Bob and Cindy Wagner's Disney Western Caribbean Cruise -  July 17, 2004

Our stateroom (6630 on deck 6 - category 6) was excellent! We really enjoyed walking out on the veranda and watching the ocean, the ports, the stars....The double bathroom was especially nice. Plenty of closet space and storage space, and very comfortable king-size bed. The location of our stateroom was perfect, close enough to the lifts, but still very quiet and convenient.

We took two shore excursions - the first in Grand Cayman - the Shipwreck and Reef Snorkel. WOW!! The best snorkeling we ever encountered!! We were surprised at how close to the ship we were, but how clear the water and the multitudes of fish, corals, and other ocean life.The reef was totally alive! One of the highlights was the large school of 5-6 foot Tarpon.The two guides were also excellent - CJ and Esteban on the Cayman Star. We would highly recommend this excursion to anyone, from beginner to advanced snorkeler.

Our other excursion - the Snorkeling at Chankanaab National Park at Cozumel - was a disappointment. It could be that we were just spoiled from our experience at Grand Cayman, but not much variety of fish and virtually no coral. Water was murky and we were expected to stay right with the guide. Probably okay for beginner snorkelers because of the shore entry. We weren't really impressed with the rest of the park.

We didn't take any excursions at Key West, but did walk around. We happened upon the aquarium around feeding time - $8.00 admission pp. Very enjoyable! We learned alot about the habitats and feeding habits of nurse sharks, rays, among other ocean inhabitants. We walked around Mallory Square and Duval Street. Did a little shopping and sat on the pier relaxing with a drink and watched the boats and jet skis go by. Fun!

Castaway Cay - no excursions but the adult beach was PARADISE! Even though 2700 people on the Magic, only about 50 people on the adult beach! We went snorkeling on our own and the ocean life was wonderful! Huge starfish, sand dollars, and even some very friendly rays and barracudas! Too friendly at times! Castaway Cay was the perfect way to end our cruise!

The Romantic Escape At Sea package was well worth it! We thoroughly enjoyed the couples massage, and the turn-down service with the rose petals and towel animals were great! We shared the champagne with our table at dinner on the final night, and the chocolates did not last until the end of the cruise. It was wonderful having our Palo reservations made before arriving.

The Quicksilver transfers made our trip much more hassle-free. Demilson was our driver for all three legs of our trip. He was always there early and was very pleasant to talk with, as well as eager to help in any way he could. We will use Quicksilver again.

There really is nothing we can think of that we wished we had known or would do differently next time. All the suggestions our travel agent, Tim Larison, made were right on the money! Having second seating at dinner, and going to the shows first, was perfect. We missed out on a lot of the smaller children that way.

The Disney Magic was much more than we had thought it would be! It was very easy to be "by ourselves" if we wanted to be, and there were so many entertainment and activity opportunities available onboard. One of the most pleasant surprises was our dinner seating arrangements. We went thinking we wanted to spend our dinners quietly with just the two of us, but found we were seated at the largest table in the dining rooms! We sat at a table for fourteen - seven couples of some kind - two newly-wed couples, three mother-daughter couples, a grandmother-granddaughter couple, and us. We enjoyed ourselves so much (all of us at the table) that we started spending a lot of time with each other. We played Bingo together, went to shows together, etc. We even exchanged addresses and emails at the end of our cruise!

All in all, we had the best vacation we have had, and a lot of the credit goes to Tim for all the arrangements and great tips!

Bob and Cindy

return to all disney cruise reviews

Larison Travel LLP - www.familytravelgurus.com is independently owned and operated. This site is a private enterprise and is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company, the Walt Disney World® Resort, or any of its affiliates.