Check in at the port was very smooth and when you check in you receive a number. They board the ship by group numbers which makes for an easy boarding experience. We had made reservations for Palo, which is the adult only restaurant onboard, but decided to cancel the reservation since our dining room staff was so great and the food was the best of all the Disney cruises we had taken. A word about the pre-reservations - you can book these in advance and even by going on to the site the day we could start booking, the brunch at Palo was sold out as was the afternoon tea.
Navigator's Veranda 
We purchased a week pass for the Rainforest Room, which used to be $75 per person but was not $90 per person. The Rainforest Room is a thermal suite with an Arabian theme. Inside are two steam rooms, one which incorporates aromatherapy; a sauna; tropical rain showers; and the best part of all, heated tile lounge chairs. There is a fountain in the center of the room and spa music plays softly in the background. We have always loved this part of our cruise experience but this time we were disappointed. It seems as though there are people using this room without paying. There is no one to check on this. You are supposed to leave your room key at the front desk but you end up waiting a long time to do so. We finally gave up on doing this. The spa area was short staffed and it showed. The one sauna was not hot at all and we, along with others, asked all week about it being repaired, but it never was. The music was not playing and the aroma shower had no "aroma". I had made a reservation for Tommy to have a massage the first day we were on the ship.
As Disney Vacation Club members we received more lanyards (these were a bit nicer), more pins, and a really nice Captain’s Log scrapbook. We also had a Castaway Club reception as well as a DVC member reception during the week.
Also located at the Vista Spa is the fitness center. The fitness center has been enlarged, but it is still small compared to other cruise lines.
Dining: There are three early dining times (5:30, 5:45, and 6:00) and three late dining times (8:00, 8:15, and 8:30) and three restaurants through which you rotate during the week. We started at Lumiere’s restaurant which would be considered the fanciest of the three. On Monday we went on to Animator’s Palate and Tuesday we were at Parrot Cay, my favorite of the three. Animator’s Palate starts out in black and white and by the end of your dining time, the room is in full color. Color is “magically” added to the walls and to the waiter’s vests. There are tv screens on the walls and they first show the old black and white cartoons then the color cartoons. Parrot Cay has a colorful tropical theme to it. Your wait staff also follows you to the various restaurants throughout your week. The food was very good to excellent, especially when you ordered one of the waiter’s suggestions. There were various themes, such as Pirate’s night and International night. The lobster tail dinner at the Captain’s dinner was great. Pirate's night has gotten extremely popular! Our tablemates, as well as many of the guests, went all-out with their pirate costumes, to the point of having a Mickey and Pooh dressed as pirates as well.
There are not a lot of late night things to do even though the one bar stays open late. It seems that most people leave around midnight. The staff does a good job of getting people involved and dancing and just having a good time. One thing I miss is the casino. Disney does not have one onboard, even though they do have bingo. Who knows, maybe they will add them to their new ships they are building. It would also be nice to have some things like miniature golf onboard as well.
As for our ports of call, we grabbed a taxi and headed to Magen's Bay in St Thomas. This is our favorite thing to do and is quite economical compared to booking this through the cruise line. In Tortola, we took an excursion to a beach club and enjoyed our time there. The island is the most mountainous I have been on and it made for an exciting ride. And of course, Castaway Cay is the best. We were off the ship bright and early and headed off to the adult only beach. It started raining, then lightning started so we had to move off the beach and take cover. This only lasted about 20 minutes and the rest of the day was great. We had our buffet lunch right there at the beach and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Overall, the Disney Magic is a great ship and I would recommend it to any age group.
