Trip Review: Disney Magic 7-night Alaskan Sailing with toddler
About us: We’re a family of 3 (mom and dad in our 30s, and 2yo girl). This was our 5th DCL sailing, and first time on the Magic. 2nd time sailing to Alaska, but first on DCL, and first time in Alaska with a toddler.
Embarkation: We had an 11:30am port arrival time, and everything went about as perfectly as possible. Arrived around 11:20am, and was on the ship at 11:55am. Very smooth and easy to navigate.
Room: We had a standard inside room on deck 6 forward. We booked relatively last minute (in January) when the Canadian resident discounts for Alaska were announced. We already had 3 other DCL trips planned for this year, so we went with the cheapest room. I was a bit worried because everyone says a balcony is essential for Alaska, and don’t get me wrong, it would have been nice, but inside room ended up being totally fine. I was also worried it would be too tight with the pack and play and stroller, but it was tolerable. I’m looking forward to when my daughter is out of the pack and play though!
Main dining: I think this was my favourite rotational dining (previously been on Dream, Fantasy, and Wish). The shows at Animators Palate and Rapunzels were fantastic. The characters at Rapunzels actually come to your table and stay for a moment to talk/take pictures!! I wish they did this on the Wish class ships. As far as food quality, I enjoyed almost everything. There were a few small let downs (the fry bread at Rapunzels was hard as rock, and the Flynn Rider Trio was really tough). Service team was one of the best we’ve had, and super quick! We were always finished within an hour. We waited around to see the end of the shows after we finished eating, on nights with shows. This was nice because we could actually watch the shows without being distracted.
Quick service: I only tried the shawarma once, but it was decent. Nothing amazing, but fine. Same goes for the other quick service (pizza, burgers, etc). Unfortunately the fries were often cold. I drank many hot chocolates, and they were really good!
Shows/entertainment: We weren’t a big fan of Twice Charmed, but glad we got to see it. Tangled and Disney Dreams were both great, and we also had one of the Broadway Stars Series on our sailing (Adam J Levy and Sydnee Winters). It was a bit cheesy, but good. Best though was the Frozen Deck Party! I wish there were more sing-along parties.
Characters: There were way more free roaming characters on this sailing compared to our prior sailings. I’m not sure if this is because it was a 7-night (our prior sailings were all 5-nights or less), or just random. But it was great! One day while walking to the Oceaneers Lab, my daughter and I ran into 4 characters in 10 minutes! Koda was also there on Glacier Day, but only very briefly with no scheduled times.
Glacier viewing: We did every character in their Alaska gear in the morning. I was the designated line-waiter for my family lol. Lines were long, but not insane. They went quickly. No autographs, and limit of 2 pictures per family. I recommend lining up at least 30 minutes in advance for these photos. We arrived late to the glacier around 6:30pm due to a change in itinerary the night before (had to stop in Prince Rupert for a medical emergency). It was FREEZING on the top deck, but beautiful. Definitely pack layers, hat, and mitts. This was the coldest day by far.
Skagway: We did Liarsville Disney Exclusive in Skagway. Overall it was good for young kids, and just the right length of time for my toddler. Heads up in the buffet, they don’t have salmon. They do the salmon bake AFTER you’ve gotten all your buffet food, probably so people fill up on the cheaper food and don’t eat as much salmon. They also didn’t announce when the salmon was ready, so I think lots of people didn’t even realised they could get some, and then it was time to leave. So if you want salmon, don’t eat too much from the buffet!
Icy Straight Point: We did the mammal and whale watching tour through Disney. I was a bit worried because I saw some negative reviews about it being crowded and a huge boat. But it was honestly great! Yes it’s a big boat, but it never felt crowded. We saw orcas, humpbacks, seals, and otters. I liked that the top deck was also enclosed, but had huge windows for easy sightseeing. There’s an outdoor platform too, but we preferred indoors with a toddler. In the afternoon, my daughter went to nursery and my wife and I did the zip rider. I wish more instructions had been given prior to the zip rider, because it would have saved us from wasting time. The check-in point is at Wilderness Den, which is after the first gondola. We mistakenly assumed that after check-in, we’d be going up the second big gondola as a group with the excursion, and therefore wouldn’t be able to explore the top of the mountain. This is not the case. After you check-in, you’re on your own. You go up the gondola alone, and your ride time is actually 30 minutes later, so you have time to explore. So we went to the top of the mountain, came back down to check-in, and then went back up again and had to wait more. If we’d known the process, we would have spent more time at ground level exploring the shops, and just gone up the gondola once.
Ketchikan: We booked the Disney Exclusive Lumberjack show. I would not recommend it for toddlers. It is LOUD. It also only started about an hour after the ticket time. The ticket time is for when the doors open, but good luck getting a seat together if you don’t show up early. Waited an hour for the show to start, and then left 10 minutes into it because it was too unbearably loud for our toddler. I read a lot of reviews before booking, and I’m surprised I never came across this mentioned in anything I read. Exploring the rest of the town was fun. We’d been here before, but walking Creek Street never gets old. We also tried Jellyfish Donuts, which were very tasty!
Nursery: As always, the staff were amazing. There must not have been many infants on the ship, because nursery was almost always empty. Our daughter went every night for 2 hours so we could go to the shows, and she was often the only kid there. Crazy compared to previous sailings where we could hardly get a spot. They did tons of crafts, watched movies, and had 2 surprise character visits (they even gave us a Polaroid picture of her and Pluto in nursery!).
Kids clubs open house: There were many open houses everyday, which was great. We checked out every club, and my daughter had a blast. She especially loved the Captains Deck in the Oceaneers Club.
Palo Brunch: This was our first time ever trying Palo, and I understand now why people rave about it. Food and service were phenomenal, probably a highlight of the trip.
Canada Day: We were onboard for Canada Day, and Cabanas had a Canadian spread at lunch! Maple chicken, salmon, poutine (!!!), Nanaimo bars, potato salad, etc. They also had Canadian trivia and crafts, and played Turning Red on Funnel Vision. As a Canadian family, I thought this was really sweet. Unfortunately we missed it due to nap time, but one of the passengers also organized an informal get-together for Canadian passengers to celebrate.
Facebook group / Fish Extenders: We did kids, adults, and recipe fish extender. I was blown away by the things we received, people were so generous and thoughtful. In previous sailings, I feel like we gave way more than we received (which we were fine with, we enjoy the exchanges). So we were shocked we received so many gifts this time! My daughter loved finding things in the fish extender. Our Facebook group also had a WhatsApp chat which was incredibly helpful for sharing tips / wildlife sightings / character sightings (like Koda!) / food recommendations.
Disembarkation: Also super smooth! We took our time because our flight wasn’t until 12:30pm. Got up at 7:30am, out of the room by 8am and went to Cabanas. They don’t advertise it, but it is open until 8:30am. Had breakfast and slowly made our way off the ship. There was basically no line when we exited at 8:40am, and we were on the SkyTrain to the airport by around 9:15.
Didn’t experience: Any of the adult shows, bingo, alcohol, trivia, magician, pools/slides (too cold for us - but some people ventured in!)