This cruise liner launched a new business for Disney in 1998. The 1,750-passenger, 964-ft, 83,338-ton vessel was joined a year later by sistership Disney Wonder, both looking more like ocean liners than anything the competition was designing. While Disney theme parks are as American as apple pie, the ships are registered in the Bahamas and carry international officers and crew.
Building the Disney pair was a headache for the Italian shipyard Fincantieri because the Disney team kept making changes to the original design specifications, so the final cost was never published, in typical Disney fashion. In February 2007, Disney signed a letter of intent with Meyer Werft shipyard, based in Papenburg, Germany, to negotiate a contract to build two new 122,000-ton cruise liners. They will be two decks taller than the existing 83,338-ton ships and will have 1,250 staterooms.
Passengers aboard the Disney Magic range from the obvious—parents and children—to three generational families and folks without children, attracted by the Disney attributes yet able to enjoy the adult section of the ship, with no children allowed.
Disney Magic sails from Port Canaveral every other Saturday on an Eastern Caribbean cruise with a call at Castaway Cay (the line's private Bahamian island), plus St. Maarten and St. Thomas, with extensions to St. John. The alternating itinerary is the Western Caribbean. In the summer of 2007, the ship cruised the Mediterranean but this itinerary will not be repeated in 2008. The ship can dock at the private island, something that is rare in the Bahamian and Caribbean cruise industry. The island provides activities for all ages on land and in the water, and even ashore, adults have their own private beach and barbecue well away from the family. Some families combine a Disney land vacation with a cruise, and buses shuttle passengers between the theme park and the ship at Port Canaveral.
Though the streamlined profile recalls the ocean liners of the 1930s, the Mickey Mouse influence is prominent in the white superstructure, blue-black hull, yellow trim, and red twin funnels with the Mickey silhouette logo. When You Wish Upon a Star is played when leaving port. Mouse ears and features of other famous Disney characters are incorporated into the design. Cruisers can count on uniquely Disney-theme dining options and Broadway-style stage shows, as well as top-quality children's programs. One pool is strictly for children and the second for families. A third in the adult section is strictly off-limits to children.
One innovation, setting the Magic apart from the big-ship crowd, are three restaurants among which passengers and servers rotate over the course of the cruise. It's the ocean-liner, 1930s-era Lumiere's one night, the tropical Parrot Cay another, and finally the signature Animator's Palate restaurant. Here, the high-tech eatery starts out completely black and white, then gradually becomes awash in reds, blues and greens as the walls, ceiling, and even the servers' uniforms take on color. The food throughout is typical cruise fare, geared to kids and adult tastes. The Topsider Cafe serves buffet-style breakfast and lunch, and other poolside options include pizza, hamburgers and hot dogs. For adults only away from the fray, Palo offers a whimsically decorated 138-seat Italian restaurant. It's worth the small service charge.
The nostalgic Walt Disney Theater is better equipped for surprises than most land-based theaters. Kids, divided into five age groups, are looked after by a small army of well-trained counselors. Teens have a separate lounge and video game arcade. Parents can be provided with beepers during the day in case they would like to take some time off. A nursey takes kids in the evening and private babysitting is also available for a charge. Kids can also eat with their counselors in the Topsider Cafe. On the captain's welcome night, Minnie and Mickey are dressed formally and kids flock to have their pictures taken. Disney characters are all around the ship during the day. An adults-only enclave offers a piano bar, rock 'n' roll music, comedy club, disco, and films. Couples without children love it.
The family-size cabins are spacious and hold at least three, and as many as seven, passengers. Thermostats, phones, TVs, refrigerators and tubs are standard, and some units have an extra half bath. Most cabins are outsides and, of these, almost half provide breezy verandahs. Around-the-clock room service is available. The extra berths can also double the two-to-a-cabin passenger capacity.
While Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess provide equally fine children's programs, Disney Magic brings the Disney magic to the cruise—the characters, films and stage performances. The dining rotation is also a unique feature.
