Embarkation

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This morning we woke up in our hotel, getting to see in it daylight for the first time, as we arrived last night while it was darker.  The rainy weather cleared up somewhat, although it was still overcast.  And it was warmer, more like the Florida humidity that we all know.  

We said our prayers here, and ate some leftovers from Cracker Barrel that we kept in the refrigerator last night, just something to tide us over until we ate more onboard the Magic.  

It was actually a nice hotel here.  And here's a fun fact, it is very close to the port.  In fact, here's the window at the end of the hallway in the hotel, and if you look out the window, you can see the Disney Magic resting there in port!

We were pretty early though, and too early for our port arrival - so we drove south for a bit.  We found the Wizard of Oz Museum fairly easily, and spotted the Silver Surfer alongside the road too.  Our goal was to make it down to Satellite Beach and the place we used to stay down there, Sandpiper Towers.  

We passed by there and Patrick's Air Force Base, and saw the ocean along the way, also passing by Ron Jon Surf Shop of course.  

And then it was time to get on the boat.  We timed it well and got back to Port Canaveral, unpacking and walking into the terminal, getting into that big line there.

Check-in was easy, and this is always a fun part with all the energy and excitement about getting on board the cruise ship.  This is the oldest of the cruise ships in Disney's fleet, and yet we haven't been on this one yet.  It'll actually be the fourth different boat we've been on - we've been aboard the Wonder, the Dream, and the Wish.  So this was a first-time boarding for us, and we were pretty excited.

Knowing we pre-arranged a photo pass meant that we could even take our time and pose for a lot of pictures along the way, which we did of course.  We stopped at the big model of the cruise ship, likely the Magic itself, and posed for a few photos there, and then some photos afterwards of us in front of a few other photo walls, a traditional stop along the way before getting on board.

And then the fun part:  the gang plank.  We walked upwards, taking in the size of the ship up close, the one we were about to climb on board!

And then we were on board the Magic for the first time.  We told the hostess our family name, and just like always, they announced to the atrium that our family was onboard to great applause!

And here we go, right?  Our first order of business was getting something to eat - we hadn't eaten much so far, but that was certainly about to change dramatically.  Mom wanted to sit down and eat, rather than go up to Cabanas, so we went over to Rapunzel's, and there we had a nice big lunch, checking out the restaurant area for the first time.

Maddie was excited - and with her new graduate Mickey ears!

Such details throughout - really cool bread baskets!

I just wanted to see the lanterns gleam!

Small stage where the cast of "Tangled" will perform later during the evenings.

Maddie was ready to eat!  Notice the details on the chairs too!

This dessert was so good - sugar free too!  We ordered it again later that night!

A very kind family offered to take our picture for us there!

You'll see a lot of Joey and Peanut Butter on this trip.

So after this, we went to check out our cabin which was now ready.  It's a familiar place, this cabin.  We were facing the parking deck, so we could actually see our car sitting there, and the terminal, of course.  People were still scurrying about, getting things packed up and onboard.  Mom was getting the room ready, filling drawers and getting the bathrooms ready.  One item we were glad to see - the Disney shampoo and soap!  Such a familiar fragrance, and it immediately announces that you're on vacation.  Here's the view from our veranda: 

You can see another Disney boat, the Wish.  It was there as well, two leaving the same day.  Pretty neat!  And while Mom was doing a bit of unpacking, I was doing yet another Disney tradition:  the stateroom doors.  Passengers decorate their doors with magnetized pictures of characters, and basically just cover their doors with as much as they can.  In honor of Maddie's graduation, we cut out a few pictures of Stitch in a graduation cap, along with a "CLASS OF 2025" label too.  So many doors are covered in decorations - it's fun to see them all.  Ours came out pretty good!

We did a bit of exploring after that, looking around the ship, heading up to the top deck and just generally looking around a bit.

Maddie can go past this point now!

And here is where we introduce the Cove Cafe!  Maddie would make this place a regular visit over the next few days, at least once a day visiting to pick up a different flavored iced coffee.

Mom and I would get some as well, and yes there's a coffee card there, one that you can get stamped for each product you purchase.  With five purchases, you get the sixth one free.  That would come to pass about four days from this point, with Mom getting a free iced coffee down at the Soul Cat Lounge.  But we still wound up even getting another iced coffee for Maddie after that.

So here's the part where we do the muster, the required assembly at various stations where we review the procedures for the unlikely event of evacuation.  

What usually happens with these is that there are people that don't think they need to come or whatever, and then everyone else is sitting around waiting... and I think that was the case today.  In any event, we did attend of course, and it was a little too long for Mom to be out there, but we found a solution for that soon enough.  But first, there was the mad dash upstairs to the Sail-a-Wave Party.  I went up there and got us a spot that overlooked everything from the railing, and we were able to see the characters, the excitement, and of course do the big countdown that ended with the ship horn, "When You Wish Upon a Star."  

