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]

The final drink was a B-52 shot which is Bailey’s and Kahlua. I’m not a fan of either but I decided to try it.

For this shot, they passed around the bottle of Grand Marnier for us to add to the top. It was time to drink. Not a fan. I took a swig of my Diet Coke to wash it down. Hahaha I was using the Diet Coke as a palate cleanser between drinks that I didn’t like.

We were kind of bummed that we didn’t actually get to make all of the drinks this time around but we still enjoyed it. I didn’t get nearly as intoxicated as the class we took on the Fantasy (which I’m not sure is a good or bad thing Hahaha).

After Mixology, we went back to our stateroom to order some room service. I decided to order a Cesar salad and we also got another All Hands on Deck aka the cheese plate and my favorite thing to order from room service.

I enjoyed my Cesar salad in bed while watching Cinderella. How do you like to eat your room service? Hahaha

After I ate, I took a little nap. It was nice to spend some time just relaxing in our stateroom. It was now time to get up and get ready for the show. Tonight’s show was Villain’s Tonight. This is a show that we missed seeing on the Dream so I was looking forward to seeing it tonight.

It was also Formal night tonight so we had to get extra dolled up.

Overall I thought the show was just okay. There were some jokes that I thought were really funny and others that missed the mark. I would see the show again but I wouldn’t be sad if I had to miss it either.

After the show, we stopped in the shops so I could get some things. I wanted to buy stuff early so I wouldn’t forget. (Yea, right…like I could forget! ) I ended up getting a pair of the Ahoy Minnie pajamas, a Captain Mickey stuffed animal Christmas ornament, DCL beach towel and a DCL t-shirt. I don’t feel like I over did it. Hey, it could have been worse!

We stopped by the room to drop off our bag of goodies and then went to the Captain’s Reception in the lobby atrium. I saw a server with a tray of drinks and asked which ones had alcohol so I could be sure to grab the right one.

Wes and I then found some seats over by the future cruise sales desk. I was sad we wouldn’t be booking a future cruise from this cruise. The time frame just didn’t work out for us but we will be booking a future cruise in June. Yes, we are going on a cruise again in June! But I digress…

Back to the Captain’s Reception and our drinks.

Formal, gold, glittery toes!

We just sat and enjoyed listening to the live music and people watching. Wes went to grab us a couple more drinks before it was time to head into dinner.

Hahaha This picture makes me laugh

I was trying to take a picture without looking and it clearly didn’t go too well. It makes it look like I’ve had a lot to drink though which makes me laugh.

The picture below is what I like to call “second drink.” It’s another reference from The Office. The ice melts in your drink and thus becomes second drink!

It was about that time to head to dinner so we made our way downstairs to Lumiere’s. We were the first ones to dinner tonight! I had to take a picture because on our last cruise, we were never the first ones to dinner. Seriously. Every night of our 7 night cruise, we were never there first. We kept trying to get there earlier but the other couples kept beating us to the table.

Woo hoo! We made it!!

Gotta stay hydrated

Tonight Mike and Kay Beth were dining at Palo so it was just us and the third couple. Tonight we introduced ourselves and learned the third couple was Liam and Noreen. The fourth couple didn’t show up again so I was wondering if they ever would or if they didn’t really exist.

For appetizers, I ordered the breaded and deep fried Brie and Wes got the leek and potato soup.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

When I took a picture of my food, I apologized to Liam and Noreen and told them that I take a lot of pictures. Wes then informed them that I write for a blog and I mentioned writing on the forum. That’s when Noreen said oh, I think I’ve read one of your blog articles! Turns out it wasn’t me but it was nice to know that our dinner mates didn’t think it was weird.

I forgot to mention, but at last night’s dinner, I also apologized to Kay Beth and Mike about taking a lot of pictures of food and Kay Beth’s response was “Don’t be sorry. It reminds me to take pictures too!” These are my kind of people!

I thought the Brie was good but not great. Wes really liked his soup. We shared with each other and I thought the soup was okay. I was excited for my French onion soup that was coming out next!

