8 nights Magic in the Med - June 10, 2022 - Sicily and Greece (completed 7/8)

[Ladybugx87]

My family of 4 (DH, me, and our 2 girls - 12 and 7) sailed the Magic 8 night Med Cruise embarking from Rome on June 10, 2022. I have a pre-trip report (https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...8-night-in-2022-april-24-2022-update.3783821/) where you can see we had first planned to do a similar cruise in 2020 but we all know how that went.

Our party
DH and I have been together since college and have been traveling ever since. DD1 and both of us are Gold. DD2 earned Gold with this cruise. The Magic is our favorite ship. Cruise history
2013 - Western Med on Magic
2015 - Alaska on wonder
2017 - Baltic on Magic
2018 - W Caribbean on Fantasy
2019- Norway Iceland on Magic (trip report https://www.disboards.com/threads/j...henburg-wrap-up-update-august-18-x-2.3763224/)


Basic Planning Info
we had verandah cabin 7602 and loved it. We have stayed in that general location most cruises.

We went to Paris pre cruise. I won’t go into detail on that but if people have questions I’m happy to answer. We did not do Disneyland Paris this trip.

We had early dining which is our preference.

We participated in the FE.

We booked through Costco.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Civiatecchia and Embarkation Day

After a lovely handful of days in Paris, we made our way to Civiatecchia. 48 hours before we were due to fly to Rome, we received a dreaded alert on my AirFrance app - strike at CDG the day of our flight. We spoke to the hotel and car service and everyone recommended we simply get to airport 45 minutes earlier than planned so we listened to that advice while I also checked every other option in case our flight fell through.

Traffic to the airport was a little bad but as we arrived our driver told us the strike was leaving and we were in luck. I am Delta platinum so we did sky priority bag drop, security and grabbed some snacks before heading to gate. I also needed more Euros so stopped at ATM.

Upon arrival in Rome, we collected our bags and found our driver from Rome In Limo and were off. The car was very clean and the drive was nice.

We arrived at Hotel San Giorgio and checked into our family room. The girls took the loft area and we had a nice sea view. The only downside was the first shuttle didn’t leave for port until 11:30 and our PAT was earlier. Ugh.

We had pizza and gelato around the corner and played at a playground before getting to bed.

Embarkation morning started well - both adults
went for a run and the girls and I went for a walk to find the ship. Hotel breakfast was fine.

This is when things went a little messy. We couldn’t get an Uber or taxi to take us to port so we decided to walk. The port is close and then In theory there is a shuttle to take you to another shuttle to take you to ship. This first shuttle seemed to not be running so we walked to next shuttle stop and then waited 15 minutes for shuttle to ship. We were behind our PAT but it was okay. I just should have booked private car.

Upon arriving at Magic, we were escorted right into line. If you have all your paperwork completed, it’s fine. We showed our ready to arrive codes and then did Covid tests. We waited about 30 minutes and had our all clear. The waiting room had bad wifi and free water. Then we checked in and boarded - yay! More to come on actual on ship later.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Embarkation Day continued

Once onboard, we were happy as could be. We were announced and then told to go to one of the areas on Deck 3 to do our safety briefing and then go to station O for our check in and we were done.

We went to Rapunzel’s for sit down lunch which is sort of tradition. They forgot my empanada appetizer (bummer!) but I do recall everything else being good and the girls both eating well.

We checked and our room was ready and some
Bags arrived (whoa!). The girls and I went to pool for a little while and then we all showered and unpacked. I think girls went to kids club but I can’t be sure. DD1 met up with some friends she had been texting with too.

DD2 met a great friend and the kids club who she hung out with a lot.

We did the sail away party and then dinner at Rapunzel’s. The girls went off for children activities while the parents enjoyed the ship and did some laundry. Note - laundry was really busy early afternoon but I had zero issues during late dining.

 

[Disneypeach]

Great start!
I was with y’all on the 2019 Iceland cruise. That was terrific trip.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Messina, Sicily, Italy

Our first port day was Messina and we were in port 11-6. I was very excited about getting a taste of Sicily but didnt opt for Mt Etna as my family did not want a long excursion day. This ended up being our ‘worst’ excursion.

