DISNEY MAGIC – it certainly is! May 2000

GETTING READY

After several years of putting a Disney Cruise on the back burner, I finally took one! I went on the cruise with my good friend Linda, a recent Disney-convert. Both of us are in our mid-forties and have no children. We both love Disney, food, good wines and laughter….the Cruise fit the bill!

From the moment I touched down in Orlando International Airport until I got off the shuttle at the Boardwalk 3 days later, the Disney Cruise Line (DCL) and Kingdom Magic Travel (who handled all my arrangements) had everything organized and under control.

I had less than 3 weeks to prepare for my first cruise ever and spent time scouring the Internet and reviewing all the Disney Cruise websites. I stumbled upon an excellent site that had a full online guide to the Disney Cruises. I highly recommend this site to future cruisers. Mickey's Magical Cruise Guide http://hometown.aol.com/entropym The other site I highly recommend is Barb's Castaway Club http://campus.fortunecity.com/brigham/612/dclindex.htm

One week before the cruise, my "Document Package" arrived. It came in a blue folder with a great picture of Mickey about to board the ship. Inside were several informational packets about the cruise including a ship map and luggage tags (more on that later). My travel booklet contained my ground transfers, Bahamas Immigration Form and several other forms requiring my signature.

The excitement became too much the day before the cruise when I realized half the contents of my closet were now all over my bed and dressers. This from a seasoned traveler who typically packs quite easily. I felt like a little kid awaiting Christmas Day. All my friends who had been on the cruise had told me how much I'd love it! I was excited! I just hoped the build-up wouldn't be a let down. It wasn't.

The night before our departure, Linda and I filled out all the documents and placed the Yellow Disney Magic Luggage Tags on our bags. The DCL folks at Orlando airport would spot these tags and they would then take our bags and load them on the bus.

DAY ONE

Began with a 6:45am flight out of Baltimore/Washington Airport. Once arriving in Orlando, we played escalator tag with the DCL rep that gave us instructions on where to catch the bus to Port Canaveral.

As we walked to the bus area, we passed our luggage sitting to the side of the conveyer belt. There were other bags there as well; some had the Yellow Disney Magic tags. I was off the wall with anticipation at this point and almost didn't care about my luggage. I had brief thoughts of that American Express commercial and having to buy a whole new wardrobe….but reality quickly returned to my brain! I then relocated the DCL rep and she kindly took care of everything for us.

We went outside to wait for the bus that was scheduled to leave around 10:30. I won't tell you how I started running down the walkway, exclaiming to Linda that the driver had just gotten on the bus and was about to leave us stranded….running past the people waiting at the Disney Cruise Sign for the Disney Bus….only to discover it was not the charter yellow and red Cruise Line bus, but a small white shuttle van going I have no idea where. Excited??? Nah, not me!!! Not at all!

The bus ride was uneventful until right before we arrived at Port Canaveral. A video about the cruise is played on the bus and it lasts almost the entire trip. We came up over a bridge and there, in the sky, were the smoke stacks from the Disney Magic! We were about 5 miles away!!! My mouth dropped open and I stopped talking. Good thing it wasn't me driving! The only thing I can compare it to was when I was driving to Devils Tower (in Wyoming) and how you can see when are half an hour away from it!

I barely remember arriving at Disney's terminal at the Port…all I can remember was how blue everything was and how wonderfully themed the building was. We checked in, received our Key to the World and had about an hour to wait before boarding the ship. There is a small coffee shop in the terminal and so we got some caffeine. Just what I needed! I spent most of the time walking around looking at everything like a little kid.

About quarter after 12 folks are lining up for entry. Linda tells me it's ok, that the line will move quickly and we can just hang out…but I insist we get on line! At 12:30 the gates opened and we were soon on board the Magic! As we entered the ship's atrium, a Cast Member was there with a microphone – she asked our names and where we were from and announced over the PA system "Welcome Debbie and Linda from Maryland to the Disney Magic"! I thought that was a great touch (and it was done for all the guests boarding).

