A Magical Overview

Sailing with Disney Cruise Line has been a dream of mine for many years, and last week it came true.  My lovely bride and I set sail out of the port of Galveston, Texas on a Western Caribbean cruise itinerary on the Disney Magic, the original ship in their fleet.  It was a 7-night itinerary sailing south through the Gulf of Mexico to the largest of the Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman – then on to Costa Maya, Mexico, followed by Cozumel, Mexico before returning once again to Galveston.  The sailing included two full at-sea days, then three port days, and finally another at-sea day.  I know many of you readers have sailed with Disney before - but we hadn't - so bear with me as I go through and share all about OUR voyage and some of the experiences we had, and memories that we made.  For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of sailing with Disney Cruise Line - or this particular itinerary or ship - hopefully it will be of some benefit to you.  And of course, again, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a travel professional, and would be more than happy to help you get booked onto the Disney Magic (or one of their other ships) if you are interested in sailing with them in the future.  But aside from that comment, the rest of these DISNEY MAGIC entries will simply be our experiences and memories - with some personal opinion thrown in from time to time.  And, my lovely bride has even consented to provide a guest feature with her own view of the voyage.  So be sure to watch for the female point of view in the days to come.   

The Disney Magic originally set sail at the end of July 1998, and has been sailing all over the world in the 14 years since she first set sail.  Just as Disneyland, Walt’s original park, was a proving ground for theme parks yet to be built in the years and decades following his death, the Disney Magic has been just that for the fleet of Disney ships.  It certainly has some great things going for it, as well as some flaws /drawbacks that have been modified or improved on the Wonder, Dream & Fantasy.  But for a first time sailing with Disney Cruise Line, we were very pleased to begin our DCL career onboard the beautiful Magic. As my lovely bride stated on Facebook to a friend asking about our trip, “Disney’s ship lived up to its’ name…Magic.”  

There are just so many things to talk about regarding the cruise, I simply cannot do it all in writing.  So I will be breaking it down into various categories – food (yes, I've even got a whole lot of "food porn" - we got pictures at just about every meal), entertainment, port adventures, transportation, shipboard amenities, fellow passengers, deck parties, Fireworks at Sea, the ship itself and more.  We took well over 1,500 pictures during the week, and I will be sharing a good number of them, but of course not all of them.  We had such a good time, and cannot wait to be able to return to the sea and sail once again with Disney.

During our sailing, we enjoyed the food and their legendary service; we really enjoyed their stage productions; the spa; the adults-only areas including the pool, hot tub and after-dinner entertainment in Rockin' Bar D.  They provide a wide array of port adventures, and the crew does an absolutely amazing job with entertainment for both kids and adults alike.  For too long I've heard from friends and clients alike that Disney Cruise Line is really only for families traveling with kids - but - that is hands-down, absolutely NOT TRUE.  We sailed without our kids - and had a simply marvelous time.  There are so many terrific things/areas just for the adults, which totally debunk the myth that Disney is just for kids.  I'll share more about that soon.   

Until next time,