Disney Magic Reviews

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On May 9-14, 2012, my wife, 6 year old daughter, 3 year old son and I sailed on the Disney Magic. 5 nights has been the shortest of my 11 cruises, and I have sailed on RCCL, Princess, NCL and Carnival previously. First time on Disney. Embarkation/Disembarkation: Very easy, and fast. No lines when we left-how did they do that? Ship: The Magic is not new- but they were constantly scrubbing /cleaning her. Some of the lighter carpet colors are stained, and carpet baseboards in our room were frayed. As with any older ship, if you really look you will see rust, paint flaking, and other signs of her age. The buffet- The workers were extremely helpful-but the selection was not as good as NCL Sky (we sailed in Fall 2011.) We ate breakfast here every morning, and also had lunch here every day. Easier for us as our kids won't sit still too long. Plenty of choices to feed them. Fresh fruit included strawberries (Look in the cereal section), grapefruit, oranges and the usual melons. Kids loved the Mickey waffles, and had to have them every day. Scrambled eggs did not taste normal- were they Egg beaters? Did anyone else notice that the shrimp, although you had to peel them, had been de-veined? Lines not too bad. We always found seats inside. Restaurants- We ate dinner without the kids- only way to enjoy it! Food was "maybe" on par with NCL and other mid range lines. Not as good as a dinner at WDW. Service was good and the food presentation was very good. Every night you rotate restaurants, but your servers follow you. Palo- Food excellent- Try the filet, and don't forget the Chocolate Souffle. Worth the surcharge. Ice Cream Soft serve bar- open 11-11pm, no long lines, no toppings but free. Room- We were in an oceanview deck 2, forward. The 4 of us were comfortable in this one room. When do you ever have so many drawers that you don't need all of them? Room is larger than other lines, and as others have posted there are 2 bathrooms- one with a toilet and a sink, the other has a 4 foot mini bathtub and a sink. Wife loved the bathtub which also made bathing the kids so easy. Great design idea! Beds were very comfortable (although I could feel the meeting joint at the foot of the double bed), and we slept well. I slept on the pull down bunk bed which retracts completely into the ceiling above the sofa. But the railing is only about 2 foot long which is why we would NOT put either of our children up there. But the bed was very comfortable. Sofa converts to a twin bed so our son slept there. Quiet except for when our kids were screaming. Basic hair dryer hose without a handle in bathroom. Holding it can get hot. Never used the iron I brought. I was glad I brought a small travel clock and placed it where everyone could see it as you cannot read the (too dark) clock in the room by the bed. Oceaneers Club- Ages 3-11. They will take potty trained 3 year olds so both our 3 year old son and 6 year old daughter were together. Free. The club has a slide, computers, games and is set for more physical activities. The Oceaneers lab, which is across the atrium, has more electronics. Workers will walk the kids between the 2 clubs if the children want to change locations. They will also supply food for the kids at mealtimes. Usually open 9am till way past our bedtime, and they are usually open while in port (unlike other cruise lines). Armbands for the kids identify them, but can be removed say at bedtime which our son wanted so he could sleep. They replace the band on the next visit. But don't lose the sensor or they will charge you $50. Mickey's Pool- Other posts complained about the small size of the kids pool. Actually the kids pool is larger than others we have seen. But it can be very crowded especially at peak times as there are just many more children on Disney. Mickey's pool is shaped like his head and is actually several pools combined. Specifically, his ears are 2 pools about 10 feet across and 1 foot deep. These 2 pools spill water on the larger pool which is about 20 feet long/10 foot wide, and about 2 feet deep. Surrounding these pools is a splash pad with about 1-6 inches of water. So the entire area is actually quite large but again there are so many children. We went early in the morning usually, and my son loved it. Some days we were there closer to lunch, and even later in the afternoon. The crowds varied but my son and I always had a great time in it. Your child MUST be potty trained to use this pool area. There is a separate splash pad area for the non potty trained children on the other side of the slide. And my son had so much fun on that slide. Almost always found a chair but may have been a little further away from the pools than we wanted. Family Pool- this is mid ship and for the older kids- about 4 feet deep and 15 by 30 feet. There are 2 hot tubs several feet away. Very crowded but my daughter and I still were able to enjoy it. Thankfully the band only played briefly one time we were there- they just add unneeded noise. Shows- Let the Magic Begin was good. Based upon previous posts we skipped Villians tonight since we did not want our children traumatized. We were extremely disappointed with Twice Charmed and left within 10 minutes after it started. Regardless of the ending, why would anyone expose impressionable children to envy, jealousy, and wickedness with the intent to destroy the happiness of others, as if this were acceptable behavior? Isn't there at least one creative mind at Disney that could produce a performance that would present a more positive behavioral model for our little children? Teaching impressionable minds that this is normal/expected/permitted behavior was not an example we would ever want to even suggest was appropriate. No wonder my wife refuses to keep many of the Disney videos. The last show was very good. Character appearances and lines- While this wasn't a priority for us our kids got plenty of photos with Mickey, Minnie and the princesses. Sometimes the lines were long and we just decided we would not wait, but then at another time we would randomly run into them again when the line was short. They seemed to have multiple opportunities for photos with all of them. Value- Disney did a great job on several things- the Oceaneers club is second to none, and Castaway Cay is like no other. Excellent bathroom design. However, the food, the service, the ship, and the entertainment were not appreciably different than that on most other mid range lines we have sailed. Certainly our overall experience was very relaxing and enjoyable, and we needed a break from the stress of work. But we also had an equally enjoyable time on basically the same cruise itinerary on the NCL Sky in 2011 (and I purchased 2 rooms there, and brought grandma too), and still the cost difference was huge. The Disney brand itself has never been a separate attraction for us, so that does not factor into our opinion. Considering the premium pricing Disney requires, we cannot conclude that cruising with them is even close to being worth the value received. In our experience NCL has done a fine job with our kids, so we are returning to them for our next cruise. But we are also glad that our children were able to have this Disney experience at an age where this type of cruise would mean the most to them.

