Disney Magic 7 night Western Caribbean Cruise 
November 8 - 16, 2002
by Tim Larison, CLIA Master Cruise Counsellor (MCC)
Can two adults enjoy a 7 Night Disney Cruise without their
kids? This is the question my wife Anne and I set out
to find the answer to when we took the 7 Night
Western Caribbean Cruise on the Disney Magic from November
9th through November 16th, 2002. We had taken the Disney Cruise
before, a 3 night Disney Magic Cruise in May 2000, with our
twin sons (they were 6 years old in 2000). This time we were
interested to see how the longer 7 night cruise would compare
to the short 3 night cruise, and what activities were available
exclusively for adults. Below I will give the highlights of
our trip, day by day. I have included some recommendations
(preceded by the words "TIP") throughout the report.
Friday, November 8th
We flew in to Orlando one night early and used our Disney World
Annual Passes for one night at Epcot. We stayed at Port Orleans
Riverside - one of the resorts that has transportation to the port
through the Disney Cruise Line.
Saturday, November 9th
Our bus from Port Orleans Riverside to the cruise terminal did
not leave until 12:30 pm, so this allowed us a leisurely breakfast
at Boatwrights and a couple of hours in the parks. We took in a
couple of attractions at the Animal Kingdom this morning (the Safari
ride and Tough To Be A Bug) before returning to our resort at 11:30
am. Disney makes transfers from Disney World to the cruise terminal
very convenient. There is a cruise desk in the checkin area of Port
Orleans Riverside which had a couple of Cruise Line reps there from
9 am. When we checked in on Friday night we were instructed to have
our bags packed and ready to go by 8 am for the cruise. Our bags
were picked up from our room shortly after 8 am and we did not see
them again until we were on the ship. The cruise bus pulled up right
on schedule at 12:30 pm. The Disney Cruise bus is no ordinary bus
- it has large seats, video monitors, a restroom onboard, and it
is air conditioned. On the ride to Port Canaveral they show you
a video of what to expect on the cruise. We were very excited as
we approached the port after watching the video and seeing the Disney
Magic in the distance. TIP: If you are not in a rush to get to the
port, the Disney transportation is great. It is hassle free - we
were dropped off right at the cruise terminal and checkin was fast
and easy. We soon found ourselves walking into the Disney Magic!
If you want to be one of the first onboard, though, I recommend
making other arrangements as we arrived at the port about an hour
and a half after boarding had begun.
We quickly went to our stateroom - 2008 on deck 2 in the front
part of the ship. There waiting for us was our luggage - we later
found out it was transported separately for us from our Disney World
resort to the ship earlier that morning. Our stateroom was good
sized and had a porthole (a category 9) - we stayed in the same
size stateroom on our 2000 cruise but somehow it seemed bigger without
two six year olds with us :-) We particularly like the split bathroom
available in this category of stateroom (and most other categories
except for cats 11 and 12). The bathroom is split into two small
rooms. Each has its own door. One room has a shower and a sink;
the second room has the toilet and another sink. The two sinks in
separate rooms allowed my wife and I to get ready at the same time
in the morning. TIP: Don't worry if your stateroom is on deck 1
or 2 on the cruise. There are some locations you want to avoid (like
below Rockin Bar D) but most are ok. You aren't at the very bottom,
as there are 4 Disney service decks below the passenger decks. This
was the first first time I had stayed on deck 2 for the cruise.
It was fine. We were underneath the Walt Disney Theatre but we heard
no noise at all from above during the week. Our porthole window
gave us a good view - we were 30 to 40 feet above the water line.
We remembered a very good opening buffet at Parrot Cay on our cruise
in 2000 so we were looking forward to this buffet again today. We
were disappointed we had arrived too late to eat at Parrot Cay,
but we discovered the Topsiders Buffet had the same food and this
also was excellent. It also gave us a chance to checkout Topsiders
- a buffet on the 10th deck that we did not eat at during our 3
night cruise. The peel and eat shrimp were particularly good at
this buffet. TIP: After you board the Disney Cruise if you want
to eat at Palo make your dining reservations right away.
On our cruise the Palo reservations were taken at Rockin Bar D
in the afternoon, and at Palo after 5 pm. We talked to a couple
who tried to make Palo reservations at 4:30 pm today, and they were
told the restaurant was booked for the week. "High Tea" reservations
particularly go fast as there are only 60 spots available.
