When people find out that I’m constantly visiting and writing about Disney theme parks, several different types of conversations play out. There’s the shocked group that doesn’t understand multiple aspects of it and, you know what, that’s fair enough! Another subset of people are very enthusiastic. Strangely, one of the biggest follow-ups is asking about my experience with Disney Cruise Line. For a long time my answer was some variation of no – I’m more focused on theme parks, we want to get to the international Disney destinations first, etc. But that changed earlier this year when Melissa and I joined my family on a 4-night Bahamian cruise out of Fort Lauderdale on the Disney Magic!

The trip was in celebration of my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary and the cruise preceded a stay in Belize, which I’ll likely write about following this trip report. Our group of 8 settled on a cruise in large part thanks to how much easier it was to plan and coordinate. The family environment played a role, as well. While there were some other extremely intriguing options, finding the right one to fit our schedules and wants led us to the ease of Disney Cruise Line. After doing a good amount of the planning, it’s easy to see why families like this option.

With our cruise departing on Monday, we all arrived in Miami on Saturday. Melissa and I had just come from Walt Disney World (a lovely and lucky life, for sure) while the rest of my family flew into Miami. This is a cruise trip report so I won’t go into detail on everything we did while there but will give some general thoughts.

Our full day before the cruise was spent in Miami, enjoying the beach and a great Cuban restaurant for lunch. Miami met my expectations and was everything people say about it – lively, hot and diverse. I loved the art deco style that blended in with the Caribbean architecture. Some of that style gave off to modern city skylines once you move away from the water, and I thought that was less interesting, but those few miles of beach are iconic.

We thought about staying in Fort Lauderdale the night before the cruise began to make the morning easy but the hotels that would have been convenient were extremely expensive. Instead, we drove up that morning from Miami, stopping at the excellent El Bagel along the way. We had rented cars for those few days, so we dropped them off at a return near the terminal and took Lyfts from there. It was a relatively easy experience although it did take some time and weaving around.

Our embarkation also went smoothly. We had a late morning boarding time and arrived a little before that but security was running ahead of schedule and everyone was allowed on at that point. Security and customs took 15 minutes at most. Even with a group of 8, I thought the whole process was simple and made easy by the organization. I wouldn’t call the terminal we went out of (26, for those keeping score at home) pretty but it was efficient.

After ascending an escalator and pondering any open ocean fears as we walked down a long hall, we were on the Disney Magic. Mickey greeted us, along with a few Cast Members.

We briefly looked around the Atrium Lobby before going to check out our rooms. I don’t think reviewing the rooms of the oldest ship in the Disney Cruise Line is probably worth it so I’ll keep it short and sweet in here. I was pleasantly surprised by the cruise ship rooms!

Experiencing the smaller hotel room footprints of Europe and Asia might have helped prepare me for the smaller ship rooms. I thought space was used really well here. The most uncomfortable and squished spot was the bathroom but we didn’t use the shower in there (more on that in a minute) so it was a moot point.

We did stick to an inside stateroom and were okay with that for this specific itinerary. When we splurge on a cruise through Alaska or Norway, I’ll definitely want to upgrade to a room with a view. But we didn’t spend much time in the room anyway so it didn’t matter much in here.

For being a small room, I thought they fit in some fun details in here! It’s not over the top but enough to add character. I’ll also take this paragraph to say that housekeeping was exceptional, as was all of the service on this cruise. Those people don’t sleep!

We went up and grabbed lunch at Cabanas, the ship’s buffet. I saw why people make a big fuss over having a plan for the first few hours on board. The buffet was slammed with people and it was hard to find a single table, let alone one that fit 8 of us. Those few hours were pretty hot and crowded, definitely not my favorite part of the cruise. Cabanas was fine overall, having a nice assortment in the few times we ate up there. Like most buffets, I thought the quality was hit and miss but nothing was outright bad. I did get a lot of shrimp! I would recommend going for a different spot after boarding the ship though and save the buffet for a different lunch.

