7 Day Magic Western Caribbean: Jan 21, 2012

[renee123]

Ok, so here it goes....

Players:
Me: (38), DH (39), DD (6), and another couple and their DD (5).

Background:
Growing up I did my fair share of travelling, especially cruises. I introduced my husband to cruises about 10 years ago and unfortunately we had an awful experience. We set sail on a Norwegian ship and not only was it run down but we lost power out at sea! Due to that experience for the next ten years it was either WDW or Caribbean beaches for our vacations. So how did I wind up on a cruise? Having taken my DD to WDW 8 times in her 6 years of life we figured it was time for a change but still wanted her to have that disney magic so Disney Magic Cruise here we come! We decided to give cruising another shot.

Planning:
Originally we booked a deluxe family stateroom but my husband was really set on staying in a suite. Because he was a sport and agreed to the cruise after our past experience I said why not. So I had my TA put us on a waiting list because 2 months before the trip none were available. A few weeks later my TA called and offered us an upgrade to a 1-bedroom aft for $2200 extra. I don’t think it was much of a discount but we jumped on it.

Arrival:
At the port by 11:30 we boarded effortlessly. The crew did their little welcome announcement which was pretty cute. Next we were escorted to the concierge reception. We were first approached by what I will call the “water/wine” guy. He wanted to sell us a wine package and case of water. I explained that we brought wine on board but he said something about not being able to open it without a fee. His english was really bad so I could barely make out what he was saying. He was starting to annoy me. I told my DH we didn’t need the water or wine but he purchased a case of water and small wine package anyway. I think my DH was just getting so annoyed with the guy he said yes just so he would go away.! Next we met with our concierge who confirmed my Palo reservation and cabana rental. She also offered us Tea with Alice tickets. Immediately after that conversation we headed out of the reception which IMO was pretty boring and stuffy. Our travel companions were set to arrive any minute. So we waited in the lobby for their name to be announced and next we all headed to the bar for some cocktails. I was excited to see our suite so at exactly 2pm we ran upstairs to take a look. I was impressed. I really didn’t think it would be so roomy. The furnishing were very nice and the room was super clean. Since we had a handicap access we didn’t have a tub but I didn’t mind. The view and oversized verandah made up for it. My friends had an inside stateroom (also handicap access) and I was equally surprised by the size.

Setting sail:
The party was a hit with the kids. As we pulled away from the dock I was both excited and nervous. Excited because “ahhh, I’m on vacation.” Nervous because “a freakin cruise ship sunk just a few days ago.” Watching the ship move away from port I decided I might as well put on my seabands. Better to be safe than sorry. Before we knew it we had to go get ready for dinner

Dinner and a Show:
So the theme for dinner was the same every night. RUSH! 5:45 is just too early and 8:10 is way too late. First night we ate in Lumiere’s. Honestly I don’t remember what we ate but I know it was good! Our servers did a fine job but I have to say they lacked the personality of some of the waiters I have had on previous cruises. Something I remember from cruising as child...having fun and really getting to know the dinner servers. That wasn’t going to happen on this cruise. During dinner I did notice the movement of the ship. It wasn’t bad but I did feel it so I popped some pills, again just to be safe.
The evening show was sort of a variety show with a little Disney mixed it. I’m not big on musicals but I think if you are you would like this show. I much prefer the variety acts. After the show we walked around the ship a bit to get familiar with the layout. I must say she is a beauty. Very well maintained and super clean.

Goodnight:
We headed back to the suite around 10:30. I put on the TV and was reminded that this is a “disney” cruise because all the stations were for children or disney related. All but the news channels. And what do you know, all were covering stories about the sunken cruise ship. Fantastic. I had a wonderful night sleep anyway

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[lorimay]

Hi Renee

My family was on the same cruise......Looking forward to your report.

 

[renee123]

Wow. Now that I’m sitting down writing this trip report and remembering this day it was definitely jammed pack. I can’t believe we fit it all in.

