Thugs at Sea on the Disney Magic

Today on the Disney Magic (June 25) we get to enjoy our third day at sea.

Thugs have taken over the ship because today we are celebrating Tangled:  The Musical, Disney’s newest production in the Walt Disney Theater.

Found out today we have 2,301 passengers on board for this cruise.  Over 1,500 are repeat cruisers.

Here’s a few facts published today in the Disney Navigator:

8,260 cups of coffee served everyday.

5,390 pillows onboard (we have 7 in our room alone)

5,000 eggs served every morning for breakfast.  984 of those are made into omelettes.

200 whole pizzas at Pinocchio’s Pizzeria are served.

Over 450 burgers at Pete’s Boiler Bites are grilled.

Over 1,200 servings of ice cream are served at Eye Scream.

Tonight we get to move our clocks ahead one more hour again.  Uggh.  This will be the last time we have to move those clocks forward, thank goodness.

In case you haven’t heard, now in the mornings there is a pre-recorded show called “Good Morning Disney Magic” hosted by our cruise director Clayton.  He gives all the highlights and upcoming events and activities for the day.  I know in May when I was on the Disney Fantasy, Natalie was doing “Good Morning Disney Fantasy” so it must be something they are doing on all the ships now.  I like it because you can watch it in the morning at your own leisure when getting ready for the day.

We went by the Port Adventure Desk and picked up our game card for “Spot a Thug” and then searched around the ship for the pictures of the thugs for the game.  There is no prize for the game, but it is a fun activity to do during the sea day.

Went to the 2 p.m. matinee of Tangled:  The Musical.  There were a few technical glitches hopefully they will have that corrected for tonight’s show.  But it was still fabulous.

Play Bingo in the afternoon and then get ready for dinner.  It is cruise casual again.  Wish they would have made semi-formal on our sea day since we would have more time to get ready instead of a port day.

Dinner was the menu “Land and Sea”.  They have regional favorites on the menu each night on this cruise too.  I really enjoy the regional favorites on each menu so we can choose them throughout the cruise.  During dinner the palace guards come through the restaurant trying to find Flynn Ryder.

After dinner, we hurry off to The Snuggly Duckling.  The Thugs have taken over O’Gills Pub for this event.  We have some tomfoolery and play Thugo (a version of Bingo) and sing.  O’Gill’s is packed for this event.  You will want to try to get there by 7:30 pm for the 8 pm event if you want any chance of getting a seat.

As soon as Thugo is done we are off to the Walt Disney Theater for Tangled:  The Musical.  Seems like they have taken care of the technical issues they had earlier in the day.  The show is fabulous.  I have seen it 5 times now.  I love it!  Can’t wait to cruise on the Disney Magic again to see it next time.

After the show, there is an adult show in The Snuggly Duckling at 10:15.  Once again if you want any attempt at a seat, you need to be there by 9:45 pm.

Well, time to move the clock forward another hour.  It is the end of another glorious day.

So for now………goodnight from the Disney Magic!

A Most Beautiful Day in Akureyri, Iceland

Today we are in Akureyri, Iceland.  It is June 24^th already.  Time definitely flies by when you are on vacation on the ship.

First, thanks to Tony Barnhill for the beautiful picture he took of the Disney Magic today in Akureyri and which he gave me permission to use in my blog.  It is one of the most stunning pictures of the ship I have seen.  Thanks again Tony!

Akureyri, Iceland is Iceland’s longest fjord in the Eyjafjordur Channel.  It is also just a stone’s throw from the Arctic Circle (which we passed last night).  Only 18,000 people live here.

Today we are headed out for a day long tour on the Jewels of the North.  I did this tour last year, but my daughter Jamie and her husband Q have selected this one so I will get another perspective of it this year.

First we head to the Godafoss Waterfall –waterfall of the Gods. In the year 1000, the Chieftan was entrusted with the momentous task of deciding whether Icelanders should accept the Christian faith.  When his decision was formally accepted, he went home and threw his statutes of the pagan Gods into the waterfall.  

For those that read my blog last year, this is the place where I went for an accidental dip in the stream and was wet all day.  But this year, the water is not anywhere near as high and the stream is dry, so I did not repeat that feat, thankfully.

Jamie and Q pose for a few pictures at the waterfall.

Next we head to Skutustadagigar which is a natural monument of pseudo craters.  The pseudo craters were formed by steam explosions when the burning lava encountered lakes and wetlands.

There are many lava fields

Next we head to Namafjall Hverir, and just like last year they are still as stinky as ever.  It is a high temperature geothermal area with fumaroles and mud pots.  Along with the steam comes fumarole gas  such as hydrogen sulfide which is where the “stink” comes from.  The hot springs produce considerable sulfur.  In previous centuries the sulfur was used for gun powder.

