Dining on the Disney Magic

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a nice weekend.

Today, let's cover dining on the Disney Magic. You've already made your way to port (whether that be Port Canaveral, Miami or perhaps Europe!), you've checked in and your boarding number has been called. First things first - let's eat!

When you get on the boat, you can go up to Cabanas and grab lunch; that's a cafeteria style buffet with LOTS of choices that's good for breakfast and lunch. You can either sit inside the dining room, or there is outside seating as well, which is really nice. Typically, one of the evening table service restaurants is also available for lunch on embarkation day - check the Daily Navigator or ask a Cast Member when you get onboard.

For snacks and grab-and-go, there are many places on board to eat a quick lunch or snack on pizza, sandwiches, fruit and more. On the Disney Magic, you can find these on Deck 9: Daisy De-Lites, Pete's Boiler Bites, Pinocchio's Pizzeria and my personal favorite, Eye Scream and Frozone Treats, where you can help yourself to soft-serve ice cream in flavors that change every day.

For dinner, Disney Cruise Line has what they call rotational dining. This means that each night of your cruise, you'll go to another of the sit-down restaurants and your serving team will follow up. This is very nice because they get to know you, your likes, any allergies or dietary restrictions you have, etc. When you check in you'll get the dining rotation for your cruise, which will be printed on your Key to the World card (a card which opens your stateroom and is also used for charging privileges). You'll rotate among Animator's Palette, Carioca's and Lumieres. Attire for dinner is dressy-casual (they really don't want you wearing swim suits, cover ups, flip flops, etc but nice shorts, capri pants, skirts, pants, etc are all fine). On longer cruises, Semi Formal and Formal nights will be part of the itinerary. You can dress up as little or as much as you like; but don't worry, tuxes and tails are NOT required!

In addition, before dinner each night there will be photographers and characters in the main lobby/atrium area if you'd like a family pictures. These pictures can be purchased at any time during the cruise. There are two main dinner seating times, 5:45PM and 8:15PM. Dinner usually takes between 60-90 minutes. You'll be greeted by your server and assistant server and you'll be given the menu for the evening. If it's a Formal night, or perhaps Pirates in the Caribbean Deck Party night, you'll be given special menus. 

Each menu has courses for appetizers, soup/salad, main course and dessert. You can choose WHATEVER you want here; don't feel like you have to choose one from each category. Perhaps none of the appetizers appeal to you, but you'd love to have both the soup of the night and a salad. Go for it! Also feel free to order more of something if you really, really like it. All your food is included so don't be shy if you'd another serving, or if you want to try something else.

For those 18 and older, you can also have dinner at Palo (or brunch on cruises with at least one sea day). For $30 per person, you'll get an amazing dining experience. Brunch is a buffet like you've never seen, with choices from caviar to croissants to fruit and more. You can also order warm items that will be made-to-order such as pizza, Chicken Parmesan and Eggs Benedict. (Psst - for those over 21, you also get one free mimosa with your meal.) Dinner is equally excellent with antipasti service, a phenomenal menu featuring filet, lobster, pasta and more, and the real star of Palo - the chocolate souffle. Order it, just trust me. You won't regret it! Attire at both brunch and dinner at Palo is dress pants and shirt or jacket for me, and dress or pantsuit for women. They request no jeans, shorts, capri pants. tennis shoes or flip flops. If you happen to dine at both the Palo brunch and dinner on your cruise, you'll have the same server (although he/she will be a different server from your regular ones during the evening dining).

Remember that with Disney Cruise Line, all of your food is part of your cruising fee (apart from Palo) - even the room service menu! The only things not included are alcohol, popcorn and snack items at the movies and if you order soda from room service (as they bring you cans of soda). If I go to a movie and want a snack, I order room service and have them bring chocolate chip cookies - an awesome movie snack! :) Otherwise, everything else is included.

I do like to bring a some $1 bills to tip the room service staff; everything on the ship is credit only (on your Key to the World card, you won't use cash or credit cards to purchase items while on board) but with room service I find it easier to bring some $1 bills and tip them with those.

