Disney Magic Review Jan 10-15th

[mcd2745]

The Good Dinosaur

Star Wars (many many times)

Ant Man

Inside Out

Bridge of Spies

 

Those were the movies featured on our cruise.

 

 

Thanks.

 

I assumed Star Wars would be playing practically around the clock and anything else would be sprinkled in sporadically.

[RCI Cruisers 004]

I purchased the shirts on Etsy. The company is called Coconut Cuties Designs. She custom makes them. Many different colors. I ordered and received them in less than a week, but she's also local to me so it was probably faster than most other people.

 

Thank you ! My wife is familiar with the site ! Gonna order them. Happy cruising

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Well... I am back! We had to go out of town to purchase a vehicle for my husband and so that ate up quite a few days of my time!!

 

 

Next up- adventures in dining on the Disney Magic :)

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Disney Cruises offer a unique dining experience. They offer something called Rotational Dining. At the beginning of the cruise you'll find your dining rotation on your Key to the World Card AKA, room key. What happens is, you rotate through the three main dining rooms throughout your cruise but your wait staff rotates with you. So they still get to know your preferences, names, and build a relationship. We were on a five-day cruise we we ate in two of the dining rooms twice. Our rotation was ACCLA, or Animator's Palate, Carioca's, Carioca's, Lumiere's, and then Animator's Palate one final time. At first glance the order of the rotation looks odd, but it's done so to ensure nothing is missed. Night two was the optional "dress-up" night and night three was Pirate Night.

 

Cabanas

The top-deck buffet is located on level nine. I have always been impressed with Disney's buffet when comparing it to other cruise lines. They always have items that other cruise lines don't, like crab legs, prosciutto, and many more! On the last sea day they had a Frozen themed lunch. It included Northern European dishes and German food. I love me some spaetzle, so I was thrilled!! We also smuggled a couple of pretzel rolls out with us.

 

There are even self-serve soda fountains located throughout the buffet. PS: Disney doesn't charge for soda/pop. The decor is light and beachy. There are windows everywhere with nice views, well... if you have nice weather. We didn't!

 

Each table has rolled silverware available in a handy holder so you don't have to hunt down a napkin, fork, or knife!

 

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Poolside- Daisy's De Lites, Pete'sBoiler Bites, and Pinocchio's Pizza

Out on the pool deck there are all-day options available.

 

Daisy' De Lites includes lighter fare such as fruit, salads, and fresh made paninis. I grabbed fruit for us rather frequently on this trip because we're avoiding the unhealthy snacking that comes with an "almost 3 year old."

 

 

Pinocchio's Pizza serves up 5-6 different type of pizza or a custom pizza based on the ingredients in the display case. We tried some after our mixology class one day. It was "eh." Nothing I'd really rave about. But when you've got a few drinks in your system, something cheesy always feels good.

 

 

 

 

Pete's Boiler Bites always offered burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, fish etc in one window. The other window had Lamb & Chicken Schwarma. I had a tasty Gyro Pita one day while we used the Aqua Lab. I also grabbed a hot dog one day for the room when all other dining venues had closed. The chili was also tasty, it had gotten a little cool out on one day and I decided to go for it. It warmed me from the inside out.

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Animator's Palate

This is my favorite dining room on all ships. The show is different on Magic/Wonder than it is on Dream/Fantasy, which is nice! I've experienced both shows and enjoyed each for their own unique attributes. I don't want to give away too much here because it's just an all around fun experience! The menu is Pan-Pacific with some standard options as well. This dining experience includes a show. I saw a few people leave before the show and I wanted to tell them to come back so they don't miss anything!!

 

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Carioca's

This dining room was added/converted back in October's dry dock. The space used to be the Parrot Cay dining room. Personally, I think I preferred the style of Parrot Cay over Carioca's. Parrot Cay was vibrant and full of tropical color. Carioca's is quite plain with a few splashes of color around. The new decor just screams that it's missing something!

 

Carioca's is nice for lunch though. We ate here on embarkation day. They have a buffet set up at the front of the room and it's MUCH less crowded than the Cabana's Buffet upstairs. Same food choices, less craziness!

 

 

 

We ate dinner in here on "dress up" night and Pirate Night. The first night was the traditional Carioca's menu which is South American inspired. Our waiters Franklin and Francesca were amazing. They made us napkin hats (Minnie and Peter Pan) and Franklin did a magic trick for our son!

