Two Cruising Rookies Celebrate 15 Years with 4 Nights of MAGIC (Updated 6/6)

[MickeyMomTo2]

My DH and I just returned from the 4/30 4-night Bahamian cruise on the Magic. I've never written a trip report before, but as I prepared for this trip, there were no trip reports similar to our cruise because the Magic doesn't usually do 4-night Bahamian cruises. I either read 7-night trip reports to get a feel for the ship or 4-night Dream trip reports to get a feel for the itinerary. I thought I would write a report for our cruise because I know there is at least one more 4-night Magic cruise this month. Maybe someone would like to read it, and I want to relive it!

Cast of Characters (Both Rookie Cruisers):

Me (38) I am a former teacher and stay-at-home mom of one DS (10) and one DD (7). I work a few hours a week tutoring at the kids' school, and my involvement in the school's PTA keeps me busy as well. I've been to Disney World over 10 times since 2004, and Disneyland once. This was my first cruise. I love everything Disney, so I was very excited that my first cruising experience was with DCL.

DH (38) Works for an insurance company in underwriting--that means he is a very conservative number cruncher. He is a steady rock and calm, cool, and collected. Although he is not a Disney nut like I am, he does enjoy our trips, particularly because he loves to see me and the kids having fun. He also appreciates that Disney delivers a quality product, and he knows he can expect outstanding service.

DS (10) and DD (8)--I don't have to tell you about them because THEY STAYED HOME WITH GRAMMY AND PAPA! Hooray! We got to go on a trip by ourselves!!!!!

A little background: After six trips to WDW in one year (thanks to my wonderful husband who gifted us with annual passes), we decided to do something different in 2012. But, we didn't stray too far! We started looking at Disney cruises. We were looking at a 4-night on the Dream or a 5-night double dip on the Dream for December 2012. We knew the 5 night would be fantastic because we could visit Castaway Cay twice, but the difference between the two was $1,000 for one extra night. While we were deciding which cruise to book, Disney released discounted fares from some 4-night sailings on the Magic for April and May 2012. For the $1,000 difference between the 4 and 5-night cruises, DH and I could sail for four nights by ourselves! So for the same price as the 5-night Dream double dip, we booked a 4-night on the Magic in April for DH and me AND the 4-night for the entire family on the Dream in December. The kids weren't too happy about this, but we told them that the Magic didn't even have an AquaDuck, so they probably wouldn't have any fun anyway! HA!

We chose the April 30th sailing, and this worked out perfectly because the kids were taking the Tennessee state tests. That meant that they had no homework or ballgames, so the grandparents didn't have to fool with that, and I didn't have to worry about them getting off track. We never go on a trip without our kids, so the fewer worries the better!

When we booked the trip last July, it was the week of our 15th anniversary. So even though we celebrated 9 months late, we counted this as our anniversary trip, and it was a wonderful way to celebrate!

Coming up...Murphy's Law and Departure Day Go Hand in Hand!

 

[NJShoreDad]

Subbing.

We (DW and I) were on the same cruise. I am interested in hearing your perspective on it - we were in similar situation: first time cruisers going it alone while the kiddos were with the grandparents.

 

[Nee Nee and Biddy]

I'm excited to hear more! It's fun with them, but I love taking trips without the kids and I can't wait until DH and I can have a romantic cruise alone.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

Subbing.

We (DW and I) were on the same cruise. I am interested in hearing your perspective on it - we were in similar situation: first time cruisers going it alone while the kiddos were with the grandparents.

Fun! I noticed there were quite a few other couples without children. We got strange looks and questions from friends when we told them we were going on a Disney cruise without children, but we knew it would be great! Feel free to chime in with any of your own experiences!

I'm excited to hear more! It's fun with them, but I love taking trips without the kids and I can't wait until DH and I can have a romantic cruise alone.

Thanks for reading! It was so nice to have time to ourselves. Of course, since our kids haven't been on a cruise before, we spent half the time saying, "Oh, the kids would love that!"

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Thank you for writing a TR!
I love reading all about the Magic as we're going on our first cruise in June, to Canada!
Please keep writing, especially about the sea days!

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

We planned to leave for Orlando on Sunday evening for the cruise on Monday. We had read that it's best to travel the day before a cruise to avoid any transportation issues on Embarkation Day, so we booked a 5:15 PM flight. Of course, the weekend turned out to be jammed packed with the kids' activities. My DD had a softball game and several other events during the weekend, and my DS had a travel baseball tournament on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in a nearby town. On Sunday, they can play up to three games--they keep playing as long as they keep winning. We knew we would have to leave the ballpark by 3:15, so we told Grammy and Papa that we would let them know whether to come to the game or our house, and we had everything completely packed and in the car ready to go straight to the airport when we left the house at 6:30 Sunday morning.

