We went back to the Eastern timezone overnight, so we got back that hour that we lost the other day, which meant we could sleep in this morning – yay!!!

It’s another beautiful day – some puffy clouds but sunny. The seas are a little choppier than they have been, but I’d still say they are pretty smooth. I can feel that we’re moving now, whereas I felt very little movement the first few days. Our cabin is still nice and quiet, though. 🙂

We went out running on deck 4 after we got up this morning. It was a great morning for running – nice and cool. Not too many people out, there, either.

Speaking of people…this cruise is sold out (or very close to it), but the ship really doesn’t feel crowded – sometimes we’ve been out on deck and hardly see anyone at all! But I think there are fewer kids, and a lot of older couples, so the average age is a little higher than usual.

Our big event for the day was brunch at Palo, which I think is my very favorite meal aboard ship.

This time we didn’t start off very well, though. We were seated promptly, but then sat there and waited – No one came over to serve us or offer us water or anything. Lee finally had to go and talk to the maitre’d, who apologized – we’d apparently been seated at the wrong table, which didn’t have a server assigned. Anyway…things were fine after that, and we had a wonderful brunch. There’s always way more things we would like to try than we can eat. They had a cheddar-chocolate cheese this time that was very good. My favorite is still the sticky buns, though.

I have usually been disappointed in the brunch desserts at Palo, but this time they seemed a lot better than I’ve had in the past. The chocolate mousse was very good, and so was the “vertical cheesecake”. Very pretty and really tasty.

After brunch we had another wine tasting seminar in Sessions. Still two whites, two reds, and a sparkling wine, but all different than we had on Thursday. (Thursday seems like a long time ago!) These didn’t appeal to me quite as much but we still learned interesting things.

When we returned to our room there were all the reminders that our cruise is coming to an end – our luggage tags and customs form had been delivered. Sigh.

There was an absolutely spectacular sunset tonight…it just kept getting better and better! Wow. It was just amazingly beautiful.

So, that’s what I wrote on our final day…this part I wrote after we arrived back at home…

That evening they announced that we would be sailing into New York around 4:00 the next morning, and should be going by Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty around 4:45. How often do you get to do something like that? We got up around 4:15 and went up on deck 10 forward. We weren’t the only crazy people who were up early!

About 4:35 we were approaching the Verrazano Narrows bridge.

And we went by the Statue of Liberty just after 5:00.

While we had could see lower Manhattan and the Tower for quite a while, we had the best view about 5:15. That’s a VERY tall building!

As we sailed up the Hudson River side of Manhattan we had a beautiful view of the lights, with the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building in the background.

We went back to bed after that – we had a little time until we had to get up and leave the ship. Disembarking is always rather sad and anti-climactic. 🙁

This was the Magic’s final cruise out of New York, it’s off to Galveston now. Instead of taking on new passengers after we disembark, they will be taking on some contractors who will be doing work on the decks during their five-day trip to Galveston. The crew will stay busy doing a lot of cleaning and inventory and other maintenance. They’ve called it kind of a mini-dry dock.

The Magic will be undergoing an extensive dry dock in the fall of 2013. Throughout the cruise we have spoken with various crew members about what the dry dock will involve and what changes might be made. So the following is what we’ve been told, and may not be 100% accurate.

After completing its Mediterranean cruises next year the Magic will be staying in Europe for a six-week dry dock. Apparently Karl Holz told the crew that it will be an all-new ship with quite a “wow” factor when it comes out. The staterooms will be completely refurbished, as well as the public areas. The pool areas will all be redone. The adult area, Beat Street, will be updated, and converted into five different (smaller) bar areas.

Palo will be expanded. The area that is currently a walkway outside will become seating area for the restaurant. The new part may be more like a patio and only partially enclosed.

Animator’s Palate will be updated – though that would only be a surprise if they DIDN’T do anything with it.

Things that we’d like to see in addition to the above…Enchanted artwork, a new ship’s horn, Magical Portholes, an expanded upstairs area for Cove Cafe, and video on demand in the staterooms. And a champagne bar. 🙂

It was a really nice cruise. With two sea days and only two port days we had more time to relax than we usually do. It was great to be able to watch some movies and do the wine tastings. As far as the ports went, we weren’t really that impressed with Saint John, but we enjoyed Halifax. If Disney comes back to Canada again I’d like to see a longer itinerary which visits perhaps Prince Edward Island and one or two U.S. ports, like Bar Harbor, Maine.

The food blog will be coming soon!

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