Will I be disappointed on the Magic?

[bbel]

The trip is a Mediterranean cruise. I'm not much for Europe but Wife really wants to go so the trip is important for her. I'm more a beach/pool guy so the ship is more important for me.

If it's the pool that's the most important then on port days in the Med it's pretty quiet, and being on a ship, your never too far from beaches.
I saw you said that shows and service are important. IMO tangled is one of the best shows I've seen on land or out at sea, and in the med they a get pretty good mix of variety acts too.
As for service, as an ex-CM, it is pretty much agreed that the magic is the friendliest ship to work on, I was on a different ship first and was shocked by how nice everyone was when I got there, and that rolls over onto the guests - different departments are much more willing to help each other out than my previous ship, you're also on a longish cruise on a smaller ship, so you're going to see and get to know the same CMs a lot more and visa versa.

But if not having mini golf, the aqua duck, mid ship detective agency, on demand movies in your cabin etc is going to ruin your vacation then you'll probably be disappointed, although I've had past guests mention that they thought they'd miss it all, but didn't even remember about them until the very end of their cruise lol.

 

[kiford]

I would agree with most of this post but find the Wonder to be as good as the Magic.

The only reason I didn't mention the Wonder much was that we sailed on her only once in 2000 so I've no recent experience. I'm assuming it would be relatively similar to the Magic still in terms of overall experience but it's been a long time.

 

[kiford]

The trip is a Mediterranean cruise. I'm not much for Europe but Wife really wants to go so the trip is important for her. I'm more a beach/pool guy so the ship is more important for me.

We didn't have as much time to enjoy the ship on both of our Med cruises as on others. Although it all depends on the types of excursions you go on and if you get out at every port, we were out every port day for 8-12 hours: up early with just enough time to snarf down some food, head out, back in time to shower and change for dinner, listen to the history/port talk (occasionally able to see the show first depending on the excursion), then dinner (late seating), then an hour relaxing in our stateroom before bed. At sea days were a bit more leisurely. Very little time for pool or movies or many other activities except on sea days. If you stay on board ship, you'll likely have a lot of it to yourself because most people do disembark so you'll get a very high level of service and attention. When we did have time to go into the Cove Cafe, it was usually very quiet so we'd spend lots of time chatting to the servers there who got to know us and know exactly how I like my mint mocha latte coffee.

We also found (or maybe we just felt) that there were many more random character interactions often in the adult areas. Sitting outside the Cove Cafe on an at sea day I saw something moving in my peripheral vision and looked up to see Minnie and Mickey dressed in traditional Italian costumes sitting across from me waving at me. We had our iPads with us and the CM took our picture with them. One of my favourite pictures. There was nearly always a character waving us off at each port either in the gathering place, as we were coming down the stairs or on the pier, often in local dress. It has a very different feel compared to a Caribbean cruise. Very much made me feel like I was on a cruise like you might see in an Astaire and Rogers movie from the 1930's especially since the ships are designed in just that fashion. Very continental, very classy, very chic. I'm not sure the larger ships would provide that same feeling.

We had some of the best service ever on our Med/Baltic cruises. With more days, they get to know you much better and what you prefer. We got to know our head server reasonably well on those cruises. There was more theming for the dinner both in menu and server attire as well as character costumes. All of the tour guides we had (all DCL excursions) were top notch too.

 

[gotomu212]

The itinerary also colors my opinion of the ship- even the same ship! We like the Magic, but I remember being more ehh on our Med cruise. When I looked back I realized it was because we were off the ship every day on really long excursions and the ship was more of a floating hotel to sleep and eat (still loved the cruise but ship wasn't the highlight). Same ship but on the Caribbean itinerary the ship is the star and we love the shows, pool deck, and activities.

 

[scgustafson]

In that case, at the moment the Magic has pretty much all my favourite CMs to work with that are still with DCL!

Is that because of Drew Collins? Or would it be Omar and Sarah?

 

[speicher46]

We have been on ten cruises on the Magic. You will not be disappointed. Much better than the larger ships!

