Chatty's 1/18 Disney Magic Cruise

[Chattyaholic]

This was our second time on the Magic, as two years ago we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary sailing the Eastern itinerary. DH and I are both 45. Rather than making this one very, very LONG post that would include the entire cruise, and rather than writing each day as an individual thread, I will do it here on this thread day-by-day.

1/18 Day One: Embarkation Day!!
We spent two nights before the cruise at Quality Suites in Cocoa Beach, just down the street from the famous Radisson where a lot of people stay. I waited too long to make my reservation at the Radisson and it was full, so we chose Quality and we were not disappointed. Very nice two-room suite with an oceanfront view, and wonderful deluxe breakfast included for $80 per night. We checked out of our room at 10:00 a.m. and got to the cruise terminal at 10:15. DH dropped me and our luggage off (a porter took the bags right away and we tipped him $5) then he went to park the car in the designated area ($10 per day). We went inside the terminal to check in shortly after 10:30. We only waited 2-3 minutes to check in and it was a breeze. We had all of our paperwork filled out prior to checking in. We were given our Key-to-the-World cards, and since a small line had already begun to form for boarding, we decided to join in. I have to say Carnival has a better system for waiting in line than Disney does, as Carnival has several rows of chairs and they point you in that direction before boarding begins. You don't have to stand and wait, as you do with Disney. I feel Disney could set up several rows of chairs for people to sit in and wait, just as Carnival does. It was much nicer sitting and waiting, than standing and waiting. We had to stand for over an hour before boarding began so it just would have been nicer to be able to sit during that time. We boarded about 12:15, had the embarkation photo taken but we weren't at all pleased with it so didn't buy it. They no longer take the photo AFTER you board the ship, but just before, so you have other people standing in line in the background. Doesn't make for a nice picture. I would have bought it had strangers not been right there with us! We headed right for Rockin' Bar D to make our Palo reservations. It was very simple to do and we got the night we wanted for dinner. We also made a reservation for brunch, but later cancelled it. Headed up to Topsiders for the "Welcome Aboard" buffet, it was very nice and had a great selection we thought. You weren't allowed to put food onto your own plate, servers did that for you. It was that way most of the week, until Thursday morning then they started letting people dish up there own. Anyway, we each had some of the jumbo shrimp and the girl put the shrimp sauce all over the shrimp. We didn't realize until AFTER we started eating that the shrimp weren't peeled!!! Made it rather messy to try and peel them, with the sauce already on!! Ick!! I wondered why she just didn't put the sauce at the side. We had a category 6 stateroom, on the starboard side, room #6578 and we went there about 1:15 to drop our bags off. The hostess was just finishing up with the room so it worked out very well. On our previous Carnival cruise taken the week before, we just had an inside room and it was fine for a short 4-night cruise. But on the Magic we HAVE to have a veranda, and we definitely enjoyed it. Went up to the ESPN skybox and DH bought a beer mug for $9.99 and then each time he wanted it refilled they gave him 16 ounces for the price of 12. He used it a LOT during the week, and it made a nice souvenir to bring home too. I bought the soda mug for $35 and definitely got my money's worth throughout the week. I could take it to any bar and have it refilled with Diet Coke for free. It definitely saved on the purchase of those tropical drinks. I just felt that since I had already paid for the mug I might as well stick to Diet Coke! And it was a nice souvenir to bring home too!! We walked around up on top for awhile but it was rather chilly (only 48 degrees when we left the hotel earlier that morning) but still sunny. Our luggage arrived at 3:15 so we unpacked and I had almost everything put away before the lifeboat drill at 4:00. After the drill DH went up top and I took a quick shower and got dressed for dinner. The split bath on the Magic is so nice, with tub/shower and a sink in one part and the toilet and a sink in the other. Really convenient!! Watched us leave port at 5:00 from the privacy of our own balcony, as I'm really not one to enjoy being in a huge crowd such as at the sailaway party. DH joined me on the balcony after he started watching us sail away from up on top. We had early seating for dinner, which is what we really prefer, so we went down a couple minutes before 6:00. We had table #68, and our first night was at Lumiere's (my least favorite restaurant). We were at a table for four (preferred that over a larger table) and were seated with a couple from Connecticut. They were a bit older than us, and DVC members (which we are not and really have no interest in, but they wanted to talk about it anyway) but we got along fine with them so dinners weren't at all painful. We had Sachin from India as our server and he was EXCELLENT! Absolutely TOP NOTCH!! He was very sweet all week, meeting us at the door and escorting us to the table, very interactive, did several cute magic tricks, brought extra entrees and desserts for us to try, and we just enjoyed him so much. Zita, from Hungary, was our assistant server and she was a sweetheart all week, always smiling and pleasant and attentive and helpful. Beata, from Hungary, was the head server and did a wonderful job all week. She greeted people, went from table to table each night talking to people and checking to see if dinner was all right, etc. She made the Caesar salad, helped serve food, and was very visible all week. We complimented all three on their wondeful service, and tipped well above the recommended amount to each and I wrote personal notes to them all as well. They were GREAT! Anyway, back to dinner...I had the pearls of seasonal melon in port wine as my starter, the cauliflower soup, roast duck with mashed potatoes, parsnips and orange sauce as my entree, and creme brulet for dessert. It was all delicious!!! After dinner we went to the show in the Walt Disney Theater. It was the "Welcome Aboard" variety show with Gary Delena (he was good) and David Morgan & Chucky (excellent!!!). He made Chucky (duck puppet) seem so REAL!! He was great!! They also had a couple production numbers with the singers/dancers and Disney characters, complete with fireworks and bubbles, at the end so it was very, very nice. After the show we listened awhile to Ben and Dana at the Promenade Bar (they were good) and then went down to Rockin' Bar D to listen to and enjoy the Johnny Danger Band. DH went up top with his GPS, and I went shopping in the shops! A very nice first day of the cruise!!

