A Not Quite B2B (Magic/Fantasy) Double Cruise - May 2024

[Erica1016]

Introduction​

Welcome to our first official trip report! We’re Erica and Todd (mid-40’s) and we love Disney Cruise Line. We are also big park fans with many trips to WDW and two trips to Disneyland in the record books, but DCL has been where it’s at for us in the last couple of years. We have no children, but we do have a little dog that runs the house!

Our dog, Emmett, on a trip to our local dog park.​

This trip included 5 nights on the Magic and 7 nights on the Fantasy in what we’re dubbing a “double cruise”. It wasn’t back-to-back and wasn’t quite side-by-side as we had two days off in between. It was cruise numbers eight and nine for us. Number 10 will be on the Dream in December 2024 and we’ll be platinum when we sail on the Treasure (already booked) in 2025.

Todd and Erica waiting in line at Gideon's Bakehouse at
Disney Springs in January 2024 (Marathon Weekend).​

We did try RCCL, and while it was a nice trip, we’ve learned that DCL is just where our hearts lie. Some of the things we enjoy most about cruising include:

• Disconnecting from the real world!
• Interacting with cast members and other guests
• Simple activities keep us happy (trivia, games, people watching); we’re not party people
• Cruises feel kind of fancy — even though we’re NOT fancy people
• Something for everyone, you can be as active or idle as you like
• Food, of course! We’re in the camp of really enjoying the food on DCL.

Deep Fried Brie (Royal Court) - my favorite! Also, our DCL trivia team name.​

Lastly, Todd is very active and an avid runner, while I prefer to take it easy a bit more. To show the differences, we’ll be including our daily step counts and some time stamps to show how it really is possible to do what you want!

Chapters (links to completed posts)
Day 1: Traveling to San Juan, Puerto Rico
Day 2, Part 1: Embarkation Day on the Magic (Disney Magic, 5 nights, San Juan to Port Everglades)
Day 2, Part 2: Embarkation Day on the Magic
Day 3, Part 1: St. Thomas
Day 3, Part 2: St. Thomas
Day 4: Sea Day
Day 5: Nassau
Day 6, Part 1: Castaway Cay
Day 6, Part 2: Castaway Cay
Day 7 & 8, Disembarking the Magic, time in Coral Springs, FL
Day 9, Part 1: Embarkation Day on the Fantasy (7-night Eastern Caribbean from Port Canaveral)
Day 9, Part 2: Embarkation Day on the Fantasy
Day 10: Another Sea Day
Day 11: Luckily, we love sea days!
Day 12: Tortola
Day 13: St. Thomas #2
Day 14: Sea Day
Day 15: Castaway Cay #2
Day 16: Disembarking the Fantasy

 

[Erica1016]

Day 1 (May 3, 2024): Traveling to San Juan, Puerto Rico​

Originally, we’d booked the transatlantic cruise on the Dream for this time period, but the travel back from Barcelona was expensive and a bit overwhelming for us to plan. We opted to turn the trip into this double cruise, which was a bit more comfortable for us. Someday, we will do the transatlantic, though, I’m sure of it.

The first leg, a 5-night on the Magic would take us from San Juan to Port Everglades. We’d driven from our house in Central PA to Upstate NY the night before to drop Emmett off with Todd’s parents. We assured them that they didn’t have to, but they were generous enough to get up very early and take us to the airport for our 5:45 am flight. We left the house around 3:20 am and had a smooth ride to the airport., with Todd driving to spare his dad from needing to be too awake that early.

Us with Todd’s parents at the airport in Rochester, NY.​

Check-in, baggage drop and security all went quickly and we were sitting at our gate at around 4:20 am. It’s a nice airport, there were two areas sponsored by the Strong National Museum of Play that housed some various games and activities. We killed some time playing Memory, giant Etch-A-Sketch, trivia and also some “vintage” video games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders. It was a fun way to kill some time and it was very well done. Even the museum-type displays were very interesting.

The Strong National Museum of Play displays and play area at the Rochester airport.​

Our flight left on time with no problems and we were at our layover in Baltimore in no time. It was a bit strange as we usually fly out of Baltimore and don’t typically have layovers. Our second flight left on time and we were on our way! The flight time from Baltimore to San Juan was about 4 hours, so we kept busy playing some Monopoly Go! and eating some complimentary snacks.

