Entertainment Magic

One of the most magical aspects of any Disney experience is the entertainment.  The theme parks are filled with all kinds of different shows, musical groups and entertainment offerings.  The Disney cruise ships are no different!  Not only were we pleasantly surprised with how much entertainment there is, we were honestly quite amazed.   And the best part, like other cruises, is it’s all included with your cruise fare. 

Throughout the week there was something going on in the main theatre – The Walt Disney Theatre – every single night; three Broadway-style shows,  the opening night and closing night variety-style shows, FRANKENWEENIE (Tim Burton’s new film which had just opened in theaters) was shown, and one family night-show with the featured magician’s act. What a beautiful theatre it is, too.  It definitely reminded of many old-time classic theatres and movie palaces from back in "the day" in New York and Los Angeles. I just love the Art Deco stylings, and the Disney Magic is just filled with that design style.   

There were all kinds of smaller shows and experiences to be enjoyed in other venues around the ship all week long.  But one of the neatest features we found, was the Buena Vista Theatre, which is their onboard movie theater.  Classic Disney films, along with first-run films are shown in there, as well as a ton of classic Disney fare plays on the “Funnel Vision” screen up on deck 9.  While onboard we enjoyed THE AVENGERS, THE ODD LIIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN and started to watch FINDING NEMO-3D (but ended up leaving after about a half an hour since it really wasn’t all that different from the original version).   On deck 9’s Funnel Vision we enjoyed PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL and parts of several other films including THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, TOY STORY, THE JUNGLE BOOK, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, MARY POPPINS, CARS and WALL-E. 

In The Walt Disney Theatre we enjoyed five of the seven shows that were offered.  One of the two that we did not go to in the theatre (we watched a part of on the tv screen in our room) was TWICE CHARMED, the reimagined telling of the Cinderella story created just for the Disney ships.  We were quite impressed with the overall quality of the performances, even when we didn’t necessarily like (VILLAINS TONIGHT! and TWICE CHARMED), having worked in the theatre in our younger days, as well as both being involved with drama productions for years – we could definitely see how much quality goes in to the onboard productions.  But even though we didn’t really care for VILLAINS TONIGHT!, I will say that I LOVED that both Yzma and Kronk (from THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE) were featured.  I have loved that film since I first saw it on the big screen years ago, and it is a beloved favorite of my kids as well.  So seeing SOMETHING with those characters (I have not yet experienced the “Sorcerors” game at the Magic Kingdom, but I understand they are featured in the game there).  No photography was allowed in the Broadway-style shows, so I have nothing to share from those performances. 

It’s hard because I have so much that I want to share, but time can be so limiting.  I will talk about other entertainment offerings that we enjoyed in my next update, including which classic Disney character we learned to draw.  So  with that, once again, I say thanks for reading along and for now I will bid you adieu, or as Mickey likes to say, see ya real soon!

Until next time,

 

More Dining Magic

For those of you who have sailed with Disney Cruise Line, and even for many of you have dreamed of sailing with Disney Cruise Line, PALO probably means something to you.  For those of you who have not yet sailed or even considered sailing with Disney Cruise Line, it most likely won’t.  But PALO is the subject of this next entry – “More Dining Magic.”  

On our second night of the cruise, we were originally scheduled to dine in Parrot Cay, our regular rotational spot in the dining rotation, but instead we had dinner at Palo, the adults-only restaurant onboard the Disney Magic (and replicated on the other ships in the fleet as well).  We, well, at least I, had heard and read a lot of the hype about the restaurant, and kind of knew what to expect.   We were ready and willing to see what it was like, and to be wowed.  We knew that we needed to dress, and night two happened to be our itinerary’s “Formal Night”, so we just wore to Palo what we would have worn to Parrot Cay anyway.  We saw no need to alter our plans simply because we altered our ultimate table location. 