Morning started with Cabanas and today had churro Mickey waffles which made DD1 very happy. I ran on deck 4 and am not sure what the family did during this time. The approach was very nice.

We did early lunch / snacks and then met for our excursion (MSN 16) at 11:15am. It was a waking tour which started out great and then lots of waiting for our ‘snack stop’ to be ready and then random free time (we got gelato). There was more walking after but we decided to go back to ship at that time. The majority of the tour seemed to do this. The church and the history we learned was wonderful. The description didn’t match the tour once we went off to the snack and free time. I am still really glad we saw Sicily and think we will explore further at a different time. Anyone with info on Sicily ABD?

Once back on board we had snacks and then DH went back off ship for a long run. The girls and I had pool time before we all got ready for dinner. There were many locals watching us leave - not quite like Kirkwall with a full show but lots of interest in the ship.

Dinner was at Lumiere’s. Both girls were occupied with friends so we went to Fathoms for trivia (we are not very good) and yummy drinks.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Sea Day 1

Our first Sea Day was one of my favorite days - we had the Royal Tea and it was formal night.

We all slept really well and had leisurely Cabanas breakfast. The girls went off for their fun and both adults ran 10 miles on deck 4. We didn’t run together (DH is much faster than me) but we did see each other a bunch. And Goofy joined me for half of a lap.

Lunch was at Cabanas. I kept wanting to hit Cabanas when they had sweet and sour chicken but missed it.

The girls and I went to Royal Court Royal Tea and DH went to the gym. This is the last time DD1 will be ‘a kid’ for this event so I’m glad we did it again. The gifts were different than last time (a purse and really nice journal replaced the jewelry box and autograph book). The food was yummy. I really liked the banana sandwiches and the strawberry tarts.

After tea, we had formal night fun - we took some photos and enjoyed dinner at Animator’s. DD2 went to Pluto PJ party and DD1 hung with us for a bit.

We could see Greece before the sun set and then we’re off to bed.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Mykonos, Greece

Now begins 3 back to back days in the amazing country of Greece. I know at some point our itinerary shifted the order of these stops but at this point I don’t have notes on the original order.

Our port time was 8-4:45 and our excursion was MY26 starting at 9:15.

We had breakfast before our meet up time in Cabanas.

This shore excursion was great! We had a nice drive, a stop at a gorgeous beach, another stop at a church and town square with a snack stop, a walk through Little Venice to the iconic windmills and then back to town center. It went between really windy or really hot. I was happy when we were in the breeze.

Here we were given free time or could grab shuttle back to port. We thanked our guide and headed back to port. The disney shuttle was easy to find.

My only regret here is that we didn’t stop for a photo with DCL photographer before reboarding.

Once back on board, we grabbed some food and DH went for a run off the ship. The girls and I went swimming and spied DH running back to the ship but my photos aren’t good.

We relaxed on the verandah as the ship left. Dinner was Rapunzel’s again. DD2 insisted on going to kids club to see a friend and then I think we had an early night. I know I got a great sunset between Mykonos and Santorini tonight.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Santorini Greece/ Palo / Pirate
Stop 2 in Greece was santorini. We were in port 8-445; our excursion was 830-115 and we had to tender. Note- if you weren’t on DCL PA you couldn’t tender until 9 or 9:30.

We had cabanas again and then met up for our tour group. Today we met with 2 other families (dd1’s friends) and ensured we had same tour group.

We did SA27 which was a small group villages tour. This one was good. We tendered to the bus and took a bus to a few villages. Our tour guide was great and it was nice to be with friends.

They provided cable car tickets down and we left with free time. Our family wandered back to the cable car and grabbed gelato along the way. We managed to pass the cable car so had some extra walking with quiet streets and great views.

The cable car line wasn’t bad for us but we did walk past the DCL tender banner bc it was small and a line for another ship was blocking it. Once that was sorted we were back to ship.

We grabbed some food. DH tendered back to land and ran while I ran on deck 4. Girls were happily with friends.

We all cleaned up and took girls to quick dinner because we had Palo reservations. We had a wonderful dinner at Palo. I love the butternut squash pasta and was so happy to have it again.

