Surprise! Instead of going camping we are going on The Disney Magic...Our first cruise trip report.

Well I think I need to start this soon before I completely forget what I want to report...So without further ado here is the story of our cruise, or some of it anyway...

Our family consists of myself, my handy husband whom we will call HH, my 10year old daughter "S" and my 5year old son "W." My HH is not too comfortable with this whole trip report thing so he asked that I not show many pictures of him or the kids. I can work within those parameters...

Anyway, for months we were planning a camping trip on the Oregon Coast for spring break, I had requested March 27th-April 7th off of work and been approved. In early January the "kids sail free" on The Magic out of Galveston offer came across my email. I of course went to the Disney Cruise Line website and checked the dates. There was one 8 night Bahamian cruise that left March 29th and returned April 6th...! I cautiously emailed everyone's favorite Kingdom Konsultant @Disneyfalcon and got some price quotes. It was obviously meant to be because we could afford it! So without giving it too much consideration, lest I talk myself out of it... I just decided to go for it and we reserved a category 10 gty room. Then I found super cheap airfare from Spokane to Houston on Southwest. Then my HH and I decided to not tell the kids...

It was a ridiculously hard secret to keep, especially as we got closer to departure day. I had to pack the suitcases while they were at school and then put them back in the closet to hide them. Finally the morning of March 27th arrived. We had originally planned on not revealing anything until the morning of the cruise...but I just couldn't handle it anymore. So as we got ready to leave for our 5 hour drive to Spokane, my daughter finally asked why we weren't taking the camping trailer camping. I responded, "We don't need it, dad and I decided we would sleep in tents instead." Her face just fell, I guess the idea of 10 nights in a tent during the rainy season in Oregon wasn't too appealing.

I asked the kids to sit down for a minute as I retrieved their Mickey Ears. I looked at them and said in a serious tone, "Dad and I have been keeping something from you for the last couple of months." That got my daughters attention, I think she thought it was going to be some kind of life changing bad news. So I handed them their Mickey "horns" as my son calls them and said, "We aren't going camping, but where we are going you are going to need these, we are going on a Disney Cruise and we are leaving right now!! "

Cue the stunned silence.

After about ten seconds, my daughter said, "What? What?! WHAAAT!!!!!! " Then she started jumping up and down and screaming. I almost started to cry...I loved surprising them with that.

We loaded up for what would be a very long but thankfully uneventful travel day. I took no pictures. We landed at 1am at Houston's Hobby airport and were met by the Supershuttle driver Mohammed (thank you @sweetpee_1993 for recommending I call them) And by 2:30am we were tucked into our beds at the adorable Harbor House Hotel in Galveston Texas.

First real vacation day March 28th in Galveston Texas

This was the view from our hotel room that we woke up to. The Magic would be parked out there to whisk us off on our vacation the next day. We had a whole day to kill so we explored everything within walking distance of our hotel.

First stop the Museum of Offshore Oil Drilling, no trip to the gulf coast of Texas would be complete without it.

All jokes aside, it was actually very interesting. They had an actual oil rig that you could explore.

It was directly next to our hotel. Here is a view of the hotel from The Ocean Star.

On the opposite side of our hotel you can see the sailboat mast sticking up, that was the tall ship Elissa and the Seaport Museum. Our next stop.

You can see all the oil rigs in the bay in the background. And this is the back of our hotel. What an awesome location!

We loved the Harbor House, the building was a renovated old warehouse on the pier. I wish I had taken more photos of the room. They had two queen beds, a couch, a fridge and a microwave. The folks at the desk were super friendly. The continental breakfast was pretty sparse, but it was free so I can't complain.

Directly behind the Oil rig museum was Joe's Crab Shack, we have never eaten at one before and since it was so close, we went over for lunch.

Lunch was good. I don't know if I would go out of my way to eat there again, but it was fun. Our server wrote on everyone's bibs to personalize them. My HH was "The king of all crabs." S's said, "Too cute to be crabby." And W got, "Mommy's little shrimp." I didn't get a bib, because I ordered coconut shrimp and I guess he just thought I was a neat and tidy eater...

