Magic...again! 6/8-6/13

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Hello! This was my second DCL and my second time on the Magic. But this time DH came while the first time it was me and the kids.

This was a 5 night with stops at Nassau, CC and LC. We drove down from VA and spent the night before at AKL which I did a short trip report about in the DVC section.



I'm going to start this TR with us driving from AKL to the Port Canaveral cruise terminal. We left around 11am and realized there was traffic so we took the toll way. We wanted to leave a little late so DS3 could nap on the way. On the last cruise embarkation day was kinda challenging for me because it was so hectic the kids never got a nap and then we had to go to bed sooooo early, like we had to leave at the beginning of early dinner and missed the first show.

Well both DS3 and DD5 napped on the way. Around 1215pm we were there!



This was my first time at port Canaveral so I really enjoyed this building. It reminded me a little of the walt Disney studios building in Burbank (where I'm originally from).

I was a little stressed about us arriving late like what is something goes wrong and the ship leaves without us but once we were here I was able to calm down.

Dropping off our bags and parking the car and getting inside was all pretty easy. And once inside we took some pictures and walked right on board. That part of arriving late was nice for sure.

And then cabanas!



I'm not a foodie so I don't think anyone should base anything from what I say but I remember being pretty blown away by the food (not all but at least daily) on my first DCL cruise....and this time not so much. But I was still happy. And it is such a weight off to not be in charge of feeding the kids who are very picky eaters so there was no stress of them choosing something and then not eating it.

And then to the kids club open house. I was able to get them all signed up at a table in the hallway. I wasn't sure if DS3 would be allowed in the kids club or not. He's 3 and potty trained but I explained sometimes depending on the potty he needs help getting on and off and if he poops I help wipe. They were vague in their response but basically she was like let's try it and we can call you if we need you so that was unexpectedly cool.



The kids played until open house was over. I also made sure to show DS3 the potty just to make sure he saw it the first time with me.

Then we checked out our interior cabin...it was 2 decks down from the pool deck so deck 7? It was super convenient. And then we went to the muster drill.

And then we went to the nursery to check in DS3 and just let him check it out in general. We signed him up for everyday at his nap time so he could nap there. And I explained the plan to them and they were like yeah a lot of 3yos do that since when they're awake they can go to the kids club.

And to then the sail a wave dance party. DD5 danced a little. DS3 was not having it so we found some shade to watch.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

We left off at the sail a wave....im pretty sure that's what it's called?...dance party. And then we went back to the room. While leaving DH and I each bought the cocktail in the drink of the day glass. I didn't even know about it last cruise.....and I don't think I will be buying it again. I didn't like carrying the plastic cup around with me when I wanted a cocktail and it didn't seem like I got that much more compared to a normal cup. I think I read its 30% more but . Also I thought I'd really like it as a souvenir but I realized I don't like drinking alcohol out of a plastic cup...even if the DCL logo is on it.



So then we're back at the cabin because DD5 really wanted to decorate our door. I had been making the magnets slowly for a few months. DD5 picked the theme of "Disney ocean" and then I used a combination of stickers and cutting out pictures from books to make them.



Embarkation day is so busy. I'm glad there's so much stuff going on but most of the day felt rushed. Then we were off to see the show. It was the reimagining of Cinderella, twice charmed I think it's called.

But first DD5 wanted popcorn so we bought a bucket. I made DD5 wait until she was 5 to eat popcorn just because I work in healthcare and I've seen a few toddlers with really bad outcomes from choking on popcorn so anyway now she sees popcorn as very mature and loves it.



DS3 felt left out so we bought him some sour candies in the gift shop.

We got there maybe 10 minutes before the show started and got really good seats, like 3rd row center.

I really like this show and so did DH and so did the kids. This was all of our favorite show. I think some of the jokes were different in it compared to when I saw it in 2023 but that could just be my memory. I think DS3 liked the fire special effects.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

We had some time before dinner.

(We chose second seating for dinner because we wanted to make sure the kids were awake for the shows. We aren't really into food and the kids don't like sitting through long dinners so that was our thought process. I also really don't like crowds and I hoped since second seating is less busy we'd get less crowds for the shows and less crowds for whatever were doing when there wasn't a show.)

We met a character, I want to say donald duck. I didn't bother taking photos with my phone for most of the characters because I planned on buying the photo book at the end. I just think the professional photographers do such a good job, I really like how they tell us all what to do with our bodies and hands. We got some great family pictures. And the kids like following the directions.