Soon it was time to meet our sailing companions for the week -
other travel agents with my company (Cruising Co Etc). We had an
opening cocktail party in Sessions. Many of the other agents I had
never met, and we were so caught up with talking to everyone that
we didn't even notice that the ship had pulled away from the port
at 5 pm. Suddenly we looked outside and we were moving. We could
feel the boat move but it wasn't too bad - no need for the "bonine"
sea sickness pills that I had brought along just in case.
One member of the crew told me that the first night and the last
night is usually where the ship feels the most movement, so if you
get through the first night you should be fine. This was generally
true, though we did have one night of rough seas that I will get
to later. We had the "late" dinner seating this cruise. At first
we wondered how that would work for us (back home I eat dinner around
5 pm), but it worked great! TIP: The late dinner seating has its
advantages. You can go to the early show at 6:30 pm in your casual
clothes and still have one hour to get ready for your dinner seating.
There are fewer children at the 8:30 pm seating. There is no rush
to finish your meal - no need to vacate the restaurant to get ready
for the next seating like you have with the early seating. TIP:
If you get hungry in the early evening, you can always get a snack
on deck 9 (fruits, hamburgers, hot dogs, etc). There is also a free
drink station on deck 9 with unlimited servings of ice tea, lemonade,
hot chocolate, and coffee.
This first night we ate at Lumiere's. In my opinion this is the
best of the three "dining rotation" restaurants. We were fortunate
to eat at Lumiere's on the first night as this meant we would again
have this restaurant on the 4th night and on the 7th night. After
dinner we visited the Internet Cafe next to the Promenade Lounge
on deck 3. TIP: If you want to keep in touch with those back home,
pay the $89.99 for a week's worth of unlimited internet access on
the cruise. The 75 cents/minute charge is pretty steep and I would
have gone way past $90 had I paid for the time by the minute. You
charge the internet time to your shipboard account when you first
login - instructions are on the screen. There is no way to connect
to a laptop or upload files to the internet - but at least you have
web access and email access. I recommend forwarding your home email
account to a free yahoo mail account before you leave home - I was
able to easily access yahoo mail on the cruise. There also is a
direct link to email from these providers: juno, earthlink, compuserve,
netzero, msn hotmail, and Bell South. For me the week's internet
access was worth it to keep in touch with my clients, to check up
on the news, and to communicate with family members on how our boys
were doing back home.
At the Promenade Lounge in the evening there is a singer in the
evening - she was very good. On certain nights they also had appetizers
in the Lounge - one evening I had a nice snack of yummy chicken
legs around 5 pm which helped hold me over until dinner that night.
On this first night my wife and I skipped the opening night variety
show. Several others in our traveling party saw it and said the
show was very good.
Sunday, November 10th
We started the day with a very good breakfast at Lumiere's. TIP:
If you have some time in the morning, the breakfast at Lumiere's
is much better than what is offered at Topsiders buffet or room
service. We ate breakfast here 6 of the 7 days of the cruise. We
had french toast, omelets, scrambled eggs, waffles, and other breakfast
goodies. Other than the blueberry pancakes everything we ate was
excellent! My wife and I were also seated with other people each
breakfast, and it was interesting to meet other cruisers from around
the country and around the world. In addition Lumiere's is the best
choice for lunch if your schedule allows it - we ate lunch there
several times during the week on days we weren't off doing shore
excursions during the lunch hour. The lunchtime offerings were as
good as what I had for dinner on some days, plus you get dessert!
We docked at Key West today - it was very hot and humid! Just 11
days earlier I took my kids out for Halloween in 18 degree weather
in Colorado, so maybe the temperatures seemed hotter to me. But
I have been to Disney World in May and I thought the weather at
Key West was hotter than Disney World May temperatures. I am a history
buff so when I visit a new place I look for tours to learn about
the destination. My wife and I booked the Conch (pronounced "conk")
train tour. This was a very good tour, about 1 hour and 15 minutes,
where you are driven in an open air "train" (a motorized tram) and
given a narration of the different island sights by the driver.
