Trip Report So Long Winter, Hello Disney Magic – A January Cruise Trip Report

Well it’s been a couple weeks since we have been home from our cruise and there’s no better way to deal with the post-cruise blues than reliving it through a trip report. So let’s get this trip report started!

The Details:

Who: Me (Ashley) and my husband (Wes)

When: January 11th – 18th, 2015 on the Disney Magic

What: A 7-Night Western Caribbean Cruise complete with stops in Cozumel, Mexico, Grand Cayman Islands, and Falmouth, Jamaica.

This was our 3rd Disney cruise and our first time on the Disney Magic. I was really excited to see one of the classic ships since we have only been on the Dream and Fantasy up until this point. We were interested to see what we thought about the Magic compared to the two newer ships. I was also really excited to see the re-imagined elements of the ship.

This cruise went by WAAAAAAAAY too fast which must mean that we had a LOT of fun!

Saturday, January 10th – Warm Weather Here We Come!

We were doing things a little differently this trip. Normally we are on the first flight out of Raleigh in the morning but since this was a January cruise, I really wanted to be in Orlando the day before. I was so worried that there would be a snowstorm or our flight would be delayed so I figured it was best to play it safe. Since we weren’t coming in the same day as we sailed away, there was no need to get there so early since we wouldn’t have a car.

Our flight was at 3:50pm which felt so odd. Normally we have already spent half a day in WDW by this point. We lucked out and didn’t have any bad weather today so our flight was on time and uneventful.

Airport toes ready to go!

We arrived in Orlando at 5:40pm and picked up our bags from baggage claim. That was the one downside to arriving early; Disney wouldn’t be picking up our bags for us. Our bags arrived (woo hoo!) and we made our way to the Hyatt Regency Orlando, which is located inside the Orlando airport. We’ve never stayed there before but we’ve walked by it a million times. I was really excited to see what it’s like inside.

We’re here!

I had done online check in before we even left our house and gotten a text that our room was ready. We stopped by the front desk to get our keys and get the information about what to do tomorrow for the cruise.

We were on the 7th floor and all the way around the other side of the hotel. I was happy to see that our room overlooked the airport. Hahaha Wes thought I was crazy but I wanted to see how noisy it was from those rooms. I’ve always wondered what it was like while walking through the airport so now we would find out.

Hello!

View from our room

I thought the room was really nice. We could definitely hear the noise from the airport but it wasn’t that loud. The hallways in the hotel were especially quiet. Wes and I both commented at how quiet they were!

Since we knew we were getting in to Orlando around dinner time, I had asked my friend Maggie if she wanted to meet up for dinner. Maggie is the friend from my March trip report, and she just moved down to Orlando. Yay! She was previously in Chicago so I was super happy to hear that she got transferred to Orlando because it means that I will get to see her more with my many visits down there.

When we got to our room, I gave Maggie a call and she came and picked us up at the airport and we all went to dinner out in Orlando. Maggie was also nice enough to take us to a liquor store so we could stock up for our cruise! This would be the first time we would have access to a car so I was looking forward to saving some money by bringing our own alcohol on the ship.

We had a great time at dinner catching up with Maggie. After our run to the liquor store, it was time to head back to the hotel so we could get a good night’s sleep.

Sunday, January 11th – We’re Sailing Away

We woke up this morning around 8am after a very good night’s sleep. I’m happy to report that we didn’t hear any noise from the airport throughout the night.

Wes was a wonderful husband and went to get us Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. I should have been up getting ready but instead, I decided to lay in bed for a little bit longer. We enjoyed our donuts while we got ready and filled out the paperwork so we could leave our bags in the room for Disney to take care of. I was a little worried about our bags showing up but luckily all bags ended up making it to our stateroom later in the day! I’m always so worried about luggage getting lost but this system was really easy. You leave your bags in your room and then turn in a paper to the cast member before you board the bus. That’s it. It was so nice and even nicer when we saw that our bags made it! Hahaha

We left our room at the Hyatt a little after 9am. I wanted to already be down at the buses at 9am since that’s when they open but it wasn’t meant to be. We made our way down to Disney’s Magical Express area of the airport to catch our motor coach to the port.

We got in line around 9:20am and were able to board the first bus leaving. Woo hoo! It wasn’t too crowded at the check in area but our bus was full.

I love these seats!

As soon as we started going on the bus I realized that I forgot to take my Dramamine! Yikes! I quickly took my less drowsy Dramamine so I wouldn’t get carsick or seasick later in the night. I asked Wes if he wanted one but he said no. More on that later…

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Saturday, January 17th – Castaway Cay, How I Love You

This morning we woke up at Castaway Cay! I love this island. I wanted to wake up early and get off the ship as soon as we were able but unfortunately, we slept in longer than I wanted. We got up around 8am and quickly got ready.

