There are lots of good trip reports. I will just give some highlights from our 7 day twice the magic which started on 7/22
This was our 4th Disney Cruise and our first on the magic. We are big Disney fans and have been to most of the resorts, some many times, and the WDW parks more times than we can count and Disneyland twice. Although, my first trip was about 47 years ago. I still have pictures of me at Disneyland from those early days. Mickey and Minnie sure looked different back then. Disney has come a long long way since those days.
GETTING THERE: We live in SW Florida so we woke up and packed up and drove accross the state. Not a long drive for us 2.5 hours I guess. Going back our children were so tired they slept all the way back. Too many late nights in the stack I guess.
GETTING OFF: Just a little thing, we got off a bit late. We were standing watching where the Captain controls the ship on the outside and kept waiting. Finally at 5:19 my time a baggage handler came running in with someones bags and THEN we got off.
DISMEET: Special thanks to the Dis'ers who did the special things to get us all together. Some great folks did some nice work and it worked out great. We went to the Dis meet on the first day and met some great folks we would see all though the week. Special thanks to the "Ramule" family for the bag we got from them, it was great, with great stuff from Ohio.
CASTAWAY CAY: We picked this cruise because our family really enjoys this place and we got two stops at it. Cookies food was good and we always enjoy eating there. The cast members made us feel at home all over the island. It was great to see the pirate ship there. Great idea to have it there and so special to get to see it up close. We went snorkeling both visits and found the Mickey under the water was moved to a new location from the last time we were there. A cast member told me a hurricane moved it from the last time we were there and they decided to leave it there.
DINING: The food was excellent as it has always been for us on a Disney cruise. One night we asked for a special meal of Chicken curry and they had an Indian chef cook us up a special batch. We love curry at our home since my DW grew up in that part of the world. This is an excellent opportunity that most people never take advantage of. Our servers were good but not as good as we have had in the past. In fairness to them they were pressed hard. It was the early seating and they had four tables, three tables of 4 and a table of 6. The table of 6 was really a hard table to serve. I later spoke with our server in private and spoke to her about it and she kindly alluded to what we thought. The table had many special food requests, they had two little girls who were, how shall I say this, out of control, they would come 20 to 30 minutes late and you could tell they were just very demanding.
SHOWS: We didnt go to all the shows because we have seen most of them before. However, we saw Rick Purpoa (spelling may be wrong). We thought he was hilarious. We laughed and laughed at his stuff.
COSTA MAYA: Great stop. So glad Disney is going there. We did the David and Ivan tour. The group was larger than it was advertised because word is getting out, but it was still very good. My two young teens, 13 and 14 didnt like all the talking (thought it was like school) but did enjoy the sites. It is well worth it in my view. Great stop and very glad Disney is going there. I have a MA in an anthropology type degree and it was so fascinating to me. The other reason Costa Maya is a great stop is because it is not yet the big tourist trap as many stops are. I think it will be in 10 years but it is still "Mexico" right now.
COZUMEL: We were warned by friends and from the Dis boards about the poor snorkeling off Cozumel because of the hurricane damage. Yet we know that Cozumel has some of the best water in all of the America's to snorkel and dive in. So I did some of my own internet research and found a local to take us out. Her name is Rosie, she is Swiss and has been living in Cozumel for 26 years. She speaks excellent English plus about 4 other languages. She took us to a different part of the Island that was not damaged by the hurricane. Now each time will be different but our experience was outstanding. The water was so clear. We saw all sorts of fish and sea stars and turtles and sting rays and coral. It was an excellent adventure with just our family and Rosie and a local Mexican who operated the boat. If you want a great snorkeling experience PM and I will give the details. The cost isnt that bad either. You do have to take a taxi to the local port which will cost you about $7 or $8 a person each way. Also it's not the tourist environment but the port is all true Mexico so if you are not comfortable with that than please dont. But for the best snorkeling in Cozumel its the thing to do.
