Exploring Disney Magic at Sea

I know a number of families who were due to take a Disney Magic at Sea staycation cruise this summer but who ended up unable to travel because of the Covid protocols in place. So, after Esme and I were cleared for boarding with our negative lateral flow test results, I ended up having a little tear of relief as we entered the ship’s entrance lobby to be greeted by Captains Mickey and Minnie- handily my cotton face mask caught those tears! – it was well worth having to jump through all those hoops to see Esme’s face of joy over the two days we were onboard.

The ship offers plenty for kids and adults alike, with the Oceaneer Club keeping children busy enough to give their grown up some downtime – I wasn’t sure Esme would be up for going to the club so hadn’t planned what to do without her! They have open house hours which allow you to take the children in for a visit so that they know where they are going in when you sign them in for a session on their own later and allows the grownups to see the environment they are sending the kids into.

Over the pre-booked timeslots each group of children has the same animator with them as they move around the different areas taking part in a variety of different activities from colouring and making slime to a boot camp with one of the Toy Story soldiers. Esme specifically wanted to go back in for the Slinky Dog slide in the Toy Story themed area and the staff at the check-in desk could tell us what time her group would be at that area if she only went in for that part of her session (she ended up going straight in rather than waiting though!) and I then knew when to collect her after she’d done that so we could get to dinner on time.

There are numerous dining options around the ship. For dinner everyone is assigned main (1730-1800) or late (around 2030) sitting and a dining rotation around the three main restaurants, you don’t have to use these if you’d rather just grab a pizza but the pool but it’s so nice having the same servers looking after you each evening and for breakfast on the last morning.

Of the three main restaurants, the one that must not be missed in Animator’s Palette, but I won’t tell why and ruin the surprise!

My understanding is that you would normally have characters in the restaurants, though this didn’t happen due to Covid restrictions. There wasn’t a shortage of meet and greet opportunities though, from Disney Princesses on the stairway on the way into Lumiere’s for dinner on our first night or scheduled meet and greets in the theatres to Marvel Morning where various Marvel characters were dotted around the ship. The Disney Navigator app shows you where you could meet characters and it had a handy function allowing you to set fifteen minute reminders for characters, shows, kids club bookings, restaurant reservations and shows.

There were three shows onboard for us. In the main theatre, Tangled was on the first night and on the second night it was Disney Dreams: an Enchanted Classic. This is a story bringing together all the best loved Disney classic songs which I really enjoyed. Esme’s favourite was of course the 8 minute Frozen compilation up on deck, which we went to twice on the evening it was on!

We’d probably have seen even more characters if Esme hadn’t discovered how much she loves swimming when she is able to go for it alone! No need to keep hold of her in the way we have to in her lessons currently, there were handy little flotation jackets which meant she could kick and push herself along – Little Miss Independent!

Deck 9 has a choice of pools, one in the adult only area, (with a poolside bar of course), Goofy’s pool in the centre for a dip, Aqua Lab (very shallow pool with splash park) and Nephews’ Splash Zone(for the babies). There are also a couple of flumes which for some reason Esme really wanted me to go on though having her with me worked as a great excuse not to be able too!

Around the pools are various casual dining outlets including Pinnochio’s Pizzeria, Duck in Diner and Eye Scream (yes, that’s where to get your ice creams!). Cabana’s is also on deck 9 for buffet meals.

Deck 10 has Palo, which I didn’t get to try out as it is adult only though I did go for a little nosy whilst Esme was in Oceaneers and it was great! Lovely relaxed ambience, next time I’ll be making sure I get a brunch booked in at the same time as an Oceaneer Club slot! Other than enjoying Palo and the adult only pool and bar area there are also pre-bookable activities like wine or whiskey tasting to keep the grownups busy if they want to be!

There’s so much to do onboard, we could have done with more time to enjoy it all, just imagine how much you’d have to do on a normal Disney Cruise when it visits different ports where you can hop off to explore as well… if you can get the kids off the ship that is!