Trip Report! My first time on the Magic!

[Dug720]

Decided to try and do an actual trip report for my first cruise on the Magic! And since I leave for Miami tomorrow, I'll go ahead and start now so I can keep up slightly as I go - probably not getting internet on the ship though, but this will be a good start!

The cast:

Me...

Lifelong Disney fan! First Disney cruise on the Dream in July 2013. Other Disney cruises - Dream Feb 2014, Fantasy 2015. So this will be my fourth Disney cruise and first time on the Magic. In my daily life I'm a Special Education teacher in NYC with a class of 2nd and 3rd graders with autism. This is my Winter Break from school.

My parents, Jim and Starr...

Also pretty solid Disney fans! First Disney cruise - Dream July 2013. And they have 3 other Disney cruises - 2 on the Fantasy...not positive on the other, but either the Dream or Fantasy. As they're retired and can do more last-minute things, they've been able to do a couple of cruises on my sister's "friends and family" rate. This will be their fifth - also first time on the Magic. As I said, they're retired, but usher at TN Performing Arts Center on a very part-time basis. I wanted to take them on this cruise just as a "thank you" for everything they've done for me.

The plans...
I am flying to Miami tomorrow and will play for a couple of days before my parents join me on Tuesday, then Wednesday we will board the Magic. My plans include a HOHO bus tour on as many of the loops as I can, a jet boat tour, a Segway tour of Star Island and South Beach, dinner at Larios on the Beach and Hard Rock (then taking the parents to Larios on Tuesday night), and getting some cafecito along with just chilling and walking on the beach!!

Ship itinerary...
Wednesday - embarkation
Thursday - Castaway Cay where I have reserved a cabana at Serenity Bay for us. I was hoping to get one, and given that we now know my dad will have to have hip replacement after the cruise, I'm so super glad I was able to!
Friday - Key West where we plan to wander around a bit (we were there for 3 nights in 2013 prior to the Dream cruise, so we hit the major things) and get some Key Lime Pie (gluten free for me!!). We will be doing Palo dinner on this evening as it is Pirate Night and we wanted to experience the Magic's main dining rooms since this is our first time on the ship.
Saturday - Sea Day where we have scheduled the Princess Gathering, the Frozen M&G, and Palo Brunch (first on the brunch for Mom and Daddy).
Sunday - disembarkation and Disney shuttle to the airport.

Firsts for us (besides the Magic and the cabana)...
* Our first cruise where there is some mobility limitation; Daddy has a cane and is getting around generally pretty well...we will just go slower than usual.
* My first Disney cruise since going gluten-free. Already noted on the reservation, and I plan to pop into the dining changes area just to make sure it is noted (and also see if I need to give Palo a heads-up that I will want the GF chocolate soufflé). I've done a couple of cruises (RCCL and fathom) since having to go GF so I have an idea of how it generally works.
* My first cruise since starting back on Weight Watchers. As of today I've lost 23.6 pounds and while I'm not counting on continuing to lose while cruising, at least I want to minimize the damage. So I'm already planning for things like requesting no GF bread be brought to the table and letting the service team know that just because I may not eat everything does not mean I don't like it. Also things like using a salad plate at Cabanas, etc. And I'm bringing my WW gf pretzel bites for snacking. Also things like walking with my mom when she does her ship laps, taking advantage of the gym, and putting my parents on the elevator (Daddy's hip) then taking the stairs and meeting them at the elevator bank.

So... That sets the stage I think. Time to go finish packing as I will head for the airport shortly after seeing On Your Feet! tonight for my "one year anniversary" of seeing the show for the first time. (Yes, it's getting there early, but they are finally trying to bring LaGuardia into the 20th century (21st is a super big stretch right now), and the traffic getting there has been horrendous, even early in the morning. So I'm definitely going with "better to be there super early than have to walk up to a mile to get there in time".)

 

[CamColt]

I am going to move this to the Pre-Trip Reports Board.
Thanks for the report, and I hope you have a magical cruise!

 

[Dug720]

I am going to move this to the Pre-Trip Reports Board.
Thanks for the report, and I hope you have a magical cruise!

Thanks! Sorry i put it in the wrong place!

 

[dcassetta]

Have a great trip! Looking forward to hearing about all your experiences.

 

[CamColt]

Thanks! Sorry i put it in the wrong place!

No problem at all!
Enjoy!