On the Magic, Palo is located on Deck 10, aft, or the very back of the ship, on the upper-most “real” deck.  (There IS a Deck 11, but it’s inside the pretend smoke stack housing VIBE, the teen club area).  Our table was in a lovely location, just slightly off-center from the very back of the ship.  As we sat enjoying the sunset, the one thing that I certainly would have preferred about the restaurant, was if the walking deck had been made to cross in front of the restaurant, rather than wrap around the back of it.  That way Palo could have truly butted up to the very edge of the ship, and would have provided unspoiled views of the ocean from the tables, vs. having the deck’s railing obstructing the view. 

Despite the inability to secure reservations online prior to departure for this “highly sought after location” for anything but the very first night of the sailing, Palo was fairly empty throughout the entire hour and a half that we were there.  It was fascinating to watch as there truly were only about 6 other tables filled the entire time we were there.  This was just the first something about the hype not coming true during our dining experience there. 

Given the very light attendance, our server, Nikola, was VERY attentive - even moreso than he most likely no doubt usually is.  He just kept coming around making sure we were enjoying ourselves, and that the food was good.  I counted  nine times when said “Bon appetite” to us.  Once, maybe twice would have been sufficient.  It was almost as if he were trying too hard. 

To start we had a very nice, freshly prepared at table-side anti-pasti.  The bread selection that came with it was not exactly to our liking, but it was fun to look at (mostly of the hard, cracker variety instead of soft, sumptuous breads). 

Neither of us could really decide what we wanted, but Nikola certainly had his recommendations.  For appetizers, I had the very delicious shrimp, and my lovely bride had a sumptuous  mozzarella rose (I didn’t get a picture of the actual menu insides, so I cannot remember the exact names of the various dishes we ordered).   For our entrees, I went with the ahi tuna, and she had lobster ravioli.  I also wanted the lobster farfalle, though I didn’t eat the pasta itself, just the big, very delicious piece of lobster.  The lemon sorbet that came in between the appetizer and the entrée was light, cool, refreshing, and oh so delicious. 

For dessert, we definitely decided to go with the Chocolate Souffle (which does indeed have to be ordered prior to your entrée as so much of the hype indicates), and it was very good.  I am not a huge fan of dark chocolate, so I definitely toned it down quite a bit with the provided vanilla ice cream – even my wife’s portion of the ice cream, which she didn’t want.  If it hadn’t been for that, I would not have enjoyed that “chocolate bomb” – but with it, it was quite good.  I also added the vanilla and chocolate sauces that were provided, and had a wonderfully tasty dessert. 

We are not coffee drinkers, (hot tea yes, coffee no), so coffee after dinner was not on our agenda – though my lovely bride did enjoy a cup of tea.  Nikola was sure to bring us the second round of the lemon sorbet, though this time it was not in a dish, but rather in a shot glass and infused with Absolut Vodka.  It was good, though I didn’t finish it all.  Not something that I would have thought to mix together myself, I must admit. 

Overall, I will say that for us, Palo just didn’t live up to the hype from the internet board and guide books regarding Disney Cruise Line.  It was nice - very nice - but it just wasn’t “all that” that so much of the hype makes it out to be.  The food was great, but not worth the $20 per person upcharge (plus added gratuity) that we had to spend to eat there.  While slightly different, the food selection itself wasn’t that far off from the menus throughout the week that we enjoyed in the other dining rooms (as we discovered as the week passed by).  Overall, if I were to place the experience on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a “must do again” rating, I would say our experience at Palo rated a 7.5.  It was nice, but not something that we just absolutely  “must” do again.

We had been able to secure a Palo Brunch, also something that is very hyped online, but after our dinner, with neither one of us being overwhelmed  - we decided we would just skip the brunch.  So on the way out of the restaurant, I asked the general manager what the brunch menu included, and then asked if we could cancel our brunch reservation.  He was shocked and instantly wanted to know what they had done wrong to upset us.  I assured him that they had done nothing wrong, and that we had enjoyed a delightful dinner, we had just changed our minds about brunch.  After a couple of minutes of convincing him that his staff had not offended us, he graciously cancelled our reservation.  On a future voyage, we have decided that we will try the brunch, but don’t really see a need to return for dinner. 

