I’ve never cruised before. I’m not a fan of the idea of it really lol. I know the Magic is one of the oldest ships, but it’s been nicely reimagined.
Help me get excited? 
I think my wife can tell I’m less than thrilled.
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Our first cruise was also on the Magic. We (me, DH, DS14, DS18 at the time) all loved it!! We weren’t sure what to expect - if we’d get seasick (NO), feel trapped in a floating hotel (NO), get bored (NO), find enough foods we liked to eat (YES). As the mom and wife, I loved cruising - I didn’t have to cook, wash dishes, clean the cabin, do laundry, shop for groceries, or drive anybody anywhere.
Disney has a quality product in their cruises. Disney’s cabins are great, with the split bath concept. Disney’s private island (Castaway Cay) is terrific!
As high-energy as I tend to be at WDW, cruising lets me have time to sit still (to read, enjoy the passing scenery, people watch). There’s plenty of activities going on around the ship throughout the day/evening, if you feel restless and need to be doing something.
I hope you enjoy it!
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Everything about the ship sounds fantastic, but I think the biggest thing (aside from being afraid of the ocean) is that I don’t like to sit still.
I am really excited to get a Disney fix. And you really helped me feel better about it. Thanks!
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Read my recent Dream trip report!
Plenty to do, so you don’t have to sit still if you don’t want to!
Also plenty of opportunities to completely chill out and do nothing if you change your mind on the above!
The magic we all remember from WDW days gone by still lives on the ships - the service is top-notch, and they cannot go out of their way enough to ensure you’re having a perfect voyage. The food and drink is fantastic, entertainment is wonderful, other activities are plentiful and varied.
What specific questions do you have?
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If it helps, for the 3 night cruise we took on the Dream in 2019, I averaged 20,000 steps a day! Now, I did do the 5K on Castaway Cay and we rarely used the elevators on the ship, but we didn’t even get off in Nassau. As @OBNurseNH said, it’s up to you how much or how little you sit still as there are so many activities and different things you can do. We weren’t sure if we’d like it either, which is part of why I picked a short one, but I would definitely cruise again! Maybe read up on the ship/look at deck plans/port activities/etc. to see what all it has to offer, and it might help you get more excited about it.
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The Magic is probably my favorite Disney ship - and she was not even my first Disney ship.
There is PLENTY to do - you’ll only sit still if you choose to.
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Have you sailed on the older ships? Do they feel much smaller or inferior to the newer ships? (Not that I’ve ever cruised before and would know the difference lol)
Also I’m a bit bummed that I don’t get to visit Castaway Cay, but there’s nothing to do about that haha.
Interesting! What is it about the Magic that makes it your favorite?
I’ve only been on the one DCL trip, on the Dream, so I am not familiar with the older ships. But I can say that if you visit any of the FB DCL pages you’ll find plenty of people have an affinity for them.
I think Disney does an exceptional job of keeping their ships up, from what I hear. The Dream was pristine and there’s always someone working on spiffying up something or other as you go around.
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I definitely got excited when you mentioned that DCL still retains that old Disney Magic we used to find in the parks.
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The classic ship feel. When I’m cruising, I want to KNOW that I’m cruising. Granted the Wonder and the Dream Class ships have the ship feeling too. It’s hard to pin down what it is about the Magic - I’ve only been on her once, but she just feels special.
The Dream is a very close second - she WAS my first DCL ship and the one I’ve been on the most. She’s just beautiful.
The more I’m seeing about the Wish, the more I’m thinking she’s not the ship for me. The blues on the walls don’t feel nautical to me. They split up all the adult lounges so they are all over the ship rather than concentrated into a district and reportedly they are all small and fill quickly - even with not a full passenger load (and that info from someone who almost never says anything negative about Disney, so…). It will be interesting to see how they change her upcoming sisters if they even are able to make any changes.
I think now I get the people on Celebrity’s Cruise Critic board who had cruised Celebrity prior to Edge Class who don’t like how different that class feels. I love Edge Class, but while having new innovations you still feel like you’re on a ship. I have ZERO desire to sail on the behemoths that put fake parks, malls, etc. on them. IMHO ships should look and feel like ships!
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I have a friend who has sailed DCL on both classes of ships and also preferred the older/smaller ships as well. I think it was the Magic too.
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I had no idea ships got that big. 
Truthfully, one of the things that has always put me off of cruising is the amount of pollution that the industry creates. I can’t imagine how wasteful and dirty those giant ships must be.
Royal Caribbean is the worst for the Behemoths of the Seas.
But Carnival (which owns Princess) has gotten dinged the worst for fees. And yet somehow they’re still allowed to get permits into Glacier Bay. No one understands that one.
Overall they are working on it with new ships being LNG which burns much cleaner.
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I screen shotted all the possible activites in my Wish report…if you scroll thru you can see all the things you can do and we had no sea days. There’ll be more on sea days. I like the Dream better than the Wish and the Magic from the videos I’ve watched looks more like the Dream so I think you’ll enjoy the ship design itself even though it’s older. I’m doing the Magic in January myself so if you have any tips pass 'em on!
*PS I did get bored on Princess Alaskan cruise on sea days only. But both on RC and Disney it’s impossible to get bored. More like there are too many choices. I stay busy. We do all the things, see as many shows, movies, play bingo, I’d do trivia or karoake if I had the time, check out the bars, pool time, slide time, check out the open house kids clubs cuz they are impressive.
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The bars were never full when we were there. They are small but even the star wars hyperspace lounge was extremely empty during our scheduled time. I think people are less interested on these later cruises (maybe more families than the first ones with all the media). I also didn’t like they were spread out and I don’t like the Bayou being in the middle of the shopping mall area. It cheapens it to me and kids can run right thru there at any time. It’s definitely a poor bar design. The one bar that was perfect though was The Rose.
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DW talked me into going on a cruise over the course of last 18 months. This is what has me the most excited.
And there really do appear to be a million things to do for a fidgety-fidgeter like me.
Relax and enjoy!
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I love the Magic, probably my favorite ship (I have been on all except the Wish). What is your itinerary? I just love the layout of the classic ships. There’s plenty to do, but they don’t feel too crowded. I love the adult pool area. I also really love the Promenade Lounge & the piano bar. They have some really good entertainment in both spots.
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We’re not sailing until March, so you’ll have to be the one providing tips 
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We’re doing a 4 night cruise out of NOLA with a stop in Cozumel on day 3.
It’s interesting how many people are saying the Magic is their favorite ship! I figured the Dream and Fantasy (and now the Wish and her upcoming sister ships) would make the older ships irrelevant.
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