Plane Snacks!​

There was quite a rain storm happening in Puerto Rico, so we were a bit delayed in landing. We ended up having to circle around and use a different runway. All-in-all, we were about 40 minutes late landing in San Juan, but we got there safely!

Arriving in San Juan, looks nice from a distance…but surprise, rain!​

One of the issues we knew we’d run into is that our phones did not have service in Puerto Rico. We couldn’t successfully connect to WiFi at the airport to use Uber, so we ended up getting a taxi at the taxi stand. The guys there were very helpful and we were off to our Airbnb in no time. The cab ride was…interesting…our taxi driver, Jonathan, was quite a character. It took a while to figure out that he was expecting us to put the address in our GPS and give him directions. Of course, that wouldn’t work on our phones, and eventually we were able to communicate that to him. This was right after he told us that if we didn’t know where we were going, we’d have to go back to the airport. Eventually, he gave me his phone and I was able to get us there. Despite his kookiness, he was very generous and gave us several bottles of water and a few snacks to take with us. The water ended up being very helpful!

We arrived at our AirBnB at 2:59 pm, which is mostly notable because the check-in time was listed as 3 pm, and originally we’d worried we’d be there too early. Because we weren’t able to travel any earlier to explore San Juan, we were just looking for somewhere sufficient to stay for the one night before the cruise. The place we found was a simple room with a small bathroom and kitchenette in the back of someone’s house. It was exactly as advertised, was clean and was easy to get into!

As advertised, a small room. Clean and sufficient for our needs, though.

The rest of the room. The light you see is coming up from the bathroom…that had no lid.

A small, but adequate bathroom. Although, we had no hot water for the morning showers.

The view out the door of our Airbnb. Luckily, Todd carried all the luggage up the steps.
We had lots of close neighbors to listen to. ​

The room had WiFi included, so Todd did a bit of work and I scrolled the Facebook page for our cruise hoping that everyone was going to make it on time with the weather. This was the first time I’d joined the FB groups for our cruises and it was fun to enjoy the excitement of everyone getting ready to sail!

Around 5:30 pm, we decided we needed to figure out something to get for dinner. While the actual space we were staying in felt secure, some of the area around where we were staying seemed a little questionable. We scouted out some places within a couple of blocks of our place and headed out to find some food. It was still raining, so we stuck under awnings and overhangs where we could and headed to the Burger and Mayo Lab.

The neighborhood we stayed in as we walked to dinner.

Todd in front of the Airbnb.
​

We were a little surprised to find the door locked when, clearly, the restaurant was open. It turned out that they had to come let you in. We assume this was for security purposes, which made us a bit more skeptical of the area for the short time we’d be there. The food was very good and reasonably priced. We ended up sharing a few small plates (Juicy Nachos, Sliders and Mac & Cheese). The people were very friendly and the place was clean and nicely decorated.

Todd in the restaurant where we had dinner.

Juicy Nachos (sounds weird, so tasty!), Sliders and Macaroni and Cheese at the Burger and Mayo Lab.​

After dinner, we headed back to the Airbnb. The early wake-up call was starting to catch up with me and I was pretty tired. I was more than fine with staying inside and going to bed early. Todd puttered online for a bit and I think I was asleep by 8:30 pm. There was a club of some sort with some loud music playing, which didn’t bother me at all, but when I woke up at 10:30 pm, it was completely quiet. I think we both slept very well and were well rested for embarkation day!

Step Count:
Todd’s Steps (May 3): 5,651
Erica’s Steps (May 3): 6,506

Sleep Tracker:
Todd’s Sleep (May 2-3): 4 hours, 32 minutes
Erica’s Sleep (May 2-3): 4 hours, 34 minutes

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[Erica1016]

Day 2, Part 1 (May 4, 2024): Embarkation Day on the Magic​

Finally, it was embarkation day for the Magic!

We woke to a beautiful day outside and we were excited to finally have reached embarkation day for the first of our double-cruise! We opted to just hang around our room rather than exploring the area too much based on our previous evening.

We caught up on an episode of Disney 100 Jeopardy and talked with Todd’s parents on Facetime one last time before being totally out of touch with the world. We don’t opt for the Internet package and even when we can connect in ports, we generally don’t. It’s so nice to be away from the real world.

We had some leftover plane snacks for breakfast and took showers. There really wasn’t hot water in the place, so the showers were rather quick. After a bit of re-organizing the packing — to reduce carry-on items — it was time to contact an Uber to take us to the port!

