Sunday 29th May 2016
From home to port
And we’re off again! It feels like only yesterday we returned home from our amazing WBTA cruise and now here we are; cases packed, up and at ‘em, drinking tea at 6:15 on a Sunday morning, getting ready to head down to Dover to get back on the Disney Magic.
After the aforementioned tea in bed - a pot no less - we woke Isabella up and while I got ready Jo did the breakfast; nothing fancy just some fruit and fibre with blueberries - healthy (that wasn’t going to last!). Isabella opted for something a bit heartier - porridge with almond butter.
Once I’d eaten breakfast I loaded the car while Jo and Isabella got themselves ready and by 8:10 we were on our way, only 10 minutes behind schedule.
Isabella's excited...
Jo's excited...
I'm excited!
The drive was easy and uneventful; anticipation and excitement was high. The journey took us round the M25, over the Dartford Bridge and onto the M20. We were making good time, in fact we were half hour early for the car park so we stopped off at Maidstone services for a couple of Bacon & Egg McMuffins and coffee. Isabella had a hashbrown and a fruit bag - ordered as part of our meals.
Someone enjoyed their McMuffin
Once finished we hit the road again for the last leg of the journey, along the last stretch we saw a bike on the inside lane that obviously fallen off of someone’s car; we passed the car about 5 minutes later pulled over on the hard shoulder. They’d obviously only just realised they’d lost it and were probably trying to work out what to do about it!
We drove into Dover and found the (off port) Port Parking with no problem; no traffic, no wrong turns - it’s only a couple of minutes from the port itself. Driving in, we parked up, unloaded the car and then waited in line for the bus to pick us up while watching our car being added to the long line of those already arrived.
I can see the sea
I spy the Magic!
Waiting for a bus
Barely able to contain her excitement 
Bye bye Katie Blue (that's the name of our car)
After about 10 minutes and one bus full, it was our turn. We got on the minbus and were driven the short distance to the port. Traffic had now started to build up around the port but the drive still only took about 5 minutes.
We parked up outside the terminal building and headed inside leaving the bags with the minibus driver to hand over to one of the porters. Dover Port Parking Ltd were great by the way, definitely recommend them to anyone getting a cruise from Dover.
Despite it being a nice warm day it was very windy at the port. In the drop off area a sheet had been put up and there were paramedics and police in attendance. I assume someone had had an accident or been taken ill, hopefully they were ok.
On the bus
There's the Magic again
All aboard
Once inside the terminal building we were quickly through passport control and joined the Silver & Gold Castaway Club member line; we’re currently Silver (2+ cruises) having been on 3 cruises before, our next cruise will make us Gold members afterwards (5+ cruises).
The queue for checking in was considerable shorter than last year, probably due to our earlier Port Arrival time of 11:00 which Jo had had to get up at 5am one morning to book! We checked in and popped to the Youth Activities desk to get Isabella her magic band for entry into the Oceaneer’s Club & Lab; Jo had already pre-registered online so it was a straightforward process. Despite some earlier technical problems they’d just got the system working again so we were all set. All that was left to do now was to wait our turn to board.
Checking in
Check it out
Sitting in the waiting room (Ahhh...)
With a boarding group number of 5 we shouldn’t have to wait too long. After about 30 minutes the first family were taken on board and then the first group were allowed to board. It was only another 5 minutes until we making our way onto the ship, but not before the obligatory embarkation photo.
Excited probably doesn’t do justice to how we were all feeling right now. The smooth transition from the car parking to the boat via passport, check in, boarding had helped to keep us in the mood. Not even Key to the World card issues could dampen our excitement. The problem was solved quickly - apparently our cards hadn’t been assigned to our faces - and “The Sear Family!” were back on board the Disney Magic. Cue applause...
Almost there...
Obligatory embarkation photo
Here we go
Right, first thing’s first, there was some stuff we needed to book, namely tomorrow morning’s Princess Gathering and the Frozen Meet And Greet later in the week. A quick visit to the Port Adventures desk and we were done. Now we could eat
We made our way to Carioca’s and as we entered who should I bump into but Gabriel, our server from last year’s WBTA. He recognised me straightaway (which was nice) and we shook hands and said a brief hello. We had considered requesting him again but in the end decided not to, even though he was great.
We employed our usual buffet tactics and after a few of trips each we were sated. The food was as good as we remembered and hoped, especially the lamb chops, steak and the pumpkin pie dessert.
On my last trip to the buffet I bumped into Gabriel again and we chatted for a little longer, turns out he would be on a different dining rotation to us so he definitely wasn’t going to be our server again.
She likes bread with her butter
Happy with her buffet choices
Lunch round 1
Isabella enjoying her lunch
Lunch round 2
Isabella's dessert
Pumpkin pie. Yum
With lunch over the next thing to do was book up the mixology class for Jo and I. We’d really enjoyed that one last year and definitely wanted to do it again. This was also done quickly and we were free to wander; reacquainting ourselves with the Magic. It was windy up on deck 10 so after a few onboard selfies we got coffee and headed back down.
There was open house in the kids clubs so I took Isabella in for a look around so that she could remind herself of what they have on offer. She made a beeline for the iPads and showed me one of the many Disney games they have on them. After 10 minutes or so we made our way back to join Jo who was relaxing on deck 5 overlooking the atrium.
Waiting patiently
Deck 10 cuddle
Deck 10 cuddles
It was windy on deck 10
Oh look, a white cliff
Isabella thought this was a bandstand...
On the iPads
It was now 1:30pm which meant that we should be able to get into our stateroom. Making our way down to deck 2 the crowd of people and roped off doorway indicated that the rooms weren’t quite ready. We headed back up and went for another wander but it was only a minute or two before it was obvious they were now ready so we made our way back to deck 2 and went in search of room 2576.
We arrived at our stateroom to find one of our cases had beaten us there. Unfortunately there was still an issue with Jo’s Key to the World card so Isabella and I went in the room and got her ready for her nap while Jo popped back up to Guest Services to get the card sorted. It wasn’t long before she was back - the magnetic strip wasn’t working but it was all fixed now.
On our way to the room
We found it!
Two Five Seven Six
Not sure about the view!
Isabella had a nap on our bed while we relaxed on the sofa. I may have had a little snooze myself while Jo read through the various books, leaflets and menus in the room.
At about 3:35 we woke Isabella in time for the 4 o’clock muster drill. As another of the cases had arrived Jo did some unpacking until the alarm sounded and we headed up to deck 4 area K for the drill. This is definitely the dullest part of the entire holiday; standing around for about half an hour doing nothing but invading each other’s space.
Tangled
Sleeping Beauty