Trip Report Our First Disney Cruise...it was "Magic"al!!

Well we are all settled back in at home, routines are in order - back to work; back to school and thank goodness for pictures on my phone that I can look at to reminisce about the wonderful trip we had (remember when you had to rush to the photo booth at your local Walgreens with your 15 rolls of film to be processed so you could finally see your pictures only to realize half on the roll weren't even good)! Our trip was amazing! From start to finish, I wouldn't change a thing and feel so blessed we were given this opportunity by my husband's parents to go on this trip.

I'm still getting my notes and pictures in order, but wanted to get this TR started to force me to do this! I've been reading so many great TR's over the last couple weeks (and trying to get to those I haven't read yet!) and wanted to join in the fun too

So for those who didn't see my very brief PTR, my husband's parents took the entire family (13 of us) on the cruise to celebrate their upcoming 50th wedding anniversary. We were on the Disney Magic from February 26th through March 3rd. We ported out of Miami and our stops were Grand Cayman and of course, Castaway Cay (which I think if we would have docked the ship there the entire five days I would have been okay with that).

I won't bring in the extended family too much as I'm not sure if they want pictures of themselves floating around on wdwmagic, so you will most likely see me (Chris), my husband (Brian) and our 14 year old daughter (Emily)!

I will get to our first day soon, but I will leave you with this photo (disclaimer - I am NOT a photographer and all of my pictures were taken on my phone, but it's the thought that counts!). Couldn't you just look at this view all day long (sorry about a shirtless Brian...but hey we were on vacation...in the sun)

 

[gdisneyfans]

It was a little early yet so a lot of stores weren’t opened and with it being a Sunday, most of the stores didn’t even open until 11:00. I think we were there closer to 10:00, so we just hit a few of the souvenir stores that were open. But it was nice to walk around the area and just be outside.

Hey - Leinenkugel's! That's in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and Summer Shandy is

After we strolled through the shops, we made our way back to the hotel. We wanted to stop at Walgreen’s to pick up a few items for the ship that we didn’t want to pack at home, but still needed. So we picked up some toiletries, some wine and some champagne since we were able to bring 2 bottles each on board.

Once we got back to the hotel, we went down to the pool bar to grab a drink and enjoy our surroundings.

I see you Disney Magic

It was getting close to noon and we were able to start boarding the ship at 1:30, so we went up to our room to shower and get packed up. Someone's excited to get going!

 

[gdisneyfans]

We were down in the lobby by 1:00. We had to get 3 Uber’s to get us all plus luggage to the ship’s port, but we were at the port by 1:15, that’s how close we were! We're almost there!

We made it!

We made our way into the check-in area. The line seemed really long, but it went really fast. We were up to the front in no time and were checked in. Before too long, we were getting our pictures taken and made our way onto the ship. We were welcomed on board as the “G" Family and in we went! We were on the ship at 2:00 and our rooms were ready – not too bad!

We were anxious to see our room, but we were also anxious to start exploring the ship…and we were hungry! So we found our room – we loved it!!

And the best part of the whole room:

The veranda! We loved having one - it was so nice to just go out and sit and relax whenever we were in the room (which didn't seem too often) .

 

[gdisneyfans]

A few more shots from our room that gives us the feeling we're with Disney!

 

[gdisneyfans]

But we didn’t want to stay too long in the room - we had to find some lunch! So we dropped our carry-on bags and headed up to Cabanas for the buffet. It was packed!!! There were hardly any seats available, so we figured before we get a tray of food we’d better find a table. We did find one in the sun, but then a bigger table became available in the shade so we moved. Lunch was great. I didn't take a picture of my first plate, but it was a boring old salad, so for sure nothing exiting! But I had some salmon, fries, chicken tenders and mac 'n cheese. The roll was like a hallow hockey puck.

After lunch, we strolled around the ship taking in the sights and sounds of the port area. We had a drink of the day while wandering and watching the kids burn off some energy.

It was very refreshing. But of course as all vacations go, the time was going by too fast - it was nearing 3:45 already and we needed to get to our mandatory evacuation drill (I emphasize mandatory because when you walk into the area where your drill is located you have to show them each guest in your room's key to the world card, which they scan to prove you were there - I wonder what they do if you don't show up?). We stopped at the room to drop a few things off and all of our bags had arrived, so we started to unpack a bit. But 4:00 was nearing and we didn’t want to be late!

Our drill was being held in Animator’s Palate, so we were able to get a sneak peek into that dining room. It was so cool! Couldn’t wait to have dinner in there on Wednesday night! The drill was pretty quick and painless. They basically just tell you where you need to go in case there is a mandatory evacuation.

