Just off the Magic... some random musings...

[tidefan]

Just off the 5-night Magic sailing. We've been on a lot of DCL cruises (I'm platinum and DW is Pearl) and so I thought I'd give a few notes about our trip as there has been a number of questions about the Magic since it's dry dock.

• Soul Cat Lounge is nice enough, but I'm not sure that a lot of people are familiar with the movie. It looks nice enough though and is a good location for trivia.
• Our air conditioning worked great in our stateroom (we were in an Inside cabin on Deck 7), better than rooms in the past.
• Our Standard Inside Stateroom on the Magic was much larger than our Standard Inside Stateroom on the Wish last year and had much more storage than we had on the Wish.
• Everything, at least to us, seemed in good repair. The only thing I noticed was one of the signs at Duck In Diner had part of the outside circle missing.
• Even though DW is Pearl, we took our time coming down from a stay at AKV and didn't get to port until 1:00pm, so I have no idea how the new PAT works.
• Our Palo Brunch was one of the best in all of our cruises. It was fantastic. Yes, I still miss the buffet, but this was such a better experience than our Palo dinner on the Wish last year.
• Castaway is SO much better on the classic ships. We almost felt like we had Serenity Bay all to ourselves. Also, the ribeye for lunch there was very good.
• Still no return of the post-Pirate night buffet
• Tangled: The Musical was excellent. We skipped the other shows as we've seen them more than a few times. We still want Villains Tonight to return...
• The new "Knowsmore" trivia system is excellent and the entertainment staff did a great job with all the trivia. Even with all the concierge guests lining up in O'Gills to go into the show right in the middle of trivia.
• Speaking of O'Gills, happy to say that the snack buffet was there every night and was complimentary. In fact, I didn't see charged items even on the menu.
• Room service is great, but why, oh why, do they default to serving Honey Mustard with Buffalo Chicken Wings?
• Still a bit salty that Cabanas is still not open for dinner. Seriously, it shouldn't be that hard. DCL, to me, is just using "staffing" as an excuse. Every other line out there has their buffet open for dinner. Personally, I believe that they are doing everything they can to funnel everyone into the MDRs. Per usual, we don't go to the MDR for Pirate Night as we don't care for the menu. It is really difficult to find something else. Your only options are Duck In Diner or Room Service (pizza did not reopen until 9:30pm)
• Glad that self-serve ice cream is back. So much easier. Also, they had really good GF cones that DW could use!
• I was very surprised at the number of first time DCL cruisers on the ship.
• For a "25th Anniversary at Sea" cruise, there was a severe lack of merchandise for it.
• It is a bit hot in the elevator lobbies on Aft decks 8 and 9. My thought on this was that I often saw staff just holding the outer doors on deck 9 aft open so that people could come in and out from the drink station or Daisy's delights.
• After being on the Wish last year, it was nice to go back to the regular Movie Theater setup. Saw Indiana Jones and Haunted Mansion. Enjoyed them both.
• Speaking of movies, it still gets me that DCL charges for popcorn, but somehow Princess manages to include it.

All in all, it was a really good cruise. I still go back and forth between the Magic and Fantasy as my favorite ship, but they are all great. We will be back on the Magic again next year and are looking forward to it.

 

[o&smom]

Just off the 5-night Magic sailing. We've been on a lot of DCL cruises (I'm platinum and DW is Pearl) and so I thought I'd give a few notes about our trip as there has been a number of questions about the Magic since it's dry dock.

