Opinions on the Magic???

[Buzz23]

Are there any recent Magic cruisers that can provide thoughts, comments, likes or dislikes???

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Loverly ship.

Photos in my trip report below.



Link

I have sailed on the Magic Eight times, ninth coming up, and she is in good condition, great shows.

Lots of ship wide photos in that link. Also menus, and sample navigators.

 

[Jennifer Scicchitano]

*following* interested in the changes since the dry dock from people who have been on the ship recently- also trying to get to that 10 post mark

 

[allears]

I have sailed her 10 times since 2002, most recently last year and LOVE her!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

*following* interested in the changes since the dry dock from people who have been on the ship recently- also trying to get to that 10 post mark

Have fun getting to ten posts and I'm happy to give you your first "like"

 

[Jennifer Scicchitano]

Have fun getting to ten posts and I'm happy to give you your first "like"

thanks!!!

 

[ajo]

I know that the category T rooms on the Wonder have some with the murphy bed in the bedroom and some with it in the living area. Is that true for the Magic as well? If so, does anyone know which rooms are which on the Magic?

 

[Buzz23]

Have the staterooms been reimagined as well?

 

[TrySomethingNew]

We sailed Magic last summer, after the reimagine. Before that we sailed Dream her first year. While I will always remember that first trip on the Magic, since it was our first cruise and we were celebrating an achievement, we did enjoy the Magic a lot. She was very clean, including the rooms and the outside decks -can't think of any rust that we saw anywhere.
The size is smaller than the Dream, and this was nice when delivering FE gifts, or trying to get somewhere, but she is still a big ship, with lots to explore. We had an interior room that Shared a wall with Edge. And that particular corner of Edge was clearly the "go crazy loud, have a dance party" corner of Edge as I would almost cringe at the noise just outside my door when using my key card to get in the room, but step inside and close the door and it was like "Magic" the noise was nearly non-existent -take a few steps into the room and you couldn't hear anything. Basically the sound insulation was great -at least in our little corner of the ship.
She holds fewer passengers, but she is sized for that so you will still have times when it is crowded, like in the atrium between seatings, or at the movie theater if a new movie is being shown, or trying to get back on the ship when everyone else is trying to do the same.
Choose your trip based on itinerary, but if you choose the Magic, you will most likely enjoy it.

 

[kiford]

We still prefer her to the Dream although there were some things I liked on the Dream better. Since the reimagining, we've sailed on her once. Some of my thoughts and opinions:

. I absolutely loathed the Chihuly chandelier. It wasn't Art Deco style and was butt-ugly in my opinion. However, the lights that they used to replace it are too small in scale and don't look like they belong. Hopefully, there will be a Take 3 that might work;

. lots of people didn't like the fact that they removed one of the staircases in the main lobby and said that it looked unbalanced. I don't agree. I think it opened up the lobby and made it feel a little more spacious. They used to take photos pretty much under one of the staircases (and still do in that location), and I always felt that it seemed a bit dark and crowded but now it seems much lighter and open. With moving the statue, I think that it looks perfectly balanced;

. I was expecting a major change from Parrot Cay to Cariocas and was a bit taken aback to discover that they basically removed the parrots, painted everything white (you can still see the same woodcut decorative trim but it's now white instead of green) and added some different lights. I'm not saying that it's bad, just that I expected a gutting and total change but it isn't really.

. They added some open sided covered areas to the very top deck so that you can sit under in the shade. Great idea - I wish they'd done it years ago.

. The beds are higher so you can put your luggage underneath like on the Dream. I liked that. I also liked that it was a single queen bed instead of two twins pushed together so you didn't get the sag in the middle. I can see that it might not be great for people who travel together who don't share a bed but we liked it.

. I watched several people use the Aquadunk. It looked like fun and I fully intended to use it myself but we were on the Northern European cruise and it was just too cold. We never even used the pool. In fact, I was quite glad to discover that they put blankets out on all of the deck chairs and where they also store extra towels or there were times I wouldn't have sat on deck. Next time.

. They changed the appearance of Rockin' Bar D (renamed too but I forget to what). The ceiling lights look like jellyfish and have these lights that flow through them just like a jellyfish. I thought it was a pretty neat idea.

. The sports bar was changed to O'Gills, like on the Dream and has a more Irish flavour to it as well as still being the sports bar. They had live Irish music in there and I fully intended to spend time there but somehow, even in 12 days, I never had the time. Next time. Never made it to the piano lounge either which we usually do. Next time.

. They added the animation show to Animator's Palette. I thought that was pretty cool. Next time I'll know to make sure to do heavier lines and fill it in a bit more when doing my drawing. We were cruising with several friends on one of them did a caricature of one of the others. He didn't tell us that he was doing it and it was totally recognizable on the screen - we all laughed until we cried when we saw it.

. Carpets and soft goods in the rooms were all upgraded which gave the ship a bit more of a fresh new look without changing the appearance much.