 

[Chattyaholic]

We went to Topsider's for breakfast, as we did each morning of the cruise. Then we went to see the 10:00 showing of "Sweet Home Alabama" in the Buena Vista Theater. On our first cruise I wondered why people wanted to go see a movie, that they could just as easily see at home, so we didn't go to one. But this time we decided to give it a try and we enjoyed it. I had seen the movie before, but DH hadn't. The only downside, was the interruption THREE times for announcements. That was quite annoying to the whole group trying to watch the movie. After the movie, we went back to Topsiders for lunch. It was an Italian menu so I really didn't find much that I wanted except the artichoke and mushroom salad and the Mahi Mahi, both were very good. Went to the dessert table and chose tiramisu and a chocolate cake with a thin layer of fudge icing, both were very good. We were docked at Key West from 12:30 - 10:15 p.m. but after much debate we decided not to get off the ship. I knew I was going to want to spend money in the other ports, so decided I didn't want to go shopping and spend money at Key West. We just pretended it was a "day at sea" and enjoyed lounging in the sun on the "secret deck" #7, aft. No one else was out there, except a couple kids came out once to look around, but we were alone for a couple of hours, it was nice and peaceful. Later we came back to the room and ordered room service. We got "All Hands On Deck" which is an assortment of several cheeses, crackers, grapes and walnuts. We also got four Big Island cookies (delicious!!) and a pitcher of iced tea (which we drank part of, then saved the rest for later). We were in Animator's Palate for dinner and they had the "show" so that was enjoyable and since our table was more in the center of the room (our first cruise we were on a wall) we were able to enjoy the full effects a little more. I had the smoked salmon for my appetizer, the Caesar salad (delicious!) and the maple glazed salmon for my entree, which came with fresh buttered green beans and mashed potatoes, really, really good!! I had strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Tonight's show was "Morty the Magnificent." I could have skipped it, but DH wanted to see it so I went along. It was cute, but just not enough magic. At 10:30 we went down to Rockin' Bar D to see the adult show, with David Morgan & Chucky. Took him awhile to finally get Chucky out of the bag, but it was a good show. Hard to remember Chucky isn't "real", but just a puppet. We were doing a little "rocking & rolling" since leaving Key West and something I had at dinner wasn't "sitting well" with me so I opted to skip the "Match Your Mate" show (DH stayed, and said they didn't pick very good couples). I took a couple Tums when I got back to the room, and laid down to read and within 10-15 minutes I was feeling much better. We were able to leave our balcony door open all night that night (did the rest of the week too except for Fri. and Sat.) and we were lulled to sleep by the sound of the ocean.