Our Uber ride was much less interesting, in all good ways, than our cab ride the day before. We ended up heading to the port a bit early because there was nothing else to do in the room and we were too excited. We were in the Uber around 10:30 and it was a short drive. Soon, we had handed over our bags and were in line for our 11:30 PAT group.

It was warm while we were waiting, but to us, it all was very calm and organized. We were near the front of the line, of course, since we’d arrived so early. They let the 11:00 am people in right on time and we ended up getting to go in a bit early. The check-in process was quite smooth and we were in the seating area waiting to board by 11:25 am. It wasn’t long at all before our boarding group was being called and we were on our way.

Waiting in the seating area for our boarding group to be called.

Just about to board. Todd is a much faster walker and was not-so-patiently waiting.​

It was so great to be back on the Magic! We’d last sailed on the Magic in December 2015 on a trip with my mom and our friend, Matt. We went up to explore the top decks a bit, and were headed for lunch, but nothing was open yet, it was still before noon.

One of my goals was to get the first ice cream on a sailing. I’d only made it to #2 before on the Dream, but this time, I was walking past Eye Scream just before it was going to open at 12. A cast member (John) asked if I was lost or looking for something and I had to explain that I just wanted to be first in line. He played along well and didn’t act like I was too crazy. He ended up being the one that was going to open it and gave me a wink when he opened it a few minutes ahead of time.

It’s almost time for ice cream!​

We went to Cabanas almost immediately to get some lunch. We’ve done both Cabanas and the MDR for lunch at embarkation and have enjoyed both. This time, I wanted to sit outside to look at the port while we ate, since this was a new one for us. Luckily, it wasn’t too hectic and we got food and a table outside very easily. Perhaps we lucked out getting there right when it was opening.

Lunch with a view and POG!​

We were done with lunch around 12:30 and then spent some time walking around, exploring the ship and enjoying the views of San Juan. Rooms became available and we were able to get in right around 1:30. One of our bags was there, but not the others, yet. We saw that there was a trivia happening at 1:45, so we ran up to D-Lounge for that.

The first of many trivia sessions for team “Deep Fried Brie” on this trip.​

After trivia, we went back to the room and the rest of our luggage had arrived. After Todd helped me get the suitcases out to unpack, he went off exploring and I did my thing. One of my favorite parts of embarkation day is moving in and settling all our stuff in a place so we can just relax the rest of the time. While I was finding a place for everything, Todd was out exploring. Eventually, he came back and I told him where all his stuff was.

Our decorated door with magnets we’ve made from each trip as well as our first fish extender.

Our humble abode for the next 5 nights. ​

By now, it was about time for the muster drill. Our station was in the Walt Disney Theater, which I enjoyed. Todd was excited to get a seat on the aisle so he could run up to get a good spot for the Sail-A-Wave party. He was one of the first people up to deck 10! Unfortunately, it had started raining.

Todd’s rainy view as he got up to deck 10 all alone.​

I’d heard the announcement on my way up and was able to get a decent spot on Deck 5 overlooking the atrium for the indoor version of the party. Eventually, Todd found me, which I knew he would! This was the first time we’d ever had the sail away party indoors, so while we’d have rather been outside, it was interesting to see it indoors in person.

Our first indoor Sail-A-Wave (or any sail away) party.
​

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[knarly]

Enjoying your report so far! We're sailing on the Magic late this summer for the first time, so I'm looking forward to seeing how your trip went.

 

[Erica1016]

Enjoying your report so far! We're sailing on the Magic late this summer for the first time, so I'm looking forward to seeing how your trip went.

Glad to have you along! Let me know if there is anything specific I can tell you about or questions I can answer. As I mentioned, we hadn't sailed on the Magic in quite some time, but we really enjoyed it. Todd had said he was a bit skeptical as he really loves the bigger Fantasy and Dream. But, he just said yeseterday that he enjoyed it more than he'd remembered and he'd be happy to go on the Magic or Wonder again!

Have you sailed on any of the other Disney ships?

 

[Erica1016]

Day 2, Part 2 (May 4, 2024): Embarkation Day on the Magic​

After the party, it had already stopped raining. Spoiler alert- this was the ONLY rain during our entire trip! We went up to deck 10 to continue people watching and ended up watching planes landing and taking off at the nearby air strip for quite a while. We didn’t end up actually sailing away and leaving port until around 6 pm.

