Sailing the Magic Jan 21 - 28th 2012 *complete*

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Pre Cruise
We took a cruise with Grandma and four kiddos (Kevin, 12, Ryan, 10, Dylan 6 and Lauren 5) It was our very first cruise and the kids first plane ride and trip to Florida. We surprised them on Christmas morning with a puzzle they had to put together, the kids found pieces in their stockings which said were cruising the magic jan 21 2012 They were super excited and we only had another month until sail date, there wasnt much how longer until we go? Our only mistake in the whole process was not re-booking a dummy date on board. We sail again in February 2014 and would have saved some money we won't forget to do that again!

Friday January 20th Travel Day

Today was our day of travel, we flew from freezing cold Toronto to sunny Orlando. Our flight left at 6:30am which meant we had to be at the airport for 4:30am. We didnt want to take a chance flying in on Embarkation Day, so we flew in the day before, just in case. Kiddos had a wake up time of 3:30, they had 15mins to brush teeth, get dressed including shoes and then load up into the van. They ate breakfast on the 45min drive to the airport little tiny boxes of cereal and juice. We flew Sunwing and never again, their check-in was so super long (while staring longingly over at Air Canadas empty lines) that the 6 of us literally ran from security to our gate as they had called for boarding. There were about 20 people who got on after us!
We arrived in Orlando at 9:30am and surprised the kids with a limousine to our port hotel Residence Inn Cape Canaveral. We loved the hotel, our 2 bedroom suite was ready when we got there about 11am clean, was a fantastic place to stay for the night. It didn't take the Canadian's long to get into shorts and flip flops! We walked over to Burger King in the parking lot for lunch, gas station for beverages and then back for a little nap. Mid-afternoon we went swimming, ordered in pizza for dinner, put together FE gifts and headed to bed early. The hotel had an awesome fire going outside, the kids loved sitting out there for a bit, we were the only ones.

 

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Saturday January 21st Embarkation Day

We all woke up super early this morning, from excitement of course. I got some awesome sunrise photos from our south facing rooms. Everyone had showers, we went downstairs for free breakfast it was busy but they had a fairly empty overflow room which we used. We packed up our stuff and went down to wait for the shuttle bus. She was a little late and we had to wait to load everyone up, but we arrived at the port about 11:45am. We checked in, got our KTTW and saw how long the line up was for the kids club bracelets we decided to do it on board. They were already calling boarding number 9 and we got an 8 so we were able to board right away. It was awesome hearing our family name announced, we headed right to Parrot Cay for lunch. Once the kiddos had food, I left them with Grandma to go drop off our pillow case and sign up for Tea with Alice and Tequila tasting. Lunch was great.

By now it was just after 1:30pm so we decided to go check out our stateroom, but first we'd go wander through the atrium and see people getting on the ship. This is where our first magical moment of the cruise happened, what has hooked us on Disney and made us want to go back again. As we rounded the corner toward the statue, DD stopped, clamped her hand over her mouth and squealed (as a side note, she hates mascots, like chuck e cheese - total nightmare. We knew taking the cruise would be a crap shoot, but come ON, we've been on the ship for an hour, get it together girl) Except she wasn't shaking and trying to run away, her eyes were brimming with tears - because THE MOUSE was RIGHT THERE girlfriend was teary with excitement! He was taking a photo with a group, but spotted her right after and came over to give her a hug. Gave her a big high five when he found out it was her first cruise and another quick hug before wandering off. Of course, no photos were taken, as we were all a little star struck - come ON, THE MOUSE! This sealed the deal, an hour in - we'd be back, Disney, take my money!

We headed down to our room on deck 2, some of our luggage was already there so we unpacked until 3pm - it was time to go to our Cruise Meet in the Promenade Lounge. It was so nice putting faces to names, especially since we ran into people we knew all week long. After the muster drill we went up to watch the Sailaway Party, grabbed our first of many frozen drinks and then went up to Deck 10 as we moved up the channel. We tried the drink of the day, every day plus a few more

I didnt realize how fast 5:45pm comes on the first day. We barely had enough time to go drop everything off in the room before we made our way to Lumieres for dinner. We were sitting with friends of ours, however they didnt make it to dinner that night so we ate alone. Tonight I had French Onion Soup, Aged Angus Grilled Beef Tenderloin
On Olive-Oil Smashed Potatoes, Bacon-wrapped Green Beans, and mustard sauce and Chocolate Mousse.
We were exhausted, but so not ready to sleep so we took the kids for a swim before dropping them off at the kids club so we could explore. When we finally picked them up for bed they fell asleep while I was showering.

 

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Sunday January 22nd Key West

We woke up very early this morning, Grandma was still sleeping so I took the kids up to Topsiders for breakfast. I was amazed how quickly four cast members showed up right at the end of the buffet to carry the kids trays to the table it was fabulous and something I still miss! Today we would be in Key West about lunchtime, the kids had big plans to have a swim and then go make Flubber before we ventured into Key West to check out the Aquarium.

