Disembarkation and Return Home
Our final morning was upon us. We were really sad to be done though I think the kids were kind of ready to be done with vacation. We were all getting a little tired. We had second seating for dinner which meant second breakfast seating. We did go to the formal sit down breakfast that morning and were really glad we did. The food was good, the only real decent eggs I'd had on the cruise. Sorry but Cabanas eggs just were not good aside from the omelettes which were okay. The main thing though was a final chance to see our servers who were incredible.
I'm glad we got to say goodbye to them. I heard it before the cruise but until I experienced it I just didn't get how much they feel a part of your cruise and family while you are onboard. I will also say after the madness of getting packed and feeling a little unsure how everything would go it was nice to just sit for a minute.
After breakfast we made sure we had everything from our room and looked around for a bit. The line to get off didn't seem too bad so we just got in it to leave the ship. I don't think they had technically called our luggage tags yet but they had called lots of them so we figured we'd be safe and we were.
At this point I need to point out something really important we did not do. I totally forgot in the craziness of our first disembarkation to pick up our photo package USB. We had pre purchased the full digital photo package which comes on a USB drive you pick up the morning you leave the ship. Of course you see we got all the pictures I included in this TR. I didn't remember however until we were well outside of Miami and then I totally freaked out worried I had just lost all our memories from the cruise. Fortunately my DW figured this has to happen all the time, she found the support number online and we called. We were assured we could open an online support case and they could get us the photos via a download link. That is what we ended up doing, it took a day or two but not long. So it all worked out but lesson learned, set an alarm to go get your photos before you leave the ship!!!
Once we got off the ship we found a porter who offered to help us get our luggage through customs and to our car. It wasn't hard to find our luggage but we did have a lot. I wonder if the porter regretted offering to help us
. Customs was smooth and he took us all the way to our rental car in the parking garage. I gave him a decent tip and we got loaded up for our drive back to Orlando. We had a flight at 4:45 PM. We were leaving the garage sometime between 9:30 - 10:00 AM IIRC.
Driving back from Miami was uneventful aside from the stress of the photo situation. It took less time then it did coming presumably due to less traffic. We did have to stop for restrooms a couple times and to get some gas. I had prepaid our gas so I could show up with an empty tank but didn't quite think we could make it back without adding a little gas. The kids were definitely tired and not really happy to be leaving but the drive was fine thanks to our audiobook they could listen to. I think at one point they were all tired so we just let them rest for a bit.
We made it back to the Orlando airport a little before 2pm I believe. We wanted plenty of time to eat before our flight. The rental car return went smoothly enough and baggage check was much quicker than we had leaving the SLC airport on our way out. The security line though ended up being rather long. Marathon weekend has just finished and lots of people had WDW marathon attire on in the lines. I wasn't worried about making our flight or anything but the kids were not happy with the long security lines.
We made it through and looked for a place to eat settling on Bahama Breeze. It's a nationwide chain I discovered on my first trip to Orlando years ago and we don't have any near us at home. I personally think the quality has changed over the years and some locations are better than others. They also have changed their menu a few times and not for the better in my book. We had good service though and the food was fine so it did the job.
We had some time to wait at the gate but not too long. The whole thing felt relaxed which is how I prefer it versus feeling rushed. Before we knew it we were on our flight home which was nice and uneventful just a bit long. I think it is the jetstream that makes flying west always take longer. We made it and got hit with the uncomfortable reality the weather was much colder at home than where we'd been. The kids were not happy as we had to wait for our parking shuttle to come get us. It was hard to believe this trip my DW and I had kept a surprise for so long was finally over and it had been such an awesome vacation!
Final Thoughts
As a first time cruiser of any sort I thought I'd share my thoughts about cruising,
DCL, this itinerary and driving from Orlando to Miami. These are all my opinions and I recognize there will be others and other experiences out there. So none of this is right or wrong just my thoughts for what they are worth.
