Two WDW Pros take their first Magical Cruise in the Western Caribbean

[tggrrstarr]

Really enjoying your updates
Looks like you had a great first day
I really want to do one of the ship tours but based on what you said about the one on embarkation day, I will probably wait to do one later in the cruise as perhaps they cover more of the details and design of the ship
Looking forward to reading more

It wasn't bad, just nothing more than "this is here..." If they do it later, it might be worth it, depending on what time you get on the ship. We didn't have a lot of time to settle since we got on so late.

VERY NICE!!
I'm in process making one now. The "tabs" on top for hanging are a great idea!
I love the pirate Duck Tape - maybe next FE!

I was originally gonna use the tabs for a dowel rod, but never got around to getting one, so I just used some ribbon and strung it through. It worked great.

I love your FE - how cute. I didn't know that duct tape came in different colors.

Thanks! Michaels had a ton of colors, and Martha Stewart had some decorative tape too, but not duck tape.

Next day coming right up! I lost my flash drive the other day with the first few days on it, luckily I found it!

 

[tggrrstarr]

Kelli - Did you guys hang out in Sessions at all? I am wondering if my favorite bartender Nur is still on the Magic? He thought that he might be heading to the Fantasy.

No, sorry, we didn't. It seemed kinda empty anytime we went past and we never had time to go in there at night.

 

[tggrrstarr]

Sunday was our Key West day as well as our Character Breakfast in Parrot Cay. Neither one of us really cared much about exploring Key West so we planned to just explore for an hour or two and then hop back onto the ship to just relax.

We arrived at Parrot Cay at 9:30 am and found half our table mates, we found out later Andrea & Valeria were sleeping by the pool!

I ordered the Hawaian Shores, scrambled eggs, grilled ham & pineapple:

I also got a side of pancakes with dulce de leche, chocolate and whipped cream. Sorry, no picture.

This was my 2nd favorite breakfast the entire cruise!
Mic ordered the standard, Mickey waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon and hash brown:

Menu:

We got a few character pictures:

We skipped out a bit early because Mic was anxious to get up on deck 10 to take pictures of the approach to Key West. (I hear we missed the napkin hat experience. Maybe next time.)

We moved down to deck 4 to chill out for a bit.

We found these guys, they were giving their handler quite a hard time. Chip kept trying to climb the scaffolding that was on the deck.

Eventually we made our way off the ship. Mic was excited to get his first few shots of the ship

I was intent on finding this:

A few shots around Key West:

Right as I was finishing my bar, Mic looked at me as if to say what next? Neither one of us has any interest in bars as we rarely drink alcohol, so I looked around and said, “Do you want to go back to the ship?”
Yep! So Topsiders for lunch:

Mic’s

Mine

Desert

Everything was pretty good except the crab claws. Disgusting. They tasted like they weren't fully thawed and were kinda soggy. ick.

Next up: pool time!!

 

[tggrrstarr]

And then Pool side for the afternoon. It was nearly empty, I had the hot tub to myself and only one other person in the pool the whole time we were there.

Back at the room we found some goodies:

After changing, we stopped by Diversions to catch the 2nd half of the Patriots game.
I ordered Mic one of these

OMG, so yummy! Non Alcoholic, Orange Passion Dream. We’d be getting another one later.

Tonight’s show was the Illusions of Jason Bishop. This guy was fantastic. A friend of mine owns a Magic shop so I’ve learned a few trick secrets, but nothing anywhere near this level.

We decided to go to the Spa Bingo session after the show. I knew this was expensive, but I wanted to experience it at least once. A set of six cards for all four games was $30. We split the cards and won nothing. The spa services were given out after the 3rd game of Bingo, three services were given out randomly by machine. (Nothing really good, big disappointment) We skipped out a bit early to catch dinner. (game ran long)

Tonight was Parrot Cay
Menu

For an appetizer I got: Jamaican Marinated Chicken Tenderloins with sweet potato straws

Mic got: Island Spiced Seared Ahi Tuna

We both got Cold Cream of Mango and Papaya soup (forgot to take this pic)
We both got the same entrée too: Island Spiced Grilled Rib-Eye of Beef
Topped with handmade spiced Butter, Corn on the Cob and Double – baked potato

I got a side of Mashed Sweet Potatoes with mine. Yum! Mic got a regular potato, this prompted the discussion with our table mates of how can he like both mashed potatoes and baked potatoes but not like double baked potatoes, which is essentially the two combined. This is what I live with!!

Desert time! I looked at Mic while he was looking at his desert menu and asked, “icecream?”
He got: Ice-Cream Sundae
Cookies and Cream ice cream, served with a fudge brownie bar, Whipped Cream and Chocolate sauce.
I got: Banana Bread Pudding with Coconut Ice-Cream and Caramel Sauce (forgot the picture because of this-) Toto and Adrian came out and sang Happy Birthday to me and delivered me this mousse!

