Disney Magic 3 Night Cruise (2000)
This is a review of my family’s first Disney Cruise and first cruise ever that I wrote in 2000 before I was a travel agent. This trip got us hooked on cruises and we have taken many since then!
by Tim Larison, CLIA Master Cruise Counsellor (MCC)
Friday, May 5th
Today was a day we had looked forward to for months – the day we boarded the Disney Magic for the Disney Cruise! We left Disney’s Old Key West resort early to
drive to Port Canaveral (around 10 a.m.). Good thing because we took a wrong turn on the way and ended up at Kennedy Space Center. We wanted to see Kennedy Space Center, but not until Monday! This only caused us a 15 minute delay, and we still arrived at the port in plenty of time to board the ship. We pulled into the parking lot right next to the ship – the Disney Magic was huge! We paid $21 in cash for the three days of parking. Dad had concerns beforehand about leaving some luggage in the rental car while on the cruise, but after seeing the secured parking lot he was no longer concerned. There was a guard at the entrance to the lot and it was a very safe place to park.
We entered the Disney Cruise terminal and checked in with no wait. The checkin process was very smooth, and we soon found ourselves on a line at the end of the Cruise Terminal to board the ship. We boarded the ship around 12:30 pm.As we walked into the ship into an impressive lobby our name was announced, “The Disney Cruise Line welcomes the Larison family from Colorado!”
Lunch was being served in the Parrot Cay Restaurant. It was a good buffet – especially the peel and eat shrimp! We sat next to an older couple from Daytona Beach at lunch. They told us they had received a very good rate for the cruise through a Florida Resident discount. We were to meet several Florida residents who were cruising under this discounted rate during the cruise. Early May isn’t the busiest time for cruising, so Disney discounted lots of cabins for local residents in the last month to fill the ship.
After lunch we checked out our cabin – a deluxe inside stateroom on deck 5 (cabin 5022). This was one of only six “inside” cabins that actually had a window. Disney sells these cabins as inside cabins because the window view is obstructed, but we were to find that the view from our cabin was hardly obstructed at all (just a small platform below the window and a couple of ropes to support the platform). We were very glad to have the window during the cruise as we had some spectacular views in the early morning. We really liked the deck 5 location – we were on the same deck as the kids club and the movie theatre (places we were to visit often), and we only had a short walk down the stairs to the restaurants and Disney Theatre on deck 4. We were also only a few steps away from an elevator to get to the other decks on the ship.
We were used to all the space of our one bedroom condo at OKW, so it did take some getting used to our small ship cabin. Dad read that the Disney cabins are larger than those on most cruise lines, and that may very well be, but still the space seemed smaller than a Motel 6 room. We didn’t spend that much time in the room during our Cruise, so the small living quarters didn’t present a problem.
Josh had to go to the bathroom shortly after we entered our stateroom. Upon flushing the toilet, Josh looked like he had seen a ghost! The toilet flushing noise sounded more like a cannon than a flush – it was very loud! Josh didn’t flush the toilet again for the entire cruise (don’t worry – we flushed it for him).
We then registered the boys at the Oceaneers Club. We were given a beeper where the counselors at the Club could get in contact with us if needed. The club was quite large with lots of activities for the kids.
Dad then went to make a reservation for “Palos” – a small “adults only” Italian restaurant on the top deck of the ship. The restaurant was much smaller than Dad expected – good thing he was on time to make the reservations because there wasn’t enough room for everyone on the ship to eat there during the 3 nights of the cruise. Originally we had wanted to eat at Palos at 6 pm on Friday night, but we found the kids club did not open until 7 pm. So Dad made the reservation for 7:30 p.m.
At 4 pm we went to the top deck to watch the ship leave port. There we were greeted with lots of cigarette smoke. We must have been unlucky to be around alot of smokers, because we didn’t see many smokers for the rest of the cruise. For the sail away from Cape Canaveral, though, it seemed like everyone was on the top deck and the smoke was a little irritating.
It was fun to see the ship leave port. The ship horn blasted a very loud “When You Wish Upon A Star” tune as the ship pulled out of the dock. We waived to those on shore as we headed out for our 3 day ocean journey.
