Disney Magic Sept 15 - 25th

In the morning we went to the street fair and outdoor church service we were invited to in Deal, England. Both were very nice and if we lived in England, we would have bought so much. The outdoor church service was great as they included the youth with the adults throughout the service.
Drove back to the Enterprise lot and returned the car. They gave us a ride to the ship.
Our room was beautiful with a full balcony (they call it a veranda) and the goodies I had pre-ordered. There were Disney stalactites (for lack of a better word) and a bottle of fine champagne. We settled in and had a glass of the bubbly. Then we explored the ship. What an awesome place. It is Walt Disney World on the sea.
Got underway around 4:30.
As one would expect, the North Atlantic is a bit chilly and windy in September, but Lilia went swimming a couple times and we read along side the pool often.
For supper, the way they do it, you, your table mates and all the staff go to a different restaurant three days in a row, then you start over. We started in the Rapunzel Dining room, then the next evening on to the Luminiere Dining room

and then the Animators Tablet Dining Room. It was a great idea and they occasionally had shows in these rooms during dinner. Rapunzel and various other characters often came to the Rapunzel Dining Room.
We stopped at Plymouth England, Cork Ireland, and we were supposed to stop in St. John’s and Halifax Canada but hurricane Humberto was coming up the coast and we went around it straight to NYC. Got to NYC a day early and had a night onboard in the nicest hotel in NYC. Lilia and I went into the city that day and we ended up purchasing another suitcase for the dirty laundry.
Back to the ship in time for our last meal with our newfound table friends.
Now I will talk about the cruise. The first port was Portland. Some folks took a tour to Stonehenge but, since we had already been there, we took the shuttle into Weymouth. Had a nice time exploring in a nice town.
Then off to Cork. Again, took the shuttle. I have to say that it is a rundown town. We did some more souvenir shopping.
Then out to sea for our next stop in St. John’s Canada, but along the way, the captain had determined that we would run into very rough seas because of the hurricane so he altered course south to go around it. Of course we had to forgo the Canada stops.

The rest of the cruise was uneventful, although some rock & rolling and strong winds at times. Lilia had found a place on-board where they actually had coffee that had some coffee in it, so every morning I would go get us some. They had great shows in the evening and Disney characters wandering all the time for photo-ops.
We attended animation class and drew Mickey, Steamboat Willy, Pluto and Scar. Remember, Mickey is a few circles and ovals! The man who is the voice of Mickey was on board and he gave seminars and animation demonstrations. He used to be an animator.
Lilia and I saw a couple Dolphin

and some flying fish.

Departure from the ship went very smoothly and we met Maria and Elliott on the street corner. Apparently they don’t allow pickups near the ships anymore.