 

[Chattyaholic]

Topsiders again for breakfast, but it was warm enough that we chose a table outside, partly sunny but not breezy so it was nice. After breakfast we went to deck #4 and enjoyed relaxing in those "nice wooden blue-cushioned loungers" for awhile. About 10:15 we went down to Shutters to look for our Mickey & Minnie picture we'd had taken by Lumiere's the first night. We liked it very much so bought it (6x8 $9.95). We didn't buy many photos this time, as we had gotten several from our first cruise and we haven't changed much since then so didn't feel the need to have many taken. We had seen pictures in Shutters with a background of the bow of the ship and a sunset and we had hoped to have that one taken, but we never saw the background being used so we missed it. I think it would be nice if they would post a schedule of when and where they're using their backgrounds each night. They could post it just outside the doors at Shutters. Then people would know, for each night, which backgrounds are being used and where to find them. Came back to the room to drop off our picture and Kirk decided to stay and read on the balcony and I went shopping again at Treasure Ketch and Mickey's Mates!! Spent more $$$ For lunch I opted to order room service while DH went up for a burger and fries at Pluto's Doghouse. I had a tuna sandwich (it came with potato chips, so that satisfied my craving for "something salty" ), a Big Island cookie and iced tea. And I was able to watch half of "The Young & The Restless" while I ate my lunch. Decided to take a nap and needed to leave the door "unbolted" in case DH decided to come back, but just as I was dozing off Sharon (stateroom hostess) knocked on the door and walked in with fresh ice. Although I appreciated the ice, I would have liked it better if she would have given it to us twice a day (morning and night, during cleaning/turndown times) like our stateroom host, Javier, did on our previous cruise. I feel that a stateroom host/hostess should finish their duties during the morning cleaning, or evening turn-down, then they don't have the need to enter your room at any other time of the day, when you might be there trying to take a nap or enjoying a drink on the veranda, etc. That was my only complaint about our hostess, other than that she was great. Room was always cleaned each morning, and readied at night when we were at the show. She did take the bedspread off the bed the first night and we just about froze to death. The heat wasn't working properly and I didn't even think to look in the cabinet above the TV for an extra blanket (we looked in the closet) so we were very cold. So the next morning I left her a note on the bed, asking her to leave the spread on and for an extra blanket. She brought an extra one, but mentioned the one above the TV, we told her we hadn't even looked there , so it was nice having a couple extra ones for the week. Anyway, after the interruption of my nap, I took a book out to the veranda and read for awhile, then DH joined me with his book later. Tonight was formal night so we showered and dressed for that, but didn't go to our regular restaurant. We had a reservation at 8:00 for Palo! Strangely enough, my stomach started feeling queasy again late in the afternoon. Was it the tuna sandwich, I wondered? Or the motion of the ship? We had been on two previous cruises and I never had problems, so really didn't feel it was the motion. We went down at 7:40 and they were able to seat us right away, a table for two by the window. We had Dolimar from Croatia as our server and he was very, very nice, talkative, humorous, we really enjoyed him. We each had the warm shrimp salad as our starter (delicious!) then I had the stuffed chicken and DH had the filet mignon, both were excellent, and of course we had the chocolate souffle for dessert. It was wonderful, but I didn't finish mine (nor my entree). I tried to be a little careful and not "stuff myself" just in case it "came right back up later." We went back to the room about 9:00, changed into jeans and sweatshirt and walked up on the top deck for awhile. It was quite breezy, but not as cool as it had been in the early afternoon. DH went up to the ESPN skybox for awhile, and I relaxed in the room and went to bed to read. We turned our clocks back so it was nice to get that "extra hour of sleep." Oh, need to mention that tonight's show was "Hercules" and since we'd seen it on our first cruise, and really didn't care for it (didn't see the movie, maybe that was why) we opted to skip it this time.