We got the boys pizza and hamburgers at 6 pm at Pinnochio’s – this cruise featured all the “free” pizza and hamburgers you can eat. Josh, our little hamburger lover, appreciated that! The boys wolfed down their dinner, then we checked them into the kids club at 7 p.m. Mom and Dad arrived at Palos at 7:15 am and were seated promptly. Palos was a very classy restaurant. The trip literature recommended jackets for men. Dad didn’t want to pack a jacket, so he wore a short sleeve shirt and tie instead. While most of the men had jackets, there were a few that didn’t, so Dad did not feel out of place. We watched the sunset as we had an excellent Italian meal. Dad rated this as the best meal he had on the ship. That night Palos had a special of “veal lasagne” – it was one of the best portions of lasagne that Dad had ever tasted. If you are taking the cruise, I highly recommend eating at Palos one night! Dinner at Palos was very relaxing.
We finished after 9 p.m. and got the boys out of the kids club. We returned to our cabin to find a queen sized bed for Mom and Dad, and two bunk beds for the boys. One of the bunk beds was about 8 feet off the ground – suspended from the ceiling. Both boys had a tendency to fall out of bed at home, so Dad volunteered to sleep on the lower bunk bed for the rest of the cruise, while the boys slept with Mom in the queen sized bed. We went to bed early, anxious for tomorrow and a full day to explore the ship!
Saturday, May 6th
Today the ship was docked at Nassau in the Bahamas. We had decided before the trip that we were going to stay on the boat today, and not do any of the shore excursions in Nassau. Perhaps next trip we’ll explore Nassau some, but since we were only on a three day cruise we wanted to make sure we took advantage of all the activities on the Disney Magic.
We ate breakfast at Lumiere’s, one of the formal restaurants on board, and it was excellent. There was also a breakfast buffet offered on board (Topsiders), but Lumiere’s was so good for breakfast (the food was made to order) that we never ate at the buffet the whole cruise.
Most of today was spent relaxing on board. The boys and Anne really enjoyed the pools. Both Andrew and Josh went on the pool slide. Josh particularly enjoyed it and went down the slide at least six times.
Dad and Mom enjoyed playing ping pong on deck. Dad and Mom are not only well matched in marriage, but also as ping pong competitors. We played a number of games and it seemed Dad won about half of them and Mom won about half, with the difference in points being less than five for each game.
In the late morning we saw the Tigger Movie in the theatre on the fifth deck. Josh didn’t like the movie too much while the rest of us enjoyed it. The theatre was excellent – a good sound system and large screen. We were to take advantage of the free movies a couple of more times while on the cruise.
For lunch we again ate at Lumiere’s, and again the food was very good. In the afternoon it was more lounging by the pool, ping pong, and Dad watching sports at the ESPN Club (the Kentucky Derby was on). For dinner we ate at Lumiere’s for the third time in a row! This time we had a more formal meal, and once more the food was excellent. We almost skipped Lumeieres to eat at Palo’s one night – we were sure glad we decided to skip Parrot Cay instead. Mom rated the Lumeieres meal as the best one she had on the trip.
After dinner we put the boys in the Oceaneers Club. Mom and Dad went to see “Keeping The Faith” – a free movie playing in the 5th deck theatre. Back home Mom and Dad often watched a movie on Saturday night after the boys were in bed – so we kept this tradition going on the cruise. The movie ended around 10:30 pm. We picked the boys up from the Oceaneer’s Club – on the same deck and only a short walk from the movie theatre. We had another short walk back to our cabin. The boys quickly went to sleep after an energetic day swimming and playing in the kids club.
Sunday, May 7th
A loud rumbling noise awoke Dad out of his sleep this morning. It was the big ship’s engines slowing down to dock at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay! Dad looked out the cabin window to see one of the most beautiful sights he had ever laid eyes on – the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean with the tiny Disney island in view. Dad raced to the top deck to get a picture.
We got an early start and headed towards our favorite breakfast spot – Lumiere’s – where we had another excellent meal. We got our “beach gear” and we were one of the first off the ship at Castaway Cay around 8:45 a.m. Even though we were one of the first off the ship, Dad just missed getting the last beach hammock on the family beach. Not to worry, as we were able to secure a nice, shady umbrella with several lounge chairs.
The setting was absolutely perfect. The weather was sunny, but not too hot because of a cool Bahamian breeze blowing across the island. The family beach was in a big cove – there were no waves and hardly any bugs on the beach. We built sand castles, played in the ocean, and relaxed on the beach most of the morning. A Disney band was playing music on a bandstand nearby. Disney had thought of everything.
Before the cruise Dad had read of many people raving about Castaway Cay, and they were right! We had lunch at Cookies Barbeque on the island. Dad recognized one of the servers as one of the waitresses at Palo’s. The food here was plentiful and very good for a buffet. After lunch we explored the island some more, before heading back to the ship around 3 p.m.