 

[o&smom]

We have sailed on the Magic, Wonder and Fantasy. Having cruised the first two before they even made the Fantasy, I was concerned that I would not like that much larger of a ship. We went on the third cruise of the Fantasy and I was very happy with how they planned the spaces on the ship. Eventhough the ship is much larger, it does not feel overwhelimg. I do have to say that my heart still belongs to the Magic, probably because it was our first ship. We just did the WBPC on the Wonder and I feel with the changes made, she is the prettiest and most cohesive of all the ships. The Fantasy is my son's favorite, and we are possibly planning a cruise on her next. You will definitely feel a difference when you enter into the atrium, it is so much smaller than the larger ships. This is probably the area where I feel the biggest difference when I am on the ships. I enjoy more room between tables in the dining rooms on the smaller ships and find the dining experience much quieter as well. We have had great service on all of our cruises, but I do feel that it is always just a little more personable on the smaller ships. The European cruises have such a full itinerary with long port times, you really won't have much time to miss your favorites from the larger ships. Enjoy your amazing cruise!

 

[Coach]

My DW and I will be doing our twelfth cruise in 78 days. We have sailed the Wonder six times, the Magic four times and the Dream and Fantasy once each. We love the Magic but our favorite is the Wonder. The smaller ships are much more cozy. The crew is more like family. But we are splitting hairs now. It's a Disney cruise...It will be Magical and Wonderful with a little Fantasy and Dreams thrown in.

If I had won powerball this past Wednesday night I'd spend the rest of my life on a Disney cruise ship.

 

[WeLoveDisneyAlways]

We've been on the dream twice and are looking forward to the Magic this winter, I have wondered the same things but I do think we may fall for the smaller ships. Everything we like about cruising the Magic has and with all the updates we're really looking forward to it. My favourite thing about cruising is sitting on our verandah I'm sure being on deck 7 (magic) instead of 10 (dream) may hinder the view but I'm sure not enough to care? We also spend most our time by the pool, less people must be better? Same goes for Castaway Cay the only port we actually get off at? I would prefer the Aquaduck over the plunge but I believe the yellow slide will make up for it. The shows I'm fine either way (usually in bed by then anyway)! The MDRs looking forward to the change, eating in the same places becomes boring. Both have room service! We now have to fly to Miami and skip WDW that's the ol,y thing we're really missing switching ships. We'll see in January how we really like it

 

[MaleficentRN]

I sailed Dream twice before I sailed on Magic. The only thing I missed was Aquaduck. Not gonna do Aquadunk!

 

[DisFanGuy]

Thanks again everyone! I feel a little better about the Magic now. As many have pointed out i'm sure I'll have fun no matter what it is a Disney Cruise after all, and the whole family is full of huge Disney fans.

 

[TheBeans]

Our first cruise was on the Magic, second on the Fantasy.

We LOVED Magic and was our favorite of the two. We are going on the Dream next! T-minus 29 days and counting....

 

[Shanti]

I have been on two Disney Cruises so far. Once on the Dream and once on the Fantasy. Next week I'll be going on my third cruise this time on the Magic. I was blown away with the Dream and the Fantasy. Everything about those ships was amazing however I know the Magic is a much smaller ship. I wanna know if I should lower my expectations. I would really like to hear how people feel about going from the newer ships to the older ones.

I've cruised on both within the past few years. They're both great ships. Whether or not you'll be disappointed is a matter of how important the Fantasy's extra bells and whistles are to you. Movies on demand in the stateroom, Remy, mini-golf, virtual sports, Aqua Duck, Midship Detective Agency, etc. If those things "made" your Fantasy cruise, then you'll miss them on the Magic. If instead you mainly enjoyed the elegant ship, good food, good service, characters & fun activities, you'll like the Magic just fine.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We prefer the smaller ships, partly because they have better itineraries. We're avoiding the Dream until she has longer cruises, just as we avoided the Wonder until she started cruising the Panama Canal and Hawaii.

The Fantasy has lots of modern bells and whistles, and we enjoyed Remy, and the shows in the Animator's Palate. That said, we felt crowded, and since we aren't getting any younger, we weren't whelmed with the hike to get from Point A to Point B.

