This is a guest trip report written by Abby, who sailed on the October 24, 2018 5 night cruise to the Bermuda on the Disney Magic. You can start the trip report from the beginning by clicking here.
Day 2: At Sea
(click here to see this day’s Daily Navigator)
We woke up on Thursday after a decent night of sleep. I was physically ill the night prior, but anything more than 3 consecutive hours of sleep is considered “decent” in my mother-of-small-children mind. We woke up to smoother seas and nothing on the agenda for the day.
This morning was the first time I felt our ocean view porthole was worth it— we woke up to a beautiful rainbow out at sea! We went up to Cabanas for breakfast (it would take me another 48 hours to remember we could order continental breakfast from room service each day).
We spent our first day at sea doing a lot of nothing— we watched lots of Disney Junior on the Disney-on-demand TV system they have aboard the ships, alternating between episodes of Doc McStuffins and Muppet Babies. We moseyed around the ship, and David and I took turns giving each other some kid-free time. We are both introverts by nature, yet we created two very extroverted children. Our family operates better when we both have time alone to recharge.
When it was time for Eleanor to nap, David took Evelyn out and about to explore. They ended up hanging out on Deck 9, watching “A Goofy Movie” on Funnel Vision (which, now that I’m looking, isn’t listed on the Daily Navigator for this day). I was impressed there were lots of fleece blankets available around the deck, which made for a pleasant open-air viewing experience.
They got lunch together from one of the various quick service counters on Deck 9 (David had a cheeseburger and Evelyn had chicken fingers from Pete’s Boiler Bites). When Eleanor woke up, we joined them upstairs, and got our own lunches from our pal Pete. I loved the shawarma station, and ordered a chicken shawarma pita for lunch almost every day of the trip.
Eleanor snacked on leftover chicken tenders and some of my fries (#SecondChildLife). Then we all enjoyed a soft-serve ice cream cone for dessert. Spoiler alert: these will NOT be the last ice cream cone pictures in this trip report… Eleanor really goes to town on her cone on Day 5.
By the time were were done eating, it was 2:00 pm. Today was the day that I started to regret booking the early dining rotation time slot (5:45). We had done the later dining rotation (8:15) on our first cruise, and although we usually eat dinner around 7 pm at home, I was worried 8:15 pm would just be too late for the girls. Between Eleanor’s nap schedule though, which resulted in us eating lunch around 1-2 pm every day, late dining would have made more sense for our family. Lesson learned!
Since the first Mickey’s Mousequerade Party was set to start at 2:30 pm, we decided to attend the later party. We didn’t want to feel rushed to get ready. This afternoon the girls and David spent some more time in the room, playing and watching TV, while I grabbed my book, purchased a decaf mocha from the Cove Cafe, and found a nice little couch to curl up on (with the provided DCL fleece blanket!) and read. I headed back to the room around 4 pm to help David get the girls ready for the Halloween Party.
It took us longer than expected to suit up, but soon Buzz, Woody and Boo were ready to go at 4:30 on the dot. We could really feel the ship moving this afternoon, and we had some trouble keeping our balance as we made our way to the Lobby Atrium.
Mickey’s Mousequerade Party was a literal madhouse. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was not what we experienced. There were “treat tables” around the lobby, with people pushing in on all sides. There were no lines, and no sense of order. Each table was manned by a few cast members handing out big handfuls of candy. My thoughtful, logical oldest child was dismayed that she didn’t get to pick out her own candy (she can’t have anything with artificial red dye, so she knows to look for chocolate options), and we did a lot of reassuring that we would go through the candy together, later. If there were characters or entertainment to enjoy, we did not see it. For the first time on our cruise I felt disappointed by the programming.
I guess in my mind, the only thing I have to compare the party to would be Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Disney World. There was no real ambiance to the DCL event— just lots of grouchy people and frustrated parents moving en masse from one candy table to the next. The swaying of the ship, and feeling like I couldn’t hold onto Eleanor very well in her slippery costume, compounded my dissatisfaction. I was mad at myself that we put a lot of energy into transporting three costumes for the cruise, since this was the only Halloween event we would be participating in on the ship. Reflecting on it, we should have attended the earlier party, and I should have researched more of what to expect to manage my expectations.
After the party was over, we stripped the girls out of their costumes, and headed to the 5 pm Toddler Time in the Promenade Lounge. This program was underwhelming as well— there was a dedicated space for babies and toddlers to crawl around and play, as well as a few buckets of provided toys. Bench seating encircled the space, making it easy for parents to hang out while their babies crawled around. Between unruly toddlers and kids that were way too big to be in the same space (think an 8-year-old in a Deadpool costume…) we weren’t thrilled with the setup. Dinner was soon though, and we were dining in Lumiere’s that night, so we just hung out until the dining room opened.
Tonight’s meal was probably our toughest night to get through. Eleanor ate a crayon. Evelyn had to go potty halfway through the meal. The overstimulation of the party, plus the sugar rush from the pre-dinner candy, got the best of all of us. I ended up taking Eleanor back to the stateroom before dessert that night, which is unheard of for me (dessert is my favorite food group!). I used the Disney Cruise Line app to message David and tell him to just keep Evelyn out for a while…. I would get Eleanor settled in for the night, then I would message him when they could come back.
David decided to take Evelyn to see the show, which they both really enjoyed. “The Magic and Illusion of Kyle Knight and Mistie” left an impression on Evelyn, because she still talks about how that lady changed her dress lots and lots of times. Once Eleanor was all tucked in, I drew the curtains to partition the room (LOVE this feature… why don’t all Disney hotels include this?), positioned the TV so that I could still watch it without the glow of the TV disturbing Eleanor, and selected “Oceans 8” to enjoy.
Remembering that I skipped dessert, I called room service, and had the cake of the day (an Oreo cheesecake) plus a few chocolate chip cookies delivered. It felt quite indulgent to eat cake in bed, while watching a grown-up movie all by myself. I’m thinking this little routine will become a tradition for me on all future cruises.
Up Next: Day 3 – Bermuda
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