Back from the Magic Caribbean 10/23-10/28 - Amazing!

[BrandiBelliveau]

Yes, for the Grand Cayman "Island Tour and Snorkeling With Stingrays" excursion, they had professional photography with the stingrays which was $40 for digital copies of all photos. I wish we had known, we didn't have that much money with us.

Thanks - I'll add a little note to my planning calendar

 

[Mickey4me!]

The Magic holds a special place in our hearts and I can wait to sail her again! We sail Nov 11 and are doing B2B and can't wait! Have never sailed our of Miami so I'm anxious to see how it works. Glad you enjoyed your trip.

 

[stickeymouse]

What was your favorite restaurant? Were there any dishes that stood out to you?

 

[anricat]

What was your favorite restaurant? Were there any dishes that stood out to you?

Lumiere's by far. I couldn't choose between main dishes that night and so my awesome server brought me a small portion of the wild mushroom ravioli, which was amazing, as an appetizer. Then I had the salmon for my main dish, which was INCREDIBLE. It was a beautiful piece of fish and so so good. I'm sure people are going to gasp, but I like it better than the turbot I had at Palo. Shhhhhh, don't tell! Otherwise, I love the pasta pursettes at Animator's. I ordered two helpings of those on Animator's night.

I also had a lovely piece of salmon for lunch at Lumiere's one day. It was slow poached with fingerling potatoes and asparagus. It was so simple, but the care it was cooked with was just wonderful. I was over the moon. I couldn't believe lunch could be so good. So definitely make sure to eat in an MDR for lunch at least once. We ate lunch at the MDR both sea days and it was superb. The second day I had a cold smoked salmon appetizer in Lumiere's that was also fantastic. I do like salmon and I found the salmon on the ship to be excellent every time I had it. I also enjoyed the shrimp pasta dish the last night on the Till We Meet Again menu. DH had the beef that night and he was very pleased with it.

And while I wasn't as into the turbot in palo (it wasn't bad, it just wasn't as flavorful as the salmon I had eaten for lunch that day), the chocolate soufflé there was TO DIE FOR. DH and I ordered one each (we were going to just have one to share, but the waiter talked us into ordering two, which was the right call) and we also ordered the orange almond cake and it was quite delicious as well. If you order the orange almond cake, pour the vanilla sauce on it from the chocolate souffle. Our server (we had Mo) recommended that and it was definitely the right way to go.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

How was the debarkation process, compared to Port Canaveral? We have a 9:00 shuttle to FLL and are
Debating carrying off our own luggage to save time.

 

[anricat]

How was the debarkation process, compared to Port Canaveral? We have a 9:00 shuttle to FLL and are
Debating carrying off our own luggage to save time.

We had second seating so we didn't even leave the restaurant until 9 AM. If you have main dining, that's no problem. I found debarkation to go much faster and quickly than Port Canaveral, but it's possible that's because I had only sailed the Dream and they were basically getting twice as many people off the ship. It went quickly and finding our luggage and going through customs was much faster.

 

[kamgen]

We leave on the Magic next week! Thanks for sharing your experience. Could you tell me what the nightly shows were in the Walt Disney Theatre? Also, we plan to arrive at port early and park at port. My mom is traveling with us and she is handicap (uses a walker). I am worried about the crowd control. Did they have an area she might be able to sit?
As for Shutters, is it all digital now or do they still print some of the photos for you to look at? Thanks so much!

 

[Jennifer777]

I'm wondering if you could give me a little more insight into the embarkation process as we've never cruised out of Miami. The issues you had, were they ever resolved with staff clearing out the area for those with early PATs to board or was it just a mess through the entire process? Is there any advice for those with early PATs to avoid having a stressful boarding experience? How was traffic getting to the port that morning? Thanks in advance for any advice/insight you may have on this. I'm a little nervous cruising out of an unfamiliar port. Debarkation I could care less about since we have plenty of time to get to the airport afterwards but I don't want to get off to a rough start when we leave.

 

[kamgen]

Jennifer777, I am with you. We have cruised 15 times, but always out of PC. I am a little worried about everything I hear about embarkation from Miami. We are parking right at the port (I hate shuttles). And we always get there as early as we can and board the ship in group one. Hoping to ease my nerves with some current information.

 

[anricat]

We leave on the Magic next week! Thanks for sharing your experience. Could you tell me what the nightly shows were in the Walt Disney Theatre? Also, we plan to arrive at port early and park at port. My mom is traveling with us and she is handicap (uses a walker). I am worried about the crowd control. Did they have an area she might be able to sit?
As for Shutters, is it all digital now or do they still print some of the photos for you to look at? Thanks so much!

We had the following shows in the Walt Disney Theatre:
All Aboard! Let the Magic Begin
Twice Charmed
Walt Disney: The Dream Goes On
Lynn Trefzger
Disney Dreams

Yes, there's a sitting area near the character meet and greet. I'm sure that if there are no seats available, that someone will give up a seat.

Shutters has books for each stateroom where you can see prints. I kind of wish they didn't. On disembarkation day we watched them start to dump all the prints from each book in a bin. What a waste.

