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 Travel & Outdoors | July 2005 
Mickey's Magic Works Its Way on West Coast Cruise
 Shelagh Collins - Boston Herald
| | Mickey gets kids and their parents in a Disney frame of mind as the Wonder sets sail. |
The Magic of Disney lured us this time for a seven-night West Coast cruise, a special sailing celebrating Disneyland's 50th birthday.
The Disney Magic, in its first West Coast swing (like sister ship Wonder, it is usually based in Port Canaveral, Fla.), took us from the port of Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera and the ports of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.
Accommodations, like on the Wonder, are big by cruising standards and quaint with the lyrics of Disney songs framed on the walls to coordinate with the red and blue nautical decor. Ours was "Candle on the Water," from "Pete's Dragon," an oldie-but-goodie.
Being on the open water for two days on our way to Mexico gave us ample time to explore all the options onboard this floating amusement park. The pools were filled with children from morning till night, splashing and making friends, and flying down the corkscrew slide that looks like Mickey's fat gloved hand. My 2-year-old, still a little cautious out of her home environment, looked right at one boy cannonballing into the kiddie pool and said, "Be careful now."
Once we were fully waterlogged, we checked our daughter in the supervised kids program and went to explore some adult activities. At the Park West art auction, one woman, in 15 minutes, purchased more than $15,000 worth of art, including some funky Disney prints by Peter Max. We never lifted our paddle, though we were tempted to a couple of times.
Then we hit the duty-free store for some bargain-priced fine cigars, ordered up some cocktails and lounged in the teak recliners on deck hoping to take in our first Pacific Ocean sunset. Unfortunately, we missed it - "June Gloom" had hit in California, and the dark skies followed us for two days at sea.
The sun finally broke out just as I jumped in the water (my husband watching, my daughter asleep in her stroller) for a swim with some dolphins in Puerto Vallarta on a ship-organized shore excursion.
The dolphins swam right up to participants when we slapped the water, just like on "Flipper" and when they turned in our direction - these huge creatures, it's unnerving at first. But after I got used to their fish breath, I considered leaving it all behind - the house, the career, the family back in Boston - to move here and train these amazing animals.
But there was shopping to do.
We started with the Disney-recommended shops, all mapped out in close proximity to the ship. Silver jewelry, cotton blouses, skirts, dresses, Mexican opals, turquoise, shells - all at great prices and too much to resist. I did all the picking, and my husband, a true master of the universe, did all the haggling.
When we were fully loaded with bags full of bargains, we were starving, and tourist traps were not going to do it for us. So we ventured a few blocks from the port and found some authentic Mexican food at the open-air Salsa de Mexicana where I had the best chicken mole I've ever tasted. My daughter, with a little prompting, even ordered her own arroz con pollo. Thank you, Dora the Explorer.
That night, we (and all the other passengers) were invited to "The Golden Mickeys," one of the many productions onboard that fully entertain parents and even keep toddlers amused for nearly an hour. "The Golden Mickeys" is a mock awards show that keeps the spirit of the real thing, even down to the red carpet interviews beforehand. My daughter, in her Snow White gown (purchased in a weak moment) caught the interviewer's eye.
The woman with the mike commented on her beautiful gown, then asked the question, thinking she knew the answer: "Who is your favorite princess?" My daughter looked right into the camera, feeding live onto a big screen in the theater, and said "Cinderella." Then she promptly tripped and fell, sprawling in yellow tulle across the red carpet. And so ended her career as a celeb.
In Mazatlan, the gloom continued, but we went for the Beach Party excursion at the Playa Hotel, promising a pinata and a clown for the kids. When we got there, some kids dove right for the water, and promptly were stung by jellyfish. There was no swimming for us that day, but Spaghetti the Clown more than made up for it. He came equipped with his own sound system, blasting rap in Spanish, made balloon animals and led dance contests.
The morning we docked in Cabo San Lucas, the weather cooperated for a sunrise coffee break on our cabin veranda.
A water taxi later took us to a picture-perfect golden-sand beach surrounded by red cliffs. We picked our lounge chairs for the day, ordered dos Coronas and gave our daughter bottled water we brought from the ship (it is advised not to drink the local water or ice).
To the sounds of Jimmy Buffet over a loud speaker, I revved up a rented Jet-ski and felt like a true beach bum, flying through the water, getting as close to our enormous black and yellow ship as allowed by law. Safely back on land, we swam, we played, we burned.
We'll remember the Magic. |
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