Just Booked Cruise on Disney Magic!

Went about 3 years ago. LOVED IT. Seriously. The service is wonderful. It's very relaxing. The kid room is enjoyable. My son was just 5, and he'd go for a few hours at a time before it was "too much" for him - excitement/kids, etc. Some kids could stay all day though, since there's a lot to do.

Look at the calendar they give you to pick the stuff you want to do as a famiy.

The bathrooms are T I N Y - I think there's a tiny shower one, and a tiny toilet one. We took a cheap plastic shoe organizer with us and hung it in the closet - we put all our little stuff in the pockets that would go on bathroom shelves in a "regular size" bathroom - deodorant, makeup, shampoo, etc. It worked well.

Also google "Disney Magic Cruise tips", and you'll get a lot of info there.

At Castaway Key, hubby and i did the jetski thing - DO THIS - it's lovely, fun, exciting.

We did a half-submarine ride in the Bahamas - half boat/half underwater portholes - neat. Ask the natives where to go to eat if you want REAL food. And we took the public transportation to get to the Fish Shacks (I can't remember what it's called exactly). It's a whole collection of little restaurants - NOT FANCY. But the food was very good, the conch was fresh.

Cruises are what you make of them. You can absolutely spend thousands of dollars or you can spend nothing - it's 100% up to you. Did you pay gratuities already or are they included in your pre-payment plan? If not, those can add up. I think for our family of 5 on a Carnival ship was about $500 for a week, a little less probably.

We don't drink, we only did one excursion through the ship, the kids did all of the late night kids events (3 kids), and my husband gambled two nights. Our tab was $1600. Did you see the key thing there though? We don't drink. I'm sure if we were drinkers that would have gone up immensely. Or if we went to the spa, the steak dinner restaurant, gambled nightly, etc. It's just so easy to wrack up charges. So definitely keep an eye on that as you go.

Have a GREAT time!!!!

disboards and cruisecritic.com are both excellent websites for cruise info. The disboards site is Disney specific and really great.

We spent about $1000 extra on our week long cruise on Disney Fantasy, and that's largely because we chose to be frivolous and buy a large photo package (our cruise was paid for by someone else, so we didn't feel guilty spending on extras).

I haven't been on the Magic but I am dying to do another disney cruise one of these days!

Make sure you have extra funds to pay fur your departure upon the end of your trip.

We're not cruise people but we have family who are. Don't kid yourself thinking you've paid all inclusive. Not once have our families left the boat without a departure tab of minimum $3000.

It's fun , just be prepared.

Read the contract... One family was charged for any drink other than water and tea. I agree with Jennifer... I don't know how they ramped up unexpected charges. Bust beware!

Gees..... I just posted what my relatives have experienced. Take my comments for what you feel it's worth. Ugh. As for me.., you can't pay me to go on a cruise, just not my cup of tea.

I only tried to help based on my family's experience relayed to me. Again... READ the contract. Smh

We went on magic about 2 years ago... We are a family of 5 and I can't imagine $3000 of onboard charges unless you really tried hard. Go to www.disboards.com and find your cruise. We really enjoyed participating in the fish extender! Dusney cruise line is top notch, you'll have a great time. There's a documentary that goes behind the scenes of DCL, I believe it's on the travel channel, though I'm not positive, def try to watch it if you have a chance. If you're runners, there's a 5k in castaway cay. If you have any specific questions I'll do my best to answer :)

Eta: the Disney ships are unique in that even sodas are included, self serve beverage stations all over the ship. And you will know if anything is an additional charge, so no "surprises", obviously tips, but for EVERYTHING else you will have to present your key to the world card :) The drink comment reminds me, we all brought along a plastic insulated cup with a lid and straw bc the paper cups onboard are very small, so we brought cups and a small bottle of dish soap.

TF - sorry if my tone isn't coming across right, what you're posting of your peoples experiences is just reminding me of some of the little details that may help her out, nothing more, nothing less... I hate they were "surprised" with a large bill. I truly can't imagine!

We went about 5- 6 years ago (?) and it was one of the best things we did as a family, and we've taken some awesome trips.

How old are your kids? I would read up on how to check them into the kids' club (can't remember the name). If you have very little ones you might want to look at how to reserve a babysitter.

Also, look into the pirate's party (can't remember what that was called). It was very fun.

Disboards will have great suggestions.

Do you guys have passports?

Good luck and hope you have a great time.

Loved it. Will be going on the Fantady in August. Disney knows how to do it. As far as extra costs go, alcoholic beverages are not included. You can check on your TV everyday any expenses you incurred so no surprises. Coffee, tea, soda, ice cream is all free. Other cruise lines you need to buy a soda pkg if you drink soda. You will have a blast. Enjoy every moment.

TLC just showed the documentary on how they reimagined the Magic. I would check online or on demand and see if you can find it. It was really cool. We were thinking about going on the Dream, but may change to the Magic (we have to wait until 2017). It is a smaller ship, so less crowds. We were on the Wonder in November and Disney is awesome. I recommend checking out the Facebook page Disney Cruising. These guys are obsessed with Disney, but also offer a lot of great information. Also, you may want to look for your cruises Facebook page. You can probably find it through Disney Cruising as they have links to the various websites, or search Facebook for your cruise ship and date. This will link you with fellow passengers and maybe find some kids the same age as yours so they will have "friends" when they board. They also have the fish extenders program, that is not run by Disney, but other passengers, that is like a secret santa gift exchange. It's awesome and my kids loved it.