As with the initial entry regarding dining, I do have more to share, but once again will save those things for another entry.  So for now, as before, I bid you adieu, or as Mickey likes to say, see ya real soon!

Until next time,

Dining Magic

It all starts with black & white

As previously mentioned, our first night on the ship called for us to eat in Animator’s Palette.  For those of you who haven’t sailed with Disney Cruise Line before, or if you have but have only sailed on the more recent ships (Disney Dream or Disney Fantasy), the three dining rooms onboard the Disney Magic are Animator’s Palette (A), Parrot Cay (P) and Lumiere’s (L).  Disney Cruise Line revolutionized the industry back when the Disney Magic was first introduced by offering “rotational dining”, whereby each night you eat in a different restaurant/dining room.  You either have the main (early) or second (late) seating, and each night you and your wait staff, move to another location.  How neat is that?!  That’s pretty neat.  We were on the second seating, and our rotation was A, P, L, A, P, L, A.  And with the information about Animator’s Palette only undergoing the beautiful transformation from “black & white” to “color” on your first time dining in that location, we absolutely had to eat there the first night.  Plus we wanted to be able to meet our table mates as well.  

Animator's Palette soon after we arrived

The transformation has begun

Traveling without children meant that we would be eating with other guests, for certain.  We would either be with 2, 4 or 6 other guests.  We ended up at a table for 8, so 6 other guests.  None of them had children.  There was one couple - also traveling without their children, and then two pairs of women, each traveling separately but with a friend.  As it turned out, too, our table was filled with travel professionals!  You can imagine then what a good amount of our table conversation throughout the week consisted off – especially on that first night.  But throughout the course of the week we had such a good time getting to know each other better, sharing life stories and just laughing and laughing.  That definitely was something we would not have experienced had we brought the children along on the voyage.  Instead of mixing and mingling with 6 other adults, we would have most likely been situated at a table for 6, with an empty chair throughout the week. 

Derrick & Dennis

Dennis, our server, and Derrick, our assistant server took fantastic care of all of us throughout the voyage.  They sure made each meal fun, interesting and quite enjoyable.  We learned that Dennis had been with Disney Cruise Line since its’ inception, and in fact was on the inaugural crew for the Magic – and despite offers, has never transferred to another ship.  He really enjoys the smaller, more intimate feel of the Magic, vs. the grander scale of the Dream and the Fantasy.  He has considered the Wonder, but really loves the Magic.  Derrick, on the other hand, had only been with the line for about 7 months and does want to sample other ships when he is able to at some point in the future, but until then really enjoys working onboard the Magic.

My lovely bride's appetizer:
Sesame-flavored Rock Shrimp &
Caramelized Onion Cheesecake

Confetti Tomato Salad

The rotational concept really does add a lot to the overall cruise vacation experience, in my opinion.  First, you get to sample the various designs and stylings of each dining room that the imagineers went to great lengths to include when crafting the ship; and then you also get the fun and vibe that each location brings, through different costumes for the servers, music and overall ambiance.  Plus the menu selections vary somewhat based on the individual dining rooms as well.  Having cruised before (just me, not my lovely bride), I enjoyed that my server in the dining room kind of knew by the end of the cruise what I wanted to drink – but onboard the Disney ship – WOW – by the second day Derrick, was bringing us the correct beverages, and by the third night Dennis was intuiting what each guest at the table would enjoy best from the menu selection.  He had a pretty darn good accuracy rate too after just a couple of meals – well over 60%.  By the last couple of nights he was 100% correct, from appetizer selection, to entrees and dessert.  It was almost fun to “test” him and see how he would do. 