Soon enough we were let out and needed to make our way to Deck 9 or 10 for the Sail Away Party! We found a decent spot on Deck 10 – not close to the railing where we could see everything, but good enough to hear and see a good portion of the party.

The party was so much fun!!! Lots of signing and dancing and of course, very crowded - but besides this party and the Pirate party, there weren't any crowds

 

[gdisneyfans]

Some deck party pictures

Loved this dance party!!!

Emily enjoying her "Frozen" drink!

Brian getting into the fun

We were enjoying ourselves so much that we didn't even notice the ship leaving the port until we looked and saw we had pulled away! This was such fun and such an energizing way to get the cruise started!

 

[gdisneyfans]

After the Sail Away Party was finished, we strolled along Deck 10 and went to the opposite side of where we were so we could see the coastline as we were leaving. We stood there and watched us sail away for a good while – until we couldn’t hardly see Florida any longer. It was such a gorgeous evening and we were truly just enjoying being where we were.

This guy was using one of those jet pack suits - it was fun watching him!

We couldn't believe the number of yachts in the area.

Bye Miami - don't want to see you any time soon

 

[DryerLintFan]

This looks like so much fun so far!! Following!

 

[ILoveDisney2006]

Your pictures look awesome and it looks like so much fun! My goal is to go on a Disney Cruise within the next couple of years

 

[gdisneyfans]

This looks like so much fun so far!! Following!

Thanks for following! It was so much fun

Your pictures look awesome and it looks like so much fun! My goal is to go on a Disney Cruise within the next couple of years

Thank you! It was one of the best vacations we've had!! We have only done WDW and have been going just about every year since 2006 and we loved every minute of those vacations. I never thought we would enjoy a cruise as much as we did and if Brian's parents didn't choose the cruise to take the family on, I don't think we would have gone! But we are so happy they did! It is such a different vacation from WDW but you still get that Disney feel. We have a week off in August and we were planning on going to WDW but now we're going back and forth on WDW or another cruise! Disney Magic is one of the oldest and smallest of their ships (which was actually great for our first time since we were able to easily navigate the ship), so we hope to try one of the larger ships next time. I hope you make your goal and are able to go - I can't say enough good things about it!!

 

[gdisneyfans]

It was getting close to 6:00 and our show time that evening was 6:15. We decided to see the show first and then afterwards head to our rooms to shower and get ready for dinner. The shows all week were in the Walt Disney Theater on Deck 4.

Disney popcorn!!!

Then this was about the time where Emily and Brian were feeling just a bit off. You could see the curtains swaying a little from the ship swaying to it was taking a little toll on them

But they were okay to stay for the show.

The show tonight was Be Our Guest. It was great! The show was hosted by the ship’s Cruise Director, Clayton. He was awesome! Really knew how to get the crowd going and each night he did a new dance for the crowd – hysterical! Be Our Guest was basically just welcoming us to the ship, Clayton gave an overview of the week ahead and gave us an overview of the shows we’d see throughout the week. It was only 45 minutes, but that was just enough time for us so we could head back to our room and get ready for dinner.

We got back to our room and started getting ready for dinner while also unpacking all of our stuff. Wanted to get the room somewhat in order since it is smallish and didn’t want to be tripping over stuff! We also brought along some sea bands and some dramamine so Emily took a dramamine and put a band on and Brian just put the band on and within 30 minutes they both felt so much better. Yay - didn't want them sick on the cruise because of motion sickness!

But before too long it was 8:15 and we headed down to dinner. Dinner tonight was at Carioca’s on Deck 3.

Our table number for the entire trip was number 23

Our main server was Mo (on the right) and he was from Indonesia. Our assistant server was Santiago and he was from the Philippines. They were so great - we loved every time we got to interact with them. After the first night, they remembered each one of our names and addressed us each time by our name. They typically had our drinks for us too before we even asked for them.

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

I had Clayton as a cruise director on one of my cruises too!

 

[gdisneyfans]

Dinner! (Sorry, I know the pictures aren't the greatest, but with the lighting and just using my phone, it was the best I could do!)

I had the Empanadas for the appetizer:

I had the Cuban Salad for my "Soup and Salad" selection:

For the Main Entree I had the Sea Bass:

Oh my goodness - everything was absolutely delicious! The sea bass and risotto were melt in your mouth good!