We made our way up to Cabanas to grab some breakfast.

Wes’ plate

My plate

After we finished our breakfast, it was time to get on that island!

Instead of taking the tram, we opted to walk. I prefer walking around the island so I can stop and take pictures. Wes is kind enough to go along with me.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I told you I like to take pictures. After we wandered around taking some pictures, it was time to head to Serenity Bay. This time we took the tram.

There weren’t many people at Serenity Bay yet when we arrived. I’m always so surprised at how peaceful it is on this beach. It’s so nice.

We found a spot and Wes immediately took a nap. I read my book, Inferno by Dan Brown, and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. There had been a lot of clouds earlier but it was starting to clear up as the day went on.

Wes thought I was a creeper for taking a picture of him napping. Hahaha

Around noon, Wes woke up and we grabbed some drinks. We then decided to go get some lunch.

My plate

Wes’ plate

My second plate

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

After lunch, we went back to Serenity Bay. I was sitting and reading my book when our tablemates Kay Beth and Mike came over and told me about some giant starfish that were in the water down the beach. They thought it would make a good picture. They already knew me so well.

Around 3 o’clock, we decided to make our way back to the ship. We had to be back on the ship by 4:45pm but I wanted to take my time on the way back and stop for more pictures.

We left Serenity Bay and made our way to the Heads Up Bar. Wes went to get us some drinks while I took pictures.

Before we left the island, we stopped in one of the gift shops. I ended up buying a Castaway Cay koozie. I love koozies!

We made a very slow walk back to the ship and reminisced about our wonderful time on the cruise and about what we wanted to do on our upcoming cruise.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Wes photo bombed my picture

We got back on the ship a little after 4pm. I wanted to stay on the island right up until the onboard time but we left Serenity Bay a little too early. Next time I’ll wait it out a little bit more.

We got back to our stateroom and I started packing. It’s always so sad when you have to pack. We continued packing up until it was time to go to the Remember the Magic: A Final Farewell show in the Walt Disney Theater. I’m not a big fan of this show since it’s just a recap of our week and reminds me that it’s over but our tablemates Liam and Noreen told us the night before that they were filmed and thought they might be in the video! So cool! Sure enough, they were in the video saying “Remember the Magic!”

After the show, we went back to O’Gill’s for our last attempt at trivia. Tonight it was 80’s music trivia.

Real nice Wes!

Tonight, in honor of 80’s music, our team name was "Karma karma karma karma karma Chameleon” Hahaha We didn’t win but we did a lot better than I thought we would!

It was now time to go to dinner and tonight we were back in Animator’s Palate. If we had to end our cruise at any restaurant, I was glad it would be here since we could end with the animation show.

Tonight, we all were given the same appetizer. I don’t remember what this was but it was a sampling of things that were all very tasty.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I got the soup course, which was macaroni cheese and baked potato soup and was good.

For entrees, Wes got the beef Wellington and I got the seafood linguini pasta.

For dessert, I got the Sweet Temptations and Wes got the baked Alaska.

While we waited for the animation magic to begin, I Ketut made us an animal out of a napkin.

It was finally time for the animation show!

There are our drawings!

Dinner was over but before we left, we got our group picture with Luis and I Ketut.

Table 6

It was a wonderful final dinner and we had a great time getting to know our servers and our tablemates. We were very sad for this cruise to be coming to an end.

After dinner, we went to the lobby atrium to see the ‘Til We Meet Again show.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I happened to be standing very close to where Minnie was stationed so I was the first one to get a picture with her.

It was pretty chaotic in the atrium. There isn’t much space for so many characters and guests. It was hard to find the end of the line for the characters. We found Goofy and he didn’t have too long of a line.

Next we met Mickey and I convinced Wes to get in the picture.

It was now time for the characters to say goodbye.

We didn’t want to call it a night just yet so we went to Fathoms for the 80’s Flashback. We got there a little early and they were still playing the Pop gameshow.

There’s Andy

The cast members were looking totally awesome in their 80’s costumes!

The 80’s Flashback game was fun. We were split up into two teams. They would play a song and we would have to guess the name of the song and artist. We then had to act out the song as a team. At first, Wes and I did not participate in the acting out part of the game but then we just couldn’t resist. It was a lot of fun!

It was a fun way to end our night!

We went back to our stateroom and found our last towel animal.

Since we didn’t want the cruise to end, we decided to get one last round of room service.

After we finished our tasty treats, we finished packing and finally went to bed.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Sunday, January 18th – Is it Over Already?!

