![]() I deposit Belle and Cleo at the Oceaneer’s Lab en route to a Swedish massage at the Senses spa and return, knots untangled, to find them looking as though they’ve just spent six weeks at a New England summer camp. Tweens have the Edge, while teenagers can swap their parents in favour of retro arcades and cool sofas at Vibe. Little ones head to the It’s a Small World nursery, while primary-school children check in at the Oceaneer’s Lab. Milk, cookies and a pot of Earl Grey delivered to our room at 11pm? “No problem, Mrs Tweedy! Have a magical night!”Ĭhildcare on board is included, with four clubs for tots to teens. The staff on board - Agung from Bali, Rick from Chile, David from Portugal et al - deliver US-style hospitality with gusto. I’ll admit, a day that begins with watching The Lion King in a kingsize bed decked in luxury linen, coffee in hand, while England’s south coast drifts past the window feels, if not magical, then certainly an absolute treat. To my daughters’ delight, the television pipes in Disney movies all day long. A single bed, hidden in the ceiling, folds down to form bunk beds with the sofa. Our deluxe ocean-view stateroom comes with a bijou balcony, comfortable beds and a 1963 Pirates of the Caribbean illustration on the wall. A staircase sweeps down to a sunburst carpet, framed by glass lifts, gleaming golden balconies and plenty of caramel-hued wood. The lobby, on deck three, is straight out of Miami’s Ocean Drive circa 1930. Inside, art deco reigns supreme in the public spaces. There are no ports of call they’re simply Disney-themed parties at sea. This summer’s two, three and four-night cruises out of Liverpool, Newcastle, Southampton and Tilbury are a bit different from your average cruise, though. Of course, we’d all rather be in Orlando or docking in Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, but deep into a pandemic that has left cruise holidays largely high and dry, a trip into the Channel’s slate-green waters with Mickey, Goofy and Elsa feels most welcome. Then they hotfoot it up the gangway and, minutes later, I join them with my daughters - Belle, ten, and Cleo, seven. Families, many dressed head to toe in Disney merch, punch the air when the results they need land. One by one we watch as passengers, who are already double-vaccinated or have tested negative for Covid-19, get the green light to join the two-day Disney Magic cruise along the south coast after one last precautionary swab test. Little cheers are erupting under the wavy roof of the Horizon Cruise Terminal in Southampton. ![]() Wednesday August 25 2021, 5.00pm, The Times ![]()
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