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Well, having sailed with Royal Caribbean, I found Disney lacking in food choices and service. It's true that the ship is starting to show its age, but for being 14 years old, it is in remarkably good shape. It is obvious they work very hard to maintain it although a few times became a nuisance when they closed off key areas for cleaning or resurfacing. I expected better food choices although the food was good. With the exception of Palo, the adult only restaurant which was the best meal I have ever experienced. If you go on the Disney Cruise, Go to Palo. The main pool was a joke. What were they thinking with this one? A tiny pool sunk into the mid ship deck. May as well swim in a margarine container. The Mickey pool was okay when it wasn't crowded by a hundred kids which seemed to be the norm. Disney shines with its spectacular shows and Character greetings. The navigator was essential as there was always a choice of what to do next or where to be. Disney's Island, Castaway Cay, would be a great resort. We could of spent a week there. The kids loved Oceaneers club and Oceaneers Lab, Most nights we had to drag them out of there at midnight. Night life for the adults was, oh wait, there wasn't any. The ship is like a ghost ship after 10 pm. Overall, nice clean little ship, food was acceptable, entertainment was fantastic and service was excellent but not equal to some others like RCCL. If it wasn't a Disney ship complete with the Disney characters and shows, I'm sure this cruise line would not get as good of reviews as it does.

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If you have toddlers and/or infants...by all means...take this one. Unfortunately we have teenagers 17 and 15....not unfortunately we have them, but the way they put it..."if it weren't for other kids we met, it would have been the most boring cruise yet!". My 15 yo son states one of the nights, one of the Disney employees at the teen club was so bored...she BEGGED for them to entertain her!!!....the one that's supposed to entertain them!!! As far as me and the Mrs goes...well...the same...as much restricted the kids felt in their activities, the same feeling we had as adults!!! We particularly don't drink alcohol...which i think is a disadvantage...the adult clubs at THE DISTRICT...a place for adults in the ship...basically were tiny hallways, very nicely decorated , with a bar. The is a so called dance club which we attended...very poor choice of dance music...and when they did play something decent...it was time for THEIR DISNEY DANCERS to hit the stage!!! BUMMER!!! By midnight???....ALL PRACTICALLY CLOSED...NO DISNEY EMPLOYEES IN SITE...very very sad scene. There were otherwise some positives, food - EXCELLENT. Spa, NICE. There is a sauna for adults to share, and one in the men's change room, which i enjoyed ....I'm assuming the same for the ladies. The room- IMMACULATE. The service in the restaurants, slow but good. They showed AVENGERS in their theatre in 3D! AWSOME! The shows?...the mickey golds award and villains were two of them. Not so good. Ive heard the third one...believe...was really good. I was disappointed by then, so i didn't go to it. My eleven year old...did enjoy her kids club....A LOT! So in general, nice food, clean boat, lame shows, no after hours activities for adults and teens, unless you as an adult like to drink alcohol. LOTS of shows for the toddlers/infants.