This soup is my favorite! I hated it as a kid but now I love it. I always burn my mouth though. I’m not patient enough to wait for it to cool. Hahaha

For entrees, Wes got the filet and I went with the lobster macaroni.

Wes’ steak was really good! My lobster macaroni was just okay. I was expecting more. The name made it sound so much better. Oh well.

At this point in the meal, our assistant server Luis gave us some brainteasers. We love these! Our assistant server on our last cruise did this too and it was so fun to try to solve them.

He gave us one that we had on our previous cruise and Wes remembered the answer. I am so bad at remembering the solutions! Even looking at the picture again, I can’t remember what we did to solve it. Hahaha

For dessert, I got the strawberry shortcake sundae and Wes got the peanut butter mousse.

We both loved our desserts! And with that, it was the end of our dinner. We really liked Lumiere’s. I thought the food was very good and I love the décor. It was also really nice getting to know the other couple at dinner tonight. It looked like we would luck out again with really nice dinner mates!

After dinner, we went back to our room and found our first towel animal!

I love the towel animals!

While in our room, we decided we would go see the adult only show tonight. It was Taylor Mason, who is a comedian and ventriloquist.

Before we left the room, I tried to take a mirror picture of us in our Formal outfits. Hahaha They didn’t turn out so well.

And fail.

Before we went to the show, we decided to stop by Keys to see our friendly bartender, Claudette from our mixology class earlier in the day. Wes ordered a mojito and I got a Bahama Mama, my favorite drink for a cruise or the beach!

It was pretty dead in Keys tonight. We tried to go there another night of the cruise but there was no one in there.

It was getting close to show time so we asked Claudette for some glasses we could take with us and we made our way to the Walt Disney Theater.

I am so glad we went to the show! It was really funny! I normally don’t like ventriloquists but Taylor Mason was really good.

After the show, I wanted to go to the lobby to get some more pictures.

I spy a few people in my picture…

After that, we made our way back to the Forward stairs and Wes broke my rule again and took the elevator! I took it with him because my feet were hurting from my heels.

When we got back to our room, we found a fun note on our door. I had written “Cozumel here we come” and someone replied with “Woo Hoo!” I love it! It was a fun note to come back to.

We went to bed shortly after returning to our room.


Up next: The Tequila Tasting Experience in Cozumel! Woo hoo!

 

[geebee721]

Loving the trip report!! Also loooove all The Office references!

 

[mrdrift]

What a wonderful day on the ship. I love playing the trivia games but never do very well. The food looked really good all though the Lobster Mac seem to be missing the Lobster. I did see a little piece but could use more in my opinion. The Mixology class is always a hit for my family, a must do on any cruise. Following along.

 

[FlaggNL]

I didn't think I would like the cruise either before our first one but now I almost like them more than WDW! It's crazy, I know.

A lot of people who did a cruise tells the same! Who knows someday in the future!

 

[flynnibus]

I would see the show again but I wouldn’t be sad if I had to miss it either

Pretty much how I feel about all the stage singing/dancing shows except Aladdin The adult acts seem to be worth the time.

I was sad we wouldn’t be booking a future cruise from this cruise. The time frame just didn’t work out for us but we will be booking a future cruise in June

Whut! Should have booked that placeholder anyways! Book one and then move it within the time limit. Can't pass up on those discounts

And what a bummer over the mixology setup. Were there as many timeslots for it on the boat? Seems weird that the smaller boat had the bigger classes... Half the fun is everyone standing at the bar and behind the bar goofing off or their mistakes!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Loving the trip report!! Also loooove all The Office references!

Thanks! The Office was one of my favorite shows! I still watch it in syndication now that it's done with new episodes.

What a wonderful day on the ship. I love playing the trivia games but never do very well. The food looked really good all though the Lobster Mac seem to be missing the Lobster. I did see a little piece but could use more in my opinion. The Mixology class is always a hit for my family, a must do on any cruise. Following along.

Yea, the lobster mac was lacking. I don't think I would order it again. I do love the mixology class! Thanks for following along!

A lot of people who did a cruise tells the same! Who knows someday in the future!