I wanted to get to our stateroom, but the rooms were not available until 1pm. We began exploring the ship and ended up on Deck 9 at the Topsiders Welcome Buffet. The food was quite good and there was lots of it. The buffet featured jumbo peel and eat shrimp, wonderful steamship round of beef with tasty horseradish, a very nice tomato and mozzarella salad and lots and lots of other things I can't remember any more. The dessert buffet included a wonderful coconut cake, chocolate, eclairs, puff pastry swans with whipped cream inside, fruit tarts and much more. The weird thing, as I quickly learned, was that water and sodas were premium commodities onboard. Beverages with lunch were cranberry juice, ice tea, and coffee. While I am not much of a soda drinker, I do like water with meals and it was hard to find.

Suggestion for Disney: Have a refillable mug program like the WDW Resort hotels have. The idea is you purchase a mug for about $10 and use it for free refills of fountain drinks and coffee and ice tea during your stay.

Along the way to lunch we encountered Minnie Mouse and had the first of many character photos taken! I really enjoyed seeing all the characters around and Disney did a good job of having them available to guests.

Ok, it was 1:30 and time to head to Deck 10 and Palos restaurant. Palos is not part of the regular rotational dining experience, but you can switch any one of your nights for dinner there. Everyone told me NOT TO MISS eating at Palos, so we made sure we had reservations! In fact, we were the first people in a line that quickly became quite long! There is a $5 charge per adult (it's an adult only restaurant) that I didn't quite understand, but was told it was gratuity for the server. ??

From here we went to our stateroom and met O'Dell Guy. O'Dell would be our steward for the next 3 days. He was absolutely wonderful! Each time we came back to the room, the ice bucket was filled, we had fresh towels and other nice little touches. The stateroom was beautiful. We were located near Mid-ship on Deck 7.

Our room had a king size bed, sitting area with fold out couch, desk, coffee table, dressers, closet and a wonderful veranda to sit out on. It was heaven! The room was much larger than I expected and the appointments were very nice. The bathroom is split in 2; one half has the shower and a sink, the other has the toilet and a sink. This way, more than one person can be getting ready at the same time. It worked out REALLY well.

Located on the desk was our first copy of the Navigator. This is a daily guide informing you of all the activities planned for that day. I thought it was well organized and VERY useful. Suggestion for Disney: Please place the navigators in public areas. If you don't take it when you leave your stateroom – it's hard to know what is going on at any given time. I think posting them by the elevators would be helpful.

Next it was time to tour the spa. We had discussed in advance what kind of spa treatment we would indulge in. For a while I was tempted by the Castaway Cay massage, but decided on a facial instead. The prices were high, but the facial felt incredible! It was definitely a splurge, but what the heck. The facilities were immaculate and offered what seemed to be the latest in spa treatments. Along the tour, we were able to pick up small discount coupons for various treatments that came in handy. For the facial it was $89 less the $10 discount.

I think at this point we went to the room and attempted to crash. Oh yea, we called for a wake up at 6:30pm; unfortunately, the call didn't come in until 6:30 the next morning. I was never able to access the automated wake up service and had a couple problems with the call in type. Good thing we were WAY too excited to sleep.

4:00pm is the most serious part of the cruise – the Mandatory Boat Drill. Everyone is assigned a lifeboat and section of the ship to report to in an emergency. When the horn sounds, you return to your stateroom, put on your life preserver, and head to your station. It lasted about 25 minutes.

At 5:00pm the ship was to set sail and the Sail-Away Celebration would begin at 4:30. We went to the festivities at the Goofy Pool and it was lots of fun. Mickey and Minnie were there, great dancing music and lots of hoopla!! Definitely go to the Sail Away Party. TIP: If you want to enjoy the celebration but not be with all the people, go up to Deck 10 and sit at the railing…you can see and hear everything just fine! Plenty of us up there were dancing too! After this we went back to the room to shower and change for dinner.

Each of us brought our favorite adult beverage with us and so we enjoyed some before dinner cocktails.

Our dinner seating was at 8:30 each night. Disney has 2 seatings. They earlier seating is generally families and the later seating generally adults only. Disney has rotational dining on the ship. You dine at a different restaurant each night…your servers come with you to each of the different restaurants. A card is in your stateroom when you arrive to tell you what your rotation is.