Watching the planes come and go and waiting to set sail.​

There was a magician, Zak Mirz, in the Walt Disney Theater that evening, but we opted not to go. We knew that we’d catch his adults-only show later in the cruise and we were more interested in watching from the upper decks as we sailed away. Todd was especially interested in seeing the fort (Castillo San Felipe del Morro) since that’s what he remembered most from being in San Juan on a cruise stop as a kid.

Todd back at the fort, Castillo San Felipe del Morro, 34 years later.​

We headed back to the room to get freshened up for dinner. While we don’t dress super fancy by any means, we do like to change into something that resembles “real clothes” for dinner rather than the comfy athletic-type clothes we wear during the day.

Dinner was in Animator’s Palate and we weren’t sure if we’d have table mates or not. We’ve had good luck in the past and typically enjoy meeting new people. We were happy to find that there was a couple at our table, so it would be the four of us. Stuart and Laura were around our age and also had no children. It was their first Disney cruise! We ended up having quite a bit of fun with them and there was never a lack of something to talk about. You’ll hear throughout the cruise of some times we met up with them outside of dinner as well.

This was our first time having the Let the Magic Begin menu and we really enjoyed it! We’re doing another 5-night sailing in December and are hoping we’ll see it then. I had the chicken bastilla appetizer, the cous cous salad and the spinach, sweet potato and lentil dahl. Todd had the chicken bastilla, both soups (clam chowder and chilled mango and papaya) as well as the dahl. For dessert, we each had both the mango marble cheesecake and the dark chocolate bombe. You’re going to notice a trend with Todd and soups!

The dahl from the Let the Magic Begin menu.

Dark Chocolate Bombe and Mango Marble Cheesecake from the Let the Magic Begin menu.​

After dinner, we followed our usual cruise routine and headed to Fathoms for whatever adult-only entertainment was happening. The host for the week was Danny. We weren’t sure of him at first, but ended up quite enjoying his style. He was very witty and quick and had a somewhat dry sense of humor, which is right up my alley. This evening was music trivia of some sort…we did not do well (19/40) and then Magic Quest. We’d joined a nearby family (Denine, Jerry and Kaylee) and thanks to Kaylee being so quick, we won!

After all the shenanigans, we were headed back to the room for bed. Our room host, Victor, did a great job with our towel animals and keeping everything tip-top during our trip. We headed to bed around 11:45 pm.

Step Count:
Todd’s Steps (May 4): 12,187
Erica’s Steps (May 4): 10,869

Sleep Tracker:
Todd’s Sleep (May 3-4): 8 hrs, 47 min
Erica’s Sleep (May 3-4): 10 hrs, 5 min

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[knarly]

Glad to have you along! Let me know if there is anything specific I can tell you about or questions I can answer. As I mentioned, we hadn't sailed on the Magic in quite some time, but we really enjoyed it. Todd had said he was a bit skeptical as he really loves the bigger Fantasy and Dream. But, he just said yeseterday that he enjoyed it more than he'd remembered and he'd be happy to go on the Magic or Wonder again!

Have you sailed on any of the other Disney ships?

We've sailed once each on the Dream and Fantasy, so I'm mostly just curious how the vibe compares on the classic ships! Also, did you spend any time at the new Soul Cat Lounge? We're not really a trivia family but enjoy a good hangout spot.

 

[Erica1016]

We've sailed once each on the Dream and Fantasy, so I'm mostly just curious how the vibe compares on the classic ships! Also, did you spend any time at the new Soul Cat Lounge? We're not really a trivia family but enjoy a good hangout spot.

We were there mostly for trivia, but it was a nice space. I enjoyed the atmosphere. There were often a few people sitting at the bar and in the further end there were a few times I saw families sitting and playing games. In addition to trivia, they also did crafts there sometimes and a few characters walked through the adjacent hallway, which was fun.

 

[Erica1016]

Day 3, Part 1 (May 5, 2024): St. Thomas​

Today was our first port day of the trip, but we didn’t have any excursions planned. We didn’t book any specific excursions for this trip. We’ve done a few here and there, but for the most part we’re happy just walking around a port and then spending time on the ship.

Todd got up and ran and after he came back and showered, he went to the abs class while I started waking up. I met him for breakfast around 8:00 at Cabanas and we sat outside. I was so excited to have my “usual” cruise breakfast! I always say I’m going to get some other things, but this is my favorite!! Todd’s plate always looks like a kid was let loose at the buffet, Mickey waffles and lots of toppings.