There are self-serve beverage stations on the pool deck with coffee, soda, water and tea - I either bring a Tervis or similar cup from home, or buy one on the boat. They have cups at the self-serve stations but they're a bit small, I think, so I like to bring my own cup.

If you've dined before on the Disney Magic, what's your favorite restaurant? How about favorite grab-and-go place?

Have a magical day!

Adult Beverages on the Disney Cruise Line

I take my role as a blogger very seriously. When I find out good information, tips and tricks, or other good to know items, I must share them with you. It's my duty, as you are my lovely and faithful readers!

In the spirit of this, I have taken it upon myself to showcase some of the most delicious adult beverages on the Disney Cruise Line. Because I'm a giver like that.

:) I love my job!

Here are some of the drinks from the last few cruises; some were drink of the day offerings, and others were special orders at the bar. We also took part in a mixology class and got to experience how to make mixed drinks, shots and specialty drinks such as Bellinis. YUM!

As you scroll through the pictures, just imagine you're on one of the four DCL ships, enjoying your beverage as the world rolls by. Calgon - take me away!

 

 

 

 

Have a magical day!

Our Balcony Stateroom - The Disney Magic Stateroom 7552

On my birthday cruise, we stayed in a Balcony cabin, stateroom #7552 on the Disney Magic. We picked this room because it was mid-ship, and looked to be a great location for getting to various places on the ship.

The room was very similar to other Balcony cabins we've had in the past; in fact, this was right next door to the stateroom my friend Alice and I shared in January 2014! To the left of the door in the first picture are two good sized closets, with plenty of hangers. To the right of the door is the split bath; one bathroom with a sink and the toilet, another bathroom with a sink and the shower. This is SO nice because it allows multiple people to shower, get ready for the day, etc.

The balcony was also standard, but nice; perfect for sitting with a coffee in the morning, watching a sunset or relaxing before dinner. Bliss!

We'd for sure pick this room again - it was a great one! Here are some pictures of our room, as well as as picture of the Gold Castaway Club gift we received. I can't wait to fill up that photo album with cruise memories.

 

 

Have a magical day!

Our Day in Grand Cayman - February 2015

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I got home from my big birthday cruise and I have yet to share any trip report with you! Bad blogger!

I am going to do things a bit differently this time around and not necessarily do posts in date order. I want to tell you all about my birthday cruise onboard the Disney Magic and can't wait to share it all with you!

Today I want to bring your our experience in Grand Cayman. This was our second (of four) port of call on our Western Caribbean 7-night cruise. After the great day we had in Cozumel the day before, I had high hopes of Grand Cayman.

Grand Cayman is a port where you tender; this means that instead of pulling up to the dock and being able to walk directly onto land, the boat is out from shore and you take smaller tender boats to the dock. To the right is a picture of what one of those boats looks like, taken from our tender. It was a quick jaunt from the tender boat to shore, and only took about 5 minutes.

We were initially supposed to tender at another part of the island, but it was pretty windy and the waves in that area were too choppy for us to dock. No matter - Disney took care of it as they always do. There was an announcement that morning that we were going to tender at a different location, and to come to the Walt Disney Theatre to wait for the next tender. At the Theatre, they handed out a tender ticket for each person and 2 bus tickets per person so we wouldn't have to pay for transportation between the boat and the downtown area. The normal tender pulls up right to the downtown, so they didn't want us to have to hassle with getting to the shops. It was super easy, handled very well and Disney did a great job. When we pulled up to the dock, Disney cast members were there guiding us, and also helping us get into busses for the trip to downtown.

We didn't have any excursions scheduled for today, and so our plan was to wander down the main shopping area and see if there was anything we wanted. As in many of the Caribbean islands, there were lots of jewelry stores and specialty shops, as well as stores that are familiar to us in the United States. We'd gone to a shopping seminar on the boat and received a map of the stores that Disney recommends shopping from, as they vet them for customer service, quality of merchandise, etc. I thought about purchasing a tanzanite ring but didn't see one that I loved, for the price I wanted to pay. The stores are supposed to bargain with you about price, but quite honestly I'm not super comfortable with that process. I would rather have the item be a certain price, and I pay it. I just never know if I'm actually getting a good deal, or if the person who walks in after me is going to be a better price. Know what I mean?