 

[anricat]

I'm wondering if you could give me a little more insight into the embarkation process as we've never cruised out of Miami. The issues you had, were they ever resolved with staff clearing out the area for those with early PATs to board or was it just a mess through the entire process? Is there any advice for those with early PATs to avoid having a stressful boarding experience? How was traffic getting to the port that morning? Thanks in advance for any advice/insight you may have on this. I'm a little nervous cruising out of an unfamiliar port. Debarkation I could care less about since we have plenty of time to get to the airport afterwards but I don't want to get off to a rough start when we leave.

We left our room at the Intercontinental at exactly 10:30. I had some check out issues (someone had charged $90 worth of wine to our room at midnight and I had to sort that out). I'm not sure what time I grabbed the taxi, it was probably 10:40-10:45. There was very little traffic getting to port. By the time we unloaded, paid for the cab and handed our luggage over and walked in the door, I looked at my watch and it was 11 AM. Exactly our PAT. We had no line in the Silver Castaway Club line and we were checked in with our silver lanyards in just a few minutes. We had all our paperwork ready to go.

Mickey began greeting in the waiting area shortly thereafter, probably around 11:15. They didn't start boarding until almost noon. I thought it would be earlier, but people were just everywhere, piled up. The crew, which didn't have Disney insignias on their uniforms (I think they were generic port crew) were no help in telling people where to go or what to do. They didn't know when boarding would begin when I asked. They didn't know where people should wait (I asked) and they never asked people with later numbers to move aside. Basically I just came upon each family and asked what their number was and if it was less than 3, I told them politely that we had 3 and could we please move up. When I reached someone with 2 I stopped. Once they started calling numbers, it was fast. They called 1 and 2 and then probably 5 minutes later called 3 and 4.

 

[amanda ek]

No boarding until noon?! We have a morning flight and 11am PAT. Not looking forward to sitting at the port for an hour.

 

[Anonny]

We just got the spiral bound book with luggage tags for our December 9 cruise.

It says that boarding usually starts around 1:00 pm.
1:00 ??!!!
True?

 

[anricat]

Yah, I was surprised, I thought boarding would be around 11:30 but it wasn't until almost noon. I'm not sure why the booklet says 1 PM. I already chucked our booklet or I would see what ours says.

 

[pacific mermaid]

We did NOTHING at Castaway Cay and it was perfect! Actually, that's not really true, but I mean we didn't do any excursions or anything. We built sand castles, swam, went down the slides at Pelican Plunge, rented a raft to float around on and went to the sprinkler area. DH and I visited Serenity Bay for a little bit of time. It was a perfect day.

This kind of "nothing" sounds exactly what we're hoping for. I'm planning to run the 5K, but aside from that, I just want relaxation and blue water alllll day! Thanks for the details... it just makes me look forward to our cruise even more!

 

[anricat]

DH did the 5k. He was happy that the medal now has the year on it. DD and I watched a crew member drill from our veranda while he was running. She was riveted. They threw a dummy into the water and then lowered a lifeboat to retrieve it.

 

[Steve19842015]

Anricat,
I really enjoy your post. I'm not scheduled for our cruise until March 2017. We are scheduled for the exact same cruise. Same ship, Miami, nights and destinations. I'm using this thread as a guide.

 

[bethy]

We are on the cruise right after yours - our first cruise ever - and we LOVED it. And booked the Magic again for our next cruise in 2016. I really liked the size of the ship and am not sure I'd like a bigger one - I really am not a fan of crowds. I liked that I recognized people now and then throughout the cruise.

The crew were wonderful - absolutely wonderful! I felt so much magic just like I did in my early years of visiting the parks. The service was so so wonderful and I loved how close everything was - the rooms, to the entertainment, to the kids clubs, etc. I was blown away. We had a verandah which I loved and needed because I need to take little breaks from the excitement - we are a family who DOES spend a fair amount of time in the room. Luckily we had two connecting rooms.

Best of all was never having to worry about preparing food for my family - a dream come true for this busy mom. For me the food was good - not exceptional - but certainly good enough. I've never cruised before so I have nothing to compare it to besides a regular restaurant. I wouldn't want to pay an even higher fare for better food.

Our cruise was a four night but a double dip so that was pretty fun because I've always really wanted to visit CC. One more day would have been perfect for us. We were on vacation for the 10 days prior and so the four days were sufficient though.

We did no extras - no excursions, no Palo, etc For us, the cruise itself was the major luxury and was expensive enough

My only disappointments were Shutters and Scuttles Cove. The latter didn't have enough shade or programming - it was too hot and I wish the Oceaneers club had been open during CC.

Can't wait for our next Disney Cruise - which will be a Merrytime one!

 

[anricat]

I agree on both points about Shutters and Scuttles Cove. My DD doesn't like it.

 

[anricat]

Anricat,
I really enjoy your post. I'm not scheduled for our cruise until March 2017. We are scheduled for the exact same cruise. Same ship, Miami, nights and destinations. I'm using this thread as a guide.

Thank you so much! I'm working on my trip report which I'll be publishing soon. It will be in the trip reports portion of the forms. I also submitted my Personal Navigators to the Disney Cruise Line Blog and I'll post when they are up.