• Soul Cat Lounge is nice enough, but I'm not sure that a lot of people are familiar with the movie. It looks nice enough though and is a good location for trivia.
• Our air conditioning worked great in our stateroom (we were in an Inside cabin on Deck 7), better than rooms in the past.
• Our Standard Inside Stateroom on the Magic was much larger than our Standard Inside Stateroom on the Wish last year and had much more storage than we had on the Wish.
• Everything, at least to us, seemed in good repair. The only thing I noticed was one of the signs at Duck In Diner had part of the outside circle missing.
• Even though DW is Pearl, we took our time coming down from a stay at AKV and didn't get to port until 1:00pm, so I have no idea how the new PAT works.
• Our Palo Brunch was one of the best in all of our cruises. It was fantastic. Yes, I still miss the buffet, but this was such a better experience than our Palo dinner on the Wish last year.
• Castaway is SO much better on the classic ships. We almost felt like we had Serenity Bay all to ourselves. Also, the ribeye for lunch there was very good.
• Still no return of the post-Pirate night buffet
• Tangled: The Musical was excellent. We skipped the other shows as we've seen them more than a few times. We still want Villains Tonight to return...
• The new "Knowsmore" trivia system is excellent and the entertainment staff did a great job with all the trivia. Even with all the concierge guests lining up in O'Gills to go into the show right in the middle of trivia.
• Speaking of O'Gills, happy to say that the snack buffet was there every night and was complimentary. In fact, I didn't see charged items even on the menu.
• Room service is great, but why, oh why, do they default to serving Honey Mustard with Buffalo Chicken Wings?
• Still a bit salty that Cabanas is still not open for dinner. Seriously, it shouldn't be that hard. DCL, to me, is just using "staffing" as an excuse. Every other line out there has their buffet open for dinner. Personally, I believe that they are doing everything they can to funnel everyone into the MDRs. Per usual, we don't go to the MDR for Pirate Night as we don't care for the menu. It is really difficult to find something else. Your only options are Duck In Diner or Room Service (pizza did not reopen until 9:30pm)
• Glad that self-serve ice cream is back. So much easier. Also, they had really good GF cones that DW could use!
• I was very surprised at the number of first time DCL cruisers on the ship.
• For a "25th Anniversary at Sea" cruise, there was a severe lack of merchandise for it.
• It is a bit hot in the elevator lobbies on Aft decks 8 and 9. My thought on this was that I often saw staff just holding the outer doors on deck 9 aft open so that people could come in and out from the drink station or Daisy's delights.
• After being on the Wish last year, it was nice to go back to the regular Movie Theater setup. Saw Indiana Jones and Haunted Mansion. Enjoyed them both.
• Speaking of movies, it still gets me that DCL charges for popcorn, but somehow Princess manages to include it.

All in all, it was a really good cruise. I still go back and forth between the Magic and Fantasy as my favorite ship, but they are all great. We will be back on the Magic again next year and are looking forward to it.

Looking forward to being on the Magic again in October. We missed her in Europe this summer. We did enjoy the Dream for our first time, though. We agree with so many of your comments on the ships, and continue to put them on the comment card at the end of the cruise.

 

[tidefan]

Looking forward to being on the Magic again in October. We missed her in Europe this summer. We did enjoy the Dream for our first time, though. We agree with so many of your comments on the ships, and continue to put them on the comment card at the end of the cruise.

Well, I did too, but I put the comment card in my back pocket to drop off as we left the cruise and when we got home last night, I realized that it was still in my back pocket! Oh well...

 

[JM_97]

Great to hear. There's a couple of cruises I have my eyes on and it comes down to Magic vs Dream. This definitely eased some of my hesitation about the Magic's age and some of the earlier reviews.

 

[tidefan]

Great to hear. There's a couple of cruises I have my eyes on and it comes down to Magic vs Dream. This definitely eased some of my hesitation about the Magic's age and some of the earlier reviews.

Well, they both have their strengths. Bottom line is you really can't go wrong either way!

 

[maryr1oz]

Yay - love to hear those thoughts on the Magic! We are sailing on her in a couple of weeks, and i'm so happy to tell DH that there will likely be GF cones for ice cream! Was there any other stand out GF bites to recommend?

 

[tidefan]

Yay - love to hear those thoughts on the Magic! We are sailing on her in a couple of weeks, and i'm so happy to tell DH that there will likely be GF cones for ice cream! Was there any other stand out GF bites to recommend?