 

 

 

 

On Pirate Night every dining room gets the same themed menu and same choices. The children's menus turn in to pirate hats and the wait staff runs a parade and game of limbo down the main aisle.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Lumiere's hosts a la carte/ sit down breakfast each morning for anyone who wishes to skip the buffet. This was the dining room in which we only ate once. The dinner menu is French inspired and the room's theme is Beauty and the Beast. At first glance it looks fairly plain, but there are are lot of Beauty and the Beast details hidden about. At one point during dinner they have people from the "village" come through searching for the anyone who has seen the Beast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Just like Disney World, a Disney Cruise has plenty of character meet and greets! At first glance, the lines look long. I was not looking forward to standing around waiting to meet these characters. I remember seeing the lines last time and thinking "No way!"

 

Fortunately, the lines move quickly because multiple Cast Members manage each line. There is always a cast member there to take a picture with your camera, as well as a ship photographer, and someone who is managing the line to ensure it runs smoothly. The characters are around 3-4 times throughout a 5-day cruise. The characters are almost always in the atrium on decks 3, 4, and 5. The "most popular" characters always tend to be on deck 3, the main floor of the atrium. My son likes the classic characters so we were relegated to decks 4 and 5 for lines. Some characters even showed up at events in the D Lounge.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

 

Castaway Cay also offers character meet and greet opportunities. The two most common locations are the Post Office, which is located to your right after you get off the ship. The other location is typically Mount Rustmore.

 

 

 

On my last Disney cruise we had the opportunity to meet Captain Jack Sparrow on the adults only beach!

 

 

An interesting side note about the post office: It's Real! You need to get Bahamian stamps first... Then you can mail a letter from Castaway Cay, it will take about a month to receive your mail back at home.

[Stratus22]

Nice Review....We get to jump on board the Magic in January. The ship looks absolutely beautiful. Those pics just made me even more excited!!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Next I will briefly talk about Oceaneer's Club and Oceaneer's Lab. My son did not participate in activities there because he was 7 weeks shy of 3 years old. So he went to the Nursery. He did get to play in there on embarkation day when it was open to everyone.

 

For ages 3-12. Oceaneer's Club has different spaces, as seen below. I don't know the specifics, but I'll post them for others to see.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

This section, connected to Oceaneer Club by a back hallway, had a more obvious purpose. Different rooms for different activities.

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

My son is on the cusp of Nursery versus Big Kids Club for most cruise lines. We took this cruise in early January and he turns three in early March. A couple weeks before the cruise he also mastered potty training. With all that stated, I knew he would still be required to be in the nursery. It's not safe to have an "almost" three year old in the same space as 12 year olds! I also believe that the cruise lines set their age groups set for specific reasons, they are not arbitrarily picked out of a hat. So we had him placed where Disney recommended, even though it cost us $9 an hour. A babysitter back home, costs us more. It was well worth it to have a little it of kid-free time on our vacation.

 

When we first boarded the ship we went right over to the nursery to be sure that all of the online registration information carried over. We had to fill out a few more forms in the nursery and they gave my son a band to wear for the duration of the cruise. If you've stayed at a Disney Resort in the last few years you'll recognize the band as a Magic Band. If you choose to keep the band at the end of the cruise it costs $12.95 and unlocks special features on the Disney Infinity game. My son was required to wear the band at all times... Yeah, right! It stayed on for about 10 minutes before he pulled it off. (You can see it on his wrist in the photo below. So we kept it in our bag at all times. When he would go in to the nursery program we'd strap it to his ankle. The band has all of his information stored on it. If there were an emergency, the nursery staff members will scan it and it tells them exactly which muster station to bring him to and who he belongs to! Each time we brought him or picked him up we had to give our secret password, sign papers and swipe the Magic Band.

 

 

General Experience

We had a very good experience with the nursery program. My son went on three different evenings after dinner, he also went once during the day so we could attend the mixology class, and we dropped him off one more time during the day so we could explore the ship a bit. Hubby headed to the gym and I went to the future cruise desk to ask some questions.

The ladies in the nursery were always happy and friendly. They knew my sons name after his first visit. Each time we dropped off or picked up we saw 3-4 cast members in the nursery with the children. They definitely keep to adult to child ratio low. My son would specifically ask to go to the kids club each day. This was a good sign to us, he liked it!

