Disney Magic Out of New York

[A2ZMOMMY]

We are looking forward to our July 20th sailing out of New York. This will be our 10th sailing on Disney Cruise - 8 of them on the Magic. My sons - ages 9 and 7 are so used to the ship that they know their way around. When in sailed in February some of the staff from the Oceaneer Lab remembered my boys from February 2011 - how do they do that?!

We are somewhat concerned about the embarking and debarking in New York. The system in Port Canaveral has been so smooth that we are looking for any feedback others may have at this time from their experiences.

We sailed on Royal Caribbean out of New Jersey last summer and the experience left something missing - so back to the Magic for us this summer.

Happy Sailing.

[Donna_In_India]

We were just on the June 2nd sailing of the Magic. I'd recommend getting there at 11:00 regardless of your boarding time. The whole procedure was okay - not fantastic, but not too awful. :) I understand they have it down to a science at Port Canaveral so I'm sure you'll see some differences.

 

The security line went pretty slowly. Once you get past that you'll get in the previous cruisers line (I forget what the sign said), which for our cruise seemed a little shorter than the other lines. They'll check your ID, take your photo for you KTTW card, give you a boarding group number, and send you on your way. At that time you can take photos with Mickey & Minnie and wait to board. You can also register your kids for the clubs but that line was so long that I was very happy I'd done that online prior to the cruise. We arrived at the port about 11:10 and I think we boarded close to our assigned boarding time of 12:30. We didn't really sit around doing "nothing" for long.

[Donna_In_India]

Disembarkation went smoothly as well. From the time our color/character was called (we were sitting in Topsiders) until the time we got into a taxi to go home it was about an hour total. The line from the ship getting onto the escalator to the luggage was the longest part of the process. The luggage area was a little crazy while we were there but it didn't take long to find our luggage, hand in our customs form, and head out the door. I'm not sure any part of disembarkation could have been done any better.

 

Have a great cruise!

[awaywego0000]

We will be on that cruise too. We have an 8 year old daughter. We have never been on a Disney Cruise or NYC. We do plan to get there as early as possible. We will be staying in CT the 19th about an hour away from Manhattan. Knowing my husband we will be up at the crack of dawn on the 20th and headed for the cruise ship. We are so excited!! 36 Days :)

[A2ZMOMMY]

Just got luggage tags for the July 20th sailing. Always makes things seem more real. To awaywego0000 - your daughter will love it. My sons are 9 and 7 and always look forward to going to the kids clubs. We have a rule about eating dinner together, other than that if they want to stay in the club or lab all day that is fine with us. My husband and I will sit in Quiet Cove - the over 18 pool area - and read. It is a treat to know that my children are being entertained and my husband and I can have some time alone without them.

One of my favorite things is going to the gym early in the morning and watching the sunrise over the bow while working out. Makes going to the gym not so much of a chore. Happy Sailing!

[awaywego0000]

We also received our cruise documents yesterday. It is a surprise for my daughter so luckily she did not see the envelope when she was going through the mail. We have only been on one other cruise and that was with NCL. In the beginning of the week we felt funny about leaving her at kids club. By the end of the week we were not feeling so guilty. She loved it so much. She would cry and beg to stay when we would pick her up. This time we plan to bring her right from the start. We have the same rule about eating together. The only exception will be when we go to Palo for our anniversary ;).

[A2ZMOMMY]

Having fun beginning the countdown the to cruise! My sons talk about it almost daily. Of course they talk about Disney Cruises to anyone who will listen.

To the first time Disney cruiser going to Palo. Have a great dinner. We have gone twice now and have enjoyed our dinners. The boys had an earlier dinner - once they got to do room service and loved being able to order their own special dinner. They they went off to the Lab and had fun while my husband and I had a nice "adult" dinner.