So, where has the Spirit been? All over ...from the wilds of SoFla (saw a fox Sunday in daylight in urban Miami, so the zombie apocalypse is clearly on its way) to the open seas on the Disney MAGIC along with good friend Karl Holz and some west coast Disney Channel execs (one who may even like the Spirit!), not to mention the 'real' radio media (no Mrs. Ricky sightings as the bloggerwhores only got the free two nights to nowhere deal) doing their junket deal. LOVED the ship (as usual) and the high caliber (i.e. Non WDW-like) product.
Glad you enjoyed cruising with Karl. I just took my first Disney cruise and loved it, despite the lack of celebrity encounters.
(I booked my cruise partly at the suggestion of an extremely fanboyish Disney friend -- one who generally has pretty good taste, despite supposedly having taken a cruise with his attorney once!)
I was surprised to read a number of negative reviews of the refurbished Disney Magic on another site, especially since said site is largely known for its rose-colored views of all things Disney. Other than an isolated water leak in a public restroom, I didn't encounter any problems during my Magic cruise at all. My stateroom was impeccable; everything was fresh and new, and the bed was frankly one of the most comfortable I've ever had in a public accommodation.
The service was top-notch across the board, with my servers in the main dining rooms and in Palo being both friendly and highly competent. It was a stark contrast to most of the CMs I encountered in WDW earlier in my trip, who often seemed overwhelmed by the late October crowds, especially at Food & Wine.
The food on the Magic was also a very pleasant surprise. Other than a filet at Palo that didn't quite measure up (come to think of it, the chef's response was also somewhat less than I'd expected, but it wasn't a substantial blemish on the sailing as a whole), the food I had was excellent, and well above par in relation to comparable WDW restaurants. In particular, I loved the South American menu at Carioca's -- and probably tried a third of the offerings. For those with a sweet tooth, do not miss the (non-alcoholic) cocktail named after Panchito, or the signature ice cream sundae -- probably the best Disney sundae I've ever had.
I hope DCL keeps Carioca's menu around, but I suspect its relatively "exotic" nature will lead it to be genericized sooner rather than later.
Probably the biggest surprise to me was the high quality of the live shows. Dreams was amazing, and Walt Disney: The Dream Goes On and Twice Charmed weren't far behind.
To be honest, I thought the caliber of the performers and the quality of the sets and effects were noticeably higher than those of any live show at WDW (or DL, for that matter).
And the new Drawn to Magic show at Animator's Palate -- which included sketches from the yet-to-be-released Frozen -- encompassed a large number of movies from Disney's long history in animation. It made me realize just how many memorable stories, characters, and songs the Disney company has introduced to the world over the years -- and I felt a twinge of sadness when I thought of the recent trend of the company's focus on acquiring IP (Marvel, Star Wars) rather than wholly generating it.
I'm generally a pretty demanding consumer when it comes to Disney, and I was surprised at how positive my Magic cruise was -- I even booked a future cruise while I was still onboard. But the extent to which I was impressed by DCL was a bit of a double-edged sword: it rekindled my faith in Disney as a company that can still put out product of the highest quality, but it harshly reminded me of just how little the company cares about its supposed "flagship" resort. The difference between WDW and DCL is like night and day. I strongly suspect that far more of my time (and money) will be spent on the latter in the upcoming years...
(And your seeing a fox in urban Miami doesn't surprise me... there's plenty of amazing wildlife in South Florida. I saw a flock of flamingos in flight in Miami on the last day of my trip... it was a wonderful and perfectly appropriate way to cap off a visit with a couple of very good friends.)