No after dinner activities tonight, just back to the room to relax. We did get this picture before dinner though

We also posed for the backdrop tonight, I believe it was the ship with a bunch of fish, not our favorite picture, so we didn’t get that one. Which reminds me- I had been planning on getting the 20 credit package for $149, but thinking about upgrading to the 30 credit or cd. I didn’t realize the 30 credit pkg was a pre-buy only! We would have had enough pictures for this pkg, we ended up throwing a few back and buying one extra out of pocket for $20.

I had known some were pre-buy only, but hadn’t researched it further. We loved the professional quality of all of these photos, also every time I handed my camera to a cast member those pictures turned out blurry, off center or even crooked. I think they do that on purpose so you have to buy their’s!
We got back to our room to find these

Yah, a highlighter! I had forgotten mine at home!
Our first Sea day is next!

 

[LV Disney Fan(atic)]

Enjoying your report and all the pictures! We're heading out on the Magic in 3 weeks (yay!) and this is a great preview. Can't wait to read more.

 

[Sharry77]

We are on the Magic in October. Thanks for all the great advice. You look like you had a blast.

 

[happenin2you]

Just joining in. My husband and I are booked on the Dream in January. I was excited to find your report because couples without children are a little rare on these boards and I wanted to get that perspective. I'm loving it so far, can't wait for the next installment!

 

[zev]

More Please!! We are booked for some Magic in May. Going just as a couple like you guys, no kids. Would love to hear more about the adult/kid at heart activities!

 

[verygfy]

Great report!! May I ask what the boat with the anchor on it was in your FE? Scrapbook? Super cute FE gifts!! Glad you liked the magician, I have been wondering if the Fantasy will have the magician on it.

 

[tggrrstarr]

We are on the Magic in October. Thanks for all the great advice. You look like you had a blast.

We really did, as prepared as I was, there was still so much to learn! I can't wait to cruise in October, we have our next scheduled for Oct 2013.

Just joining in. My husband and I are booked on the Dream in January. I was excited to find your report because couples without children are a little rare on these boards and I wanted to get that perspective. I'm loving it so far, can't wait for the next installment!

It really seems rare, but if you keep your eyes open on the ship I'm sure you'll run into a few! Its starting to look as if our cruise meet group for Oct 2013 has quite a few couples traveling without children. I'm excited!

More Please!! We are booked for some Magic in May. Going just as a couple like you guys, no kids. Would love to hear more about the adult/kid at heart activities!

Coming up!

Great report!! May I ask what the boat with the anchor on it was in your FE? Scrapbook? Super cute FE gifts!! Glad you liked the magician, I have been wondering if the Fantasy will have the magician on it.

It is a scrapbook. I will try to post some more detailed pictures of it soon. I love it, the Dis-er who made it did an amazing job!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Really enjoying reading about your cruise ... I absolutely love the Disney magic and won't be cruising on her again until 2013 ... so trip reports are all I have. Great photos Thanks for sharing.

 

[poohj80]

Enjoying your report as well! We are cruising on the Magic in a few weeks. We have cruised with DCL before, but this will be our first on the Magic so it is great learning what may be different from our previous cruises through your experiences!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Just joining in now! Great report so far. I absolutely would have done the same thing as you and made sure I got a day at MK before the cruise! Too bad that there were so many things broken and under refurb though - that is the one problem with going at low crowd times when I've been. I look forward to reading more about your cruise

 

[tggrrstarr]

Before we left for our cruise, Mic warned me he wouldn’t be sleeping much because he wanted to do as much as possible. So on our first sea day, I was up by 8, ready to go. Mic was nowhere near ready to wake up. I let him know where I’d be, grabbed my wave phone and left to spend the morning on my own.

I started with breakfast at Lumiere’s. As I walked in, I was greeted by Toto, who promptly asked me where “Mikey” was. Sleeping, just me today. He took me to a table where a server came by to get my drink order and hand me a menu. He asked me if I was alone. Yes, my husband is sleeping. I think I answered this question at least 4 times!
I ordered this:

This was a thin strawberry yogurt with raisins, granola and some other good crunchy stuff I can’t remember. Later there was some confusion on the name of this, on Monday it was called the Morning Tug Boat. That’s what the menu said, that’s what I told the waiter, and this is what I got. More on this later.

I also ordered a French Toast Pineapple Stack with Strawberry Coulis. This was my favorite breakfast, ever. Yummy! I really don’t even like French toast that much.

I felt a bit weird just getting up and leaving when I was done, but I had a class to get to!

Adults Animation of Mickey and Goofy was being held in Diversions, so I headed there. There a few people there already, and one more woman my age came in to share my table. We chatted a bit while we drew. My drawings

The class ended a bit early, so I went up to deck 4 to check for Mic (his favorite spot). He was nowhere to be seen so I called his wave phone. He was near Diversions! We met up and went to get him lunch at Topsiders.