We ran the kids though the buffet line about 12pm so they could eat before we got off the ship, the aquarium was super easy to find and the kids loved it, especially the touch tank. After that we just walked around, got some souvenirs, I wanted to get chocolate covered key lime pie but I didnt see it anywhere. The line to get back on the ship was long, and slow not sure why they only used one door but it took a long time. Once back on board, we grabbed some snacks up on deck 9 and the kids went back into the pool until it was time to get ready for dinner.

Tonight we were in Animators Palate, kids were very excited for the big show according to the menu, I had Confetti Tomato Salad, Asian Marinated Beef Tenderloin and the fact that I cant say no to chocolate - Double-Fudge Chocolate Cake for dessert. The older two kids went between the kids menu and adults menu depending on what was offered that night. After dinner we dropped the kids off at the clubs for Plutos PJ party/Gaga ball while we went and had some drinks. Tonight was going to be a late one for me since the two oldest boys went to make pizza and have arcade night, they didnt stroll in until just after 1am *yawn* Tomorrow is our character breakfast, going to be a rough one

 

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Monday January 23rd – Sea Day
Our alarm (aka DD) went off much earlier than I would have liked. Everyone else was sleeping so I took the youngest two up to grab some lemonade before breakfast. We had to be at Parrot Cay at 8am, breakfast was decent and everyone especially DD loved having a little more face time with the characters. After that we went to change and headed up to swim for a bit, in case you didn’t guess, my kids love water and would spend all their waking hours there. In fact almost every night we skipped the shows and went to the pool instead. Even on sea days we didn’t find the Magic too busy, we’ll see how it compares to the Fantasy in February.

Around 11am, I declared a nap for the younger two (and Mom) because of our early start this morning. While the kids were in great spirits even going to bed close to midnight every night, I knew a crash would be coming soon. I didn’t write it down but I think today was Tea with Alice, where DD was picked to be the March Hare, she was so super excited. DD was excited for story time with Belle so we dropped the kids off at the club for a little bit while we got ready for dinner. What’s that, free drinks at 5:15 for the Captain’s Gala, I’m there! In fact we were early, and guess what, they had drinks already flowing! Yay. We met Captain John and he told us over ½ the cruise guests were also Canadian, eh!

Menu tonight in Parrot Cay was Prince and Princess, I had Garden Consomme soup, salad, Parma Ham Wrapped Chicken Breast and Princess Aurora Sundae for dessert, yummm rocky road – my fave ice cream ever. Our servers were Beethoven and Clo, they were fantastic, attentive, played a bunch of games with the kids. Clo was pretty nervous because the cruise after ours she was being promoted to Server and knew it was a lot of work. So I think she did a little more than an assistant server did just to prove to herself she could do it. My DS #2 and her really bonded because he loves to try new foods and they’d chat about menu faves and he was always open to trying what she suggested was her fave.
The kids had a quick swim and then back to the kids club to play while we sat outside in the adult area and had some drinks. We went to bed at a much more reasonable time tonight.

 

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Tuesday January 24th – Grand Cayman (aka our Sea Day)
When we booked our cruise it was decided we’d just explore ports and shop a little, no excursions booked and since we didn’t love the thought of using the tender to get onto the island we decided to stay on board and relax. The kids spent their day going between the pools, buffet and kid clubs while we hung out in the sun. I loved having the ship almost to ourselves. Late afternoon I took DD to go the Princess gathering and she loved it.

Dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay, I had West Indies Romaine Salad, Island Spiced Grilled Rib-Eye of Beef and Ice-Cream Sundae for dessert. In case you can’t tell, not a fan of seafood at all. I encouraged my kids to try different things, sometimes requesting a half portion of something for them each to try.

The younger two were starting to have burnout about 9pm, so I put them to bed and left Kevin watching them while Mom and I went to Rockin Bar D to watch Jeff Traveggia and Match Your Mate – was a ton of fun.

 

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Wednesday January 25th Cozumel and Pirate Day
Woke up pretty early this morning and grabbed breakfast in the buffet like every morning (our next cruise I plan to have more breakfast/lunch meals in the dining rooms) and got ready to go explore Cozumel. We waited for the crowd to get off and then off we went. We left DD on the ship and I was glad she did, the vendors were pretty up in your face and Id see she would be scared by them attempting to pat the kids heads and stuff. We walked down the main street one way to Del Sol, shopping along the way and then decided we were done shopping for the day and took a taxi down to Margaritaville.

For some reason, I forgot to bring towels and a change of clothes for the kids of course they wanted to swim so we had to let them drip dry. The staff who help with lifejackets/towels work off tips and they arent afraid to let you know. So bring extra towels and bathing suits, because their towels arent washed between uses, just hung up to dry. After some yummy margaritas, volcano nachos and a swim we walked back to the ship where vendors were even more in your face. One said come into my store so I can rip you off, its only money yeah, nice.

We knew it would be a late night so we had a mandatory nap for the youngest two and adults, before getting ready for dinner. Tonight was in Lumieres Pirates in the Caribbean menu I had Mr Smees Bib Lettuce Salad , Jack Sparrows Barbecue Marinated Beef Short Ribs (these were my fave I cant wait to have these again) and Walk the Triple Layered Chocolate Gangplank Cake. Ryan had Jolly Rogers Barbecue Rib Salad and he loved it, our server was pleased as she told him all week that this was her fave dish.

