My suitcases have been sitting idle since my last visit to Walt Disney World in December. Three months was way too long for this travel fanatic! Spring Break arrived for my family at the end of March so we packed up and hopped on a plane to Florida. A sailing on the Disney Magic from Miami to the Bahamas was a perfect way to kick off the warmer weather season!

A party of seven, sailing the Magic, what a motley crew! The hubs, the kid, my mom and the old man, and two nieces rounded out the gang. We flew into Fort Lauderdale for an overnight, enjoyed the town for the day and then shuttled down to Miami to board the beautiful Disney Magic. While in Fort Lauderdale, we visited the Wiener Museum of Decorative Arts to see the Chihuly exhibit. It was amazing! So many beautiful glass pieces to view!

One of the original two Disney Cruise ships, the Magic is a smaller ship with a more compact layout, making navigating the decks super easy. Characters and Disney magic were found throughout the ship at scheduled times and impromptu meetings…

The Cove Cafe provided us with some delicious beverages onboard and the staff goes out of their way to make the experience extra special. Check out the latte art and complimentary Madeline cookie!

Key West was our first and most anticipated port. We are huge cat fans and the Hemingway Home in Key West is home to over 50 cats, many polydactyls. At home, we have a polydactyl kitty and couldn’t wait to see more of those funky felines. It didn’t disappoint! The tour of the home and grounds was also super informative and definitely worth a listen.

The required ‘Mile Marker 0’ and ‘Southernmost Point’ stops were also checked off the to-do list. It was such a beautiful day, hot but not oppressive, and so sunny.

 

The next stop was Nassau in the Bahamas. That’s always a ‘day at sea’ for us and we stay onboard to enjoy the ship instead of exploring the port. Once was good for this bunch. Brunch at the adult-only restaurant, Palo, was a delicious way to start the day for me and the hubs. So much great food but only one stomach, LOL.

After we left Nassau, we sailed to Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. Truly a tropical paradise, we could’ve handled the water being a bit warmer but, by midday, we had adjusted quite nicely. Floating around the family beach, followed by lunch on the island, and then snorkeling in the (huge) snorkeling lagoon filled much of the day. Our first time snorkeling on the island, we were super happy to find many of the underwater treasures that Disney has placed for the enjoyment of its guests. So many colorful fish and fun things to explore but man, a lot of work for all those goodies!

Castaway Cay was our last day of the cruise and we had our final dinner at Animator’s Palate that evening. One of the best things about the Disney Cruise Line is that you have a dedicated waitstaff in the three main dining rooms. Their system is called ‘rotational dining’ and you rotate each night between the three dining rooms. For the Magic, the dining rooms are Animator’s Palate, Lumiere’s, and Rapunzel’s Royal Table. When you board the ship, you are assigned the order in which you rotate between the restaurants and a table number. That table number remains the same in each restaurant and is associated with a specific main and assistant server. Our main server was Yhokey from the Philippines and his assistant, Harish from India. The kids (and adults) loved them and truly regretted having to say goodbye on the last evening. (So much so that they went back the next morning just to tell them goodbye one last time.)

As always, leaving a Disney Cruise is such a sad moment. It definitely helps when you’ve booked a placeholder for a future cruise — basically a small deposit that can then be put toward a sailing within the next two years, comes with a 10% cruise discount and onboard credit — so you know you’ll likely be back soon. I’m sure it won’t be two years before I’m back on a cruise though. Mickey knows how to sink his hooks into me every time.

Until next time!

Amber