Disney Magic Review

Disappointed in the Disney Magic

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Disney Magic
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HuskerCruiser94
First Time Cruiser • Age 40s

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Sail Date: May 2009
Traveled with children

I was really looking forward to a 7 day Disney Cruise with my mom and my 5 year old daughter. I had been on 5 cruises from 1996 - 2001 and absolutley loved every one. I didn't realize how much has changed in the last 8-10 years. The main thing I noticed was that at every port we were not the only ship there. There would be at least 3 other BIG ships in addition to ours, so at the small ports there were probably 5,000 additional tourists. I remember thinking that Grand Cayman was a nice, clean port- not anymore!! I guess the main thing that disappointed me was that a Disney Cruise is twice as expensive as a Carnival, Royal Caribbean or Princess Cruise. I was told that you get what you pay for, so I thought that the Disney line would be twice as good as anything else. Not so much... I know this sounds dumb, since it is Disney, but I could not believe how many kids there were!! There were so many people and everyone had kids- it was so crowded everywhere you went! I've never been to Disney World/land, so I've never had the Disney experience. I did not realize that you have to wait in a long line for EVERYTHING having to do with the characters. I figured it would be that way for the Princesses, but waiting 45 minutes to meet Donald Duck?! Plus I thought we would see ALL the Princesses, but we saw Cinderella, Belle and Snow White. No Sleeping Beauty, no Aerial, no Pocahontas, no Mulan, no Jasmine. And there were very few opportunities to see the Princesses. I was also surprised at the kids club areas. Yes, it was fairly big and they were available from morning until late in the night, but there wasn't a huge amount for the kids to do. My daughter would only want to be there for about an hour and then she would want to leave and go swim. I was hoping I could drop her off and she would have so much to do that she would not want to leave and I could hang out in the adult only area for  a couple of hours. Nope...I was also very angry about the kids pool areas. People would get there early in the morning and take the lounges, but then sit in the pool with their kids. It was like they were taking up 2 spots for every person! I would have to sit on the side of the kids pool to watch over my daughter, which wasn't bad, but if I wanted to have a drink in the sun I couldn't. Both the Mickey Pool and the Goofy Pool were nice, but way too small for the amount of kids on the ship. I always remember the food as one of the best parts of the cruise...here it was just OK. The dinners were fine- nothing special, but nothing bad either. I was disappointed with the lunch buffets. There just wasn't a lot to choose from! The service was fine, but again I was hoping to be blown away and I really wasn't. The two things that were better than I expected was the Disney private island, Castaway Cay and the evening show "Dreams". I remember the cruise lines private islands as being very rough with not a lot to do. Not so with Castaway Cay! It was perfect with a very nice beach for the families and a separate beach for the adults. The adult beach was not as nice, but it was very quiet and there truely were no kids!! We went on the stingray adventure and it was the best excursion of the trip! We didn't get to get off the ship as early as I would have liked because of the stormy weather, but by 11am the sun was shining and we were on the beach. I only wish we would have had more time there! The 'broadway style' show "Dreams" was amazing!!! I don't want to say much about it because I don't want to give anything away, but do not miss it! It is awesome!!  

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