. Topsiders was changed to Cabanas the same as the Dream. Hated it. I know that people complained about the lineups for Topsiders but we found the same issue as with the Dream - it was a little more chaotic and you had to go here and there to find the food you were looking for. I really, really, really hated that they don't give you a tray. That means you have to get some of your food, then put it on the table and have someone stay there while you go get drink or something more so that no one cleans it away before you return. Very inefficient and inconvenient. The only two things I did like: utensils and napkins were on the tables already and the drink station was separated from the food so that you weren't in people's way when going up for another drink. Also no outdoor seating which we would sometimes do with Topsiders in the section that had the glass covered area. I have fond memories of sitting there on the Magic's first stop at Piraeus pulling into port, looking down right at the tug boat (pilot boat?) that was pushing or guiding us into her berth. Great view of the harbour as she rotated into place while we ate. No more is that a possibility. As a result of the whole (IMO) botched design and operations of Cabanas, we only ate there for breakfast a couple of times when we didn't have time to eat at one of the MDRs due to an excursion and only once in the evening we were in St. Petersburg because we had a nighttime excursion and missed dinner.

She's still my favourite.

 

[dcassetta]

I think the Magic is beautiful, and I enjoy the Magic and Wonder more than the Dream and Fantasy. One of the really fun things on this Magic right now goes along with the new Tangled show. On one day O'Gills turns into the snuggly duckling, and they have some Tangled themed activities going on in there. Really cute.

 

[OKW Lover]

Have sailed the Magic twice, once back in 2001 and the 2nd time in December 2014. Loved the ship both times. Beautiful lines of the ship reminding you of the days of ocean liners. Staff is great, showing that Disney training really works.

 

[Hotdogdance]

Just off the Magic. Our second cruise and it was just as good as the first. Set your intentions and pick the ship that will allow you to achieve them.

We love the Magic. Although it is smaller and less technical than the Dream, the size allows us to be here and there with relative ease and spend less time traversing the ship. The shows are phenomenal and the crowd seems less rush rush rush. We have not sailed the large ships but have talked to many who have as we are contemplating our next cruise. The two comments they had in common was crowd size on castaway cay and an overall less crowded feeling on the boat. The other was that you really can't go wrong with any Disney ship.

We found the ship clean and the folks as nice as always. They had an Anna/Elsa/Olaf meet and greet as well as Belle, Rapunzel and Cinderella M&G. Tangled and the new Dreams were awesome. Pirate Night was worthwhile and the Snuggly Duckling was cool to check out as well.

The captain went ahead and docked early at castaway cay monday night to ensure our planned tuesday at castaway went as scheduled. Although all water activities were suspended we still had a lovely day.

I preferred the musicians we had on our last cruise over the ones this time but we don't cruise for the lounge music so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Buzz23]

Thank you for all the great comments! Keep them coming. Lol

 

[DISGRL13]

I think the Magic is beautiful, and I enjoy the Magic and Wonder more than the Dream and Fantasy. One of the really fun things on this Magic right now goes along with the new Tangled show. On one day O'Gills turns into the snuggly duckling, and they have some Tangled themed activities going on in there. Really cute.

I'll have to check this out. What kind of activities can you describe? TIA!!

 

[DISGRL13]

Love the Magic!! We enjoy the smaller size and fewer people. The ship is clean and the staff wonderful!! I don't think you can go wrong on any of the DCL ships.

 

[DancinBear63]

I totally agree with the prior posts! We just completed our second cruise on the Magic, and love it so much! I am a big fan of the art deco theme- it just feels so elegant. My son loves the Oceaneer's Club and Lab themes, and I think they really hit on everything that kids love about Disney (Andy's room, classic Mickey, Captain America, Pixie Hollow, Pirates, etc.)

Also, I found that the smaller size of the Magic made it it was very easy to make friends (for adults and kids), and cross paths with them multiple times during the cruise. Another benefit of the smaller ships is that there is plenty of available space on Castaway Cay- we have never had problems finding chairs, renting floats, waiting at the bar, etc. I did ask a few staff who had been on both the larger and smaller ships which they preferred- the overwhelming majority said the smaller ships were their favorites.

Due to scheduling needs, we did book our next cruise on the Fantasy, and are already having a little bit of angst about what it might be like. While we know that it will be great, we are simply wondering if some of the magic of the Magic will be missing, due to the sheer number of guests.

 

[bunnm09]

We just booked our second cruise, first on the Magic. Our first cruise was a 7 nighters on the Fantasy for our honeymoon. Is time we went with a 5 night Caribbean cruise instead of a 4 nighters on the dream.

My only concern is the smaller size on the Magic. The Fantasy is obviously huge, but will the Magic feel cramped after being on the Fantasy first?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We just booked our second cruise, first on the Magic. Our first cruise was a 7 nighters on the Fantasy for our honeymoon. Is time we went with a 5 night Caribbean cruise instead of a 4 nighters on the dream.

My only concern is the smaller size on the Magic. The Fantasy is obviously huge, but will the Magic feel cramped after being on the Fantasy first?

Possibly, but some people like the smaller ships more.

 

[bunnm09]

Yeah I'm thinking we may like the smaller size. And it's not like it's tiny by any means