Hi!
I haven't posted here much for a couple of resons. First, I'm a cast member at Walt Disney World, so I need to be careful what I say in public forums (I was nearly fired once for something I wrote elsewhere). Second, because I'm one of the advisory editors on the PassPorter Guidebook series, having worked on every edition since the 2000 WDW book. I figure I've had my say.
Jennifer felt differently, and when they learned I would be taking the Disney Magic on both the 14-day Trans-Atlantic *and* on the first 11-night Mediterranean cruise, she informed me that I *would* be posting a trip report, live en-route. So if you don't like this thread, blame her!
Saturday 12 May was departure day. Quicksilver Limo picked us up at our home (eight miles east of Spaceship Earth) promptly at 10:40am, and again at 12:30pm. Huh?
Well, we were so excited to be starting our longest, and eight Disney cruise, that both of us forgot to bring the computer! Naturally, we didn't notice until we were within sight of the ship. I was elected to go back and get it. (SWMBO points out it was my fault -- I don't understand why, but after 33 years of marriage I no longer ask why.)
Quicksilver, true to their name, quickly reorganized their schedule for the day, called in an extra driver, and got me *and* the computer back to Port Canaveral in plenty of time to make not only the ship, but lunch! (But I am going to pay for it all again when SWMBO sees the bill for not one, but *three* trips!)
The Disney Magic. What can I say? It's still the proud flagship of the fleet (for at least two more years). The cast welcomed us, our cabin was ready, and boy-howdy so were we!
We've recently taken on the job of running a non-profit historical society (not Disney-related, alas), and the task of getting things shipped cross-country, unpacked, and organized has been weighing heavily on us. We had informed the group that we would not *not* *NOT* be skipping this trip, but thanks to email, we won't exactly be off duty. In any event, we need a vacation!
We had been upgraded from a Cat. 7 Navigator's Veranda to a Cat. 6 veranda, marked down from Cat. 5 because of "partial view". This consisted of a diagonal panel that partly enclosed the veranda -- something we rather like, as we had chosen the Navigator's Veranda because the wind is kept back. We like!
Dinner the first night was ... interesting. We had requested to be seated with a friend, but she took first night seating at Palo. We were thus sat at a table for 8 with a family. Nice folks, but very Mormon, and I suspect more than a bit unhappy at our consumption of wine in their presence. Naturally, they had young kids, and with SWMBO's allergy to all children, she wasn't entirely thrilled either. It should be interesting to see how this works out.
Our server is Vlado from Croatia, his assistant Sara from Chile. Both seem competent and qualified. The previous couple of trips we were seated at tables with only cast member families, and they ran out teams of newbies on us -- with less than Disnical results. No such problems this trip, it seems.
I'll try to keep these reports daily, but we've been informed that there may not be satellite coverage in mid-Atlantic, so if I drop out for a few days, don't take it personally. I'll keep writing and get you and update as soon as I can get connected.
Happy planning!
Bruce "Zazu" Metcalf