One Hidden Mickey

As we head back to the ship, we stop for a quick photo op

Back to the ship at 4:15 p.m., we are departing at 4:45 p.m.  We all go out on deck to enjoy the fjords, but it is cold and the headwind is strong, so that doesn’t last long.

While we are eating dinner, the officer on the bridge announces that there are four whales on the port side of the ship, but we are in Animator’s so we don’t see them.

After dinner it is time for Bingo and then off to the Walt Disney Theater for Junnk, who is a percussion and comedy act of four lads from the UK.  They are great and have seen them any times these last couple of years.  However, my son in law has never seen them, so anxious to get his impressions. He absolutely loved the show and thought they were great.

At 10:30 we head to Fathom’s for Round 2 of Match Your Mate.  George and Kathy are the longest married couple in the room (50 years) so they are couple #3.  They don’t miss a beat, they get every question correct and win the game picking up some champagne and rainforest passes.

We have to move our clocks forward one hour tonight, which is okay since tomorrow is a sea day (sea day #3).

Off to the room we go, and we turn on the tv to see what movies are on and I type the blog and before you know it, it is time to call it a night.

So for now……..goodnight from the Disney Magic!

Two Fabulous Days in Reykjavik!

Today we arrive in Reykjavik, Iceland (June 22).  We will be spending the next day and a half here, leaving around noon tomorrow (June 23).

I have arranged a private tour for our group with Icelimo Luxury Travel (check out their Facebook page).  Excited to see Ryan again from Icelimo as we used the company last year and they were awesome!  We are cleared to get off the ship at 9:15 a.m. and sure enough, Ryan is waiting our arrival with our own private vehicle for our group.

Our personal tour guide for the day is Omar.  He has lived in Iceland his whole life and is married and has three children.  His days consist of taking care of his company and spending time with his family.  He said he doesn’t drive for these tours often, but we are the lucky ones to have gotten him today.  In fact he has all his camera equipment with him and is taking pictures of us the whole tour.  He is going to send them to me for our use.  Can't wait to see them.  He even has a drone and takes pictures of our group from the air.

Jamie and Q enjoying their seats in the Mercedes Benz luxury van we are riding in.

We are going on the “Secret Golden Circle Tour” and Omar is actually reversing the order of our tour so we can miss all the other tourists at the sites we will be visiting.  We start on a road that has very little traffic all the way to our first stop where we spend as much time as we want exploring and hiking.

Next we are off to the lake, formed by the volcanic eruptions in Iceland.  The name is: Gestastofa where the American and Europe tectonic plates have separated

In the background of this picture with Jamie and Q you can see the separation of the tectonic plates between the two continents.

We see some owls on our journey

Next we head for lunch at an all organic farm for hamburgers and ice cream.  And then we feed some Icelandic Horses apples we have brought from the ship.

Then it is off to Geysisstofa Geysir and some more hiking

There she blows:

Next off to Gullfoss

Now we are off to a Secret Lagoon and Omar is able to get us some local strawberries, cucumber and tomatoes to try from one of his local farmer friends.

Thanks Omar for a great day and night!

 These strawberries were delicious.  Best I've had in a long time.

Then believe it or not it is after 8:30 at night so we are headed back to the ship.  We take the long journey back arriving about 10:15 and it is still so light outside it feels like the middle of the day.  We head up on deck for a couple quick slices of pizza before heading back to the room.

We have an early morning (7 a.m. excursion) to the Blue Lagoon with Disney in the morning.

So Goodnight from the Disney Magic….

Day 2 in Reykjavik we are up at 6:30 a.m. to meet our excursion going to the Blue Lagoon.  There are about 5 or 6 buses headed out.  It is an hour ride to the Lagoon and then we get to spend about 2 hours at the Lagoon before coming back to the ship.  The water feels great and we all spread mud on our faces and enjoy the water.  I used an aloe mask on my face and keep it on for about 20 minutes.  They say it takes 10 years off you and your skin will be soft.  They are right about the skin being so soft.

We get back to the ship around 11:30.  All aboard is 12:15 and we actually have lots waiting to get on so we are late leaving.  We eat a quick lunch and then there is a 2 p.m. matinee showing of Finding Dory.  After Finding Dory we are off to play Bingo and then before you know it, it is time again for dinner.

The shows in the Walt Disney Theater tonight are Finding Dory, so instead of a repeat performance, we are off to explore the ship and then decide to call it a night.

So this is pretty cool. Captain Andy says that one day each year if you are in the right position (we are crossing the Arctic Circle tonight) that the sun never sets and there is 24 hours of daylight. Well, tonight is the night and the Disney Magic is making her way from Reykjavik Iceland to our next port of Akureyri, Iceland and we get to experience 24 hours of sunlight. Yippee!

Next up is Akureyri, Iceland.

So goodnight from the Disney Magic!