NO ELVEVATOR PLEDGE: To keep the floating buffet under control and our weight under control my DW and I took the no elevator pledge. No elevators for all 7 days. We were on the 6th floor too. We also did some great walking on Deck 4 which is a great way to enjoy the ship and get some exercise. The Gym was really nice but crowded so we just walked on deck 4.
GALLEY TOUR: We took the galley tour that they give. Its led by one of the top chefs; our tour was led by the head chef of AP. It's fun and highly recommended. (Its adults only). Fascinating on how they feed everyone including all the cast members and how much of everything they go through. Give it a try but you need to sign up for it when you get on the ship or it will not be available.
NEW LARGE SCREEN: This is our first D-cruise with the new large screen and were really impressed by it. It is really a nice addition to the ship. Hope the Wonder gets one soon.
STACK: We have two young teens (13,14) and they really enjoyed the stack. They told us they loved the scavenger hunts especially. We did limit their time there because we wanted to have a lot of family time but the time they did have there they told us they really enjoyed.
CASTAWAY CLUB MEET: We always go to this. But holy cow, has the size of this increased! They announced that they have over 900 return guests on the ship. I have to think that the double dip cruise is a big hit with return guests and expect to see it back again. We enjoy this time to go up to the senior officers and speak with them. Many just go for the free drinks but this is an excellent opportunity to meet the senior officers. I always look for the HR officer as I have a HR related job and spoke to her about the cast members on the ship. I really enjoy this time even though its short and so glad Disney continues to hold this.
SHUTTERS: One of our few dissapointments on our DC is shutters. When it is open it is packed. I mean like sardines in a can packed. When we go back it is closed. This has been our experience on our other cruises as well. We just will not fight the crowd for a picture. Others may be different but we were dissapointed in this aspect of the cruise.
PRICE: We love Disney and the Disney cruse line. But the price is very high when I compare it with others and it seems to keep going up and up. The only way we can afford it is the Florida resident specials. So why dont some of you stop cruising on Disney so we can go more. (Just a joke
) Really we love the DCL but sure hope the prices will stop going up.
This was our 4th Disney Cruise and our first on the magic. We are big Disney fans and have been to most of the resorts, some many times, and the WDW parks more times than we can count and Disneyland twice. Although, my first trip was about 47 years ago. I still have pictures of me at Disneyland from those early days. Mickey and Minnie sure looked different back then. Disney has come a long long way since those days.
GETTING THERE: We live in SW Florida so we woke up and packed up and drove accross the state. Not a long drive for us 2.5 hours I guess. Going back our children were so tired they slept all the way back. Too many late nights in the stack I guess.
GETTING OFF: Just a little thing, we got off a bit late. We were standing watching where the Captain controls the ship on the outside and kept waiting. Finally at 5:19 my time a baggage handler came running in with someones bags and THEN we got off.
DISMEET: Special thanks to the Dis'ers who did the special things to get us all together. Some great folks did some nice work and it worked out great. We went to the Dis meet on the first day and met some great folks we would see all though the week. Special thanks to the "Ramule" family for the bag we got from them, it was great, with great stuff from Ohio.
CASTAWAY CAY: We picked this cruise because our family really enjoys this place and we got two stops at it. Cookies food was good and we always enjoy eating there. The cast members made us feel at home all over the island. It was great to see the pirate ship there. Great idea to have it there and so special to get to see it up close. We went snorkeling both visits and found the Mickey under the water was moved to a new location from the last time we were there. A cast member told me a hurricane moved it from the last time we were there and they decided to leave it there.
DINING: The food was excellent as it has always been for us on a Disney cruise. One night we asked for a special meal of Chicken curry and they had an Indian chef cook us up a special batch. We love curry at our home since my DW grew up in that part of the world. This is an excellent opportunity that most people never take advantage of. Our servers were good but not as good as we have had in the past. In fairness to them they were pressed hard. It was the early seating and they had four tables, three tables of 4 and a table of 6. The table of 6 was really a hard table to serve. I later spoke with our server in private and spoke to her about it and she kindly alluded to what we thought. The table had many special food requests, they had two little girls who were, how shall I say this, out of control, they would come 20 to 30 minutes late and you could tell they were just very demanding.
