Just back from Magic Med cruise - there were tears!

[Jubilee252]

We are just back from a 7 Night Med Cruise on the Magic and later tonight we'll be setting up a blog to to update with a Daily trip report and we'll share the link on here.

We were 1st time Cruisers and new to Disney. We are from the UK and have a 5 yo girl and 1 yo boy so will be focusing on the challenges of cruising with a baby too. Our party were staying in a 6A and 11A Stateroom on Deck 7. Any questions just fire away!

Overall the Cruise exceeded our expectations. The magic just didn't stop coming. And often it was the impromptu meets or little things that meant the most! The food was mostly excellent (although Fish seemed a weakness in MDR!). Characters were amazing and really made our girl feel like a princess. The shows verged from amazing you'd be happy to pay West End prices for to mediocre if were honest. Childcare was hit and miss older kids would be much more comfortable. The pools were good but very busy even on port days. The ports were nice enough - a sunny day on the beach in Villefranche was our highlight. The internet packages were misleading we thought we hardly used it and still burnt through 350 MB somehow. And finally some of the other guests well that's a whole other book of funny/shocking stories!

This is just a quick summary. We'll update daily-ish over the next week or so with photos but any questions like we say fire away!

 

[MandyMommytoReaghan]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip! We haven't cruised since our youngest was a baby, she is 8 now. We are trying to decide what type of cruise to take next summer, Med or Alaskan.

 

[tee11]

Would love to hear more! Looking forward to your trip report!

 

[Jubilee252]

The Med was easier for us only a 2 hour flight but I can understand the appeal of Alaska totally! The Med is beautiful though and hot!

I'm sure your 8 year old will love it! Our 5 year old had great fun, but even though she's quite confident and outgoing, felt a bit neglected by the Counsellors. Our last few holidays had smaller kids clubs from 3-5 years old with higher staff ratios so it was a bit of a leap for her. But the older kids seemed much more at home and didn't need as much attention maybe?!

 

[darnheather]

Looking forward to reading your report.

 

[Jubilee252]

1st Trip Report update including the preparation up til the point of travel. I'm new to blogging so sorry if format isn't great but hope the words help!

http://mitchellsmedmagic.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[Jubilee252]

I have updated from getting to Barcelona the day before to the end of embarkation day.

http://mitchellsmedmagic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/barcelona-and-embarkation.html

Any questions let me know!

 

[Jubilee252]

Updated Trip Report of Sunday 24th our 1st (of 2) Days at Sea. Including our opinions on kids clubs/Its a Small World Nursery.

http://mitchellsmedmagic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/1st-sea-day.html

Villefranche tomorrow.

 

[graf]

Very interested to read these, as we were on the same cruise too. We found the kids pool was closed quite often - and on the last sea day (I think) there was a time when both the goofy pool and the kids pool were shut!

 

[jedijill]

You family is beautiful! Love the embarkation photo with your little boy hanging on to Mickey's ear.

Can't wait to hear more about your trip.

Jill in CO (Colorado for you in the UK!)

 

[wrighter]

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Jubilee252]

Hi Graf - yeah we were there at that point too! It was frustrating. Still a great cruise though!

Thanks JediJill - the wifes got a pretty good SLR camera and that was taken by a Cast Member. Overall we only bought 4 professional shots as they were often worse than our own.

Villefranche is coming later today Wrighter...back to work and its getting in the bloody way of the trip report!

 

[CruisingSarah]

Hi Graf - yeah we were there at that point too! It was frustrating. Still a great cruise though!

Thanks JediJill - the wifes got a pretty good SLR camera and that was taken by a Cast Member. Overall we only bought 4 professional shots as they were often worse than our own.

Villefranche is coming later today Wrighter...back to work and its getting in the bloody way of the trip report!

We were on the cruise too Keep it coming!!

Agree about the pools. The Goofy pool kept closing temporarily as it was overused and the water kept getting too murky, I know because DS came and said it was closed and so I went and asked the lifeguard. Apparently too many people + sunscreen and the water goes opaque, they get people out for a half hour or so to allow the filters to clear the water a bit. I guess the kids pool was closed with potty accidents.

Jubilee252, that would have got me so mad about the Open House thing clashing with your nursery bookings For me there were just too many of these Open House slots on the Club and Lab schedules, it was the same on our last Disney cruise too but I don't remember it was on the first or second. On other lines the Open House thing is really only the first day. Agree also about the counsellors and getting to know the kids, they just can't! There are too many kids. It's really just a big supervised play room. Mine is 9 now and this year he was less keen to go there. Having said that when he was almost 6, and 7 and 8 we couldn't keep him away.

My boys were the minority in their Tux

 

[Jubilee252]

The Open House clash really wound me up Sarah! More so because it must have been planned but the staff couldn't tell me in advance in time to adjust the Nursery time. And on one day OH ended at 2.30pm (giving us 90 minutes of the 2 hours precious Nursery time left) but by the time they'd got all the parents out it was 2.50pm!

I bet your boys rocked the Tux look though!

 

[Jubilee252]

So sorry for the delay - real life is getting in the way of holiday memories sadly!

Today is Day 3 - Villefranche-sur-Mer a beautiful (hillside!) town with a beautiful beach and easily accessible railway station for further explorations.

http://mitchellsmedmagic.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[Jubilee252]

Updated with a wet La Spezia and a moment someone said 'Bloody hell the magic just keeps on coming!'.

http://mitchellsmedmagic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/la-spezia.html

 

[darnheather]

I have updated from getting to Barcelona the day before to the end of embarkation day.

http://mitchellsmedmagic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/barcelona-and-embarkation.html

Any questions let me know!

Such a sweet photo with Mickey!

 

[Jubilee252]

Thanks Darnheather! Our 13 month old is now obsessed with Mickey!

 

[Jubilee252]

Todays update is Civitaveccia (the Port of Rome) not that we went to Rome but hey.

http://mitchellsmedmagic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/civitaveccia.html

 

[Jubilee252]

Updated with Napoli our last port of call, and Pirate Night (with an unexpected and welcome buffet!).

http://mitchellsmedmagic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/naples.html