We were off and ready to go!  The excitement was in the air, and we were leaving port!  Usually we sit outside along the rail and watch the coast go by, but today we found a spot inside the Cove Cafe and watched things from there.  It was nice and air conditioned in there, and on top of that Maddie got to have some iced coffee!

Later on we were seated outside the Cove Cafe and just enjoying that seating there.  It was nice, just watching the ocean and seeing Florida get smaller and smaller.  We'll be back soon, of course.  

But for now, it's time to get ready for our first night at the Walt Disney Theater.  Before going down, we were walking along the promenade, just taking in the wonderful views of the ocean.

We also had a bit of time to stop in some of the stores to do a bit of souvenir shopping.

We picked up a few things, including a spreader from the Animator's Palette, and a Christmas ornament too.  But soon it was time to see the big show for the night.  At the theatre, we were there to see a magician named Eric Jones, and what better thing to see on the Disney Magic than a magician?

We had some great seats about halfway back and really enjoyed the show, and the funny thing was that I was really wanting to see a magician act lately, so that was cool.  But it was made cooler by the fact that I was chose to get up there in front of the full crowd, and he did this trick with cameras close on me and everything.  Basically, over the course of the conversation, and limited contact with me, he had gotten an "X" on my hand with magic marker - and no one saw when or how he did it.  Including ME.  I had my hand closed, and opened it up... and there was the X!

Incidentally, it was all related to the X-Men.  He asked about which character could teleport around quickly, and I called out "Nightcrawler" before anyone else - and that's why he chose me to go up there.  The "X" of course is tied to "X-Men," and we were talking about that on stage for a bit, including the question about what the best version of the X-Men is.  I loved the comics, and said as much, but the cartoon was a close second.  For that, I got a hug and lots of laughs.  Somewhere in there, perhaps, there was an X put on my hand - but he was so good I had no idea when it happened!  Maddie snapped a few pictures, and you can see me there on the big screen as well.

I was somewhat of a celebrity after this point, as people kept asking me about the "X" and they all knew my name, shouting it out from across the atrium or wherever.  In fact, we got to be good friends with an entire table of people from Kentucky after this, as they talked to us at dinner asking about how it all happened.  I have no idea.  I love magic tricks.  It's nothing supernatural, but just a wonderful puzzle or illusion where the eyes are fooled in such a way that you are just blown away.  He was a great magician, and a super nice guy too - we'd see him at dinner a few nights later!

Afterwards, it's a tradition for Maddie to go out to the deck just outside the theater and look for a sunset.  It made for some nice pictures tonight.  

And as we had a little time before dinner, we dropped by the Fathoms Lounge for our first trivia event of the cruise.

It was a music trivia where you heard a snippet of music from a song, and had to figure out the rest.  It was music "through the decades," which meant we did really well... until the 2000's!  This picture was taken that night by another cruiser who has a blog.  They won trivia that night, but we all had a pretty good time.  Mom, Maddie and I did well, and had fun.  We'd be doing a lot of trivia this week.

And now it was time for dinner.  Our first nightly dinner was at Lumiere's, although it was a special menu for the first night, something reserved for these five-night cruises.  So it was something unique and special and unexpected - and also delicious.  Here we met our servers, Dharma and Air.  And we got to see Lumiere's, of course, for a very nice meal.

Oh, boy.  We ate so much food this week!  But it was so, so good!  We had an excellent time tonight, and they had so many great options for Mom.  Maddie was trying new things this week, and the servers were so on top of things.  We left Lumiere's quite satisfied, and kind of tired too.  Maybe it's time to get some rest?

Ah, the towel animal.  Every night a different one, along with some chocolates before bedtime too!  Our stateroom host Antonio was a really nice guy, and talented too.  We enjoyed seeing him in the hallways - we'll share pictures of that soon enough.  Until then, it's time for bed.  We got ready for sleep, the ship quietly rolling over the seas towards the Bahamas.  It's a nice view out there, a big blue ocean with nothing to be seen but the surface of the water all the way to the horizon.

We said our prayers tonight, and we did bring along that Kingdom Keepers book as well, the last one in the series.  Each night we'll be reading this one, as much as we can because we're kind of tired.  But we're reading this one before bed, and I'm glad of it.  Here's a picture of Maddie I took earlier with the book, maybe to send to the author.  

It was a good first day, and we're excited about all that is to come, including a restful vacation too.  We all got to sleep in our comfy beds, and Maddie chose the bunk bed to sleep in tonight, just because.  She was up late, still texting and so forth, but soon we were all asleep, ready to tackle the new day tomorrow!