Disney Magic Nov. 15-20 2nd Cruise Trip Report

davidmbfonz · December 2, 2015

Our position before we went to bed the first night:

Just a little detail - the regular-old plastic cups in Cabana's had Mickey ears chiseled into them! Does Disney miss a detail?

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We missed the sit-down ('a la carte') breakfast service by about 10 minutes. This happened to us for the first 4 mornings, so we had to go to Cabana's. One of my personal favorites from the last cruise was having a peaceful sit-down breakfast. And those french toast pineapple towers! But we could never get our act straight with our wake-up time and when breakfast service ended. Some days, that was at 9:30, others (port days, I believe), that was at 9 am sharp.

Here's my daughter resting after breakfast that 2nd day:

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She was gathering her energy for her Frozen meet-and-greet (a ticketed event).

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Animator's Palate was absolutely stunningly arranged/decorated for this. LOVE the lighting!

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davidmbfonz · December 2, 2015

No line (well, maybe 2 minutes of wait) and she got to see Anna and Elsa AND Olaf!

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Here she is 'melting into' Olaf's arms!

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Gotta' get your autograph book ready!

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Obviously, I'm a fan of the details and theming!

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Time to sit in a porthole and take it all in!

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davidmbfonz · December 2, 2015

After the Frozen meet-and-greet, we explored the ship some more. We actually split up for a bit - my two boys went up to the pool deck, while my wife checked out the spa and the Cove Cafe.

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I took my daughter to the atrium which we had completely to ourselves for the better part of a half-hour! She colored on the stage, checked out the Christmas tree, and danced to the music that was playing - the video I have of her dancing on that stage makes me so happy!

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The ceiling of the atrium:

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davidmbfonz · December 2, 2015

Our first glimpse of Cuba:

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My DS10 on the promenade, with Cuba in the background:

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The Port Adventures desk:

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The mural behind Guest Services:

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Playing in the hot tubs later that afternoon on the pool deck - not crowded at all!

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davidmbfonz · December 2, 2015

That afternoon, we made sure to attend the Tree Lighting ceremony:

The dancers looked fantastic!

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After, they joined the audience and had a dance party! Here's my daughter dancing with one of them!

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And then Donald came out to dance! Here he is with my DD4 - how do you put a price tag on this class of entertainment? (OK, I've seen the bill - I know the price tag!)

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And Goofy joined in!

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davidmbfonz · December 2, 2015

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And Minnie!

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After, I took a shot of my family in front of the tree:

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They setup a table with hot cocoa and cookies, and Santa received visitors:

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And he was making a list!

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davidmbfonz · December 2, 2015

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Edited December 2, 2015 by davidmbfonz

Ex techie · December 3, 2015

Great review so far, and amazing pictures! Enjoying reading it!

ex techie

davidmbfonz · December 3, 2015

Dinner was at Lumiere's on the 2nd Night.

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The details are wonderful. The chandeliers each have a rose from "Beauty and the Beast" that is slowly losing its petals!

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Just wonderful! Be our guest, indeed!

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No doubt about it - we were at a French restaurant!

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davidmbfonz · December 3, 2015

My wife tried the escargot and liked it. While I had the deep-fried brie with that tasty cranberry chutney.

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Romeo insisted on having us try this appetizer as well:

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My wife ordered the pasta and I had Chateaubriand - the red wine jus was so good that I mentioned it to Romeo. He went and got me a whole gravy boat of it! Ha!

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We're not the world's pickiest eaters and we've always enjoyed trying new things. While all these weren't new menu items to us, most were to our kids and so we could share the experience with them at low-risk. My DS10 ended up ordering grilled shrimp every night as an appetizer! Do we know what TRULY remarkable "foodie-grade" food tastes like? Yes, we enjoy a fine meal out on the town in Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, or New York, etc. But we have modest expectations for these meals and find that attitude ends up leading to a very satisfying DCL dining experience. (Add the incredible service and the detailed commitment to design and theme and we've got a winner!)

Edited December 3, 2015 by davidmbfonz

davidmbfonz · December 3, 2015

We certainly don't get to eat like this at home. As any busy family with three kids - DS10, DS6, DD4, meals most nights are not the prettiest (although usually quite nutritious). How wonderful to be served better than average food multiple times per day in a kid-friendly environment?