 

[lorimay]

Enjoy.....

 

[missmdr]

 

[Dug720]

Ok, I'm all back at home with Velcro-cat on my hip! So let's keep this thing rolling!!

Getting there...

Saturday night, I went to see On Your Feet! (yes again) and then decided to head on out to LaGuardia just to make sure I was there AND could be online at 6am to book my ADRs for my August Disney trip! I stored my luggage at a luggage storage place, so I had to run get it while the stage door greeting was going on because the show ran late due to stopping for a medical emergency. Managed to get back and see my friend Christie before she dashed off, then it was hanging out for about an hour before my SuperShuttle ride.

Come to find out that I got lucky and got upgraded to an Executive Car all by myself - at no extra charge!!

Made it to LaGuardia and found I was NOT the only one with the "get there early" idea - thanks to construction, it has been a hot mess and people have been walking up to a mile to get there in time. Once I could check my bag, I did that and went through security and was all set at 6 - and got all my ADRs, so YAY!!!

Relatively uneventful flight to Miami, and once I had my luggage it was SuperShuttle time again! No luck with a private car this time, but that was ok. Soon enough I was in my hotel room - Hilton Garden Inn South Beach Royal Polo. Super nice - and a little removed from all the crazy of Ocean Drive.

First order of business was unpacking and trying to air out clothes that got a little soaked with Poo-Pourri that leaked even through its ziplock. Ew! Everything smelled very lavender-vanilla. But I survived.

Then it was off to explore a little...

Followed by dinner at Larios on the Beach (AMAZING!!!! Check it out if you're in Miami Beach!!!)

Sleep, and then a fun-filled day of touring Miami...

JetBoat tour...

And a bus tour followed by "linner" at the Hard Rock Cafe and a walk back to my hotel once I was back in Miami Beach.

The next day started with my first Segway tour... And my first road rash when I crashed into the curb first thing.

But the tour was fun.

Then I went back to the hotel to wait for my parents!

We had dinner at Larios and then went to the hotel to prepare for embarkation day!!!!

 

[TestingH2O]

Overall a fun start to the trip!

 

[Dug720]

Embarkation Day...

We woke up on Wednesday and there were ominous dark clouds approaching Miami Beach. After breakfast at the hotel, we went to organize our stuff before checking out and waiting on our pre-arranged Lyft to the port.

We got there a little before 11, but were allowed in no problem. We checked in and got Group 3, so we went to find places to sit. As a note, Miami has even less seating - and at least feels more compact - than Port Canaveral. We got chairs in a little side area - but be aware that you can't clearly hear the announcements when you're there, so as soon as we heard the first chimes we moved out into the larger room. Luckily we were able to find a spot where Daddy could lean against a pole - he has a cane and generally gets around ok, but long periods standing can be iffy.

Family of the day boarded followed by Group 1 - not super busy - and Group 2 - even less busy. So they announced Groups 3 and 4 at the same time and we were off!

Yes, I was sappy enough I started crying when they announced us. As we were walking by, one of the cruise staff, Darrell (Darrel?) said "Awww! It's ok!! It'll be ok." and gave me a big hug. I assured him it was happy tears. They were directing everyone straight to Carioca's, but we headed up to Cabanas as that is our tradition. I talked with a chef while Mom and Daddy found a table (VERY easy to do so early, especially with them directing people elsewhere) and got their food. The automatically gluten-free stuff was pointed out to me, and I asked for some chicken fingers, so those were brought to me. It had started raining while we were in the terminal, but while we were eating the skies really opened up. It looked like they were power-washing the ship, such was the rain on the windows.

When it started getting really crowded in Cabanas, we gave up our table and walked around a few minutes until the cabins were ready at 1:30 (one advantage to the later boarding start in Miami is that there is less time to "kill" before the cabins are ready. At that point Carioca's had a wait for a free table, so we were glad we had opted to go upstairs.

We went to our cabins as soon as the hallways were open and started getting settled in. 2582 and 2584 - super nice. We kept the doors open between them except at night (Daddy snores). We met our cabin host, Supraptha, who had our luggage already, so we were able to unpack before muster and sail away. We were at Station K, so outside on the deck for that. It went as smoothly as it could.

It was obvious that the Sailing Away party was going to be inside, so after Muster we headed to Deck 5 around the Atrium for that.