Dad saw another movie in the Disney theatre at 3:30 pm (Mission to Mars) while Mom and the boys had ice cream and played at the pool. We pulled away from Castaway Cay around 5 p.m., saying goodbye to the Disney Island we will never forget.
For dinner that night we ate at Animator’s Palette. This was a restaurant we had heard great reviews of, and it was OK, but it was probably our least favorite of the three dinners we had. The food wasn’t quite as good as what we had at Palo’s and Lumieres. The room did change colors with each course of the meal, but it wasn’t quite as impressive as it had looked in the pictures.
After dinner we went to the only stage show we saw on the whole cruise – Disney Dreams. If you only can see one stage show and you are a Disney fan, this is the one to see! There were several songs and recreations from the classic Disney stories in the show – it was very well done. The theatre gets very packed for this show, so arrive early if you want a good seat! The boys were very tired after Disney Dreams, so we returned to our stateroom and put the boys to bed. We went to sleep that night sad that our cruise would be ending the next day, but with a bunch of wonderful memories from our three days at sea.
Monday, May 8th
We had an EARLY breakfast today, 6:45 a.m., as Disney wanted to get everyone off the boat so that they could prepare for the next cruise. We ate at the restaurant we had dinner at the night before, Animator’s Palette. The breakfast was good but not quite as good as the breakfasts we had at Lumieres the two previous days. We had to put our luggage out the night before, so we took our carryon bags to breakfast, and after breakfast we were off the boat by 8 a.m.
One thing Dad overlooked was the US Customs form that EVERYBODY has to fill out before being let out of the ship terminal. Dad figured he didn’t have to fill one out since we didn’t buy anything, but the customs officer asked for the form (even if we had nothing to declare). Dad quickly filled out the form at the cruise terminal and we were on our way.
The Disney Cruise overall met and exceeded our expectations, and we certainly would do the cruise again. Some highlights: 1. The food overall was excellent. Dad had read that the food on the Disney ships didn’t quite measure up to that of other Cruise lines, but we thought the food was very good (better than what we usually get at Disneyworld). 2. Castaway Cay was as good as people described it to be. The stop here was the highlight of the cruise – it was beautiful. 3. We got a great deal on our stateroom – paying an “inside stateroom” price for a room that had a window. We certainly would ask for this cabin again (5022) as we had great views and it was centrally located to get to all areas of the ship. 4. While we didn’t use the kids clubs as much as some people on board, it was still a nice option to have when Mom and Dad wanted some alone time. The boys had fun at the club – Andrew learned how to draw Mickey Mouse! 5. Of all the restaurants, Palos in particular was a memorable meal and it is worth the extra effort to eat there one night of your cruise. 6. The free movies! We saw three first run movies on board. 7. The slide at the kids pool. The “adult” slides at the dvc resorts (boardwalk villas, vero beach) aren’t really suited for little kids. This slide was perfect for our little guys as it emptied into just a few inches of water. 8. The views from the ship. From the top deck it was very relaxing just to look over the rails at the wide expanse of ocean all around. 9. The weather was perfect! May must be a good time to go cruising, as we found the weather sunny each day but not too hot (there were enough ocean breezes to cool things off). 10. The ship photographers took a nice photo of us at Castaway Cay that we bought. The ship photographers provided a good service and weren’t too pushy. We didn’t even do many of the activities on the ship (we only saw one of the three shows, never made it to any of the clubs in the entertainment district or the on deck parties). There certainly would be plenty of new things to do if we ever took the cruise again.
Things on the cruise that could be better: 1. A clearly designated smoking area on the top deck. There are some smoking areas, but it seems like they were spread all around that top deck. If there must be smoking on board limit it to one area. 2. The pools got to be very crowded given the size of the pools and the number of people on board. Not much Disney can do about this, but future cruisers should try to hit the pools when others are off the ship (like on Nassau day). 3. The staterooms were small. Disney says their staterooms are larger than other cruise lines, but it was still hard to get used to the cramped space after staying in a one bedroom at OKW earlier in the week. The small staterooms are probably on every cruise line, so again there’s not much Disney can do about this. 4. Open the kids clubs earlier on the first night. A 7 pm opening prevents early Palo diners from seeing the late show at the Disney Theatre (at 8:30 pm) unless they rush through their meal (no kids are allowed at Palos so the kids have to be in the kids club if you want to eat there).
Overall, though, the cruise was a memorable experience and one that we will talk about for months.