After lunch we did a walk around The Strand, which is the older business section of Galveston.

This place was awesome, we bought a bunch of truffles to eat...

Later on we got dinner at Fuddruckers which has really good burgers, we have one where we live...so not very adventurous of us. But we just wanted a good burger...Then my husband and I sampled the local microbrew on the steps of the hotel while our kids ran around and played with rocks...simple minds as they say...

Everyone was excited to get to bed so we could wake up and walk here...

 

[Sumrdog]

I too enjoyed the banana bread at Cookies Too and intended to go back for more, but somehow getting back to the beach was more important.

I should've stashed a few of those in my enormous beach bag!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Thanks for the report!

 

[Sumrdog]

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for reading it!

 

[itsbetsyh]

so cool! a disney cruise is definitely on my list of must do's!

 

[Sumrdog]

so cool! a disney cruise is definitely on my list of must do's!

Thanks, it was totally worth the wait! I think I had been wanting to do it for at least 12 years...

 

[itsbetsyh]

Thanks, it was totally worth the wait! I think I had been wanting to do it for at least 12 years...

how old are your kids if you dont mind me asking? my daughter is only 5 and i was thinking it might be good to wait just a year or two more before we do the cruise.

 

[Sumrdog]

My son is 5 and my daughter is 10. The both loved it, but I think my son loved it more! He was really in awe of the buffets, it was so funny. He has asked me several times why we can't have buffets at home. So cute!

I had one issue that was the kids clubs, if my son didn't have his older sister looking out for him, I might have been more concerned about him in the kids club on his own. The kids are all together age 3-12 and some kids are just rough and destructive. They have a staff ratio of 20 kids to 1 adult or something like that. So its really hard for the staff to watch every corner of the room, especially when the signing in and out of the kids is such a full time job. So I think waiting a year or two especially if she is an only child would be worthwhile.

Of course you know your child and how well she will do. And I think girls have it easier in general because they gravitate toward other girls who typically aren't as rough as little boys.

 

[5thGenTexan]

how old are your kids if you dont mind me asking? my daughter is only 5 and i was thinking it might be good to wait just a year or two more before we do the cruise.

a 5 year old will have a blast on a cruise!!!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

So much fun reading your report!!! It still floors me seeing Galveston in people's TRs. We only live about 35 min from the cruise terminal and DH and I were hanging out at some of those very same spots just a little over a week and a half before you guys arrived. Also nice that you made it to Johnson Space Center...and I think I can speak for much of Houston in saying we're pretty bummed that the shuttle out there is a replica. Oh well...it's still a fun place to visit and it's crazy when you go into the Saturn section...just realizing how huge that thing is. I got to bore the daylights out of our kids last time by making them sit through everything in Mission Control I also hate that they have that play area up front. Our kids know, but have to be reminded every time...we do not play in there until the very end. As for the cruise...it looks like you guys had some great food and an awesome time on Castaway...just too bad about the getting sick part. Loved the part with your son battling Vader! Priceless!

 

[englanddg]

Awesome report! Makes me even more excited for my coming cruise.

I love how you kept it a secret...I love seeing when my kid figures out where we are going!

 

[Sumrdog]

So much fun reading your report!!! It still floors me seeing Galveston in people's TRs. We only live about 35 min from the cruise terminal and DH and I were hanging out at some of those very same spots just a little over a week and a half before you guys arrived. Also nice that you made it to Johnson Space Center...and I think I can speak for much of Houston in saying we're pretty bummed that the shuttle out there is a replica. Oh well...it's still a fun place to visit and it's crazy when you go into the Saturn section...just realizing how huge that thing is. I got to bore the daylights out of our kids last time by making them sit through everything in Mission Control I also hate that they have that play area up front. Our kids know, but have to be reminded every time...we do not play in there until the very end. As for the cruise...it looks like you guys had some great food and an awesome time on Castaway...just too bad about the getting sick part. Loved the part with your son battling Vader! Priceless!

Thank you!

