I meant to post this report a month ago, but better late than never!
I sailed on the Magic with my son (19 months at the time) and husband in early June. For reference- my husband and I sailed on the wish in 2022 (3 night) and we all sailed on the fantasy December 2024 (4 night)
We flew in the day before and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village. We used DCL transportation and everything was smooth and it was a great way to start the trip.
The sailing was a 4 night cruise stopping in Nassau and Lookout point.
The ship - overall I did not feel like the ship seemed old or showed its age, which I was worried about. The atrium was not grand like the other ships, but that is okay. The ship didn't feel too small and I didn't feel like crowds were an issue. The flow of the ship also was fine.
Room- We stayed in Deck 2 midship with a porthole. This was our first cruise not having a verandah room and the porthole was enough for us. We will continue booking porthole rooms to save money, at least until we don't have small children
Dining- I thought the rotational dining on the Magic was the best out of the 3 ships we have sailed on. The Tangled dinner show was great and fun, animators palate was awesome, and the food at Lumiere's was delicious. The buffet was the same as on the fantasy in my opinion and so was the quick service. The quick service on the wish wins for me
Lookout Point- we loved lookout! The sand and water were both beautiful! My son loved the splash pad area, and the Play Play Pavilion was wonderful for kids! My son had a blast dancing and playing with the characters there. The food on the island was also pretty good, unlike Castaway's food.
Nassau Day- We did a day to Atlantis (I know it was an odd pick for a 19 month old). We picked this excursion for two reasons, the splash pad on the ship was lame and because my husband and myself have always wanted to see it. We decided after that it wasn't as amazing as we thought it would be and don't feel the need to return. My son loved the Poseidon's play area there, and we had a great day, but it wasn't as big of a water park as we thought it would be.
Adults Pool Area- I thought this adult area was decent. It wasn't crowded and I loved that the pool had that section around where I could sit/lay in the water without needing to swim. I think this adult pool area is better than the Wish's, but the Fantasy's wins for me.
Shows- I love Tangled so I was very excited for the Tangled show. I thought it was great! I know people love Disney dreams, so I will probably get hate for this, but I didn't love Disney dreams. It was fine.
Service- Our room stewardess was amazing! Our dining servers were not great the first night. I was concerned after this dinner. I ordered a refill tea and never got it and service was so slow. We actually left before dessert because it was so slow and my son was antsy. But the other nights they really picked it up and ended up being awesome! They remembered little things, like my son likes to eat plain butter so they had it on the table waiting for us, and they knew to bring him ice cream with sprinkles once he was getting antsy so we could enjoy our meal.
Kids Areas- This is where the magic was lacking for me. With a toddler, this was not the best ship out of the ones I have been on. The Splash Pad was lame. My son loved Nemo's reef on the Fantasy, but this one was lackluster. He enjoyed it for a short period of time, however, once he saw the bigger splash area (which was right in front of the small one) he wanted that one. I wish that the Toddler splash pad would not have been right beside a pool and a bigger splash pad that the toddlers can't go in. My son saw them and kept saying "in! in!". The nursery was fine. Nothing special. Not as big as the fantasy's. Also, the fantasy had the cribs in a separate room and the magic's did not. The room was L shaped and they were just at the bottom of the L, but there was no real separation. We used it twice and had no issues, but it wasn't as cute or visually appealing as the others. Also, the fantasy had toddler time every day 9-10 am and 3-4 pm in Andy's room on our sailing and our son loved it. Our Magic sailing had toddler time once on the sea day. We did attend open house in the Oceanear's club a couple times and he loved that.
Random annoyances- The soda fountain on the magic was inconvenient and out of the way vs the fantasy's I felt like it was more accessible. On the fantasy our sailing had a kid's mini pirate night show in between dinner times and the Magic did not- so my son did not make it to the pirate night show. The elevators felt super slow. When we used the stroller the stairs were not an easy option.
Favorite parts- The rotational dining rooms were awesome, we all loved the Soul Cat Lounge- my son had a blast dancing, Lookout Point was amazing, Character interactions were great and I felt like we saw a ton, open house for my son in the Oceanear's club.
Overall- We had a great time overall. I would sail the Magic again if the date, itinerary, and price made sense. However, it would be my last choice with a child under 3. The Splash Pad was too weak, the lack of toddler time was not ideal, and they didn't have the extra little mini pirate night show.
