Traveling Again

October 24, 2013 by

Today I am hopping on a plane to Miami! I am so excited, I have never been to Miami before. I will be spending the night there before sailing out on the newly re-imagined Disney Magic on Friday morning for a two night cruise.

I have sailed on the Magic several times, and cannot wait to see all of the improvements to the ship. We first heard about these improvements at the Press Event I attended back in April. Since then, we have been teased with videos and photos of the ship being transformed, and I can’t wait to see it in person!

Some of the things I am RELLY excited about are the Aqua Dunk, the new water slide:

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The revamping of the buffet to make it Cabanas:

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The all new restaurant taking the place of Parrot Cay:

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I will be posting live updates on Friday with photos of the ship (until we sail then the phone will be turned off!) So be sure you are following my social media accounts (check the right sidebar) to follow along with the fun!

I would love to help you plan your family’s magical Disney cruise! email heather@travelwiththemagic.com or request a quote and be sure to add in my name!

QOTD: Have you sailed on Disney Cruise line? Do you want to?

Filed Under: Disney, vacation Tagged: , , , ,

Disney Fantasy Part 6: April 2013

June 27, 2013 by

We left off with a great day in Cozumel on my last installment. The next day, was a sea day, and had big plans to do a lot of nothing. We slept in, ate breakfast, and headed to the pool where we parked all morning with our books. We ate lunch and then played goofy golf! Look who even made an appearance. I was VERY excited.

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The wind had started to pick up making it very hard to play. After we ate a buffet lunch, the clouds started to roll in.

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I want to say at some time during the day we say Oz the Great and Powerful in 3D, and I’m sure we took a nap at some point. Honestly it was just a lazy day and so wonderful! (I think we made it to the gym, too?)

By evening, the rain had started and the boat was doing a little rocking which made me nervous, but wasn’t too bad. They closed off some of the decks for a little while because it was so dangerous with the wind.

It was semi formal night, so we got all gussied up to go to dinner at the Royal Court.

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This is Bobby’s favorite night of the cruise, because it’s lobster night! He had four or five…I can’t remember.

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He was a happy boy.

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After dinner we headed back to the adults area to watch a comedian before calling it a night.

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Up next week: Our last day. Castaway Cay!

QOTD: What would be your ideal sea day?

Filed Under: Disney, family, vacation Tagged: , , ,

Disney Fantasy April 2013: Part 3

May 31, 2013 by

I left off my trip report with Palo brunch on our first full day onboard the Disney Fantasy. We were stuffed, and decided to head back to the room for a glorious nap. We ended up staying in the room for most of the afternoon reading, watching movies and just lounging around. It was the best way to relax on vacation! Around 6:00 we got hungry (go figure!) and sat up by the adult pool area and had a snack. We relaxed some more then got ready for Dinner. It was formal night!

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Dinner was at the fanciest restaurant on the ship, the Royal Court.

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We went back to the Tube for some fun adult entertainment before calling it a night, and found this guy waiting for us in our cabin.

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The next morning, we woke up in beautiful Grand Cayman.

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We ate the buffet breakfast, and then got in line for a tender boat to get off of the ship. We made it to land, and went to find a taxi.

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Funniest thing, I went to grab a driver and saw the SAME GUY that drove us back in October. Hilarious. He got a kick out of the fact that we remembered him (he prays with his passengers before they get off of the van) and he took us to the public beach.

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We rented a beach chair and umbrella, and I spent my time reading while Bobby swam and snorkeled.

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We stayed about five hours, and I was starving. We didn’t want to pay for the expensive food on the beach so we headed back to the ship where the food was included, of course!

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We caught a tender boat and were back on the Fantasy in no time. The ship looks SO MASSIVE from the little tender boat.

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We grabbed some food and headed back to the room. That’s when I realized we were BOTH sunburned! I forgot to reapply and Bobby must have washed his off in the water. Ug. Not a good day to burn, at the beginning of a seven night cruise. We aloed up and headed to dinner.

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We were in Animator’s Palate which is super cute.

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Crush came and talked to us. Dddduuuuddddeeee!

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Dinner was delicious, and after we headed back to the tube for Magic quest. This is SO MUCH FUN. It’s an adult scavenger hunt, I always end up laughing until I cry, and I ended up having to give Bobby my bra…again.

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We had a blast and enjoy this game show so much. Our team won, but sadly we didn’t get a prize like I have seen on past cruises.

We were exhausted after a day in the sun, so we turned in ready to dock in Costa Maya the next day.

QOTD: When was the time you got sunburned the worst? Do you remember?

Filed Under: Disney, vacation Tagged: , , , , , ,

Disney Fantasy Part 2: Palo Brunch

May 25, 2013 by

Check out part 1 of this trip here. Then come back and check out Palo brunch!

We left off after the first night onboard the beautiful Disney Fantasy. We slept in the next day because we had Palo brunch reservations at 11:00. This brunch is all you can eat, and Bobby’s favorite part of the cruise. Not only is there a buffet selection, but there is food you can order from the kitchen as well. You get a complimentary glass of champagne or a mimosa as well. It’s nice and quiet (adults only) and they don’t rush you which I love.

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Dressed up for Palo brunch

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We went up a few minutes early and sat in the beautiful waiting room that Palo shares with the other adults only restaurant, Remy. Soon our server came to greet us and sit us down.