We really liked Galveston, there was so much to see and do. This was our first time in Texas, (not including a lonely drive through the panhandle on interstate 40) anyway we could've easily spent another couple of days looking around there. It's nice to hear that we weren't the only ones who were annoyed by the play area at the space center. It just made me feel like they decided that the space center wasn't interesting enough and they needed something for kids and their short attention spans, but its not boring! Space is so interesting even to kids and if the ball pit and slides weren't there tempting the kids away, they might actually pay more attention and learn something...Anyway you are so fortunate to have all that stuff to do so close to you!

 

[Sumrdog]

Awesome report! Makes me even more excited for my coming cruise.

I love how you kept it a secret...I love seeing when my kid figures out where we are going!

Thank you! Keeping secrets is so hard for me, but totally worth it in the end.

Have a great time on your cruise!

 

[englanddg]

Thank you! Keeping secrets is so hard for me, but totally worth it in the end.

Have a great time on your cruise!

I hope we shall! Thanks!

I know how hard it is to keep the secret. Every day I want to call the kid and tell her so we can start planning things together...but after doing that for last years trip (not that she wasn't excited...she was), I decided I like watching the excitement on her face more.

I can't wait until she gets the call from Mickey on August 2 at 9a to let her know we are going on a cruise!

 

[Sumrdog]

I hope we shall! Thanks!

I know how hard it is to keep the secret. Every day I want to call the kid and tell her so we can start planning things together...but after doing that for last years trip (not that she wasn't excited...she was), I decided I like watching the excitement on her face more.

I can't wait until she gets the call from Mickey on August 2 at 9a to let her know we are going on a cruise!

Awesome!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

A week from leaving on our next vaca...sinus congestion killin' me...and in spite of how dog tired I was when I fell asleep, I'm wiiiiide awake at some stupid hour. I think its stress gettin' me. But, what a blessing because I caught up on a TR I was long overdue to read!

Gotta start with loving every bit of your report! So fun to "see" how others journeyed the same ship, same itinerary, etc. that we had in January!

Port upgrade SCORE! I'm so glad y'all got a verandah! We have never sailed without one. I'm sorta afraid to even try going without one because we love to sit out there so much.

Castaway Cay. Isn't it the most perfect idealistic paradise??? It's the spot that has converted me to beach-ism. LOL! All the details Disney put into it are just incredible. For me it feels like Disney on a whole other level of incredible. I'd also love to do a double-dip itinerary that visits more than once. That'd be amazing!

Good call on the CC5k. It's fun & its nice but I don't think its the best use of precious island time either. I'm glad to know I did it once but don't think I'd bother again. I'd rather get my run-on on the ship then enjoy that island bliss.

Ack! Hate that y'all got sunburned! If the wind was blowing you may have gotten some windburn, too. The aloe gel they sell onboard (& I know its also sold at the WDW resort gift shops...at least I've seen it at several of the deluxes) is the H2O solar relief gel. It's blue. That stuff is killer! It's like magic! If you can order it to have on-hand I highly recommend it. It smells so fresh and does an amazing job on burns. I keep a tube with our sunscreen bag. When we travel I try to take sunscreen for all our possible needs (face, lips, bodies) plus aftercare healing gel & moisturizer. Teen boys freak out at putting things on their skin so I usually mix a little aftersun lotion with the aloe gel in my hands to apply because it'll absorb faster and feel less-present on their skin.

Loved your son's Jedi Training Academy experience! Awesome! His response to ToT was great, too. I know how you feel about the Phineas & Ferb thing except I have cable and still don't pay it any attention. When it first got popular I tried to watch it. I even made the boys watch with me to explain some if the character dynamics. I just couldn't get into it at all and I tried. My boys hate that show. So, don't worry. I personally don't think you're missing much w/that show. LOL!

It's funny to read the WDW parks day endings for people who took this same cruise itinerary. I thought my family would be the weird ones who didn't last the whole day (& we got a room to take a nap!). Everyone seems to head back to the ship early! LOL! And when they get there its this overall sense of relief! Maybe its the early morning that does everyone in. I'd love to cite that as my excuse but, like I said, we got a room & took a nap. I really do think plopping that parks day with its overall stark contrast to the cruise vibe is just a very odd fit. I don't think I'd do a parks day as a port call again.