It's true! You go on one and you get hooked. Hahaha

Pretty much how I feel about all the stage singing/dancing shows except Aladdin The adult acts seem to be worth the time.

Whut! Should have booked that placeholder anyways! Book one and then move it within the time limit. Can't pass up on those discounts

And what a bummer over the mixology setup. Were there as many timeslots for it on the boat? Seems weird that the smaller boat had the bigger classes... Half the fun is everyone standing at the bar and behind the bar goofing off or their mistakes!

I know but the time frame didn't work. You have to take the cruise within 24 months and we knew we couldn't go within that time frame. We're hoping to go again in early 2017 but just not as early as January.

That was the only mixology class during the cruise. There were some other drink classes but not another specific mixology one.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Tuesday, January 13th – An Excursion All to Ourselves

Last night we had to turn our clocks back an hour so we got an extra hour of sleep! I love it when I get extra time to sleep.

Our excursion today was The Tequila Tasting Experience by Jose Cuervo. Wes picked this excursion. I’m not a huge tequila fan unless it’s in a margarita but it was Wes’ turn to pick an excursion.

We decided to grab some breakfast at Cabanas since we had plenty of time before we needed to meet for our excursion. We picked a seat outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather.

My plate

Wes’ plate

The view from our table

We didn’t have to meet for our excursion until 10:45am. We finished our breakfast and then walked around the ship to take some more pictures.

I love Robin Hood!

Can you tell that I love the funnel?!

It was finally time to make our way to the Promenade Lounge to meet for our excursion.

We checked in for our excursion and we got stickers for Group 11. I noticed that the cast member only had two stickers. I said to Wes, “I think we’re the only ones for our excursion.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about being the only two people on our excursion.

It was time for us to disembark and meet our excursion guide, Carlos. We made our way through the mall across the street from the port and Carlos got us a cab.

We arrived at Discover Mexico and Carlos got us some welcome margaritas to get the excursion started.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Carlos gave us a little background on how tequila is made and then we made our way into our tasting room. I had my camera out and was about to take a picture of the setup when Carlos asked if I wanted him to take our picture. So nice!

We had three different types of tequila to try; Blanco, Reposado and Añejo. Carlos explained how long each type of tequila is aged. He also had us pour some of the tequila on our hands to smell the different aromas. It was really weird but you could really smell the aroma of the tequila without smelling the alcohol when you poured it on your hands.

Before we tasted each type of tequila, we also smelled different things like coffee beans, cinnamon and lime peels. We would then smell the tequila before tasting it.

The tequila tasting part of the excursion was neat. I’m still not a huge tequila fan but Wes really enjoyed it. It was interesting learning about the different kinds of tequila.

After our tequila tasting we went inside to see the museum’s collection of Mexican artwork.

These reminded me of the queue for Expedition Everest

There was also a short film that we watched briefly that had scenes of Mexican culture. It was no Disney production.

We then made our way outside where it was time for another margarita!

Carlos offered to take another picture for us.

After enjoying our margaritas, we made our way through the scale models of famous Mexican buildings. The models started with the earliest buildings up through more modern buildings.

Our wonderful guide, Carlos

After we walked through the models, we saw a performance of a Mayan rain ritual. The rain ritual was crazy! People were tied to this pole with ropes and then they fell backwards off the pole and spun around as their rope untangled. While four guys slowly made their way back to the ground, a fifth guy sat on the top of the pole without any harness! Crazy!! I really hoped that the rain ritual wouldn’t work because I was enjoying the nice weather!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

After the Mayan ritual, it was time for some lunch. There was a taco bar with some traditional Mexican side items. They were also making fresh tortillas as you went through the line.

Lunch was good. It wasn’t great but it was good. The beers were included with our excursion cost, which was very good!

After lunch, it was the end of our excursion. Carlos went to get us a cab and we had a little time to check out the gift shop.

Yay Redskins!!

We didn’t end up buying anything but we did bring money this time. On our last cruise, we forgot to bring cash when we left the ship. We were so used to charging things to our stateroom that we forgot you needed cash to pay for things. Hahaha Well this time we came prepared and didn’t end up using it.