 

[Chattyaholic]

We were up early this morning as it was Grand Cayman Day!! We went down about 8:30 to the Walt Disney Theater where everyone was gathering to tender to the dock, we didn't have to wait long and the group of us was escorted to the tender. It was about a 20-minute ride. We decided to try to get our shopping done before our excursion at 10:45, so we went into several shops and bought our souvenirs. Our excursion was the Island Tour & Snorkeling With the Singrays. We didn't walk to the vans until 11:00 and they didn't have enough vans ready. Three large ones were loaded and they asked for a party of three and nobody raised their hand, then asked for a party of two so I raised mine and we got the last two seats (by the driver, Newton, he was great!) on the third van. There were still a lot of people who had to wait for other vans to come. I thought they should have had that worked out better, since Disney knew exactly how many people were going on the excursion. Traffic was quite congested in town, but was better once we got out of town a little. It was nice to see some of the buildings and hotels and such. Our first stop was "Hell", it was interesting to hear our guide tell about it, and we took several pictures, and bought a few souvenirs in the gift shop. Our next stop was the turtle farm and that was very interesting. They had several pools of turtles, all different sizes, and in the smaller ones people were allowed to pick the turtles up so that was a neat experience. We also went to the store of the rum cake factory and it was fun to sample some of the different cakes they make. If we would have had more time I would have bought some. That's my only complaint about tours like that, just not enough TIME at each stop. I did go to their web site and I may order some that way, as they ARE delicious!! Then we were dropped off for the next part of our tour, a boat ride to Stingray City!! There were probably 25-30 people in our group, so it was small compared to some of the boat loads of people we saw. It was about a 20-minute ride to the sandbar, and we had two young guides who were very helpful once everyone was in the water. They would bring the stingrays right to you, so you could hold them, and they offered to take pictures for you as well, and made sure that everyone who wanted to touch/feed/hold the rays were able to do so. The water was quite choppy that day, and from what I heard it was higher than normal. I'm 5' and it was over my head at the point where you had to get out of the boat. I opted for a life vest as I'm not a good swimmer, and was glad to have it. DH helped me go further out and it was a little better. I could stand, and it was up to my neck. Every time a wave came I would bop around like a cork though!! It was a little scary to me, but I HAD to to it. I would never have forgiven myself if I had not gotten off the boat. There were a few people who didn't get off, and just watched from the boat. But I wanted the full experience as I doubt we'll ever do it again. It was awesome to feel the rays brushing against your legs, and even more awesome to hold one!! DH stayed in the water longer than I did, and he fed them so that was quite an experience. I took pictures and video, and our guides took pictures of us holding/feeding them and most of them turned out GREAT!!! Newton's Dad met us after we got off the boat, to take us back to town. It was after 4:00 before we got back onto the Magic, we were on one of the last tenders before taking off so I was very glad we'd gotten our shopping done BEFORE the excursion. The excursion lasted longer than what was posted in the brochure. We were so tired when we got back to the ship, but tonight was "Master Chef" night so we didn't want to miss dinner so we showered and dressed and went down at 6:00. For my starter I had the butternut squash soup (excellent!) and my entree was the turkey dinner complete with mashed sweet potato, fruit filled dressing, peas and cranberry sauce (very good!). For dessert I had the chocolate tart, very chocolaty and very rich!! Dinner was done by 7:30 so we came back to the room to change into "comfy clothes" and went to watch "Who Wants to Be a Mouskateer?" which started at 8:30. They choose people randomly by row/seat number to play. The third number chosen was row "O" and seat number "35. That was our row! DH was 31 and I was 30 so we were close to being chosen!! It was lots of fun to watch. Everyone won an $80 shipboard credit except one got up to $125. It would have been so neat to see someone win a cruise! I doubt they give very many of those away though!! Came back to the room to sort through all the souvenirs we bought and get them packed up (I had brought a duffle bag inside one of our suitcases, just for this purpose!!). DH went up to the drink station and had our pitcher re-filled with iced tea then he went to Rockin' Bar D for the adult show with Rich Purpura. I was beat, so decided to stay in the room and read before going to sleep.

