Personal experience: impressions of an adult from a cruise on a Disney Magic ship

Journalist travel section publications The New York Times Dan Salzstein decided to check out how adults feel on a Disney Magic family cruise, and the impressions were twofold.

Фото: Depositphotos

Even before we left the port in Miami, I felt that our 4 day Bahamian night cruise on the ship Disney magic will not go as smoothly as expected.

In self-service ice cream machines near the pool, the ice cream is over. I asked a crew member in uniform when we can expect the machines to fill with new ice cream, she promised to check the situation, and I have so far voiced bad news to Anna, my 5-year-old daughter.

Soon we headed to our gathering place for a preliminary safety training - it was held inside. Animator's Palateone of the five restaurants on the ship. After this, we returned to our cabin to order room service and watch one of a dozen channels entirely dedicated to content. Disney.

Many people go on these cruises every year, Disney 4 has large cruise ships that carry out more than 250 cruises per year, that is, the number of visitors per year is measured in hundreds of thousands. For our cruise, I paid 2 862,79 dollars (for two adults and a child, as a result on board we spent another 1500 dollars on drinks and extra activities on the ship.

In fact, it all started not very well before we boarded. We had to postpone our flight to Miami, because Anna had a fever and a cough. Then we went aboard the ship, although before that we had to sign a document stating that no one in our company had fever or cough (or some other symptoms). Her cough continued, but the temperature passed, so we decided to sign the paper and registered. After that, we were given cruise cards (they serve as an identity card and a credit card on board), and a bracelet for Anna, which she had to wear all the time.

After the family photos with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, we finally boarded the ship with more than 2500 other passengers.

Day one and second

The disney magic was the first Disney cruise liner released in the 1998 year and updated in the 2013 year. This may not be the largest cruise ship, but its dimensions are still impressive: 11 decks, 984 feet in length (300 meters), 171,5 feet in height (52 meters).

There was plenty of fun. I registered for most of them in advance, as many events are quickly booked and there are no places left. Before going to sea, you should definitely download the application. Disney cruise - this is how you will communicate with family members. The number of events on the schedule was simply amazing - and it was physically impossible to attend them all. At 15pm on our first day, for example, we could: watch Thor: Ragnarok in the onboard cinema; stand in line to meet Minnie Mouse on Deck 00 or Princess Sofia on Deck 4; join to "Game Show: The Feud"In the promenade; participate in an origami session (for adults only); or leave Anna at the club Ocaneaneer is one of two children's centers open most of the day and evening.

Or we could walk to Key West (our first stop). I could not convince Anna to join me, so I went alone.

Returning, I recorded Nancy and me for a steam massage. Therefore, we took Anna to Oceaneer Club and went to Senses Spa & Salon. The massage, which was done by two Serbian women (their nationalities, like all crew members, were marked on their labels), was good and quite expensive (170 dollars per person).

Dinner is offered to guests at one of the four restaurants on the ship, the idea is that during the cruise you can visit each. On the first night we chose Carioca's. We sat with a couple from Miami, whose daughter was the same age as Anna. The food was excellent, but the service, as elsewhere on the ship, played a more important role. I cannot say that I was delighted with the fact that my daughter was constantly called the “Princess”, but every member of the crew seemed genuinely enthusiastic and rejoiced at the opportunity to be on the ship, right up to the person sending the napkins to every passenger entering the restaurant (hygiene on the ship is given great attention, in children's centers devices are installed that can best be described as washing machines for hands).

Our dinner waiters were from Thailand and Scotland, with a total of 950 people working on the ship from 80 countries, an astonishing customer to crew ratio of less than 3/1).

After dinner, some entertainment and a bar ($20 for one cocktail) we returned to the cabin, it was tiny - 268 square feet (25 sq. m.). There weren't enough drawers for clothes, and we couldn't get most of our luggage out of our suitcases. Our daughter slept (comfortably, she said) on a small sofa that turned into a bed; a curtain separated her area from ours.

Фото: Depositphotos

Day three

What to wear to the night party in the pirate style? On this occasion, free bandanas were left in our room. Anna, however, insisted on buying a pirate costume worth 60 dollars, as well as a hat for 30 dollars, and by the end of the day she received this outfit.

On this day, we had to get up early, at 8: 45, to meet Elsa, Anna and Olaf. After standing in line, we were able to take pictures with them, although Anna was very shy.

After that we went ashore in Nassau, where, apart from restaurants and shops with trinkets, we were not offered anything more. We decided to go on a tour on a glass bottom boat. The guide told us that the houses on the coast belong to Tom Cruise, Michael Jordan and many other multimillionaires. We also saw colorful fish and got a free keychain.

We went to dinner before the party, but everyone was already dressed. This very upset Anna, who wanted to immediately go to the cabin and change clothes. It took us some time to convince her to change clothes after dinner.

We were a little late for the party, so the scene was bad, but Anna didn’t upset her. Various Disney characters took the stage with the pirates. There was a lot of dancing and entertainment, the evening was completed fireworks.

Mickey Mouse, it must be said, was everywhere. I found this kind of funny - in the age of princesses, the 90-year-old mouse was still very popular.

After the party, Anna insisted that she was not ready to go to sleep, and we went to a magic show. Kalin & Jingerwho easily struck children with their tricks.

Фото: Depositphotos

Day Four

Our last full day on the ship was the most promising. Day on Castaway Cay — on Disney's private island. We bought a package that included snorkeling equipment, bike rentals and other activities.

But I also booked Anna's meeting in advance with a makeup wizard for a princess worth 200 dollars.

After some time, Anna was in a dress, tiara and sparkles and with a make-up of the princess on her face. She was delighted, and I was delighted with her delight.

Some time later, after exploring the ship with Anna, Nancy gently suggested that we go to the beach, cautiously warning her daughter that swimming would ruin the princess’s makeup.

So, Anna's dress and makeup removed, and we headed to Castaway Caywhere we had lunch and settled on a gorgeous beach.

In the water, bright blue fish swam directly towards us, as if they, too, had been trained by Disney personnel. But Anna was scared, and she did not go into the water for a while.

It's time for lunch at PaloThe restaurant is for adults only. We took Anna to the Club Ocaneaneer and set off. After dinner, we had a short, but romantic, walk along the embankment, and I thought that despite the huge number of cartoon characters and some flaws, we still had a good time.

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