We woke up and were sad to see we were back at Port Canaveral. Did the cruise have to be over? We had so much fun!!

So sad

We made our way to breakfast. This was the first time on a cruise that we didn’t have a flight close to noon so we didn’t have to rush off the ship. We were able to eat breakfast with our usual group.

I went with pancakes and Wes got waffles.

We really dragged out this breakfast. No one wanted to leave. But finally, it was time for us to go.

We made our way into the port and found our bags relatively quickly. With going to the late breakfast, most people had already left the ship by the time we went to get our bags which was really nice. We had no problem going through customs and made it to the buses shortly after disembarking the ship.

Goodbye Disney Magic!

And that was it! We took the bus to the airport and had a long time to wait until our flight left at 2:35pm. We browsed the Disney gift shop for a while and bought Daisy a Mickey shaped dog tag. We then went through security and grabbed some lunch near our gate.

It was really funny because when our food came out, I instinctively went to grab my camera. Wes even said he waited before he started eating so I could take a picture. Hahaha

We had an uneventful flight home and made it back home safe and sound. It was a wonderful week on the Disney Magic!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Final Thoughts

We had a great time on this cruise! Overall, I still think I prefer the newer ships but I ended up really liking the Magic by the end of the cruise. I kind of liked the fact that it was smaller. It felt less crowded and I felt like I did a better job of finding my way around the ship. Wes says that he only wants to cruise on the Dream and Fantasy from now on but I would be happy to sail on the Magic again. I still haven’t sailed on the Wonder so I want to make sure I check out that ship before I make my final decision on which one is my favorite.

I still didn’t love the chandelier by the end of the cruise but I liked it a little bit by the end.

This was our first time staying in an oceanview stateroom. I was really worried that I would miss the verandah but I really didn't. Of course, at times I wish we had one but I thought the oceanview was really nice. I would probably book an oceanview stateroom over a stateroom with a verandah in the future. If we were looking to splurge, I would get a verandah room again but I don't think it's necessary.

I really love the 7 night cruises. Before our first one, I was so worried that it would be too long but after doing another one, I am still not ready to get off the ship on that last day. Even with 7 days, we weren’t able to get to everything done that we wanted to on the ship. There were more movies I wanted to see, trivia we wanted to try and animation classes. And I don’t feel like I ate nearly enough ice cream. Wes lost count again of how many he ate. Hahaha

It was really hard leaving this cruise but it helped knowing that we have another trip right around the corner. Our next cruise is a 4 night Bahamian cruise on the Dream June 22nd. I’m sad it will only be for 4 nights but it’s also the first WDW/Kingdom Konsultant Family Cruise so I’m really excited! I can’t wait to meet fellow WDWMagic members! The cruise also has two stops at Castaway Cay!! Woo hoo!! We will also be spending two days at WDW before the cruise and staying at Port Orleans Riverside for the first time. It's sure to be an extra magical vacation!

I’ve already started a list of all the things I want to do on our upcoming trip. I can't wait to get back on the Disney Dream!

Thanks for following along!

 

[DisSplash]

Great Trip Report! It has be very excited for our family's first 7-day cruise next year (we are taking one of the Star Wars cruises!!) We did the 4-night Dream to the Bahamas last January and my kids were HOOKED and kept asking why we had to leave after only 4 nights ... it was pretty funny. I think that they finally understood that more nights equals more money, and we had to be sure that this was something they both would enjoy before investing much more into it.

I loved all of your foodie pics! Maybe this next cruise we will splurge on Palo!

 

[mrdrift]

Great conclusion to a very Magical cruise. Thank you for sharing all the fun detailed pictures of all of the wonderful food. I will say no matter what ship you are on from Disney they are all beautiful. I'm sorry that your report is complete because I always look forward to reading your report with the family. Will be watching for the June pre trip report.

 

[smk]

Still iffy about cruisin, If we go I think a four night one would be a good one to try out. I really enjoyed your report, reading it on a COLD winter day, surrounded by a fresh 10 inches of snow is just what the doctor ordered! I feel refreshed and ready to head back to the cozy comfort of my warm bed!

 

[Gaston's gal]

Wow! Lots of great details from your cruise. You have shown me that no matter how many pictures I take, I need to take more. Glad you had fun.

 

[LisaBelle]

Loved your TR! I definitely want to try a cruise. Now to get my family on board with the idea. My daughter is worried about feeling claustrophobic. Do you feel really closed in? Which type of room would be best to avoid those feelings? By the time we would be able to go on a cruise my son will be 22 and my daughter will be 18. Do you think they'd have enough to do onboard the ship?