Prior to dinner each evening, we went to the ship's atrium where professional photographers would take your photo. There is no change, unless you decide to purchase the photo. We figured out of 3 nights, one picture should be good enough to buy….good thing we gave it 3 chances because it was our last night photo that turned out the best. (could it be we were more relaxed by the 3rd night? Nah!)

As we started to leave the photography area, I noticed a table set up for pin trading, so off I went. We spoke to a very nice Cast Member who told us about the ship's pins and how on the last night, we could trade for a special Helmsman Mickey pin. This pin is not sold anywhere and only available by trading for it!

Finally dinner! Tonight is Lumiere's – an elegant restaurant serving French cuisine. Our table assignment was #9 and we were seated with 6 others adults. . We enjoyed the folks we dined with, including one current Disney Cruise Line Cast Member and a former Disney Cast Member from WDW! Turns out the Cruise Line cast member used to live about 5 minutes from where I live right now! Dare I hum, It's a Small World Afterall…..

Deb, the menu Queen, did not bring any menus home so this is going to have to be from memory!! LOL! You could order anything on the menu you wanted…even more than one of anything you wanted…it was all included in the cruise, except the cost of alcohol. I know we ordered a bottle of Markham Merlot that was very nice. My appetizer was Assorted Crisp Greens with Plum Tomatoes, Green Beans, Parmesan Cheese, and Mustard Vinaigrette and Linda had the Creamy Lobster Soup. I liked my salad except that it was made with Iceberg. Linda said her soup was "average". Her dinner was Herb-crusted Baked Sea Bass – On Leaf Spinach dressed with Champagne Sauce which she said was very good and rated it a B. I had the Roast Sliced Beef Tenderloin Gratin Potatoes, Mediterranean Vegetables, and Three-peppercorn Sauce. The beef was very tender and I also rated my dinner a B.

Our table "closed" the restaurant and Linda and I then headed for the lounge. An after dinner drink hit the spot. We needed to walk around a bit and so the shops were next. I bought the souvenirs I wanted (to get that out of the way) and then we finally called it a day.

Are you tired yet? Well, we were since we'd been up since 4am! Needless to say, we slept like rocks!

DAY TWO

Began with a beautiful sunrise outside our veranda. WOW! We sat on the bed, sliding glass doors open to feel the breeze and we just stared out at the sun reflecting on the ocean blue. It was worth rising early for!

Today the boat was to dock around 8:00am at Nassau. There was so much I wanted to do on the ship and Nassau was of such little interest to me, that I decided not to get off and look around (Ok, I will next time, promise 🙂

We got dressed and went up for coffee to the Topsiders…it was wonderful being on the deck early in the morning. Hardly anyone was up and about and we felt like we had the place to ourselves.

We had our first buffet breakfast at Topsiders. Other than the decent bacon and good melon, I was disappointed. The Mickey waffles were cold, the syrup not hot and the scrambled eggs very runny. Not my idea of a good breakfast. There was cereal and lots of Danish and pastries if you wished. I don't recall what else there was. It was disappointing to me because everyone had talked so highly of the food. I was expecting something like the Cape May Breakfast buffet….but it wasn't….

Our morning was busy with some business to attend to and then it was about 10am. We decided to sign up for the Wine Tasting at Palos for later in the day. A note about Guest Services – it is similar to the WDW hotels…they are there to assist you with tickets and excursions and just about anything. In person they were WONDERFUL! Unfortunately, I rarely could get them on the phone. If they answered the phone, it took what seemed like forever….hopefully this will get better, or we got them on an off few days.

It was soon time for our facials, and so off we went to the spa. The facial lasted 50 minutes and it put me right to sleep! I couldn't imagine a facial doing that, but it was heaven! SOOO relaxing! And for all you guys reading this, a very good friend of mine (who is a manly man!) had a facial on his last cruise and he was the one that convinced me to do it!

