Quickie adult only Magic cruise thoughts/tips

[Lisa F]

Sounds like an amazing time! Thanks for sharing your report -- and also for validating our recent decision to swap from early to late dining on our upcoming cruise.

I see how it can be problematic with kids but for adults it was definitely the way to go. Though tons of kids at our seating too! But the tons of families made for very quiet adult areas!

 

[Lisa F]

Platinum Cruiser here... Following.

We did our first solo to Bermuda without the kids. We had the late seating for the first time, which I was upset about. It turned out to be fantastic like you said. We are doing the 5 night Oct 31 without the kids again. Does Port Everglades have a lounge for Platinum and Pearl, or just Concierge?

TY~ Enjoying the report!

I don't know if they have a lounge since I'm just gold but we literally were not in the terminal for very long. Showed up shortly after 11 and we probably got on board about a half hour later. It was the most low key arrival of all of my disney cruises, not much line - if you are platinum/pearl and you time it right you shouldn't have to wait long at all!

 

[Lisa F]

Enjoyed your review! Can you comment on the shape of the Magic? I know it’s Disney’s oldest ship so won’t have the bells and whistles of the newer ships but we are considering sailing on the Magic as two adult cruisers and would love your thoughts. Thanks!

I live on an island accessed only by ferry and we're on boats a lot - she looked to be in great shape for the most part. There is always going to be a slight bit of rust in any marine environment but it was very very minimal. All of the interior spaces were pristine, the theater, the movie theater, the restaurants, and all of the lounges as well as public spaces. Our stateroom looked as good as I remembered it in 2005 - a/c was nice and cold, door sealed nice and tight, bed was comfortable, rug was not worn, furniture was not worn, no weird smells in the bathroom (just addressing random stuff I've seen reported). I would not guess she is any older than the dream/fantasy from the condition (last on the fantasy in 2020 right before covid shut everything down.)

 

[Lisa F]

What a great review! Even though you called it a summary, I very much enjoyed reading it!

We took our very first cruise on the Magic last summer and as an adults only couple, we missed out on experiencing many of the adult only areas simply because we were overwhelmed by cruising in general and it seemed a lot to take in.
We are looking forward to our next cruise so we can relax and enjoy things a bit more.

We ended up basically trying out one venue every night although it just worked out that way - rather than settling in at any one. First day by the pool we hit up happy hour at Signals - the waiter there was great and I told him we'd be back but we never made it back, lol. We did 80's music trivia at O'Gills and tried the late night snacks there one night, but didn't have drinks there. We had drinks at Soul Cat one night because my partner wanted to try the smoked old fashioned and we sat at the bar and chit-chatted with the bartenders. Then we ended up in Keys the night of Mixology because we were so impressed by that bartender. Then the last night we planned to go back to Keys but then hit it off with Jarvis from Fathoms who ran the mojito tasting so we went to Fathoms instead and didn't realize the broadway performer who played Madame Gothel was doing her own show on board so that turned out to be a happy surprise. So basically we hit all of them (I think) without planning it that way. On a longer cruise we would have gone back to Keys I think.

That is another benefit of late seating because it gave us some early evening time to have a cocktail and check out the venues and then there is a well timed show usually in fathoms after dinner as well (we saw a couple.) We would have gone to match your mate but they ended up PremEaring inside out 2 and we did that instead.

 

[Lisa F]

We went to the MDR when we boarded the Wish, I think we would have found marcellines too overwhelming (especially with little people who can't really carry their own food to the table). It was nice and relaxing at the MDR and the rooms were ready when we left.

yes not having to tend to kids makes for a much easier buffet experience. I remember those days well (mine is 16 now and carries his own tray!) And I did the MDR on the cruise I did with my parents because my father does not buffet well either and my kiddo was younger (about 11.) But I am not a huge fan of anything on that menu and really wanted the crab legs so buffet it was! Everything is definitely exponentially easier without kids (not that it's not worthwhile to take them places when they are younger but it's far from easy - although I will say as a single mom that DCL was one of the easiest and lowest stress vacations I had with him.)

 

[Lisa F]

Great review! We were on the Magic a few weeks ago and had an amazing time. Best MDR food we've had on DCL in a while, fantastic bar service everywhere...Our only complaint was that the adult pool was wayyyy too hot. It was scorching hot outside and they were clearly still heating the water so it was basically just a big hot tub. Frankly we felt cooler after getting out of the pool.

Other than that, the Magic still holds up. We last sailed on her in November 2022 (right before her dry dock, I believe) and her age was showing, but now she is back in tip-top shape!

Also agree that Port Everglades didn't really seem to care too much about port arrival times. We were about 45 mins early, arriving by Uber, and they waved us right through. Also agree they were very efficient getting people on the ship once they started boarding. It was our first time at that port and we honestly have no complaints!

they must have rectified the pool issue because it was probably right around 80 degrees - bathwater temp with the hot tut noticeably hotter.

I had really talked down the food after reading reviews here and my travel companions were all "are you crazy? this is awesome." There were a couple of things that were not good but most things were really very good to excellent and youwould not really have guessed they were prepared in massive quantities. everything fried was crispy and not oily, everything that we could request cooked to order was cooked perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised honestly, it was even better than I remembered from back in the good old days.

 

[ZerasPride]

I live on an island accessed only by ferry and we're on boats a lot - she looked to be in great shape for the most part. There is always going to be a slight bit of rust in any marine environment but it was very very minimal. All of the interior spaces were pristine, the theater, the movie theater, the restaurants, and all of the lounges as well as public spaces. Our stateroom looked as good as I remembered it in 2005 - a/c was nice and cold, door sealed nice and tight, bed was comfortable, rug was not worn, furniture was not worn, no weird smells in the bathroom (just addressing random stuff I've seen reported). I would not guess she is any older than the dream/fantasy from the condition (last on the fantasy in 2020 right before covid shut everything down.)

Thanks so much! Yes I was a bit worried by some of the reviews. We keep going back and forth on Thursday whether we will book the Wish or Magic. Your review helps us out a lot!

 

[Lisa F]

We will be on the Magic this weekend! Thanks for the review. Trying mixology for the first time and now I’m excited for it!

How did you end up liking it? you are probably back now, lol!

 

[Lisa F]

thanks everyone else for the comments - life has been brutally busy since returning! But I hope to get a more in depth report started with photos at some point. Before I forget, lol

 

[Lisa F]

Thanks so much! Yes I was a bit worried by some of the reviews. We keep going back and forth on Thursday whether we will book the Wish or Magic. Your review helps us out a lot!

I haven't been on the Wish but comparable to the Dream/Fantasy when I was last on them 4-5 years ago. And I do design for a living so I am pretty fussy about my environment. Only thing I noticed was maybe a little more rust than 19 years ago but still not horrible, I was actually just really looking due to reports I'd read as well. They really do a good job keeping on top of things though!

 

[Pixarfans]

How did you end up liking it? you are probably back now, lol!

Just off the ship! We liked it. I’m glad we did it once very informative and fun but would probably not do again (we don’t make or drink mixed drinks).