 

[Chattyaholic]

We'd put a breakfast card on our door the night before, so a light breakfast was delivered around 8:15. I had toast/jelly, DH had a bagel, and we shared a muffin and had chocolate milk and coffee out on our veranda. Decided to head up to deck #4 to enjoy those comfy loungers again. After that we came back to the room to change into our swim suits and went up to enjoy the adult pool for awhile. Sat in the whirlpool awhile too, then just relaxed and read in loungers the rest of the morning. Never had a problem getting lounge chairs when we wanted them. Many times there were several unclaimed ones just waiting for people to use them. Decided to have hot dogs and chicken fingers from Pluto's for lunch, they were very, very good! I thought the fries wouldn't be good since they aren't "fresh" when they put them on plates, but they were really tasty. Went back to the room to change and got off the ship about 1:00 to shop in Cozumel (we had docked that morning about 9:30). It's quite a different culture, that's for sure. People standing outside their shops hollering for you to come in, women constantly asking if you want your hair braided, people trying to sell stuff right on the street, etc. Just too pushy for me!! We did buy a few things, and I snapped a few pictures, but then we got right back onto the ship about 4:00! We went back to Pluto's for another hog dog (yum!) and then to Scoops for ice cream (yum yum!). Shouldn't have, but we were SO hungry!! Then we spoiled our appetites for dinner at 6:00, yikes!! Oh well!! Our tablemates were at Palo tonight, so it was kind of nice to have another dinner alone. There were lots of empty chairs at dinner tonight, since we were still in Cozumel. It was the "Mexicalifragilisticexpieladocious" dinner, they gave everyone leis as they came to dinner and we wore tropical clothes. A Mariachi band was playing in the atrium and I was wishing we had more time to listen to them, little did I know they would come to the restaurant and sing a few songs!! I loved that! But wouldn't you know, we didn't have the camera or video camera with us, darn!! I had the beef tenderloin tonight (some kind of soup as a starter, it was good but don't remember what it was), it was pretty good but I didn't care for the tomato salsa they put on it, nor the potato cake. Sachin brought us a plate of vegeterian enchiladas to try and they were very good. I had the 7-layer chocolate cake for dessert, but it was kind of dry. DH had the sweet empenadas and liked them, and we shared a slice of cheesecake that was delicious! The servers danced around the room to "Hot! Hot! Hot!" We decided to see the 8:30 showing of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", I thought it was really good but DH didn't care for it much. It might have been the fact that he wasn't comfortable. For tall people there really isn't a whole lot of "leg room" in that theater. Me, on the other hand, being short, it was not a problem at all! The deck party was still going strong when we came back to the room about 11:00, but old fogies that we are, we were ready to call it a night!

 

[Chattyaholic]