After dinner we changed back to casual for Pirate night. The girls are asked to dance in the show so that was a highlight. After the party we skipped the buffet and went to bed.

 

[JulieODC]

Great report so far! Nice to “see” you - we were on the Iceland cruise too, and I followed your most recent adventures on IG

Love all the port running!!

We’re heading to Alaska on DCL next month - after canceling our Italy/Greece/France cruise - so living vicariously!

 

[Ladybugx87]

Great report so far! Nice to “see” you - we were on the Iceland cruise too, and I followed your most recent adventures on IG

Love all the port running!!

We’re heading to Alaska on DCL next month - after canceling our Italy/Greece/France cruise - so living vicariously!

Alaska will be amazing!

 

[Ladybugx87]

Athens Greece
our last Greek stop was Athens and we were in port from 7-4:45. Our excursion was PI30 and we met at 8.

We were all sleepy this morning and had breakfast in room before meeting our friends again and heading on tour.

This tour was also good. We started with a visit to the Olympic stadium and then went up to the Parthenon. We went to an overlook area before walking over to the official entrance. Our overall tour guide wasn’t great but the Parthenon guide was excellent.

At the end of our time at the Parthenon, we bought some cold smoothies at the entrance area as we were getting quite hot for our walk to Plaka. This is where it got interesting with our guide - she didn’t check that all families were there so the group was already moving when we got back and there were 3-4 groups behind us. We all ended up back with main group but people could have easily gotten confused.

Plaka was nice. We strolled the street and bought some souvenirs before short bus ride to ship.

We got back and rushed to Cabanas with our friends. DH ran off the ship, I ran at gym, and girls were again doing kid stuff. I think we also went to pool.

I didn’t take great notes what we did this evening. I know we saw Greek Mickey. I think it was early evening after the 3 port days.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

Athens Greece
our last Greek stop was Athens and we were in port from 7-4:45. Our excursion was PI30 and we met at 8.

We were all sleepy this morning and had breakfast in room before meeting our friends again and heading on tour.

This tour was also good. We started with a visit to the Olympic stadium and then went up to the Parthenon. We went to an overlook area before walking over to the official entrance. Our overall tour guide wasn’t great but the Parthenon guide was excellent.

At the end of our time at the Parthenon, we bought some cold smoothies at the entrance area as we were getting quite hot for our walk to Plaka. This is where it got interesting with our guide - she didn’t check that all families were there so the group was already moving when we got back and there were 3-4 groups behind us. We all ended up back with main group but people could have easily gotten confused.

Plaka was nice. We strolled the street and bought some souvenirs before short bus ride to ship.

We got back and rushed to Cabanas with our friends. DH ran off the ship, I ran at gym, and girls were again doing kid stuff. I think we also went to pool.

I didn’t take great notes what we did this evening. I know we saw Greek Mickey. I think it was early evening after the 3 port days.

intresting, I was on the 9n Greek isles of June 18. My friend and I did different tours and we both had the exact same thing happen! My friend was left behind TWICE; she's 78 and went to look for a bench and shade while waiting for the entire group, told the guide and then the guide took off without telling her.. and for my tour the bus was already driving again when the guide counted and was missing a family...

 

[Ladybugx87]

intresting, I was on the 9n Greek isles of June 18. My friend and I did different tours and we both had the exact same thing happen! My friend was left behind TWICE; she's 78 and went to look for a bench and shade while waiting for the entire group, told the guide and then the guide took off without telling her.. and for my tour the bus was already driving again when the guide counted and was missing a family...

Super interesting on Greece. We also had a different guide say ‘we have everyone’ and two teenagers said ‘our parents aren’t back yet’ or the guide would have left them too.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Sea Day #2

We love our sea days! We had another nice breakfast in Cabanas and then DD1 headed off with her friends most of the day. DD2 went to the kids club while I ran on deck 4 and DH went to the gym.

After our quiet morning, we grabbed lunch at Cabanas (and spied DD1 eating with her friends) and then had some pool time with DD2. We were at the pool area for awhile and had more than our fair share of snacks.