After a leisurely few hours in Grand Cayman, we decided to make our way back to the boat and grab lunch on the ship. On the drive to and from the downtown area, we were given a mini guided tour of the island by the bus drivers, telling us about the history, famous residents and more. It was pretty interesting and very neat to see some of the more residential parts of Grand Cayman. We passed one house in particular - I wish I would have taken a picture for all of you! It was HUGE and tropical-looking and gorgeous. A sprawling estate. Our bus driver said over Christmas, the owners open up the grounds and they have Santa, and give out treats for the kids on the island.

As you can see in these unedited pictures, the water is gorgeous. Crystal clear and just beautiful. The weather was perfect, too; breezy but warm and a sunshine-filled sky.

We had a great day, and I'm excited to go back to Grand Cayman again and perhaps try their world-famous snorkeling. We didn't book it this time but are glad our hearts weren't set on it, as some of the excursions were cancelled due to the wind. In general I do not love the shopping areas at ports (pushy salespeople and not a lot of variation on product from port to port) but we did have a nice time walking around.

Have a magical day!

Welcome to the Disney Magic!

One of the most fun parts of the cruise is just getting onboard. All the planning and all the excitement come together and you're back in your happy place (or there for the first time!).

Getting on the boat is great for another reason, too. This is Disney - do you think they'd just let you walk on the boat without some pomp and circumstance? No, sir! No, ma'am! This is Disney Cruise Lines, and they do it right.

Here's what you can expect when you first get onboard your Disney Cruise Line ship; can't you just hear them calling YOUR name?

Have a magical day!

I'm Home!

Hello, everyone! I'm home and we had a GREAT time on the Disney Magic. It was a week of PERFECT weather, awesome food and super relaxation. I'll be bringing you more pictures and information over the next few months but I wanted to check in and at least say hi!

Have a great Monday!

Just Checking In...Hello from Cozumel!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I'm having a great cruise so far, and I'm celebrating my birthday today in Cozumel. So far we've had lots of nice relaxing time, some fun spa treatments, and a great excursion (more about all that to come later!). We've had lunch, and now are enjoying a nice, leisurely afternoon on the Disney Magic before celebrating tonight with dinner at Palo.

Everything is fantastic - crew is fabulous, our servers are great, and the weather?! As you can see in the picture, it's pretty incredible.

I'll be checking in a few more days during the week, but of course stay tuned when I get home for more in-depth information about the cruise!

Have a magical day!

My Latest Craft Project

Back in January, when I was on the Disney Magic, I looked again at the Thomas Kinkade Disney prints and imagined what they'd look like in my home.  I say looked "again" because on each of the last few cruises I've been on, I've wandered near the art galleries on the ships and thought seriously about taking one of those gorgeous prints home with me.  I have just the spot for them, too; in my TV/family room, along a long wall.  I imagined them all lined up there, looking fabulous.

What always made me pause was the price.  The framed prints are at least $500 each, and although incredible beautiful I didn't really want to spend that much money.  Also, if I bought each of the framed prints, I would run out of wall space!

It was on that vacation that I had a lightbulb moment.  I was in the gift shop on the Disney Magic and noticed they were selling puzzles of the prints, 500 pieces each in sets of four.  What if, I thought....

I didn't buy them at the gift shop (because at that point, I literally had ZERO luggage space left) but searched for them on Amazon and eBay when I got back.  I bought two of the sets, and in the last few weeks have been going to town putting them together.

My plan was to put them together, use Mod Podge to glue them together, and then go to a local store and get them framed.  When I'm all done, I'll make a collage with the focal point being a larger framed print of the Tangled painting, which is my absolute favorite of all of them.  I will buy that print either on an upcoming cruise, or see if I can find one online.

Here is a Before and After; as you can see, the glue dries clear so no worries there.  The Mod Podge is perfect; I use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the glue for a puzzle this size and then brush it on with a clean paintbrush.  Make sure you spread it evenly and really into the corners and edges.