TIP: If you do the Conch Train Tour, pick the Conch Train and not
the Trolley. You'll be given a choice of either. The Trolley is
enclosed and I saw several people waiving fans to keep themselves
cool in the Trolley. It was warm on the Conch Train, too, but not
as hot as in the Trolley. TIP: The Conch Train Tour really isn't
the best one for little kids. During the 75 minute ride there are
no stops, no bathroom breaks, and little ones would not find the
historical narration as interesting as adults. I saw a few restless
kids on our tour. TIP: If you want to do the glass bottom boat tour
at Key West, book it BEFORE your cruise. I tried to book this a
couple of weeks before our cruise and it was sold out. TIP: The
evening schooner sail looked like a fun excursion that we missed
out on. It ran from 5 to 8 pm on our cruise so people were back
in time for the late dinner seating. At other times during the year
you might miss dinner if you take this cruise but the spectacular
sunsets at Key West make this a worthwhile attraction.
After the Conch Train Tour we did some shopping in Mallory Square.
My wife rated it as "fair" - there were lots of tshirts and shells
for sale. If you are a person looking for souvenirs you'll find
something. There were also plenty of bars in Key West. We returned
to the ship after an afternoon in Key West and went to the "Morty
the Magician" show at 6:30 pm. This is considered the weakest of
the three Disney stage shows on board and some in our traveling
party didn't care for it.
My wife and I found it entertaining and we enjoyed it. Not too
much magic in the show - it was a combination of singing and some
magic. Magician Mickey makes an appearance for the kids.
We ate dinner at Animator's Palate. This is a fun restaurant with
the restaurant changing colors with each course.
Monday, November 11th
Today was our first "day at sea". As part of the travel agent group
I was with I attended classes from 8 to 11 am. My wife took this
opportunity to visit the Tropical Rain Forest spa. She reports that
she had a choice of a mild, medium, or hot sauna. She did all 3.
The cost was $15 a session, 3 days for $30, or 7 days for $50. TIP:
The 3 day rate was not offered when we first boarded, but it was
offered later in the cruise. So if you don't want to go for the
full 7 days but want more than a one day visit to the spa, wait
a day and the 3 day pass may be offered. My wife thought the hot
sauna was too hot - she only stayed a couple of minutes in there.
She said the medium was the best. The mild was good for relaxing
- you could bring a book into this sauna.
We had lunch at Lumiere's today - did I mention that we ate well
on this cruise? :-) In the afternoon we laid on the deck chairs
on deck 4. TIP: the deck chairs on deck 4 are padded and very comfortable.
Unlike the deck chairs on the top deck (which aren't padded), many
of these are in the shade. It is very easy to doze off laying in
one of these chairs and staring out over miles and miles of deep
blue ocean. TIP: If you want to work off all that extra food you
are eating on the cruise, there is a nice walking/jogging course
on deck 4 that circles the whole ship. It is recommended you go
in a counter-clockwise direction. My wife and I often took a few
laps on this course (especially on the "at sea" days). Most of the
course is walking on the deck - at the front end of the ship you
go by the area where the anchor ropes are stored.
At 3:30 pm this afternoon we went to the movie theatre on deck
5 to see "Sweet Home Alabama". TIP: If you go to a late afternoon
movie on an "at sea" day, be sure to arrive a few minutes early
to get a seat! Every chair in the theatre was filled and some people
were sitting in the aisles - no doubt some late comers missed out
on the movie. After the movie we attended the Hercules Show in the
Walt Disney Theatre. We liked this show the best of the three Disney
shows offered (Disney Dreams is the favorite of most people - that
show is also very good). The Hercules show had good singing and
comedy. Hades was very amusing as the actor played the role more
like a stand up comic. One advantage of the late dinner seating
is that you have plenty of time to get dressed for dinner after
the evening show. We needed that extra time tonight!
Tonight was "Formal Night". We got dressed and decided to leave
early to get our picture taken. TIP: on formal night allow plenty
of time for lines at the photographers. We arrived at 7:50 pm and
finally got our picture taken at 8:30 pm (a 40 minute wait) - had
we arrived later we would have been late for our 8:30 dinner seating.
TIP: if you have kids the photographers will take many different
poses of your family. With parents and kids, with parents only,
with kids only, etc. This is another good reason to allow plenty
of time for the photos.
