Disney Magic 7-Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 7: November 13, 2025

So while reading Scott’s recent day 3 post aboard the Rotterdam, it hit me — I completely forgot to do my day 7 review and trip wrap-up from our latest adventure. OOPS! For those of you living vicariously through us, my sincerest apologies. I may just have to book another cruise to make it up to you… purely for your benefit, of course.

On this day we made port in another first-time locale — Basseterre, St. Kitts. Just like our earlier “new to us” stops, we booked a scenic island tour to get a feel for the culture, history, and layout before saving the afternoon for some unguided exploring and a little souvenir hunting.

This is what Disney Cruise Line has to say about St. Kitt’s:

St. Kitts is 69 square miles with a population of 31,880. White-sand beaches, sapphire waters and a vibrant green rainforest mingle alongside historic, centuries-old sites that tell a deeper story of a culture that continues to inspire all who visit.

Local Culture and Flavor
To immerse yourself in the hustle and bustle of St. Kitts, take a spin at the Circus—a roundabout in the center of town, where among the many charming shops and eateries, you can snap pictures of the historic Berkeley Memorial Clock.

After a day of exploration, grab a bite at one of the many eateries around town. Seafood is the popular delicacy in the area. Roast beef and mouthwatering delicacies rich in fruits and vegetables are also popular. Tropical favorites, including conch fritters, glazed passion fruit ribs and mango chicken, are plentiful.

Past and Present
The history of St. Kitts is rooted in the numerous battles that were waged for its control. In 100 BC, the Saladoid people settled the region, followed by the Igneri in 800 AD. Around 1300 AD, the Kalinago tribe named the place “Liamuiga” or “fertile island.”

The arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493 heralded the beginning of a near 300-year power struggle between England, France and Spain for control of the West Indies. During this time, tobacco and sugar were the main exports of St. Kitts. The island became known as St. Christopher’s after Columbus “discovered it.” Later, it was nicknamed “St. Kitts.”

Today, tourism is the main economy in St. Kitts. It’s impossible to visit and not be reminded of the African, European and Caribbean influences that exist everywhere you look—a diversity that continues to accentuate the breathtaking beauty that has forever existed throughout the island.

We arrived in port nice and early and had an all ashore of 7 am with everyone needing to be back for all aboard of 4 pm. Once again Mother Nature was smiling down on us with sunny skies and temps ranging between a morning 74* and warming nicely to 84*.

Joining us this day was the Celebrity Beyond and the Caribbean Princess (don’t look but I think she may be stalking us!). With three ships docked the port area was busy but really didn’t feel crowded. More on that later.

Before diving into the day’s events we have to start with arguably the most important occurrence, that being breakfast in Cabana’s featuring the ever popular CHURRO MICKEY WAFFLES. Eat your heart out MSC! And no, I don’t think I’ll ever get over being served those frozen Eggo’s. The churro Mickey Waffles have become a cult craving across the Disney fleet. Originating on the Disney Fantasy as a treat for the last sea day they can now be enjoyed on either the last sea day or last sailing day depending on the ship and itinerary. Heaven coated in cinnamon sugar.

Scenes of St. Kitts Shore Excursion

With sufficient fuel, and a little sugar buzz, we made our way to the assembly station for our tour. Everything was running smoothly and we had only a few minutes before being escorted off the ship and onto the pier to be handed off to the tour company.

Let’s take a look at the billing for this excursion and see how it measures up in reality:

Scene’s of St. Kitts ~ Get an up-close look at the art of batik-making at historic Romney Manor and pause for several scenic photo stops.

On this adventure, you will:

• Board an air-conditioned minibus and drive for approximately 35 minutes around Basseterre. See carefully preserved classic Victorian architecture and other elements of French and British colonization, including the Berkeley Memorial, Independence Square, St. George’s Anglican Church and the impressive Catholic Co-Cathedral.
• Arrive at Fairview Great House & Botanical Gardens and tour the 3.5-acre estate for approximately 30 minutes. Discover the Old World charm of its lovingly restored Great House, whose main floor is furnished in authentic colonial style.
• Stroll its meticulously landscaped tropical garden and take in stunning views of the Caribbean Sea, the Southeast Peninsula and St. Kitts’ sister island, Nevis.
• Reboard your minibus and travel approximately 20 minutes to Romney Manor—home of Caribelle Batik, famed for its fashion apparel made using the 2,500-year-old Indonesian process of batik printing. This 10-acre estate features a botanical garden boasting exotic palms, delicate orchids and flowering shrubs. You will visit Romney Manor for about 30 minutes.
• Travel approximately 30 minutes to the southeastern side of the island as your guide discusses the ongoing development in Frigate Bay. Enjoy panoramic views of the Basseterre Valley and Frigate Bay resort area, featuring hotels, an 18-hole golf course and hundreds of elegant homes.
• Drive another 10 minutes to the top of Timothy Hill. Admire views of the Atlantic to the east and the tranquil Caribbean Sea to the west.
• See the rolling hills of the Southeast Peninsula, a future hot spot for tourism development, during a quick photo stop.

