Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Dream vs. The Magic

Now that the trip report is all done (links are here), it's time to compare the two ships we've sailed, The Disney Dream and The Disney Magic.

The Disney Magic is the first Disney Cruise Line ship, built in 1998. It holds 2700 passengers and 950 crew members. Its sister ship, the Disney Wonder, was built a year later and is almost identical.

Disney Magic


The Disney Dream is the third Disney Cruise Line ship, built in 2011. It holds 4000 passengers and 1458 crew members.  Its sister ship, the Disney Fantasy, came in 2012 and is very similar.

Disney Dream



Staterooms
Because we are a family of five, the Dream definitely has an edge in the stateroom category. The Dream has more rooms that accommodate a family of five, and it has more cabins with connecting doors. On the Dream/Fantasy, we can fit all of us in one Category 8 Family Oceanview room. On the Magic/Wonder, we have to move up to a Category 4 Verandah to fit all of us, which is a lot more expensive (about $700+ or more compared to a Category 8). On this past cruise, we opted for two inside rooms on the Magic, which was cheaper than one Category 4 at regular price. I did miss having a window a few times, mainly when I was in the room while Alyssa was napping. The inside staterooms on the Dream have virtual portholes. The staterooms on the Dream also had free on-demand television, where we could watch almost any Disney or Touchstone movie on demand at any time. The kids loved this, as we had a little bit of down time each afternoon.

Pools
We liked the Mickey kids pool on the Magic better, because it was separated from the deeper pool by the ship's funnel. It was easy to keep track of our kids. On the Dream, both the kids pool and the deeper family pool are next to each other, so it was harder to watch our kids. However, the great thing about the pools on the Dream is that both pools can see the Funnelvision, which plays movies.  At the Mickey kids pool on the Magic, we could not see the Funnelvision. Of course, the Dream has the Aqua Duck water slide. This category is a draw.

Oceaneer Club/Oceaneer Lab
This is a tough call, but I have to give the kids clubs to the Magic. On the Magic, the Oceaneer Club and the Oceaneer Lab are on the same level, but in different locations. Because their main layout is one big open space, I think my kids got to participate in more of the organized activities in the clubs, like Flubber, Toy Story Boot Camp, Mouseketeer in Training, etc. Our kids also got to perform onstage in the Friendship Rocks program, which isn't on the newer ships. On the Dream, the two kids clubs are connected and have a smaller main room and many connecting rooms/alcoves. I think this layout makes it harder for kids to get roped into the group activities.  I feel like the Dream had better technology in the clubs, but there were also more chances for the kids to play computers and video games. I asked my 8-year-old which one he liked better, and he said he slightly preferred the clubs on the Dream. He said it was because the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab are connected on the Dream, and he could run back and forth between both. On the Magic, he had to ask a cast member to take him to the different club and wait to be escorted.

Character interaction
The character interactions were slightly different on the two ships. I thought the Dream had more scheduled character greetings in the atrium, but the Magic had more character pop-ins on the pool deck that weren't on the schedule. I loved the atrium character dance parties on the Dream, and the character dance parties on Castaway Cay.  Our cruise on the Dream also had several Pixar characters that we didn't see on the Magic, like Woody and Jessie, The Incredibles, and Remy. The Magic had the Wake Up With Disney Jr. character dance party in the mornings, which the Dream didn't have. On both ships, there were certainly no shortage of characters to meet. This category is a draw.

Technology
This category obviously goes to the Dream, because it is a newer ship. The Dream has enchanted art and the Midship Detective Agency game (which we actually didn't have time to check out on our 2012 cruise). The kids clubs have automated hand washing machines that are really cool. The Oceaneer Club on the Dream has an interactive dance floor. Animator's Palette on the Dream and on the Fantasy has some cool technology not present on the older ships. The Magic is scheduled to have a long dry-dock this Fall, and I'm curious to see if any new technology is added to the ship.