So, the cones are in the cupboards in the area behind the machines. You will have to ask a CM for one.

As to other GF items (other than the soft-serve vanilla and chocolate), you can request GF chicken tenders and fries at either the Duck-In Diner or at the MDR. My DW ate them every night, just about. Also, you can get a GF pizza, just let them know. Also, the cheese plate and wings (though make sure to ask for Ranch or Blue Cheese, because they'll bring Honey Mustard by default for some reason) are GF from room service. Oh, I almost forgot. You can ask for GF Donuts in Cabanas in the morning!

Also, not sure if you are doing Palo Brunch, but they can do the Chicken Parm GF.

 

[shananigans]

Sailing on the Magic next month! So excited!

 

[Marc D]

The new "Knowsmore" trivia system is excellent and the entertainment staff did a great job with all the trivia. Even with all the concierge guests lining up in O'Gills to go into the show right in the middle of trivia.

First I’ve read about that. Is it a signaling device system, or a way to pick your answer ? We are a family obsessed with trivia.

 

[tidefan]

First I’ve read about that. Is it a signaling device system, or a way to pick your answer ? We are a family obsessed with trivia.

No, it's just the TVs all around that show the questions (and later, answers), but it makes it very easy to see/hear the questions.

 

[tvguy]

• Speaking of movies, it still gets me that DCL charges for popcorn, but somehow Princess manages to include it.

Everyone on our cruise just brought in french fries from Pluto's Dog house. Better than popcorn and FREE.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Thank you so much for the report. We are only a few weeks away from our sailing. Do you know what other movies were playing during our sailing? I think my husband is hoping to catch the 3rd GOTG movie.

 

[tidefan]

Thank you so much for the report. We are only a few weeks away from our sailing. Do you know what other movies were playing during our sailing? I think my husband is hoping to catch the 3rd GOTG movie.

Encanto
Little Mermaid
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 (only 1 showing, though)
Elemental
Haunted Mansion

 

[Flossbolna]

We were back on the Wonder recently after 9 years and realized how much we love the Magic class. We thought the Wonder was in amazing shape. You wouldn’t have guessed her age!

 

[maryr1oz]

So, the cones are in the cupboards in the area behind the machines. You will have to ask a CM for one.

As to other GF items (other than the soft-serve vanilla and chocolate), you can request GF chicken tenders and fries at either the Duck-In Diner or at the MDR. My DW ate them every night, just about. Also, you can get a GF pizza, just let them know. Also, the cheese plate and wings (though make sure to ask for Ranch or Blue Cheese, because they'll bring Honey Mustard by default for some reason) are GF from room service. Oh, I almost forgot. You can ask for GF Donuts in Cabanas in the morning!

Also, not sure if you are doing Palo Brunch, but they can do the Chicken Parm GF.

Thank you! Fantastic
We are doing Palo brunch so will definitely recommend the Chicken Parm

 

[o&smom]

Great to hear. There's a couple of cruises I have my eyes on and it comes down to Magic vs Dream. This definitely eased some of my hesitation about the Magic's age and some of the earlier reviews.

Oh, the Magic is our favorite!

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

How was the food at the MDR? We've been eyeing the Magic for a while, but we weren't that impressed with the food our last two cruises in 2022, while we loved it on all sailings before that.

 

[tidefan]

How was the food at the MDR? We've been eyeing the Magic for a while, but we weren't that impressed with the food our last two cruises in 2022, while we loved it on all sailings before that.

Good, but pretty standard DCL fare…

 

[randumb0]

Why were you surprised by the number of first time cruisers?

 

[tidefan]

Why were you surprised by the number of first time cruisers?

Mainly because on many of our other DCL cruises, it seems like everyone is Gold or Platinum (especially on the MV of the Wish, because, well, everyone was Platinum…).

However, at the 25th Party when the CD (Peter) asked who was 1st time, it seemed like about 75% of the people out there. I’m just used to a lot more repeat cruisers, I guess.