Merrytime Magic - A December 2016 Trip Report!

[Ariel484]

Hello cruisers! We just got back from our first Merrytime Cruise, and our first cruise aboard the Disney Magic!

The cast: my husband, Mr. Ariel484 (aka Mr. A) and myself, Shannon. Lumiere himself couldn't make the trip, but we did eat in his dining room!

This was cruise #6 for me and cruise #4 for for Mr. A. We had only ever sailed the Dream and Fantasy out of Port Canaveral, so sailing on the Magic out of Miami was totally new for us! And I was SO excited for a Merrytime Cruise!

 

[Ariel484]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Saturday, December 17, 2016
Travel Day, Part 1
Travel Day, Part 2

Sunday, December 18, 2016 - Embarkation
Embarkation, Part 1
Embarkation, Part 2
Embarkation, Part 3
Embarkation, Part 4
Embarkation, Part 5

Monday, December 19, 2016 - Key West
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - At Sea
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Wednesday, December 21, 2016 - Nassau
Part 1
Part 2

Thursday, December 22, 2016 - Castaway Cay
Part 1
Part 2

Friday, December 23, 2016 - Debarkation
WAHHH

 

[Ariel484]

Day 0: Saturday, December 17, 2016

Travel day!

We had booked this cruise a loooong time ago, and I was so excited that it was finally here! I really needed to escape, but it was probably not the greatest timing since I was also in the beginning stages of tapering for the Dopey Challenge! Unlimited food is not the best thing for a marathon taper. Oops. Not like I was about to cancel, though!

Our first stop was dropping the monster pup off at doggy camp. And then we proceeded to have a crappy travel day! About a month before we'd left home I realized that the flights I'd booked for us only had a 35-minute layover...in Atlanta! I had only looked for the shortest total travel time and hadn't paid any attention to the layover. I am so DUMB! That is not enough time! I tried to call to get the flights changed but Delta said no unless we paid big bucks. They assured us it would be fine, that the gates for our flights would be close and that they use this itinerary all the time, the plane would be held for us if necessary, etc.

Our first flight took off on time but we took some time taxiing at ATL, and Mr. A and I ended up needing to run to make the next flight (in a separate terminal, thanks for nothing Delta Customer Service!). And while we made the flight, our bags did not. The Delta app has a "track my bags" feature and I pulled it up before flight #2 took off to see that our bags hadn't been scanned off of plane #1. I was hopeful there would be an update once we landed in Miami, and there was...that our bags were due to get on the NEXT flight out of ATL to Miami. Which wasn't due to take off for another 3 hours!

It was about 3:40 when we landed in Miami. Initially we were thinking we'd wait at the airport for our bags to arrive (Delta baggage claim said they could deliver them to our hotel for us...I am pretty sure I looked at the lady there like she had 3 heads because at this point I was not trusting them with our luggage), but we were excited about the hotel we'd booked, which was only a 15-minute cab ride away. And I knew sitting in the airport for so long would just make us angrier and angrier. So we grabbed our carry-ons (which we'd had to gate-check) and hailed a cab to our hotel, EPIC hotel in Downtown Miami, with plans to track our bags on the app and head back to the airport later in the evening. The ride to our hotel only took 12 minutes, so we knew we made the right decision not to wait around for bags.

We checked in and got our room number, on floor 23. Our room was awesome! I think they bumped us up a category from what I booked.

The view...we could see Port of Miami but never actually saw the Magic docked there.

And our room, which was so nice!

Looking down at the pools on the 16th floor:

Yours truly!

Continued...

 

[ZellyB]

Yay!! Disney cruise report!!!

 

[Ariel484]

We headed down to check out the 16th floor, since that's where most of the action was (pool, fitness center, restaurant, etc.). Everything was really nice! Too bad we weren't going to get to use most of it.

Vertical distorted panorama of our building!

And the pools:

We had an awkward amount of time to kill before heading back to the airport...we were hungry but didn't want to sit down to dinner and potentially miss our bags. So we headed to the main restaurant (Area 31) for drinks and an appetizer.

I ordered the Sunset (vodka, cointreau, aperol, passion fruit and orange peel) and Mr. A went with his tried-and-true mojito. Just what we needed after travel stress!

