We decided on a Disney Cruise out of Galveston, TX due to it's proximity to Dallas so we wouldn't have to purchase airfare. The Disney Magic sailed from Nov 3 - Nov 10.
Before You Go
Disney has a cruise website that allows you to book port adventures, spa times, adult dinners, and nursery hours so you can plan your trip in advance. Just make sure that you have your plan solidified if you book any of these things online, because you will get charged for everything you book 3 days prior to your sail date. When you first book your cruise, they mail you luggage tags along with a booklet of information. Make sure to read through it and also the guide online. You can purchase parking in advance as well, there are several options right next to the cruise terminal in Galveston. Ours was at Park & Cruise and cost $50 for 7 nights of parking. We drove from Dallas to Galveston the morning of the cruise sail date. Even on a Saturday morning, Houston traffic was awful though! I'm sure many people drove down/flew in the night before and stayed at a hotel to make sure they didn't miss the ship due to travel issues. Go to your family doctor and get the patch that goes behind your ear to prevent motion sickness. I have severe issues with motion sickness and got the patch, which worked wonderfully. Even if you think you won't have issues, bring Dramamine just in case. Sea-sickness is rotten so don't be a tough guy!
Boarding
The boarding process couldn't have been any easier. You can check in online and arrange a terminal arrival time a few days prior to your cruise sail date. They stagger arrival boarding times so it's not overwhelming when people get to the terminal and check in. Make sure to have your passports and all paperwork filled out!! A porter will meet you at your car when you arrive at the terminal. They will take the luggage you wish to check, it will be delivered to your stateroom a few hours after you board. Keep all medications, swimsuit, change of clothes, etc in your carry-ons so you can have instant access to it upon boarding. You will go through metal detectors and then wait in line for your check in. They will give everyone in your room a "Key to the World". This card is your stateroom entry card, on-board purchases card, drink card, getting on and off the ship card, etc so DON'T lose it! They take a quick picture of your face and attach it to your key, that way they can easily identify you for purchases, port adventures, etc. Once you've completed check in, you are ushered onto the ship. We dropped off out carry-ons in our stateroom and headed straight for lunch at a buffet.
Food
A huge highlight of the Disney experience is the food. You will arrange a dinner time (either 5:45pm or 8:30pm) when you book your cruise. If you have small children, do the early dinner seating. The Disney Magic has 2 buffet locations, 3 restaurants for dinner seatings, an adult exclusive restaurant, and 3 quick stations on the pool deck for pizza, burgers, and sandwiches.
The adults-only restaurant requires a reservation in advance and has an additional charge of $20 per person. We went to Palo once and it was lovely. Romantic atmosphere with great food and service. Pay attention to their dress-code, as they don't allow shorts, jeans, tank-tops, or flip-flops.
Lumiere's, Animator's Palate, and Parrot Cay are the dinner rotation restaurants for 5:45 or 8:30. You will receive a ticket at check-in that will give you your scheduled dinner rotation and table number. Your table number and waitstaff will remain the same throughout your trip. Every meal is themed and you order off of a menu. Island Fare, Italian Fare, French Fare, Princess/Prince Night, Pirates in the Caribbean Night, etc. The food is good and you can order whatever you'd like. They had vegetarian specific items which made me happy. There is also a children's menu and they will bring the kids food out immediately if you prefer. Breads, Salads, Soups, Main Courses, and Desserts. You can order alcohol for an additional charge.
The buffets (Topsiders & Parrot Cay) were full of a variety of foods sure to please everyone. They are open for breakfast and lunch, and Topsiders was a dinner option for those not wishing to do a sit-down meal. Breakfast buffets have the typical eggs, pancakes, waffles, toast, bagel, skillet potatoes, omelet station, cereals, yogurts and fruit. Lunch buffets were themed (bbq, mexican, seafood, italian, etc). Part of the buffet at Topsiders is towards the back, so make sure to check it out as they have a salad bar and sandwich station there. Desserts were plentiful.