Time for lunch….we again went to the Topsiders buffet. After the wonderful lunch on Friday; I was very much looking forward to today's meal. Unfortunately, it had a long way to go. I'm not the most adventurous eater, but there is plenty I will try and very little appealed to me on the buffet. I think if there had been a decent salad bar, I would have been happy. The lettuce everywhere (at lunch and dinner) was iceberg and there were no salad bars to speak of. Linda thought lunch was average at best….she at least found some things to eat. I went over to Pinocchio's' Pizza Place and got a cheese pizza for lunch.

We did a self tour of the ship and wandered around all the places we hadn't been to yet, included the kids rooms. They looked wonderful! We walked in on a group of youngsters who were having a blast! I asked the Cast Member if they had a special time for adults…but she said no.

It was getting close to 3:30 and time for our Wine Tasting class called "Stem to Stern". It took place in Palo's and was run by the cellar master Alfredo. I have been to numerous wine tastings and continue to go because I find I always learn something new…. This class was no exception.

There were about 12 of us in the class and we sat in the Palo dining room. We had a brochure to write our notes in….and get to experience 6 different wines. Two whites (Riesling and Chardonnay), 3 reds (Beaujolais, Australian Shiraz and a California Cabernet that we both LOVED! Marcelina Vineyards 1996) and a sparkling wine from Iron Horse vineyards in California. The wine tasting cost $12. What was especially nice is that the tasting featured wines that you could order (and pay for) with dinner. It was a good way to see what was available on the wine list! We each got a Wine Tasting pin as a memento.

Time to shower and dress for the evening so back to the room we went. We ordered a cheese and cracker tray from room service (no charge except gratuity) to munch on while we got ready.

As we made our way into the atrium for photos, there was a huge crowd already gathered….the Party of the Captains with special. Guest Captain Mickey was underway. We got a cocktail and went to the show, Voyage of the Ghost Ship. This show is an hour long musical with singing and dancing, definitely Disney….cute…enjoyable…but probably not on my repeat list.

One thing that Cast Members did periodically was to have trading cards for the kids. These cards are unique to the Magic and Wonder. Each time cards were distributed they were unique…not the ones from earlier and you couldn't get them later. As I walked into the Theatre, I saw a Cast Member with cards, so I had to stop and inquire. He told me anyone over 16 could have one if they sang a Disney song. I broke into Zip-I-dee-doo-dah and he kindly gave me a card to hush up!!! LOL!

We went back thru the lobby for a photograph again and stopped by the pin table, this time talking to a different Cast Member. Soon it was time for dinner at Animator's Palate. Animator's is truly a Disney restaurant! You walk in and everything is in black and white…from the walls, to the pictures on the walls, to the server's attire….As your meal progresses, colors start to come alive until just before dessert when the entire dining room is in celebration. The experience at Animators was definitely fun and one I'd like to do again….unfortunately, I can't say the same for the food.

Merwin, our beverage server, came right over to inquire if we wanted a bottle of wine and so we ordered a Rabbit Ridge Merlot…very nice. We were slowly joined by our dinner companions of the previous evening and we all immediately immered into Disney talk!

For an appetizer I had Caesar Salad – Crisp Romaine Lettuce tossed with Caesar Dressing, Sourdough Croutons, and Grated Parmesan – not only was the Caesar dressing disappointing, but a ton of cheese was all over the top of it. I love fresh grated cheese, but this totally overtook the lettuce. For dinner I had Penne Pasta with Pancetta Bacon Sautéed with Garlic, Crushed Plum tomatoes, Leeks, and Olives in Basil Cream without the olives. It was decent, no more than average, and certainly something I could have at home or even make at home. Once again, someone decided the food needed to be drown in grated cheese. Linda's dinner consisted of: Animator's Seafood Palette" – California Sushi Roll, Smoked Salmon, Crabmeat, and Seared Tuna served with Wasabi and Pickled Ginger and Parmesan-Crusted Veal Chop – with Asparagus-corn Risotto and Wild Mushroom Sauce. She liked both but rated them average also.

The dessert course is an individual sampler for each person. This actually worked quite well and everyone enjoyed their desserts. Speaking of desserts, the pastry chef on the ship is wonderful!!!!