I laughed that the first song played was "Get On Your Feet!" - took it as a good omen.

Chip lost his hat...

It was seeming to start to clear up, so we headed up to Deck 10 for actual sail away...

And soon enough we could see a rainbow off to the port side...

Once we were underway, we got ready for the show and dinner. There was a second rainbow we could see off to the starboard side, so we took that as an even better open for the cruise ahead.

The show was good - Twice Charmed. Clayton was our cruise director - my first time having him as CD, and I really enjoyed him!! (And I now understand the "Who's on vacation?!?!?" thing on here when he is mentioned - along with the vacation dance. He did different dances each night. HAHA!)

We all LOVED Animator's on the Magic!!! I have a few pictures of what happens, but I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't experienced it yet.

And don't get me wrong... I love Mickey!! But it is not a Disney cruise (or visit) for me until I get my Pluto hug!!

After dinner it was back to the cabin - and then to guest services for me as I'd gotten nothing about the Castaway cabana in the stateroom. They were confused because they could clearly see I had 24 reserved, so the guy helping me went to the back and was gone a while, then came out with the envelope. The cabin number had not been written correctly (it looked like a hybrid 2532 and 2582) and for whatever reason rather than looking up the name, they had just kept it behind the counter. But we had the wristbands for the next day.

After a busy unpacking and settling in day, it was time for bed. All in all, a great first day!!

 

[Dug720]

Day 2 - Castaway Cay

I woke up Thursday morning and went to Cove Cafe then wandered around a little - looking at the somewhat cloudy sky and hoping. Soon, it was clear that we were in the channel and would be making it to Castaway, but clouds still threatened...

We had decided to eat breakfast at Lumiere's, and Aditya had pre-ordered gluten-free Mickey waffles with bacon for me.

We went back to the cabin to get our stuff, then headed off the ship and onto the island. By this point, the sky was more blue than clouds...

There were some crew preparing for their water certification exercise - but all excursions were cancelled for the day. All except cabanas that is...

We took the tram to the transfer point and then hopped on the tram to Serenity Bay - usually we would have walked to the transfer point, but we were taking things at a different pace this trip because of Daddy's hip. And that was fine.

As soon as we got off the tram, the cabana host for Serenity Bay pulled up on the golf cart and took us right to the cabana - we had our wristbands on, so I guess he knew from seeing those that we had a cabana and just took us right back.

It turned into a GLORIOUS day!!

The water was a little chilly, but I wanted to get my leg (the road rash from the Segway accident) in some salt water because that always helps things heal, so I went down to the water a few times during the day.

When we were ready for lunch, we just pressed the button and voila! the golf cart appeared! Because I knew they had steak at the Serenity Bay eating area, I didn't pre-order anything for lunch - and I was perfectly fine with that.

We loved the fruit plate in the cabana - and so did some little birds!

So I pulled some grapes off to give them - then put the plate back in the fridge.

Mom went back to the ship a little early to do her daily walking and Daddy and I hung out at the cabana for a while longer and read and napped. Too soon, we needed to pack up and head back to the ship...

It was an absolutely wonderful day! We loved having the cabana - especially since Daddy's hip thing makes walking for a while challenging for him - but we all agreed that like concierge, it's a nice splurge but we don't HAVE to do it every cruise.

That night we were in Carioca's

which I enjoyed far more than I had originally anticipated. I loved everything I had (potato causa, black bean soup, criollo chicken salad - I came super close to ordering the ribeye as well, but I held off)...which included three desserts. At least some of three desserts.

I had planned to order the cream cheese flan and the suspiro alimenea and have some of each of them because I couldn't decide. But then before we even got the menus, Aditya appeared with the ice cream sundae minus the churro. LOL. So...yes. I had parts of three of them.

This was also the night of Tangled the Musical, so I had to go and check out the Snuggly Duckling takeover...

So cute and well-done! They did an early version so that kids could attend, but it was during adult only hours when I got there.

Then it was time to get some sleep after an amazing - and SUNNY - day!!

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Great report! Nice details. Loved the pictures of the Cabana, especially the birds! Thanks a lot for doing this!

 

[Dug720]

Great report! Nice details. Loved the pictures of the Cabana, especially the birds! Thanks a lot for doing this!

Thank you! And you're welcome! Still 2 days to go.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Thank you! And you're welcome! Still 2 days to go.

