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.
Days 5 & 6: At Sea & Going Home
(click here to see this day’s Daily Navigator)
We woke up this morning for our final day at sea. We enjoyed our last room service continental breakfast, and then, like most mornings of this sailing, we took it easy in the room once again. The girls played, and we watched another Pixar movie on the on-demand TV in our room. We really loved having that option throughout our cruise, and Evelyn still talks about how “the TV just knows right where we left off!” Ha! The motion of the ocean was very noticeable this morning; we didn’t feel sick, but we really struggled to pack up our stateroom as the bathroom and closet doors kept swinging shut!
David headed back up to Deck 4 to check on his lost phone again this morning, but unfortunately nothing had been turned in. At this point, we were starting to panic, so we discussed buying a data package for my phone or computer so we could lock out his phone in case it had been stolen. We decided to check one more time after lunch before pursuing that option.
Although it was our final day at sea, today was probably our busiest day of the entire cruise! By late morning it was time to redeem our meet and greet tickets. We had booked these right when we boarded the ship, and we were able to reserve back-to-back time slots for the Frozen meet and greet as well as the Princess gathering. Donning our very best Mommy-daughter LuLaRoe castle outfits, we headed upstairs to mingle with some of our favorite characters.
The meet and greets were both well organized. We first headed to Animator’s Palate to meet Anna and Elsa. The way they transform the restaurant and use lighting and the screens to “set the scene” for this experience is such a wonderful touch! The only downside is that the meet and greet is SO dark; it’s nearly impossible to get a nice photo without relying on the photographer’s flash (aka buying the photo from Shutters). Anna and Elsa both spent a long time talking to Evelyn, and I appreciated all the attention they gave her. At one point, Anna kneeled down so she could talk to her face-to-face. Well, Evelyn took that as a sign that she should sit down, too, so then they all sat and pretended to have a picnic!
After we bid farewell to Anna and Elsa, we headed to the Atrium for the princess gathering. Here, we met Belle, Rapunzel, Tiana, and Cinderella in quick succession. This meet and greet felt a bit more rushed, but it was still a very nice experience, and the lighting was much better.
After we said goodbye to the princesses, we decided it was time for lunch. We headed up to Cabanas and enjoyed a nice selection, including a lot of Indian-inspired dishes. Yum!
After lunch I sent David and the girls back to the room so Eleanor could nap. On a mission to find David’s phone, I headed to the Guest Services desk on Deck 4 one more time.
After waiting in a short line, I was fortunate to talk to the same cast member who I originally filed the lost and found paperwork with. She headed in the back, and after about 10 minutes (that felt like an eternity!) she emerged with a black iPhone in hand. Unfortunately, this phone had a foreign lock screen and texts on it, so still no dice. After explaining the situation to her again (remember, if you’ve followed along on this missing iPhone saga, David and were both *sure* he had his phone in the Walt Disney Theatre at 8:30 pm the night before before he checked the time for me), she asked if I would like her to escort me to the theatre and we could look together. Talk about going above and beyond! She got the proper clearance to enter the empty theatre, we headed to the section and approximate row we were sitting the night before, and BAM. Right there, wedged between the folded-up theatre seat, was David’s phone. I thanked my friend from Guest Services again and again, and I made sure to submit a cast compliment online for her once we returned home. I was so grateful she took the time to listen and to help me look.
Relieved, I headed to the shops for one last look around. I decided to buy David a hat he had been eyeing earlier in the week; yes, he was the one who lost the phone, but the amount of worrying and stress he experienced from losing it was penance enough. I made my way back to the atateroom and made a big deal “revealing” all the the items I found in the gift shop (and the theatre). Needless to say, David was very happy to have his phone back.
Eleanor was napping, Evelyn was content watching Disney Junior, and David had some serious iPhone gaming to catch up on, so I excused myself and decided to head to the Cove Cafe. I intended to read a book and work on trip notes during my alone time, but instead found myself cuddled up on a lounger under a fleece blanket, just watching the waves and the horizon.
It wasn’t long until a couple settled in next to me with the same idea. At one point, I heard them talking about the Disney Cruise Line app, and how it was almost time to sign up for the virtual line to reserve their next cruise. This was something we knew we wanted to do, too, so I followed their lead, opening up the app and clicking “Save on Next Cruise” to get in the virtual queue right at 3 pm. The next several screenshots are what happens when you are in the virtual queue; there’s a countdown that keeps you updated on your progress, then notifications start coming through when it’s almost your turn.
