Picking up from where I left off on the last post. We waited only a few minutes before our boarding number was called and we were ready to let the Magic begin. I thought that the Port of Dover did a good job of getting people on the ship. The waiting area was large with lots of seating. There were cast members checking boarding numbers when you got in line to board, and they kept the area clear of people waiting for their numbers to be called.
Embarkation Lunch
It wasn’t long until we were walking into the lobby and announced onto the ship. We were ready to let the magic begin! It was still early and our rooms would not be ready until one thirty so we headed up to Cabanas for lunch. Since we were on the ship fairly early Cabanas was not too busy yet and we were able to find a table easily with room for our hand luggage.
Before this cruise, we had not eaten lunch in the main dining room before. It was a goal of mine to have a least one sit down lunch and one sit down breakfast on this trip. I do like Cabanas, but often the fish dishes are a bit dry and my eyes are always bigger than my stomach and I end up over filling my plate. I was able to talk my family into trying out lunch at Lumieres and we all loved it. So this might have been the last time we are eating our embarkation lunch at Cabanas.
After lunch, we walked around the top deck and took some pictures of the Port of Dover. The day was beautiful. More than warm enough to go swimming and use the slides. The Twist and Spout is our favourite. We have all been on the AquaDunk once. For me, that was enough. I am not a person that is claustrophobic but when the door closed on the AquaDunk I became very anxious and then the floor dropped away from my feet lol! The Aquadunk is fun but I didn’t enjoy being trapped in the capsule.
The Navigators
Our Room
Booking
We booked this cruise a few months after it was released. Originally we wanted to do the British Isles cruise before this one and sail back to North America. During the planning our trip we decided we wanted to spend more time in London. We dropped the British Isles cruise and kept the transatlantic one. It gave us a chance to visit a great city with lots to see and do and gave us a relaxing week and a half of cruising while visiting a few other spots. That is why we love the transatlantic cruises and they are not a bad price.
Since we didn’t book on the opening day we had less choice for rooms. Initially I booked an ocean view room on deck one. I have only heard good things about these rooms. They are quiet and it is easy to get around the ship. My daughter however was concerned about the proximity to the ocean. She didn’t like the idea that water could be splashing up on the portholes.
I was lucky enough to snag a secret porthole room just before the pay-in-full date: stateroom 6006. It is a new addition to the secret porthole rooms and is relatively far forward on deck six.
A Room with a Review
The room itself was great lots of space and we like to get the natural light in our room and the obstruction is not bad. For me, the room was too far forward. I am prone to motion sickness and was ill during this trip. Normally I don’t have too much trouble unless the sea is very rough, but I think this room was just too far forward for me. See my full review here.
Sail Away
We unpacked and headed up to the Muster Drill. It was a quick and easy our Muster station was “M” on deck four. I think this was the first time we didn’t wait for any cruisers to join us and no one in muster station M was paged overhead.
I don’t remember exactly what we did after the Muster drill, but we didn’t go to the sail away party. It was our seventh cruise and have experienced the sail away a bunch of times. That said, I am looking forward to seeing the new Sail a Wave party.
My daughter met up with some friends she met through our cruise group and went to the Edge. She has never been a fan of the younger kid’s clubs. I think they are too chaotic for her, but she loved the Edge. The s
The Show
We always do late dining and that meant we had the early show, Be Our Guest, at 6:30. It was not the first time we had watched the show. I like attending the first night because the cruise director gives out some information about the cruise and entertainment that will be on the cruise. Darren was the cruise director on this crossing. We had him before as a cruise director on a 5-night repositioning cruise, we were not impressed with the activities on that cruise. I think he was a bit better on the transatlantic, but he is not the best cruise director we have had. My personal favourite is Natalie.
Darren let us know that there were 1878 people on the cruise and 273 were kids, 800 less kids then a normal Disney cruise. Over 1000 sailors were from the USA, 199 from the UK and 148 Canadians.
Dinner: Let the Magic Begin
Our dining rotation was ARLARLARLAR and we were at a six-top table, 31. I was excited that we were going to dine at Rapunzel’s Royal Table four times. I never enjoyed Carioco’s, the restaurant that was there before the last refurb and I was excited to try the new restaurant. Before the cruise, I had requested our favourite server on the Magic and a private table. Both of our requests were honoured. Our dining team was great, we have always had great luck with them.
Dinner was good. Jay had the Chicken
After Dinner
Georgia headed to the Edge. Jay and I sat in the Promenade lounge for a little bit before heading back to the room to watch a movie. We did appreciate the fact that The Disney Magic now has on-demand movies. There will be no more watching 20-minute-long out-of-sequence chunks of movies while we are stopping off in the room.
The Disney Magic was docking at Portland with all ashore at seven am. What did we have planned for our day in Portland? Check back and find out. If you want to receive the next post in your email box make sure you subscribe the mailing list. If you are just joining this trip report don’t forget to check out our time in London before the cruise.
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