After the craziness of a year that was 2020 if you had told me that I would do two cruises from Southampton and Tilbury on the Disney Magic in less than six weeks in 2021, I would have thought you were mad but that is exactly what happened. Ideally we would have booked just one of the longer four night sailings but the only way we could sail this summer was to book two of the shorter two night cruises in different months to be able to get the days off from work. So that is the simple reason why we ended up cruising twice on the Disney Magic this summer.  After having five Disney cruises cancelled due to the pandemic, I am so happy that these Disney Magic at Sea staycation cruises existed this year so we definitely tried to make the best of a bad situation.

When we booked both the cruises on opening day back in April, I originally thought that the Southampton cruise would be busy and maybe a little manic as it was during the school summer holidays and that the Tilbury sailing would be a lot calmer as it was one of the last sailings during term time. I could not have been more wrong and the two cruises could not have been more different but more on that later.

If you would like to read my blogs and see my photos from my Disney Magic at Sea staycation cruise from Southampton where I go into a little more detail about some of the new procedures onboard Disney Cruise Line, you can find them here and here.

We live just over an hour’s drive from Tilbury but during September this year, the M25 and the surrounding areas were falling victim on a daily basis to protestors constantly blocking the motorway and causing long delays to anyone travelling. As we did not want to risk being caught up in any of this and as the thought of the M25 on a Monday morning is enough to make anyone break into a cold sweat and have a panic attack, we booked to stay at the Premier Inn Thurrock West for the night before the cruise. There was no traffic when we drove to the hotel on the Sunday afternoon which was completely unexpected as we were fearing the worst and we made sure to drive the north route of the M25 as even though it’s a few minutes longer than taking the southern route, it meant that we avoided the Dartford Crossing and the toll fee. We discussed going out for some food at Lakeside that evening but decided in the end to just buy some snacks and have a lazy night at the hotel instead which was perfect.

It was raining heavily the next morning when we woke up but the weather forecast was looking better for later in the day so I was hoping for the best.  After having a cup of tea and a croissant for breakfast, we had a shower before getting dressed. We also filled in the health questionnaire online before taking a lateral flow test each (just for peace of mind) which were thankfully both negative before we set off for the port.

Our Port Arrival Time was 11:45am (they started an hour earlier than when we sailed from Southampton) so after packing our bags, we left the Premier Inn at 11:15am just as the rain stopped and the sun started shining. The journey time was just over twenty minutes and we took the slightly longer route to the port past Tilbury Fort to arrive at the London International Cruise Terminal from the opposite direction to everyone else so we could avoid the long lines of traffic to enter the car park that I had seen photos of on Facebook from the previous Tilbury cruises.

We arrived at the car park opposite the cruise terminal at 11:35am and joined a short line of cars inside who were dropping off luggage but as soon as they found out that we had no bags with us (it was only a two night cruise so all we needed was hand luggage), we were guided straight to a parking space close to the ship. We had booked our parking in advance on the CPS Cruise Parking website (the only company to offer car parking at Tilbury) which had cost £25 for two nights. After parking the car (we were able to keep our car keys instead of handing them over) we walked back to the opposite end of the car park towards the tent which had been set up for the pre-cruise testing.

There was a short line of people waiting to enter the testing tent but it moved very quickly. As long as you had your stateroom number, reservation number and Prenetics profiles (where we had uploaded proof that we were both double vaccinated) to hand as you reached each staff member, it was a very quick process.  We were guided to a booth to do the rapid test which was slightly different to Southampton but just as easy – we had to swab each nostril five times before placing the swab into a test tube of liquid and then throw the swab away and seal the test tube in a bag before handing it back.

After doing the rapid test we walked through to the waiting area which was located in one of the port cargo sheds. I had read several people’s opinions about this space online (most of who did not even sail out of Tilbury) who called it “grim”, “disgusting” and “un-Disneylike” and saying they would kick off if they had to wait there after paying Disney prices. All I have to say to these people is so what if it was in a cargo shed – it was undercover (if it rained) and it had plenty of chairs to sit whilst you waited. It was what it was – a means to be tested to be able to go on a cruise during a worldwide pandemic at a small passenger terminal that had never had a ship as big as the Disney Magic docked before. As long as you get your result and get on the ship, why does it matter?

I definitely felt a lot calmer waiting for the test results than I did when we sailed from Southampton. I had done a full PCR test at work a few days previously as well as doing daily rapid antigen tests since as well as not leaving the house again until we left for the Premier Inn the previous day. Our test in Southampton had taken a very quick fourteen minutes to get the results but it was a little slower in Tilbury as it was a lot busier but after twenty three minutes of refreshing our emails (thankfully we both had a full 4G signal), we had two negative test results. As we were leaving the waiting area, we were each given a green “Cleared to Board” wristband before walking back across the car park towards the terminal building.