Disney's terminal in Port Canaveral is like the flippin' Taj Mahal compared to Galveston's Terminal 2. I've never been in Terminal 1 so I can't speak for that one. Tracey swears he doesn't want to sail out if Galveston again just because of the janky port terminal. I, on the other hand, being oooobviously more dedicated to my cruise career (I still laugh at that hum-dinger) will tolerate the terminal to get to the Disney ship. Seriously, Disney's terminal in PC is that nice because its theirs. They built that. It's beautiful. I've seen pics of numerous other terminals and they often feel like airport terminals. I think Disney did a good job of stepping past that feel.

Key West. I'm so sorry you weren't feeling well! Yikes! Such a shame. Key West is such a neat place. I'm totally enamored of it, though.

We geek-out over all the ship's doings and operations. It's all so fascinating, isn't it?!

I'm sorry the kids clubs and pools were so overly chaotic. The January cruise we took of the same itinerary was also Kids Sail Free and I can assure you the overall kids:adults ratio is very different from any if the other 3 sailings we've done. We marveled at all the different ways that impacts the cruise experience. We heard from other cruisers with younger children that the clubs were insane and their kids didn't even enjoy it. The dining rooms were all so much louder. The common areas almost felt overrun sometimes. And I can honestly say its the only time I've been on a Disney ship and witnessed 11-13 yro's running the decks doing parkour-type moves over railings and off objects that were never intended to be traversed...multiple times during the cruise. We'd shake our heads and comment that those would be the parents ready to sue Disney when their unleashed hooligans flung themselves over the railings into the sea. Seriously, if you can do a non-kids free sailing I'd recommend checking it out. It's actually quite different in many, many ways. We've thrown around the idea of booking another Galveston sailing in the fall but our greatest deterrent is the risk of a Kids Sail Free promo being thrown on the table again. We'd rather not sail one of those again.

The Shutters pics. I'm with ya 110% on your rant. Printing all those pics to try and sell then throwing them all away is incredibly wasteful. My best guess is all that ink & paper must be "free" like they say the beverage syrups are in the parks in return for advertising. We do the various pics then wait until its towards the end of the cruise to decide which way to go on purchasing. Not every pic comes out great. If there's enough that we want that it will cover the cd cost I'd do it. That's usually not the case, tho. It's so soooo expensive. And irks me to the point of always feeling the need to spend as little as possible w/Shutters just on principle alone. I'm such a grump sometimes!

Glad y'all got to visit JSC! We live within 15 minutes of the place! @HouCuseChickie was far too diplomatic about Houston not getting a retired orbiter and only getting a lousy mock-up. People here are full-on p!$$ed at the level of farked-up-ed-ness in it. I personally talked to a gentleman who spent his entire career working at JSC, like 40-something years. I asked him why Houston didn't get an orbiter. There was petitions, huge donations, corporate involvement. It couldn't have been financial. Yep, it's all political. That's the reason why the NASA facility that housed Mission Control, still operates Mission Control duties for the International Space Station, has been the HOME of our astronauts from the get-go, etc. etc. (I could rant forever) didn't get an orbiter while places so integral to the space program such as Los Angeles and New York have them. Yeah, okay... So, yeah, Space Center Houston is pretty cool. Agreed about the big play structure. Definitely a face-palm on that one. Every year maybe even a few times a year there's homeschool days there. We like to go the day after when there's not so many kids running ammuck. LOL! The food court. Last visit my boys and I sat relaxing and observing all the mission plaques. Kids really can get into space travel and be fascinated if they have different ways to be engaged. I love this facility in Houston. It's not hard to find old-timers with really awesome stories to tell. Man, that's history! That's stuff we can't let die with those older generations!

Totally loved your TR! Betcha can't tell with the mini-novel I wrote here. LOL! Thanks so much for taking the time to put all that together. I enjoyed it soooooo much!