Of course, because we were so prepared, my DS lost his first game, and we were able to go to church and back home before leaving for the airport. This allowed us to take care of a few final details and go over some things with Grammy and Papa at the house. Because we were completely packed, we also got to spend some relaxed time with the kids before leaving.

Everything was going so smoothly, so we should have expected something to go wrong! At 2:45 (30 minutes before we were supposed to leave), we noticed the house getting warmer (it was in the upper 80's in Tennessee that day). After checking things out, my DH realized that the air conditioner wasn't working. Great timing! We called our heating and cooling company, and they came to our house in 15 minutes! This was when we were very thankful to be an established customer with a regular maintenance plan. We were so thankful to get service that quickly on a Sunday afternoon. By the time we pulled out of the driveway at 3:30, the problem was diagnosed, and the technician had a temporary part on the A/C to keep it running until they could get the right part on Monday. I was so relieved that it was fixed before we left because I hated for my parents to have to come stay with the kids in a hot house!

After much excitement, we pulled out of the driveway and headed for the Nashville Airport. We were leaving a little late, but we made it through security and to our gate with some time to spare. Now we could relax!

After arriving in Orlando at 8:00, we took a shuttle to the Hilton Garden Inn and spent the night using my husband's points. The room was clean and perfect for the one-night stay-over.

Coming next: Boarding the Bus for Port Canaveral and Embarkation (posts from this point on will have lots of pictures)

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

Thank you for writing a TR!
I love reading all about the Magic as we're going on our first cruise in June, to Canada!
Please keep writing, especially about the sea days!

Thanks for reading! Canada sounds fun! My husband enjoyed the Bahamian cruise, but he would enjoy the cooler ports even more. He thought the Alaskan cruises sound great, but I bet the Canadian ports are fabulous as well!

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

We woke up at 7:00 to get ready, eat breakfast, and head to the airport for ground transportation to the port. I really didn't want to get up that early (it was 6:00 our time), but I wanted to get checked in at the airport so we could get an early boarding number. I wanted to have as much time on the ship as we could (and I am also that person that is neurotic about arriving before opening time at the parks). After a yummy Hilton Garden Inn Breakfast, we boarded the 8:30 shuttle to the airport. We arrived at the Disney check-in desk around 8:50 and were assigned to the first bus to the port at 9:30. We were also given a #2 boarding card. Hooray!

At 9:25, we lined up to board this:

We watched the Disney infomercial/trivia/cartoons on the bus, and arrived at Port Canaveral around 10:30. As we neared the port, we got our first view of the Magic. It was much larger than I expected.

We headed through security and up the escalators into the terminal. Although we were already checked in, we went over to ask about port upgrades. We were told that the only rooms available were suites, and that it would be $1,300 more. We decided we were just fine with room 1060, an oceanview room with two porthole windows! I was surprised that they didn't have other rooms available because there were rooms in all categories available for purchase online. I wondered if it had something to do with staffing. My husband was glad we couldn't get an upgrade because we were both worried about seasickness. We had purposely booked a room midship on the lowest level to minimize the movement, so he wanted to keep the same room. I was hoping for a verandah, but our room ended up being great, and I'll get the verandah room when we go with the kids in December.

After leaving the counter, we got in line to take a picture with Mickey--we were second in line. We waited about 15 minutes for him to arrive.

After that, we walked around, explored and picked up a navigator (I will post the navigator later this evening after I scan it).

At 11:45ish, they called groups one and two. It was time to walk through the Mickey door!

We walked into the atrium, and they welcomed us by name (very nice touch). We were told we could eat at Parrot Cay or Topsiders. We chose Parrot Cay because we wanted to be seated without having to carry our stuff through line with us or having to have one person save the table. If our kids had been with us, we might have chosen to go straight to deck 9 so they could eat and swim, but Parrot Cay was the perfect choice for the two of us.

Just a note about the food: I was SO excited to eat on this cruise. I am normally on a restrictive diet. I don't have Celiac or true allergies, but I have developed intolerances to a number of foods, including gluten, dairy and some fruits. These intolerances cause eczema, digestive issues, and even anxiety, so I generally eat a strict diets of only meat, fruit, veggies, and nuts. No fun stuff like sugar, processed food, restaurant food, etc... On vacations, I allow myself to eat what I want, with the knowledge that I will get back on track when I return home. So, I had a great time on this cruise and I ate a lot!

Another note about the food: my husband thought I was completely weird for taking pictures of our food, even though I pointed out that others were doing the same. I don't have pictures of everything, but I persisted because I wanted to be able to share them on the Dis. He's been married to me for 15 years, so it's not the first time he had to get over me being weird.

I had salad, prime rib, potatoes, pasta (which was good, but needed a stronger sauce), and some cheese. I also got some corn dogs off the kids' buffet. I love the corn dogs at Casey's in the Magic Kingdom, and these were similar.

