edmartin
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2003
- Messages
- 162
Just got off the Magic this morning. This was our 4th Disney cruise and absolutely our best (and the others have been great).
Weather: Perfect. Low 80's. Sun every day. Best ever for a January cruise.
Saturday: As usual, a great sail away party. Same welcome aboard show as last year - good as usual. Our server was Wis from Thailand. He pretty much became a member of our family. Assistant server was Marcellito - A.K.A "Big M". We also did our traditional after-dinner trip to the Palo bar and met Simon the bartender. He's got 9 weeks left on his current contract. If you sail within the next 9 weeks, go hunt Simon down (they rotate every 2 weeks between bars). He's a riot.
Sunday: Key West. Our second trip to KW and I think we're pretty much done there. Last year we had rented electric cars and toured the island. We did that again this year but it was sort of a "been there, done that". It was OK but next time I think I'd spend more time on the ship that day.
Monday: at sea. Beautiful weather, very relaxing. Palo brunch. Incredible. Wider variety than last year. We also did wine tasting and martini tasting. Both are very good. As you might imagine, wine tasting is more "educational" while martini's are maybe more "fun". Martini tasting was hosted by Agnieszka from Poland. Like Simon from the Palo bar above, go out of your way to hunt Agneiszka down. What a riot. I'm hooked on gimlets now (vodka/lime martini).
Tuesday: Grand Cayman. I posted another thread reviewing the Pirate Encounter excursion we did through Disney. Thumbs up - especially with kids. Dinner at Palo. Amazing.
Wednesday: Cozumel. We did the dune buggy tour through Cozumel Insider. We had 3 of 5 kids under 12 so the Disney tour wasn't an option for us. The dune buggies are pretty "well travelled" (and some are worse than others). But that's the only negative - it was awesome. Coolers full of
beer (Sol), soda & water. For better or worse, drinking and driving is permitted. The first stop was for a little snorkeling - maybe 30-45 minutes. It was OK. Then we checked out some Mayan ruins. Good. From there, we did a long drive along the shore. Breathtaking. Finally, we arrived at the spot for the beach BBQ and swimming. The surf was great. The food was amazing. I don't even like guacamole but this stuff was awesome. All created there on the beach. Salsa, too. Chicken and all the fixings. Lots of food and all very, very good. The tour ran for about 6 hours start to finish. Big thumbs up. I'd love to compare note with anyone that's done the Disney version. Like I said, the buggies we were in were pretty old and worn. Can't believe they'd be street legal in the US. Wondering if the Disney partner has better gear.
Thursday: at sea. Again, perfect weather. Tequila/margarita tasting followed by a galley tour in the afternoon. Fun. Dinner at Palo again. I'm out of adjectives to describe Palo.
Friday: Castaway Key. Picture perfect.
Saturday: well, here I am posting.
The Magic has a new Cruise Director - Christiaan. I mentioned above that this was our 4th Disney Cruise - we've done the Wonder & Magic. With a cheat sheet, I couldn't pick any of the former Cruise Directors out of a police lineup. Not a slam against them; they were good but just not particularly amazing or memorable. Christiaan was a highlight of the trip - to the point that when we heard him come on the PA system, if we were in our room, we'd open the doors to the cabin to make sure we could hear him. Hilarious. And he was everywhere - checking everything. He just kept popping up, walking around everywhere to make sure it was all good. He's recognizable because he's bald (kind of the young Lex Luthor look) so I'll give you that that helps because you notice him. But he really was everywhere. We were traveling with friends and credit goes to them for saying it best: "it really sounds like he's having as much fun on this cruise as we are!". No doubt. He really helped take the cruise to a new level.
But here's the rest of the story... Other than saying a casual "hi" walking out of one of the shows, we never really met or talked with Christiaan until Friday night when we had a pre-dinner glass of wine in Sessions. Sure enough, through the room walks Christiaan. We stopped him to say hi, thanks and compliment him - thinking he's heard it a million times before (really, we were thinking that he should be put in charge of the entire Cruise Director program for Disney). We asked the obligatory "so, how long have you been doing this" question. We were stunned when he told us that this was his first cruise as CD on the Magic. He had done a couple of months on the Wonder and this gig became available. We were blown away. I can't imagine how good he's going to be when he's been on the job for more than 6 days! He started as a dancer 6 years ago, got into show production and then made the change to be an assistant cruise director. Right guy, right time, right place, he's now CD on the Magic. And he hasn't let his dancing past go. He took the lead during the peak of the Pirates in the Caribbean party. I told you he was everywhere!