(And yes, I know this is the not the same picture :) but the after effect is the same.)

Didn't they turn out great??  I can't wait to share the finished product with you when I'm all done with this little crafty project!

What kinds of crafts do you like to do?

The Cabanas on Serenity Bay at Disney's Castaway Cay

One of the best parts of taking a Disney Cruise is spending a day at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas.  It's tranquil, beautiful, the water is crystal-clear blue....Calgon, take me away!

In late January, I took a 3-day cruise with one of my best friends, Alice, whom I've known since junior high. It was just us girls, and so the theme of the vacation was relaxation and a bit of pampering.

With those goals in mind, I was able to book a Cabana on Serenity Bay!  I was honestly shocked I was able to book one - there are a limited amount of cabanas available, and they tend to go pretty quickly.  It was just by chance that I was on the Disney Cruise Line site, completing our online check in when I noticed one was still available.  I scooped it up, and couldn't wait to see it for myself.

Serenity Bay is the adults-only side of Castaway Cay (and don't worry, "adults only" isn't code for a nude beach - swimsuits are required at all times on CC).  It's very quiet, peaceful and serene on that side of the island.  You can lounge on the beach, ride bikes, and have your lunch meal right there next to Serenity Bay.  It's my absolute favorite part of any cruise.

We had a balcony cabin, and I was able to sit on the balcony and watch us dock in Castaway Cay; it was pretty incredible to get closer and closer to that island paradise, and be able to witness it from the comfort of our own room.

We put on our swimsuits, grabbed our beach bags, and headed to Cabanas for a quick breakfast.

After breakfast, we walked off the ship and headed towards Serenity Bay.  You can either hop on a tram, or walk - we chose to walk, as three days of rich food and cocktails was beginning to catch us with us.

We made our way to Serenity Bay in about 10 minutes, and checked in for our cabana.  The night before, we'd received a voucher in our stateroom with instructions on where to check in to be escorted to your cabana.  We arrived at the check in desk, and our concierge drove up in a golf cart to take us to our cabana.  He then told us more about the cabana, when lunch was being served, and also that we could call on him anytime we needed anything.

Cabana #20 was going to be our home for the next few hours!

Even from the outside, we were already impressed!

We then made our way inside, and were blown away - what a wonderful place!

Plenty of places to sit and lounge, both inside and outside.  This turned out to be a life saver, because Alice got sunburned a bit the day before, and it was wonderful to have a shady place where she could sit in the hottest part of the day.

Sadly, we never used this hammock - next time!

Here are the cabanas next to us.  It was bizarre - the Disney Cruise website didn't have any other cabanas open but ours when I booked, but both the cabanas next to us were empty all day.

There was lots of room to store our things, plus some fruit and snacks, and a mini fridge stocked with soda, bottled water, and cold towels.

I know, right?!?!  We felt like queens for the day.

After getting settled, we decided to go out on a bike ride and explore the island a bit.  A one-hour bike rental is included for each person in your party when you rent a cabana, so we wanted to take advantage of that.  When we went and got our bikes, we told the gal at the desk that we didn't have watches on us to measure an hour, and she waved her hands and said, no worries!  You're on Island Time now!  :)

We peddled off and rode around - it was awesome to see the island this way, and a great way to get some exercise, too.  I will for SURE do this on future Castaway Cay trips!

After bike riding, we lounged in our cabana and also on the beach.  It was HEAVEN - such a perfect day.

We then made our way to Cookies Too, and had lunch - this is all included and part of your cruise, so no need to pay or go back to the ship for lunch!  We could have had the lunch delivered to our cabana, but we decided to eat at Cookies.

Lunch is basic fare; burgers, brats, hot dogs, assorted cold salads, fruit and dessert.  There is also a self-serve ice cream machine.

After lunch, we rolled ourselves back to the cabana, and walked along the Serenity Bay beach on the way there.

Alice decided to lounge on the cabana, and I pulled a beach chair into the water to sit for a while and read my book.  After leaving the Polar Vortex back home, sitting in the sun on this amazing beach felt incredible.