Awakened early this morning because of the "banging and clanging" we could hear below us. This happened several mornings and we never did figure out what the noise was. Our "neighbors" went out on their veranda early and since we had our door open we could plainly hear them talking. The man had a coughing fit and blew his nose (the "honking" type of blow!) several times so I had to get up and shut the door. Knowing how "sound travels" from one veranda to another's room, we never talked loudly when we were on ours so as not to disturb our "neighbors." We would always whisper, or most times not talk at all, but just sit and smile at each other and watch the ocean go by, or read our books. It was nice when it was quiet and the "neighbors" weren't out there!! Went up to Topsiders about 8:00 for breakfast, it was a very nice sunny day and smooth sailing. Thought about going to another movie but just decided to enjoy our veranda on our last "day at sea." We just read and relaxed most of the day. The pool area was quite busy, so we just stayed on our veranda. Went up to Topsiders about 12:30 for lunch, they had a wonderful seafood buffet, this time with the jumbo shrimp already peeled for you!! The desserts were delicious too!! Had planned on going to the 2:00 matinee of "Disney Dreams" but they cancelled it "due to technical difficulties" so I was very disappointed about that!! I loved that show so much on our last cruise, so was really excited about being able to see it TWICE this time!! They never said exactly what the "difficulties" were either. So, I just read for awhile (it WAS nice to have so much time just for reading and relaxing on this cruise!) and did a "little more" shopping at the shops (for the grandkids this time, not for ME!!!). DH took advantage of the "gold by the inch" and had a necklace and bracelet made for himself. I was glad to see him do it, as he's not one to spend much money on himself. They look really nice on him too! Dinner tonight was at Parrot Cay, my favorite restaurant. I just love the colorful, tropical decor and the more relaxed feeling. Our tablemates didn't show up, found out later they didn't want to dress up (it was semi-formal night) so they ate at Topsiders. Again there were several empty tables, one next to us was empty for 30 minutes, then the people showed up after 6:30! I couldn't believe that, and thought it was very rude of them. It made a lot more work for our servers, although they didn't show it in their faces and handled it quite well. I can understand being a few minutes late, but more than 30? Nope! I think that is just wrong!! Anyway! I had the fresh fruit cocktail (delicious) made with tropical fruits, and my entree was the grain-fed chicken breast (it was HUGE and so moist and tender) with mashed potatoes and artichokes, very good! DH had the lobster tail, it was HUGE as well, much bigger than two years ago. I was wishing I would have asked for one to be put on my plate of chicken...oh well! Tonight we took pictures of our servers and had a picture taken of all of us together. Oh, wanted to mention we got our tip envelopes ready this afternoon. We just had them put on our KTTW card. They give you a paper to fill out with whatever amount you wish to give each one (the tipping guidelines are also printed on the paper) and you take it to guest services and they print out the tickets to put into the envelopes, very simple to do! We tipped well above the recommended amount for each person, as we felt they did a great job all week long. After dinner we got in line early to meet Captain Tom and have our picture taken with him. I was very disappointed in the picture though. It was GREAT of all three of us, but HALF the picture is the wall mural of Walt in front of the theater!!! I think they should use a different background, like Helmsman Mickey in front of Lumiere's, or even beside the piano or something. I was very disappointed with it, but did buy it and I will take it to the Kodak Picture Maker and have Walt "cropped out!" Saw "Disney Dreams" and it was just as good as the first time! Such a wonderful show, one not to be missed in my humble opinion. After the show DH went to Topsiders to get a pitcher of lemonade and I had planned on starting the dreaded task of packing, but we were doing a lot of "rocking and rolling" as a "front" had come through about 3:00 and we were experiencing waves up to 15' and wind at 40 knots (they called it gale force). No wonder I felt a bit woozy sitting at the desk typing in my journal on my laptop computer. Everything in the room was "creaking", something kept banging and I finally had to go investigate that. It was our safe, as it wasn't locked so the door kept banging shut with each roll of the ship. I finally had to lock it so it would be quiet!! DH went down to Rockin' Bar D for the adult show but I stayed in the room and tried to go to sleep but it was difficult with all the creaking and groaning noises of the ship.

 

[Chattyaholic]