Cruising
We loved taking a cruise! I have had a complete attitude change about cruising and am so glad we tried this out! I loved staring out at the ocean especially at night. I loved the all inclusive nature and not worrying about planning where/when we'd eat and what if the kids didn't eat good. There was always food available. I loved that everyone could have their own vacation and do their own thing at different times yet we also could all be together. We also had the chance to be with just one or two of our kids at a time which is always hard to do on a family vacation. It was also just really relaxing unlike theme park vacations which while fun seem much more exhausting. I also loved that we got to expose our kids to new places and unique experiences. It was fun doing something we'd never done before like the dolphin encounter. One final surprise is I got to see more of the world than I thought as I interacted with cast members from all over the globe, that was really cool!
Cruising on DCL
Much of what we liked from a cruising perspective could be found on other cruise lines. I definitely think having options is a good thing. For us though I know it took a
Disney cruise to get me to try cruising. Right or wrong I have a certain trust for the Disney brand. Looking at it now though there were also several things that will probably keep us on DCL for now. I totally acknowledge we haven't tried anything else yet so this is one sided but in case it helps anyone here is my list for why we liked DCL.
- Entertainment - We loved the evening shows. They were family friendly and engaging for my kids along with being really high quality. I think the quality might be present elsewhere but being good for my kids would be more of a challenge.
- Atmosphere - We really liked how there wasn't a casino and the ship just had a very family friendly vibe. I think Disney fans tend to get along well with each other and have a similar vibe. Even in my late night wanderings of the adult only areas I didn't run across anything I found uncomfortable. I don't drink and while there was definitely alcohol around for those who wanted it, I liked that it didn't seem to be the focus for anyone being there.
- Kids Clubs -- I loved the hours and availability of the kids clubs and the theming/activities that my kids enjoyed. I can't compare personally to anything else and I have heard of positive experiences on other cruise lines but I definitely think this is something DCL does well and we liked it.
- Characters -- We did enjoy meeting the characters especially seeing them wander around. We ran into Captain Hook wandering a couple times which was really cool. For a Disney fan you just can't beat the character interactions on a cruise. I thought they were much better than park experiences.
- Inclusions -- I really liked that Disney included soda with the cruise. We aren't huge soda drinkers and neither are our kids. However it was really nice we could get something besides water without thinking about paying for it. I know it is a little thing but my understanding is it isn't included on most cruises. We also really liked how there weren't any kids activities on board that cost additional aside from really the Pirate League/Bippity Boppity Boutique. I know other cruise lines have the go carts, laser tag, etc but from what I've heard that usually incurs an additional cost for each visit and that would have been more stress with the kids. I liked we didn't have to navigate that.
- Castaway Cay -- It was just awesome and we can't wait to return.
- Fish Extender -- This is uniquely Disney and I talk about it below but it really was a fun thing
- Theming -- There were so many Disney touches around the ship. If you are a Disney fan it is awesome but they are also subtle enough to not be in your face if you aren't. I loved the posters from classic Disney animation/cartoons. The background music is also an awesome touch. Aside from the Disney elements I also just thought the ship was beautiful and really well done and well maintained.
Marvel Day at Sea
I loved the Marvel theme on this cruise. I won't repeat what I wrote earlier but the bottom line is I think doing a Marvel cruise is worth it. The deck show alone is worth experiencing. I'm not in a hurry to do one again but if it worked out I certainly would, I think it is cool enough to repeat.
Itinerary
I loved our dolphin encounter but agree with the general vibe I've gotten that Nassau isn't the best port to visit. I'm not in a hurry to return with my kids at least. WIth just me and my wife I might be more interested in exploring and seeing more of the city but for family excursions there wasn't something else I really want to go back and try right away.
Key West on the other hand was a super fun port and I'd love to return again. Even though it is still in the US it was a unique place and I'd love more time there.
I already mentioned I love Castaway Cay. It is a requirement for our next cruise.
The other big surprise was how much we loved our sea day. Given it was a Marvel Day it wasn't really a sea day but we saw enough to know we like sea days which we weren't sure about going in. Definitely would recommend a sea day.
Now I do want to say here I'm so glad we switched from our original 3 day to a 5 day cruise. Three days would be too short for a first time in my opinion. Now a cruise is better than no cruise but if you can, my feeling is a 5 day was perfect for our first experience. While we were sad to get off we were also getting a bit tired and the kids were starting to be ready to be done with vacation. I think for a first cruise it was perfect. Not to say more days would be bad but I prefer to leave wanting a bit more.
