It is hard to believe that we booked this bucket list adventure on the Disney Magic over six hundred days before we finally sailed – and now, after almost two years of endless planning and research, watching videos and counting down the days, I can happily say that it was completely and utterly worth every minute of the long wait.

Having sailed with Disney Cruise Line fifteen times over the years (I still cannot believe it is that many!) on a variety of different itineraries including Hawaii, Alaska, the Bahamas and the Caribbean as well as two different Transatlantic sailings, crossing the Panama Canal was the final cruise that we both still wanted to tick off our to-do list. The moment that this amazing itinerary was announced, we knew straight away that we had to book it.

We also knew that it was going to be an incredibly popular sailing and, sure enough, it sold out very quickly. Thankfully we managed to book our absolute favourite stateroom onboard the Disney Magic the moment that reservations opened, which made it feel as though this cruise was truly meant to be.

This incredible cruise was fourteen nights long, making it our longest sailing to date. Aside from the unique itinerary, I was also so excited to be back onboard the Disney Magic, which is the oldest ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet. I absolutely love sailing on the smaller, classic ships and after seven cruises on the much bigger and newer ships in the fleet, I was more than ready for a welcome change of pace. There is just something so special about the Disney Magic, and I was looking forward to spending two whole weeks enjoying everything that I love about the ship.

However, the one thing that we were completely unaware of when we booked this cruise was that it was leaving on Easter Sunday. Whilst this would not be an issue for most people, we both try our absolute best to avoid travelling during any major school holiday period as not only can it be incredibly busy and stressful, but flights can also be ridiculously expensive. Thankfully, as we had both been saving our British Airways Avios points for years, we were able to book one way flights to Houston the exact second they were released online. This saved us a massive amount of money, as cash tickets would have cost an absolute fortune otherwise!

The evening before we were due to fly out to Texas, we received an email from Disney Cruise Line to inform us of an itinerary change to our cruise. Instead of going to Puerto Vallarta, we would now be visiting Ensenada instead, as well as visiting Cabo San Lucas on a completely different date. As it turned out, we would now be the only ship visiting Cabo San Lucas on our new day, whereas we originally would have been sharing the port with three other massive ships meaning it would have been incredibly busy!

As we had no set plans for Puerto Vallarta anyway, we were both completely okay with this change, and I immediately started researching Ensenada as it would be a brand new destination for us to visit. To make things even better, Disney also offered us a $250 non-refundable onboard credit per stateroom for the port change. This was incredibly welcome and would easily cover a nice chunk of our expenses onboard, so we definitely considered this a total win-win situation.

We flew out to Houston from a very busy Heathrow Airport on Good Friday, which was two days before we were due to sail. If I could, I would have loved to have flown out even earlier, as I always think that it is better to arrive with plenty of time to spare rather than leaving it until the very last minute. I would never risk flying in the day before a cruise or even on the day itself – no matter how short the distance – as you just never know if you will face any cancellations or unexpected delays. It is simply not worth risking such a major bucket list cruise!

Despite a last minute aircraft change which meant we ended up in completely different seats to the ones we had originally booked, we arrived at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport early on the Friday afternoon. After clearing immigration, we collected our rental car which we had booked through Enterprise so we could drive ourselves down to Galveston.

The journey from Houston to Galveston is just over seventy miles, and we took a slow and leisurely drive as we were in no hurry at all. We even made a quick stop at Buc-ee’s in Texas City to stock up on a few more bags of Beaver Nuggets, which we had happily become completely addicted to on our last trip away back in February and as an added bonus, I even got to meet the one and only Buc-ee himself!

For the two nights before our cruise, we stayed at the Harbor House Hotel and Marina at Pier 21 in Galveston. While this hotel was definitely not the cheapest option available, it was easily the most convenient choice as it was located right on the water and within easy walking distance of the cruise terminal, as well as being just a short stroll away from the historic Downtown Galveston area.