Erica’s standard cruise breakfast: croissant (from Cove Cafe), bacon, hashbrown, fruit and chocolate milk.

Todd’s typical cruise breakfast includes eggs Benedict and Mickey Waffles with all the toppings.​

After breakfast, I took my book to Soul Cat Lounge to read for a bit before Todd came to meet me for Ultimate Disney Trivia. We ended up winning with a score of 12/20, which was a bit low. However, since it was a port day, there were only five other people/teams there. We had fun meeting people that we’d see throughout the trip.

A little reading in Soul Cat lounge while waiting for trivia.​

After trivia, we ran into Thor, Spiderman and Black Panther wandering the halls. Thor did an excellent impression of his screaming goats for me, it was hilarious. I ended up running into him a few other times and he kept doing it, he was so proud of himself.

Running into some superhero friends in the hallway.​

We headed back to the room to regroup and get off the ship for a while. When we were in St. Thomas on a cruise last year, we walked towards town. There’s a fairly nice walkway along the bay that’s been built in recent years. The only negative is that there’s not much shade, so it gets very hot! We got off around 10:30 am and walked to the edge of downtown and back (about 2.7 miles). The views are so nice and they were setting up for a carnival at the edge of town.

From our walk in St. Thomas. I love the harbor and seeing the ship in the background the whole time.

The carnival looked like it was going to be fun.

The map of where we walked from my Garmin.​

After our walk, I was hot and ready for some ice cream and air conditioning! We were back on board at 11:45 and I immediately went for ice cream. Today’s flavor was mint, which I don’t recall having had before. It was good, unfortunately, we wouldn’t see it again for the rest of the trip.

We then got some shawarma and a couple of chicken tenders for lunch. We also stopped in Cabanas to check out the desserts and the “football” cheesecake of the day. Today’s flavor was raspberry, I was waiting for peanut butter!

Shawarma (available on the Magic and Wonder). It was good, but not as good as I remembered from last time.

Todd picked up a few extra items when he got my “football” cheesecake of the day.​

 

[buteraa]

Hi, following along!

 

[Erica1016]

Hi, following along!

Welcome! This is helping me make the trip last a bit longer and a bit less sad for having to be done with vacation.

 

[Erica1016]

Day 3, Part 2 (May 5, 2024): St. Thomas​

After lunch, we settled into “nothing” time. This is what we ended up calling it when we didn’t have any specific activities planned. I would usually sit in a lounger on Deck 4 watching the views and either reading or today, scrolling the app to heart activities that interested us. I may or may not have also taken a short nap. Todd went back to the room to take a shower and then did his favorite “nothing” activity of walking all around. Usually, he ends up on Deck 10 people watching, watching some Funnel Vision and generally just exploring.

Erica’s “nothing” time on Deck 4. One of my very favorite views.

Todd’s “nothing” time, people watching and ship exploring.​

We then did a couple of trivias between 2-3:30 pm, including General Disney Knowledge and a Disney Parks trivia. We met a fellow guest named Jared that played the parks trivia with us and we chatted with him for a while. We’d end up teaming up for a few other trivias and hanging out with him a few times throughout the trip.

We’d left port around 1 pm, so the shops were open. We strolled through a bit before heading back to the room to put on swimsuits. We went up to the Quiet Cove pool for a bit and grabbed an afternoon snack of pizza and a cranberry slice for Todd. We headed back to the room around 5 pm to shower and get dressed for the evening.

Next up was Twice Charmed in the Walt Disney Theater. We hadn’t seen this show in a long time and didn’t quite remember the story, so that was fun. As usual, the cast was great and the production was well done. We really enjoy the shows!

A quick walk on Deck 4 before dinner.​

Dinner tonight was at Rapunzel’s Royal Table, which I was really looking forward to. Tangled is one of my absolute favorites! Our tablemates had a Palo reservation, so they weren’t with us. The restaurant is so well-themed and I loved the atmosphere. Our table wasn’t great for seeing the show, but it was fine. The downside of this meal was our service. Typically, we love our dining experience, but this night was not great. Our drinks were late, our server gave me the dessert menu while Todd was still eating his entree and then was rushing me to decide while I was waiting for Todd. The entire time felt rushed and impersonal, which doesn’t typically happen for us. In observing the tables around us, most people were leaving before the show even happened. It was all very strange. We enjoyed the food and what we could observe of the show, but overall it wasn’t the experience I’d been hoping for.

