Cruising on the Disney Magic with John A. - PREP 350

John, his wife, and two daughters embarked the Disney Magic from New Orleans and spent four days cruising. It was their first Disney cruise and John shares what his daughters thought of the kids’ clubs, how Disney compares to other cruise lines he has traveled, and how his family spent their pre-cruise day in New Orleans.

John was a previous podcast guest when he and his family took their first trip to Disney World. Check out that podcast 317 here.

In this article

The Basics

John and his family are taking a 4 day spring break cruise out of New Orleans. This will be with his wife and their daughters, ages 9 and 5. This is their first Disney Cruise, but not their first cruise overall for John and his wife. This is the girls first cruise.

They chose to fly out of New Orleans because it is closer to home and the cruise was relatively inexpensive. They are cruising on the Magic. There is only one stop on this cruise and two days at sea.

Arrive in New Orleans (March 12)

John and his family had a very early flight and arrived in New Orleans by 8 a.m. He scheduled transportation to their hotel and thankful their room was ready when they arrived.

Their hotel was in the French Quarter so they unpacked and then went out to get something to eat. They got breakfast at Cafe Beignet before going back to the room to nap.

At 1:30 p.m. it was time for their bus tour. They were picked up right from their hotel. The tour taught them about Hurricane Katrina and they got beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Everyone loved the beignets!

They went to Emeril’s for dinner and on their way back to the hotel they noticed that it was very busy in the French Quarter! They got back to their room around 7 p.m. to get a good night’s sleep.

Embarkation (March 13)

They woke up early and ready to go! They got breakfast at Cafe Beignet again before getting a ride to the port. John was so impressed with the embarkation process.

They arrived at the port at 11:15 a.m. and were on the ship by 11:45 a.m. John was blown away by the process. They wandered around the ship and were really impressed with how beautiful and well-kept the ship was.

As they wandered around, they checked to be sure that their request was honored to have a private table for dinner. Then they viewed the kid’s club and that was lovely. Before going to their room they got lunch at Cabana’s.

Right at 2 p.m. their room was ready and they headed there. They had an ocean-view room and it was nice. There was a split bathroom with a toilet and sink in one part and shower and sink in another.

Their luggage arrived at 3 p.m. and they unpacked before heading to the muster drill. It took about 15-20 minutes. They went right to the sail away party and watched it from the balcony. They got some ice cream on their way back to their room to get ready for dinner.

They had the early dinner at Rapunzel’s Royal Table this evening. They really enjoyed the show and meeting the characters. After dinner they went to the room to freshen up before going to the theater for the Tangled musical.

They really enjoyed the show and were incredibly impressed with the performers. After the show, the girls went to the kid’s club around 10 p.m. John and his wife went to one of the lounges and watched some of the games.

At 10:30 p.m. they participated in the silent dance party and had some cocktails. They picked up the girls around 11 p.m. and went back to their room for the night.

Before going to bed, they placed a room service order for breakfast. It was an order just for some fruit, light breakfast, and coffee.

Day at Sea (March 14)

Their breakfast was delivered around 7:30 a.m. It was nice to have some coffee right away for the adults, but it was also great to have food immediately for the girls when they woke up.

Their plan was to get in line for the Ariel meet and greet right away. John’s youngest loves Ariel and was so excited to meet her.

However, that morning, when they were in line, a cast member came out and said Ariel was unavailable and it would be Stitch instead. It wasn’t the same, but they stayed in line anyway.

After meeting Stitch, they had a sit-down breakfast at Lumiere’s. It was a decent breakfast. After breakfast, the kids went to the kid’s club for about 45 minutes.

Their next stop was Disney Trivia in one of the lounges. It was very hard but they had fun! In the same lounge after trivia, they learned to draw Donald Duck. This was especially fun for John’s older daughter.

It was a bit chilly today so they didn’t go in the pool but they did grab some food at the pool deck for lunch. After lunch they went to see Avatar: The Way of Water in the theater. The girls napped through the movie but John and his wife enjoyed it.

Their dinner that evening was at Lumiere’s. Because they had a Bippidi Bobbidi Boutique appointment that evening, they had their server bring their food fairly quickly. He did a great job and they were at their appointment by 7:15 p.m.

Their appointment was very fun and done in about 30-45 minutes. They took some photos together with the girls all dressed up. They were even able to make the show that night.

It was Cinderella and John wasn’t excited about it, but ended up really enjoying it! After the show, the girls went to the Kid’s Club. John and his wife went to the adults only area for happy hour.

They enjoyed some cocktails before watching Match Your Mate show. It was a lot of fun! After that they picked up the girls, ordered some cookies and milk from room service, and went to bed.

Cozumel (March 15)

John and his wife had been to Cozumel several times. They booked an excursion through Disney to spend the day at the beach!

John and his family met with the rest of the group for the Playa Mia excursion and walked off the ship together. They took a 20 minute bus ride to the area. There were pools, play areas, slides, and a beach.

They were there until about 3 p.m. The food buffet was included, but John and his family didn’t participate in that. They did get drinks from the open bar. On their way out, they did some shopping.

They were back on the ship around 4:30 p.m. They went to their room to get ready for dinner and Pirate night! They received bandanas in their stateroom for the night.

Their dinner was at Lumiere’s that night. The kids went to the kid’s club while the adults went to the Irish Pub for drinks.

At 9:45 p.m. they were on the deck for the fireworks and show. They had a great view of the fireworks and loved seeing the characters!

The kids went back to the kid’s club while John and his wife watched Karaoke. They picked up the girls at 11:30 p.m. and went to bed.

Day at Sea (March 16)

They had breakfast in the room again before leaving to get in line for Ariel! They got in line around 8:45 a.m. and they were able to meet her. Both girls really loved this.

After meeting Ariel, they had their time for Royal Gathering at 9:45 a.m. It is free, but they did have to sign up. They met Mulan, Belle, Cinderella, and Tiana.

After the Royal Gathering, they got breakfast at Cabana’s. It was really good and they enjoyed it more than the dining room.

John was able to book a wine tasting on their embarkation day. They dropped the girls off at the kid’s club and went to the wine tasting. They were able to taste 6 different wines and they really enjoyed it.

They finally made it to the pool on the last day! The girls really enjoyed the kid pool. John’s wife and older daughter did the Aqua Dunk. They liked it, but it was intimidating!

After swimming, they grabbed some food for lunch to take back to their room. They ate lunch and got cleaned up in the room. They took a quick nap and began packing.

Their dinner this evening was at Animator’s Palate. It was very cool! They really liked the entertainment and characters. After dinner, they dropped the girls off at the kid’s club and went back to finish packing.

John and his wife put their bags out by 8:30 p.m. before getting the girls again. They all went to the show that night which was Disney Dream. This was a really beautiful show.

After the show, the girls went to the kid’s club while John and his wife enjoyed the adults only lounge. John was pleasantly surprised that the lounge wasn’t super crowded like they often are on other cruises.

They picked up the kids and got room service before going to bed.

Disembarkation (March 17)

They got up early and went to breakfast at Animator’s Palate one last time. They weren’t able to go back to the room afterward, so they waited in the lounge before their group was called to get off the ship.

They disembarked around 8:45 a.m. and they were off the ship by 9:15 a.m. John had arranged Disney transportation to the airport. They had a few hours to wait before their flight.

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