sure they did not, so adjust accordingly. We carry our gear with us wherever we go, and a really good, cheap mask and snorkel only cost around $30 at Walmart, and don't add that much weight to a trek. If you have that as an option, definitely do it if you're going to venture out on your own!

Our driver was prompt, and arrived right on time to pick us up. Since we had a bit of time left, we asked if he would show us around the island, which he gladly did. Our trip included a trip up to Sky World, which has one of the best views of the island. It was quiet, with only a few people in the bar, and there wasn't any sense of pushy tourism going on there. They had a little shop that we browsed, took some pictures of the view from the roof, thanked everyone, and were on our way!



A view from Sky World




Another view from Sky World




The Magic off in the distance!

After it was all said and done, for the four of us to get to the beach, take a lengthy driving tour all around the island (love those steep, winding hills!), and get back to the ship, I believe that it only cost us about sixty dollars plus tips, which we felt was a bargain considering how well everything went, and how we had a taxi at our beck and call. We didn't have to pay the driver until we got back to the ship.

I should add for those who've never been to Tortola, taxis are really easy to get. When you walk off the boat, there's a person in charge who will arrange a taxi for you. Just tell him where you want to go, and he'll take it from there. There's no real haggling involved. I'm sure that it's possible to talk down the price if you want, but it's cheaper than hiring an excursion, gives you your own personal taxi, and the money goes right into the pockets of locals. We had no problems in Tortola, which seems to be a lot more laid back than places like St. Thomas, but being taken advantage of is always a possibility, so you might want to do some legwork before embarking on your own!

That's it for tonight, I think. I'll post St. Thomas/St. John and travel comments later. I hope this helps!

[RoyalVizier]

Originally Posted by BomaGreg

With that out of the way, let me just say up front that this was hands down the best Disney cruise I've ever taken!

Wonderful!

Thanks so much for this stellar summary! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on St. Thomas/St. John. We too just got back from the Tortola itinerary about a month ago and this put me right back on the island. Thanks!

P.S. I love your avatar photo. No, I didn't try to lick the screen, why would you think that?

[BomaGreg]

Originally Posted by RoyalVizier

Wonderful!

Thanks so much for this stellar summary! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on St. Thomas/St. John. We too just got back from the Tortola itinerary about a month ago and this put me right back on the island. Thanks!

P.S. I love your avatar photo. No, I didn't try to lick the screen, why would you think that?

Thanks! Right when you sent this I updated the original with a couple of dessert shots, so you might want to go back there for dessert happiness, too! I hope it's thorough enough... I'm just throwing everything and kitchen sink in there in the hopes that it'll help somebody.

I don't really know why I chose the avatar... It makes me hungry every time I see it, and it's more like torturing myself at this point.

Where did you go in Tortola? And what did you think?

[BomaGreg]

St. Thomas/St. John

St. Thomas is a great stop, particularly if you get adventurous and get off the beaten path. There's a lot to see and do other than shopping, but to be honest, we've been there so many times that it's sort of lost its appeal for me for the time being. It seems as though every cruise I've been on has to stop there at some point in the journey, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a Baltic cruise itinerary include it at some point.

So this trip, keeping with the snorkeling theme, we decided to take the ferry over to St. John. This was a bit more of a grueling journey to attempt on your own due to the traveling requirements (particularly with kids), so be prepared! The ferry leaves from the other side of the bay, and is a nice fifteen or-so minute drive through the town. After that, it's another twenty minute trip by ferry (which leaves on the hour and includes the fill-the-ferry wait that can be brutal in the heat), and then you have to grab another taxi to get where you're going once on the island. All in all, it took a little over an hour to get from the boat to Trunk Bay, which, round trip, takes a serious chunk out of your fairly short shore time.

Still, it's definitely worth the trip, and St. John was easily my favorite stop of the entire cruise. The island is covered in forests with well-marked trails, wonderful people, great vistas, and some fantastic beaches and snorkeling opportunities. I don't remember how much it cost to do the entire trip on our own, though it was definitely cheaper than the excursion to Trunk Bay, but I remember getting nickel and dimed pretty heavily with all the taxi rides, so bring a lot of cash. Further, we had a bit of a disagreement with the taxi driver who was clearly trying to pull a fast one on us, but my wife managed to straighten it out in short order. In the end, he was still a reliable ride and was there for pickup, but I would pay special attention to your drivers in St. Thomas.