And then DD5 saw the silent dance party and wanted to do that. I always thought these looked kind of boring when I watched them on vlogs. BUT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. DD5 and I danced for maybe close to an hour. DS3 and DH were sitting at a table. I think DS3 had actually bought a toy in the gift shop while DD5 and I waited in line for the character. Anyway It was just really fun to dance and crank up the music really loud and be in a no judgement family environment.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

And then we had dinner at AP. I don't remember what we are but DD5 got really tired during the dinner and maybe a little nauseous? Shes very prone to nausea. I know I took her back to the cabin before DS3 and DH. I'm pretty sure DH brought dessert for me and him from AP back for us to eat together. I didn't know if we would be allowed to bring our food from main dining back to the room or not so that was nice.

DD5 thought the bunk was the coolest. She really liked the Peter pan details on the ceiling.





I probably got some tea from the pool deck and read my book a little. I brought a lonely planet guide book about Japan. No current plans to go there but one day. I think I unpacked what we needed for the next day. I never fully unpacked this trip which is odd for me. I just felt like the room was too small to do this and just not enough time. This cruise was definitely busy for us. All happy and fun business though.

Next up is Nassau which for us is a day at sea.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

I think I got some nights mixed up. I think we actually room serviced dessert and a lot of milks to keep in the fridge for the kids this night instead getting it to go from AP. I took no notes and very few pictures this trip

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Here are all the pictures from my photo book of the first day. So apparently we met princess Tiana...not Donald Duck.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

This next day was Nassau but our plan was to stay on the ship. DD5 and I woke up early, like before cabanas was open, so I got a coffee at the beverage station and we explored the top deck. It's so peaceful walking around in the very early morning.



We played some foosball. First time for DD5...and I couldn't remember if I'd ever played before or not but probably....? DD5 became frustrated because I was winning too much so then we explored inside a little.





And then we went up to cabanas when that opened and got some food.



I really love eating breakfast on DCL. I hardly ever eat breakfast in real life. Eating is so easy on the cruise.

I think I got a message that the boys were awake so we met them in the room and probably went back up to cabanas so they could eat and we could eat more....?

Anyway our first plan of the day was the Royal gathering.






And then the kids saw belle upstairs so we went to meet her.



DS3 was feeling a little shy with all the princesses. He's hit or miss with characters.

Next up....pool time! Which I have no pictures. It was a happy rotation of big pool with funnel vision, splash pad ducks, little kid pool, yellow slide and ice cream. This was my first time on the yellow slide and I loved it. DD5 went last time and still loved it this time. DS3 really liked the splash pad ducks which I was a little surprised by because I thought he'd be too old to like it. What he liked most of all though was ice cream. This was the first day he tried ice cream in a cone. It was very cute. He kept asking "I eat it?" Meaning the cone and we were all like YES.

At some point we all took showers and ate lunch at cabanas because it was time to drop DS3 for his 2pm nap appointment and then DD5 wanted to go to the kids club so we became adults with no children with us.....

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Ok so we left off dropping the kids off at the nursery and the kids club. And I apologize for no pictures. I really want to be better at taking at least one picture for every activity next time....womp womp.

We played shuffle board. It was both of ours first time. And we didn't really get it based on the rules on the wall and I guess we looked kinda silly trying to figure it out because a woman who was walking the deck stopped and told us how to play. Well then it was REALLY hard. DH won but that's not saying much. We were both not great.

And then I believe we went to Star wars trivia. DH really likes star wars. I don't but I like trivia and I like sitting in the soul cat lounge. DH got 17/20 but lost because 3 people got 20/20! It was a lot of fun.

I had brought a mini bottle of sparkly wine on board so then we drank that in the adults only pool area and just talked and looked at the water. It was really nice and felt like good reconnecting time.

Then it was time to go get the kids and get dressed for dinner. No show tonight. We took some family pictures and I guess some walking around pictures?

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Then we went to a character dance party.





DD5 didn't really like it though. So we left and I think we went to the kids club open house and they played on the slide in Andy's room a bunch before dinner.

Dinner tonight was Rapunzel's.







And then off to bed! Tomorrow is CC day!

 

[dcassetta]

Enjoying your TR. The picture of your daughter at the aft is precious!

 

[Erica1016]

And I apologize for no pictures. I really want to be better at taking at least one picture for every activity next time....womp womp.

I find I have to be really intentional about taking pictures if I plan to write a trip report. We're only writing our second one, but both times I was careful to take at least one picture every time we did something new...and I still missed some!