 

[Sumrdog]

A week from leaving on our next vaca...sinus congestion killin' me...and in spite of how dog tired I was when I fell asleep, I'm wiiiiide awake at some stupid hour. I think its stress gettin' me. But, what a blessing because I caught up on a TR I was long overdue to read!

Gotta start with loving every bit of your report! So fun to "see" how others journeyed the same ship, same itinerary, etc. that we had in January!

Port upgrade SCORE! I'm so glad y'all got a verandah! We have never sailed without one. I'm sorta afraid to even try going without one because we love to sit out there so much.

Castaway Cay. Isn't it the most perfect idealistic paradise??? It's the spot that has converted me to beach-ism. LOL! All the details Disney put into it are just incredible. For me it feels like Disney on a whole other level of incredible. I'd also love to do a double-dip itinerary that visits more than once. That'd be amazing!

Good call on the CC5k. It's fun & its nice but I don't think its the best use of precious island time either. I'm glad to know I did it once but don't think I'd bother again. I'd rather get my run-on on the ship then enjoy that island bliss.

Ack! Hate that y'all got sunburned! If the wind was blowing you may have gotten some windburn, too. The aloe gel they sell onboard (& I know its also sold at the WDW resort gift shops...at least I've seen it at several of the deluxes) is the H2O solar relief gel. It's blue. That stuff is killer! It's like magic! If you can order it to have on-hand I highly recommend it. It smells so fresh and does an amazing job on burns. I keep a tube with our sunscreen bag. When we travel I try to take sunscreen for all our possible needs (face, lips, bodies) plus aftercare healing gel & moisturizer. Teen boys freak out at putting things on their skin so I usually mix a little aftersun lotion with the aloe gel in my hands to apply because it'll absorb faster and feel less-present on their skin.

Loved your son's Jedi Training Academy experience! Awesome! His response to ToT was great, too. I know how you feel about the Phineas & Ferb thing except I have cable and still don't pay it any attention. When it first got popular I tried to watch it. I even made the boys watch with me to explain some if the character dynamics. I just couldn't get into it at all and I tried. My boys hate that show. So, don't worry. I personally don't think you're missing much w/that show. LOL!

It's funny to read the WDW parks day endings for people who took this same cruise itinerary. I thought my family would be the weird ones who didn't last the whole day (& we got a room to take a nap!). Everyone seems to head back to the ship early! LOL! And when they get there its this overall sense of relief! Maybe its the early morning that does everyone in. I'd love to cite that as my excuse but, like I said, we got a room & took a nap. I really do think plopping that parks day with its overall stark contrast to the cruise vibe is just a very odd fit. I don't think I'd do a parks day as a port call again.

Disney's terminal in Port Canaveral is like the flippin' Taj Mahal compared to Galveston's Terminal 2. I've never been in Terminal 1 so I can't speak for that one. Tracey swears he doesn't want to sail out if Galveston again just because of the janky port terminal. I, on the other hand, being oooobviously more dedicated to my cruise career (I still laugh at that hum-dinger) will tolerate the terminal to get to the Disney ship. Seriously, Disney's terminal in PC is that nice because its theirs. They built that. It's beautiful. I've seen pics of numerous other terminals and they often feel like airport terminals. I think Disney did a good job of stepping past that feel.

Key West. I'm so sorry you weren't feeling well! Yikes! Such a shame. Key West is such a neat place. I'm totally enamored of it, though.

We geek-out over all the ship's doings and operations. It's all so fascinating, isn't it?!

I'm sorry the kids clubs and pools were so overly chaotic. The January cruise we took of the same itinerary was also Kids Sail Free and I can assure you the overall kids:adults ratio is very different from any if the other 3 sailings we've done. We marveled at all the different ways that impacts the cruise experience. We heard from other cruisers with younger children that the clubs were insane and their kids didn't even enjoy it. The dining rooms were all so much louder. The common areas almost felt overrun sometimes. And I can honestly say its the only time I've been on a Disney ship and witnessed 11-13 yro's running the decks doing parkour-type moves over railings and off objects that were never intended to be traversed...multiple times during the cruise. We'd shake our heads and comment that those would be the parents ready to sue Disney when their unleashed hooligans flung themselves over the railings into the sea. Seriously, if you can do a non-kids free sailing I'd recommend checking it out. It's actually quite different in many, many ways. We've thrown around the idea of booking another Galveston sailing in the fall but our greatest deterrent is the risk of a Kids Sail Free promo being thrown on the table again. We'd rather not sail one of those again.