We went back to the room to change and then went up to the 10th deck to walk around. There was a Dancing Under the Stars Deck Party which was lots of fun. We strolled around the clubs and decided we were tired and it was time for sleep!

Day Three

We awoke once again to the beautiful sunrise and we began to see Castaway Cay in the distance. I was very excited about seeing the island and swimming! We wrote out postcards out while we had coffee and breakfast. We planned to mail them from the island where they can have a special postmark. Regarding breakfast, it was basically the same as the day before, so nothing new to say. I should note, however, that a sit down breakfast and lunch were available, just later than the buffets started. Next cruise I will try the sit down meals to see if they are better.

We were in our beachwear and ready to disembark the ship about 9am. We had our photo taken with the ship in the background…..wonderful photo of the ship; but neither of us liked our "beach wear" photo ! We went straight to the post office to mail all our cards. Each one took 3 Bahamas stamps! They took a long time to reach home in the United States. We mailed them May 7 and it's now May 23 as I write this and still no post card has arrived (they arrived on May 26th). I should also tell you the ones I mailed to Japan and France got there a few days ago! As we exited, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee were there for photos (no line) so of course we jumped right in!

The island is absolutely beautiful. I was thrilled. I love the ocean and had never been to the Caribbean before. It really is gorgeous. There are 2 trams. One takes you from the entrance area to the main area. Another takes you from the main area to the Adult Only Beach. We browsed the shops and went out to a lookout point which was awesome. Then got on a tram to the adult beach. TIP: If you want a spot close to the restrooms, beverage stand and tram, get there early. There are MANY chairs and umbrellas, but most are further away from the tram area. We secured a spot with lounge and beach chairs plus an umbrella and were ready to enjoy.

We began our relaxing day with a non-alcoholic beverage…banana daiquiris for me and strawberry daiquiris for Linda. As soon as I finished I got up and put my feet in the water. Initially it was VERY cold, but I quickly acclimated and it felt great! The water was incredibly clear and you could watch the fish swim about you.

Lunch was a BBQ – hamburgers, salmon burgers or steak sandwiches. The fixin bar was wonderful! Red leaf lettuce and we ended up making a salad and adding the steak to it. Beverage choices were fruit punch (at an adult beach??, ice tea or ice water (finally!) We later learned the BBQ at the family beach included ribs and baked beans.

After lunch we took a LONG walk along the adult beach and there really aren't words to describe the beauty, quiet and relaxing quality of the beach! Just wonderful! Soon we decided we had enough sun (we did use SPF 30) and headed for the next tram. Did a little shopping – each of us buying Castaway Cay T-Shirts and hats….and then we were back to the ship.

Everyone had to be back on board by 4:30pm for a 5:00pm departure. Disney does know how to throw good parties!

Time to shower and change again for dinner. I had to write myself a little note with all the things we were going to do for the evening. It was our last night and we had lots planned. We went to a short business meeting and then were off to the Walt Disney Theatre of Disney Dreams. It is a wonderful Disney show full of lots of your favorite songs…..as Anne-marie takes us on a journey through her Disney Dreams. Peter Pan hosts this musical adventure!! This show was great!!!!!!! I'd definitely see it again!

The last night of pin trading was going on in the atrium – it was the night to get the special Cruise Pin Trader pin so we had to be there! We did some cool pin trading for the Helmsman Mickey trader as well as some others. I met Sasha, a Cast Member who had wonderful pins to trade! He was great fun! Definitely keep your eyes open for him to trade pins with!

Before leaving the lobby; we had our photos taken….and off we went to Palos! One thing I forgot to mention, in opting for dinner at Palo's, we gave up the 3rd restaurant in our dining rotation, Parrot Cay. From what I understand, Parrot Cay is casual Caribbean dining.

Let me tell you, this restaurant was everything folks said it was! Wonderful, relaxing dinner with excellent food and incredible service. Gregory was our server and he certainly added to our wonderful experience at Palos!

We began our experience in the lounge area with martinis! Shortly after ordering our table was ready and our dining adventure began! Gregory made several recommendations for us, including a wonderful wine, and so we were ready to eat! Our wine was a Cecchi 1990 Spazgolo, a Tuscan Table Wine! I have to find it here at home!

