On the sixth sea day of this two week Panama Canal cruise on the beautiful Disney Magic, I woke up early yet again just after 7:00am. Walking out onto our verandah felt absolutely wonderful as it was another beautiful morning outside with barely a cloud in the sky. As we had a very lazy start to our day planned, we sat in bed with a cup of tea, taking our time to do absolutely nothing since we had no other plans until a little bit later that morning.

After a very relaxing hour or so, we both showered and got dressed and our first plans for the day were to meet both Woody and Jessie who were out at 9:00am and 9:30am in the Oceaneer Club on Deck 5. We had planned to meet them here a few days earlier, but as the lines had been so long on that morning, we had decided to wait until today to see them.

It was so much fun to be able to meet them in Andy’s Room as it is such an iconic and unusual backdrop (one of the many benefits of such a long cruise is the more unique character meet and greet opportunities like this) that you can only get on the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. We were both expecting to see a long line of people already waiting once again, but to our absolute surprise, the queue was incredibly short this time and we were able to meet both of them in no time at all.

Once we had met both Woody and Jessie, it was finally time for our brunch at Palo which we had been looking forward to for the entire cruise. Despite there being so many Pearl and Platinum Castaway Club members onboard this sailing, we had no problem reserving our preferred date and time as soon as our booking window opened 120 days before the cruise. That being said, you definitely needed to be online straight away (as we were), and I also know that there was very little availability left for any Gold, Silver or first time cruisers. However, if you cannot book Palo brunch online, never lose hope as you can check the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app daily for any cancellations (we have managed to grab a booking this way several times before) as well as check for any availability as soon as you board the ship on embarkation day.

We arrived at Palo just before 10:00am and were shown to one of the tables by the window, which gave us a perfect view of the ocean on such a beautiful and sunny morning. We also met Kaviraj, who was our server, and we began our meal with a complimentary Mimosa (you can also have a Prosecco, Kir Royale or a non-alcoholic drink) as well as a bottle of San Pellegrino sparkling water.

Brunch at Palo costs $55 per person, however one of the benefits of being a Platinum Castaway Club member is either a complimentary Palo brunch or a $55 credit for dinner at Palo which will completely cover the Prix Fixe menu or can be used towards your choices from the à la carte options.

The Palo brunch menu has been the same for years (apart from replacing my beloved and very much-missed Artichoke Ravioli) so I always know in advance exactly what I will order every time as it never changes. Along with a basket of the amazing freshly baked breads – including my favourite Red Onion Focaccia – I ordered a plate of the incredible Spiced Ahi Tuna and Shrimp as well as the famous Grape and Gorgonzola pizza (which is no longer on the menu either, but still available upon request) which I look forward to on every single cruise.

After a short break as we were so full from the pizza, for my main course I had the Wild Mushroom Ravioli as it is the only vegetarian option on a menu where there should be at least two choices – after all, the meat eaters have plenty to choose from. I do not have the best memories of this ravioli, as the last time I ordered it at Palo Steakhouse on the Disney Treasure I was suffering from a migraine and could barely even eat it, but I am so happy to say that this was the best version of it that I have ever had – I inhaled it as it was so good and now thankfully, I only have good memories of this dish once again.

And after all that food, I still managed to find some room for my favourite Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Strawberry Popping Pearls and Pistachio Crumble which tasted like heaven, along with a fresh fruit Danish that I could not resist when Kaviraj had offered us some pastries during our meal.

Once we left Palo, we immediately grabbed a peppermint tea each from Deck 9 before heading straight back to our stateroom as we desperately needed to change into some comfortable and loose fitting clothes as we were so stuffed from our brunch. I then decided to head down to the D Lounge for “Hide and Seek with the Officers” at 12:15pm which is an activity that is only offered on longer itineraries such as the Panama Canal, Hawaii and Transatlantic sailings.

For anyone unfamiliar with how this activity works, the officers have fifteen minutes to change into a uniform from a different department and hide in plain sight around the ship. They are only allowed to hide in public areas which are accessible to all ages and each of them have cards to give out which award points – with the Captain being worth the most points – and the team that collects the most points wins.

I arrived a few minutes too late to see which officers would be taking part but thankfully, I had no plans to actually search for them anyway as there was no way I could run around the ship after everything I had just eaten! Just like on our last long cruise, I just enjoyed watching the event as the final reveal where you find out where everyone was hiding and what they were wearing is always so funny.

It was so busy when I arrived and you could barely move in the D Lounge and I heard a lot of strategising amongst the teams standing near me. I also saw lots of people trying to quietly sneak out to get a head start on their search before the official okay to move around the ship was given, which caused some other people to moan about it being unfair – people were definitely taking this event very seriously!

Once everyone had raced off to begin their search for the officers around the ship, I took a seat at the front of the D Lounge with my tea and just chilled with some wifi for about twenty minutes. As everyone’s points were being verified, the officers returned and there was a lot of laughing as their temporary looks were revealed which included Captain Robert who had been working at the bar at Pinocchio’s Pizzeria, Tim our Hotel Director had been a chef, David our Cruise Director had been doing some deck maintenance outside Palo on Deck 10 and Josh our Assistant Cruise Director had been hiding in plain sight at the back of the D Lounge.