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Castaway Cay Day!

So about a month before our cruise DH and I decided to run the 5k. DH is a runner. I am not. So I started training by running (well...jogging/fast walking) 3x/week until I made my way up to 3 miles without feeling like I was dying. The plan was to hang out at the beach with the kids until 1ish then eat lunch with them and take DS3 to his nap in the nursery at 2pm and DD5 to the kids club. Well the kids club hours were different on CC day apparently (and LC day). They're open some of the day on the island and then open later on the ship. So anyway we didn't end up running the 5k. So ......next time

So back to how the day actually went. We are breakfast in cabanas and went out to the beach. But first Donald duck! I like Donald duck







It took a minute but DS3 warmed up. DS3's favorite characters from watching on TV are all Frozen characters but especially Elsa, all of the three caballeros (including Donald duck) and Mickey mouse. DS3 did also say hello to the olaf statue near the smoothie stand but I don't have a picture of that.

We then got a spot on the family beach near the waterslides. But the waterslides werent open yet. They said they were doing some kind of maintenance. In the meantime DS3 and DD5 got to work finding shells, cleaning shells, making sand castles. I brought buckets and shovels and sand toys from home for them. Then to our surprise DS3 started playing in the water! He's never done that in the ocean before. DH thinks its because it was a lagoon so he felt safer but it made us all pretty happy to see him playing in the water. And DH and I could just sit in the water and watch them both play instead of like hovering in fear of their demise. It was really nice and relaxing.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

And then the waterslides opened! I think I like these ones more than DD5 honestly. I just really like getting spit out into the deep water. DD5 and I went on it once but then there was a line so DD5 didn't want to go again (I tried a little bit to convince her but I let it go.)

We played on the beach for a little while more and then we went to the gift shop. DS3 had birthday money to spend. He picked a beach towel. We kept asking him are you sure you want a towel. Even the sales clerk asked him is this really what you want but he was very adamant. He still loves that towel. At home if the kids eat food in front of the TV (like instead of at the kitchen table) at home I put a beach towel on the carpet so I can just wash that instead of having to clean the carpet. So now his castaway Cay towel is what he uses and he always happily points out all the characters on it.

Then we went back to the ship for lunch. I thought all the pool deck food would be open and I thought cabanas would be open...but it was not.

Daisy dlites was open so DS3 ate some of that and ice cream of course. I have not been documenting how much we all ate ice cream well but basically if any of us wasn't already stuffed when we passed the ice cream then we ate some ice cream. DD5 was waiting for other food to open so she just ate ice cream for now. We did this at a table in the shade where the kids could see funnel vision. A woman was kind of sitting at the table but not sitting there and I asked if it was ok if we used the table and she was really nice and we all kind of ate together eventually. At some point that day I finished her chicken tenders and I had never tried the tenders on DCL before and they were really good!

Anyway when DS3 was done I took him down and gave him a bath and took him to his nap appointment. DD5 stayed up at the pool deck with DH and I met them back up there. DH and I sat in the loungers near the yellow slide and DD5 played with some kids she met in the little pool and the yellow slide. For hours.



DH and I actually both napped a little in the loungers. Eventually we heard pirate music... because it was pirate night!

Eventually it was time to pick up DS3 and get ready for pirate night and dinner. DD5 was really sad to leave one of her new friends. It was cute. They made plans to meet same time same place tomorrow

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

So I think after we took photos with pirate Minnie, the kids went to the kids club and DH and I went to keys but I could be getting my nights confused. It was my first time in there and I did not feel fancy enough. We sat at the bar, I had a drink of the day in my plastic cup. There was a piano singer. Very nice. Maybe I felt weird because I brought my plastic cup with me?

Anyway then we got the kids and went to dinner. Rapunzel's again. AP would have been nice. Last pirate night we were in there and I liked seeing the pictures change on the walls but oh well.



The kids were very tired but somehow we kept them awake until the pirate show. They were too tired to get into it though.



They perked up some for the fireworks. I really like the fireworks. I don't know why but they feel so special at sea.

When we got back home DS3 was very afraid of the towel animal.