Carlos said goodbye at the cab and we gave him a nice tip. I was really skeptical about the excursion only being the two of us but it was actually really awesome. It was great to have a guide to ourselves because we could ask as many questions as we wanted, he could take our picture and we could go at our own pace.

We got in the cab and as we were getting closer to the port when the cab driver asked us where we were going. Thank God I remembered the name of the port because Wes said he had no idea. Hahahaa That’s why I do all the planning in the family!

We made it back to the port and were dropped off right in front of a Starbucks. I knew this was our chance to get some free wifi.

It was a little hard to figure out how to connect to the wifi because it was all in Spanish. Eventually, after some clicking, I figured it out and got connected. We spent a few minutes sitting outside Starbucks checking emails and posting to Instagram. We then made our way back to the Magic.

Wes had my phone and I had my camera so there were many pictures taken. I was taking pictures of the ship and Wes was taking pictures of me taking pictures. The square pictures are the ones Wes took with my phone.

We got back on the ship and decided to go get some ice cream.

Into The Woods was playing in the Buena Vista Theater at 3pm so we decided to go see that. I wanted to see it in theaters at home but didn’t end up seeing it. Now would be a great time to see it!

I decided that I needed some popcorn today

I thought the movie was just okay. I liked some of the songs but I wasn’t a fan of the movie. I’m not familiar with the musical so it’s my fault for not knowing what to expect but I just thought it was weird. Oh well. At least I didn’t pay to see it at home.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

After the movie, we went back to the stateroom to get ready for the show. But first we decided to get some chicken tenders and fries to split. We enjoyed our pre-dinner snack while watching Wreck-It Ralph.

The show tonight was Taylor Mason. We really enjoyed his adult only show the night before so I was looking forward to seeing him again. I think if we hadn’t gone to his show the night before, we probably would have skipped his show tonight. It was another really good show that involved some kids from the audience. Very funny!

Tonight dinner was in Animator’s Palate and I was really excited to see this restaurant!

Love these knives!

Tonight at dinner was the first time all 3 of us couples were there for the whole meal. The 4th couple still didn’t show up so we officially declared them as not existing.

For appetizers tonight, Wes got the black truffle pasta and I went with the baked potato and cheddar cheese soup. I didn’t get anything else as a starter course since I had already had some ice cream, popcorn, chicken tenders and fries as pre-dinner snacks.

For entrees, I decided to go with the beef tenderloin and Wes got the penne pasta. Both dishes were really good.

Throughout dinner, the screens in the restaurant would show sketches and we were guessing the characters as they were being drawn. Noreen was so funny! I guessed one of the characters as being Meg from Hercules and Noreen said it was Megatha. I said, I don’t think that’s her name so Noreen then decided to start calling me Megatha. Hahaha Now I can’t see Meg without thinking of Megatha. We had a lot of fun at this dinner!

For dessert, I went with the Sweet Temptations and Wes got the chocolate brownie cheesecake. Noreen got the cookies and cream sundae and told me to take a picture.

I Ketut told us that towards the end of the dinner, we should expect to see a show. We kept waiting to see when the restaurant would change colors and the show would start. Every time something would show up on the screens besides the sketches, we thought it was time to start but it wasn’t. I think we were faked out a few times.

To pass the time, Luis gave us some more brainteasers.

I actually remember the answer to this one!!

I remember this one too! Nice.

It was finally time for the show to begin!!!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

It’s Mickey!!

Parade of the servers led by Mickey

Dinner was really great tonight. I was sad that the restaurant didn’t change from black and white to color throughout the meal like it used to because I had never seen that before. I did like the show at the end and it was really cool when Mickey came out. I also liked when the servers came out and marched around. It was fun getting to cheer for I Ketut and Luis since they were so awesome!

After dinner, we planned on going to see the Match Your Mate game in Fathoms. As we passed the atrium, I saw Minnie with a short line so we decided to stop. When we got in line, the cast member told us that Daisy would be coming out. Sweet! I like Daisy too.