Wake Up!
Can’t believe how late I slept. 8am is late for me. The room is so dark with the shades closed I had no idea what time it was. My DH and DD were still sleeping so I decide to order room service. I remember reading on these boards that as concierge guests hot breakfast was included but I just couldn’t find a menu in my cabin. Maybe I was wrong and it’s wasn’t offered so I called room service and asked. Room service said my concierge should leave me a menu for hot breakfast and she would leave concierge a message to do so. Since I knew what I wanted I ordered without the menu. Funny thing happened....I ordered pancakes, eggs and an omelette. So room service asks how many pancakes ( 3 please), eggs (2 please) and omelettes (1 please). Well, I thought she meant how many pancake on the plate, eggs, etc. Apparently she didn’t mean that and room service delivered 3 plates of pancakes, 2 plates of eggs and 1 omelette. I felt a bit embarrassed what was delivered for just the 3 of us! It arrived quickly and we ate on the veranda. We got a few stares from up above and heard one couple ask each other if they could also order eggs to their room. Next we met up with our friends in Topsiders. We would learn on this trip they are not morning people and so I didn’t want to ever wake them up or rush them. I helped myself to a doughnut and my DD had her first mickey waffle. This was the continuation of my feeding frenzy. Seriously, it was only 10:30 and I already ate more for breakfast than what I would eat all week for breakfast back at home. I’m lucky to have time to grab a coffee before getting on the train for work in the morning!

Fun filled day
We weren’t in a rush to get to port because I knew Key West was not going to be the kids favourite stop. I decided to have them try out the kids club and make some flubber before we deboarded. After an hour I got a message on the wave phone that my DD wanted to be picked up. I was already on my way. She wasn’t impressed. I asked her why and she said it was boring. Boring! Really! Anyway, our friend’s daughter (5) was more of a fan and wanted to go back as soon as possible. As we headed back to our cabins to get our stuff to go ashore we passed through Topsiders and decided might as well have lunch. I wasn’t hungry but it looked good so I ate anyway. I would pay for all this eating when the trip was over.
Onshore we did some shopping in Key West. I would have liked to spend more time there but the kids could not wait to go back to the ship and go swimming. We decided now would be the time to purchase some liquor to take aboard. I also bought something I never thought I would buy or appreciate so much. A flask. I know, pretty ghetto. But due to the price of the cruise, the cost of drinks and the amount our DH’s liked to drink on vacation it was a great investment. “So I’ll take a bottle of Jack, bottle of Grey Goose, and 2 flasks please.”
Now on to the Disney pools. Not my favourite place to be I would soon learn. As expected both kids pools are quite small and full of children and full of god knows what else. I never once stepped foot in the pools the entire cruise. My DD on the other hand could not get enough. Then before I knew it...Dinnertime!

Fun filled night
We had dinner at Animator’s Pallet. It was a struggle getting there on time and I think we were about 15 minutes late. Dinner was ok, not as good as the night before. The dinner show was cute and my daughter got a high five from the mouse himself. Being exposed to the characters since my DD was 6 months old she didn’t seem all that excited to see Mickey. This is when I learned she was over the characters and the princesses and I would not have to wait on lines for a picture and autograph on this cruise. It really surprised me being she is only 6 and last year at WDW she was all about the princesses!
Like I wrote in my last post, I’m not into musicals so the hour spent in the evening show was a bit boring for me. It was a Cinderella themed show. Honestly, I wasn’t paying much attention but my DD was. After the show we asked the kids if they wanted to go back to the kids club and disappointing to me, my DD had no interest. Our friend’s child did and she went without my DD. I thought for sure my DD would give in and give it a try but not happening. While my friend’s child was in the club we all went back to our cabin and had a drink. My DD fell asleep almost immediately. I was hoping maybe she was just tired and that was why she didn’t want to go to the club. Within an hour, our friend daughter was ready to be picked up and she seemed like she had a great time, arriving covered in glitter, eyeshadow and nail polish!
We called it a night and I clicked on the TV (can’t sleep without it!) and listened to the news coverage of the Costa Concordia while we fell asleep.

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[renee123]

Thinking back, these days are somewhat of a blur. Here is my attempt to remember

Day 3 Day at Sea
We spent the day mostly in the kids pools. My daughter agreed to go back to kids club to make cookies. She lasted about 1 hour before I got a phone call. I think that it was just too crowded for her. The cast members couldn’t really spend much time one-on-one because there were just too many kids. My DD seemed to enjoy the club when they did organized activities but when it was “free play” not so much.

Our concierge paid us a visit in our suite this evening to see how we were doing. We hadn’t seen her since the concierge reception. She mentioned a priority tender for grand caymen the next day and told us to just give her a buzz when our entire party was ready and she would escort us down. She mentioned she would take care of our friends as well and make sure they had what they needed to get off the ship. I thought that was really nice. I told her we had missed the Tea with Alice that day and she said she would try and get us another reservation but it was pretty booked at the moment.