If you ever take part in Hide and Seek with the Officers, my top tip is to look at their shoes – many of the officers completely forget to change out of their official white uniform shoes, which gives them away immediately!

Every long cruise has a day where tiredness finally catches up with you, where you feel completely drained, where the aches and pains start to kick in and where you also cannot be bothered to do much – and this was definitely the day for us. Everything felt like it needed so much more effort than normal and having a giant bloated belly after a massive Palo brunch did not help matters in the slightest that afternoon.

Despite this, after relaxing in our stateroom for a little while, we headed back down to Deck 3 just before 2:30pm to join the line ready for the second character group photo of the cruise. The line was once again stretched all the way back to the Soul Cat Lounge, but it did not matter in the slightest as we knew it would start to move quickly once the characters arrived and as long as we were in line before the 2:40pm cut-off (as the line was open for ten minutes), we knew we would get our turn. Just like the previous day, there were no hugs or autographs and only two photos per group were allowed (so you cannot switch members of your party in and out) and just before 3:00pm, we got our group photo with Mickey and the gang in their formal outfits.

We took the elevator up to Deck 9, but it was still very busy around the pool and at Cove Cafe at this time, so we made ourselves a cup of tea instead at the drink station which we took back to our stateroom where we sat on our verandah as we just wanted somewhere quiet and shaded to sit for a few minutes. This is one of the main reasons why we will always book a verandah cabin as having your own private outdoor space is worth every penny – we once booked an oceanview cabin for a short four night cruise on the Disney Dream and ended up regretting our decision the entire time we were onboard.

We also saw that Belle was due out at Preludes at 3:45pm so we walked down to meet her in her blue dress and there was only a short line as so many people were waiting for the second character group photo at 4:00pm but as we already had our photo that we loved, we did not need to line up again.

As we have done so many times before, we then headed up to the Quiet Cove Pool just after 4:00pm as we saw that Mega Raffle Jackpot Bingo was due to start and in our experience, the pool always gets a lot quieter as so many people head back inside. There were so many chairs available and there was even a nice cool breeze too which felt so nice after the stifling hot days that we had experienced during the previous week.

Most people had gone inside by 5:00pm and even the hot tubs were empty at this time, which we took full advantage of as we had no plans for the next few hours. We were feeling a little hungry so we got two bowls of delicious pineapple from Daisy’s De-Lites which was quickly becoming one of my favourite snacks onboard the Disney Magic – normally we would get a slice of pizza to tide us over until dinner but as the deck pizza was so bad on this cruise, we found ourselves picking the healthier quick service option almost every single time.

Shortly before we headed back inside just after 7:00pm, we were also treated to the sight of an absolutely incredible sunset so we walked up to the front of Deck 11 where it truly looked like the sky was on fire around us as it was such a vivid shade of orange.

As there were no characters that we wanted to meet until later that night, once we were back in our stateroom, we enjoyed a Mimosa whilst slowly getting ready for our dinner which was back in Rapunzel’s Royal Table at 8:15pm.

The menu on this evening was perfect for us as it was the Vista Menu and as we were still feeling a little full from our brunch at Palo, we simply ordered several of the amazing appetisers that we shared including the Creamy Cheese Polenta with Wild Mushrooms which was so good that I could have happily ordered a few more if only I had the room, the Olive Oil Marinated Artichokes, the Handmade California Rolls, the Potato Croquettes and the Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. It was a simple but perfect dinner.

As we wanted some fresh air after dinner, we decided to walk a few laps around Deck 4 before heading up to Deck 10 to play some basketball for a few minutes. There was something truly wonderful about these quiet and simple little late night moments onboard and they are some of my favourite memories from the entire cruise.

We then walked back down to Deck 4 in the Lobby Atrium to meet Donald and Daisy in their formal wear at 9:45pm, followed by Mickey and Minnie at 10:15pm. I really loved that they were pairing the characters up during the second half of this cruise as getting to meet two of them together made it so much fun.

Once we got back to our stateroom just after 10:30pm, a stingray blanket animal was waiting for us on our bed. After carefully moving him over to the sofa for the night, we changed into our pyjamas before sitting in bed and sharing our last Strawberry Mille-Feuille dessert – which we had been keeping chilled in our fridge since the previous day – with a cup of camomile tea. It was the perfect way to end another very lazy day onboard the Disney Magic.

After the best late night snack ever to finish our day, we remembered to change the clocks on our phones back by one hour ready for the final time change of the cruise which would put us on the same time zone as our last two ports of Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, as well as San Diego where we were due to disembark at the end of the week. With an extra hour of sleep to look forward to, we turned out the lights, happy to have one more relaxing sea day to enjoy before stepping foot back into Mexico once again.

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