Pinocchio's Pizzeria, Pluto's Dog House and Goofy's Galley had varying times of operation (mostly during pool time and late night). If your kids are swimming and you don't want to do a buffet, you can order slices of pizza, burgers, hot dogs, fries, sandwiches, fresh fruit, etc. from these places and eat by the pool. They also have a self-serve ice-cream station.
My last note here is for parents with toddlers. They don't have a ton of snacks for toddlers so bring your own. I was disappointed that they didn't have cheerios available on the ship. You can order crackers from room service, but you'd be better suited to pack your own goldfish, crackers, and puffs. Fruit and yogurt are abundant, but many of the meats and dishes have seasoning and dressing on them so choose food for your toddler carefully.
Drinks & Alcohol
There is a 24-hour drink station located outside of Topsiders where you can get coffee, tea, whole milk, soft drinks and water for free. Don't order this stuff on room service because they will charge you (as I learned by ordering cartons of whole milk for our daughter). If you have a baby or toddler drinking whole milk, you can take extra cartons from the breakfast buffet and store them in your stateroom refrigerator. Or bring your bottles/kids cups to the 24 hour station and fill them up. You can get sodas and milk during meals for free too, but you'll pay extra anywhere else and with room service. The drinking water on the ship is safe, but I'm picky about the taste, so we ordered bottled waters to keep in our stateroom. 6 bottles was $10.50, so that might be something you bring in your carry-on. We also brought bottles of wine in our carry-ons. Alcohol has a huge price mark-up on the ship and you'll notice the prices are similar to restaurants and bars when you go out at home. You can bring your own wine on board but it has to be carried on. You can request a corkscrew and wine glasses from room service. I highly suggest opening the bottle before you take it to dinner. If the waitstaff has to open your bottle for you, there is a $20 charge per bottle. We saw several people bring their own wine bottles to dinner without any issues. We saved money by bringing some wine with us, but don't think we are penny-pinchers, as we also ordered drinks from several bars and at the pool and beach. They sell duty-free liquor in a shop on-board, so that is another option to lower your drinking costs. I think next time we agreed to bring beer too, aluminum bottles not glass, for poolside and late night drinks.
Stateroom
Having a port-hole window is the way to go. An interior room is cheaper, but you run the risk of sea-sickness without a view outside. You can also get a stateroom with a balcony, but we decided against that with a toddler. Our room was adjoining to the Grandparent's room which was convenient! Don't bother bringing a hairdryer...the outlets aren't compatible. They provide a dryer, but good luck round-brushing your hair with that thing. We had a toilet with a sink in one compartment and a shower with a sink in another compartment. Great for families when getting ready. We had a large bed, pull-out couch, flat screen tv, refrigerator, large closet, several dressers, etc. Since we were bringing our 20 month old daughter, we called ahead to request a pack n play and diaper genie. We also brought a fan (we always sleep with a fan to block out noise) which was wise considering the kids next door were noisy. We checked out a bottle warmer and bottle sanitizer from Guest Services. Each had a $50 deposit associated with it, but it goes back to you when you return them on the last day. One thing I wish I had remembered was a bottle brush and dish soap to clean the bottles completely! We also brought our own compact stroller for carting baby around, but you can check one out at Guest Services. All these things are on a first come/first serve basis so secure them immediately upon boarding. Blackout curtains for the porthole were key in helping our daughter rest.There is also a curtain you can pull between the couch area and bed area, so little ones can have a secluded sleep area. The tv moves to either area so you can still watch while kids sleep. The tv is satellite so most of it is movies. Madagascar 3, Hocus Pocus, Disney Pixar, Disney Classics, Men in Black 3, Mission Impossible, The Vow, Spiderman, etc. play on repeat, plus they have a few news stations and music. Don't expect to be watching your favorite shows on-board...DVR them at home!