I snacked a bit and just as we were getting ready to leave the girl from the drawing class sat down at the table next to us with her husband. We chatted with them for a bit before heading out to the DVC presentation. Turns out they were not only on our bus to DCL from the resort, but got to MK on Friday just after we left and went on Splash Mountain.

Mic and I have seen DVC for years, and we know bits and pieces, but I wanted to get complete details to see if it was for us or not. I found out some new info at the presentation and we really started to think about it. We made an appointment for more info for 3:30 then went back to our room to discuss it. We made up a list of questions for our appt and went to deliver our FE gifts.

I gave out a bag with a magnetic post it note clip board, a clothes pin clip magnet, pirate hand sanitizer and a car decal with the Magic & ’12. I made a few different styles of the magnets: mickey, toy story, pooh and princess.

We of course continued to discuss the pros and cons while we delivered! We ended up deciding not to do it at this time, but we barely passed it up! (This is the time when the idea of rebooking was planted in Mic’s head!)

After our meeting, we headed back to our room to get ready for dinner. Tonight was formal night and our 6pm reservation for Palo. (the less Mic had to dress up….) I also knew from looking at the formal menu online before the trip that there was pretty much nothing on it that my picky husband would eat.

We headed out of the room just after five to get our picture with the Captain

I picked up one of the free drinks they were passing out, took two sips and promptly “left” it on a table. Way too strong for me.

 

[tggrrstarr]

We got to Palo a bit early and were seated in a nearly empty restaurant.

Our server was David, he was fantastic. Before I even had a chance to tell him we wouldn’t be eating the anti-pasta he’d brought the tray over and was making us a dish. At that point I didn’t have the heart to tell him we didn’t like it, so after he left I picked at it a bit and tried a few things. I can’t tell Mic he has to try new things if I won’t, right?

For an appetizer I ordered Sicilian Pesto Marinated Grilled Shrimp Salad served on a mussel, crab and cherry tomato ragu

Mic ordered Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Polenta with a Roasted Shallot Sauce a light creamy polenta served with grilled portobello and parmesan shaving

My shrimp was very, very good! Mic ended up asking for some and David ended up coming over just as Mic and I were switching plates. (Mic had ordered his for me, since he didn’t want anything). Except my shrimp! We should have ordered more.

For our Entrees, I asked for the Lobster Ravioli. David explained to me that while it was very good, it wasn’t very much, so he suggested that I order an additional entrée and Mic and I could share the ravioli. That’s what I did. (didn’t explain to him that ravioli is yet another food Mic doesn’t eat, so I had it all to myself!)

I ordered Grilled Sea Scallops with Borlotti Beans and Pancetta served with a tomato borlotti bean sauce

I hated this. The scallops tasted off to me, I ate like half, then just left it. The beans with tomato sauce was just as off to me. I ate only one bite of that. But hey, I had Lobster Ravioli!!

Mic ordered Our Beef Tenderloin "Palo" served with Palo signature Barolo red wine sauce or Gorgonzola Sauce and asked for a side of any kind of potato.

He enjoyed it and asked for more potatoes.

For desert I of course ordered the Souffle. Yum!

I was also brought this

Mic ordered this

I think it’s a chocolate mousse with a cannoli on top. I was so focused on my soufflé I didn’t really pay attention. I don’t even know if he liked it! He doesn’t remember it either, so it must have been just ok.

This was the after dinner shot. It’s a palate cleanser, I don’t remember all that’s in it but its kinda like a sorbet icee with a bit of alcohol.

After dinner, we went back to the room to change and then went our separate ways again. I went off to see Twice Charmed and Mic went up to deck 4. He ended up on deck 9 for a bit and watched some of Cars 2.
Twice Charmed was not bad, but I was really impressed by the effects and lights. Oh, and that couple we met earlier ended up sitting next to me! Small World.

Mic and I met up around Ten and went to Rockin Bar D to see the Adult show for Buckets and Boards. Very good.

Oh, and our haul for the day:

Grand Cayman is up next!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Great update! Palo looked great, you got a wonderful table by the window, and it was so empty! I love your drawings too - that is something that I would be doing by myself too lol

 

[Linda67]

Great update,
Palo looks great, I can't wait to try it
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Grand Cayman

 

[kellym506]

Your trip report is filled with great descriptions, pictures and energy. I enjoyed reading each installment and want it to go on and on.... Just as you probably wanted your cruise to go on and on.... Thanks for sharing your vacation with all of us! Can't wait for my June 2012 cruise!

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

Thanks so much for your trip report! It's helping me while away the time until our trip on the Magic (the 3rd!) in August. I especially enjoy the food porn!

I was born in Parma, Ohio, and lived in Seven Hills until I was 5 (still have family in Broadview Heights/Indenpendence and various other places near Cleveland), so nice to see a "home girl".

P.S. More!

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

Sorry, double post