For dessert, I had some cheesecake, chocolate cake, and a white chocolate mousse-type dessert. I'll say right now that I don't like the texture of most of Disney's cheesecakes, so I didn't eat much of it, but the white chocolate dessert was yummy!

We enjoyed our first meal, and we were ready for a fun trip!

Up next: Exploring the Ship

 

[marciemouse]

Great start! We just took our first cruise on the Wonder back in March, although we did have our kids with us. I can't wait until we manage a child-free trip for the two of us!

 

[triciari]

Sounds awesome so far!

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

Great start! We just took our first cruise on the Wonder back in March, although we did have our kids with us. I can't wait until we manage a child-free trip for the two of us!

As great as it was to be alone, we spent half the time saying, "The kids would love that!" or "I can't wait for the kids to be able to do that!" It's nice to get away, but I'll be so glad to take them next time!

Sounds awesome so far!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Great TR so far! My husband and I are taking a cruise for our anniversary as well, so I look forward to reading about another "adults only" trip!

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

Great TR so far! My husband and I are taking a cruise for our anniversary as well, so I look forward to reading about another "adults only" trip!

Thanks! You are going to have a wonderful time!

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

I'm going to take the lazy way out with the Navigators. Another Diser has already posted them, so I am linking to them without scanning them myself. Thanks, wmharley!

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

After lunch, we had almost an hour before our rooms would be ready, so we explored the ship. I was surprised by how easy it was to figure out where everything was. (Once we got to our room, we had to learn that we could only access our floor by the midship and forward stairs/elevators, but that wasn't too difficult).

We checked out Decks 9 and 10 first:

Sports Deck

Fitness Center

Rainforest Room (these heated chairs are awesome)

Mickey Pool for Little Ones

Family Pool

Quiet Cove Pool

We stopped by the Quiet Cove Pool area to relax by the windows overlooking the port area.

A little after 1:30, we headed to our room. We were in 1060, near the midship elevators on the first deck. We had two porthole windows. I'm claustrophobic, so I was glad to have the windows, but the room was larger than I expected. I was also impressed with the amount of storage space. I LOVED the split bathrooms. This made getting ready so much easier! I was also glad we were on the first floor because this helped us get our exercise. To combat the amount of food we were eating, I declared that we were only going to take the stairs. There's no telling how many flights we climbed over the course of the cruise, but it was a LOT! I still gained plenty of weight, but I was glad to have the extra exercise.

We went back up to take a ship tour at 2:30. This was informative and helpful, but we had figured much of it out by walking around on our own.

I snuck out of the ship tour a little after three to go to the drawing in the spa. Of course, I didn't win anything. I also ran into Chip and Dale.

When I returned to the room, the luggage had arrived, so we unpacked before heading up to the Sail Away party. My husband loves watching television and movies, and he had discovered Moneyball on one of the channels. It's a baseball movie he had been wanting to see. Throughout the afternoon and evening, he managed to catch different parts. I think he saw most of it, just not in sequential order. We're going to have to rent it so he can get the story straight.

Well, that was our afternoon of exploring the ship! Coming up...Our First Evening at Sea!

 

[SoSiWe]

Loving your report...we are about to sail on our first cruise, but I'm already planning a second, KID FREE one!

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

Loving your report...we are about to sail on our first cruise, but I'm already planning a second, KID FREE one!

I see you only have ten more days! I know you are so excited. It's going to be wonderful! You should book your kid-free cruise while on the ship. You'll get a 10% discount and on-board credit!

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

We headed up to deck 10 for the Sail Away party. I wanted to be on the port side so I could see the DCL employees waving as we departed. Cruise Director Darren (I loved how he said this with a British accent) welcomed us aboard and introduced Mickey and the gang.

I enjoyed the Sail Away party, but it was one of the things that my DH will enjoy more with the kids. We got blue metallic streamers to wave as we sailed away, and I was waving mine while my DH watched with amusement. I hope they have the streamers on the Dream as well because my DD will love this.

The horn sounded, and we pulled out. Hooray!

At this point, I realized that we hadn't called the kids. We had a very small window of time to talk to them once more. They got home from school at 3:50 central, so we couldn't call earlier than that. As we were leaving the port, we had to hurry and call before we left Verizon's regular service area, so we went in by Palo so we could hear them. They were fine, and it was great to talk to them before shutting off the phone. For the next three days, we communicated by text only because it was so much cheaper. I had never gone a day without speaking to my kids, so this was strange, but I didn't worry because I knew they were in good hands. They were having so much fun with their grandparents that they didn't miss us too much. I did get one text from my daughter on Thursday saying that she missed me (and she included so many exclamation points that it came in two messages), but other than that, everything was fine.