We put in an order for a margherita pizza to share...and it took forever to come out. During that time I was refreshing the Delta app and the flight that our bags were supposed to be on had been delayed by over 2 hours! It was just taking off around 5:30. SO glad we didn't wait at the airport for our bags, because now they were not due to arrive until after 7PM!

Eventually we asked about our pizza - just if someone could check on it (after a 30-minute wait) and I guess the guy I had asked was the manager, because he gave us free champagne as an apology for the wait. We aren't big drinkers, but I am not about to turn down free champagne!

Wheeee!

The pizza came out soon after. It hit the spot!

We ate our pizza and headed back to the airport around 7PM. The app let us know that our bags had landed! Yes!! But then it took them almost another hour to actually get to baggage claim...what?! Eventually we actually did get them, though, and headed back to the airport. We ordered room service for dinner and hit the sack early. Glad that's over!

Up next - embarkation!

 

[Ariel484]

Yay!! Disney cruise report!!!

Woohoo!!

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

Excited to read about your cruise! I bet the Christmas decorations are great on a Disney cruise! We cruise out of Miami in February, and I'm really hoping for smooth traveling. That sucks you had to go back to the airport to collect your bags!

 

[SarahDisney]

The hotel room looks nice! I'm so glad you guys decided not to wait for the bags at the airport ... that would have been a nightmare. Stupid too-short layover.

I'm excited to read about embarkation day! (Since I'll probably never be a cruise person, I have to experience cruises through the stories of other people, so I get really excited about simple things like getting on the ship)

 

[bananabean]

Love your trip reports!

 

[rteetz]

Here to read along! One day I'll get on a cruise.

 

[Dis5150]

Yay another trip report! Boo about your bags being delayed! At least they got them to you the same day and they didn't end up in Alaska or something!

 

[Ariel484]

Excited to read about your cruise! I bet the Christmas decorations are great on a Disney cruise! We cruise out of Miami in February, and I'm really hoping for smooth traveling. That sucks you had to go back to the airport to collect your bags!

The decorations on the Magic were so pretty! They were...thorough, I guess, but not overwhelming.

We have had that happen with our bags once before, but the next flight was due to arrive in 30 minutes so we just waited...not this time!!

The hotel room looks nice! I'm so glad you guys decided not to wait for the bags at the airport ... that would have been a nightmare. Stupid too-short layover.

Lesson learned, I am such a dummy for booking that flight!!

I'm excited to read about embarkation day! (Since I'll probably never be a cruise person, I have to experience cruises through the stories of other people, so I get really excited about simple things like getting on the ship)

It's basically the best day ever!!

Love your trip reports!

Thanks!

Here to read along! One day I'll get on a cruise.

Yay another trip report! Boo about your bags being delayed! At least they got them to you the same day and they didn't end up in Alaska or something!

That would have been a disaster! We had some clothes in our carry-ons, but nowhere near enough. I need to think through how to pack a little more wisely for future travel.

 

[Ariel484]

Day 1: Sunday, December 18, 2016 - Embarkation

Embarkation day!

(Above screenshot from the DCL Navigator App)

We slept in a bit and headed back down to Area 31 for an expensive (!!) breakfast. It was good, but was it worth $50? I'm gonna go with no on that one! At least after this we would be eating for "free" for most of the rest of the week!

After breakfast, we headed back to the room to get our luggage. Once we were back downstairs, we asked the front desk to call us a cab - there was one waiting outside!

There were some sculptures in the lobby...

I took the above picture at 10:35. The next picture I have is Mr. A at the cruise terminal - time stamp is 10:49! Quick ride! Our Port Arrival Time was 11:00-11:30 so we were right on time!

We'd each been sent 2 luggage tags (similar to what DME sends out), so we attached those to our bigger and carry-on bags. Once we arrived at the terminal, we handed our luggage to a porter, who informed us that if we wanted to tip, we'd better do it now. Okay then! We wouldn't see our bags again until later in the afternoon.

We're here!

We headed into the terminal and went through the metal detectors/security screening (where I had to go through a second time because I forgot to take my phone out of my pocket...oops!). Once we got into the check-in area, we headed to the Castaway Club/returning cruisers line. The first-time line had maybe 30-50 people in it, but the Castaway Club line was non-existent!

