07/20/12 Disney Magic NYC Trip Report

[nhgirl]

I loved reading trip reports before my cruise. That is why I am writing this trip report.

My husband, my 8 year old daughter and I left NH for CT the day before the cruise. we stayed in Stamford and took the train into NYC. I am glad we did because the city is very busy on Fridays. I don't think we could drive there. This was a surprise for my daughter. We told her the night before. She was so happy she cried for quite a while.

The embarkation process was not as good as NCL. We had to wait in the terminal after check-in. On NCL we could board the ship right away.
When we got on the ship (7th) we went up to Topsiders because Parrot Cay had a long line and we were starving. The food was very good.

The first night the seas were very rough. The captain said 12 foot seas. Many people were sea sick. I had a patch and still felt a little dizzy. We went to bed early that night. The deck party was in the lobby because the weather was bad. We went by the Statue of Liberty at about 5:30 and took lots of pictures.

Our dining rotation was LAPLAAP. Our head waiter was Sylvester. This guy was AWESOME!!! Food was really good at all the restaurants. I liked Parrot Cay. One thing I would highly recommend is Palo Brunch. We did that the second day and it was my favorite meal. I liked it better than Palo for our anniversary dinner.

The shows were really good. Plenty of opportunity for pictures with characters. We booked the Tea with Alice at guest services. My daughter loved it.

We did the Blue Lagoon in Nassau. It was awesome and the beach is beautiful. My only complaint was we had to wait for the presentation before we could go to our Dolphin Encounter. it seemed like it took quite a while. We had time to go to the beach after the Dolphin Encounter. On a side note, I came across a BBQ at the beach. People there told me they got vouchers to eat lunch that day. We didn't get vouchers so I am not sure if it wasn't included in our excursion or we just neglected to ask for vouchers. We took the 2:00 boat back shopped in the gift shops and straw market and then headed back to the ship. Pirate night was a lot of fun.

Castaway Cay was my favorite port. It is a beautiful island. We had a wonderful day in the water and on the beach. We rented Jet Skis in the afternoon. I would love to go back. One thing I really liked was the cold towels they give you before you get back on the ship. Nice touch.

Port Canaveral was the next day. We went to the Magic Kingdom all day. We were there when they opened. It was great that early in the morning. It wasn't that hot yet. Splash Mountain wasn't open when we first got there. You could not get a Fast Pass either. But when we went back about 30 minutes later we got right on the ride. We were able to do many rides without long lines until about noon. Then the place was packed. We had lunch at the Crystal Palace and that was very nice. The food was good too.
We planned to stay until 10:00 but we did most of the park by 6:00 and it was just too hot to stay, so we went back to the ship.

The next couple of days at sea were fine. The seas were calm. For some reason the statement we received showing how the gratuities were divided had the wrong names on it. Our stateroom person was correct but our head waiter and assistant waiter were not the right names. We went to guest services and took the charges off of our credit card and paid the waiters ourselves.

Overall we loved the cruise. The food was really good and the service was excellent. You are definitely paying for the Disney experience. I thought NCL to Bermuda was just as good. But my daughter said the Disney cruise was way better. The Disney cruise cost a lot more money.

Back in NYC the disembarkation process was okay. But once you get off the ship all the luggage is in the terminal. It is a mad house and tensions were high as the passengers are trying to find their luggage. We could not find one suitcase and we were getting a little nervous about it. When I finally found it my daughter told me she believes in Disney Magic. She said that right before I found it she said to herself Faith, Trust, Pixie Dust! Then she saw me running across the terminal with the suitcase.

All in all we had a good trip.

[Stokkie20]

Nice TR at was for us also a "Magic"al week!!!!
Indeed the first evening and sea day were rough! We survived it also!

And you daughter remembered the words that both the Peters (Pan & Cruise Director) told us!!!!!

[HermanTriplets+1]

Originally Posted by nhgirl

Back in NYC the disembarkation process was okay. But once you get off the ship all the luggage is in the terminal. It is a mad house and tensions were high as the passengers are trying to find their luggage. We could not find one suitcase and we were getting a little nervous about it. :

Thanks for writing a TR!!
One thought I have for folks about the "madhouse" of getting your luggage at the end. We had an early disembarkation tag (Tinkerbelle) as we had early dining. However, we did not go to the MDR for breakfast, rather ate at Topsiders. We took our time and only disembarked around 9am. By this time most of the suitcases in our Tinkerbelle section had been claimed and it was really easy to find ours. We walked off, found our luggage, and were out at curbside in minutes. So if you have time, try to get off after your appointed time (though you can only stay on SO LONG, before they start chasing you off!!!!) and the crowds will have diminished.

[nhgirl]

Originally Posted by HermanTriplets+1

Thanks for writing a TR!!
One thought I have for folks about the "madhouse" of getting your luggage at the end. We had an early disembarkation tag (Tinkerbelle) as we had early dining. However, we did not go to the MDR for breakfast, rather ate at Topsiders. We took our time and only disembarked around 9am. By this time most of the suitcases in our Tinkerbelle section had been claimed and it was really easy to find ours. We walked off, found our luggage, and were out at curbside in minutes. So if you have time, try to get off after your appointed time (though you can only stay on SO LONG, before they start chasing you off!!!!) and the crowds will have diminished.

Very good idea. Funny thing is I think the reason I finally found the last suit case is because most of the others were gone (and of course the Disney Magic thing my daughter referred to). I wish I had read your suggestion before the trip. All the suit cases look the same. Another thing that would have helped is if we had put a colorful ribbon on it. The first two we found had ribbons. The last one did not.

[disney debi]

Nice report. Thanks for posting. Just 10 more days to wait for our NYC to the bahamas sailing!

[HermanTriplets+1]

Originally Posted by nhgirl

All the suit cases look the same. Another thing that would have helped is if we had put a colorful ribbon on it. The first two we found had ribbons. The last one did not.

Yes, ribbons would definitely help! I saw that some people had FE gifts of handle covers - now that I know how the luggage thing works, I'm thinking that that's a GREAT FE gift!