Disney Magic 7-Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 5: November 11, 2025

After consecutive days in port, a well-timed sea day was exactly what we needed to catch up on some leisure time. Whether you want to stay on the go or simply find a lounge chair and chill, there’s plenty to do — and plenty of deck space to do nothing at all. We pretty much went with the latter, wrapped around Palo Brunch and a bonus behind-the-scenes tour!

As with Palo dinner, I’ve already covered Palo Brunch at length in previous posts, so I’ll skip the full breakdown — other than saying we had Soraia again as our server, delivering another round of pure, gluttonous gastronomical pleasure. Instead, today we’ll focus on the ship’s amenities and some key areas of interest.

All Ahead Full!

Now about that special surprise — we had the pleasure of receiving a private tour of the Engine Control Room by Chief Engineer Hugo himself! While many cruise lines offer behind-the-scenes tours that include the engine room, galleys, storage areas, and even the ever-popular bridge tour, Disney Cruise Line stopped offering all of these after 9/11. I have no doubt they receive constant requests to bring them back — and could easily sell them out as an upcharge event — but more than twenty years later, Disney still chooses not to resume them, citing security and proprietary reasons.

On one of the first nights of the cruise, I threw out a challenge to Kendall, our Head Server, to see if he could arrange a galley tour. Unfortunately, that wasn’t something he could pull off. Not to be deterred, I took a friend’s suggestion (shoutout to Rocky!) and aimed even higher — an engineering tour.

I approached our wonderful Cruise Director, Joel, one evening while he was making his rounds. He took down my information and said he’d check with the Chief Engineer to see what might be possible — no promises, of course. We didn’t hear anything the next day, though we kept holding out hope that we’d eventually return to our stateroom to a blinking message light.

As we were finishing dinner, we were pleasantly surprised to receive a notification in the Disney Navigator app:

Thank you, Joel!! When the time came, we excitedly made our way down to the Port Adventures desk. We were met by Kiki from the Entertainment Operations team, along with Joel, who introduced us to Hugo, Chief Engineer of the Disney Magic. From there, we were escorted down to Deck 1 and into the crew corridors, eventually arriving at the Engine Control Room. This truly was a private tour — the only people in the room were the two of us, Hugo, and his First Assistant, who was manning the monitors.

Hugo started by giving us an overview of the operation, his role, and the work of the team of 18 engineers he oversees. Because we were at sea, we had a live-action look at what literally keeps the ship moving. He began by explaining the engines, how they’re integrated, and what they’re capable of.

The Disney Magic is equipped with five diesel engines, but they don’t all operate at once. Instead, they rotate usage as part of the ship’s preventative maintenance schedule. At the time of our visit, Engines 1, 3, and 5 were online at roughly 70% capacity, powering the ship at 17 knots. According to Hugo, that setup can push the ship up to around 21 knots if needed.

He explained that the monitoring systems are designed so that if any engine exceeds 85% load capacity, a designated backup engine automatically kicks in to share the workload and prevent anything from reaching a “red line.” In this case, Engine 4 was in standby mode. I asked how long it would take for the backup engine to ramp up and sync into operation. I expected the answer to be a few minutes — but surprisingly, the process happens within seconds.

A key distinction Hugo emphasized is that these diesel engines don’t drive pistons like a car engine. Instead, they generate electricity, which then powers the electric motors that turn the drive shaft running bow to stern. In other words, the engines generate power, and the electricity drives the ship.

Engine usage also varies by situation. Since they power everything on the ship — from propulsion to lights and outlets — even while docked, one engine must always be running. On sea days that don’t require high cruising speeds, the ship can operate on just two engines, maintaining a comfortable 12–14 knots. On the flip side, strong winds or heavy seas may require a fourth engine to maintain the typical 18–21 knots, leaving the fifth engine as the only reserve.

So now we know what makes the ship go forward — but how does it turn?

There are two answers.