Kid-friendly? One example here - the magic tricks. My DS6 always falls for them! He's a sucker for a good disappearing act!

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Dessert!

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What number Mickey Bar was this for him? ;-)

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Let's talk about this creme brulee for a moment - I don't remember ordering this last year on the Dream. Well, we'll never forget it now. The crust had the perfect thickness/texture and my wife and I just sat there in silence with our eyes closed trying not to GOBBLE it down. We mentioned it to Romeo - he brought another one. THEN, the next night, he brought us two EACH! And the following night, he brought us SIX! (He was like an Italian-American grandmother in that regard - eat! eat!) We took them back to the room and had them as late-night snacks. Sinful!

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We finished off our 2nd day with a sea turtle towel animal. Then, my oldest son and I snuck off for the 10:45 showing of "Tomorrowland" - the plot was ridiculous, and I honestly wondered where it was going, and then it finally ended with a Disney positive side - I can see why the movie wasn't a huge hit though. ;-)

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Edited December 3, 2015 by davidmbfonz

davidmbfonz · December 3, 2015

Great review so far, and amazing pictures! Enjoying reading it!

ex techie

Why, thank you! :)

GatorMomInNC · December 3, 2015

We are doing this same cruise in 10 days so I am LOVING your review, pix and Navigators! Keep it coming!

Tigerman4LSU · December 3, 2015

We are doing this same cruise in 10 days so I am LOVING your review, pix and Navigators! Keep it coming!

GatorMom. We live in Cary. We have done the Magic before and love it.

George

davidmbfonz · December 3, 2015

I'm thinking I need to get these Navigators up before they become non-useful for the folks sailing on Merry Time cruises this month! ;-)

Sprinkled throughout Day #2, were various times when 1, 2, or all 3 of my kids were checked-in to the Oceaneer's Club/Lab. We did try to make use of the Dine and Play option, but the kids wouldn't all agree to go wit the counselors at the same time - for example, DD4 would only go if DS10 would go, and he didn't want to go yet because he wasn't done with his ice cream. You know - the kind of frustrating minutiae that marks every day as a parent.

So, one of us would bring the kids up, check them in and come back - only took 5 minutes or so. Our DS10 was given permission to check himself in and out and this worked out nicely. I think he really enjoyed a bit of freedom and independence this time around. He'll be old enough for Edge next cruise.

More on the kids' clubs later. I'll scan the Day #3 Navigators now.

davidmbfonz · December 3, 2015

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#55worktoplay · December 4, 2015

This is a great review. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

I have not sailed on a Disney ship but definitely on my bucket list. Can you tell more about the Door decorations, is it like a mail box and people drop off gifts daily and you deliver gifts?

Shmoo here · December 4, 2015

This is a great review. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

I have not sailed on a Disney ship but definitely on my bucket list. Can you tell more about the Door decorations, is it like a mail box and people drop off gifts daily and you deliver gifts?

You're asking about two different things there.

Door decorations - typically people will make Disney-themed magnets to put on their doors.

The gift exchange is called Fish Extenders. The holder for messages outside most doors on the most of the ships is a fish. If a Roll Call is started for your cruise, someone may organize a Fish Extender Exchange group. You must sign up for it, it's not something that DCL does, only the people within your group.

You make a hanging pocket organizer type thing that hangs off the message holder (hence Fish "Extender") and others in your group (that have signed up to participate) will leave little surprises during the cruise. You, in turn, must also drop off surprises for them.

davidmbfonz · December 4, 2015

That's a GREAT explanation, Shmoo! Thanks.

One thing I'll add - usually groups set limits - like around $10 max. per cabin - if you are crafty, it might cost much less than that, but will take time and personal attention, of course. It's a lot of fun, and a nice bonus. You get to explore the whole ship that way too - you go to decks and parts of decks that you would never otherwise have reason to do.

Day #3 was Cozumel day - we were in Mexico! I checked the longitude and noted that we weren't even as far west as New Orleans is! But we were much further south. This island is Cozumel and the town is San Miguel. Its location looked to be an island paradise as the inhabited part of the island and the beaches face west across from the Yucatan peninsula. The sunsets here must be amazing (and actually, we got to see one as the ship was departing).