After lunch, Melissa, my sister and I took a tour of the spa. It was fun to have a look around and see everything that was offered. We each ended up purchasing a cruise-length pass to the Rainforest Room. This was about $100/person and offered a sauna, warm-stone chairs, and several different rain showers. Spending half an hour to an hour here everyday was a nice treat and a reprieve from the crowds. It also came with access to the locker rooms that had their own showers, bigger than the ones you found in the room. For those worried that I just didn’t shower while on the cruise, don’t worry. I showered quite a few times! For those that weren’t wondering about a stranger on the internet’s shower routine, thank you for being a normal human.

Following our tour of the spa, we went to check out the kids sections on the boat. My 10-year-old (he’s 11 now) nephew, Wyatt, wanted to around and I was eager to take a look for myself. He did not find the SEA tie-ins to the Disney Parks nearly as interesting as I did. We spotted Harrison Hightower several times, as well as some other characters mentioned throughout the parks. For a company that has fully committed to IP synergy, it’s fun to see parks based characters play a prominent role outside of the parks.

The rest of the youth area was cool too! Wyatt got me up this little Toy Story playground. I’d say I was dragged up there but, to be honest, it didn’t take much convincing. I’ve never had much interest in visiting Andy’s backyard (or whatever Toy Story Land is supposed to be) but I like the theme of his room much more. What if the parks did a Toy Story Land in the style of his room, where it’s an indoor section of smaller rides? I’m just spitballing here, but that’s what trip reports are for!

In looking at photos, it felt like we’d already done a lot with the day but the ship still hadn’t departed. We gathered on the top deck to watch the Sail Away Party. It was energetic! This isn’t my cup of tea but fun if you just kind of give in to it.

Truthfully, I had more fun watching the ship navigate through the Fort Lauderdale waters before setting course to the Bahamas. The ship’s deck began to clear out some and I enjoyed the trip out to sea with my parents.

We were able to fit in a lot of looking around in the afternoon but the evenings were packed! After cleaning up a bit, we made our way to the Walt Disney Theater to watch Tangled: The Musical. I generally love stage shows and was eager to see the nightly programming on the ship. That Tangled is Melissa’s favorite Disney movie made us all the more excited! Speaking for myself, I was perfectly whelmed by this adaptation. This may become a theme of the trip report.

The cast has to perform 3 different shows in 4 nights, which is extremely difficult and I thought they performed admirably! I thought Tangled: The Musical was uneven though, not really knowing how to blend the funnier moments with the beautiful moments. This was also a wake up call that we were on a cruise ship, as some of the stage props swung around throughout the performance. We had a great time but weren’t blown away by the show.

Afterwards, there was a quick DVC event that we attended mainly to meet a character. They also gave out a free drink, which I’m never opposed to.

We had the latest dinner time slot and that first night was our meal at Animator’s Palate. If people are interested (leave me a comment), I can write a full review of the popular restaurant. We were extremely impressed with the show and atmosphere at Animator’s Palate. I’ve heard people rave about it for years and it lived up to the hype. Watching the restaurant subtly come to life before culminating in a colorful moment is one of my favorite moment’s on the cruise. It’s such a clever concept that’s executed perfectly.

The food was decent but didn’t match the fantastic atmosphere. As a whole, I liked most of the fish entrees on the ship more than other options. Nothing here really wowed me but it wasn’t bad. Again, whelmed. Here’s a look at some of the food from Animator’s Palate.

Once dinner was over, we went back to our rooms for a short stint before I joined my dad in the adult’s section of the ship to watch a game. We ended up at O’Gills. I grabbed a drink and we settled in for an hour or two. For being a cruise ship, I didn’t think the alcohol prices were outlandish. Maybe I’m just too used to Disney Parks prices? O’Gills had a festive atmosphere and I enjoyed sitting down there for a while.

Our day was starting to wind down. The crowds and heat made us all a little tired. I returned to the top deck to take a look around and snap a few photos. Not counting the family memories, my favorite times on the ship were late at night after everything quieted down. Walking around up there was peaceful. You could find pockets during the day that were quieter but nothing like the last few hours at night. If they had played movies all night on Funnel Vision, I would have stayed up way too late.

Instead, everything shut down and I headed off to bed soon. With an early morning the next day at Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, getting some rest was ideal even if it was a little earlier than I usually sleep. The boat’s rocking and a long day did the trick though and the next morning was there before I knew it! That’s where we’ll pick up in the next installment of this trip report!

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