We had to destroy it before he was willing to get out of the little entry hallway. And then we all passed out. The kids even slept in their pirate attire.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Lookout Cay Day

This was my first visit here and I watched the vlogs and read a lot on here and I guess my expectations were kinda low because it seemed like most people didn't love it. (But I loved it )

We are breakfast in cabanas and got off the ship. First of all there was plenty plenty of wagons. I was worried about this. I debated back and forth about bringing strollers on board because I was afraid we wouldn't get a wagon. So that was an instant relief. DH pulled the children and our stuff in the wagon. The walk wasn't bad (but I didn't have the wagon). I was able to see fish in the water. It was beautiful. Like already on the bridge, I was amazed how beautiful. I've never seen such beautiful water.

We stopped for a photo at the end of the bridge and the kids were happy to see crabs in the sand while we waited our turn.

 

[Princess Michele]

We had some time before dinner.

(We chose second seating for dinner because we wanted to make sure the kids were awake for the shows. We aren't really into food and the kids don't like sitting through long dinners so that was our thought process. I also really don't like crowds and I hoped since second seating is less busy we'd get less crowds for the shows and less crowds for whatever were doing when there wasn't a show.)

We met a character, I want to say donald duck. I didn't bother taking photos with my phone for most of the characters because I planned on buying the photo book at the end. I just think the professional photographers do such a good job, I really like how they tell us all what to do with our bodies and hands. We got some great family pictures. And the kids like following the directions.

And then DD5 saw the silent dance party and wanted to do that. I always thought these looked kind of boring when I watched them on vlogs. BUT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. DD5 and I danced for maybe close to an hour. DS3 and DH were sitting at a table. I think DS3 had actually bought a toy in the gift shop while DD5 and I waited in line for the character. Anyway It was just really fun to dance and crank up the music really loud and be in a no judgement family environment.

View attachment 980176

I am enjoying your trip report. We will be sailing on the Magic for the first time on 7/25/25 and can't wait. Did you find that crowds were less for the shows and other areas during the first seating for dinner or no different than on your previous cruise? We have the second seating because that was all that was available when we booked.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

The theater shows and like lines for pictures did seem less busy but dinner service felt equally busy. Id probably pick second seating again.

Enjoy your cruise! I have nothing to compare it to but I really like the Magic

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

After our photo, we took the tram to the beach. We got off the tram and just walked towards the first beach we saw and found a chair to plop our stuff. The beach was stunning. The sand was soft and the water was a beautiful aqua marine. There were small waves but the kids got right to playing. I've never been to a more naturally beautiful place. We saw fish and large crabs. Eventually the kids got to playing in the sand too. DH was a little worried about DS3 in the waves but we just stayed close. I was happy he was enjoying it. I'm glad we did CC first like to get his bravery up for this beach. All in all it was just a great few hours enjoying the beach.

A photographer took our photo at one point on the way back to the bathroom. (By the way the bathroom was way very modern and clean feeling to me which I appreciate at the beach.)



And then eventually we made our way to the splash pad which was huge and fenced in and awesome (and got all the sand off the kids). DH stayed in the splash pad with the kids while I cleaned all the beach stuff in the outdoor shower area. And then we just watched them play for awhile.

Then we are lunch at the food area. No problem finding a table. No flies.

And then it was time to go back to the tram to make it to DS3's nap appointment. When we were getting off the tram the driver came over to us and told us to wait over there for a gold cart to bring us to the ship. I guess because there was barely anyone heading back to the ship and we were the only ones with small kids? DH felt weird since we don't need help but I didnt think it was a big deal since he told us to versus us asking? Anyway we waited like 5 min and then a golf cart drove us up to the ship.

I really really enjoyed my time at LC. The beach was beautiful, the amenities were convenient and the kids really liked the splash pad. I would love to be able to go back.

 

[Erica1016]

DH is a runner. I am not. So I started training by running (well...jogging/fast walking) 3x/week until I made my way up to 3 miles without feeling like I was dying.

Good for you for preparing! It's fun, so hopefully you can fit it in next time you're there!

At some point that day I finished her chicken tenders and I had never tried the tenders on DCL before and they were really good!

They are SOOOO good!

 

[Erica1016]

Did you find that crowds were less for the shows and other areas during the first seating for dinner or no different than on your previous cruise? We have the second seating because that was all that was available when we booked.

I don't know that the crowds are any different in terms of size, but are slightly different in terms of population. I think more families with young children aim to have earlier dining. This means more children at early dinner and at the later show, but I don't think it's that big of a difference.

We've only done early dining once (2 adults, no children). It was fine and we had no complaints. In general, we prefer late dining because we're not hungry for early dining. We tend to eat several times throughout the day because there are too many fun options, so early dining is too soon! Cruise problems!