 

Sleeping

The cast members will monitor your child for different things. If they see that they are sleepy they will have them lay down in a crib or cot. When we registered our son they ask us various questions about toilet training, sleep habits, food allergies, etc. My son took a nap on the day we had the mixology class. We went to pick him up and he had just laid down to sleep, so we left him there and had them page us when he woke up. We laugh because of the way they had paged us on the Wave Phone "Please collect your child!"

 

 

Food

The nursery does have an option in which they will feed your child lunch or dinner if they are present during the set hours for meals. So if you wanted to head up to a specialty restaurant or take some time for the spa, your child won't go hungry! We did not use this option because we wanted our son to experience the fun of the dining rooms. If it were a longer cruise I would have definitely considered it. Our table mates at dinner use the meal service one night when they went to Palo rather than the main dining room. They said it was very convenient.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I reserved approximately nine hours of nursery time before the cruise. While on the ship we were able to adjust by adding and subtracting from certain days and times. I was also able to drop in one day with him, they checked their system and they had space for him. Our table mates also had their daughter drop in one night without any problems with availability. I am going to assume that cruises over any type of school holiday or break may be more crowded!

 

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We also received a few papers in our room on the first day. They highlight activities that the nursery aged children can participate in.

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Now I need to relax as I had some unplanned surgery yesterday. I'll be back either tomorrow or on Monday with more :)

[ookpik]

Do hope that you are OK after your surgery!

Your reports are terrific and very helpful for our first DCLcruise

Thank you and get well soon!:):)

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Do hope that you are OK after your surgery!

 

Your reports are terrific and very helpful for our first DCLcruise

 

Thank you and get well soon!:):)

 

 

I'm going to finish up soon.

It was minor surgery, but on my shoulder blade. Every time I move my left arm it hurts. So sitting at the computer and typing are painful. Stitches come out Monday and I hope to be finishing up after that :)

 

Thank you

[Sunkissed Mommy]

One of the most convenient features of the cruise was the Disney Navigators App. You'll need to download it before your cruise begins, but it does not work until you are connected to the ship's wifi. You do not have to purchase a wifi package because this is a limited connection for the app only! Once you open the app there are directions for connecting it and getting everything set up. It's very simple, but if you have trouble the Guest Services cast members will help you though it! The only time I had an issue were a few evenings in our stateroom when the wifi did not seem strong enough to connect, otherwise it worked great.

 

 

Texting

Something that many people will be excited to see is the ability to text other people onboard. You CANNOT text people who are not on the cruise. I like this because I am disconnected from the outside world, but I can still communicate with the people I want/need to on the ship! When you open your app it displays an individual code for yourself. You can give that code to other people that you know or meet and they can then contact you. We became friendly with our table mates at dinner because they had a little girl a few months older than our son. So we swapped codes and kept in contact with them and made plans to meet on the beach at Castaway Cay. It also came in handy to use within the family. My husband went to the gym a couple of times and I was able to let him know where we were when he was done.

 

Navigator

The Navigator is the name of the daily guide that is placed in your room with all of the activities and shows on the ship. The app has a digital version broken down in to categories for browsing. This was nice because I didn't have to carry the paper with me everywhere I went. I kept my phone in my pocket and I could quickly see what was going on around the ship. You can mark events as "Favorites" with a heart and it will save them for you to access quickly. If you enable push notifications on your iPhone, it will send reminders to your home screen.

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

This has always been my favorite private island out of Coco Cay, Great Stirrup Cay, and other private islands. Disney just does it right. There is no need to wait for a tender boat as Disney ships pull right up the the dock! It's even easier to get around. Castaway Cay has a tram that will bring you to two different stops on the island so you don't have to spend your time walking long distances!

 

 

 

Island Activities

Beyond "the beach" there are tons of activities scheduled on the island as well as trails to explore, music to dance to, watersports, etc. On this trip we chose to rent bikes and explore the bike trail. There were bikes for all sizes and bikes with child seats as well. My only complaint was that there was no place to store your belongings safely. The attendant pointed to a wooden box that we could leave our bags in, but that wasn't good enough for me.

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

 

 

I actually zoomed in a lot for this photo.

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We chose to relax on Castaway Family beach. We allowed my son to pick out one beach toy in the store on the island. He didn't choose a beach toy but some Cars toys. They were bouyant enough to double as beach toys and regular toys for when we got home! We met up with our dinner tables mates and the kids played nicely together for about 2 hours. We then left the beach area for lunch and bike riding.

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't get to use this because my son is still a bit too small, but we look forward to the future when he'll have a blast on it!!