I didn't take pictures of anyone else's dinner only because our table was so large it would have been weird for me to get up each time to try to get a picture So going forward you'll only see my food But I am so glad I took pictures of my food. I would have never thought to before reading so many TR's and it is fun to look back and remember exactly what you got! The first couple of times I felt awkward doing it, but then it was like second nature to do it!

Anyway, we didn't order anything off the dessert menu because this was the night we were celebrating Brian's parent's anniversary with a pre-ordered cake.

The cake was very good! But I was so stuffed at this point I could only eat just a couple of bites and then of course the the chocolate straws!

After the filling dinner we went up to Deck 9 to take a little walk to get some fresh air.

 

[gdisneyfans]

Before we made it out to the deck, we still needed to get registered for the 5k on Castaway Cay. I didn't follow @lostpro9het's advice and register first thing after getting on the ship as we were too excited to take everything in! But we went to Guest Services to register. There was no line and no problem getting tickets for the five of us wanting to do the race. Look who we saw on our way to Guest Services!

It was so fun walking through the atrium and randomly seeing characters

After we were registered, we went out to the deck for a little fresh air. It was such a beautiful night...which was the reoccurring theme for the entire cruise. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and couldn't have asked for anything better. Even one of the days it was quite windy, but it still made for a lovely day out on the deck. Loved that they showed movies constantly on the tunnel vision screen.

Emily and one of her 100's of ice cream cones that she had during the week!

Just enjoying the movie

After our little break, the older girls wanted to go walk around the ship so a few of us adults went to check out the adult lounges.

Relaxing!

I'm sure this chandelier looked better in person than it does on this photo But it was still neat looking!

We walked into O'Gill's and just ordered a drink and the girls text us (sidebar - on the Navigator app you download before you get on the ship, you are able to easily text those in your party as to where you are, and it is a GREAT tool to keep up with what's going on on the ship as well as keeping up with where everyone in your party is!) that they were ready to come find us. So we took our drinks and headed out. But here's a shot of O'Gill's right before we left:

We thought we'd get back there at some point during the week but we never did Looked like a fun place.

 

[gdisneyfans]

We found the girls and decided to call it a night. We decided to take the elevators (we only took the elevators a couple of times - had to work off some of that food we ate!) and love the hand which shows which floor the elevator is on!

We made it back to our room to found this cutie

Plus they leave Ghirardelli chocolate squares for you that say Disney Cruise Line Of course we hid those every night to take them home as a souvenir!

That's the end of our first day on the Disney Magic. It was a wonderful day and much more fun to come!

 

[amjt660]

Brian decided to get some rest....hey, Sleeping Beauty, didn't you get enough sleep last night
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OK I have to chime in on this one
Dad's should get to sleep anytime they want to
Just because the rest of you people do not have the skill to fall asleep no matter:
1)how bright it is
2)what time of day it is
3) and where we are at the time

does not give you the right to be jealous of us !!!!

Max

 

[amjt660]

Loved the lobby area. Afterwards we made our way up to our rooms on the 26th floor! I don't think we've ever stayed in a hotel that had anything more than a 4th floor. We opened our door and walked into our room and this was our view
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I could have sat and looked out the window for hours! We also had these lovelies waiting for us upon check-in
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That view and those treats are to die for
Great hotel choice!!

Max

 

[amjt660]

Okay let's finish up this day and get us on that darn ship!
We were stuffed full but still wanted to get outside into the warm fresh air before turning in. So we wandered outside to see what we could see in the dark! Emily found her first car
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An actual beautiful palm tree
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The outside of the hotel was quite interesting after dark. There are silhouettes of people dancing. Not sure if you can see it, but I'll only bore you with one photo It was entertaining to watch for about two minutes...
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Lovely pose of Emily doing?? She must be pumping up the jam since we're on vacation!
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We just strolled along the water - I notice I didn't take any other pictures after this - ha! But there really wasn't much to see in the dark anyway. By then it was about 8:30 p.m. and we were exhausted WHAT?? We are in Miami....on a Saturday night....with South Beach right down the road! Oh well, we had been up so early and we knew we had a big, fun day ahead of us so we decided to call it a night.

Next up - a great morning in Miami and Disney Magic here we come!

I like the car choice
Does she plan on going to med school???

Max

 

[Zipadeelady]

Everything sounds so wonderful so far. Your excitement is evident reading your report. It makes me want to go on a cruise!

 

[Sillysidewalker]

That elevator hand may have done it for me. I want to go! So fun so far.

 

[jjbrooks567]

So excited to read the rest of your report! We're thinking of doing this same cruise next winter. We did a 3 night on the dream in 2015 and we're so ready to do another disney cruise.