"These bathroom tiles are so nice and cool...." AKA Oct 22, 2016 Magic *COMPLETED*

[SeaSpray]

DH and I went on the Magic on October 22, 2016, sailing out of NYC going to Castaway Cay and Port Canaveral/Disney World, plus 4 sea days.

Pre-trip planning:

YES! I was able to book cabana #24 on Serenity Bay! Ahh.... the memories we'd make there, relaxing in our own hammock and lounge chairs.... going for a swim then relaxing on the chaise lounges on the porch of the cabana... I had ordered waterproof cases for our iPhones so that we could take them down to the edge of the water to take pictures.

Our resort while at WDW is the Polynesian and we love breakfast at the Kona Café, so I booked a late breakfast ADR, and I was dreaming of my favorite pineapple-macadamia nut pancakes.

We also made plans to meet up with one of DH's co-workers who lives part time in FL. I changed our Kona Café ADR from a party of 2, to a party of 4! Yay!

We booked a Spa Villa for the 2+ hours "Couples Choice". What a treat this will be!

We booked Palo brunch. We prefer it over it dinner, although dinner is pretty great too!

I booked tickets on Amtrak (Boston to NY Penn) for the day before, and I booked a pre-cruise night at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, as well as a night there post-cruise.

We were all set to have an awesome time! We had done this exact itinerary in 2012 and had a blast.

Up Next:

Day 1 Amtrak and the Marriott Marquis Times Square

 

[SeaSpray]

Day 1: Amtrak - Boston to NYC & the Marriott Marquis Times Square

We left Boston at 10:30am so we had lunch on the train We started vacation mode right away by ordering wine to go with our sandwiches



Amtrak selfie! lol




We arrived at NY Penn without incident and made our way up and out of the station to find the car service that I booked. I did this because I wanted to be sure that we'd have transportation that could fit our luggage as well as my walker.

It was raining when we first walked outside but it stopped by the time we got to our hotel




We checked in at the Marriott Marquis and then went outside to take a stroll around Times Square.

Our room had a small view of Times Square. And the inside of the hotel reminds me of the inside of the Contemporary Resort. lol















After walking around a bit we realized that it was almost dinner time so we walked the block to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. DH and I had perused their menu before we left home and decided that it looked good, and it was within walking distance that I'd be able to handle. It turned out that Bubba Gump's was a great decision!

Next Post: Bubba Gump's continued!

 

[SeaSpray]

Ok, on to Bubba Gump's!

The entrance is very cute; everywhere you look, there are scenes from the movie almost brought to life, such as this bench!



There are license plates all around the restaurant, used as a decorative border. We got a kick out of seeing both of our home states right next to each other in our booth:




We tried a couple of different drinks but our favorite was Lt Dan's Punch!





This was called Jenny's special iced tea or something.


Appetizer was this delicious plate of stuffed potato balls...I forget the actual name. lol



I ordered the boneless fried chicken and John ordered a shrimp plate. We both were very happy with our choices, but the portions were too large.





I don't like shrimp but after 2 strong drinks I was willing to try one.

 

[SeaSpray]

We ended up getting 2 free dessert samplers because our waiter disappeared and the waitress who took over our table realized that we had been waiting a long time to order dessert. She even had the manager stop at our table to apologize and she said that dessert was on the house. Good customer satisfaction move!

The desserts were all delicious but my favorite was the bread pudding. It reminded us of the dessert at 'Ohana at the Polynesian.



After putting a small dent in our desserts we strolled back down Broadway and snapped a couple of pics of Times Square at night.





When we got back to our room we had quite a surprise when we looked out the window - the Freedom Tower! The beacon on top changed colors every few minutes. It was very cool to see all lit up at night, and again I was reminded of Disney World; the changing colors on the Freedom Tower reminded me of watching Cinderella castle change color from our rooms at the Polynesian.







We tried to sleep but knowing that we'd be back onboard the Magic within 12 hours was pretty exciting!

 

[SeaSpray]

Finally, the day of our cruise has arrived! We got ready and put on our matching Mickey and Minnie Rocketeer t-shirts.