Even though we had actually sailed from Galveston once before back in 2017, we did not get to see any of the local area on that trip due to a complete lack of time before and after that cruise so this time around, we really wanted to make things right. As soon as we checked into our hotel, we freshened up and headed straight out to do some shopping that we needed to get before our cruise as well as visit the Rainforest Cafe on Galveston Island. Now this might initially sound like a slightly strange decision – especially as I would never normally choose to eat in one – however, when you find out that this specific location is home to the amazing and unique Rainforest River Adventure Ride, you just know that you have to go as I absolutely love random attractions like this.

The Rainforest Cafe in Galveston is the only location in the entire world that features a ride. This indoor dark ride takes you on a slow moving boat journey along a winding lazy river completely surrounded by animatronic elephants, crocodiles, giraffes and gorillas! The ride cost $10 each and it was really good fun so I am incredibly happy that we made the effort to go and visit, even though we were both completely exhausted after such a long travel day.

We woke up early on the Saturday morning and after having some breakfast at a nearby Waffle House, we immediately set off to see as much of the rest of Galveston as we could as we only had a few hours before we had to return our rental car since Enterprise in Galveston closes at 1:00pm at weekends. After dropping the car off, we took an Uber back to our hotel before spending the rest of the afternoon slowly exploring the beautiful historic downtown area of Galveston followed by an early dinner at Yaga’s Cafe, which I would highly recommend to anyone staying in the area as our food was delicious.

If you have ever read any of my cruise blogs before, you will know that I usually wake up far too early on embarkation day, and this day was absolutely no exception. Since our hotel was located right on the water next to the cruise terminals, I knew that I wanted to watch the Disney Magic arrive in Galveston that morning and I first woke up at 2:00am before falling back asleep and waking up again at 3:30am by which point, I was wide awake!

Just after 5:00am, we walked outside just as the Magic was beginning to slowly enter the channel. It was so surreal and wonderful to see one of the small Disney ships again, especially since the last time we sailed on her was back in 2021 and our last cruise on her sister ship, the Disney Wonder, was in 2022. Thankfully, we were not the only crazy people outside at that time of the morning to watch the Disney Magic and typically, it started to pour with rain while we were standing there, but that just made me laugh as it was such a funny and memorable start to the day.

Staying at this hotel and being able to see the Disney Magic that morning also brought such a sense of calm. The peace of mind of being within easy walking distance of the terminal, knowing we were already there and did not have to worry about morning traffic jams or waiting around for Ubers, meant the hotel was money very well spent. I definitely would not want to have to do the journey from Houston to Galveston or even further afield on embarkation day itself, just in case of any unforeseen or last minute delays.

After heading back to the room to dry off, change back into our pyjamas and sit under the duvet once again, knowing we were in absolutely no hurry to go anywhere for the next few hours, we completed the short health questionnaire. You will receive an email as well as a notification on the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app early on the morning of your cruise, and there are only three questions to answer which take no time at all to complete. Just after 6:00am, my boyfriend quickly ran across the road to get us both a cup of tea as well as a breakfast sandwich each from Starbucks, which was easily enough to keep us going until lunchtime as we were both looking forward to our first meal in Cabanas already.

Our check out time was at 11:00am, so after having a shower and getting dressed ready for our day ahead, we packed up the last of our belongings and attached the green luggage tags to our bags which had been sent to our home a few weeks before the cruise. However, if your luggage tags do not arrive before you sail, do not panic, as you can easily collect blank ones from the porters when you arrive at the terminal.

After checking out of the hotel, we simply walked along the pavement with our bags towards the terminal. The Disney Magic that day was docked at Cruise Terminal 28 in Galveston and this is my Public Service Announcement to let you know that although some people love joining the Facebook group for their cruise, you should always take some of their information with a massive pinch of salt. The groups, but especially some of the admins, can often get information completely wrong (and not be receptive when people tell them that they are mistaken), just as they did that day when they told everyone that the ship was docked at Terminal 25 instead. Just remember that the correct information will always be on your Port Arrival Form.

The longest part of our walk that morning was trying to get past the first terminal where the Carnival Dream was docked. There were huge lines of people waiting to enter that terminal, as well as even more who had just disembarked the ship and were waiting for Ubers or other transportation, leaving the entire area completely blocked and the roads gridlocked.