Anyway, St. John's taxi driver did a great job of stopping off to let us take a few pictures, and was incredibly friendly, like most of the locals. There are a ton of taxis waiting for you at Trunk Bay, so returning is definitely NOT a problem!


Trunk Island from the hillside


Trunk Bay is part of the island's park system (as is, apparently, a good chunk of the island), and is kept as such. There are a lot of great amenities, including snorkel renting, nice showers, nice bathrooms, food and drink, and a souvenir stand. Even better, the beach features lifeguards, who not only serve to keep you safe, but also to keep the tourists off the beautiful reef, and keep them from stirring up the sand and sea life. I should also mention, keeping with the nickel and diming theme, there's a small fee to get into the park... $4 per adult, and $3 (I think) for children, but it's well worth it!

The best snorkeling is around a small rock island a short distance off shore. On one side, the left side, there are markers under water telling you what everything is, and a little something about them. This is where most of the tourists go, but the opposite side is equally as great for snorkeling, and doesn't feature all the kicks-to-the-face that you're likely to get from the crowds of people.


Trunk Island, right hand side. (See: Fewer snorkelers)


The sea life on this area makes for absolutely spectacular snorkeling opportunities. And there's a great living coral with a ton of interesting fish, including stingrays, (as one friend who went with us found) blowfish, and tons of colorful (and sometimes camouflaged) fish who seem quite content with swimming right up to you. Again, I will always beat myself for not bringing a waterproof camera!

Anyway, the real advantage of going on your own isn't really the money you save as much as it is how you can manage your time as you see fit. We got there before the trips began to arrive, which allows you a little bit of breathing room before the reef is crowded. Then you can leave as you wish, and still have time to go into town on the way back if you want. It was a trek, but it was definitely worth it!

Just make sure to give yourself plenty of time to get back!

[pperfectmom]

I love how you started out with my favorite subject-the FOOD!!!!

[lwilliam]

you can talk more than that! seriously, thanks for starting this

We were fortunate to have Sasha for brunch and dinner! As I remember, we were at PALO the same night and we were lucky enough to have him. But, like you said, any wait staff in PALO has been great.

Want me to add to your report? You know how much I can chat

Your family was a delight, Greg.

[BomaGreg]

Ship



I'm not going to spend too much time here, since most people have either already been on the Magic, or can readily find general information about it.

The first thing I'll say is that we were on the eighth floor, and had heard reports that it can get really loud up there at night, particularly from the scraping of chairs. While I could definitely hear it from time to time, it was never really bad, not even during the Pirate party when we went back early due to sleepy children. Unless you're a really light sleeper, this shouldn't be a problem.

Our first day at sea was a stormy one, and our deck party was moved indoors, but living in Florida allows me to get all the sun and heat I'll ever want, so this wasn't much of a problem as far as I was concerned. It made for some good picture ops!


That's a Carnival ship in the background. Sooooo, to the passengers... Good luck with that!


Rocky seas for the win!

The shows were up to their typical fantastic quality. After several trips on the Magic, I'm ready for a change... I'd love to see Hercules back on the seven day, but we still went to, and enjoyed, almost every show!





There was a slight hiccup with the stage not raising correctly on the first day, but the entertainers were ready for such an occasion, and got the crowd singing and dancing until the show was ready to proceed.

Other than that, all the days at sea went perfectly. We met a lot of families and friends from the Disboards, and had a blast with them. In fact, the trip wouldn't have been nearly as fun without them, and I look forward to getting to cruise with them all again in the near future!

I should also mention that debarkation was an absolute breeze this time around, and seems to get easier with each trip. Since we live in Florida, we can get off the ship at our leisure, and we ended up staying in our room until just shy of 8am. After that, we went up to Topsiders which was amazingly empty, grabbed breakfast, then headed off the ship. There were no lines, and the luggage handlers were so efficient that it literally took five minutes for us to get from the ship to the van!

Hmmmm... I think that about covers everything I can think of off the top of my head, but if anybody has any questions, I'll gladly answer them! It really was one of the best cruises I've ever had, and I'm jealous of all of you who are already making plans for packing in the next few weeks. Have a safe trip! If you have half the fun I had, you'll have a fantastic time!