The well-oiled machine hit its first hiccup as the Disney team handed the baton over to the tour company on the pier. Our group was directed to join behind another that had already been escorted out. As we pointed out to the guides we were not the same excursion, they just shrugged and said we were all going to the same place. Now for perspective Disney uses color-coded avatar stickers for each guest to designate which group they belong to — we were Hercules. The group they merged us with was Maleficent. Okay, not my circus — not my monkeys. As they were counting passengers they split off two couples from the Maleficent group and had them join what would become our busload. Not giving anyone any explanation other than they were balancing out the buses.

After returning home and looking back at excursion listings we saw that this particular excursion was offered in two versions: families or adults only. My guess is that the four guests who were moved into our bus had signed up for the adults only version yet got to enjoy the family in the back of the bus with a kid crying and screaming half the trip. While that didn’t directly affect us, if I had been in their place and specifically signed up for a kid-free day I would have had a few words with the Port Adventure Desk upon returning. I will say — this was not on Disney as they clearly had us in separate groups when leaving the ship. Not a good look for the tour company administering the excursion though.

While being led off the pier to the parking lot to board the bus I mentioned to Angie how nice and new all of them looked. Alas, we walked past all the shiny new rides and were escorted into what had to be the oldest one in the lot. Also to clarify: they referred to them as buses; in actuality it was a 20-person van. Big van? Small bus? As soon as I sat down, any hopes of getting decent pictures out of the windows became spoiled as they were tinted and rather dirty. I don’t think it had seen rain or a car wash in a long time. As Disney is all about the show, this was clearly foreshadowing of the day to come.

The drive began as advertised with a winding route through town and quick peeks at the historical landmarks. There was a ton of potential here but due to the movement of traffic and the aforementioned windows that was about it — a passing glance and a quick explanation of its heritage. It felt a bit rushed with no opportunities for the driver to pause or pull aside for a moment as it was in the heart of town.

From there we made our way towards the countryside along a coastal road that offered views of the sea below and hills inland heading towards our first stop at Fairview Great House & Botanical Gardens. Upon arrival our driver opened the door and instructed us to head up to the main entrance and we would be greeted by a guide for a brief tour.

And there is fail number 3. Without a proper handoff we walked in and caught about sixty seconds of a speech directed at a previous tour before that guide instructed us to enjoy our way around the gardens as she walked away. A little confused, our group dispersed as instructed to look around.

One of the reasons we chose this particular option was the botanical gardens. Somewhere along the line I’ve developed the old man gene of “gardening, golfing, and stay off my lawn!”. In particular I’m always looking for more attractive plants to liven up the landscaping. Well if they call this a botanical garden I need to start charging admission to my backyard! That’s really all this was — a yard. There were some trees and plants scattered around but nothing was kept up. In fact, I saw a few of the largest plumeria trees (Frangipani) I’ve ever seen. However the condition they were in bordered on sacrilege with many rotting limbs and crawling with caterpillars that devastated the few leaves that were hanging on for their lives. As this is my favorite species of tree I wanted to have a few words with the horticulturist on staff. One of the wonderful things about this plant is its resilience. Even with all the rotted and decaying limbs they could be saved simply by pruning them before the desiccated sections, stimulating new growth. I’ll shed a few tears for these as I lovingly admire the fifty or so (yes fifty, with about three dozen different colors) I have at home. We’ll safely call this fail number 4. If you are not familiar with plumerias they are what are used to make lei’s in Hawaii.

We also saw a variety of bougainvilleas, queen palms and a Hong Kong orchid tree. All commonly found in Florida. I could have gone to any number of local nurseries, or simply driven around my neighborhood for that matter, to see this.

Number 5 quickly came as we saw some of our party heading back to the bus so we fell in line. It was then we realized that the driver never gave us a return time so we all basically just guessed. Except for two. The driver had to go in and search for them so we could continue onto the next stop.

Continuing along the way our driver gave more insight to the history of the island and its culture. A few key notes of interest:

• Columbus was “rescued” by the natives on the island in 1492 as he was searching for India. They refuse to acknowledge that he discovered the island as he wasn’t looking for it to begin with! Hey, they have a good point there. This also is how the surrounding area became known as the West Indies.
• The island is swarming with two things — mango trees and monkeys. In fact the population of monkeys is estimated to be a 3:1 ratio to that of humans. I’ll take his word for it but we didn’t see any monkeys roaming the trees or hanging out on fences. While we did see mango trees almost everywhere we looked it was stated that they rarely get to eat any of them as the monkeys get to them first.

