DISNEY MAGIC THRILLS AND PIXIE DUST APR 07 Sailing
Written: May 01 '07 (Updated Jul 26 '07)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Stunning And Superior Staff And Crew/Amazing Shows/Spacious Cabins/Posh Private Island.
Cons: Dining/Food.
The Bottom Line: Fantastic! You'll be impressed as anything Disney does must be done with a polished and excellent standard of presentation. Worth every dollar.
|
|
|
| benicia's Full Review: Disney Magic |
I loved this ship! It was everything I expected but more so it just kept winning me over and still causes a Disney smile everytime I think about our cruise aboard 'Disney Magic'!
I just sailed DISNEY MAGIC on a 7 day 'Eastern Caribbean' this April 2007. Cabin 6644 was located aft and was considered a 'Deluxe Outside With Verandah'. I'll address the cabin in another paragraph though towards the middle of this review.
Let's get to the basics first:
1) This is a FAMILY ship. Expect kids everywhere; even in 'adult areas'. They're like an ant-farm that has broken its glass container. Ants are just everywhere and escaping into areas they should not be in. It made it fun, exciting and without those kids, this ship would be missing much of its charm.
2) Families were from all over the USA and I saw or met few families outside of North America on our actual cruise. Core families that often included the kids, mom and dad and the grandparents. It was America at its best watching these great parents or grandparents that were sharing their vacation and including their kids or grand kids into their personal vacations. I was impressed.
3) Cabins on Disney ships are larger than most cruise ship cabins. Disney has opted for two bathrooms in every cabin (except standard insides) but they are so small I wish Disney had simply made a single larger bathroom instead. Only one of the two bathrooms has a shower. The other has only a toilet. Cabins just had a 19" glass tube TV, lots of storage and closet space and one queen bed and one sleeper sofa in our cat-6 stateroom. I found that any cabin on this ship would work well for any family of four (4) and our neighbors across the hall from us had a inside cabin which actually would have been fine as it shared the same square footage (except verandah). Same cabin-room space and ammenties less the verandah. Best cabin locations for ride quality on any ship are of course mid-to-aft; lower decks down.
4) Cleanliness was stunning on this ship. Disney has been the only cruise line I've sailed on that required we/all passengers constantly wash their hands. Wet-One style towels were all over the ship and Disney had them everywhere you'd go including all restaurants, showrooms, and even when reboarding the ship after a day in port. Crew members would ask that you first wash or clean your hands before you proceeded to a public area. Kudos to Disney for keeping their ship and its passengers and crew free from transmitted disease or infection. The entire ship was so clean as were the cabins themselves. Spotless perfection.
5) Dining was a challenge and while I was hoping to say nothing negative about Disney Cruise Line I have to rate their dining experience as a C or a C-. My wife and I tried to eat in every port of call as an escape to not having to dine in a Disney dining ship venue. If you like Chicken Mc'Nuggets, cheese and mac, hot dogs and menus offering minimal charm and imagination, then you'll do fine with this cruise line. At best, it was 'park food'. In fairness, again the kids having priority on this ship as they should have and the food being their venue choices first and foremost. A credit worth mentioning is a adult-only restaurant aboard Disney Magic called 'PALO' (a $10 per person adult only fee). While billed as Italian, it wasn't true or quality Italian but was a excellent improvement over the other three restaurants aboard Disney Magic. We were limited to just dining there once as the entire ship is on waitlist to dine at PALO (adults only for PALO and best time to dine there is the 'Champagne Brunch offered only during days at sea...book that event the minute you initially board the ship as space is very limited). Disney ships have what is called ROTATIONAL DINING. That means that you'll keep changing dining rooms each night with a theme in each of the three dining rooms. On Disney Magic, the three dining rooms were ANIMATOR'S PALATE (a school cafeteria at best with walls that change colors and images when dark and while dining), PARROT CAY (wasn't sure if this was a at-sea Tiki Room ride or Bahama Breeze restaurant) and LUMIERE'S (best of the three and so themed French). What is nice is that you retain your wait staff at each dining room as they rotate with you as well. You'll also find 24 hour room service for your cabin and often this was a nice alternative for us as we'd take our food outside onto our verandah. Also offered is TOPSIDER'S BUFFET but be warned that the kids also rule this buffet and you'd better stay clear of their intended paths towards sugar loaded sodas, cheese spreads, pizza and anything else they can heap onto their plates...
