What does it mean to be the "Magical Family?"

[Lyn-CA]

On our last cruise on the Dream back in 2016, we were chosen by our head server, Selo, as the Magical Family. He gave us a Magical Moments certificate at the time. I can't recall if we were given anything else.

Has anyone else been chosen as Magical Family? If so, what was your experience with it?

Did this designation apply only to that cruise or does it carry over for future cruises?

TIA

 

[PrincessShmoo]

On our last cruise on the Dream back in 2016, we were chosen by our head server, Selo, as the Magical Family. He gave us a Magical Moments certificate at the time. I can't recall if we were given anything else.

Has anyone else been chosen as Magical Family? If so, what was your experience with it?

Did this designation apply only to that cruise or does it carry over for future cruises?

TIA

"Magical Family" is a designation that random CMs onboard can give guests. It's only for that incident/cruise. It's different than the Family of the Day. It's just a way of spreading pixie dust.

 

[bbel]

I can honestly say that it can vary greatly depending on ship, department, managers, and CM involved.
I worked as YA on two different ships and both did them differently, and differently again depending on the managers we had at the time.
Basically, every CM is encouraged to have at least 1 'Magical Family', whilst within my department we kept a list so there were no repeats, that's not ship wide so its possible to be a MF for more than one department in a cruise.
If you were a MF for YA, the idea was that the kids/family would get an invite every night delivered to their room to certain events that the CM would think they would enjoy. They usually get at least one Magical Moment certificate and often get 'gifts'...
In YA we could have anything from 1-7+ MFs a cruise, and different CMs put a different amount of effort into it. As for becoming a MF, I would usually chose the families that I had 'fun' registering (ones that took their time, had a chat, had a laugh with, or those that were a bit nervous or worried about using the clubs) or if for some reason I hadn't done any registrations, the first kids that came up to me and played a games/had a chat/ did a craft etc on the first night.
The only way you can 'guarantee' being a MF again on another cruise is by meeting that same CM again on your next cruise and both of you remembering each other. I know a lot of CM (in my department) would select families who they remembered and who remembered them from previous cruises.
Most of the time they were pretty fun to do...

 

[MSPeeler]

We received the "Magical Family" certificate from our dining team May 2016 on the Dream. I'm not sure how or why they picked us, LOL. My father-in-law has a very dry sense of humor but it seems our server always "got" his jokes and they got along great. Also, my kids were well behaved so maybe that helped, haha! We got a certificate, no "gifts" that I remember, but they did bring my son a platter of PB&J's because we once told them they were his favorite.
(He had already eaten 2 here....)

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We were chosen by the Beverage Dept on the first Hawaiian Cruise. They went all out by decorating our room and leaving gifts. It was so special.

 

[lunaland]

We were chosen by room service. We got a different surprise each day- the fruit platter and cheese trays you normally have to order from the in room gifts, chocolate covered strawberries, etc. It was fun and quite a surprise on our first cruise! This was on the Dream in March.

 

[lspst8]

We were the Magical Family for room service on our 1/16 Dream cruise. We got lots of special treats in our room and room service hot breakfast one morning. It was really nice!

 

[Tabologist]

We were chosen in July 2013. We received something each night. On the night of fireworks we were escorted up to the top of the slide to watch. At Cast away Cay we were gifted the Stingray adventure. Kids were given arcade tokens. And the most magical was right before the See you real soon party our family was invited to the art gallery. The invitation just said t o bring a camera. To our surprise the photo below in my signature shows all the characters we were able to meet privately and spend about 10 minutes with. It will forever be etched in our memories as the most magical experience.