Snuggly Duckling Platter at Rapunzel’s Royal Table

Tangled Pasta (pesto and scallops) at Rapunzel’s Royal Table​

After dinner, we headed to Fathoms for Majority Rules and Match Your Mate. It was a fun time, as always, but nothing specific to report. We headed back to the room to check out our towel animal and headed to bed around 11:30 or so.

This guy was one of our favorites from Victor.​

Step Count:
Todd’s Steps (May 5): 29,469
Erica’s Steps (May 5): 16,896

Sleep Tracker:
Todd’s Sleep (May 4-5): 5 hrs, 24 min
Erica’s Sleep (May 4-5): 7 hrs, 12 min

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[KGmomoftwins]

Loving your report. We will be on the magic in August and I’m getting excited

 

[Erica1016]

Day 4 (May 6, 2024): Day at Sea​

This was our first day at sea while on this trip. We love sea days and this 5-night cruise only had one . Todd stuck with his normal routine of running and going to the abs class while I took my time waking up. We went to Royal Court for sit-down (table service) breakfast. It was VERY busy, but we still got seated quickly and had great service. I love the French toast and my favorite thing is not having to decide on a drink because I can choose them all…juice, milk and coffee! Don’t worry, Todd didn’t skip his sugar, he had the PB&J Typhoon from the kid’s menu along with his eggs Benedict.

All of our breakfast drinks.

The Peanut Butter and Jelly Typhoon from the sit-down breakfast kid’s menu.​

After breakfast, we stopped by the D Lounge to watch some of the Disney Jr. Dance Party. We always have fun watching kids interact with the characters at things like this. We were then off to our first trivia of the day, sports trivia, at O’Gills.

Sports Trivia, not winners, but we had fun.​

We did not win sports trivia, but we weren’t really expecting to. It was fun, though. We then went and walked a lap on Deck 4 and then headed up to Deck 10 to walk around there. It was quite windy and I had to be careful not to lose my earrings! I got some ice cream, and then relaxed in the Quiet Cove area looking out over the water while Todd continued to walk around and explore and probably get more cranberry slices from Cove Cafe.

A very windy walk on Deck 10.​

At 11:30, it was time for Jack Jack’s Diaper Dash. This is always fun to stop and watch for a bit. There was one baby that just decided this was a time for walking and refused to crawl. They ended up disqualified, but they were super cute!

It was then time for two more trivias. First was general knowledge, which we never do well at. The highlight for Todd was that today was going to be a trivia for RunDisney. As I’ve mentioned, he’s a runner and has participated in WDW Marathon Weekend six times, including four Dopey Challenges. The RunDisney trivia was pretty tough, we got only 9/20! It was a fun crowd, though and he met a couple of other RunDisney fans.

More trivia, and drinks that Todd brought me.​

We were now ready for lunch and were thinking of “deck snacks,” which is what we call the pool deck quick-service food. Before that, we had to walk through Cabanas to check it out and today was Indian food day at the ethnic corner. So, we stayed there!! It was all very good, in my opinion. I was stuffed!
Todd ran into someone who noticed his Bucknell shirt and chatted with him for a few minutes and then we headed back to Deck 4 for another lap after lunch.

Indian food day at Cabanas, yum.​

At 2 pm, we did a Disney tunes trivia with our new trivia friend from the day before, Jared. After that, I had some “nothing time” relaxing on Deck 4 while Todd wandered about. At 4 pm, it was time for our favorite of all the trivia topics, Disney Cruise Line Trivia! We again played with Jared and ended up in second place (18/20). We also had a great conversation with the cast member, Aneka, that was running trivia most of that day. We chatted a lot about cast members that she knew that we knew and how we’d be seeing them the next week on the Fantasy. She was also telling us about how she was hoping to be able to go see the Wish the next day when we’d be in port together in Nassau.

If you can’t tell based on this day, this would end up being a very trivia heavy trip for us. We love trivia, so it was perfect for us. I should say that there are lots of activities available, so there really is something for everyone!

It was now time to clean up for the evening. The show in the theater was Tangled: The Musical. I love Tangled and even though we’d seen this show before, it did not disappoint. Flynn was great and the woman playing Mother Gothel was fantastic! We’d later learn that she was a Broadway Guest Performer — more about that later.