The artwork over our table
by the end of the meal

The artwork over our table
when we sat down

Dessert Trio Sampler (I didn't get a
dessert menu picture, so I can't
tell you exactly what these are)

I have more to share on the dining aspect, but am going to save those things for another entry.  So for now, I bid you adieu, or as Mickey likes to say, see ya real soon!

Until next time,

 

A Not-So-Magical Beginning

Setting sail on board the Disney Magic began for us in Galveston, TX – or at least – that’s where the cruise voyage began.  But let me take you back just a little before the actual departure day.  For you see, the voyage, with my lovely bride, actually began about 2 months ago when I first presented the opportunity to sail with Disney Cruise Line to her.  Indecision was the word of the day, along with a number of other words – trepidation, uneasiness, and an overall sense of uncertainty.  This went on for several weeks until just before the absolute cut-off day where a decision must be rendered and given to Disney in order to secure ground transfers from the airport and purchase airfare.  That was 3 weeks prior to the sailing – so for roughly 5 weeks there was a virtual, mental game of ping-pong taking place in our household.  Finally the decision was made, and there was no turning back.  It was to be a couple-voyage, and not a solo trip.  :-)

Once the airfare had been secured, and the ground transfers arranged, now came my bride’s largest conundrum – finding the right clothes to wear and bring on board.  The concept of “Formal Night” just threw her for a loop.  You see my bride doesn’t wear dressy clothes unless she absolutely has to.  She is very much a shorts & a t-shirt, or jeans and a sweater gal.  In the 18 ½ years we’ve been married – she’s probably only worn a dress the equivalent of a month’s time.  I LOVE it when she does get dolled up, but it just doesn’t happen very often.  So it was a quest for her to find something appropriate to wear.  And that filled the next 3 weeks, between clothing, footwear and accessories.  Phew – I’m glad that’s over, and she has something already to wear again the NEXT time we cruise together.   :-)

Our flight plan was with Southwest Airlines, so we had to fly in to Houston Hobby airport, which is better since it’s located on the southern side of Houston, and closer to Galveston.  We had the Disney transportation, which in Houston is not a nicely identified bus as they have in Orlando, but still quite functional and comfortable.  They did play the standard onboard video however, which once we got going, was quite enjoyable since we had not previously experienced that particular onboard video before.  But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.

We knew that we had to be onboard the ship no later than an hour prior to departure, and the various flight times out of Indianapolis weren’t super conducive to that, so we were scheduled to fly on Friday night.  Our kids were not going with us, so they needed to be dropped off where they were going to be staying.  The eldest attends the local public high school (he’s a junior), and the other two are still home-schooled.  So there were inherent scheduling differences built in to our child-care situation.  So the two younger ones stayed with another home-schooling family (who happen to be the best friends of the two youngest anyway, so that was really cool), and our eldest stayed with another family who we’re good friends with (their son is a senior).  So there was some good compatibility vibes going from the get-go.

As soon as school was out for our eldest, we drove over to the house where the younger ones were going to be staying.  It was going to be a nice time of about 15 minutes in order to be able to say goodbye, etc – but as we drove up to the house.  Note I said WAS.  Ridiculous how your best laid plans can go haywire at the last minute, isn’t it.  Sure enough, as we pulled up in front of their house – my Jeep got a flat tire.  There must have been something in the street, because it just blew the air out so quickly with such a loud hissssssssss!!!  Ugh.  My wife pulled up in her van just as I was getting out of my vehicle, and yeah, suddenly instead of a nice farewell, it became a mad rush to change the tire to put the “donut” tire on.  I DID NOT have time for that!!!  We had already cut the time to get to the airport close enough, but now this.  I was frantic, and not very happy at all.  Both boys sprung in to action to help move the luggage around while I quickly worked to jack up the Jeep and make the switch.  Let me tell you this, I have changed many a tire in the past 26 of driving, but never once has it been done as quickly as I did it that Friday afternoon.   As soon as it was done, I quickly went in their house to wash up, and we were hugging, kissing and saying goodbye as we drove off headed for the airport.  WHAT a “fun” way to start a trip!