We are adventurous and moderately-experienced travelers. I like to do as much for myself as possible. So, we arranged an excursion on our own. I checked with friends and also with the Ports of Call section of cruisecritic.com and everyone was raving about Mr. Sanchos. There were several other beach resorts that people also liked, but Mr. Sanchos seemed to be the 'standard' or perhaps 'original' beach resort on this side of the island. Most importantly, I couldn't find anyone saying anything bad about the place. I even visited and liked their facebook page - and saw that they communicate with guests on a daily basis on their page. Looked promising. For the five of us, we paid about $210 for all-inclusive one-day access (all food and drinks included. A portion of that money also was for my two sons to have passes to the aqua park inflatables). I think this price might have been about $75 cheaper than arranging through Disney. So, not a big savings. And, we had to pay for transportation.

We disembarked the ship and headed down the long pier, across the street and past some shops. We weren't 'mobbed' by shop owners, but folks definitely were interested in us stopping and taking a look. We just smiled and said, "Gracias, no." and on we went. At the end of the shops, straight ahead (probably an 1/8 of a mile) is an escalator down to the taxi stand. We immediately were approached by a uniformed person who took us right up to a van. I made sure to ask "Cuanto cuesta?" which was actually un-necessary because even the taxi driver spoke fluent-enough English. It was $26. Both ways, plus tip. So about $60 for private, fast, safe (there were seat belts), van transportation to and from the beach resort. Probably a 20-minute drive each way.

I should also note that we pre-paid for Mr. Sanchos via paypal through their website. They actually only make you leave a small deposit that you can cancel up until the night before, but I wanted to just have it paid. When we arrived, they looked up our reservation, put armbands on us, and introduced us to Norbeto aka "Beto", our server for the day. He showed us a table we could claim as our own and 10 yards further down from there, our lounge chairs on the water! Paradise found!

View out our porthole in the morning:

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Another view from the ship:

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View of our ship right after we got on the van:

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Scenery along the way:

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Edited December 4, 2015 by davidmbfonz

Shmoo here · December 4, 2015

That's a GREAT explanation, Shmoo! Thanks.

...

View out our porthole in the morning:

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You're welcome and thanks for the kind words.

I'll have to admit, I haven't read the whole report, but I have a question for you - what room were you in? I see that you had bubbles in your window. We had bubbles in our window on the Magic on our 2010 cruise, but it was my understanding that all those windows were swapped out during the re imagining. I guess some rooms still have them.

davidmbfonz · December 4, 2015

The water had a nice gradual slope - I was worried there might be a quick drop-off. And it was some of the prettiest water I've ever seen. We got settled in and I noticed my DS6 was 'missing' - I looked about 30 yards to my left and of course, there he was - he had already swam out to the trampoline float and was giddily bouncing up and down on it! Crazy kid! (He's a strong swimmer, and the water out at the first set of inflatables isn't over his head.)

Then we tried snorkeling and the water was perfectly clear! Not a ton of fish, but we weren't very far out. Another guest told me there was a sunken 'Mayan' statue directly out about 75 feet and so we swam out and searched for it. Sure enough, we found it - the water was about 10-12 feet deep at that point. My son used his GoPro and got lots of great footage. Just a magical experience to share that with my kids. No worries the whole day!

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davidmbfonz · December 4, 2015

The food was very tasty - it was a buffet and had all the things you might imagine a typical Mexican buffet would have. It even had a little nacho setup with tortilla warmer and cheese dispenser. The boys loved that.

Now, this plate isn't a great visual, but let me tell you, I don't take pictures of bad-tasting food. In fact, this was among the BEST Mexican food I'd ever had. The refried beans (which I imagine always look unappealing) were FANTASTIC!

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The drinks kept coming, for my wife and I, and also for the kids...

This one is called the Monstro Verde "Green Monster" - I liked it so much I had several. I asked what was in it - curacao, rum, and melon liqueur.

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Submersed chairs and tables in the pool!

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My wife and daughter at the swim-up bar - how cool!

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And, my boys ordering 'drinks'.

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