Ryan

Age: 14
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Disney Cruise Line
Ship: Disney Magic
Sailing Date: July 7th, 2001
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean

The Disney Magic is truly what its name says, magic. When we arrived at the Disney terminal which is just for Disney we had a very quick check in(around 1030) and then we found we couldn’t board until 1200. So we had to wait in a long line until 1200 to board the ship. However Disney does its best to keep you entertained during your wait. Characters randomly appear every once in awhile and there are TVs where kids can go and sit down and watch Disney cartoons. So for us the time passed quite quickly. So it became 12 and we boarded the ship, we went up to deck 9 topsiders buffet to eat lunch. Unfortunately we decided not to go to our rooms. Actually we weren’t allowed to go there until around 1 o clock, and we had 7 carry on bags and only 4 people to lug them up to  deck 9. We actually had 6 in our party but my 6 year old brother was carrying an umbrella around and my Grandma is not supposed to carry anything heavy.

Well lunch buffet was very good. After we went back to our rooms to collect our other luggage and bring back our carry on bags. However to our discontent we found out that the luggage may not arrive until 6. Anyway we set down our bags none of our luggage was there so we went back up to deck 9 to blow bubbles when the ship left. This is a Disney tradition so if you go bring bubbles and blow them when you set sail. Our ship did not leave until around 525 when we were supposed to leave around 5 o well no biggie. We blew our bubbles and went back to our rooms, ahhhhh fortunately some of the luggage had arrived, so we got changed and me and my 12 year old brother set out to explore the ship. We came back around 330 to wait with our family to go to the drill at 4. So we went to the drill which went by very quickly and very smoothly. As compared to Carnival where we were sitting out there for over an hour. Disney’s took around 15 minutes. So we once again came back to the room to find that the rest of the luggage had arrived so the rest of us got changed and went to our dinner in animator's palate.

The food on the ship is excellent, our servers were beyond anyone’s expectations, and were very interactive and even remembered some stuff about our family. Like our servers could actually order for us because they could see what type of foods we stuck to after a couple nights. I thought that was an excellent thing on their part. After dinner we went to see the welcome aboard show and we had a great magical experience. I highly recommend this show, it is funny they have dancing and speakers. An excellent production. I thought that the first day the staff did an excellent job welcoming us aboard and getting us settled in on the ship. The second day got a little rough at sea and you could definitely notice swaying on the ship. Many people started complaining however things settled down that night. Disney is a great place to meet friends and now that I’m home I have so many friends to email my fingers are numb. It was actually upsetting to me having to go on the island knowing that I couldn’t spend the day at sea hanging out with all my friends.

That night when I went to sleep I noticed that my ceiling and walls were creaking and rattling. I had an inside stateroom and was told that it was just the settling of the ship. Don't be alarmed. If it keeps you awake go to guest services and they will give you some earplugs to help you get to sleep. On the fourth day we woke up to the beautiful island of St. Maarten. We got off the ship very easily and proceeded to hail a taxi to the Belair Beach Hotel, were we got to stay for free because we know the owner. The island is gorgeous and the water was actually pretty nice but cold when I went in. O well. we were all aboard at 930 to set sail for 10. We took off and headed to St. Thomas. let me pause now and give detail about ship. The rooms are very comfy but noisy. not to many amenities in the lower class rooms none the less doesn’t matter cause you only sleep and shower in your rooms anyway. The crew members are very nice and wont ever not say hi to you when you walk past them. They always are smiling and I applaud there hospitality in welcoming us aboard.

Don’t waste your money with Disney excursions when you can just hail a taxi for a low fare and go to the same place Disney would take you but for less. Just don’t miss the ship because Disney doesn’t have to wait for you unless your on a Disney excursion. However the captain is very nice and waited for one family who was not on Disney excursion and missed the boat when we pulled out of St. Thomas. that same day a kid jumped over off of deck 4 and was found and lets say he didn’t eat dinner like the rest of us for those last couple of days. The ship made me feel very safe like I could go to sleep and leave my door open because the people that go on there are families just like yours and mine. Disney seems to attract a better type of clientele then say carnival which attracts the teenager party type clientele. My mom says that no one would want to steal your kids because they have enough of there own. but seriously its true, I saw no trouble makers aboard the ship except that teen that jumped overboard, but security is very strict and will not tolerate much of anything. The only thing I noticed that Disney needs to add more of are clocks. There are no clocks anywhere on the ship except at the front desk. But this is because Disney wants you to have fun and forget all about what the time is. but this is also bad because if you need to make dinner or a show you need to have a watch or ask someone who does because you cant look up on the wall to find out. Castaway cay (say it like you would say key, that is the correct way to pronounce it), same for parrot cay. The island is beautiful but doesn’t have enough umbrellas so I recommends get there as quick as you can or bring your own. Also the way you get off the ship could be better for this island only because if you have a 10 o clock appointment you will never make it. Also Disney could add ropes like they have at Disney world that way the people who have been waiting longest can get on the tram to the beach easier. we have a senior citizen and missed our tram because all others pushed there way in front of us and hopped on. and there is no one there to right that wrong. other than that the island truly was a most magical experience. Let me back up and say that at St. Thomas I highly recommend Magens Bay because the view you will see coming up the mountain looking out over the ships (Grand Princess will be docked with you) is truly breathtaking. Ask for Steve’s taxi service member of vi taxi company because they are very nice and if you get Steve himself you will be lucky because he is very informative and very nice. he stopped to let us take pictures when he heard us gasp at the view we saw. Magens Bay is gorgeous and is truly not to be missed. I rented a kayak for 20 for an hour. It was so much fun, my family and I toke turns going in the kayak and we were actually pretty good at it. The water is the clearest of the whole trip and is very soothing. Don’t snorkel there because you can take a pair of goggles and see just as fine out by the rocks where you would go anyway for no money if you do it on your own.

I truly loved this vacation and we all cried when we had to debark that Saturday morning at 1200 o'clock. You might be wondering why I say 12 well listen to this. At Castaway Cay a man had a heart attack on his way to do laundry. He was only in his 40's. We had to wait for a helicopter to fly in from Miami. So we stayed docked at the island until around 1030 when the copter came to take the man to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami. So we sailed back and instead of arriving at port at 630 that morning we arrived around 830 that morning instead. They let us stay later on the ship and to our surprise added more activities for that morning after breakfast for us to enjoy before we left. Our prayers go out to that man and his family. Disney did a great job on their cruise and I recommend this to anyone else who is thinking of cruising in the future.

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