The best way to decide if you'll be disappointed is to try the Magic. Some people prefer Disneyland to WDW. Others insist WDW is best. We like them both. Hopefully you'll enjoy the Magic as well as the larger ships.

 

[Pens Fan]

We have been on all of the Disney ships except the Dream. I can't say that any one ship is our favorite. We love them all equally as they all bring different things to the table. I will have to agree with several others on this thread that Tangled is the best show we have seen on any Disney cruise. As someone who really isn't all that into the Disney production shows - loved, loved, loved Tangled!!

We do tend to gravitate towards the classics as they have the best itineraries (in our opinion, YMMV). At the end of the day you are going on a Disney cruise. It will be great. Enjoy!

 

[swimfin]

I have been on two Disney Cruises so far. Once on the Dream and once on the Fantasy. Next week I'll be going on my third cruise this time on the Magic. I was blown away with the Dream and the Fantasy. Everything about those ships was amazing however I know the Magic is a much smaller ship. I wanna know if I should lower my expectations. I would really like to hear how people feel about going from the newer ships to the older ones.

We LOVED the Magic!!!! I think it depends on where you are going ... We sailed the Dream 1st then the Fantasy (eastern) and then the Magic in Norway! The Magic was PERFECT!! We LOVED the smaller ship, less people, and my son loved the "extra" attention! It's Disney!!! In our eyes DCL is AMAZING and you're on a Disney vacation!!! We will probably book the Magic a few more times before returning to the Fantasy based on the Magic's itineraries. We LOVE Europe!! For us, the Caribbean can get "repetitive" yet the Magic has so many different trips to offer! With that being said, my husband and my bil are on the Dream in September as my husband is taking his brother on his 1st true vacation and 1st trip to WDW! So, you never know what might bring you back to the Dream Class! LOL!

 

[janiebubble]

One thing you may find is that because it is a port intensive cruise the ship can be really empty, we didn't get off at La Spezia and pretty much had the ship to ourselves. Rome we were off handy, got the train and back by 3pm. Had the adult pool completely to ourselves. I've only sailed the Magic, so have nothing to compare it to, but I hope you'll enjoy her!

 

[IrishEye]

Like everything people have personal preferences. Don't go on the Magic expecting it to be the Dream and don't cruise on the Fantasy expecting it to be the Wonder, they are all different experiences. Some people prefer the Magic Kingdom over Epcot and others prefer the Animal Kingdom, enjoy the Magic for what she is and because you are on a cruise with a fantastic itinerary you will find you have less time onboard to really get to fully enjoy everything. After 16 DCL cruises, most on the Magic and Wonder, we always find more to enjoy than we remembered from the last time and are looking forward to our 2018 trips, 2 on thru Magic and 2 on the Wonder. Expect to enjoy the cruise and you will not be disappointed.

 

[Lilu86]

I've cruised on both within the past few years. They're both great ships. Whether or not you'll be disappointed is a matter of how important the Fantasy's extra bells and whistles are to you. Movies on demand in the stateroom, Remy, mini-golf, virtual sports, Aqua Duck, Midship Detective Agency, etc. If those things "made" your Fantasy cruise, then you'll miss them on the Magic. If instead you mainly enjoyed the elegant ship, good food, good service, characters & fun activities, you'll like the Magic just fine.

I'm going on a Magic Cruise in November of next year. I've sailed on the Fantasy twice, this will be my first time on the Magic.
So, the magic does not offer Disney movies on demand in stateroom?
Also, there is no Midship Detective agency?
This will be the first cruise since my divorce. I'm nervous and trying to make it special for my daughter, who is a little upset her dad is not going. Personally, I know it will be a holiday cruise so there will be lots of activities. But my girl is already talking about ordering cookies and milk from room service and watching disney movies at bedtime.
Anyone do the Magic cruise from NY to Bahamas? Did the day in Disney go smooth?

 

[Dug720]

There are Disney movies but they are not on demand. There are certain ones that play and they are on a loop.

And no. No midship detective.