The all-aboard time today was 4:30, and so around 3:30 we packed up our things and headed back to the ship.  We stopped in a few of the stores along the way (they have two merchandise locations on the island) and I picked up a sticker for my car, and a Castaway Cay Tervis cup.

Pretty soon, we could see the beautiful Magic.

This sign says it all - See Ya Later, Mon!  It was a perfect day at Castaway Cay - I can't wait until I am back there!

Trip Report Day Eight: Leaving the Disney Magic

So today is the final day of this Disney World and Disney Cruise Line trip report...I hope you've enjoyed reading along!

On the morning of Sunday, January 5th, we woke up for our last Disney meal - breakfast.  On the final night, you get a piece of paper delivered to your stateroom detailing what time you go to breakfast, and at which one of the sit-down restaurants you'll go to.  Since we had the first dining rotation time, we were to meet at Carioca's at 7:30 for our last meal on the ship.  We brought our luggage down with us, and they had us place it in the hallway to the restaurant while we ate.

It was standard breakfast fare; pancakes, eggs, danishes, etc.  

After saying goodbye to our wait staff (who were wonderful!) we made our way out of the ship, into the terminal at the Port of Miami, and towards our cars in the parking garage.  We said our goodbyes to our family; we'd had a great vacation together - and have already booked our January 2nd, 2015 cruise!  We'll be back, Disney Cruise Line!

Our cousin Sam attends school at UCF in Orlando, and so he was kind enough to drive us from Miami up to Orlando, so we could catch our flight at the Sanford airport.   It took about 4 hours to get from the port to Sanford, so if you're driving that, keep that in mind.

We got to the airport and as we were checking into our flight, found out we had a delay.  In hindsight, we were lucky we got OUT of Florida, back to Moline.  That Sunday was the start of another set of winter storms, and we found out later that a fair amount of flights leaving Orlando were not getting out, due to the backup of flights getting canceled in other areas.

We arrived to a VERY windy, snowy, 20 below zero night in Moline.  Blessedly, the car started with no issues, we threw in the suitcases and made our way home! 

We'd had a great vacation, experiencing both Disney World and Disney Cruise Line.  Noah LOVED cruising, so I am pretty sure I can get him to come on another cruise in the future!

Thank you agin for following along!  I will next share some photos and experiences that my friend and I had when we went back on the Magic in early February, and be sure and stay tuned when I blog LIVE from the Agent Education Program at Disney World next week!

Have a magical day!

Trip Report Day Seven: Last Dinner of the Cruise

After a wet day in Key West, we headed to our final dinner of the cruise.

(Sniff, sniff.)

Tonight we were dining at Carioca's, which replaced Parrot Cay when the Magic went under its refurbishment.

picture copyright Disney Cruise Line

It's a very nice restaurant, very bright and cheery.  I LOVED the lanterns they have hanging from the ceiling.  They would look super in my dining room.

But I digress.

I chose their broth-based chicken soup for my appetizer, and it was good but VERY spicy, so I only ate about 1/2 of it.  I also got the empanada for my appetizer, which was excellent.

For the entree, I (along with quite a few others at our table) chose the Flank Steak, which I really liked.  It was served with rice and black beans, and I thought the seasonings were perfect.

For dessert, I chose the sundae, which was your basic sundae but hit the spot.

After dinner, we went our separate ways.  The boys headed to their last night of karaoke, and I headed back to the room to pack up our things.  I found a movie playing on the TV, ordered a glass of wine from room service and packed up our room.

Disney Cruise Line has a service where you can place your luggage outside your room (I believe it's by 9PM) and they will have it waiting for you as to exit the ship.  If you are sailing from Port Canaveral, you can also do a transfer to the Orlando International Airport, they will take your luggage to the airport for you, and you won't see it until your final destination (this can be set up before you leave on the cruise, or at Guest Services one you're on the boat).

We did not utilize this service, so we kept our luggage in the room with us that night, and carried it off the ship as we were leaving the next morning.

Next: We Disembark the Disney Magic