The London International Cruise Terminal at the Port of Tilbury is located in a beautiful old listed building with so much history and is incredibly unique compared to other cruise terminals I have been to – I found it fascinating and some parts of the building reminded me of places I used to visit as a child. Once inside the terminal there were no lines for check in and as we had already completed the check in process online, we simply had to show our photo ID’s before going through security and into the waiting area.

There was a lot of people already waiting and boarding was not due to start for another fifteen minutes at 12:45pm. We had no problem finding a seat and as we could connect to the ship wifi, we were quickly able to set up the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app ready for once we were onboard and we could already see that our request for a specific dining rotation had been granted. We were quickly joined a few minutes later by our friends Luke and Rich whilst we waited for boarding to start.

The boarding process which started with Concierge guests at 12:45pm was very slow and Boarding Group 2 (which we were) was called at 1:00pm. As most of the other people in the waiting area were in the same boarding group, we stayed seated until the majority had boarded before joining the end of the line. There were lots of issues during boarding and many people including us were having to be double checked as an error message was appearing when the QR codes on our Port Arrival Forms were being scanned. It only took a few minutes to sort out and the Disney Cruise Line Cast Member rechecked our photo ID’s and welcomed us back as Gold Castaway Club members – he said he was surprised that there was any onboard for this sailing – before we walked towards the ship and up and along a very narrow gangway.

When we boarded the Disney Magic in Southampton the previous month, I had felt incredibly emotional and close to tears (it had been a long and difficult eighteen months) as we walked along the gangway but in Tilbury I was so happy that I could not stop smiling – if I had not been wearing a face mask you could have seen how big my smile was. After having our names announced as we walked onboard, it was so good to see Captain Minnie and Captain Mickey (even though it had only been a few weeks since we last saw them) and we could just stand back and enjoy the wonderful little welcome onboard show once again from our little socially distanced spot in the lobby atrium.

Once the welcome onboard show finished, everyone was then guided through to Fathoms where Cast Members were available to help set up the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app but as we had already done this in the terminal, we were able to skip this step and go straight to our muster station. We took a slow walk along the outside of Deck 4 to the entrance of Animator’s Palate at the aft of the ship where we simply used the app to take a photo of “S” muster sign to prove we had visited.

On every other Disney cruise that we have done, we are complete creatures of habit on embarkation day and always go straight to Cabanas after boarding to get lunch. However on this cruise we decided to change things up and get lunch from one of the quick service locations on Deck 9 instead. We both got an Impossible Burger and fries from Duck In Diner which was freshly cooked to order and sat in the completely empty Quiet Cove area – there was not another person to be seen outside on Deck 9 when we first got there as everyone was already in Cabanas. The burger was huge but it tasted good and as I was hungry, it did not last long.

As the sun was shining and blue skies were surrounding us, after we finished lunch we decided to walk around Deck 10.  Given the sideways rain earlier in the day, I had hoped that the weather would improve but I never expected it to turn out as good as it did.  There was a little chill in the breeze but as it was clear and bright you could even see the skyscrapers of London in the distance. I also had to laugh to myself at the absurdity of the whole of the last year as after sailing across the Atlantic and visiting Castaway Cay on the Disney Magic, the last place I ever expected to see from the deck of a Disney ship was the town of Gravesend!

After walking around outside, we took the elevator down to Deck 4 and was shocked to already see people queuing up outside the shops just after 2:00pm – four hours before they were due to open. On any cruise but especially a two night sailing, it just seemed utter madness and an expensive waste of time to spend four hours of your very short time onboard sitting on the carpet waiting for a shop to open that didn’t look like it had much left in it anyway – it looked empty compared to our cruise from Southampton.

We also stopped in the lobby atrium to watch the welcome show one more time with Captain Minnie and Captain Mickey. The show takes place constantly throughout the afternoon on embarkation day until boarding is complete so you could watch it again and again if you wanted to from Decks 4 and 5.

From where we were standing on Deck 4 in the lobby atrium we could see that Goofy was out for an “Appear and Wave” in the D Lounge. There was only a short line to see him but one thing that had changed since our previous cruise is you could now remove your face mask at some indoor locations (there was a spot on the ground behind the character where you had to stand to be able to do this) if there was a Shutters photographer present. A few minutes later Pluto took over from Goofy so we waited to see him too.

Just after 3:00pm we headed up to Deck 7 and to our stateroom. Once again we had booked 7624 which is a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Navigator’s Verandah. We fell in love with this room on our first ever cruise on the Disney Wonder and this would be our fifth time staying here – I said that we were creatures of habit on cruises! It felt so good to be back in one of my happy places and we also had fun waving to our friends from our verandah (my favourite spot on the ship) who were staying further along the corridor.