The Shutters pics. I'm with ya 110% on your rant. Printing all those pics to try and sell then throwing them all away is incredibly wasteful. My best guess is all that ink & paper must be "free" like they say the beverage syrups are in the parks in return for advertising. We do the various pics then wait until its towards the end of the cruise to decide which way to go on purchasing. Not every pic comes out great. If there's enough that we want that it will cover the cd cost I'd do it. That's usually not the case, tho. It's so soooo expensive. And irks me to the point of always feeling the need to spend as little as possible w/Shutters just on principle alone. I'm such a grump sometimes!

Glad y'all got to visit JSC! We live within 15 minutes of the place! @HouCuseChickie was far too diplomatic about Houston not getting a retired orbiter and only getting a lousy mock-up. People here are full-on p!$$ed at the level of farked-up-ed-ness in it. I personally talked to a gentleman who spent his entire career working at JSC, like 40-something years. I asked him why Houston didn't get an orbiter. There was petitions, huge donations, corporate involvement. It couldn't have been financial. Yep, it's all political. That's the reason why the NASA facility that housed Mission Control, still operates Mission Control duties for the International Space Station, has been the HOME of our astronauts from the get-go, etc. etc. (I could rant forever) didn't get an orbiter while places so integral to the space program such as Los Angeles and New York have them. Yeah, okay... So, yeah, Space Center Houston is pretty cool. Agreed about the big play structure. Definitely a face-palm on that one. Every year maybe even a few times a year there's homeschool days there. We like to go the day after when there's not so many kids running ammuck. LOL! The food court. Last visit my boys and I sat relaxing and observing all the mission plaques. Kids really can get into space travel and be fascinated if they have different ways to be engaged. I love this facility in Houston. It's not hard to find old-timers with really awesome stories to tell. Man, that's history! That's stuff we can't let die with those older generations!

Totally loved your TR! Betcha can't tell with the mini-novel I wrote here. LOL! Thanks so much for taking the time to put all that together. I enjoyed it soooooo much!

I am so happy to hear my trip report was there for you at a time when you needed something to do in the middle of the night!! That is one of my favorite trip report reading times as well. I appreciate all your comments so much! I hope your sinus infection clears up soon, before your cruise.

And as for JSC; I think people really don't give kids enough credit sometimes, my 10 year old read every plaque and looked at all the displays in The Ocean Star Museum in Galveston, and my 5 year old also walked around seemingly engaged and interested...Never once did he tell me he was bored because there wasn't a 3 story Chuck E Cheese'esque play structure at the entrance. Also I am stunned to hear that NY and LA got real space vehicles and Houston didn't, WTH? That's insane, people have a right to be upset about that one.

I can appreciate what you were saying about the Kids Sailing Free thing. Not only was there that, but it was spring break. There were a multitude of kids and not all of them angels. But that offer was what let us afford the cruise to begin with and if I had to choose, a kids for free cruise or no cruise; I am going with the kids for free. Now that we have been once at least we know what to expect. I loved the Magic, even though it was older and smaller it was absolutely beautiful to me. I can't even imagine what the newer ships must be like.

I hope we can do another cruise again in a year or two. Our next cruise might be just my favorite sister in law, and our kids (no husbands). Every year she and I do a vacation while our husbands (who are brothers) do a big hunting trip in eastern Montana. One year we went to Disneyland, last year she and I were going to take a Disney cruise, but instead I found cheap airfare and, my kids and I visited her in Cannes France where they are living temporarily for three years. So we are planning to still do the cruise for our next "Girls Hunting Trip" I can't wait!

I hope you enjoy your next trip and I hope you share at least the highlights with us!