Prior to arriving at Romney Manor Botanical Gardens we wound our way through a section of rain forest, offering promise that this stop would tender a wider array of plant life. This time the driver got out and announced he would be our guide through this destination. As we filed out of the van I asked him about a specific flower that I had seen along the drive in virtually every yard we passed. He stated that it was the national flower — a hibiscus. Hmm. It didn’t look like any hibiscus I’ve ever seen (we have multiple and they are one of the most common flowers for landscaping in Florida). For a minute I wondered if he was mistaking it for a lowbiscus or seabiscus (a little Jungle Cruise humor there!). I shook it off and assumed he was just spewing a flower name that he knew hoping I wouldn’t know the difference.

Romney Manor was definitely a step up in the botanical garden aspect. While not very large, the stated 10 acres seemed a stretch, there was a variety of different plants including: traveling palms, bromeliads, lipstick trees, elephant ears, different cacti and aloe, and more bougainvilleas. Nothing spectacular but at least it fit the description.

When we regathered in the van the driver tried to correct himself by saying that the plant in question was a poinciana. Valiant effort but still wrong. Doing my own research revealed it to be an allamanda.

The next stop salvaged the morning as we wound our way to Timothy Hill on the southeastern side of the island. This offered stunning views of not only the Caribbean Sea but also the Atlantic Ocean and inland towards the island. It was a small pull-off with a parking lot but it seemed half the excursions on the island were there so it was difficult to get pictures without a bunch of random strangers photobombing. With how crowded it was the allotted ten minutes was a little insufficient. I will give our driver credit for warning us prior to getting out of the van that there were locals offering for you to take pictures with their pet monkeys (finally a monkey!) but be aware they’ll hound you for payment as soon as you do.

From there it was back to the port. I’m sure you don’t need to ask if I’d recommend doing this excursion. At $59 pp for adults and $39 for ages 3-9 I’m sure you could find much better ways to support the local economy. I’d even go so far as to double-check and avoid any tours offered by this proprietor.

Port of Basseterre

It’s always a mission to get a souvenir from each island we visit. The port itself, while not as sprawling as Oranjestad or Willemstad, offers a wide array of shops, open-air bars and restaurants. The classics like Cariloha and Del Sol, Diamonds International, Island Treasures and an abundance of others present a slew of ways to not only spend money but time. There was even a Hard Rock Café right off the ship. Even with three ships in port this day there was plenty of area within the immediate vicinity that it never felt crowded while walking around.

Many of the historical sights we drove past while leaving the port were also within a short walking distance into town, and if we had forgone the drive we could have simply strolled around and appreciated them better.

The Dreaded Time Arrives

We returned to our stateroom to find the dreaded disembarkation information waiting for us. With a little over an hour before our dining time, we decided to start the unenviable task of packing our suitcases. Begrudgingly, we made our way down to dinner back in Lumiere’s for the night 2 menu.

If you have to go out—go out in style. And I did with another evening of surf-n-turf consisting of Prime Rib and lobster. The prime rib was tender and juicy to a medium-rare perfection, with the succulent lobster combining for an absolutely delicious meal. Topping it off with a crème brûlée chaser made it a last meal worthy of death row.

Dreams – An Enchanted Classic

The final Broadway-style show in the Walt Disney Theater was a presentation of Dreams – An Enchanted Classic. This is a story of a young tween reaching the age when childhood dreams and reality become blurred. In another Dickensian twist, she is visited by a spirit guide, Peter Pan, who takes her on a magical journey through song by your favorite Disney characters. Appearances by Aladdin, Belle and Mrs. Potts, Ariel and Sebastian, Cinderella, Anna, Elsa and Olaf, as well as some friends from Pride Rock, make this a solid hum-along. While it shares a stylistic approach with Disney’s Believe on the Dream and Fantasy, it lacked that gut punch of feels. Wonderfully performed, with the exception of Mrs. Potts and Sebastian’s songs using the dubbed theatrical performances of Angela Lansbury and Samuel E. Wright respectively. I’ll definitely watch it again on future sailings of the Magic.

Till we meet again…!

The final chance to see the Fab 5 and your favorite princesses occurs during the “Till We Meet Again” celebration. Taking place in the main atrium, they make their entrance down the grand staircase with a short fifteen-minute window to get those last-minute photo ops and hugs before they make their exit to the classic Mickey Mouse Club send-off. “Now it’s time to say good-bye to all our company. M-I-C, see you real soon! K-E-Y, why? Because we like you! M-O-U-S-E.”

Not much better way to say good night and good-bye. We’ll do a brief recap and send-off tomorrow. Again, sorry for the delay — I hope it was worth the wait!

Daily Schedule

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