As it was such a busy Easter morning in Galveston with four ships docked, people were struggling to get Ubers or taxis and the prices were ridiculous – that is, if you could even get a car, as they were in such short supply. If we had wanted to get an Uber for the not even five minute drive from our hotel, it would have cost $50 that day! This again made me so happy that we stayed where we did, as we only a short walk (it took us five minutes) and had absolutely no stress that morning at all.

Thankfully once we got past the crowds, it was extremely calm as Terminal 28 where the Disney Magic was docked seemed empty in comparison – it turned out that the Disney Cruise Line transfer buses from George Bush Airport were experiencing huge delays and other passengers were struggling to get Ubers to the port, which was why it was so quiet at this time. There were plenty of porters waiting at the terminal so we were quickly able to drop our luggage off with them straight away. Just remember to have a cash tip ready for them, which is usually around a dollar or two per bag.

Our Port Arrival Time that day was 12:00pm and since we arrived at the terminal just before 11:15am, we simply stood outside to wait for our window along with everyone else who had arrived early after checking out of their hotels that morning. Even with a crowd waiting outside, it really was a very calm and chilled atmosphere and just like last time, I found the entire experience at the terminal in Galveston to be very efficient – there was one amazing lady who was single-handedly helping everyone get to where they needed to be – and we were let into the building just before 11:30am.

Once inside the terminal, we joined the line to go through security which moved incredibly fast, before heading straight over to the completely empty Platinum Castaway Club line to check in and the whole process took no time at all! We then headed upstairs which instantly brought back some wonderful memories from nine years ago when we sat in that exact same spot waiting to board our Very Merrytime Cruise onboard the Disney Wonder.

There is a large waiting area with toilets and vending machines inside the terminal but it was so quiet when we arrived as boarding had already started. We were Boarding Group 8 for this cruise which was called shortly afterwards at 11:55am. We walked along the gangway and just after 12:00pm, we scanned the QR codes from our Port Arrival Form and before we knew it, we were back onboard the Disney Magic for our sixteenth cruise! It was so wonderful to be back after such a long time and after our recent sailings on the much larger Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, Disney Wish and Disney Treasure, the Disney Magic seemed so teeny tiny in comparison!

Our first job was to stop at the Soul Cat Lounge on Deck 3 to check if we had a private table for dinner. It is the only request that we ever make as we have no wish to sit with strangers for dinner – even more so in this case as it was a fourteen night cruise. Once again, our request had not been granted (ever since Disney introduced the option to request a private table online, we have never had it granted, even though we never had a single problem in all the years before!), but thankfully the dining team immediately changed us to our own table. And with that, we could finally relax and start to enjoy every single moment of our upcoming adventure.

We then headed straight along to the empty Aft elevators and up to Deck 9 for our traditional embarkation day lunch at Cabanas. I personally will never do the sit down lunch that is offered in one of the main dining rooms onboard as I think the menu is dreadful because the choices are so poor if you do not eat meat. I would much rather go to the buffet where I find the options are a lot better.

Even though it was a little windy (as well as there being a little bit of misty rain in the air), we sat outside at Cabanas in the covered seating area to eat our lunch and the breeze felt perfect especially as it felt so humid that day. As always, I had some Shrimp along with some Mac and Cheese, Grilled Asparagus, Olive Focaccia and some Vegetable Noodles which I had never tried before but tasted really good, before finishing with a Celebration Cupcake and a Strawberry Creme Pot which I always have to get at the start of every Disney cruise.

Ever since we had first arrived at the cruise terminal earlier that day and all the way through lunch, I had been trying to set up the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app on my iPhone with no success despite my boyfriend having no issues at all with his. My app kept on telling me to disconnect my VPN (which was not even turned on) to be able to connect and even after deleting my VPN app entirely, it still would not work. We tried to get it to work so many times – including deleting and reinstalling the Disney Cruise Line app entirely – but absolutely nothing worked despite it working perfectly only six weeks previously when we sailed on the Disney Fantasy for our Pixar Day at Sea cruise.