Service and food
The service on both ships is just outstanding. It's one of the reasons why we enjoyed both of our cruises so much. Crew members on both ships were helpful with carrying our kids' trays from the buffets. We had outstanding dining room servers and room attendants.We found the food to be very similar on both ships--yummy and plentiful. This category is a draw.

We didn't see all the shows, or experience much of the adult-only pools or clubs, so I can't really comment on those. The Magic was easier to navigate because it was smaller. Overall, our experience on both ships was very comparable. Based on what we had read on the DIS boards, we expected to have a clear preference for one ship over the other. But, that wasn't the case. We liked things about each ship, and there was nothing on either ship that made our cruise unpleasant. In general, the Dream has an edge in technology department, and possibly the Magic has an edge in some of the kids' programming.

We would gladly sail any of the Disney ships again. My only complaint about our last cruise on the Magic was that it was too short. We didn't get to do many of the activities that sounded fun. But, I think it's important to view Disney Cruises the same way as Disney World, and realize that there's no way you can accomplish everything in one visit. We are looking forward to a 7-night cruise.

Have you been on either of these ships? Do you have a preference?



Thursday, February 14, 2013

Our MAGICal Disney Cruise Day 4 Part 2: Last night onboard

Links:

YouTube Music Video:
Our MAGICal Disney Cruise

Navigators:
Day 1 Navigator
Day 2 Navigator
Day 3 Navigator
Day 4 Navigator


Trip Report:
Day 1 Part 1:  Intro and getting there 
Day1 Part 2: First afternoon on the ship 
Day 1 Part 3: First evening
Day 2 Part 1:  Sea Day
Day 2 Part 2:  Palo and the Ventriloquist
Day 3 Part 1:  Nachi Cocom
Day 3 Part 2:  Cozumel and Pirate Night
Day 4 Part 1:  Last Sea Day

It was almost 2 p.m. and we decided to all meet back up to catch the matinee of the show Dreams.  This show has been ranked the top cruise ship show, so we didn't want to miss it and figured the kids would enjoy it more in the afternoon before they got too tired. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the theatre at all.  But, the show did not disappoint.  I was blown away.  By the story line, the sets, the special effects...everything!  If you don't see any other shows, you must see Dreams!

Alyssa fell asleep on me during the show.

The atrium chandelier...


Nana and Alyssa
After the show, we went back to the room to chill for a little while.  At 4 p.m., we dropped the boys back off at the kids club because it was time to prep for Friendship Rocks.  Friendship Rocks is a show that all the kids from the clubs put on in the Walt Disney Theatre.  They only do it on the two classic ships, so we didn't have a chance to see this on our last cruise.  The kids all got free t-shirts that said Friendship Rocks with a photo of the ship.

First, they led in the older kids, ages 7 and up in blue t-shirts.  They did one song as a group.



Next came the 3-6-year-olds in yellow.  We were surprised that Joshua wanted to participate, he usually doesn't like performances.

Then Mickey and Minnie joined the kids onstage for a song.  What a cool sight to see our kids and all the other kids performing with Mickey and Minnie!  This show was one of the highlights of our cruise.  They also showed a slideshow with photos of the kids in the clubs throughout the week.


Nathan after the show--he wanted his picture taken.  Joshua, not so much.

Our last dinner was at Lumiere's.  I had scheduled Alyssa in the nursery one last time during dinner. The menu was mostly seafood.  At dinner, the servers did a Parade of Nations.  I took Joshua to the club during dinner because he wanted to go back.

I picked up Alyssa early from the nursery in order to catch a meeting with Minnie Mouse.  She hadn't met Minnie Mouse yet this entire trip, and since she's such a big fan we had to make that happen.

Nathan wanted to be dropped back off at the Oceaneer Lab.  I took Alyssa back to the room.  One last set of towel animals.



Joshua and Alyssa went to bed.  I picked Nathan up from the Lab and we walked around deck.  This was our last night and we hadn't had any one-on-one time yet.  We got ice cream cones.

The Lion King was playing on funnel vision, but it was getting too cold to watch it for long.  We could tell we were a lot farther north now.

