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The Ship:
The Disney Magic is Ginormous!! The thing is at least 13 floors, with some possibly hidden beneath where the White Rabbit sleeps. And it must be fairly well designed as it was put to the test on the last full day of our cruise when we encountered a somewhat scary storm. The waves were big enough that they closed the port in Nice. We were already at sea when it hit and it was truly spectacular. The waves were high enough that some of the spray made it over the top of the ship. They closed all the decks but the clubs remained open. Lucas and I spend time in the Oceaneers club bouncing from one side of the ship to the other when the ship lilted. He said it was "like flying". At some point, the ship's captain came on board and said that this was a rough storm but that we were not in any danger. He also said that the Disney Magic had been through 2 hurricanes without incident. However, they decided to take the ship closer to the shore and between two islands to minimize the discomfort for us. I am not normally prone to believing things people tell me, but my gut told me that we were never in any real danger. The ship felt incredibly stable. Given the size of the waves, even the rocking was minimal. While a lot of people stayed in their rooms, there were a few of us who were not prone to motion sickness out and about and enjoying mother nature at her finest. I have to say that this was a truly memorable experience for me and I was actually quite glad to have experienced it. My poor husband might not feel the same, as he ended up with seasickness on his birthday. But the rest of the family was fine and enjoyed the show.
In short, the ship itself felt super solid and as safe as you can be. It goes without saying that there are railings everywhere, most with plastic covering them. The stairs are such that there are few places that a child can fall very far. And there are Disney crew members roughly every 6 feet.
For those with kids who don't sleep, this cruise thing has an added bonus. The gentle rocking of the boat keeps the kids asleep and makes it much easier for them to soothe themselves back to sleep. Both of our boys have been notorious non sleepers. Our oldest just now sleeps through the night, and he is 4. The youngest wakes up multiple times. On the cruise, they both generally slept through. So it is a real vacation for you parents who don't sleep. I forgot how much energy I can have if I get sleep.
The Stateroom & Stateroom Attendant : We had a deluxe inside stateroom. This means that the layout consisted of one queen bed, 2 single beds in a bunk bed arrangement, and a crib for Sebastien. The bathroom is "split" in the deluxe stateroom which means that there is one room with a sink and tub / shower and another with a sink and toilet. This proved quite useful in the "getting ready" process. A nice addition is that they put a sliding drape between the queen bed and the rest of the room, so that after the kids go to bed, you can still have a light on in the parent area. You also have a small fridge, a TV and a tiny table.
Let me say that I liked the inside stateroom, as we could control the "environment" and create a bedtime atmosphere whenever we wanted. The lack of window didn't end up bothering me at all. In fact, it all felt quite cozy...so much so that this is what we chose for our second cruise.
When it comes to upkeep, they come to clean your room just about every time you leave it, even if it is only to go get a snack. We are AWFUL when it comes to making messes. I mean, really world class. One day, Sebastien decided to climb on the unmade bed and eat at least 1/2 dozen cookies. Then Lucas joined him. So when we left the room, in addition to all our usual mess, there were cookie crumbs on the unmade bed, the floor, the walls, the TV, the counters and in the tub. When we came back from lunch, it was completely spotless, crumb free and our suite attendant had made the towels into hanging birds. Truly amazing. After a week of this, he actually sent us a bottle of wine at dinner. Let me repeat. HE sent US a bottle of wine. All I can figure is that he likes a challenge.
The Pools: This is another of the "development" areas for Disney, when it comes to toddlers. In general, there are three pools on the Disney Magic.
First, there is an adults only pool area with a small pool, a Jacuzzi and a bar. This seemed nice enough and really was kid free. But I must admit, we only used the bar part of this area. Once we had a couple of hours of non kid time, we didn't really want to waste it in the pool...and Jacuzzis gross me out as I have been in one too many that seemed to be growing either new life forms or fat, randy men. Instead, we went to the pool bar, got a drink, sat on the deck and soaked up the scenery. This was great for us, so I am not complaining at all.
Second, there was the Goofy pool that was one of two family pools. This one was a bit confusing to me as I could not really see the benefit. The pool itself was small and was located right in front of the big screen TV which showed constant Disney movies. So, I guess this is where you are supposed to watch Little Mermaid and get appropriately water logged. But having a pool there really seemed a bit superfluous. Maybe when my kids are older it will make more sense. It did have some nice deck chairs to sit in and watch the movie though.