To begin our meal, we had a Herb-Grilled Barbeque Chicken – Calamata Olives, and Spinach. It was WONDERFUL! Similar to the pizza appetizers at California Grill in the Contemporary Resort. I started to order the tomato and mozzarella salad for an appetizer, but Gregory told me I could have that all summer at home, why not order something different…..so I decided, what the heck. I ordered the carpaccio. I NEVER eat beef rare (if I have it at all) but he made it sound so wonderful, I decided to go for it. Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio with Stone-Ground Mustard, Tomato Relish, and Lemon dressing. It melted in my mouth and was outstanding! Linda enjoyed the Lightly-Fried Calamari with Tomato-Garlic Sauce which she also felt was great. For dinner, I had the Homemade Ravioli with Artichoke, Ricotta Cheese, and Oven-Dried Tomatoes – very nice. Linda had the Tortelloni – Freshly made Stuffed Pasta stuffed with crab meat that she said was outstanding!

Dinner was nice and slowly paced…we were enjoying the wine and the evening! We each ordered a Chocolate and Hazelnut Soufflé with Vanilla Bean Sauce for dessert. Again, wonderful! Linda had never had a soufflé before and this was a wonderful one for her to start out with!! As we were finishing our soufflé's we asked Gregory what the folks next to us had… Tiramisu was the response. Before we knew it, we had one at our table. This had to be the BEST Tiramisu I have ever had. It was light and oh so tasty! As you can tell, we were quite thrilled with out dinner at Palo. Our meal took about 2 hours and we loved every moment of it. Special thanks to Gregory who made it extra special! I would highly recommend Palo's to everyone!

Now that we had stuffed ourselves, we walked around the ship and went to Shutters to see our photographs. The evening pictures were not up yet, so we decided we would come back in the morning.

Time to put the heads on the pillows for the last time….

Day Four

This is the sad day because it is time to go home….. We had not planned so well and didn't pack after we got back from Castaway Cay and then didn't want to after we returned from dinner. (Actually, we had SO much to drink at dinner, we were both rather sloshed….and when we got to the room, I flopped on the bed. Linda took a picture of me…and I started laughing and said I wasn't the only tipsy one to have a photo and so took hers….and then we rolled and laughed ourselves til it hurt and took a whole roll of film at each other laughing!)

So we got up early (to see our last sunrise) and pack our bags! By not having the bags out by midnight; we, instead of the crew, would have to bring them into Port for Customs. Since we each only had one rolling suitcase, this turned out to be ok. A porter met us as we got off the ship and assisted us through customs.

We were already at Port Canaveral for sunrise and by the time we got done packing, it was almost time to disembark. We got coffee and Danish to munch on while we packed. Then we went to Shutters and made our final selection of photos! Back to the room, pack the photos and off the ship we were! Everyone had to be off no later than 9am!

After customs, we got outside and found the bus to take us to the Boardwalk. We stored our luggage there during the day and went to the Disney MGM-Studios before catching a late flight home that evening. We spent lunch and a Tower of Terror ride with Eureka and Jim 🙂

FINAL THOUGHTS

I rate the following *****(5-Stars) : Character Availability, Cleanliness, Friendliness of Crew, Castaway Cay, the Spa and the Palo's Experience!!!

**** (4-Stars) : Adult Activities, the Sail Away Party, Lumiere's, the Pastry Chefs and the Welcome Lunch Buffet

The cruise was wonderful! This may have been my first cruise, but it won't be my last. Next time it will be a four day cruise.there was just too much for me to do and relax in three days. For folks who enjoy sitting still and only have 3 days; I'm sure it will do you just fine.

There were lots of things we didn't do..a few worth mentioning here are: seeing one of the first run movies offered, going to OffBeat the Comedy Club, taking the Bridge Overlook Tour and enjoying the Spa's Rainforest rooms.

Disney Cruise Line does things right and in a classy way! From someone who had never cruised and didn't want to… I say GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!! Take a trip on the Disney Magic or Wonder, you'll be glad you did! I sure am!