At 10 p.m. was one final character appearance called "Til We Meet Again".  I decided what the heck, it's our last night, we should go.

It was crazy.  If you have small kids, I don't recommend this last character greeting.  It was every single character on the ship, plus some of the performers from the show.  They are only out for 20 minutes, there are no formal lines, just crazy.  Nathan mostly met the show performers since most people were hanging around the major characters.

We did get lucky and got one last photo with Captain Mickey Mouse.



Nathan might be embarrassed that I'm posting this one.
Nathan with the star of the Dreams show.
And that was the end of our cruise.  The next morning, we had an assigned breakfast time of 7:15 a.m.  My daughter threw up on me as we were waiting to disembark.  At least she didn't get sick earlier in the cruise! We got off the ship around 8:30 a.m.

Up next:  A comparison of the Disney Dream vs. the Disney Magic.  Which one do you think we like better???  Take a guess in your comments on the blog or on Facebook.

Our MAGICal Disney Cruise Day 4 Part 1: Last sea day

Links:

YouTube Music Video:
Our MAGICal Disney Cruise

Navigators:
Day 1 Navigator
Day 2 Navigator
Day 3 Navigator
Day 4 Navigator


Trip Report:
Day 1 Part 1:  Intro and getting there 
Day1 Part 2: First afternoon on the ship 
Day 1 Part 3: First evening
Day 2 Part 1:  Sea Day
Day 2 Part 2:  Palo and the Ventriloquist
Day 3 Part 1:  Nachi Cocom
Day 3 Part 2:  Cozumel and Pirate Night

Our last sea day.  Our daughter woke up at 6 a.m., but the boys managed to sleep until 7:30.  First, I should mention that the weather on our trip was phenomenal. We had high 60s on our departure day from Galveston, low 80s on our first sea day and Cozumel, and this last sea day was looking good too.  We decided to eat our breakfast outside.




The kids wanted more pool time, and Alyssa hadn't been to the pool yet, so we headed there after breakfast.  At 8:30, there was only our 3 kids and 1 other kid in the pool.  





At 9:00, the water slide opened.  The kids had it all to themselves. I guess everyone else had slept in, or was at the princess gathering.  I highly recommend early mornings at the pool on sea days.


I should mention that non-potty-trained kids are not allowed in the pool, even in a swim diaper.  This isn't a Disney rule, it's an international cruise law or something that applies to all cruise ships for sanitary reasons. Disney's classic ships have a little fountain/splash area for non-potty-trained toddlers next to the pool.  The two newer ships have a bigger enclosed splash area to accommodate toddlers. This was part of my motivation to potty-train Alyssa back in December.  We were asked by a crew member if she was wearing a swim diaper, which she wasn't, and they gave us the ok for her to play in the pool.

We left the pool around 9:45 to shower and change.  Brian took the boys up to the sports deck where they played some foosball.  Nana and I wanted to take Alyssa to the Oceaneer Club since they were having an open house and the Mickey Mouseketeer training.

So Alyssa got to do the same training the boys did earlier in the week and march with Mickey Mouse.


 Meanwhile, the guys attended a paper airplane class in the promenade lounge.



At 11:45, we met up on the pool deck for lunch.  Saw this cute vegetable Mickey.

We ate at the fast food restaurants on deck.  The kids had hamburgers/chicken strips. Nana and I got some wraps and panini sandwiches from Goofy's Galley.  The shrimp wraps were delicious.  Brian went to get some food from the Topsiders buffet, and when he went there they told him they were barbecuing meat outside in the back, so he got some of that.  He said it was good.

Donald Duck was walking around.


And the kids had some ice cream cones from the self-service ice cream stand.


And other desserts.  No shortage of sweets on this cruise.



The pool area was so much busier than it was just 2 hours ago when we left.  The Mickey pool now looked like kid soup.

The guys wanted to go to another ventriloquist show at 1:00 p.m.  Alyssa acted tired, so I thought I'd see if she'd take a nap outside on Deck 4.  That plan didn't really work, she just wanted to walk around.