This was the first “not so rushed day” but we still managed to miss dinner that evening. We instead ordered room service from the dinning room for us and our friends in our suite. It was fantastic. We ordered way to much food and then didn’t feel like doing much after. Between day 3 and 4 some of our party started to experience some sea sickness. I don’t remember who had it when but all the adults had it at some point. My DH was the only one to actually puke (while eating dinner in our room day 3). We skipped the show this evening and turned in early.

Day 4 Grand Cayman
My family woke up early and went down to Topsiders. We had at this point found what I will call a “secret staircase” to the buffet. Great, just what I need, a shortcut to the food! Our friends arrived as we finished eating. After breakfast we went to our suite to call concierge because we were ready to go ashore. I left her a message as she didn’t answer. About 20 minutes passed so I called the main concierge line (the button on the phone) and they put me on hold a moment, then transferred me to her. She told us it would be best we met her on the 1st floor aft and she would get us on our way. We didn’t book any excursions for Grand Cayman so we grabbed a cab and headed to the beach. The driver took us to the “public beach” which really wasn’t what I had in mind. I asked him about taking us to one of the hotel beaches. He convinced us we would like the “public beach” better. It would be cheaper and safe. Well, I definitely felt safe but it was in no way “cheap.” We had to pay about $40 for the ride, $30 for chairs, $100 for lunch, $2 per person for floats, and a fee for the water sports. The beach was a bit rocky but the water was crystal clear.
That evening we had dinner at Parrots Cays and not only were we on time but we were early! We were actually the first family to be seated. After dinner both girls actually asked to go to the kids club! So we skipped the show and the adults bar hopped. We took this opportunity to hit up the adult side of the ship. The ship was pretty dead at this point since lots of families were at the shows. I have to admit we were all feeling very good and the other bar patrons were quite reserved. After a lively conversation with our bartender I decided it was best to get the kids and take our party up to the suite.

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[Toria]

Great TR! My daughter would only do the kids club in little incements as well.

 

[renee123]

Cozumel
We booked the Playa Mia beach excursion so we had to be at the Rockin D bar fairly early to get our wristbands, tickets and stickers. Then it was time to follow the “sign guy.” I felt like I was in grade school as 100’s of people walked behind the “sign guy” holding the “follow sign” throughout town. We were even actually scolded a few times for walking ahead. Look, I’m from New York and we walk fast. This guy was crawling! Finally at the buses, we boarded and within minutes arrived at Playa Mia. It was nice enough. There were plenty of chairs, the food was ok and the drinks free.

Pirate Party
We decided to get ready for dinner right after returning from our excursion since tonight was our friend’s birthday. His wife ordered a cake to arrive at dinner and had their stateroom decorated. The cake was not the kind she ordered and the room attendant showed up late to decorate while they were in the room and asked them to leave and then come back later. Kind of ruined the surprise, don’t you think? We also received a visit from our concierge this evening. She delivered a bag of popcorn and told us about the movie playing in the theatre. Throughout the cruise, treats were delivered to our room nightly. Honestly, it was usually something kind of unappealing (a few slices of cheese, bland cookies or pastry). This evening was also pirate night and boy did people go all out! You couldn’t tell who was a disney character or a cruise guest. People dressed head to toe pirate style, families with complete matching ensembles, grown men in eyeliner and beaded hair. This did not bod well with my daughter as she wanted the pirate booty as well. So a quick trip to the gift shop and she had a pirate transformation. She hadn’t asked for anything the entire trip and behaved so well I didn’t hesitate to pay top dollar for one time wear cheap fabric There was word the Pirate party event would be cancelled due to choppy seas and winds but the event went on with the disney characters (but no soaring mickey), dance party and fireworks. And no disney party would be complete without a buffet. I have to say this was a turning point for me in my eating frenzy. A woman walked by me with 2 plates. One was overflowing with cookies and pastries and the other one held a complete cake! That’s when I looked down at my turkey drumstick and cheese cake assortment and said I do not want to take part in this gluttony anymore. I’m tapping out!
After the party, Pirates of the Caribbean played on the big screen and Ravi (our bartender) assisted us with scoring front row lounge chairs to watch the movie. I can’t say enough about him. As I mentioned in previous posts we had brought along our own liquor and consume that most of the time. Ravi still seems to always be around assisting us in any way we could. We had fun getting to know him and appreciated his strong work ethic and high level of customer service. The girls passed out during the movie and then we wrapped for the night.

pooped pirates

 

[renee123]

So I didn’t miss a day (see prior post) I just missed numbered!