We went back out onto Deck 10 as we moved into the sea. We were moving FAST! When we returned to the room, the waters outside our window looked very bumpy, and I had to close the curtains because watching the water was making me feel unsteady.

I had been very worried about motion sickness, so we were very proactive with the medicine. We started Bonine the night before the cruise to get it in our system. Shortly before leaving port, we took another one. Not long after leaving, we were really feeling the ship move, so we took a second one for that night. I am so glad we did! I could feel the movement all during the show and dinner. Since it was my first cruise, I didn't have anything to compare it to, but our assistant server said it was moving more than usual. Other than the first night, I never felt it at all, so I was so glad we had gotten the medicine in our system. While I did feel weird and off-balance, and had trouble walking straight in my new platform shoes, I never got sick, and I was able to enjoy the evening.

At 6:00, we headed to the Walt Disney Theater for Twice Charmed. I really enjoyed this show! My DH, who isn't a fan of musical productions, liked it too. I liked the original material and the fact that it was a twist of a Disney story rather than just a retelling. (This might be why Dreams was my least favorite--I loved it, but I felt it was more of a "revue" type show than an original production.)

We left the theater and went to Studio Sea where we watched Mickey Mania. It was a family trivia show, and our kids would have loved it, so we went to check it out. We only stayed for about 15 minutes, but it was cute, and we look forward to activities like this with the kids in December.

We left Studio Sea and headed to Mickey's Mates and Treasure Ketch to check out the merchandise selection. I really wanted to get a t-shirt, but I never found one that I couldn't live without. We browsed for a little while before heading to dinner. On the way to and from the shopping area, we saw Minnie and Donald in the atrium. I loved their sailing outfits.

I planned to write about our entire evening, but I've got to run. I'll be back soon to tell about our dinner!

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

Our rotation was APPL, so we headed to Animator's Palate just before 8:15.

Of course, they didn't open the doors until 8:15, so we stood in line and learned that it's better to come to dinner about 5 minutes after your assigned time. We were given hand wipes (it's great that DCL is SO diligent about cleanliness), and taken to our table. We were seated alone at table 72, which we were excited about because we are rarely able to be alone! Our servers were Sipho from South Africa and Aida from Barcelona. They were wonderful. Our head server was Luis, and he was fine, but we didn't see him that often. We did appreciate his tips for the fireworks--I'll share that with Pirate Night.

A reminder--my DH thought I was crazy for taking pictures of all the food, so I took some of them quickly, and I didn't get all of his food. Excuse the bad shots!

Animator's Palate was good, but it was our least favorite meal. When we arrived, however, we were very hungry and ready to eat!

First came the bread. Although this wasn't my favorite meal, this was my favorite bread: Garlic and Herb Foccacia Bread. YUM!

For appetizers, DH ordered the Sesame-flavored Rock Shrimp and Caramelized Onion Cheesecake with Asian barbecue sauce and topped with Micro Greens. I ordered the Roma Tomato and Portobello Mushrooms on Polenta Cake with Monterey Jack Cheese and Red Curry-Coconut Marina. I ate the tomato and mushrooms off mine, but I wasn't crazy about the polenta. DH's cheesecake was strange. It didn't taste bad, but the onion and shrimp flavor in a cheesecake package seemed weird.

DH ordered the Creamy Butternut Squash Soup Garnished with Chives and drizzled with Sour Cream (no picture). He thought this was very good. I ordered the Confetti Tomato Salad with Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Olive Oil, Jerez Vinegar, and Herb Dressing, which was fine.

For our entrees, DH ordered Phyllo-Wrapped Salmon Fillet with Sun-dried Tomato, Garlic Cream Cheese on Fava Beans, and Green Pea Ragoût, and he ordered Asian Marinated Beef Tenderloin on Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Bok Choy and a Tamarind-Barbecue Reduction. He didn't like the outside of the salmon, but he enjoyed his beef tenderloin. I had the Pennette Pasta in Parmesan Cream, topped with Julienne of Turkey Breast and Prosciutto. I really liked this, but it would have been even better if the sauce was a little stronger.

For dessert, DH ordered Animator's Sweet Temptations: A Trio of Strawberry Sable, Cranberry and Orange Cheesecake, and Double-Fudge Chocolate Cake. I had the Buckled Warm Apple Crumble. We enjoyed trying all of them, but we liked the Apple Crumble the best. Sipho also brought us a cake for our anniversary. I loved the mousse part, but the cake part was a little spongy.

We watched the show with Sorcerer Mickey before leaving. We were full, and we were tired, so we headed back to the room (we think the 2 Bonine made us sleepy).

This greeted us when we walked into the room:

We looked over the Navigator for Tuesday, watched some portion of Moneyball that we hadn't seen yet, and then fell fast asleep!

Coming Up...Nassau!

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm here for the fun. Love seeing the differences between the Magic and Dream. Also loving all the details, thanks for sharing