Room Service
The room service menu is decent if you can't or don't want to leave your room. Most of the menu is free of charge and takes 30 minutes to be delivered. Breakfast is all cold items like cereal, fruit, yogurt. You can order pizza, sandwiches and a few main courses, but they really didn't have much. You can order popcorn, snacks, and sodas, beer or wine but you will get charged for it. Tip is not included so make sure you have cash with you.
Waitstaff
There is one staff member for every two guests on-board. Incredible service. You will constantly have people asking you if you need anything, giving you directions, cleaning your mess, serving you food. During meals you will have a head server, food server and drink server. You will also have a stateroom manager. They will call you by name and remember what your likes and dislikes. Ours were fantastic and went above and beyond to make sure we had everything we wanted. Our stateroom manager had to clean up puke several times and did it with a smile (we tipped him extra!). He said it was a requirement when interviewing. He cleaned our room in the morning and then refreshed our room during turn-down service. Please be prepared to reward these staff members for excellent service. The suggested tips are automatically added to your card unless you wish to reduce or increase the amount at Guest Services. The suggested amount is as follows (each child counts as a guest too):
Head Server: $7 per guest
Food Server: $28 per guest
Drink Server: $21 per guest
Stateroom Manager : $28 per guest
Please tip them accordingly...they will wait on you for 7 nights and depend on tips. They go above and beyond to make sure you are happy and should be rewarded for their service. We increased our stateroom managers tip as he was really good. Plan on paying ahead of time and allot your trip funds for this expense so it won't be a surprise at the end.
Spa & Exercise
We did a couples massage at the beginning of our cruise. It was very relaxing and lasted 50 minutes. The cost was $120 per person, tip is extra. We were glad we did a massage before spending several days in the sun as it may have hurt to have someone rubbing on your burned skin. They will try to give a weak sell afterwards about buying lotions from them, but just say "no thanks" and be on your way. The spa has all sorts of services and you can book at any time. There is also a hair salon and a fitness zone with treadmills, elipticals, weights, etc which is free of charge. The promenade on deck 4 is for those wishing to walk or run. It is outdoors and loops all the way around the ship.
Pools on Board
The ship has 3 pools. The adults-only pool is the Quiet Cove at the front of the ship. There are 2 hot tubs, a bar, coffee cafe, drink service, showers and plenty of lounge chairs both in the sun and in the shade. You will see a lot of adults reading books and drinking mai-tais while they listen to elevator music. Each afternoon features live music as well. The pool water is very cold though. The Goofy Pool is the main pool for kids and activities. There is a mega-screen tv playing Disney movies at all times and music or a dj dance party daily. Lounge chairs are quickly gone, but they have tons of tables and chairs alongside this area. You are not allowed to save chairs at any of the pools, or so they say. The Mickey Pool features a water-slide and is for smaller children. Children wearing swim diapers or not toilet-trained are NOT allowed in this pool. It had to be closed several times to be cleaned due to accidents in the pool. There is a water fountain feature area for toddlers right by the Mickey Pool which is the only area they allow swim-diapered children. I saw several children in this area with regular diapers or no diaper at all, gross. Make sure to tell a staff member if you see this (I wish I had!). They really needed a staff member monitoring this fountain area at all times.
Nursery
The Flounders Reef Nursery was open daily from 9am until 10pm and cost $6 per hour. You can make a reservation here for your child under 3 yrs old anytime (even online before your cruise begins). You can cancel 4 hours ahead at no charge but otherwise you will incur a 50% charge. We reserved time for our daughter on "At Sea: days so we could go to the adult pool and relax. We also did one night at the adults-only dinner so she went to the nursery. They are very nice and good with kids. From what we experienced, the caregivers were all women with English or Austrailian accents. My fear was safety, but it is secure and safe. Your child will be checked in allowing for you to provide any special instructions. They can give your child snacks, naps, and if you leave diapers and wipes, they will do that as well. They require a secret password (that you set ahead of time) when you return to pick up your child. They don't allow sick children to come in, and they will also call you to pick up your child if they are disruptive or unsettled. You are provided with 2 cordless phones in your stateroom, so make sure you carry these with you, especially if they need to get a hold of you while you are out and about on the ship. There are other clubs for different age groups all the way up to 18yrs old, but since we only have a toddler I can't comment from experience with those. We did peek inside the Oceaneer Club and the kids seemed to be having a good time.