Once we were checked in, we were given our lanyards, Key To The World Cards and a card with our boarding group (3). We had some time to kill at this point, so we got a picture with the captain. Afterward we discussed his "new look" - like how Hollywood actors/actresses say they are getting more rest, drinking more water, etc. That is to say...Mickey looks like he's had some work done!

Very Merry!

The family of the day was introduced, and then our boarding group number was called at noon...up the escalator we go!!

There she is!!

Continued...

 

[Ariel484]

"Disney Magic, please welcome the Ariel484 family!!"

Woohoo!!

We boarded the ship on Deck 4 (where the CMs are standing in the corner in the picture below). Instantly I noticed 2 things: 1. all of the CMs were wearing red-and-white striped scarves and hats, and 2. This atrium is SMALL! Like half the size of the Dream and Fantasy! I'd read about how much smaller it was, but it was surprising to see in person!

But look at that tree! Beautiful!

We headed right up to Deck 9 to have lunch at Cabanas - one of my favorite things about the Magic compared to the Dream/Fantasy was that with her smaller size, the Magic was way easier to navigate. First example: we only had to go up 5 flights of stairs to get to Cabanas (we try to avoid the elevators on cruises to help with weight gain - not that it helps THAT much, but ya know - and to avoid elevator lines), where on the Dream/Fantasy, Cabanas is on Deck 11.

I LOVED the wooden Nemo scenes! These are mosaic tile on the Dream/Fantasy.

So pretty! I think I actually prefer this to the mosaic Nemo scenes on the larger ships.

No pics of our food, but I always forget how great the variety of choices is at Cabanas!

After lunch, we had a few errands to take care of...

We headed to Port Adventures to book a time to make gingerbread houses. Our time was 9AM on our At Sea day.

Speaking of gingerbread...this smelled SO GOOD all week!

The tree!

And the atrium again. I liked this chandelier better in person than in pictures...the one on the Dream is still my favorite, though.

When your bag matches the atrium statue...

Continued...

 

[Ariel484]

After booking our gingerbread house tickets, we headed to Guest Services to put a gift card on our room (a Christmas gift from my dad - thanks dad!). Next up, we stopped at Lumiere's to request a change in our dining rotation. When you cruise DCL, you have to pick a dinner time - early (5:45) or late (8:15). We'd originally chosen late dining but were hoping to be moved to early dining. We had also asked to have our own table (on DCL cruises you are sometimes assigned to a table with other families).

On the way to Lumiere's, we decided that whether we were assigned to early seating or stayed on late seating, our #1 main priority was to have our own table. I know this sounds crazy anti-social, but these cruises are quality time for just the two of us, and we're both shy when it comes to meeting new people (me especially). So we were disappointed to find that not only was there not a private table available for early dining...we actually weren't given a private table on our original rotation, either. So there was a good chance we'd be eating with some new folks!

The CM said he'd put the request in and that we should just show up to early seating at our first listed dining room (Animator's Palate) and ask for CM Nondu to learn our fate. Arg! While in Lumiere's, we also booked a Mixology class for 2PM on our At Sea Day in Keys.

So we headed out and tried not to be nervous about dinner. We found ourselves in the adult area, After Hours!

The adult area on the Magic has 3 bars - Keys, O'Gills and Fathoms (the larger ships have 5 adult areas). It was interesting because while the Magic had fewer areas, they were larger than the bars on the Dream and Fantasy. Our favorite bar ended up being Keys, the piano bar. I think this may be my favorite bar on any of the ships (excluding the Wonder since we haven't been on that ship yet).

Too bad my finger ruined this picture...

Keys details!

O'Gills!

I was looking forward to coming back here the night that Tangled: The Musical would be performed, as this place was going to be turned into the Snuggly Duckling!

I don't have any pictures of Fathoms...we never actually made it into that bar. Just took a quick peek. Something on the to-do list for next time!

Continued...

 

[Ariel484]

And a panorama of Miami from Deck 9...

Our room was ready around 1:30. I don't have any pictures (oops!) but we were in 7552 and really liked the location - mid-ship and only 2 decks down from Cabanas!

The kids clubs were open, so we explored those a bit. Again, not a lot of pics But I loved the Christmas decorations!

Andy's room:

Avengers Academy:

Mickey Mouse play area:

By now it was time for one of the worst parts of any cruise...the muster drill. Arg!