We woke this morning to dreary skies and choppy, wavy water. We went up to Topsiders for breakfast shortly after 8:30, we could see Castaway Cay on the port side, we were going very, very slowly by it, waiting to see if the weather would clear. The captain made an announcement and said it was unsafe to try to go into the channel to get to the pier at Castaway Cay but they would monitor the weather for a couple of hours to see if it would get better, but it never did so we had another "day at sea." We had been to Castaway Cay on our first trip and although it was nice, and we would have enjoyed going again, we weren't upset that we couldn't go. I imagine some people who had never been there were pretty disappointed. We never saw anyone pitching a fit about it though. I came back to the room to read and relax and DH "did his own thing" for awhile. Not many people outside, just too windy and chilly. I ordered room service but was disappointed this time. My sandwich was soggy, like they had made several up ahead of time and it just sat there. I also ordered the Manicotti and it wasn't very tasty at all. DH had lunch at Topsiders, the Caribbean buffet, he said they had a lot of unusual items and lots of things in different sauces, but that he found enough "regular stuff" to make him happy. I watched "The Young and The Restless" then went down to Shutters to check out our picture with the captain. Like I said, I was pretty disappointed with the background, but it was a good picture of myself, DH and Captain Tom so I went ahead and bought it. Came back and filled out the customs form and started our packing, ugh! Got most of it done before dinner, again at Lumiere's. It was the "It's a Small World" dinner. Each item on the menu was from a different country. I had a Greek salad to start out with, and we shared a plate of quesadillas. We both had the prime rib (excellent, melt-in-your-mouth!) with baked potato and steamed broccoli (I wish they had more of a variety of vegetables, it seemed like they used broccoli a little too much) and for dessert we both had the Baked Alaska, which was very good too! We handed out our tip envelopes and Sachin gave us big hugs, Zita just shook hands. It was hard saying goodbye to them! We went to the Farewell Variety Show and enjoyed it, and got to see all the characters on stage "one last time." Had our bags outside the door about 10:30 and had planned to walk around up on top deck "one more time" but it was just too windy to enjoy it. Hard to believe it was the "last night"....

 

[Chattyaholic]

Awake at 5:30 this morning and thought it was 7:30 and we were late getting up to get off the ship!! Yikes!! Tried to go back to sleep but it was just too noisy with the dock workers loading and unloading things off and onto the ship. Got up about 6:30 and readied ourselves to leave. The week flew by SO FAST!! Disembarkation is such an EASY process. No "announcement" is made, people just start getting off as early as 7:30. We got off the ship about 8:00, no long lines, found our luggage easily as they put it in sections according to your room number. DH flagged down a porter and we were out to our vehicle by 8:15. Our porter was originally from Owosso, MI so we chatted quite a bit on the way out, so that was nice. Tipped her extra. All-in-all it was a wonderful cruise, no real complaints. The weather could have been better, but Disney has no control over that and we just made the best out of things we couldn't control. Our first Magic cruise was also in January and we had BEAUTIFUL weather that time, each day was warm and sunny. This time, also in January, the weather wasn't as good. But we still enjoyed our time on the beautiful Magic, and hope to be on her again in a few years. We are currently checking into a January 2004 4-day cruise on the Wonder with my parents. It will be fun to compare the two ships!! And my parents have never cruised before so it will be fun to "see it through their eyes" when we go!!

 

[CathyCanada]

So good to read about your cruise, since I helped with some of the planning.
I was surprised to find that I had ordered almost the exact things that you did at dinner, even at Palo!! Same taste I guess.

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading it!
Cathy

 

[sandee]

Brought back memories of our 7 nite and made me really excited about 4 nite next month. I was on the ship docked next to the Magic in Cozumel. I had purposely avoided taking a cruise from Pt. Canaveral so I wouldn't have to see the Magic and ended up right next to her anyway. lol.
Thanks for such detail about dining choices you made. You picked everything I would/did on our 7 nite.
I wasn't crazy about the town of Cozumel either, except DD got several good buys on prescription skin care meds. she uses at the drugstore. less then 1/2 of what they cost in USA and from same drug company.
I know how time consuming it can be to write a report. Again thanks for the memories!

 

[kritters4]

Thanks for posting such a great report. We've been back for close to a year now, but I still find myself coming back to read such great reports like yours!!

 

[Hopkins]

I really enjoyed tyour trip report! I'm glad that you jumped into the water with the Stingrays. There's something about those creatures that really scares me. We went on the excursion were you see them from a submerged platform (Land and Sea Island Tour). It was fun, too, but behind glass.

Thanks for posting.
Tina