The only solution was to go to Guest Services, which I really did not want to do as I had seen the long line there when we boarded, which thankfully had disappeared by the time we got down to Deck 3. The Cast Member there tried a few things with my iPhone and it turned out that the Adblock app that I have always used had a brand new setting which had been installed during its latest update, which was stopping the Disney Cruise Line app from working as it should. Once that setting was turned off, it thankfully connected straight away and I could breathe a sigh of relief once again, as you really do need the app for everything onboard, and in the short time that we had been on the ship, I had been feeling completely lost without it as I like to start planning all of my days onboard during that first lunch.

As the Lobby Atrium was still so quiet and peaceful at this time, we also took a few minutes to take some photos of the incredible chocolate Easter Eggs that were on display, and it was so nice to be able to properly look at all the intricate details on them before it got much busier later in the day.

It was just after 1:00pm at this point and as we had both been awake since the early hours of the morning, it was time for a much-needed coffee. We headed back up to the Cove Cafe on Deck 9 where I ordered an Oat Latte which barely touched the sides as I needed caffeine so badly. Even our favourite comfortable chairs in the Quiet Cove were available, so we were definitely back in our happy place and everything in the world was all good once again.

Once we had finished our coffees, it was just after 1:30pm, so we walked down to Deck 7 where the corridors to the staterooms opened a few minutes later. We were once again staying in 7624 and this would be our fourth time staying in this exact room on the Disney Magic – we have even stayed in this exact room three times on the Disney Wonder as well! You can definitely say that it is our home away from home on the two classic ships as we absolutely love the location, and it was truly surreal to be back once again.

Our Key to the World cards were waiting for us outside our stateroom door and once inside, we also found our Platinum Castaway Club gifts waiting for us which included a beach bag, a wet/dry bag and a beach towel as well as the onboard gifts that we had ordered before our cruise. As this was a two week sailing, we had ordered the “Luxury at Sea for Two Romance Package” as a treat to ourselves which included two giant, fluffy bathrobes (which we knew we would appreciate on such a long cruise) as well as a bottle of Prosecco, a box of chocolates and a red rose which cost $140.

However since we had paid for this cruise in Pounds, we were unable to book this package online, so we simply had to phone instead which only took a few minutes. As we were departing from Galveston, I had read that the Prosecco would be delivered once we were out at sea, but it was already in our stateroom waiting for us as well when we arrived.

Another reason why we love this stateroom on the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder is the Navigator’s Verandah with the giant open-air porthole, as it feels like having a whole extra room, albeit one where you can sit outside in the fresh air and watch the world (or the sea) go by.

Whilst we had been drinking our coffee, I saw that there was an adults-only Disney Cruise Line Trivia at 2:00pm in O’Gills Pub which I wanted to try, as I decided that it was my goal on this cruise to try and win one medal during our time onboard. I quickly ran down there and got there just moments before it started. I ended up getting 19/20 and I really kicked myself as I talked myself out of the correct answer to the one question that I got wrong when I knew the right answer all along!

Once we got back up to our stateroom, our bags were waiting outside for us, so we used this time to unpack everything before storing our suitcases under the bed and out of sight for the next two weeks. On our last Transatlantic cruise, which was thirteen nights, we had decided to keep our room as tidy and organised as possible throughout our entire sailing, which in turn helped to make our cruise so easy, calm, relaxing and completely stress free and we also wanted to do exactly the same on this cruise.

Once we had unpacked, we took a few minutes to walk around the upper decks of the Disney Magic and look out over Galveston. Even though it was a very overcast day, it thankfully did not rain which I am incredibly grateful for as I was really looking forward to watching Mickey’s Sail-a-Wave Party that afternoon.

I am even more thankful that afternoon as I immediately recognised the early signs that I could be getting a migraine (which I sometimes suffer from when I get overtired), so I was able to quickly take some medication which caught it just in time and stopped it from getting any worse and ruining the rest of my day.