Our formal dinner was at Parrot Cay. The food was good but not
as good as what we had the two nights prior (at Lumiere's and Animators
Palate). The restaurant was loud and it was hard to hear dinner
conversation at times. TIP: if you have to skip one restaurant to
eat at Palo, I recommend skipping Parrot Cay. Check your dining
rotation when you board the ship to find out which night you eat
at Parrot Cay, and then make your reservations for Palo.
After dinner we checked out the ESPN club. My team (the Denver
Broncos) weren't doing too well this night on Monday Night Football
(against our arch rivals - the Oakland Raiders). The reception was
spotty and the announcers were broadcasting the game in Spanish.
I gave up watching the game after a few minutes.
Tuesday, November 12th
We awoke at 6 am this morning to the sound of the anchor being
lowered - it was pretty loud from our deck 2 stateroom towards the
front of the ship. We had arrived at Grand Cayman! We looked forward
to the two shore excursions we had booked for this day. This was
the only port we stopped at where the ship dropped anchor in the
harbor. We took small boats ashore from the ship (called "tenders").
The tenders left from the front and back of the ship. There were
several small tenders and a couple of larger ones (the large ones
had two decks). TIP: I asked the tender driver if the large tender
could handle wheel chairs and he said it could. If you have a wheel
chair traveler with you you may have to wait for the "right" tender
to arrive(the large one) but that shouldn't stop you from going
ashore. The tender boat ride was about 15 to 20 minutes to the shore.
The sight of the Disney Magic anchored in the harbor was particularly
impressive from the tender boat. TIP: If you are prone to seasickness
you may want to take your medication on this day as the ride on
a tender boat can be more rocky than on the big ship.
The first shore excursion we did today was the Nautilus Undersea
Tour. This was a part boat/part submarine that had windows in the
bottom of the boat for you to see the underwater wonders. The boat
does not completely go under the water like a submarine. My wife
and I rated this tour as "fair". We saw lots of tropical fish underwater
and a couple of shipwrecks. At one point in the tour a diver feeds
the fish right outside your window. The tour drew a few families
with young children - we found ourselves with lots of loud, screaming
kids in a small enclosed area. Kind of like being an underwater
Oceaneer's Club with no escape :-) This tour would be good for a
family who wants to give their kids a taste of the underwater scenes.
If we had to do it over again we probably would have spent more
for the Atlantis Submarine (which goes down 100 feet in the water
for more spectacular ocean views).
The most popular tour at this stop among our traveling group was
the Stingray City tour. The idea of being in the water with a bunch
of stingrays isn't my idea of fun, but many said this was one of
the best experiences of the whole cruise for them. The shore tour
manager did say there is an option where you can visit Stingray
City without actually going in the water - that's the one I'll pick
next time.
After the Nautilus Tour we went back to the ship for lunch, and
then in the afternoon we did the Grand Cayman Island Tour. This
was an excellent tour - even better than the Conch Train tour we
had taken at Key West. Our driver was very friendly. He drove us
in an air conditioned van to 7 mile beach - this was one of the
nicest beaches I saw all week. TIP: if you are interested in a day
at the beach you don't have to book a shore tour. Simply get off
the boat and pay for a taxi to take you over there. The beach is
very close to the port. Another stop we made on the Island Tour
was at the Turtle Farm. Being from Colorado and seeing turtles about
the size of my thumbnail in my home state, it was a treat to see
dozens and dozens of large ocean turtles and get a chance to hold
one. This stop also was very popular with the youngsters.
The final stop on the tour was "Hell" - a bar and souvenir shop
that overlooked an unusual rock formation. While the tour overall
was good, I wish we had avoided "hell" and spent more time on the
beach! This stop was nothing special. Between stops our driver drove
us around to different parts of the Island and told us of the history
of the Island. The people of Grand Cayman were very friendly. It
was unusual to see cars driving on the left side of the road.
Of the three ports of call (not counting Castaway Cay) I liked
this one the best. I can see why many celebrities own homes in Grand
Cayman (like Michael Jordan). It's a friendly island with low crime
and beautiful beaches.
For dinner tonight we had the Master Chef Series, featuring the
best of the Walt Disney World restaurants. I thought this was the
best dinner of the week. My wife and I didn't visit the adult clubs
much during the week (we were usually too tired after dinner finished
up at 10:30 pm), but tonight was one night where we did visit the
Rockin Bar D Club after dinner. Tonight was a show by Rich Purpua
- a comedian and magician. TIP: If Rich Purpura is entertaining
on your cruise, don't miss his show! This guy is FUNNY - better
than many comedians I have seen on tv. He has a show for families
early and an "adults only" show later. We saw the adults only show
and it was great!
