Boarding the Magic

We woke up at a reasonable hour on Friday morning and had breakfast in our hotel. We had a shuttle from SAS transportation due to arrive at 9:30 AM which didn't arrive until around 10 AM, but that was okay because we were still at the Port of Miami before 11 AM. We ended up at the same terminal where we had boarded the NCL Epic two years previously and got the same poor porter treatment as we did then (dropping off our luggage and being asked 'how are you going to take care of me' by the porter, as if a tip was required if you wanted to see your luggage again).

The magic didn't begin inside the terminal either. Since we had two rooms, we had to check in separately. Janie was handed the wrong keycard for her room and the agent helping J. R. messed up room charging privileges, because she apparently couldn't understand why we had two rooms with only four people. (We originally had our son Alex on the cruise as well, but he took a job on the Disney Fantasy in November, so he didn't sail with us.) Once we got our check-in sorted, we sat down with the crowd to await boarding. Janie was given group 1 and J. R. was given group 3, even though we were both Gold Castaway Club members and we checked in at the same time. We decided we would all board as group 1 anyway but it really didn't matter because as soon as boarding opened, everyone rushed forward and no one was calling or checking numbers.

We skipped the boarding photo and headed onto the ship via deck 4. We were greeted by a YA counselor who was also from Naperville and had attended Neuqua Valley High School, the same school as our kids. Cue "It's a Small World". Our first visit was to the shore excursions desk to get tickets for the gingerbread house building. Then we went to Guest Services to get tickets for several drink tastings Janie and J. R. wanted to do. We found ourselves disappointed with the DCL Navigator phone app because it did not provide any information on excursions we had booked or spa bookings, unlike the NCL app, which was personalized. We were hungry so we headed to lunch at Carioca's, the re-imagined restaurant that used to be Parrot Cay. We were less than impressed with the revised decor as it really looked like a coat of paint and a Brazil mural. But the food was quite good and plentiful.

Afternoon Relaxing

After lunch, Thomas went off to explore the ship while the other three went to the spa, where Janie wanted to book a teen spa facial for Rebecca. We took care of that and Janie and J. R. also booked the Rainforest Room for the week as place to relax, having enjoyed it on the Magic a few years previously. We hung out on the deck for awhile and J. R. and Rebecca did a quick tour of the teen spaces. J. R. had his first alcoholic beverage, a beer and Janie had a martini while Rebecca enjoyed some ice cream before working on her butterfly in the Goofy pool.

Sailaway

By this time, our rooms were ready, so we went downstairs to drop our stuff off. Most of our luggage was there except one piece and visions of another week without one of our bags, a la our Disney Dream experience a few years ago floated through our minds. We started unpacking while waiting for the muster drill to begin. When the alarm sounded, we went up two floors through the staff area to Animator's Palate, which was our drill station. The place was crowded and we had nowhere to sit, so we had to stand through the entire drill. After the drill, it was time for the sailaway party, which didn't actually coincide with sailaway on this cruise, though. A lot of people were already crowding around the big screen when we arrived and we joined them until there was a sudden downpour. We ran under cover to a small table near the ice cream station. A lot of people were waving red streamers and we asked one of the people working the tables where we could get some. To our surprise, she didn't just direct us but instead went and found some, (After giving one to everyone else, she playfully refused to give one to Rebecca until she asked for it.) Rebecca started dancing to the music while her brother looked on in horror.

Evening Show

After the sailaway party, we went downstairs to our rooms on deck 2 to get ready for dinner. J. R. saw our room stewardess rolling our last suitcase out of a closet and helped her get it to our room and we finished unpacking, feeling better that we had all of our belongings. The first show was the "Be Our Guest Variety Show". Beforehand, J. R. bought Janie a Mickey Mouse popcorn holder, which made her happy, since she loves Mickey Mouse and popcorn. We were introduced to our cruise director and then got to see previews from two of the entertainers, Rich Purpura and the Great Dubois. We'd seen Purpura on a few other cruises and pretty much knew his magician schtick. The Great Dubois was a juggler named Michael Dubois who did a skit trying to get out of a straitjacket while on a six-foot unicycle. He also brought with him Viktoria Grimmy, a contortist who bent in ways that shouldn't be possible.

Christmas Tree Lighting

Next on the agenda was the Christmas tree lighting in the atrium. We took up places along the rail on the fifth deck which gave us good view of the proceedings, although a little far away. After a few cast members explained how Christmas was celebrated in their countries, the Disney characters came out in the holiday finest to sing Christmas carols before the tree was lit by "Disney Magic" (and the cast member with the electrical switch).

Dinner

After the tree lighting, we went to dinner, which was in Animator's Palate. We met our serving team and enjoyed the traditional Animator's Palate show dinner. They had upgraded some of the video screens and had new animations. The food was good, if not stellar. As we learned most of the week, the food was overcooked.

Adult Show

After dinner, Thomas went to hang out with the 1820 Society in Cove Cafe to make coffee. Rebecca attended the "Winter Wonderland" in the lobby where she was snowed upon. J. R. and Janie went to the adult area for "Magic Quest", which was a kind of scavenger hunt. We were not impressed with the studio host or the show. It seemed like an attempt to do something rowdy and risque like on a Carnival cruise but that wasn't the audience he had. We stayed for the adult version of The Great Dubois' show, which involved juggling on the tall unicycle and more crazy contortions from Viktoria. We were getting tired, so we went down to our room, where Rebecca was already tucking in for the night. We didn't get much sleep, however, because there was an issue with the murphy bed in our room which was rattling all night.