Pluto4President
DIS Veteran ºoº DVC 4ME
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2000
I just returned from the January 19th sailing aboard the Disney Magic. I wanted to take a few moments to describe the wonderful experience we had, and to praise some of the crewmembers. This was our second cruise; the first was a three night Wonder cruise last February.
We were in a category 4 stateroom. Our room steward, Garry was terrific. The room was constantly kept clean and in order. Garry had a surprise towel animal for us every night. The kids loved seeing the animals and the other things that Garry would do to make our room feel like home. Whenever we had a question or needed an extra towel or whatever, Garry was always around as cheerful and friendly as could be.
Our dining servers were Sylvio and Dally. Sylvio was a great server. We are typically very plain eaters. When there was nothing plain available for us on the menu, Sylvio would go out of his way to accommodate us. It was kind of like the old Burger King motto, Have it your way! He was constantly trying to appease us if we wanted something special. A few examples coming to mind were fruit salad when it wasnt on the menu; cheesecake when no other dining room was serving it, good old fashioned steak instead of some fancy named steak, Caesar salad nightly. He was fun and friendly, and when the kids decided to join us, which was not often, he made them feel as comfortable as their own kitchen table. Great job Sylvio! Dally was always making sure our drinks were refilled and that all was well.
Many times we ate up at Topsiders. I am more of a buffet person. On the first night we got chatting with Sherwin, who was, I believe, the dining manager. Sherwyn was a super-friendly guy. Since our room was directly below Topsiders, we saw him quite often. No matter what he was doing, he would always take a minute out of his busy schedule to chat with us and make sure our cruise was all that we expected. His personality drew us to eat at Topsiders more often. The food was always fresh with a wide assortment for all three meals. We saw Sherwyn all of the time, either at Topsiders or walking around deck 9 making sure everything was right on the cruise. One night we went up there for desert, my wife was craving chocolate covered strawberries, something that was not available on the cruise. Unfortunately, Sherwyn didnt have it either; instead he served us up a special Strawberry Shortcake, delicious! The next morning when I went up to get my coffee at the coffee bar, Sherwyn, once again, stopped me and we chatted for a bit, he suggested we come to Topsiders for dessert that night. This was the Captains night. Well, we were dressed to the nines, myself in a tux and my wife in an evening gown. We went upstairs around 9pm to find Sherwyn with his usual big smile. He personally sat us in a romantic and quiet corner of the restaurant. About 2 minutes later, here comes Sherwyn with a plate full of Chocolate covered strawberries! The look on my wifes face was incredible. She was completely amazed that not only did he remember, she was over the craving, but also that he actually went out of his way to have it prepared and personally serve it to her. My only wish would have been that Sherwyn was our head server during our dining rotation so that he could have dazzled us more with that magical feeling. What a great guy!
As for the cruise itself, I expect a lot from Disney, thinking that no one can light a candle to the Disney way of doing things. I am a DVC member and visit Disney World quite frequently. I will be the first one to admit that I am not an easy person to please or that I am not easily impressed or surprised. Therefore, I was extremely shocked when this cruise turned out to far exceed my expectations. Obviously, we went on the cruise to enjoy some warm weather and to have fun. Never did I think I would have so much fun. Since our kids were mostly in their clubs, we participated in almost every adult event. I cant express how much the fun cruise staff added to our cruise. Mary Jo, Big John, Jessica, Steve, Powell, Darren, and Brent (DJ L.A.) were absolutely terrific. They made the cruise! As I said, we went to have fun, and fun we had. They were always doing something to motivate the crowd. All crowds have the people that sit in the corner, but they did their best to get those people up as well. We were in a lot of the contests including the Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer show. My hats off to them! They were full of energy and always on the go.
Two others that were always there for us were Daniello, a bar server on deck nine and Castaway Cay, and Ann Marie, a bar server at Rockin Bar D and on Castaway Cay. They could always spot us out in a crowd and made sure that we had what we needed and were enjoying ourselves.
Upon our return home, people keep asking us how the cruise was. You should see the amazement on our friends faces, when I, not one to be at a loss of words, am speechless. I have yet to find the right words to describe how great of a time we had on the January 19th Disney Magic Cruise.