The last was the Mickey pool, which was the hub of most activity. It was surrounded by all the outside eateries like Pluto's dog house, where you could get hotdogs, chicken nuggets, burgers, tacos and the like. There was also Pinocchio's pizza near the Goofy pool which serves...well...pizza. In addition to kid food there was also a Goofy Grotto that had nice sandwiches and fruit. The pool itself was shaped like Mickey's head, and thus divided into three sections. There was the regular pool with a waterslide for the older kids...which Lucas loved loved loved. There was a couple shallow "ears" for kids who were potty trained but too small to swim. Then on the side there was a water play area for the toddlers. This was where I have my "issue".
The water play area is right next to the pool area but the toddlers are not allowed in it until they are potty trained. So, Sebastien could see ALL THE FUN the other kids were having in the pool and wanted to go. As the area is not closed off, it meant that we spent all of our "family" pool time with one of us chasing him as he made his mad dashes for the pool, the stairs, the bathrooms, the handicapped door leading to the elevators, you name it. OK, it wasn't intolerable but it would be much better with fewer escape routes.
The Oceaneers Club/ Lab and Flounder's reef and Character Experiences:
This is the heart of it. This is why you came. This is why you chose Disney rather than Royal Caribbean or Princess. This is what they do...and they do it better than anyone else. And let's face it, no one else has Mickey and the Princesses. I am lumping all three of these things together, as I feel they are really at the core of your child's experience...and the joy they will have. There are lots of pluses here and a few negatives.
When I called about this cruise, one of the nice customer service reps told me that you don't want to book this cruise if you want serious bonding time with your child. He was mostly right. The Oceaneer's Club and Lab are hard competition. These clubs are for ages 3 to 11.
The Oceaneer's Club is more for the younger set. It has a play area with a pirate ship theme. There are slides for sliding, ropes for climbing, a large open area for games, activities and general running around, and a back room area with a bank of computers loaded with age appropriate games, in addition to blocks, crayons, paper, books and just about everything else you could imagine. Just about every hour there is some activity lead by a unnaturally enthusiastic counselor or an actual character. During the course of the cruise, Lucas was taught how to fly by Peter Pan, how to dance with Snow White, and how to be a pirate by Captain Hook. He also had story time with Belle, surfing lessons with Lilo and Stitch and a pajama party with Goofy. And this is not all of them but merely the ones that seemed most memorable to me. The only downsides to this area are that there are movie screens here that show Disney movies almost nonstop, so if your kid is a TV addict (like mine) you will want to tell the counselors to make sure that your child is engaged. I must say that they did a great job with this, as most of the times that I came to pick up Lucas, he was playing rather than watching the tube. The other downside is that the play area is a little dark but the kids didn't seem to mind at all. After Lucas' first day in "the club", we were awakened each morning with "I want to go to my club". When we came to get him for dinner, we were met with "I want to eat in my club". We did get him on a couple of excursions, but in retrospect, I would have pared that down significantly. By the end of the cruise, he was more open to doing things with us again, as he had participated in so many of the activities that he didn't feel like he was missing out anymore.
The Oceaneer's lab is more for the over 7 set, although both clubs are accessible to ages 3 to 11. The Oceaneer's lab has more by way of manual activities. They have a kitchen, blocks, computers and it seems like a gazillion interactive video games. You can also bring your toddler into either of these clubs to be with their siblings as long as you stay there with them. Seb seemed to enjoy these areas almost as much as Lucas, and got a thrill out of bullying the bigger kids.
Flounders Reef is the nursery where you can book time for your infant or toddler. I have mentioned the problems here earlier but to reiterate, you MUST book your hours in advance as they fill up. You are also very limited in the number of hours that you can book, so be prepared for that. In addition, you will need to bring your own diapers, wipes, formula and baby food , if needed. If your child is eating regular food then they will serve them meals. There is a service that allows you to preorder diapers, wipes and the like before the cruise, but I didn't book early enough so we couldn't use this service. I would recommend it as diapers take up lots of room in your suitcase. Once you get past the annoyances of booking and logistics, the nursery itself is quite good. There is a slide in the area, games, toys and a TV as well...which they seem to use sparingly. There is also an area in the back with cribs for sleeping. The counselors all seemed to be that special type of person who bonds to infants and toddlers. All were very patient and loving. After the first 2 days of whining at drop off, Seb got quite used to it. I think he felt that he had to have a token whine at every drop off but it only lasted until they took him in the room and he saw the slide. Then it was "mom and dad, who?"
One additional point to add about the counselors in general is that they treat your kids like rock stars. Walking down the corridors of the ship, the counselors would say " Hi Seba" or "Hey, Lucas, are we going to dance today?" They remember names, and usually there are one or two that specifically seem to bond with your child. I don't know if this is planned but it certainly seems to work out that way. Julien and I joked that we were clearly just" those people" standing next to SEBASTIEN in the hall.
