Disney’s cowboy hat is just Magic

Disney does things differently – as I discovered last week on a trip to sample some of the shore excursions planned for passengers sailing on Disney Magic in the Mediterranean next summer.
More on that to come soon, but meanwhile, after a season of cruises out of New York, Magic arrived in the Texan port of Galveston for the first time yesterday.
The ship was dressed up for the occasion – with the addition of a huge cowboy hat on one of its two funnels. At 19-feet high and 14-feet wide, it was big enough for a cowboy 43-feet tall. Probably the equivalent of a 500-gallon hat !
The ship will be sailing out of Galveston throughout the winter, on itineraries which take it to Cozumel and the Caribbean, Key West and Castaway Cay, and even to Port Canaveral for day trips to Walt Disney World in Orlando.
In May the Magic will leave Galveston to cross the Atlantic, reaching Barcelona on June 1 for the first of a series of four, seven and 12-night cruises which will keep it in the Mediterranean until September 2013.
Disney Magic, carrying up to 3,325 passengers, is one of five ships operating from Galveston this year. Also using the port are Carnival Magic (4,631), Carnival Triumph (3,470), Crown Princess ( 3,780) and Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas (3,840). Although less actively-promoted in the UK than Florida-based cruises, the Texas departure point frequently provides a less expensive flight option.
► Sister ship Disney Wonder arrived in the Californian port of San Diego for the first time on Friday with rather less fanfare. The local university’s marching band was on the quayside to provide a musical welcome, but the ship remained undecorated. Perhaps it was just happy to be back in warm waters, after its first summer in Alaska.