I sailed on the Magic with my son (19 months at the time) and husband in early June. For reference- my husband and I sailed on the wish in 2022 (3 night) and we all sailed on the fantasy December 2024 (4 night)
We flew in the day before and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village. We used DCL transportation and everything was smooth and it was a great way to start the trip.
The sailing was a 4 night cruise stopping in Nassau and Lookout point.
The ship - overall I did not feel like the ship seemed old or showed its age, which I was worried about. The atrium was not grand like the other ships, but that is okay. The ship didn't feel too small and I didn't feel like crowds were an issue. The flow of the ship also was fine.
Room- We stayed in Deck 2 midship with a porthole. This was our first cruise not having a verandah room and the porthole was enough for us. We will continue booking porthole rooms to save money, at least until we don't have small children
Dining- I thought the rotational dining on the Magic was the best out of the 3 ships we have sailed on. The Tangled dinner show was great and fun, animators palate was awesome, and the food at Lumiere's was delicious. The buffet was the same as on the fantasy in my opinion and so was the quick service. The quick service on the wish wins for me
Lookout Point- we loved lookout! The sand and water were both beautiful! My son loved the splash pad area, and the Play Play Pavilion was wonderful for kids! My son had a blast dancing and playing with the characters there. The food on the island was also pretty good, unlike Castaway's food.
Nassau Day- We did a day to Atlantis (I know it was an odd pick for a 19 month old). We picked this excursion for two reasons, the splash pad on the ship was lame and because my husband and myself have always wanted to see it. We decided after that it wasn't as amazing as we thought it would be and don't feel the need to return. My son loved the Poseidon's play area there, and we had a great day, but it wasn't as big of a water park as we thought it would be.
Adults Pool Area- I thought this adult area was decent. It wasn't crowded and I loved that the pool had that section around where I could sit/lay in the water without needing to swim. I think this adult pool area is better than the Wish's, but the Fantasy's wins for me.
Shows- I love Tangled so I was very excited for the Tangled show. I thought it was great! I know people love Disney dreams, so I will probably get hate for this, but I didn't love Disney dreams. It was fine.
Service- Our room stewardess was amazing! Our dining servers were not great the first night. I was concerned after this dinner. I ordered a refill tea and never got it and service was so slow. We actually left before dessert because it was so slow and my son was antsy. But the other nights they really picked it up and ended up being awesome! They remembered little things, like my son likes to eat plain butter so they had it on the table waiting for us, and they knew to bring him ice cream with sprinkles once he was getting antsy so we could enjoy our meal.
Kids Areas- This is where the magic was lacking for me. With a toddler, this was not the best ship out of the ones I have been on. The Splash Pad was lame. My son loved Nemo's reef on the Fantasy, but this one was lackluster. He enjoyed it for a short period of time, however, once he saw the bigger splash area (which was right in front of the small one) he wanted that one. I wish that the Toddler splash pad would not have been right beside a pool and a bigger splash pad that the toddlers can't go in. My son saw them and kept saying "in! in!". The nursery was fine. Nothing special. Not as big as the fantasy's. Also, the fantasy had the cribs in a separate room and the magic's did not. The room was L shaped and they were just at the bottom of the L, but there was no real separation. We used it twice and had no issues, but it wasn't as cute or visually appealing as the others. Also, the fantasy had toddler time every day 9-10 am and 3-4 pm in Andy's room on our sailing and our son loved it. Our Magic sailing had toddler time once on the sea day. We did attend open house in the Oceanear's club a couple times and he loved that.
Random annoyances- The soda fountain on the magic was inconvenient and out of the way vs the fantasy's I felt like it was more accessible. On the fantasy our sailing had a kid's mini pirate night show in between dinner times and the Magic did not- so my son did not make it to the pirate night show. The elevators felt super slow. When we used the stroller the stairs were not an easy option.
Favorite parts- The rotational dining rooms were awesome, we all loved the Soul Cat Lounge- my son had a blast dancing, Lookout Point was amazing, Character interactions were great and I felt like we saw a ton, open house for my son in the Oceanear's club.
Overall- We had a great time overall. I would sail the Magic again if the date, itinerary, and price made sense. However, it would be my last choice with a child under 3. The Splash Pad was too weak, the lack of toddler time was not ideal, and they didn't have the extra little mini pirate night show.