Activities
Abundant activities provide for all ages of guests on the ship. Toddler play times, movies and shows playing in 2 theaters, evening magic and comedy shows, live music, bingo, cooking classes, tween and teen clubs, games, tours, dance parties, wine tastings, meet the captain, crafts for adults and kids...you name it, they have it planned. Every morning, a cruise navigator packet will be delivered to your door detailing the times for all the day's activities and events. One thing we loved was Mickey's Breakfast Jam! You will be scheduled automatically for this breakfast on one of your cruise days...don't miss it. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Chip make appearances and come to every table for photo opportunities. Character appearances are scheduled around noon time and dinner times. Show up promptly and be prepared to wait in line to have your child's picture taken with characters. Princesses, Mickey and Minnie, Captain Hook, Daisy and Donald Duck, Chip and Dale, and more. They do professional pictures at these appearances and you can buy the pictures at the photo studio on-board. They are pricey at $20 for an 8x10 but definitely worth it for a few good pictures. They also have several opportunities for family photos before dinner times. Wish we would have done this for formal night or something.
Port Adventures
Port Adventures can be booked online ahead of your cruise to ensure a spot on your desired activity on land. Reminder that you will be charged 3 days prior to your sail date even if you cancel your adventure. You can also book port adventures at a kiosk on-board, even on the day of the adventure given spots are still available. We did a beach break on Grand Cayman which was $35 per person (children under 3yrs old were free). It included bus transfers to and from the beach, lounge chairs with umbrella, and a drink ticket for one bottle of water per person. Had we thought about it ahead of time or been more familiar with the island, we probably would've just planned our own adventure to the beach for a cheaper day. The beach break was 5 hours long, so we had to get a taxi back to the ship when our 20 month old daughter was tired. My husband and in-laws went on a catamaran and snorkeling adventure at Costa Maya which was $60 per person, and they had fun. We had planned a beach break in Cozumel for $66 per person including lunch, but we were informed that morning that there was a red flag warning due to the rough seas so no one would be allowed to enter the ocean. We were given the option for a full refund on that excursion, some people still went though. We hopped in a cab ($16 each way) and went to Mr. Sancho's resort. I saw it in a map pamphlet once we were in port and thought it sounded ok. No entrance fee for beach access at Mr. Sanchos and they serve food and drinks for a decent price. You can use the lounge chairs and tables for free, you can pay extra to rent an umbrella for shade or a covered cabana. They tried to up-sell us on the $50 per person all-inclusive day, which meant food and access to an exclusive pool, but we declined since we were only planning to be there for a few hours.
Port Adventures arranged through the cruise ship are a good idea, and they are guaranteed to wait for you to return to the ship before they leave port. Go on your own excursion only if you are familiar with the area and are planning to return well before the ship leaves port. You don't want to ship to leave without you!!
Other Notes
Our daughter got sick on-board several times and towards the end she couldn't keep anything down. I checked the shops for Pedialyte, but had no luck. Guest Services only had the colored Pedialyte freezer pops, so I had to settle on trying those. Have Pedialyte packed if you have a little one!
We brought a suitcase filled with our daughter's toys and supplies. She loved having some of her own toys to play with in our stateroom. Of course, they have a store where you can buy Disney merchandise and we definitely spoiled her there. We brought her sippy-cups and bottles along, plus diapers, swim diapers and wipes. They provided the crib sheet for the pack n play, but I do wish I would have brought some of our daughter's blankets. I forgot her sleep-sack too which was a major bummer.