After unpacking the few bits we had with us and storing our bags underneath the bed out of the way, we walked back up to Cove Cafe on Deck 9 for some much needed caffeine as well as a panini to share from Daisy’s De-Lites as we were both still feeling a little hungry.  It was much busier than it had been earlier in the day and it was noticeable that there were a lot more adults on this cruise than there had been out of Southampton but it was great to sit with our friends in the sunshine and finally catch up properly in person after such a strange year.

At 4:45pm the emergency signals sounded followed by the safety briefing which we were able to listen to from where we were seated.  As we go forward I truly hope that this aspect of the Muster Drill stays the same as it is so much better than before with no stress or large crowds of people involved.

We decided to watch sailaway from Tilbury from the front of Deck 10 with our friends.  We did have to laugh that for years I had always told them to book a longer cruise and here we all were on a two night cruise at the same time as we had both coincidentally booked the same one. We left the dock at 6:40pm to the sounds of the “When You Wish Upon a Star” horn which was blasted three times as we turned around in the Thames.  This is another time that I had to laugh – I have lived right by the River Thames my whole life and I never once expected I would be sailing along it onboard the Disney Magic!

The sunset as we left Tilbury and sailed along the Thames Estuary was incredible. I took so many photos and it completely reminded me of the sunset at sailaway we had from Galveston on the Disney Wonder four years previously.

It did not take long before it was completely dark outside but we stayed up on Deck 10 and grabbed a spot to watch the first Freezing the Night Away deck party. It was still great fun to watch and very fitting that it was absolutely freezing cold outside on deck.

Before going to dinner we decided to have a look around the shops and even though they had looked empty earlier in the day before they had even opened, they looked like they had been picked clean at this point. We also heard that a fight had broken out between some of the guests when the shops opened – this was one of the times that you knew that this cruise was a little different to all of the others that we had been on.  Thankfully there was no line to get in and even though we get a discount in the shops from being Gold Castaway Club members, there was absolutely nothing left that I wanted to buy and I’m so happy that I was able to get the few things that I wanted on our previous cruise.

Our dining time was 8:30pm and we had requested the Rapunzel’s Royal Table/Lumiere’s dining rotation as we both love the food on the Lumiere’s menu and we also wanted to experience Rapunzel’s Royal Table again and as we had dined in Animator’s Palate so many times before, we did not mind missing it on this cruise.  We also found this rotation to be a lot quieter as most people on a two night cruise request the Animator’s Palate/Rapunzel’s Royal Table rotation which we had done on our Southampton sailing.

We also met our incredible dining team – Ivan was our Server, Charles was our Assistant Server and Sudhir was our Head Server.  It was so great to see Sudhir again as he had also been our Head Server on our Transatlantic cruise on the Disney Magic back in 2015.

For my dinner I ordered the Crisp Arendelle Shrimp and the Green Asparagus and Broccoli Soup to start followed by the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes from Animator’s Palate as there are no main courses that I like on the Rapunzel’s menu. Everything was delicious and I finished the meal with the amazing Lemon Raspberry Mousse Bombe.

On our Southampton sailing even though we were sat close to the stage, I had a pillar blocking most of my view whereas on this cruise a pillar only blocked half of my view so at least I could see more of the stage this time. I still loved the show and could not stop laughing at Hook Hand however the restaurant definitely seemed a lot quieter this time as not many people were joining in with the secret Snuggly Duckling salute that Hook Hand and Vladimir were trying to teach everyone.

After dinner we walked to a very busy lobby atrium to see both Captain Minnie and Captain Mickey who were out for an Appear and Wave.  We stood and watched them for a while before deciding to head outside to walk a few laps of Deck 4 to help work off all the food we had just eaten.

We went back to our stateroom and even though we still had not seen Lilia (we kept missing her all day) who had been our amazing Stateroom Hostess on our cruise a few weeks beforehand, we guessed she remembered us as not only had she left two towel swans for us but lots and lots of Dove chocolate bars as well!

Embarkation day is always tiring and after a long day my boyfriend was tired and fell asleep straight away but I was still feeling wide awake and could not get to sleep no matter how hard I tried.  It was just before midnight so I decided to go for a walk around the ship and it felt so empty everywhere as there was no one to be seen.

Decks 9 and 10 were even quieter and even though Frozen 2 was playing on the Funnelvision, there was only three people sat out watching it. The only other people I saw were some crew members who were cleaning the outside decks as well as another passenger stood around smoking – this was yet another time that this cruise seemed so different as a lot of the passengers thought they could smoke wherever they wanted to and you constantly smelled cigarette smoke wherever you went which I have never experienced before.

After walking around the ship several times and sitting on one of the loungers at Quiet Cove and looking out to sea with a peppermint tea in hand from the drinks station on Deck 9, I headed back down to our stateroom where thankfully I did manage to fall asleep eventually. I have never had a problem sleeping on cruises until these staycations (usually I’m asleep before my head hits the pillow) but I think the problem was as we were onboard for two nights, my brain never switched off as it knew it wanted to make the most of the short time onboard.

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