brentm77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2013
- Messages
- 1,893
I don't usually do trip reports, but wanted to share some thoughts from a fantastic Southern Caribbean cruise on the Magic this past week.
Dominica is a hidden gem. While the capital isn't the usual upscale touristy area, it was lively, authentic, and really interesting. The highlight was the rainforest. It was absolutely stunning and so different than anything else we have done in the Caribbean. The people were nice. It was a great change from the usual stops.
The catamaran and snorkel adventure in Aruba was a bit of a letdown. The sunken ship was cool, but too chaotic for my wife to feel comfortable. The second stop was some of the worst snorkeling I have done. On the bright side, the views while sailing were wonderful. I'm not sure there were many better options either.
Puerto Rico rocks. I love it here. Old San Juan is almost like exploring old cities in Europe, with a vibrant local twist. The beaches and water are gorgeous. The people we have met have been so kind. I would love to do a whole week here. There were a lot of locals on the ship, which was great.
The Magic is showing its age more than I remember from two years ago. It's a great ship still, and I wouldn't hesitate to sale her again, but I think Disney needs to give her more attention. The AC in the public areas of the aft was clearly still broken (as reported by someone here weeks ago) and there was also leaking from ceilings in the aft public areas (also reported here). There were a few other things that needed some work too. Overall, not bad for a 25 year old ship, just slightly below what I expect from DCL.
Our stateroom wasn't cleaned to the normal standards and the bathroom sort of stunk like urine too. I could have said something, but I really liked our host and it really wasn't worth it to me.
I think I continue to tire of the menus a bit. Particularly the desserts. But, we had the best serving team we have ever had. Gabriel in particular made great recommendations and brought me an Indian dish every night once he found out I liked Indian food. I stopped ordering off the menu and just ate that. It was fantastic and was a nice change.
Palo for dinner was the best meal we have had in a long time, on a ship or at home. The server was amazing and hit it out of the park with his recommendations. You could really tell the difference when eating freshly cooked meals versus pre-plated food. Even the two souffles were so much better than the MDR version. I ordered off the prefix menu, which I think helped kick it up a notch too. We also had a beautiful view of Dominica as we sailed away just after we were seated, due to some excursions getting back pretty late. It was a magical night that was worth every penny to us.
Tangled was great, again. We didn't see any other shows, but instead enjoyed the ship and adult areas.
They had blueberry soft serve, which was new to me, and very good.
Overall, the DCL product is still fantastic, but I am ready to try some other lines. We were set to do so last year and this year, before plans had to change. But we will get to try Celebrity in Alaska in August. I can't wait to see if we can get what we like from DCL (which is mostly non-Disney specific stuff), with a bit of a discount and new menus and itineraries, or if it will just make us ready to come back home to Disney.
We will be on the Wonder next week for the first time. I'm excited to try a new ship.
In the end, it was the relaxing trip my wife and I needed. We are super grateful to have been able to take it and the new itinerary was a great change.
Dominica is a hidden gem. While the capital isn't the usual upscale touristy area, it was lively, authentic, and really interesting. The highlight was the rainforest. It was absolutely stunning and so different than anything else we have done in the Caribbean. The people were nice. It was a great change from the usual stops.
The catamaran and snorkel adventure in Aruba was a bit of a letdown. The sunken ship was cool, but too chaotic for my wife to feel comfortable. The second stop was some of the worst snorkeling I have done. On the bright side, the views while sailing were wonderful. I'm not sure there were many better options either.
Puerto Rico rocks. I love it here. Old San Juan is almost like exploring old cities in Europe, with a vibrant local twist. The beaches and water are gorgeous. The people we have met have been so kind. I would love to do a whole week here. There were a lot of locals on the ship, which was great.
The Magic is showing its age more than I remember from two years ago. It's a great ship still, and I wouldn't hesitate to sale her again, but I think Disney needs to give her more attention. The AC in the public areas of the aft was clearly still broken (as reported by someone here weeks ago) and there was also leaking from ceilings in the aft public areas (also reported here). There were a few other things that needed some work too. Overall, not bad for a 25 year old ship, just slightly below what I expect from DCL.
Our stateroom wasn't cleaned to the normal standards and the bathroom sort of stunk like urine too. I could have said something, but I really liked our host and it really wasn't worth it to me.
I think I continue to tire of the menus a bit. Particularly the desserts. But, we had the best serving team we have ever had. Gabriel in particular made great recommendations and brought me an Indian dish every night once he found out I liked Indian food. I stopped ordering off the menu and just ate that. It was fantastic and was a nice change.
Palo for dinner was the best meal we have had in a long time, on a ship or at home. The server was amazing and hit it out of the park with his recommendations. You could really tell the difference when eating freshly cooked meals versus pre-plated food. Even the two souffles were so much better than the MDR version. I ordered off the prefix menu, which I think helped kick it up a notch too. We also had a beautiful view of Dominica as we sailed away just after we were seated, due to some excursions getting back pretty late. It was a magical night that was worth every penny to us.
Tangled was great, again. We didn't see any other shows, but instead enjoyed the ship and adult areas.
They had blueberry soft serve, which was new to me, and very good.
Overall, the DCL product is still fantastic, but I am ready to try some other lines. We were set to do so last year and this year, before plans had to change. But we will get to try Celebrity in Alaska in August. I can't wait to see if we can get what we like from DCL (which is mostly non-Disney specific stuff), with a bit of a discount and new menus and itineraries, or if it will just make us ready to come back home to Disney.
We will be on the Wonder next week for the first time. I'm excited to try a new ship.
In the end, it was the relaxing trip my wife and I needed. We are super grateful to have been able to take it and the new itinerary was a great change.
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