I have zero notes on dinner because the evening was so fun. After dinner we went up to the character dance party. It was fairly empty which was surprising because this was nicely done.

Then we went to Fathoms for karaoke and DD2 did ‘we don’t talk about Bruno’ with her cruise ship buddy. They were so cute on stage. DD1 and her friends watched too so that was nice and our new friends were all around too.

After karaoke the older girls split and the younger girls ran to the club so DH and I headed to our one ‘show’ of the trip - the Ventriloquist and he was hilarious.

One thing I have not yet addressed - our cruise was maybe at 60% capacity. There were rarely lines and no worrying about finding a seat in the theater.

We picked up DD2 and headed to bed after the show.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

Dont know about yours, I was on the one after which had just over 1600 ppl on it. Only 200 were -18 (and to my feeling most of those 200 were teens, very few younger kids)

 

[Ladybugx87]

Dont know about yours, I was on the one after which had just over 1600 ppl on it. Only 200 were -18 (and to my feeling most of those 200 were teens, very few younger kids)

We had about 1700 people total. I don’t know about adults vs kids.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Naples
Our last port stop was in Naples. I love southern Italy especially Amalfi, Ravello, and Positano but I also know my family and knew they didn’t want a long excursion day so we chose the half day in Pompeii.

We had breakfast at Cabanas and then met for our excursion. DD2’s friend’s family was on the same excursion so we met in hallway to be sure to be on same bus.

The drive to Pompeii was fine. Once we arrived our bus split into two groups. Our tour guide was lovely and everyone enjoyed looking at the ruins. We went to Pompeii in 2013 on our first cruise but DD1 was only 3 so she didn’t remember it. It definitely started to feel hot towards the end of our tour.

There is included gelato but it was not good quality. I’d option for the drink instead and purchase gelato from another stand.

The drive back to port was easy and then we had lunch at Cabanas and spent time at the pool. I ran before dinner (and am sure DH did too) and then started packing us all up. We had a full day tour the next day before flying to Paris and then home the following day so needed to be organized for that.

DD1 really wanted to get picked for the how well you know each other game. We tried twice but never got picked. We went and checked all of our Shutters photos and the girls said bye yo their friends before bed time.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Disembarkation Day

And now the least favorite… time to disembark. We were up and had final breakfast at Lumiere’s and said bye to our servers. Farizy was our main server and this was his first disney contract. The girls definitely liked him.

By the time we were done with breakfast, our minnie luggage group was being called so we went and found our luggage and then found our driver with Rome in Limos.

I should note here - when we left for Europe, you still had to Covid test to return to US and I didn’t want to be all stressed about testing and making a flight home that day so we booked a private driver and tour to Bracciano and Ceri. I’m really glad we made this choice. Bracciano is gorgeous and the castle had a guided walking tour. Our driver was spot on what our girls would like as well.

We ended the tour at rome airport to fly back to Paris for the evening. The airport was busy but sky priority to the rescue and bag drop only took 15 minutes for us. Once in Paris we found our hotel (Sheraton in CDG), ordered room service and slept before our travel day home.

 

[Ladybugx87]

Final thoughts

This cruise was absolutely amazing and I’m so glad we were finally able to do it. There are still some places getting into a new travel groove but we had a wonderful experience. The Magic has always been my favorite ship and I’m not sure we will sail on it again so that was a little sad.

Other thoughts
Laundry- laundry is crowded on these longer cruises. If you have first dining, many machines are open during late dining.

Crowds
The ship was noticeably less crowded than before. I felt spoiled by lack of lines and ease of finding seats

Weather
The weather can get hot - prepare with refillable water bottles.

Snacks
Given that many of these ports have longer tours, pack some favorite individually wrapped snacks to bring with you.

Passports
Have a hard copy of passports for all members. They would not accept a digital copy for my 7 year old for our Athens tour. They wanted hard copy proof of age.

Ask me any questions you might.

Up next for us is Wish in a few weeks and 2023 southern carribbean.

 

[FamilyHolidayPlanner]

Great report. I’m glad you finally got to experience this cruise - albeit 2 years later than planned.