This one was especially bad. We learned safety and all that, which is good, but this kid next to me (10-12 years old) had a stuffy nose and actually ended up BLOWING SNOT ON ME. On my arm and on my shirt. I know it was an accident, and he apologized, which...I appreciated, but come on. His snot was on me!! So gross.

At least the sunset was pretty...

After the muster drill, we headed back to the room (where I scrubbed myself, my shirt and changed ) - our bags had showed up by then, so we unpacked a bit before heading to Animator's...time to learn our fate!

Well, Nondu (who happened to be our head server) came through for us - not only we were switched to early dining, but we had OUR OWN TABLE (table 4)!! We were so happy!! I cannot explain what a relief this was...

So - Animator's! This is my favorite dining room on the newer ships, but I think the Magic's version surpassed it. It looks pretty different!

Hey girl...I see you!

I'm kicking myself because I cannot remember the name of our server (I will have to find it later), but we loved her! She was so pleasant to talk to each evening. Our assistant serve was Widi, and he was great - he kept me pumped full of coffee, so he was basically my BFF. And something that I thought was really cool - each night, Nondu, our head server, actually came to talk to us. This was really different from what we experienced on the newer ships, where we almost never saw the head servers. Here on the Magic, the Head Servers seemed more involved.

And now, we eat! We had garlic/rosemary foccacia with a garlic dip. YUM!

Mr. A started off with the bacon/cheddar soup.

I had the chicken and walnut salad - this was so good!

For our entrees, we both asked for an entree-sized portion of the black truffle pasta pursettes - I think these are the best thing you can get in the main dining room! They are normally an appetizer, but we had no problem getting them as our entree!

They are so filling and rich that I couldn't finish my portion, which I was sad about! But I had to save room for dessert...
Mr. A picked the mango puree - really tasty and light!

I asked for a smaller portion of the white chocolate fudge cheesecake to try...it was okay. I had a couple of bites and probably wouldn't order it again.

But I inhaled this cookies & cream sundae! Delicious!!

During dinner, the screens with the characters had changed so that they were being animated. And then the main show started!

The screens were now in color and the music from Fantasmic! played...and who came out to dance around the dining room?...

Fantasmic is my favorite show at WDW, so I freaking loved this. I only teared up a little bit. So that's a big reason why I liked the Magic's Animator's Palate just a little more than the Dream/Fantasy!

Continued...

 

[Ariel484]

After dinner (during which we'd missed sail away - we were already en route to Key West!), we wanted to see the Christmas tree lighting, but the atrium was SO packed. This is when we could really feel how small it was! So we headed to Keys instead for drinks and to listen to some piano...it was wonderful! So relaxing.

The bartender (Ana from Mexico, our new buddy) recommended the Pom Passion, an off-menu drink. I loved this! Some kind of pomegranate/champagne cocktail.

Mr. A chose the Moji-Do - similar to a Mojito, but with orange juice instead of soda water (among other smaller changes). He really liked this!

The piano player finished his set and then went around to talk to the guests in the bar, which we thought was so cool! His name was Tim and we mostly talked basketball and DCL with him - very fun!

After Keys we decided to just walk around a bit more...we weren't going to the first show (some variety act). We looked in the stores...I had to laugh that the stores on the newer ships are so much bigger! Clearly DCL decided that more retail space was a priority when it came to building the newer ships...

The tree is lit!

Back in our room, we met our first little towel buddy!

And I got a Mickey Bar from room service...this is the life!

We watched movies (one thing I really missed that the Dream/Fantasy has and the Magic does not - on-demand movies! The Magic just had the same ones looping over and over) - I think tonight we watched the new Ghostbusters, which was surprisingly okay, and then went to bed!

Up next - our first full day and our first visit to Key West!

 

[ZellyB]

Wonderful start to your cruise. I haven't cruised DCL before, but compared to the Carnival cruise ships I've been on, that Atrium does look really small - but very pretty. The decorations everywhere are awesome. I'm so glad you were able to get your dining changed to the time you wanted and to get a private table. SCORE!!

 

[Dis5150]

BLOWING SNOT ON ME. On my arm and on my shirt. I know it was an accident, and he apologized, which...I appreciated, but come on. His snot was on me!! So gross.

 

[rteetz]

Looks like a great embarkation! Although being snot on is definitely not fun.

I've always wished there was something like animators palate at WDW but it just gives me a reason to go on a Disney cruise.