After the then near-frantic drive to the airport (45 miles on the spare tire), and fear of being late, we arrived at the airport only to learn that the plane we were waiting on was delayed due to weather.  Fair enough, and sighs of relief all around.  I had planned on getting dinner in Chicago (yes, we had to fly north to ultimately go south), but with the delay I suggested we just get it there in Indy.  Finally after nearly 30 minutes of waiting beyond the scheduled boarding time, the sighs of relief began to disappear.  Once again the anxiety began, as the originally scheduled hour and a half layover time was shrinking away.  Upon boarding, we got comfortable in our seats, and awaiting the door being closed, and the requisite safety announcements.  But they didn’t happen for quite some time.  Soon the Captain came on announcing there was some sort of delay that would keep us at the gate for a “few more minutes”… which quickly turned into 20 minutes.  Ugh.  By this time we knew we would be running between gates.   Sure enough, we landed at 7:10pm Central Time – 5 minutes AFTER our plane was supposed to take off.   And the worst part of it was that they parked at A19, and we had to run over to B18.  We were not happy, but set out on our way to see if there was any possibility that our plane was still there.  Thank goodness we had made the decision to fly in the night before! 

After lots of running and weaving through the crowded airport, we finally arrived at our gate, and praise the Lord, the plane was still there.  There was a large number of passengers from our first flight onboard the plane, all huffing and puffing as we had done.  Wow.  We were able to sit down, but sadly not together.  We both ended up in middle seats in different rows, but I was just behind my lovely bride, so we could at least chat from time to time.  She read, and I worked on my computer catching on some business things since it was a WI-FI enabled flight.  But we had to wait once more before we could taxi and take-off… we all wanted our luggage to be transferred too.  :-)  Finally we were in the air, and on our way to Houston!

I had selected a hotel moments from the airport, and not having a bus transfer until 11:00 in the morning, we were able to have a leisurely morning enjoying breakfast in the on-site restaurant.  With just a 4 minute shuttle ride back to the airport, we were there with plenty of time to spare.  I checked us in with the Disney cast member wearing that ubiquitous 4 fingered white glove, and sat down to wait until they called us.  It was only a wait of about 10 minutes, and we were soon herding our way over to the bus with about 70 other people.

The ride to Galveston was quite pleasant, and the stresses of the prior day were finally washing away.  Soon we were pulling in to the port area, and saw the beautiful red stacks, white middle and black underbelly of the Disney Magic sitting in the port just waiting for her next load of eager passengers.

 

The unloading of the bus was fairly quick, and the short walk inside the terminal was brief.  The line for the security checkpoint went smoothly, and soon enough we were in line to check-in!  How exciting.  The Cast Member was so pleasant and so excited for us.  Her name was Eva, and told us how envious she was of us, since she still hadn’t been on a cruise – not a Disney Cruise – but any cruise – and she’s worked for the company for 10 years!   After taking our pictures for the Key to the World cards, and processing our passports, she then gave us our boarding group number (16) and directed us to the chairs over to the side to wait for the announcement that we so wanted to hear – when we could board!  And our wait was extremely short, as just as soon as we sat down did they announce on the PA system that groups 1 through 17 were able to board!  It was time to go!

We went through the last portal on the lower level of the terminal and worked our way up the escalator to the gangway.  We had our picture taken, and then we were on our way inside the beautiful ship’s Central Atrium.  Ahhhhh, despite all of the mishaps and frustrations of getting there - it felt so good to be on board that ship. 

Until next time,

 

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,

The Clock Struck Midnight...

So our cruise on the Disney Magic came to an end this morning. Our beautiful trip to the "ball" is over, but as they say onboard the memories will live forever. I took hundreds of pictures throughout the week, as well as tons of notes... so be sure to check back throughout the weeks for reports about our Western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston! 

More to come...