The Mandatory Guest Assembly Drill was due to start at 3:45pm and our Muster Station was “S” which was located in Animator’s Palate on Deck 4. Even though I still dislike that we have to do the full in-person muster drill instead of the simple and easy virtual muster drill from a few years back that every other cruise line still does, I will admit that this was one of the quietest and sanest drills I have ever been to simply because the ship was sailing way under capacity with 1,889 guests (even though all the staterooms were occupied) and it also felt almost like an adults-only cruise as there were very few children onboard.

One of the most chaotic parts of the entire cruise was trying to get out of Animator’s Palate once the drill was over, as so many people were waiting for the elevators and completely blocking access to the stairs for anyone trying to get past. As always, I headed straight up to Deck 10, where I was able to get the spot I wanted for Mickey’s Sail-a-Wave Party without any trouble. For the first time in ages, I also thankfully had no pain at all in my knees, which was another reason I was so happy to be on on a much smaller ship for this sailing. One of my top tips to get a good spot for the sailaway party on any cruise is to take everything that you need for the party with you (such as your camera) to the muster drill, so you do not need to waste any time going back to your stateroom afterwards.

Captain Robert also made his first announcement of the cruise to welcome us all onboard the beautiful Disney Magic. He also explained that he would only receive our confirmed timings for crossing the Panama Canal about thirty hours in advance, but he promised to let us all know as soon as he found out.

This was only the second time that we had ever seen Mickey’s Sail-a-Wave Party – the other being on our Disney Wonder Hawaii cruise – as there were no deck parties at all during our last two sailings on the Disney Magic, which were the “staycation” cruises out of the UK during the pandemic in 2021 when there were a lot of restrictions onboard. Mickey’s Sail-a-Wave Party started at 4:30pm with the Party Patrol dancing to “It’s a Good Time (Get Your Ears On)” before being joined on stage by Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto.

It was then time to “Sail-A-Wave” your hands in the air every time we heard the words “Disney Magic” before our Cruise Director David arrived on the Deck 9 stage to start the countdown. Once the “When You Wish Upon a Star” horn was blasted, I will admit that out of nowhere when David shouted “We’re crossing the Panama Canal,” I got a little bit choked up all of a sudden at the realisation that another one of our bucket-list adventures was finally underway.

Once Mickey’s Sail-a-Wave Party had finished, we had already started moving away from the dock so we moved over to the side of Deck 10 to watch as we slowly set sail from Galveston. Sadly it was still very grey and overcast, which was such a contrast to the last time that we sailed from Galveston when we experienced one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen which is a memory that I have cherished ever since.

Once we had left Galveston we grabbed a cold drink and walked down to the Lobby Atrium to meet Pluto who was out on Deck 4 at 5:15pm. It was so quiet with hardly anyone in line to meet him which is how I was hoping the rest of the cruise was going to be which it definitely was – longer cruises are really the best when it comes to meeting all of the characters!

We also noticed that Port Adventures for our stop in Ensenada on the final day of our cruise had become available to book in the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app, however nothing interested us, as we planned to simply walk around the town by ourselves instead.

If you have ever read any of my blogs before, you will know that I always say to avoid Port Adventures and organised excursions at all costs. But for the first time ever – and to my own genuine shock (I still am as surprised as you are!) – we actually had one booked for when we got to Cartagena in Colombia. However, you will simply have to keep on reading this blog series to see what happened that day and whether I have changed my opinion on them or not.

After we met Pluto, we noticed that two lines had started to form for both Mickey’s Mainsail and White Caps, which were due to open at 6:30pm. As we had no other plans at this time, we decided to join the line for Mickey’s Mainsail just after 6:00pm, which had grown even longer by the time the shops opened and only thirty people were allowed into each shop at a time, which helped to keep the whole first night shopping experience very sane.

Most people were grabbing the Panama Canal t-shirts which were flying off the shelves, but all I wanted was the Panama Canal pin as well as the Panama Canal Christmas ornament – I know that I said on my last cruise that I was trying not to buy as many decorations anymore as there is no room left on our Christmas tree, but this one was one of my few exceptions to that rule!