SHOWS: We didnt go to all the shows because we have seen most of them before. However, we saw Rick Purpoa (spelling may be wrong). We thought he was hilarious. We laughed and laughed at his stuff.
COSTA MAYA: Great stop. So glad Disney is going there. We did the David and Ivan tour. The group was larger than it was advertised because word is getting out, but it was still very good. My two young teens, 13 and 14 didnt like all the talking (thought it was like school) but did enjoy the sites. It is well worth it in my view. Great stop and very glad Disney is going there. I have a MA in an anthropology type degree and it was so fascinating to me. The other reason Costa Maya is a great stop is because it is not yet the big tourist trap as many stops are. I think it will be in 10 years but it is still "Mexico" right now.
COZUMEL: We were warned by friends and from the Dis boards about the poor snorkeling off Cozumel because of the hurricane damage. Yet we know that Cozumel has some of the best water in all of the America's to snorkel and dive in. So I did some of my own internet research and found a local to take us out. Her name is Rosie, she is Swiss and has been living in Cozumel for 26 years. She speaks excellent English plus about 4 other languages. She took us to a different part of the Island that was not damaged by the hurricane. Now each time will be different but our experience was outstanding. The water was so clear. We saw all sorts of fish and sea stars and turtles and sting rays and coral. It was an excellent adventure with just our family and Rosie and a local Mexican who operated the boat. If you want a great snorkeling experience PM and I will give the details. The cost isnt that bad either. You do have to take a taxi to the local port which will cost you about $7 or $8 a person each way. Also it's not the tourist environment but the port is all true Mexico so if you are not comfortable with that than please dont. But for the best snorkeling in Cozumel its the thing to do.
NO ELVEVATOR PLEDGE: To keep the floating buffet under control and our weight under control my DW and I took the no elevator pledge. No elevators for all 7 days. We were on the 6th floor too. We also did some great walking on Deck 4 which is a great way to enjoy the ship and get some exercise. The Gym was really nice but crowded so we just walked on deck 4.
GALLEY TOUR: We took the galley tour that they give. Its led by one of the top chefs; our tour was led by the head chef of AP. It's fun and highly recommended. (Its adults only). Fascinating on how they feed everyone including all the cast members and how much of everything they go through. Give it a try but you need to sign up for it when you get on the ship or it will not be available.
NEW LARGE SCREEN: This is our first D-cruise with the new large screen and were really impressed by it. It is really a nice addition to the ship. Hope the Wonder gets one soon.
STACK: We have two young teens (13,14) and they really enjoyed the stack. They told us they loved the scavenger hunts especially. We did limit their time there because we wanted to have a lot of family time but the time they did have there they told us they really enjoyed.
CASTAWAY CLUB MEET: We always go to this. But holy cow, has the size of this increased! They announced that they have over 900 return guests on the ship. I have to think that the double dip cruise is a big hit with return guests and expect to see it back again. We enjoy this time to go up to the senior officers and speak with them. Many just go for the free drinks but this is an excellent opportunity to meet the senior officers. I always look for the HR officer as I have a HR related job and spoke to her about the cast members on the ship. I really enjoy this time even though its short and so glad Disney continues to hold this.
SHUTTERS: One of our few dissapointments on our DC is shutters. When it is open it is packed. I mean like sardines in a can packed. When we go back it is closed. This has been our experience on our other cruises as well. We just will not fight the crowd for a picture. Others may be different but we were dissapointed in this aspect of the cruise.
PRICE: We love Disney and the Disney cruse line. But the price is very high when I compare it with others and it seems to keep going up and up. The only way we can afford it is the Florida resident specials. So why dont some of you stop cruising on Disney so we can go more. (Just a joke
) Really we love the DCL but sure hope the prices will stop going up.
