MassDisLovers
A dream is a wish your heart makes....
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2003
- Messages
- 1,205
We were on the 4 day Dec. 26 - 30th Magic. It's unusual for the Magic to do a short cruise, but they had just returned from the 10 day and needed to fill out the week. We flew in on Christmas day and stayed at the new Marriott - right near the port and a very good rate for a 2 bedroom suite with a living room/kitchen, and it included a free buffet breakfast . Since there were 6 of us, it was perfect. Left the hotel around 10:00 on Tuesday morning and headed over to the port. Parking was very easy and we were in the terminal in about 10 minutes. We got boarding group #4. Check- in was also very smooth and quick and we sat down to wait for the boarding to begin. Right on schedule at 11:30 they began, and we were on in less than 20 minutes. The weather was cloudy and breezy so we headed to Parrot Cay for lunch, but first we took in all the beautiful decorations on the ship. This was our third trip on the Magic, but our first during the holidays, so there was so much to see.
We had late dining - 8:30 LAAP - but it ended up being closer to 9:00 each night before we even got appetizers. We waited in line each night to enter the restaurants, and they were never ready before 8:40. Maybe this was because it was a compleatly full cruise, but it did end up making for a very long evening . Our servers were David and Sonia - pleasant but nothing special.
The shows were the usual Magic shows - Welcome Aboard, Golden Mickeys, Disney Dreams - which are generally not on the Wonder, so folks who are used to the 4 day Wonder cruises had a bit of a treat. The pirate party was lots of fun and the fireworks were exceptional. It was interesting to see that Carnival and RC ships lined up nearby - presumably so that their passengers could enjoy the fireworks at sea also!
The Nassau day was cloudy and cool - certainly not a beach day. A word to the wise - beware of the scooter rentals! We rented scooters and paid for the "insurance". Unfortunately one of the kids had a minor accident after less than 10 minutes and it cost us $300.00 in "repairs" - the so-called insurance didn't cover it! He was cut up and scraped , but it could have been worse so we were grateful that it wasn't . No more scooters for us!
Our Castaway day was beautiful. DD 14 did the teen's "Wild Side" excursion, which she really loved, the rest of us just enjoyed the sunshine on lounge chairs. Our at sea day was nice as well, so we enjoyed the sunshine once again. I did the Galley tour and the guide , Panda, talked a lot about the crew galley and the logistics of feeding the 1,000 or so crew members 18 hours a day. Very interesting!
All in all, it was a great way to spend Christmas week - and, as always, we hated to go home, especially since the day we left was near 80 degrees!
We had late dining - 8:30 LAAP - but it ended up being closer to 9:00 each night before we even got appetizers. We waited in line each night to enter the restaurants, and they were never ready before 8:40. Maybe this was because it was a compleatly full cruise, but it did end up making for a very long evening . Our servers were David and Sonia - pleasant but nothing special.
The shows were the usual Magic shows - Welcome Aboard, Golden Mickeys, Disney Dreams - which are generally not on the Wonder, so folks who are used to the 4 day Wonder cruises had a bit of a treat. The pirate party was lots of fun and the fireworks were exceptional. It was interesting to see that Carnival and RC ships lined up nearby - presumably so that their passengers could enjoy the fireworks at sea also!
The Nassau day was cloudy and cool - certainly not a beach day. A word to the wise - beware of the scooter rentals! We rented scooters and paid for the "insurance". Unfortunately one of the kids had a minor accident after less than 10 minutes and it cost us $300.00 in "repairs" - the so-called insurance didn't cover it! He was cut up and scraped , but it could have been worse so we were grateful that it wasn't . No more scooters for us!
Our Castaway day was beautiful. DD 14 did the teen's "Wild Side" excursion, which she really loved, the rest of us just enjoyed the sunshine on lounge chairs. Our at sea day was nice as well, so we enjoyed the sunshine once again. I did the Galley tour and the guide , Panda, talked a lot about the crew galley and the logistics of feeding the 1,000 or so crew members 18 hours a day. Very interesting!
All in all, it was a great way to spend Christmas week - and, as always, we hated to go home, especially since the day we left was near 80 degrees!