Before going to sleep tonight we were instructed to set our clocks
back one hour. Our next destination, Cozumel, is on Central Time.
This gave us an extra hour's sleep after our late evening at the
comedy club.
Wednesday, November 13th
We arrived in Cozumel only to be greeted by some very rough seas.
At Cozumel we docked (some other ships dropped anchor in the harbor).
Today we had planned the Atlantis Submarine tour. We really looked
forward to it since the sub was to go much deeper in the water (100
feet) than the Nautilus tour we had taken at Grand Cayman). Unfortunately
the waves got higher and higher as the day proceeded. I decided
to take a seasickness pill (Bonine) because I thought the sub ride
could be rough. At around 1 pm all of the shore excursions were
canceled for the rest of the day (our sub ride was scheduled for
2:30 pm).
My wife did some shopping at a mall adjacent to the port. She
said there was a nice mall up an escalator by the port. She said
other shopping by the port was not as nice. For me, the Bonine pill
made me very sleepy and I ended up taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.
So I do not have much to report on the sights of Cozumel.
In talking to others, the most popular tour was the Xcaret Eco
Archeological Park - I will want to visit there next time. I talked
to a couple at breakfast the next day who were disappointed with
their Tropical Jeep Safari Tour - they said they couldn't see much
on the tour since the jeep was so close to the trees much of the
time. The Tulum Ruins is another tour I may like to try on a future
trip. The Tulum Tour is a long one (over 7 hours) but I talked to
one person who thought it was worthwhile. The rough water kind of
put a damper on the day at Cozumel. While the Bonine pill I took
made me sleepy, later I was glad I had taken it. That night was
the roughest ride we had for the entire cruise. I felt fine, but
my wife, who is not prone to motion sickness, did feel ill in the
morning.
This evening we went to a "PremEAR at Sea" - Santa Claus 2. This
movie was shown in the big Walt Disney World Theatre on deck 4 (not
in the ship's regular movie theatre). TIP: If you go to a "premEar"
at sea,after you walk into the theatre check one of the side screens
and catch a glimpse of yourself walking into the theatre. There's
a close circuit television feed of people walking into the theatre,
and there are usually Disney Cast members doing some form of entertainment
in the lobby (on this night they were singing Christmas Carols).
At first we thought the movie might be shown on these side screens,
too, but instead at show time the curtain raised and the movie was
shown on the big screen in the center of the theatre. Try to sit
in the middle section for the best view. We thought Santa Claus
2 was OK, but not as good as the original. The best movie we saw
on the ship was "Tuck Everlasting" (a recently released Disney film).
After the movie we went to dinner at Animator's Palate. Tonight
was Mexico night and the waiters entertained us with a "limbo" dance.
Thursday, November 14th
Today was another "day at sea". In the morning I attended a 3 hour
class with the travel agent group I was with. My wife played Bingo
at Rockin Bar D - she didn't win anything but said the Bingo was
fun. Bingo was offered on every day of the cruise. 1 card for bingo
costs $10, 3 cards are $20, and 6 cards are $35. My wife also attended
the "Navigator Series" in the morning with the ship's captain and
crew answering questions from people in the audience. The captain
was coy when asked if there would be a third ship - he did say he
would like to see an Alaska itinerary.
After class we had lunch with Greg Faulkner and his wife. Greg
is better known as "mad4wdw" on the dvctalk mailing list I run.
It was fun to meet someone from my mailing list in person. We talked
about the dvc resorts and our experiences on the cruise. In the
afternoon on this "day at sea" we did more walking on deck 4 to
work off all the wonderful food we were eating. We relaxed on the
deck 4 chairs and enjoyed the ocean view.
This evening was our one and only meal at Palo. The food was very
good and I always recommend to people to try to eat there at least
once on their cruise. The show tonight was "Disney Dreams" - we
had seen the show on our cruise two years ago so we decided to skip
it go to a movie instead.