We would not have had any issue getting either the pin or the ornament later during the cruise as neither of them sold out, but it was also nice to know that we had got them on this night and now we did not have to think about them any more. As we were in and out of Mickey’s Mainsail so quickly, we dropped our little bit of shopping off back in our stateroom before enjoying some more fresh air whilst walking a few laps of Deck 4.

On the majority of Disney cruises, the lines to meet characters on the first night are usually very long, but on this cruise, it was so quiet which was largely because most of the ship was still in a very long line waiting for the shops! Goofy was due out at 7:15pm on Deck 4, followed by Minnie on Deck 5 at 7:30pm, Donald on Deck 4 at 7:45pm and finally Mickey on Deck 5 at 8:00pm. We were able to meet all of them with barely any wait before moving straight onto the next one.

After we had finished meeting Mickey, we bumped into Rapunzel who was out walking around which was perfect timing as our first dinner of the cruise was at Rapunzel’s Royal Table and because we had second seating, our dining time every night was at 8:15pm. We also met our amazing dining team who would look after us for the next fourteen nights – Timur was our incredible Server, Kev was our Assistant Server and Sercan was our Head Server.

On our last five night cruise on the Disney Fantasy, we only visited the dining rooms once because we knew we had this much longer, relaxed and calmer sailing coming up. However, after getting “Dining Room Burnout” on our last thirteen night cruise, we wanted to ensure that it did not happen again so we also planned a few nights during this sailing to simply just enjoy a quiet night with some deck food which we made sure coincided with the menus that we were not interested in.

Our dining and menu rotation for this fourteen night Panama Canal cruise onboard the Disney Magic was:

Sunday – Galveston – Rapunzel’s Royal Table – Let the Magic Begin Menu
Monday – Day at Sea – Lumiere’s – Standard Rotational Menu
Tuesday – Cozumel – Animator’s Palate – Standard Rotational Menu (Drawn to Magic)
Wednesday – Day at Sea – Rapunzel’s Royal Table – Standard Rotational Menu
Thursday – Day at Sea – Lumiere’s – Freezing the Night Away Menu
Friday – Cartagena – Animator’s Palate – New Unnamed Menu
Saturday – Panama Canal – Rapunzel’s Royal Table – Crossing Menu
Sunday – Day at Sea – Lumiere’s – Pirates IN The Caribbean Menu (Pirate Night)
Monday – Day at Sea – Animator’s Palate – World of Flavour Menu
Tuesday – Day at Sea – Rapunzel’s Royal Table – Vista Menu
Wednesday – Day at Sea – Lumiere’s – Land and Sea Menu
Thursday – Cabo San Lucas – Animator’s Palate – Animation Magic Menu
Friday – Day at Sea – Rapunzel’s Royal Table – Lantern Menu
Saturday – Ensenada – Lumiere’s – Captain’s Gala Menu

For dinner, I ordered the Fried Spiced Calamari to start which was absolutely delicious, followed by the Mango Marble Cheesecake for dessert. I was feeling a little tired after such a long day and therefore not that hungry, so this was the perfect first night dinner for me.

After our light dinner, we headed back up to Deck 4 of the Lobby Atrium, ready to get in line to meet Chip and Dale who were due out at 9:30pm and while we waited, we happily bumped into the diva of the high seas herself, Daisy, who gave us a fashion show as only she could!

After meeting Chip and Dale, we decided to walk around the ship for a few minutes before heading to bed. Even at this late hour, people were still lining up to get into the shops and I really do not think that I have ever seen that many people queuing up on any cruise that I have sailed on – even the ones out of the UK which were crazy!

We got back to our stateroom just after 10:00pm with a cup of tea, as we were both ready for an early night and seeing some special Easter chocolates waiting for us on the bed, along with our first towel animal, was the perfect touch to end our long day.

And there is the first day of our long-awaited Panama Canal cruise and it already feels like I have written so much, and yet, there is still so much more to come! Given the length of this cruise, there will be thirteen more blog posts ahead and whilst some days will be very short and sweet as we did so little onboard, others will be the complete opposite as I have so many photos to share.

I hope you enjoy reading them all as much as I have enjoyed looking back at our time on the Disney Magic.

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