I spent about 1.5 hours in the virtual queue, enjoying my chaise lounge chair and watching the ocean. As soon as I received the notification that I was Guest #3, I left my post and headed to the Vacation Planning Desk on Deck 4. After chatting with the agent for a few minutes (and seeing the hoard of irritated people waiting in line behind me), I decided to just put down the $250 placeholder deposit for a future sailing.
I made my way back to the stateroom to get ready for dinner. We were back in Lumiere’s tonight, and, as per usual, didn’t get any of the traditional menu or food pictures. I think we will definitely look into the later seating and the Dine and Play option on our next cruise! After we handed out our tip envelopes and said goodbye to our serving team, we headed back to the room to get ready for the unexpected highlight of our cruise: Officer Pin Trading.
David has been a pin trader for years; he introduced Evelyn to his favorite hobby as soon as she was old enough to wear a lanyard and not chew on the pins. Together, they had selected which pins they wanted to bring on our cruise to trade (pro tip: 4 year olds don’t really care about limited edition or specialty pins… make sure to plan ahead). Evelyn waited patiently for each and every Officer. Although she knows the typical procedure for pin trading, she went out of order with the Officers, to the delight of many of them. She picked which pin she wanted to give them, and then “pinned them” on their lanyard. Giving them a pin made her so happy— a few times we even had to remind her to wait and collect her pin from the Officer! She walked away with several limited edition pins from the crew, and she was just beaming from all the smiles and kindness.
After pin trading, we turned in our kids club and nursery MagicBands (as DVC members and AP holders we do NOT need anymore MagicBands, especially to the tune of $12.95 each), then headed back to the room to set out our luggage and get Eleanor settled in for the night. I promised Evelyn I would take her to the Final Farewell, which sounded better earlier in the day. I’m so glad we stayed up and got to attend the party though… we ended getting to meet several of our favorite characters one last time, and Evelyn loved all the excitement and energy of the event. She was sad when it was time to say goodbye to all our company, but I reminded her that “See ya real soon!” means we’ll be back someday.
We woke up Monday morning and finished up our packing. This was a hard trip to pack for in terms of the weather, costumes, formal attire, etc. We most certainly overpacked, which is not something we usually do. Once we did one last overview of the room, we took all our stuff, piled it in the stroller, and headed up to Cabanas for a final breakfast. There was no way we could have made it to the seated breakfast in Lumiere’s that morning; plus, our flight wasn’t until 1 pm, so we weren’t in any rush to get off the ship.
We ended up lingering over breakfast; we had an incredible view of the harbor and the NYC skyline. The food was also surprisingly fresh and delicious that morning. Around 9:30 am we finally made our way to Deck 4 to disembark and say goodbye to the Disney Magic. We easily found our luggage in the terminal, and we walked right up to a waiting Customs agent.
We had planned all along to Taxi/Uber/Lyft to the airport after the cruise. After our experience with Lyft when we arrived in NYC, we selected Uber, so I opened the app and sent the request. There was a taxi/ride service pick up location directly across the street from the Terminal, but it was swarming with people (both cruisers and drivers trying to solicit business). We bypassed the pick up point, walked down one block, then called a Family Uber to that location. This worked very well for us; we were on our way within 5 minutes. Our flight home out of LGA was easy and uneventful. David and I both experienced sea legs for about 48 hours after the cruise, but after doing a bit of research, I learned that’s pretty common.
Overall we had a good experience sailing on the Disney Magic from NYC to Bermuda in October. Reflecting on the trip, there are some things we will absolutely do differently next time, and some things we wouldn’t have done in the first place looking back. Based on other trip reports I have read, I’m not convinced there were any “smooth sailing” experiences from New York to Bermuda; the seas were rougher than I had expected, with noticeable motion on several occasions. I also don’t think we even scratched the surface on all that Bermuda had to offer, mostly because of our girls’ ages and interests. David and I both said they would have had more fun at Castaway Cay, even though it’s not as unique as Bermuda. Finally, we really loved having 2 days in the same port, so that will be something we’ll look for on our next Disney cruise.
Thank you so much for following along and reading our trip report! I hope something I’ve shared here helps you with your own trip planning for a future Disney Cruise. Finally, a special thanks to Diana for featuring our story and allowing us to take you all on this journey together. Until we meet again!
Hi Abby, I loved your trip report. Thank you so much for sharing the real experience of travelling with young children and its challenges, even on such a magical trip. I applaud you for going with the flow, and finding the magic of just hanging out in your room in the mornings to let the girls process all the stimulation they must have experienced throughout. There will be opportunities for full adventurous days when they are just a bit older.