Weather: Perfect. Low 80's. Sun every day. Best ever for a January cruise.
Saturday: As usual, a great sail away party. Same welcome aboard show as last year - good as usual. Our server was Wis from Thailand. He pretty much became a member of our family. Assistant server was Marcellito - A.K.A "Big M". We also did our traditional after-dinner trip to the Palo bar and met Simon the bartender. He's got 9 weeks left on his current contract. If you sail within the next 9 weeks, go hunt Simon down (they rotate every 2 weeks between bars). He's a riot.
Sunday: Key West. Our second trip to KW and I think we're pretty much done there. Last year we had rented electric cars and toured the island. We did that again this year but it was sort of a "been there, done that". It was OK but next time I think I'd spend more time on the ship that day.
Monday: at sea. Beautiful weather, very relaxing. Palo brunch. Incredible. Wider variety than last year. We also did wine tasting and martini tasting. Both are very good. As you might imagine, wine tasting is more "educational" while martini's are maybe more "fun". Martini tasting was hosted by Agnieszka from Poland. Like Simon from the Palo bar above, go out of your way to hunt Agneiszka down. What a riot. I'm hooked on gimlets now (vodka/lime martini).
Tuesday: Grand Cayman. I posted another thread reviewing the Pirate Encounter excursion we did through Disney. Thumbs up - especially with kids. Dinner at Palo. Amazing.
Wednesday: Cozumel. We did the dune buggy tour through Cozumel Insider. We had 3 of 5 kids under 12 so the Disney tour wasn't an option for us. The dune buggies are pretty "well travelled" (and some are worse than others). But that's the only negative - it was awesome. Coolers full of
beer (Sol), soda & water. For better or worse, drinking and driving is permitted. The first stop was for a little snorkeling - maybe 30-45 minutes. It was OK. Then we checked out some Mayan ruins. Good. From there, we did a long drive along the shore. Breathtaking. Finally, we arrived at the spot for the beach BBQ and swimming. The surf was great. The food was amazing. I don't even like guacamole but this stuff was awesome. All created there on the beach. Salsa, too. Chicken and all the fixings. Lots of food and all very, very good. The tour ran for about 6 hours start to finish. Big thumbs up. I'd love to compare note with anyone that's done the Disney version. Like I said, the buggies we were in were pretty old and worn. Can't believe they'd be street legal in the US. Wondering if the Disney partner has better gear.
Thursday: at sea. Again, perfect weather. Tequila/margarita tasting followed by a galley tour in the afternoon. Fun. Dinner at Palo again. I'm out of adjectives to describe Palo.
Friday: Castaway Key. Picture perfect.
Saturday: well, here I am posting.
The Magic has a new Cruise Director - Christiaan. I mentioned above that this was our 4th Disney Cruise - we've done the Wonder & Magic. With a cheat sheet, I couldn't pick any of the former Cruise Directors out of a police lineup. Not a slam against them; they were good but just not particularly amazing or memorable. Christiaan was a highlight of the trip - to the point that when we heard him come on the PA system, if we were in our room, we'd open the doors to the cabin to make sure we could hear him. Hilarious. And he was everywhere - checking everything. He just kept popping up, walking around everywhere to make sure it was all good. He's recognizable because he's bald (kind of the young Lex Luthor look) so I'll give you that that helps because you notice him. But he really was everywhere. We were traveling with friends and credit goes to them for saying it best: "it really sounds like he's having as much fun on this cruise as we are!". No doubt. He really helped take the cruise to a new level.
But here's the rest of the story... Other than saying a casual "hi" walking out of one of the shows, we never really met or talked with Christiaan until Friday night when we had a pre-dinner glass of wine in Sessions. Sure enough, through the room walks Christiaan. We stopped him to say hi, thanks and compliment him - thinking he's heard it a million times before (really, we were thinking that he should be put in charge of the entire Cruise Director program for Disney). We asked the obligatory "so, how long have you been doing this" question. We were stunned when he told us that this was his first cruise as CD on the Magic. He had done a couple of months on the Wonder and this gig became available. We were blown away. I can't imagine how good he's going to be when he's been on the job for more than 6 days! He started as a dancer 6 years ago, got into show production and then made the change to be an assistant cruise director. Right guy, right time, right place, he's now CD on the Magic. And he hasn't let his dancing past go. He took the lead during the peak of the Pirates in the Caribbean party. I told you he was everywhere!
Hopefully it goes away soon!