We stopped at O’Gills for 90’s music trivia between the show and dinner and ended up playing with our tablemates, Laura and Stuart. We didn’t win, but it was much more fun having them since Stuart actually knew a lot of the songs and Todd doesn’t know anything but Disney music. I always like the adult-only music trivia in the evenings because the crowd is usually good and it’s fun to all sing along at the end.

Dinner was at Lumiere’s for the regular menu. We continued to have a great time with Stuart and Laura and enjoyed hearing about their evening at Palo the night before. They loved it, of course. Todd was happy because Laura embraced Todd’s two soup method and ordered both. This would continue on future nights as well, Todd was a trend-setter! We told them about the strange timing and rushed feeling the night before, but luckily this night was much better. We still had very little interaction from our server, but we did have a nice conversation with our head server, so it was feeling a bit better. This is one of my favorite meals because of the deep fried brie! We ordered extra, of course.

Todd’s two soups, Potato Leek and French Onion.​

Somehow, I failed to mention that we’d each participated in the game show Mouseketeer Madness on embarkation day and had won. During that, we met Jana and Erik (who also played) because they’re from Pennsylvania as well. We saw them and spent some time together throughout the cruise and sat with them on this night in Fathoms during the game show “Heard That?”. Jana and I went up to play a round and had a lot of fun, she won. This was also the evening of the magician’s adult-only show. It was okay, but not great. I was glad we’d watched the sail away on embarkation day rather than going to his main show. In his defense, there were some technical problems with the microphone and I think it was throwing him off. Again, it was okay, but I would have been fine doing something else.

As is our routine, we headed back for bed around 11 pm. This was our favorite towel animal from Victor because it looked so much like our dog. Did I mention that we had a picture of him in our room that we brought with us??

A towel animal that looks just like Emmett!​

Step Count:
Todd’s Steps (May 6): 24,821
Erica’s Steps (May 6): 9,709

Sleep Tracker:
Todd’s Sleep (May 5-6): 5 hrs, 22 min
Erica’s Sleep (May 5-6): 7 hrs, 43 min

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[iona]

Really enjoying reading your report. I think we might have been on the same Fantasy Cruise as you - waiting to find out!

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I love how you add the step count and sleep stats!

 

[Erica1016]

Really enjoying reading your report. I think we might have been on the same Fantasy Cruise as you - waiting to find out!

May 11th - 18th? It was such a fun cruise!

 

[Erica1016]

I love how you add the step count and sleep stats!

That was Todd's idea. He likes data and was striving each day to see if he'd hit 30K steps just naturally...you'll have to keep watching to find out. I think he also likes seeing how different our data is since he just wants to be moving all the time and I don't.

 

[Erica1016]

Day 5 (May 7, 2024): Nassau​

Something you’ll likely notice about us is that we’re creatures of habit and routine. While vacation and cruises are different from home, we end up falling into a daily routine rather quickly, but that’s what we like.

This day started out pretty similarly to the others so far. Todd ran, but didn’t go to the stretching class. Abs class was at an earlier time and he wasn’t done with his run early enough. I got up to meet him for breakfast and picked up a croissant from Cove Cafe to bring along to Cabanas, because I like them better there. Another addition to my regular cruise breakfast that started last year is getting some seeds and dried cranberries from the oatmeal bar in a little dish.

Another standard breakfast at Cabanas, with a croissant from Cove Cafe.​

At 9:15, we were ready for our favorite trivia topic, Disney Cruise Line. We tied with 17/20, but won the tiebreaker by knowing the exact length of the Dream (1,115 ft). Admittedly, we’re DCL nerds and know tons of random facts. We quiz each other regularly so that we’ll remember them.

One of what will become many trivia medallions.​

At 10:30, we went to the DVC preview. Even though we’re not likely to buy into DVC, Todd was interested in seeing how they present the information. I was in it for the $50 room credit and free bottle of water.

Around 11 am, we were pulling into Nassau. The best part was that we’d be docked next to the Disney Wish! We’d never been in port with another Disney ship while on a Disney ship, so this was very fun for us. This ended up being a great source of entertainment for us throughout the day. Several cast members from the Wish were coming onto the Magic to look around and see the atrium. They were all in awe of how small it is compared to the Grand Hall on the Wish. It was very fun to watch them absorb it. We also really enjoyed seeing the cast members from each ship meeting out on the pier to say hello and catch up.