The kids were excited about Pirate prep activities in the clubs so we fast tracked their dinner and dropped them off with a promise wed be back at 9pm to pick them up and start the festivities. The kids loved the fireworks but it was too windy for Mickey to zipline in and save the day. After some walking around we headed off to bed.

Ryan and Clo

 

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Thursday January 26th – Sea Day

We actually got to sleep in quite a bit this morning, yay. Went up to the buffet for breakfast and grazed our morning and afternoon away while the kids went swimming. Somewhere in there we watched Beauty and the Beast (we also watched a ton of Funnel Vision movies while the kids swam, my fave was Lady and the Tramp wrapped up in blankets with DD)
The kids were busy getting ready for Friendship Rocks, fantastic because Grandma and I were heading to Margarita/Tequila tasting at 4pm, which was awesome. Right after that we went into the Walt Disney theatre to watch the kids, I tried to catch their pics up on the large screen.

Tonight was dinner in Animator’s Palate, Captain’s Gala menu – I had Garden Fresh Salad, Fettuccine with Parmesan-Crusted Chicken and Warm Chocolate Lava Cake (yum!) and then walked a whole bunch to work off dinner and make room for the chocolate buffet that night. After dinner the boys took off to the club’s to play with their friends and we took DD to go see Dreams in the WD Theatre. She loved every second of it and I regret not taking her to other shows that week, but again, always have next time. We walked around some more, grabbed food from the chocolate buffet and headed back to our room to prep for the most anticipated day ever – Castaway Cay day!

DD and snow white

 

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Friday January 27th – Castaway Cay!
Up bright and early this morning, quick run through the buffet and then back to our room to sunscreen up and ready to head to the beach. We took the tram over to the beach but not before stopping to take pics with some characters. Took us a while to find some seats since families had towels draped over 4+ loungers and not once did we see them sitting in them. We grabbed two loungers since we knew the kids wouldn’t be sitting much at all. Dragged one of the small chairs into the ocean to be close to the kids and that’s where I spent my morning. Didn’t take long for one of the CM’s to appear and ask if I wanted a drink, in fact they got to know us pretty well that week and our stateroom keys even better

We went to Cookies Too for lunch, the ribs were awesome, actually all the food was. We stayed on the beach until mid afternoon and then made our way back to the ship to shower and then the kids wanted to swim (again) So Grandma watched them while I packed everything up. At some point during the week I did laundry and it was not too busy, just set my watch to go off 3 minutes before the machine was done so no one had to wait for me.

Dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay, theme was ‘Til We Meet Again and we were on a mission to finish off all the wine we had started this week. We were starving so for appies I had Grilled Chicken Satays, Artichoke, Spinach and Jalapeno Cheese Dip and Romaine Leaves with Artichoke Chips to share, delish! Main entrée was Yachtsman Steakhouse Center Cut Grilled Beef Tenderloin and dessert - Celebration Cake – the kids loved the parade and the Baked Alaska. We finished off shopping, made sure the rest of our luggage was outside and headed to bed at a decent time.

Our friends had a HA room, we loved to sit on their deck at night!

 

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Saturday January 28th – Disembarkation – aka worst day ever!


Getting off the ship wasn’t too bad since we knew we had another 24 hours in Florida, we were spending the night at the MCO Hyatt. We got up about 7am, grabbed our carry-ons and went up to the buffet for breakfast along with what seemed like everyone else on the ship. It took forever to get through the buffet and about the same to find a table. We got off the ship about 8am and were on one of the cruise transfer buses by 8:15, we were one of the last on so the bus left right away.

We got to MCO airport about 9am, it didn’t take long at all and then we got a porter to help us take our luggage upstairs. Checked in and our rooms were ready, we got one king room and then an add on children’s room with two doubles for half price. Of course, after spending a week in the water, what did they want to do? Swim. The pool was heated and we had it to ourselves for a long time. I convinced them to get out for lunch and we went to the MCO food court which was busy but decent. Shopped a bit in the stores where the kids got new hats, Mom got new shoes and we got some stuff from the Disney store. Back upstairs to swim, until it was time for dinner. With a promise to come back for one final Florida swim after dinner. Again we went to the food court, it was just much easier for everyone to get what they wanted. Back to swimming we went and then climbed into bed early since we had to be up at 6am the next morning. It was so convenient on Sunday morning waking up, taking our luggage down to check in and then grabbing breakfast before hitting up security and waiting at our gate for the flight.
It was an amazing trip, one that our children will remember for a long time. We’re so excited that in less than 3 months from now we’ll be on our next Disney Cruise – I won’t wait quite this long to write our next trip report!! Thanks for reading!

Below are some Hyatt pics and randoms I forgot about.

DD passed out by guest services, I was waiting in line and I guess she got tired of waiting.

 

[jedijill]

Great report! It's getting me ready for my cruise this time next week.

Love the Hyatt...so convenient.


Jill in CO