My sister in law did research and chose this cruise for its ports and its port of departure. Port Canaveral was within driving distance for many of us, although my party of 4 chose to fly from Lexington Kentucky to Orlando and my cousins flew in from Portland Oregon. She made a wonderful choice. The Magic is big enough to keep all in our party, ranging in ages from 4 to 87, entertained, occupied and well fed. The cruise director, Cookie, kept us entertained and informed throughout the cruise. Kudos to the entertainment staff who ran the games, trivia contests, bingo and all the other stuff that kept us laughing and smiling throughout the cruise. The Playlist Productions, the shows in the main theater, were terrific, but I have to say that the most hysterically funny show was Love and Marriage, hosted by Cookie, our cruise director. It was unscripted, of course, and the answers that the couples gave as well as his reactions to their answers were terrific. There was even a proposal before the show itself started. It was hard to get into the comedy shows as the shows were in a very small theater, and unless you showed up at least 30 minutes early, there was no shot at getting a seat. They actually closed the doors the first night as they had met capacity.

I was solo in an interior cabin on the Empress Deck. There was ample room so that it never felt cramped, and lots and lots of storage space in closets and desks for all my stuff. The AC worked great, and the refrigerator kept my bottled water, which I ordered prior to the cruise, nice and cold. I adjusted the shower the first night to my desired temperature and it stayed at that temperature each time I took a shower. The bathroom was spacious. I did not use the shampoo or shower gel, but the hand soap was great.

Embarkation and disembarkation were very easy to do. We had a motorized scooter and a manual wheelchair so we were shown to the straighter lines. You presented your passport and boarding pass, and less than 30 minutes later, you were on board. They took your photo with iPads, and if the photo wasn't great, they retook it at a different station. For disembarkation, we had Zone 1 baggage claims, thanks to my Platinum sister and brother in law, and we didn't have to fill out Customs forms. We were off the ship fairly quickly and on our way to Hertz to pick up a rental van. Our longest wait was for an elevator to get off the dock and into the terminal. Read more