Daisy was totally flirting with Wes by the way! Back off Daisy!

Mmmm… Bahama mama

Mike and Kay Beth met up with us to see the game. We mentioned it briefly at dinner and they said they were worried about going because they didn’t want to be picked. I don’t blame them.

Our host, Andy

Andy seriously had the most energy I’ve ever seen! Wes and I kept laughing because he reminded us of this character on Community. The character was a guy in the air-conditioning repair school…anyone know what I’m talking about. Anyway…we really liked Andy.

Match Your Mate was really funny tonight. All 3 couples were really funny. One couple was just married and from the UK, the second couple met while working at Disneyland and the third couple had been married for something like 40 years. There were many funny responses given from all 3 couples. It was a good time.

And with that, we made our way back to our stateroom where I saw another “Woo hoo” on our board.

After a fun filled day, it was time for bed. But not before taking a picture of our towel animal.

Up next: A day spent on the ship in Grand Cayman

 

[mrdrift]

That was an awesome day with some really fantastic pictures of Mexico. The excursion was very special that only the two of you went on, I'm not a tequila fan myself but love to learn how things are made. Great pictures of the Magic and of course pictures of dinner. Following along.

 

[sissa216]

Great report Ashley! I just read the whole thing next to my window and the massive pile of snow

I adore your outfit in the picture of you two in the mirror!

I'm very proud to say I'm a huge fan of The Office too and my mind immediately read vol-de-mort the right way

And I'm not a fan of Villains Tonight either. I had to leave after about 15 minutes because it scared my son a bit- but we caught it on TV later that night and I don't think I missed much. It was definitely my least favorite.

 

[Maggie Mae]

Lovin' the report, I am getting ready do go on our first Disney Cruise (On the Wonder) so this is getting me even more excited!

 

[FlaggNL]

It's true! You go on one and you get hooked. Hahaha

LOL, we aer hooked at WDW for a long period of time in the future Next October will be out second trip but be sure that it will not be the last

 

[FlaggNL]

And thanks for the share! Great report and love the Mexico pics! Can't wait for more!!

 

[LisaBelle]

I am loving your report. I am hoping to talk the family into taking a Disney Cruise in the future. Thanks for sharing the fun.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Your reports are always so entertaining and informative! Someday I'd love to go on a Disney Cruise. Thanks for the report!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

That was an awesome day with some really fantastic pictures of Mexico. The excursion was very special that only the two of you went on, I'm not a tequila fan myself but love to learn how things are made. Great pictures of the Magic and of course pictures of dinner. Following along.

Thanks! The excursion to ourselves was really fun.

Great report Ashley! I just read the whole thing next to my window and the massive pile of snow

I adore your outfit in the picture of you two in the mirror!

I'm very proud to say I'm a huge fan of The Office too and my mind immediately read vol-de-mort the right way

And I'm not a fan of Villains Tonight either. I had to leave after about 15 minutes because it scared my son a bit- but we caught it on TV later that night and I don't think I missed much. It was definitely my least favorite.

Thanks Carissa! I am missing the warm weather we had on the cruise! It's supposed to be 2 degrees here tomorrow!!!

I'm so glad you got it and said it the right way as you read! Vol-de-mort! Vol-de-mort! Hahaha

Lovin' the report, I am getting ready do go on our first Disney Cruise (On the Wonder) so this is getting me even more excited!

Thanks for reading! The Wonder is the one ship I haven't been on yet. I'm glad my report is helping you count down the days! Have a great time on your cruise!

And thanks for the share! Great report and love the Mexico pics! Can't wait for more!!

Thanks for reading!

I am loving your report. I am hoping to talk the family into taking a Disney Cruise in the future. Thanks for sharing the fun.

Thank you! Yes, Disney Cruises are so much fun!!

Your reports are always so entertaining and informative! Someday I'd love to go on a Disney Cruise. Thanks for the report!

Thanks for reading! I think Disney cruises are a must. I can't stop now. Wes likes them better than WDW so he doesn't mind my new love. Hahaha