1. The primary steering system: Two rudders located behind the ship’s dual fixed propellers. The props themselves do not pivot like an outboard motor; instead, the rudders shift angle to steer the ship. This is how the ship makes those slow, gradual course changes while at sea.
2. The secondary steering system: Side-mounted thrusters — three at the bow and two at the stern. These allow for low-speed maneuvering, especially when docking. Thrusters make it possible for the ship to move nearly sideways with very little forward movement. If you’ve ever watched a ship spin 180 degrees to back into a port like Nassau, this is exactly how it’s done.

One of our biggest concerns about sailing on a smaller vessel was whether we’d feel more rocking and experience a higher degree of motion sickness. To be fair, we encountered relatively calm seas for the duration of the cruise, but there were still moments — especially when sitting near a pool — where you could see waves forming inside it as the water level rose and fell by nearly a foot, creating a mini wave-pool effect for anyone cooling off.

While chatting with Hugo, Angie asked about the ship’s stabilizer system and mentioned how pleasantly surprised we’d been by how smooth the sailing felt. At this question, he practically beamed with pride. He said there’s a big misconception that smaller ships experience more turbulent motion. Even though the Disney Magic is the oldest ship in the fleet, it still employs modern stabilizer “wings” that extend into the sea to balance the ship — just like the newer and larger vessels.

He explained that it works much like a person extending their arms while walking across a balance beam to maintain stability. And although a smaller ship does have different buoyancy characteristics, the motion isn’t felt as drastically as many passengers expect.

One of the most notable observations we made was the size of the control room itself. When we toured the Engine Control Room on the MSC World America this past summer, we were struck by how compact it was — especially considering that ship is more than twice the size of the Disney Magic. In contrast, the Magic’s control room was double the size of MSC’s.

This difference comes down to age and technology. The World America is one of the newest vessels at sea and is almost completely computerized, with nearly every system monitored through sleek touch screens. The Disney Magic, despite undergoing numerous upgrades over the years, still has many systems that aren’t compatible with full modernization.

In layman’s terms: half the ship is running Windows 11, while parts of it are still hanging on to Windows Vista (don’t knock it — I loved that OS!). Because of this, the control panels are larger and more physical. In some areas, you can even spot blank panels covering sections that once housed switches and dials that have since been replaced by on-screen controls.

We spent a little more than half an hour with Hugo, who welcomed every question and did an outstanding job explaining the operation. We truly appreciated this sprinkle of pixie dust and give a huge thank you to Joel for arranging it — and especially to Hugo for taking time out of his day to share his knowledge and passion with us.

It’s also a great reminder of the old saying: it never hurts to ask — the worst they can say is no. While the crew can’t always accommodate every request, this goes to show that if they can make something happen, they will. On the flip side, I encourage anyone making special requests to do so with respect and courtesy. If they aren’t able to honor it, thank them for trying and accept the answer. Don’t pester or pressure them into a different outcome.

Thar be Pirates!

Tonight is Pirate Night ship-wide. This means all three dining rooms serve the same pirate-themed menu, the servers don their swashbuckling best, and passengers are encouraged to join in on the fun. Since we were still full from brunch, we kept dinner on the lighter side and skipped most of the appetizers and early courses. Of course, I had to have the marinated shrimp, paired with my strip loin and a side of shrimp and scallops.

Dessert was ordered to go as we simply didn’t have room left!

Pirate Night festivities after dinner include photo ops with Captain Jack, Captain Hook, and the Fab Five in their full pirate attire. The pool deck comes alive at 10:00 p.m. with the Pirate Deck Party, followed by the signature fireworks at sea at 10:30, and a pirate dance party to cap off the night.

Unfortunately, as we were entering full food-coma territory, neither of us made it past 9:30! This is a rarity for me in particular, and missing the fireworks — a Disney Cruise Line exclusive and one of my absolute favorite parts of these sailings — definitely stung a little. Luckily, I’ll have a few more chances to catch them soon.