6) Entertainment was a superior 10! Fantastic shows! So wonderful that we never missed a single show or event during all 7 days of our cruise. These shows sprayed PIXIE DUST over both kids and adults alike and were stunning in performance and stage props. I was in amazement every show. Worth noting here also was one of the best SAILAWAY parties I've ever experienced (so much fun and energy). The other major deck party was something that only Disney has permission to do by the Coast Guard in that they present a show called 'PIRATES IN THE CARIBBEAN' where everyone from Mickey to Capt Jack is found flying down from the ships stacks with fireworks going off at sea. Simply amazing!
Embarkation is done from Disney's own private terminal at Port Canaveral, Florida and if you do most of the boarding documentation prework online, you'll breeze through the terminal and board your magical ship quickly.
Disembarkation was a breeze also. Disney had its passengers pre-clear customs at St. Thomas and thus when we arrived back at Port Canaveral, we were good to go. We simply walked off the ship when we were ready. Nothing more. Disney did not rush you off and wanted to make sure you had enjoyed breakfast first before disembarking.
CASTAWAY CAY is Disney's private island. No matter which cruise you take from Florida (except Europe), you'll stop there on Disney's 3/4 and 7 day cruises. This island requires no tendering and has a staff of 40 that reside there on the island to prepare for the ships arrivals. You'll simply dock at the pier and again step off and enjoy the island at once. Expect excellent beaches that are safe and well cared for. Expect life guards posted everywhere watching for kids getting in over their heads so to speak. Disney provided a BBQ of quality on this island for all and worth mention here also is that Disney is the only cruise line I am aware of (except a few vey upscale lines) that does not charge for soft drinks on its ships or its island.
There is a ton of things to do on this Disney island and often we almost felt like we were more at a Disney theme or water park as oppossed to a private island. Disney always prevails when it comes to charm and presentation and you'll wish you had more time at Castaway Cay (pronounced KEY). We were told that for 2008, Disney will enhance the Castaway Cay experience with a possible overnight stay or even rumored is a twice port-of-call at Castaway Cay on their 7 day cruises. We'll see as Disney is best at speculation.
The ports of call on the Eastern Caribbean sailings are not exciting or inviting. Most of the stores in St. Thomas, St. Maarten and St. John are all Indian owned and operated with values or bargains pretty much non-existant. The stores were never warm and inviting and all failed to welcome you. However the stores on the Western Caribbean sailings (we've done both) are very inviting with local Mexican merchants warm and often fun. They're glad to have you spend $$$ in their shops and will do much to secure your business with their warmth and charm. Also worth noting here is that the seas in the Western Caribbean are often more calm and protected than the Eastern Caribbean waters. In ALL CASES, avoid sailing the Caribbean during hurricane season (especially Aug-Sep-Oct).
This is a stunning cruise line. We were told that Disney is aware of their food and dining problems and was in the process of changing menus and especially changing their approach to rotational dining when they finish building their new ships they have ordered. Disney Magic and Disney Wonder are nearing a decade in age. Yet they show very well and they rival even the most upscale lines for crew and staff. So friendly!
One final note is that Disney charges a transfer fee of $40 per person each way to get to the ship from Walt Disney World or Orlando's international airport. So, $80 roundtrip per person. That's steep... There is a way around that fee as HERTZ offers one way rentals to the ship itself for less than $45 for the whole car holding 2-6 people (based on vehicle size of course). The same applies in reverse when you are returning to Walt Disney World or the airport from the ship and Hertz is right there to take you to its facility just two miles away from the ship where your car will be waiting. We kept our car after leaving the ship and used it not only as our transfers off the ship back but another week while we played at Walt Disney World! We paid just $159 for 7 days of use that included our transfers off the ship in a sense without paying Disney that high bus fee. A far better deal and faster! Hertz can be reached at 1 800 654-3080 or WWW.HERTZ.COM .
Other tips for reviewing this cruise include Disney's own website (slow and not really user-friendly) or by going to: WWW.MOUSESAVERS.COM and WWW.CRUISECRITIC.COM . There are also two videos available (one is free from Disney) on DVD. Just order the free one online from Disney (takes 4-6 weeks).
Don't forget that Disney Cruise Line also offers 3 and 4 day cruises on its sister ship DISNEY WONDER that take you to The Bahamas including a stop at the private island Castaway Cay
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
benicia
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 66
Trusted by: 3 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.