Although I doubt that any cruise will top this one, trust me when I tell you, I am already trying to figure out when we will cruise the Magic again.
We were in a category 4 stateroom. Our room steward, Garry was terrific. The room was constantly kept clean and in order. Garry had a surprise towel animal for us every night. The kids loved seeing the animals and the other things that Garry would do to make our room feel like home. Whenever we had a question or needed an extra towel or whatever, Garry was always around as cheerful and friendly as could be.
Our dining servers were Sylvio and Dally. Sylvio was a great server. We are typically very plain eaters. When there was nothing plain available for us on the menu, Sylvio would go out of his way to accommodate us. It was kind of like the old Burger King motto, Have it your way! He was constantly trying to appease us if we wanted something special. A few examples coming to mind were fruit salad when it wasnt on the menu; cheesecake when no other dining room was serving it, good old fashioned steak instead of some fancy named steak, Caesar salad nightly. He was fun and friendly, and when the kids decided to join us, which was not often, he made them feel as comfortable as their own kitchen table. Great job Sylvio! Dally was always making sure our drinks were refilled and that all was well.
Many times we ate up at Topsiders. I am more of a buffet person. On the first night we got chatting with Sherwin, who was, I believe, the dining manager. Sherwyn was a super-friendly guy. Since our room was directly below Topsiders, we saw him quite often. No matter what he was doing, he would always take a minute out of his busy schedule to chat with us and make sure our cruise was all that we expected. His personality drew us to eat at Topsiders more often. The food was always fresh with a wide assortment for all three meals. We saw Sherwyn all of the time, either at Topsiders or walking around deck 9 making sure everything was right on the cruise. One night we went up there for desert, my wife was craving chocolate covered strawberries, something that was not available on the cruise. Unfortunately, Sherwyn didnt have it either; instead he served us up a special Strawberry Shortcake, delicious! The next morning when I went up to get my coffee at the coffee bar, Sherwyn, once again, stopped me and we chatted for a bit, he suggested we come to Topsiders for dessert that night. This was the Captains night. Well, we were dressed to the nines, myself in a tux and my wife in an evening gown. We went upstairs around 9pm to find Sherwyn with his usual big smile. He personally sat us in a romantic and quiet corner of the restaurant. About 2 minutes later, here comes Sherwyn with a plate full of Chocolate covered strawberries! The look on my wifes face was incredible. She was completely amazed that not only did he remember, she was over the craving, but also that he actually went out of his way to have it prepared and personally serve it to her. My only wish would have been that Sherwyn was our head server during our dining rotation so that he could have dazzled us more with that magical feeling. What a great guy!
As for the cruise itself, I expect a lot from Disney, thinking that no one can light a candle to the Disney way of doing things. I am a DVC member and visit Disney World quite frequently. I will be the first one to admit that I am not an easy person to please or that I am not easily impressed or surprised. Therefore, I was extremely shocked when this cruise turned out to far exceed my expectations. Obviously, we went on the cruise to enjoy some warm weather and to have fun. Never did I think I would have so much fun. Since our kids were mostly in their clubs, we participated in almost every adult event. I cant express how much the fun cruise staff added to our cruise. Mary Jo, Big John, Jessica, Steve, Powell, Darren, and Brent (DJ L.A.) were absolutely terrific. They made the cruise! As I said, we went to have fun, and fun we had. They were always doing something to motivate the crowd. All crowds have the people that sit in the corner, but they did their best to get those people up as well. We were in a lot of the contests including the Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer show. My hats off to them! They were full of energy and always on the go.
Two others that were always there for us were Daniello, a bar server on deck nine and Castaway Cay, and Ann Marie, a bar server at Rockin Bar D and on Castaway Cay. They could always spot us out in a crowd and made sure that we had what we needed and were enjoying ourselves.
Upon our return home, people keep asking us how the cruise was. You should see the amazement on our friends faces, when I, not one to be at a loss of words, am speechless. I have yet to find the right words to describe how great of a time we had on the January 19th Disney Magic Cruise.
Although I doubt that any cruise will top this one, trust me when I tell you, I am already trying to figure out when we will cruise the Magic again.
We set sail Saturday (!!!!!) on the Magic, and also our very first cruise. After reading your report, I'm even more anxious to just get there already. 