If you’d like to check out the fireworks extravaganza from our Disney Fantasy sailing, you can view it here.

And now, on with the show ship!

I know, I know — I’ve been promising more details about the ship’s layout and amenities. With no further ado, I present to you… your dinner~

While the Disney Magic is about two-thirds the size of the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, they share very similar layouts and amenities — just in more condensed form.

For theaters, you still have the Walt Disney Theater, which hosts the Broadway-style productions and featured variety acts, along with the Buena Vista Theater, a traditional movie theater showing the latest Disney films. The biggest difference is that on the Magic, the Walt Disney Theater is a single-level venue on Deck 4, whereas on the Dream and Fantasy it spans two levels, with main-floor seating on Deck 3 and a balcony on Deck 4.

To be honest, I never stepped inside the Buena Vista Theater on the Magic. There wasn’t anything playing that isn’t already on Disney+ — except the newest Freaky Friday installment — so I skipped it this trip.

The After Hours crowd can choose between Keys, Fathoms, and O’Gills. Grouped together on Deck 3 Forward, you can easily roam from one to the next as the mood strikes. If you look at the martini glass logo upside down, it’s supposed to look like Sorcerer Mickey’s hat. I’m thinking maybe that’s easier to see after you’ve had a few — otherwise, it’s a bit of a stretch.

Keys is a classic piano bar offering a variety of music across genres — Disney classics, show tunes, 70s, 80s, 90s hits, and plenty more. It has that refined, old-school dark-wood saloon feel, perfect for enjoying a conversation with some atmospheric background music. It also seems like the place to go for smoked cocktails and high-end adult beverages.

This isn’t a dueling-pianos, karaoke-free-for-all kind of spot, but I’ll admit… when “Piano Man” came on, there may have been some guests swaying in their seats and singing along.

O’Gills Pub is an Irish-style sports bar where you can enjoy the ManningCast (just seeing if you’re still paying attention) or catch other sporting events on the many televisions throughout the space — from large wall-mounted screens to private booth TVs. They also put out a nightly snack buffet around 10:00 p.m. It’s definitely a rowdier setting than the other lounges, but nothing over the top.

Fathoms is where you’ll catch the “adult” versions of the variety performances, along with a slew of interactive game shows like the Magic Finder I talked about earlier in the week. Another one I watched was called Heard That!, an adaptation of Name That Tune. Teams were formed by families or seating sections, and the host would play a song. Instead of naming the song itself, the challenge was more like: “Which 80s sitcom used this as its theme song?” or “Which boy band topped the charts with this track?”

Teams would then race up to hit a buzzer and shout out their answers. Lots of tomfoolery, good-natured rivalries, and plenty of laughs.

What would Disney be without gift shops? Don’t worry — you’ll find them on Deck 4 as you exit the Walt Disney Theater and walk toward the Atrium midship. Every Disney ship features Mickey’s Mainsail, White Caps, and Sea Treasures.

Here you can get your fill of DCL-logo merchandise, stuffed animals, coffee mugs, and all the usual paraphernalia. T-shirts, spirit jerseys, polo shirts, and even bathrobes with the Mouse’s likeness emblazoned on them. And of course, we can’t forget about the shiny objects — yes, they have plenty of those too.

The atrium is much like the ones on the other Disney ships we’ve sailed, complete with Sailor Mickey as the center statue at the base of the grand staircase. The only difference? Stop me if you’ve heard this one — it’s shrunken down.

Even so, it’s still gorgeous, with a crystal chandelier hanging two decks above, glass elevators framing the space, and the main entrance to Lumiere’s right off the atrium. As our week wrapped up, they had also begun construction on the lobby gingerbread house for the upcoming Merrytime Cruises.

That’s a pretty good look at the interior spaces. Tomorrow we’ll cover the pool decks and the sports deck. It’s off to bed as we make our way to St. John’s, Antigua. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading along so far, and we’ll see what treasures await us the rest of the way.

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