Day 6 Day at Sea
I’m pretty sure I spent the majority of my day at the Mickey or Goofy Pool but not by choice. I remember reading the Navigator pool side and giving the girls options for other things to do. Offered at that time was BINGO, crafts at the kids club or towel folding class. My daughter picked towel folding. Interesting. So I acted like that was the most exciting thing ever and headed to class. It was actually the perfect amount of time before getting too bored. At some point during this day my friends daughter was complaining of ear pain so we went to the infirmary and of course it was an ear infection. We had Palo reservations that evening and since she wasn’t feeling well we cancelled and decided to order to our suite. Before dialing room service we tried concierge and requested Palo to our room but she explained it wasn’t allowed. Honestly, I already knew that from reading the boards but I do also remember reading someone posting that an exception was made for them so it was worth a try. My concierge also paid us a visit this evening and gave us our cabana wristbands for Friday and told us there would be a surprise for my daughter waiting in the cabana.

Day 7 Castaway Cay
As soon as we were allowed to get off the ship we made our way down. We noticed golf carts taking some guests to the beach and we saw a tram as well. My DH asked a golf cart driver if he could take us to the Cabanas but he said he was reserved for the wedding party. So we made our way to the tram. My DH asked a castmember near the tram if concierge or cabana guests are offered the golf cart instead of waiting for a tram. She said “sometimes” but today was a wedding. I know this sounds spoiled but for the cost of the cabanas you shouldn’t have to wait for a tram.
I have been all over the Caribbean and I can say that Castaway Cay was the most beautiful island, hands down. The cabana was lovely, the water shallow and crystal clear, and the sand powder white. The private beach in front of the Cabanas was absolutely amazing. And what do you know, we were paid a visit from our friendly bartender. He not only served drinks on the beach that day but when my husband asked him if they sold cigarettes on the island the answer was “no problem.” He actually went back to the ship and personally delivered them to my DH! We stayed on the island until the absolute last minute. My daughter actually cried when it was time to go back to the ship.
Tonight was the second try to go to Palo. My concierge told us she would take care of rebooking our reservation. We arrived to find she only rebooked for 2 instead of 4. Palo quickly moved some tables around and sat us. The food was wonderful and the chocolate souffle amazing!
This was our last night aboard the Magic so we walked around the ship and handed out the tips to the crew that served us for the week. I especially appreciated our stateroom attendant, bartender, room service staff and dinning room servers. Our concierge visited us that evening as well. I handed her the tip envelope containing a tip based on what I read others give on these boards. I was much more impressed and therefore generous with the rest of the staff. Hmmm, what was the surprise in the cabana for my daughter anyway?

 

[renee123]

We had no troubles when we reached port and were off the ship within a half hour. We choose to haul all our luggage ourselves just so we didn't have to waste time hunting and collecting it. We skipped the breakfast but did notice tons of people waiting to be seated.
We really enjoyed our trip and look forward to cruising again!

 

[lwilliam]

You mentioned buying liquor in Key West, my DH and I are wine drinkers and would like to purchase some wine to take back on ship.....where was the liquor store (or was it just a bar) where you purchased your liquor. Thank you for any info.

 

[poohj80]

Did you ever make it to the tea party? if so, was it really with Alice? We were expecting Alice on our last cruise but it was Tiana and Ariel instead (no complaints at all!).

 

[renee123]

You mentioned buying liquor in Key West, my DH and I are wine drinkers and would like to purchase some wine to take back on ship.....where was the liquor store (or was it just a bar) where you purchased your liquor. Thank you for any info.

There was plenty of liquor stores. You will have no trouble finding some wines to bring on board.

 

[renee123]

Did you ever make it to the tea party? if so, was it really with Alice? We were expecting Alice on our last cruise but it was Tiana and Ariel instead (no complaints at all!).

We missed our first booking with Alice. Our concierge did not present us with tickets for another one.

 

[hbg4]

Hey Renee
Loved your trip report. We'll be sailing in August for the first time as concierge on the Magic and have booked a Cabana also for the first time.
Could you tell us which cabin you had as concierge ? I was interested to know that passengers upstairs could see you on deck. Also which cabana # did you manage to get ?