Friday, November 15th
Castaway Cay day! A visit to this Disney Island paradise was the
highlight of our 3 night cruise in 2000, and today the Island was
to reveal more of its treasures to us. We first discovered that
the ship arrives at Castaway Cay later on the 7 night cruise than
it did on our 3 night cruise - we docked around 9 am. On our 3 night
cruise in 2000 we arrived at the Island at 5 am. We were one of
the first off the boat. My wife wanted to try snorkeling for the
first time so she rented snorkel equipment for the day for $25.
She found the snorkeling at the family beach was not so great close
to the beach. Others reported that the snorkeling at the family
beach was better the farther you got away from the shore. We decided
to go to the adult beach - a part of the island we did not see on
our visit in 2000 with our kids. We thought the adult beach was
wonderful! It was not as crowded as the family beach and my wife
reports that the snorkeling was MUCH better here. TIP: If you have
kids but still want to try out the adult beach, you can leave your
kids in the kids program at the island. The counselors at Scuttle's
Cove will give you a communication device so that they can be in
touch with you if necessary. I asked specifically about this because
if we ever return with our kids, I want to visit the adult beach
again! TIP: For lunch there is a barbeque at the family beach and
at the adult beach. The Adult beach's barbeque is better! (for adults
only of course) I had grilled lobster - this was not offered at
the family beach. Be sure to eat lunch early - the lobster was not
available near closing time at the adult barbeque. The barbeque
area isn't that big and got very crowded during the prime lunch
hours. The lobster I had at the adult beach was just as good as
the lobster I had at Palo the night before. TIP: If you take the
tram over to the adult beach, try walking instead of taking the
tram back to the family beach. We did this and we discovered new
parts to the island, including a recreation area (Grouper) that
had numerous ping pong and billiard tables. It also had a basketball
court and a football toss area. We spent some time here playing
different games - it was not crowded at all. Also if you walk you'll
have a chance at some great photo opportunities. Overall the weather
at Castaway Cay was beautiful - not too hot with a cool breeze.
Just like our visit to the Island in May 2000. Our stay on Castaway
Cay seemed too short - we had to be back on the boat by 4:30 pm
and the ship sailed away at 5 pm.
Our group had a wonderful deck party on the Sports Deck as we sailed
away from Castaway Cay - the sunset on this night is a sight I will
long remember. Tomorrow would be the end of our 7 night cruise.
We had to have our luggage ready between 9 and 11 pm to be taken
off the ship in the night. TIP: The cruise staff will tell you not
to miss the disembarkation talk in the Walt Disney Theatre at 4:30
pm. If you are one of the late arrivals from Castaway Cay and you
miss this talk, you can catch it on the television in your stateroom
later that evening. We used this time to get a start on packing,
and we watched the talk later that night. TIP: Listen carefully
on how to fill out the Customs Form. In the disembarkation talk
they will tell you how to fill out certain parts of the form. We
filled ours out incorrectly the first time before we listened to
the talk. If you make a mistake there are more copies of the form
by Guest Services (you don't have to wait in line - the forms are
at a table next to Guest Services)
We attended the Farewell Variety Show which was good. We enjoyed
seeing the comedian Rich Purpura again. We had our final evening
meal at Lumiere's.
Saturday, November 16th
This morning we realized another benefit of having a late seating
time - you don't have to go to breakfast until 8 am! The early seating
guests had to be at breakfast at 6:45 am. I didn't want to leave
the ship any sooner than I had too! We had a good breakfast at Lumiere's
(you eat at the restaurant that you dined at the evening before)
and said our final goodbyes to our travel agent group. Getting off
the ship, through Customs, claiming our bags, and getting on our
bus to the airport all was very smooth.
Disney had told us not to schedule a flight back before 1 pm. We
arrived at the airport at 10 am and our scheduled flight wasn't
until 5 pm that evening. We were lucky to get on an earlier flight
(11:45 am) and we were home 5 hours earlier than originally planned.
Summary
Can two adults enjoy a 7 Night Disney Cruise without their kids?
The answer is YES! We had a great time on the cruise, and we enjoyed
the extra 4 nights on the cruise this time that we didn't have on
our 3 night cruise in 2000. We definitely would like to do the longer
7 night cruise in the future (maybe to the Eastern Itinerary). Though
I am not a swimmer, there was still plenty for me to do on the cruise.
There were so many activities and things to see that we could easily
do the cruise again and have an entirely different experience.
Tim Larison
