We were up early and walked to a local shop to pick up breakfast. The hotel continental breakfast was £24 per person, and that was just a bit much. At Pret A Manger and were able to get sandwiches, fruit, and drinks for £18 total.

I booked our transfer to Dover and a tour with International Friends. As promised, a driver arrived and came in to get us around 8:15 a.m. The drive was about two hours to the port. We arrived ahead of schedule, so our guide took us to the marina to get a few photos of the Disney Magic and grab a snack. After this brief stop, several of us went to Dover Castle for our tour. The driver took the remaining passengers to the ship for check-in.

We had a guided tour for about 30 minutes, then spent an hour and a half exploring on our own. As we wandered inside the castle, it started pouring rain. I waited it out a bit then made a dash to the gift shop for a souvenir. Side Note: It is common in Europe to be charged 5p for a sack for your purchases.

Our bus driver off-loaded all of our tagged luggage at the ship earlier. Once in the port, there were four check-in areas: for new Disney Cruisers, for Silver/Gold Castaway members (completed 1-9 cruises with Disney), for Platinum Castaway Members (completed ten cruises), and for Concierge. We were able to check-in immediately. The crew member informed us all passports were being kept for our arrival in Iceland and gave us a receipt for ours. Thankfully, I had copied our passports before leaving home.

We boarded and went to Cabanas for lunch which had extended hours due to a later than usual boarding (the ship underwent sterilization between the prior cruise and ours). After, I went to Senses Spa to purchase the Platinum special 3-day Rainforest pass ($83 including the Platinum $10 discount and gratuity). Full week passes were $229 for a single/$340 per couple and sold quickly!

Tonight was the All Aboard welcome show with entertainment from a talented juggler, Max Winfrey. During his show, he invited a child up to throw him a 4th racquet (he was juggling 3). He lost his balance, fell into the curtain, and one of the racquets hit him in the face. He made a joke of it all and went on with the show. After the show, we did a quick perusal of the shops and attended the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) member celebration.

Dinner tonight was at Lumiere’s. Apparently, there are six people at our table for the first seating, but only the four of us for our seating (8:30 p.m.). After dinner, we went to Fathoms for the adult-only show to see Graffiti Classics, a musical comedy act. Before the show, the Club Host, Matt, had the whole audience participate in a massive rock, paper, scissors game. Very unexpectedly, I ended up in a face-off as one of the final two contestants. We played best 2 out of 3 where I lost 2-1. However, it was fun to play.

Tomorrow is a lovely day at sea!