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We had a beautiful table looking out the window at the water. After you are given your drinks, your server takes you over to the buffet and shows you every single thing and table you can order or get yourself, and answers any questions you may have. I even saw them taking plates of food back to people’s table for them so they didn’t have to carry it!

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Bobby loves the crab legs, and the eggs benedict the best.

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I had some lasagna and chicken parmesan as well as some delicious fruit, cheese, and pastries.  I like that they give you small portions so you can try everything! My favorite part however, has to be dessert.

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Please note I did NOT bring all of this back myself. Our server offered to go up to the buffet and get me a selection of his favorite desserts and this is what he brought back for me!

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I went up to the buffet and took photos of some of the food tables. They have samples of food you can order from the back like these pizzas.

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Below is more food you can order from the back

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It’s safe to say we had an amazing brunch and weren’t hungry for quite some time afterwards. Our server, Ivan, was wonderful, and did a fabulous job. The $30 charge is a small price to pay per person for such a wonderful experience! This is always a highlight of a Disney cruise for us, and we have considered going more than once on a sailing it’s so wonderful. I highly recommend Palo Brunch to anyone sailing with Disney

QOTD: Have you ever eaten at Palo? Are you more of a main dish person or do you love the desserts?

 

Filed Under: Disney, family, food, vacation Tagged: , , , , ,

Disney Fantasy Part 1

May 17, 2013 by

Back in April, Bobby and I boarded the Disney Fantasy for a much needed week of relaxing, just the two of us. We had an amazing time, and I wanted to share some of our trip with you! I won’t be doing a detailed report but will be sharing tidbits and photos! Remember, if you would like me to book your cruise at no extra coast to you I can help! heather@travelwiththemagic.com

We had a car from Southern Elegance Limousine bring us to the port. The car was beautiful, they were on time, and were so easy to work with. Highly recommended! We checked in and waited to get onboard the beautiful Disney Fantasy. We booked a category 4C, and once we got onboard and ate lunch, our room was ready.

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We spent some time walking around and exploring the deck while we waited to sail away

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Check out the beautiful couples villa at the spa!

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We had a good time relaxing and hanging out but then it was time for dinner

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Dinner was at Enchanted Garden and I absolutely love the theming!

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We were lucky to get a table to ourselves, and we met our servers for the week, who we really enjoyed! After dinner, we went to the adult area for some fun game shows. I LOVE match you mate. Hilarious every time. If you cruise with Disney, don’t miss this! We turned in around 11:30, ready for Palo brunch reservations the next day!

QOTD: DO you like game shows? I like to watch and laugh at other peoples expense. Smile

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Disney Cruise Line News: Magic Dry Dock

April 27, 2013 by

Yesterday morning when I attended the Monstrous Summer press event, The President of Disney Cruise line spoke about some great new things coming to the Disney Magic this fall.

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She will be dry docked and will undergo a major overhaul to get her more up to date with the Dream and the Fantasy. We were shown beautiful renderings of some of the new things that are coming. I took photos of all the slides so you can get a peek at what is to come on the Disney Magic!

The lobby will get a facelift with some enhancements to the atrium.

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Next, is the new restaurant that will be taking the place of Parrot Cay, Cariocas

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Animator’s Palate is  fan favorite, so it will be staying as is except for some updated technology, including the fun animation part that the Disney Fantasy currently has on board. Everyone ready to draw?!?

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The onboard buffet will be changing over to Cabanas like on the Dream and Fantasy.

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The kids areas will all be reimagined, my favorite is this rendering of Andy’s room. The slinky slide looks awesome!

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A lot of boys are excited about the new Avengers academy. Finally some superheroes onboard!

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There will also be 3 adult spaces. Keys, Fathoms, and O’Gills Pub, all a part of “after hours”.

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The deck areas are getting lots of fun too. First, the new twist and spout slide, and  also the newphews play area for the wee ones.

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One new thing I didn’t know about it the new slide, the AquaDUNK will drop you THREE stories! Wow!

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Here is a cute video about how this new slide will work.

 

As you can see, a lot of amazing and fun upgrades are coming very soon, so keep these in mind when looking to plan your next Disney vacation! I would love to help you if you have any questions!

QOTD: What is your favorite new feature of the reimagined ship?

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Mickey Boat Time

April 13, 2013 by

Fun news, Bobby and I are going on a CRUISE in two weeks! Yup, two weeks from today we will be setting sail on the Disney Fantasy for seven amazing nights in the Western Caribbean. We NEVER do anything last minute like this, but due to a few circumstances in our lives decided we needed to get away just the two of us. This week was the only one that worked for us, so yup, two weeks away, ah! I have been on the fantasy for a quick 3 night preview cruise, but Bobby has never been.

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We will be staying in a Deluxe family oceanview stateroom with verandah.

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We will be visiting Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Disney’s private island Castaway Cay.

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Grand Cayman

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Costa Maya

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Cozumel

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We have no big plans, no excursions, just a week of relaxing and hanging out, getting away from some crazy things going on.

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Our awesome neighbors will be watching the house and the dogs, so all is taken care of. Don’t worry, I will have lots of great posts scheduled while I am gone so Through Heather’s Looking Glass will still be up and running!

Remember if you need help planning YOUR cruise on most cruise lines, contact me at heather@travelwiththemagic.com for information and a free quote!

QOTD: Do you plan out vacations well in advance or with short notice?

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