I spent almost an hour walking around with Alyssa, and it's one of my favorite moments on the cruise.  It was peaceful.




 Up next:  The rest of our last day onboard

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Our MAGICal Disney Cruise Day 3 Part 2: Cozumel and Pirate Night

Links:

YouTube Music Video:
Our MAGICal Disney Cruise

Navigators:
Day 1 Navigator
Day 2 Navigator
Day 3 Navigator
Day 4 Navigator


Trip Report:
Day 1 Part 1:  Intro and getting there 
Day1 Part 2: First afternoon on the ship 
Day 1 Part 3: First evening
Day 2 Part 1:  Sea Day
Day 2 Part 2:  Palo and the Ventriloquist
Day 3 Part 1:  Nachi Cocom

After Nachi Cocom, we headed back to the pier via taxi.  Since we had to weave our way through the shops to get back to the ship, I got the kids a few souvenirs.


The boys loved these wrestling masks.


 And one last photo on the dock before boarding the ship.


Meanwhile, while we were at Nachi Cocom, my husband and oldest son were on their own adventure booked through Disney Cruise Line.  Their port adventure was called Off Road Adventure to Jade Caverns.  They got to ride in these dune buggies in the jungle for about 30 minutes each way.  It was muddy and dusty.



Jade Caverns has underground swimming.  It looks beautiful, but the guys said the most of the swimming area was really dark and creepy, so they didn't go in.



Brian said the vehicles were a little hard to drive and steer, and that ATVs are easier to use.  They picked this adventure because the minimum age is 8 to be a rider, whereas the minimum age for ATVs is 16. Nathan loved it, though, and says that Cozumel was his favorite part of the whole trip.


We all ended up getting back on the ship around the same time and ran into eachother walking to our cabin. We ordered cookies and Mickey bars for the kids from room service and chilled out a bit.

We showered and got ready for the big pirate night on board. We went to the lobby at 5 p.m. to get photos with some characters.  The line for Jack Sparrow was short.  We were glad, since we tried to get a photo with him onboard the Dream but there were too  many people and they cut off the line.

The pirate costumes of the passengers on this cruise were much more subdued than we saw on the Dream. Many people didn't dress up at all. Not sure if it's because most people were first-time cruisers.  We just wore pirate t-shirts, and Alyssa dressed up as Tinkerbell.

We decided to drop the boys off at the kids' clubs for some play time and dinner there.  The rest of us headed to our rotational restaurant, Parrot Cay.  I think that ended up being my favorite restaurant on the ship!  It has a Caribbean theme and fit right in with pirate night.  Our plates had our pirate bandanas supplied by Disney.


The special pirate night menu...

 Our servers were also dressed as pirates for the evening. We started dinner sitting like this...



But after a few minutes, Alyssa insisted on being held and quickly fell asleep on me for most of dinner.


She woke up towards the end of dinner, just in time for a limbo party in the dining room.


After dinner, we were heading back to our cabin and came across a dance party in the promenade lounge.  We had to stop and dance for a while.


We had a dinosaur and frog for our towel animals.


Tink and Daddy
I had reserved a spot for Alyssa in the nursery from 8:30-10:30 p.m. so that we could enjoy the fireworks.  I dropped her off and figured she wouldn't sleep there since she slept through dinner.

A little while later we picked up the boys from the clubs.  Joshua was all decked out with pirate face paint from the club.


We headed to the top deck around 9:25 to secure a spot for the show that started at 9:45 p.m.  There was already pirate-stuff going on there when we arrived, a pirate game-show type thing.

Brian and Joshua at the pirate party
The pirate show had a lot of dancing, and ended with Disney's signature fireworks at sea.  Immediately after it was over, I had to pick up Alyssa at the nursery.  Nana went back to the room with Joshua and Brian stayed with Nathan to partake in the Pirate Night buffet.  They had crepes with marshmallows and chocolate--sounds delicious.

The kids were certainly exhausted after this fun and busy day!

Up next:  Our last sea day