 

[cfry06]

Wonderful report, thank you for sharing! My husband, son and I sailed on the Wonder in early Feb and had many of the same feelings as far as the classic ship goes! We had a wonderful time, loved how it was easier to navigate and never felt really crowded- but some of the extras the larger ships have we did miss. Especially the larger top deck and extra deck chairs! It was so hard to find a chair in the funnel vision area ! I cannot wait to try a 7 night!! We have only done 3-5 nights at this point. Hoping for a 7 night on the Fantasy next Jan/Feb! Thanks again for sharing!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Great Trip Report! It has be very excited for our family's first 7-day cruise next year (we are taking one of the Star Wars cruises!!) We did the 4-night Dream to the Bahamas last January and my kids were HOOKED and kept asking why we had to leave after only 4 nights ... it was pretty funny. I think that they finally understood that more nights equals more money, and we had to be sure that this was something they both would enjoy before investing much more into it.

I loved all of your foodie pics! Maybe this next cruise we will splurge on Palo!

Thanks for reading! Oh, the Star Wars cruises sound so fun!! I would love to do one. I'm hoping they will continue them through 2017. That is so how Wes and I felt after our 4 night. The difference in our views from the first day on the ship to the last was incredible. We were so worried that we wouldn't like it and then we LOVED it! We didn't want to leave.

Yes!! Splurge on Palo for sure! It is so worth the extra cost.

Great conclusion to a very Magical cruise. Thank you for sharing all the fun detailed pictures of all of the wonderful food. I will say no matter what ship you are on from Disney they are all beautiful. I'm sorry that your report is complete because I always look forward to reading your report with the family. Will be watching for the June pre trip report.

Thanks! You really can't go wrong with any of the ships. They all bring a little something different to the table. I'm sorry the report is over too! Thank goodness we only have 109 days until our next trip! Woo hoo!!

Still iffy about cruisin, If we go I think a four night one would be a good one to try out. I really enjoyed your report, reading it on a COLD winter day, surrounded by a fresh 10 inches of snow is just what the doctor ordered! I feel refreshed and ready to head back to the cozy comfort of my warm bed!

I understand completely. We were so hesitant to try the cruise. Even on the first day, we still weren't sure about it. Then by the end of our first 4 day cruise, we were hooked. We didn't want to leave the ship. We still don't want to leave the ship!

It has been so cold! The trip report was a nice way to remember all the warmth from our cruise. It was such a nice break from the cold and after getting all this snow recently, we want to do it again! We're thinking late January/early February of 2017.

Wow! Lots of great details from your cruise. You have shown me that no matter how many pictures I take, I need to take more. Glad you had fun.

Thanks for reading Pam! I feel the same way about pictures. I get home and feel like it's never enough.

Loved your TR! I definitely want to try a cruise. Now to get my family on board with the idea. My daughter is worried about feeling claustrophobic. Do you feel really closed in? Which type of room would be best to avoid those feelings? By the time we would be able to go on a cruise my son will be 22 and my daughter will be 18. Do you think they'd have enough to do onboard the ship?

Thank you! I was worried about feeling claustrophobic but the staterooms are so spacious! We have stayed in an oceanview stateroom and one with a verandah and both have been wonderful. If you are really worried about feeling claustrophobic, a stateroom with verandah may be the way to go. That way you can get fresh air whenever you need it. I thought the oceanview room was also really nice though. I guess it just depends on how bad she gets with feeling claustrophobic. We're trying an inside stateroom in June so I'll let you know in that trip report my thoughts.

By the time we would be able to go on a cruise my son will be 22 and my daughter will be 18. Do you think they'd have enough to do onboard the ship?

Absolutely! There are seriously so many activities each day. There were days when we couldn't fit in all of the activities we wanted to do. They will both be able to go to the adult pool area and participate in the adult activities which are a lot of fun. I just don't think you could get bored on a Disney cruise. I mean, I guess it's possible, but it's like you would have to try to be bored.

Wonderful report, thank you for sharing! My husband, son and I sailed on the Wonder in early Feb and had many of the same feelings as far as the classic ship goes! We had a wonderful time, loved how it was easier to navigate and never felt really crowded- but some of the extras the larger ships have we did miss. Especially the larger top deck and extra deck chairs! It was so hard to find a chair in the funnel vision area ! I cannot wait to try a 7 night!! We have only done 3-5 nights at this point. Hoping for a 7 night on the Fantasy next Jan/Feb! Thanks again for sharing!

Thanks for reading! Yea, I liked the Magic more and more as the week went on. I missed those newer extras too and the Midship Detective Agency! The 7 nights are so great. I'd like to try a 5 night and see if that's good too. I mean, they're all good but I would like to find the perfect number of nights.

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for sharing! Was great to read and watch the pictures!