It’s time once again for another installment of Ed and Leslie at sea, aboard the Disney Magic. It’s currently Sunday evening, about 11:30pm, as we lazily sail off the coast of Spain as day two of our 14-night westbound Transatlantic cruise comes to an end.
Travel to Barcelona to catch the ship was thankfully uneventful, despite the fact that neither of us could sleep on the flight over. Again. Upon arrival in Barcelona, we caught the bus that would transport us from the airport to the port and experienced expedited check-in. You see, in celebration of our 25th anniversary this year, for the first time, we upgraded our normal stateroom to a concierge suite. This brings with it many perks, including an expedited check-in process and, as it turned out, being the first to board the ship. When you board the ship, the crew welcomes you and asks for your name and where you’re from. So if you’re the Smiths from Seattle, they broadcast over the PA, “The Disney Magic welcomes the Smith Family from Seattle!” and much fanfare ensues. Despite multiple requests, Leslie will not let me tell them we are the Mansons from Los Angeles.
The next perk awaiting us was a cocktail reception, where we would meet our concierge hostess. Jet lagged and sangria? Why not! Since we were onboard the Disney Magic last, she’s gone through a hefty overhaul and she has quite a new look to her. The reimagined adults area is simply stunning. Lots of blues and grays that lead to a very polished look. Once we’re finished with the reception, it’s off to our suite, where we promptly shower, close all the curtains and sack out for a good four hour nap before dinner. (It’s at this point that my wife reminds me that I forgot to mention the life boat drill. Now not that I don’t think it’s important, but I think we may have actually slept walk through the drill, as neither of us have much recollection of it. I trust if we need a lifeboat, the crew will be more than apt in getting us to one.)
Once we wake, we make our way to one of the new restaurants, Carioca’s, which replaced Parrot Cay. The facelift here isn’t too substantial, with a fresh coat of paint splashed onto the existing framework, but it’s nice. The menus are different as well and having sailed 10 times previously, we are looking forward to tasting what the Disney chefs have in store for us.
Still a little jet lagged, I didn’t bring the camera with and didn’t get any pictures of the food in Carioca’s. For our mains, Les had a tasty shrimp with angel hair pasta in an heirloom tomato sauce and I opted for a NY strip, which was ok. The steak had a nice grill flavor and was cooked to order (medium rare), but was a tad under seasoned.
After dinner, it was back to the room and off to bed for a good nights rest. Until 4:30 in the morning, when we both woke up, wide awake. Feeling peckish, we broke into the complimentary fruit plate as the early morning sea floated by. Afterward, we used the time to unpack and watch a movie, before we moseyed up to the new buffet, Cabana’s, where we enjoyed breakfast out on deck as we watched the sun rise over the coast of Spain. This is yet another improvement aboard the Magic: the transition from Topsiders to Cabana’s. The design is open and airy, like it is aboard the Disney Fantasy, and the food seems to be much improved as well.
With breakfast out of the way, the wife retired back to the suite for some more R&R and I headed off to the spa for an indulgence I always enjoy while on board: a pedicure. The last time we were on the ship, it was the Vista Spa, which has now been transformed to Senses Spa. This is yet another remodeled area of the ship that benefits from the facelift. The aforementioned Vista Spa had a very spa-like look and didn’t really stand out. Senses has a very earthy feel, with lots of woods used throughout the decor, along with light blue accents that evoke thoughts of water.
As always, the pedicure was nice, enhanced by new massage chairs that really worked on you while sitting there. I thought I was going to be pushed out of the chair a time or two, with how hard the massagers in the chair were pushing.
Once back in the room, I discovered the wife fast asleep, falling victim to the perfect weather. I soon joined her in slumber and when I awoke at 3:30 in the afternoon, I felt rather refreshed.
Off to dinner again, we were in Lumiere’s for the evening, one of the few places to not have received an update. Dinner was ok, with Les getting the chicken breast atop orichette pasta and I ordered the monkfish with polenta, or as Leslie called it, “fist-fish”. While the fish flavor was ok, the piece of fish was the size of a small child’s fist and as a result, a bit tough to eat, unless mixed with a bit of polenta and a swirl of merlot reduction sauce. If I knew how to draw, I would have inserted an animated fist with gills and fins, swimming through the ocean.
As we make our way to the port of Malaga, I’ve just finished watching the Saints lose their season opener to the Falcons in over time and the Cowboys and Niners are now on. At midnight. Too weird. Time to get some shut eye and get ready for our adventures tomorrow. I look forward to getting more pictures of the remodeled areas of the ship and sharing them here.
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