Orlando to Miami
As I explained in my intro we didn't really have a choice but to fly into Orlando and drive to Miami because we had booked airfare for a different cruise originally. However we are looking at a future Miami cruise and I wouldn't be opposed to driving from Orlando again. If you get a killer airfare deal that makes the cost of renting a car worth it and/or you want some time in Orlando the drive really isn't too bad. I would definitely plan to drive in the night before your cruise. However driving right to the Orlando airport from Miami after wasn't at all stressful or uncomfortable for our 4:45 PM flight. I know things can happen to delay you so you need to consider the worse case scenarios but it should be fine. We had travel insurance and I think the trip delay coverage could have helped in the worse case but we didn't have to find out.
The Ship
We loved the Magic! It may be the first and therefore older but it was in great shape, just absolutely beautiful, clean and everything we hoped. I wondered if we'd feel bad we weren't on a newer/bigger ship. We didn't though to be fair we don't know what we are missing. Rapunzel's Royal Table was incredible, the Aquadunk was a blast though a bit intense for my older DS and my younger DD and DS were too short to ride. We loved how Castaway Cay didn't feel crowded and I'm unsure how it would be on a bigger ship. It was also nice that it was easy to get around the ship and even go from deck 2 to top deck via the stairs. Bottom line is I wouldn't hesitate to sail on the Magic again (and hint we are)
Photo Package
I see this asked a lot on these forums, we totally thought the photo package was worth it. I shared a lot of the photos in this trip report because quite honestly we didn't take a ton of photos with our cameras when their were photographers around. It was just easier to let them do it. We had a lot more photos I didn't share here that I also liked. It was often hard to decide what to post. The key though to getting the value I think was we made it a point to get pictures at the formal stations each night around dinner time. We also did a number of character greets. Finally anytime we saw roaming photographers like on Castaway Cay or even on deck we stopped for a picture. The photo package is not cheap but I think the value can be there and it can be worth it if you want to make getting photos a priority. I will say with the exception of the formal photo shots (not the characters they will at characters) cast members are happy to take a photo with your camera. Quality may vary but it certainly is an option.
Fish Extender
I didn't talk about it much in this TR but we had an awesome experience with fish extenders and with our pre cruise social media group. It was a ton of fun to get to know fellow cruisers in advance. The big thing though was we really enjoyed both giving FE gifts and receiving them. You do need to go in I think more about having fun with it then what you will get. In our case we got a lot of cool gifts but I've heard that isn't always the case. Aside from our formal FE group there was a ton of less formal pixie dusting happening. For me though I think the process of making and giving was more of the fun. We did an ornament exchange as well and that we really liked because we always collect ornaments from our travels. We didn't get anything from the shipboard shops because we had such cool ornaments from our exchange to remind us of the trip.
What is next for us
We did put down a placeholder onboard. We were able to do it right through the app and get a confirmation so we didn't have to wait in line to talk to anyone. For those unfamiliar you can put down a deposit for a future cruise without specifying a specific one. This gives you a 10% discount on that future cruise. I don't recall all the details but it is totally refundable and just has to be used I believe within 2 years. You can find more detailed write ups out there. We knew we wanted to cruise again and so it made sense for us. The experience doing it in the app was great, we just did it our last night to make sure it went through.
Upon returning I couldn't make it a full week without looking at future itineraries "just to see". That was a dangerous thing because I found a cruise that was a good deal and had an itinerary we liked. I knew we had to return to Castaway Cay and we wanted to visit new ports. We also really wanted a sea day or two. My DW also really wanted to stick with a smaller ship. We have the challenge of needing two staterooms for our family which makes costs a bit more complex. I would have loved to do a longer cruise but given everything we found a really good deal on another 5 night on the Magic out of Miami, this time a Very Merry Western Caribbean cruise. We get two sea days and a stop to Grand Cayman along with Castaway Cay. It is an itinerary that we like, a great rate, and the dates should work out for us. It's right before Christmas and the kids have said they like the idea of a cruise for Christmas again even if it isn't a surprise this time. So it is official we are hooked on DCL and if all goes well we will have two cruises in this calendar year.
Well that's all folks. Hopefully you enjoyed this trip report. It's been fun to reflect our amazing trip as I've written this!