We were using DCL transportation from the hotel to the port. We met with the DCL Rep and she led us downstairs to the waiting bus. This process went very smoothly, and the rep was a sweetheart. She waved "bye" to us with her Mickey hand! lol







A quick bus ride and we got our first glimpses of the Magic!






After a quick check-in we were given a low boarding number that had already been called so we were able to walk right onto the ship. We went to Carioca's for lunch.



Next: Cabin 6550!

 

[SeaSpray]

Our cabin was 6550, Category 5B mid-ship verandah cabin.


There was a ton of storage. The new cabinets offered so much more storage than the last time we cruised on the Magic in 2012.





Our sons ordered a bottle of Prosecco for us for sail away and we found it chilling in our cabin.






Our Silver level Castaway Club gift was this beach bag.





The closet had so many hangers that we ended up hanging almost all of our clothes. This left a lot of drawer space for other things like the FE gifts we received.


The couch had a couple of cute red pillows with sea shell motif.



On the back of your door you'll find a lot of information, including where your tender station is located.



I was happy to see that they didn't change out this picture over the couch.



We found several enveloped addressed to us on the desk. They contained our dining room tickets, Character breakfast tickets, character Meet & Greet tickets, our Palo brunch information, and our Rainforest Room tickets. There was also information for our Spa Villa experience, as well as gift cards from our sons who ordered a 6-pack of water for us, in addition to the Prosecco.

 

[SeaSpray]

Cabin 6550 (more pics)


The bathrooms were in excellent condition.




I loved these adorable DCL logo towels!



I appreciated the grab bars in the shower since I have health problems that cause me to have balance issues.


The bathroom amenities.



John checking out the verandah



Relaxing on the verandah!!





Verandah selfie!! LOL

 

[lorimay]

What is better than NYC and The Disney Magic???............. Not much

 

[SeaSpray]

The weather was very windy and overcast so the Sail away Party was held in the atrium. The CMs did a great job of getting the kids excited and they handed out gold colored streamers to everyone. I snapped a couple of pictures of the party, then DH and I went to the Promenade Lounge to get the drink of the day.







After we finished our drinks we went to our cabin for sailing away.

 

[SeaSpray]

The weather had cleared up a lot by the time we started moving so sail away was really nice, enjoying it with Prosecco on our balcony.

 

[SeaSpray]

Dinner our first night was in Lumiere's. Our servers were Genesis and Allan. They did a great job. Our head server was John. He was excellent.


Apparently the only picture that I have from that meal is our Drinks of the Day. lol You can see at the bottom of the picture is my appetizer. I believe it was fried brie cheese with a cranberry-orange relish on the side. I really liked this appetizer.

 

[SeaSpray]

We saw a stunningly beautiful sunset that first night. These pictures do not do it justice.

 

[LisaRN97]

Great trip report! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[SeaSpray]

Great trip report! Looking forward to the rest!

Thanks! I wasn't sure if anyone was reading it or not. lol

 

[SeaSpray]

Day 2 - First full day on the ship - Sea Day


We woke up to beautiful blue skies!! I was surprised and delighted to find that the weather was already so much warmer than it was in NYC. We started our day with room service breakfast and Mimosas using the Prosecco that was left from sail away.

 

[lorimay]

Such peaceful beautiful scenery.
NYC was my favorite sail out of and sail back into ports we have seen.......

 

[SeaSpray]

We had Palo brunch booked for noon time, so after breakfast in our room we walked around the ship a bit until it was time to get ready for brunch.

After walking around the ship for a while we ended up at one of our favorite spots on the ship, The Cove Café.

 

[SeaSpray]

After relaxing around the Quiet Cove area we went back to our cabin to get changed for Palo. We checked in and after a very short wait we were escorted to our table for 2, right against the glass wall, overlooking the aft deck.





I had a peach Bellini and John had a Chamboard & Champagne










Our first plates of appetizers, food from the display tables. Everything was fresh and delicious.


For my main meal I ordered chicken parm with risotto from off the menu. It was excellent.



John ordered a fish dish, and he said it was very good.

 

[SeaSpray]

Palo brunch desserts!

 

[cheermom2four]

OMG I miss Palo now. Lovely TR