There is also a club for tweens, as well as one for teens, but I had no experience with these so I can't comment with any authority.
The Characters:
This ship is a character-fest. There are two basic types of character encounters: the scheduled and the ad hoc.
Scheduled Character Events: For anything scheduled, I cannot stress enough the need to READ THE PERSONAL NAVIGATOR that is delivered to your room every night. And I mean read the full content, don't just read for the holding (for all you lawyers out there). They have a schedule that tells all of the times and places for character experiences. It also lists shows, which are character based. We found that a lot of the character experiences occurred between 5:30 and 7, which was a bit hard for us, as we had dinner at 6. So this is one benefit of having a later dinner. There were also character experiences around the lunch hour. Twice during the cruise, they had the massive Princess Fest. During the course of the cruise, one sees the Princesses at dinner, or in the clubs or other random places but this has most of them in one place. In ours, we had Princess Tiana, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora..along with Alice in Wonderland who wandered down the line to entertain all the little girls dressed in their princess attire. BE FOREWARNED IF YOU HAVE GIRLS, they do sell some princess gear at these events and I saw more than one screaming meltdown because someone could not have YET ANOTHER set of gloves that she already had. Make sure you bring your autograph books to this one, and your camera. They will take pictures but we found their photos really too expensive, and didn't buy any of them.
Ad Hoc Character Experiences: There are also lots of ad hoc character moments. We had a fun encounter with Donald duck at breakfast one morning. Most of the princesses made occasional appearances at dinner. For example, Beauty AND the Beast came to Lumieres one night. For the older crowd, they also have a Pirates in the Caribbean deck party one night. It started at 9:30, so it was a bit late for younger kids, and Lucas was hard pressed to stay up. In addition, the theme was that Pirates (including Captain Hook and Captain Jack) take over the party for a while. This was a little scary to Lucas, even though Mickey saves the day at the end. However, it was worth it to see his face when they had the fireworks. Apparently, it is the only cruise line to do fireworks at sea, and they did a great job. Once again, BE FOREWARNED, they sell a lot of stuff at this, and I had to deal with a whiny 4 year old until I finally gave in and bought him yet another plastic pirate sword. I don't give in that much, but I didn't want to spoil the moment and I figured it was an example of "pick your battles".
On the whole, the character experiences are great. The drawbacks are the lines at the scheduled events. It seems better to go a bit late rather than early but that was just our experience. The ad hoc experiences were much more memorable and fun.
The Crew in General:
Anyone who has done any significant traveling has, sooner or later, learned one fact. People who work in tourist areas hate tourists. Maybe it comes from the fact that the most obnoxious tourists are usually the most visible and vocal ones. Maybe it is simply a case of "you hate what you need". Whatever the reason, it is what it is. So my expectations for any adventure where I must be in contact with those providing services for tourists go something like this. 15% will be new hires ....and the other 85% will hate me on sight. Of those who hate me, only 5% will be able to completely mask that fact, while 20% will be openly hostile. The rest will fall somewhere in the range between vague contempt and barely contained annoyance.
On the Disney Cruise, I was pleasantly surprised that the aforementioned ratios did not seem to apply....with a couple of notable exceptions. The restaurant staff, housecleaning staff, room service and pretty much everyone else was so pleasant that I had to wonder a bit if Disney issues drugs with the uniforms. The fact that the cheerful attitude rarely seemed forced made me all the more suspicious that happy pills are used. Either that or they have a truly kick ass selection process and every naturally happy person who is born is recruited to work for Disney while still in diapers. Hmmm, this may explain a lot about the state of the world. In any case, all of the people who interacted with my children were great. Most of the ones who interacted with me were also fairly fabulous, except the Vista Spa and Guest Services...of all things. I will cover Vista Spa later, but let me rant about Guest Services now.
Guest Services:
OK, I expect a few things from Guest Services, which are 1) that they are able to answer my questions 2) that they do so with a pleasant attitude and 3) if I am face to face with them when this is happening, that they better be #@%$ing smiling...particularly if they are telling me something I don't want to hear. About half the people I encountered at the Guest Services desk failed on all accounts. Therefore, I gave up going to the desk and just used the phone after the first few days. As these people were useless, I won't mention them again.
(Note to Disney: these people hurt your brand...fire them)
Ratings:
The Ship ****
The Stateroom ***
The Stateroom Attendant ****
The Pools **
The Oceaneers Clubs ****
The Character Experiences ****
Guest Services *
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