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Disney Magic Wrap-up We had terrible weather, 50+ knot winds, rain, fog! for the first several days of our 5 day cruise. Ship could not get into Key West, the captain broke off the approach when winds topped 50 knots, so we had several sea days. The cruise director recovered very well, published a new schedule of events within the first two hours after turning around. Entertainment quality was good, however Disney did not live up to its kid friendly reputation. The first two shows were much too intense for young children and there was no warning for parents. Many, many, kids, including our grandchildren were frightened, and many had to be carried out screaming and crying. It was a total abomination. As result we didn't go to any of the other shows. Disney gets two thumbs down for family friendly entertainment. The kids enjoyed the Oceaneer's Club, and were ready to go back any time it was suggested. One of our grandchildren is a special needs child and all of the staff bent over backwards to keep him entertained, fed, and properly cared for. Kudos to the entire crew. Food was generally good. Seafood preparation left a lot to be desired, overdone in many cases. Beef on the other hand was excellent, every cut served was done properly, tender, and presented very well. Desserts were excellent. Transportation, embarkation and debarkation were top notch. Well done! Overall, very nice, but probably won't go back.

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This was our second Disney cruise, both on the Magic, both during spring break. We were afraid that this one would not be as "magical" since it wasn't the first, but it may have actually been better. Both times our daughter celebrated a birthday on board this time she turned 11. I just cannot imagine another line that allows parents the piece of mind when their children are off on their own, like we get from Disney. Let me start by saying that we are HUGE Disney fans..... so choosing DCL for our first cruise was a no brainer. We booked a bounceback cruise last year when we were on board, and although we realized our love was cruising in general, and not necessarily DCL, we decided to book another DCL cruise while our daughter was still young and the "magic" was still there. On our first cruise we had a balcony, tis time we booked an inside stateroom to save money and it was fabulous!!! Very roomy for the 3 of us, and because we are very social, we would only use the room for a bed and bath - otherwise we were in public areas, up on deck, in clubs, restaurants, etc. Even when we had our balcony cabin, we didn't spend much time there except to maybe check the weather when we woke up each day.... The room was clean, spacious, in good shape. We had a problem with our shower handle slipping a bit but that was fixed quickly. The toiletries provided by DCL are about the best I've received in any hotel - it's the H2O spa bath products and I even buy them when not on the ship!!!! So definitely kudos to DCL there. All public areas were clean and fresh, and there were always crew members cleaning SOMETHING - polishing banisters, cleaning light fixtures, anything to keep up the Disney standards. In fact, when we were docked in Cozumel, side by side with the Fantasy on her maiden voyage, you would never guess that the Magic was 14 years old compared to the brand new Fantasy. Sure, she showed a bit more age, but not THAT much. Last year we really enjoyed the dining on DCL and this year it seemed to have slipped a bit. We are somewhat "foodies" we love to experience new foods, but this year it seemed a bit lackluster, although the menus were the same. The exception was Palo, the adults only surcharge dining experience. First of all, we tried Palo for brunch AND dinner this time and both were incredible!!! Palo brunch offered more food than I could even imagine - we walked away so stuffed we almost fell asleep in Key West that day! Dinner was absolutely incredible - the food, the service (Mo may be the best server I've had ANYWHERE!), the atmosphere. There was a $20/person surcharge for both dining experiences at Palo. We did not utilize the kids clubs (Oceaneers Lab and Oceaneers Club or the Edge) this trip. We registered our daughter for the Lab but because we were traveling with a family we met last year on this cruise, she and the other child spent all their time together just exploring the ship, watching movies, swimming, etc. We felt she may have been a bit young for the Edge (she just turned 11 on the cruise) and the Edge is ages 11-13. Since our daughter is still in elementary school, we weren't too sold on her being in a club with mostly middle schoolers..... Next year for sure!!! I do know that last year we LOVED the clubs for kids, so we got the id bracelet for our daughter this year, even though she spent a full 10 minutes in the club!!! lol The entertainment - it's Disney, what more can I say? The Broadway style shows are second to none. Dreams, Villains Tonight, and Twice Charmed are all three high energy and colorful and full scale productions. With a typical Disney edge, I find myself tearing up during each one..... This year I could not even bring myself to attend the final night's show because it brought me to tears last year..... The adult entertainers, who double as family entertainers early in the evening, weren't nearly as good as last year. We had a hypnotist, Dale K, who was on our cruise last year, and he was great! We watched family show with him in the Walt Disney Theater and loved it! The second comedian, was a juggler - no idea of his name but he certainly did not live up to last year's entertainers. Last year we did an Eastern Caribbean, and this year was a Western - we were NOT excited going into this itinerary, mainly because we knew the western ports were flat, versus the beautiful mountain topography of the eastern islands. With the exception of Key West, we were pleasantly surprised at the wonderful excursions in Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

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