Pulling into Nassau next to the Wish.​

Today, we opted for sit-down lunch at Rapunzel’s Royal Table because I wanted to spend a bit more time absorbing the decor and atmosphere. It did not disappoint, it is so well-themed. Everything we had from this lunch menu was very good and we were quite full. We could also see the Wish while we ate.

Todd at Rapunzel’s Royal Table for lunch.

Cobb salad from sit-down lunch.​

After lunch, we went to another trivia at Soul Cat Lounge. This time was Disney movie quotes, our worst topic by far. There were only a few of us participating and I was very happy for the couple that won because they’d been really trying to win some medallions and kept coming in second. She was so happy to finally win one!

We bumped into a cast member, Ivan, that we remembered from last year that was visiting from the Wish, so we chatted with him for a few minutes. We were also able to spend a bit of time getting to know Victor, the cast member doing most of the trivia on this port day. He is from Brazil and when we told him we’d be on the Fantasy next week, he insisted that we had to bring a big hello to his friend Lany for him.

At 2:30, we decided to try Disney Channel trivia. This was a new trivia topic for us, so we were curious what they’d ask. We ran into Jared’s sister, Bree and asked if we could team up. It ended up being a great match because she knew all the stuff we didn’t. We ended up winning with 18/20.

Around 3 pm, we got off the ship to check out the new port area. This was the first time we’d been to Nassau since they finished upgrading the port area and I was interested in checking it out. It was a pleasant area to walk through and we went to the end to see the water and boats. I also really wanted to see the big screen with various sea life that is there right when you get off. And of course, we had to take a few photos of the two ships together!

Just a girl and her Disney ships.

The oldest and the youngest of the fleet, for now.

The Magic and the Wish in Nassau.

The new port area in Nassau. ​

Around 4:30, we went up to Deck 10 to watch the last passengers board the Wish and her sail away. I was really hoping for a horn battle! Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. We made friends with some people while we waited and had some great conversations about all their cruises. One couple was from England and they were in the middle of a trip that included 3 cruises and WDW! Goals!

One of my favorite things to observe was just after they pulled in the gangway on the Wish. Right before they closed the door, a crew member popped out with some Monica blue paint to touch up the side of the ship where the gangway had been resting. It’s that kind of attention to detail that we love about DCL.

See ya real soon, Wish.​

We stayed up top for quite a while because we wouldn’t be going to the Walt Disney Theater. Tonight, they were showing Wish and we’d seen it only a few weeks before. After going back to the room to clean up and get ready for pirate night, we went up to Deck 10 again to watch us sail away around 6:45 pm.

Leaving Nassau into a beautiful sunset.​

Before dinner, we stopped at O’Gills for the 2000’s music trivia. As I mentioned in the previous post, this is not a strong suit for us, but I really enjoy the atmosphere. We teamed up with Steven, who we’d chatted with at sports trivia the day before. Eventually, his wife came and was really helpful! We still didn’t win, but it was fun.

We were at Animator’s Palate for dinner, which is my favorite for pirate night. I love the atmosphere with all the pirate-themed pictures on the screens and that they can change the lighting. Stuart and Laura had very good costumes, but I didn’t get a picture. A lot of people don’t enjoy the Pirate menu, but I like it. I don’t particularly care for any of the entrees, but I really like the appetizers, soup and salad. I’ve learned to ask for crab cakes for my entree and it was a game changer. By now, Stuart was loving that we kept taking pictures of food and wanted us to take a picture of his, too! You can kind of see his shirt in the background.

Stuart in his cool pirate shirt getting in on the food picture action.​

After dinner, the four of us went up to Deck 10 to watch the Pirate Party and fireworks. The atmosphere was fun and it was a joy to watch Stuart and Laura experience it for the first time. We then all decided to go check out adult karaoke at Fathoms. It was generally not-good, but it was fun to watch and I enjoyed hanging out a bit more with our tablemates.

It was a slightly later night for us, not getting back to the room until about midnight. Of course, our towel animal was the standard pirate.

A standard pirate on pirate night.​

Step Count:
Todd’s Steps (May 7): 25,227
Erica’s Steps (May 7): 14,887

Sleep Tracker:
Todd’s Sleep (May 6-7): 5 hours, 35 minutes
Erica’s Sleep (May 6-7): no data, I left my watch charging all night

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[iona]

May 11th - 18th? It was such a fun cruise!

That’s the one