A Disney Magic Cruise Recap!
If you are following me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, you probably already know about my recent journey aboard the Disney Magic. Even so, I wanted to put together some new experiences this time around (my third Disney cruise now!) with you, as well as share some images from the trip.
The Disney Magic was truly a special ship that we instantly fell in love with, which is no surprise for this Disney-loving family!
Disney Magic
This was our first time aboard the Disney Magic, Disney’s oldest cruise ship (we had sailed on the Dream and Fantasy previously), which had been newly remodeled in October of last year.
Our cruise itinerary included four nights with one stop at Nassau, Bahamas, and another at Disney’s own private cay, Castaway Cay. Castaway Cay is always the highlight of our Disney cruise for my family, and I will chat a bit about that later in the post.
The Disney Magic holds a little more than half of the people that the Fantasy and Dream does and I noticed that right away simply based on the crowd size aboard the ship, as well as during our day at Castaway Cay. This made our vacation less crowded and easy to navigate, which was a big positive for us.
Adventures Away
The Magic also hosts a sailing away party on top deck like the other ships, with this particular party called “Adventures Away.” I captured a bit of video from the countdown to depart.
During the Adventures Away party, I happily sipped on the drink of the day (featured in the video above, more on that later), while my 6-year-old danced and watched the show. It was a bit rainy out, but still, the perfect way to start off the trip!
Youth Clubs
As with past Disney cruises we have experienced, the kids were anxious to visit their respective youth clubs – Oceaneer Lab & Oceaneer Club for my 6-year-old and Vibe for my 14-year-old.
Both the Oceaneer Lab and Oceaneer Club had received a major overhaul during the remodeling of the Magic, which introduced a whole new fun-filled environment. It was cool that my youngest could experience a youth club that was completely different on this cruise.
This was also the first time that my teen had visited the Vibe, a youth club for teens 14-17 years, and while he could have spent his time in the Edge (ages 11-14) like he did last year, he wanted to see what it was like with older teens. He ended up falling in love with the Vibe and spent a great deal of time participating in the activities. In fact, I rarely saw him because he was so busy.
Dining
The dining aboard the Magic was a bit different from the Fantasy and Dream, with two new table restaurants that we’d never had before – Cariocas (South American cuisine) and Lumiere’s (French-inspired fare). The ship did have one familiar restaurant, Animator’s Palate, though it was decorated quite differently than what we were used to, still had a fun animated show during dinner.
As expected, the food on the Magic was OUTSTANDING and the perfect way to end each busy day. Some of my favorite dishes included the short ribs and potstickers, which were both served on a pirate night in Cariocas (more on a pirate night later).
Drink of the Day
Disney Cruise Line has what they call the “drink of the day” each day of the cruise. If you purchase a glass, you get a discount on the drink of the day each time you use the glass. I took full advantage of this offer this time around.
VIP Treatment
Though my cruise was not sponsored in any way, the folks at Disney Cruise Line still found a way to make us feel special by upgrading us to “VIP” status. What did this mean? Goodies like these are below in our room every day. 🙂
Pirate Night & Party
Most Disney cruise itineraries have a special “pirate night” on the schedule for one of the evenings. During pirate night, the dining halls are decorated in a pirate theme, the servers are dressed in swashbuckling attire and at around 10:00 pm there is a big party on the top deck. Guests are encouraged to dress up for this special occasion, too, and this year…I went a little overboard.
I even purchased a pirate costume for my youngest son, too.
It was a challenge, but I was also able to get my teen to wear a pirate t-shirt. The scarf and eye patch were completely voluntary.
After a delicious meal in Cariocas, the staff formed a limbo line and created a full-on parade within the restaurant! This was new to us from past Disney cruises, but we loved it!
My not-so-shy teen jumped right in.
Our drink server is participating, too!
This little guy slept through all of the fun! My teen and I were able to get a good photo while the little one slept.
The pirate party started shortly after dinner. My youngest son was so tired that we didn’t stay very long, but I did manage to capture some photos and video!
Castaway Cay
Castaway Cay is Disney’s own private island, or cay (a small strip of land), reserved for Disney cruise guests only. There are only Disney cast members on Castaway Cay and you never need to worry about using US dollars for shopping. There are also several excursions available, from boat tours to petting stingrays.
As always, Castaway Cay didn’t disappoint! We made a whole day of splashing in the water, playing on the beach and eating BBQ from Cookie’s.
Oh yeah, and a TON of ice cream-eating.
Cabin Door Decor & Fish Extender
We have always been fans of decorating our stateroom door and this time we add a few new magnets to our collection! We also participated in fish extender gift trading (the object hanging from the fish hook) this time around, our first, and the kids had SO MUCH FUN DOING IT. We will definitely be repeating this again next time.
fish extender from Grady’s Mommy
If you are not familiar with fish extenders, I will explain. It is a bit like Secret Santa. Put simply, you coordinate in advance with other families cruising (this is down within the DISboards website or in a Facebook group) by sharing your stateroom number, ages of children, number of room guests, and other essential information needed. Then, once you gather up all of this information, you purchase small gifts to drop into the fish extenders during the cruise! It’s so fun for the kids to find goodies in their pockets when arriving back in the room!
So, what KIND of gifts, you ask? Well, here is what we bought.
I bought all of the above items – keychains, necklaces, tags, and magnets – from a couple of Etsy shops:
As for the gifts that we received, they were all over the map:
Drawing with some of his fish extender goodies!
Whew, what a post, and these are only a few highlights from our trip! There was SO much more we did – family bingo, swimming, movies (I think we watched ten movies in our room!), live shows, parties, crafts and more! There is truly so much to do aboard a Disney cruise, and for all ages.
Well, I think it is understood that we had, once again, a fantastic cruise vacation with Disney. Naturally, we are already talking about when and where to take the next one!
Until our next cruise, please enjoy these past Disney cruise articles I have written and also visit my new “Disney Cruisin” Pinterest board below!
- Disney Cruise Line: Preparing for Your Disney Cruise
- Disney Cruise Line: Planning a Second Disney Cruise
- A Disney Cruise, From a Teen’s Perspective
- A Walk Around the Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship
- The Beautiful Coast of Cozumel, Mexico
For 16 years, I have been the creator & full-time blogger of Mom Spark. I’ve also created content for numerous outlets such as Good Housekeeping, Better Homes & Gardens, & Huff Post.