I can't wait. I'll try to be well-rested to enjoy these last two days. I can't believe it is ending soon. I'd better start packing up!

 

[Flossbolna]

Great report and it is lovely to put a face to the screen name!

 

[bcwife76]

Loving the trip report!!!

yay for a wonderful day on Castaway Cay

 

[TestingH2O]

What a great day! I love that you got 3 desserts.

 

[Dug720]

What a great day! I love that you got 3 desserts.

I *was* going to order 2. The sundae had crossed my mind for a moment because I figured "without the churro" would be a simply enough fix to make it GF but ultimately decided the flan and the lemon cream/raspberrg merengue thing were better options. Maybe Aditya had mind reading powers! LOL.

 

[Dug720]

Sorry for the delay. Now on to Key West!

Friday morning I made it up to the gym to get on the elliptical (so sad that only ONE elliptical is at the windows - move a treadmill or two!!), then grabbed a flavored latte at Cove Cafe and headed down to get a shower. Then it was up to Cabanas for some breakfast. Once we got back to the cabins to chill until time to clear customs, I was VERY glad that I'd showered before we docked as I kept the curtains open at night but discovered the drawback to Deck 2 cabins if you're not careful...

Ha! But all was good as we were still at sea when I finished showering and was getting dressed.

We'd already decided that today would be a "do your own thing" day - even though the primary goal for each of us was "get some Key Lime Pie" (gluten-free for me) - as we'd been to Key West 3.5 years ago as a family (in fact right before our first Disney cruise) so we'd done the touristy things already. I got antsy and decided to try heading to the theatre before our "assigned" 10:30, and it was ZERO issues. I was out in less than 5 minutes because there happened to be one seat in the second row of the second section to go.

We had the good parking space near Mallory Square

A RCCL ship had the Naval Base one.

As you can see, it was another beautiful day!

As typical with Key West, there were plenty of chickens and roosters roaming all over.

I walked up Duval Street making merchandise stops at Margaritaville and Hard Rock. I also went in Starbucks hoping they'd have a Key West "You Are Here" mug for my collection, but they only had Florida, which I already have. Boo! I found our hotel from our stay as well as the places we ate. Then it was time to get that pie!!

I swear I took a picture of my GF Key Lime Pie (a slice, thank you very much...I do not pollute my Key Lime Pie with chocolate - love them both, but NOT together), but I cannot find it. I got mine at the Key West Key Lime Pie Company, though Kermit's does have it as well. I had contacted both places prior to cruising so I could adjust my Kew West plans if they didn't have any - KWKLPC wrote back a super cheerful email telling me all the options they had while Kermit's simply replied "yes" so that really determined where I was going.

I did get a pic of the pretty girl at the dock...

My parents ended up taking a trolley tour and getting some pie - then they headed back aboard. I wasn't too far behind them as it was a warm day and I was a little tired.

I grabbed another shower and then got dressed for the night - it was Pirate Night, but we were doing Palo - and headed to find some characters.

And of course Captain Jack Sparrow!! I lined up EARLY for him as did a lot of people. The line might have actually closed even before he got there, but I'm not positive on that. It was probably close to closing at any rate.

I loved how Guest Services decorated for the evening - I had not seen that before...

My parents went to see the ventriloquist while I opted to watch the sunset. Which was GLORIOUS!!!!!

And then we met at Palo.

I'll spare you all the food pics - I took a lot - but I'll just give proof that they CAN do a GF chocolate soufflé. (I think they can do the amaretto one GF too, but I'm a chocolate girl.)

After dinner, my parents decided to hang in their cabin while I changed and went up on deck for the Pirate Party. It's different on the Classics than the Dream Class - not bad different, just different. After the fireworks, I went back down to get ready for bed, knowing the next day (the last - so sad!!!) was a sea day, so I could pretty much just chill.

Except for taking the parents to their first Palo brunch!!!

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I have a question about eating gluten free on DCL. I'm assuming you alerted them ahead of time and I'm assuming your head server spoke to you the first night? Did you have to choose all of your meals for the next day the day before? That's the only thing that is stumping me. I can't imagine having to decide what I want to eat for dinner 24 hours in advance. Just wondering how that worked out. My other option would be to forgo anything I knew would have wheat in it, or I wonder if I could ask them at the time and they would be able to tell me? Except how would desserts work, I wonder. I imagine there's no way to get the souffle without letting them know ahead of time.