[BomaGreg]

Originally Posted by lwilliam

you can talk more than that! seriously, thanks for starting this

We were fortunate to have Sasha for brunch and dinner! As I remember, we were at PALO the same night and we were lucky enough to have him. But, like you said, any wait staff in PALO has been great.

Want me to add to your report? You know how much I can chat

Your family was a delight, Greg.

As were you! I wish I'd had more time to spend with you! That meet was over WAAAAAY too fast!

As for how much I can talk, I was afraid that I was getting too wordy, and that people would just get bored and quit reading half-way through! I could go on forever! (Especially on the food part)

[BomaGreg]

Originally Posted by pperfectmom

I love how you started out with my favorite subject-the FOOD!!!!

ALWAYS!!!

[RoyalVizier]

Originally Posted by BomaGreg

Trunk Bay is part of the island's park system (as is, apparently, a good chunk of the island), and is kept as such. There are a lot of great amenities, including snorkel renting, nice showers, nice bathrooms, food and drink, and a souvenir stand.

Ahhhhh, you did it again! You put me right back on Trunk Bay which we visited on our cruise two years ago. We feel that Trunk Bay is one of the planets most stunning places.

Originally Posted by BomaGreg

Our first day at sea was a stormy one, and our deck party was moved indoors, but living in Florida allows me to get all the sun and heat I'll ever want, so this wasn't much of a problem as far as I was concerned.

I've always been curious... what is the Sail Away party like indoors? Where do they do it? Luckily we've never had to experience that.

[BomaGreg]

Originally Posted by RoyalVizier

Ahhhhh, you did it again! You put me right back on Trunk Bay which we visited on our cruise two years ago. We feel that Trunk Bay is one of the planets most stunning places.



I've always been curious... what is the Sail Away party like indoors? Where do they do it? Luckily we've never had to experience that.

Crowded, and claustrophobic.



To be honest, we didn't stay very long. I don't do crowds like that very well, and we used the time to explore the ship (including the decks... the weather wasn't that bad) while everyone was preoccupied. But, if you're the type who loves the sail away party, you'd probably be disappointed. Without the horn or the ship pulling away from port, it would definitely be a letdown. They did shoot off streamers, and there was music and dancing, but that was all that I saw...

[BomaGreg]

As for Trunk Bay, it really was fantastic! St. John is probably one of the only cruise islands that I'd ever consider going back for an extended vacation. There just seemed like so much to do (we saw forest trails EVERYWHERE), the locals were incredibly nice, and the island was beautiful! Tortola was similarly, nice, though, and I imagine a week spent there would go by pretty fast as well. I'd love to explore some of the backroads, and hidden locales.

[luv2boys]

great report greg!

[MarcyIn Florida]

Originally Posted by BomaGreg

The one letdown I remember was the meat dish on Pirate night, which I had read that everyone had raved about. For me, it wasn't cooked particularly well, and I found that it was way too fatty to be enjoyable, but it was more of a speed bump on an otherwise incredibly smooth ride.

It was the spiced ribeye, and it was gross. Not just a letdown, but pretty darn bad.

Originally Posted by BomaGreg

The food was as fantastic as ever, though I can't remember exactly what it was we had ordered for dinner (I'll blame my memory lapse on all the cheesecake blocking the flow of blood to my brain). I'm not really sure there's anything up there that doesn't taste great when properly prepared, so it probably doesn't really matter one way or another. I do remember that, at some point, my wife ordered the chicken parmesan, which was stellar, and that seems like it was probably a dinner thing, so we'll go with that.

Greg had the filet for dinner and I had the tuna steak. Both were fantastic.

The chicken parm was brunch, and for a girl who grew up eating Italian food on Arthur Avenue and in Little Italy in NYC, it was a shock to eat the best chicken parm of my life at Palo. THE BEST OF MY LIFE. Seriously.

Originally Posted by BomaGreg

Brunch was similarly stellar, but in this case there was a very stand out dish for me. Scallops are typically one of those throw-away seafoods that I find good to eat, but I can take it or leave it for the most part. In this case, however, the scallops were so perfectly prepared, so absolutely delicious, that my first bite reminded me of that scene from Ratatouille when Remy mixes the food, and they come together in perfect harmony. If I had nothing other than that during the entire cruise, I probably would've walked off the ship in bliss.

Those were the cold scallops on the brunch I-died-and-went-to-seafood-heaven buffet.