Ahoy there, Talah! Welcome aboard here at planDisney, and thanks for dropping me a line!
Ah, the original! The ever-impressive, the long-contained, the often imitated, but never duplicated...Disney Magic! Ok, so its sister ship, the Disney Wonder gets CLOSE to duplicating it, but with Rapunzel's Royal Table and the AquaDunk on the Magic, there's a few significant differences! Since its debut in 1998, the Disney Magic has been helping families make, well, magical memories on every sailing on which it embarks!
To your question, Miami is a great port out of which to embark at any time of year, but I'm particularly fond of cruising in January. Escaping the cold Midwestern - or in your case Mid-Atlantic - weather that has settled-in at that time of year makes it extra enticing. Embarking on adventure and experiencing everything that's included on a Disney Cruise Line vacation is great way to take a break from the cold and jumpstart excitement for spring and summer fun! I know you'll agree that even just arriving in Miami will feel like a vacation!
Call it what you will: destiny, fate...(a horse), but since you've made the decision to trust me (an excellent decision, really) there's a few other "planDrew-approved" things of which to be aware!
While my personal favorite is a January sailing, the winter weather can mean potentially rougher seas in the Caribbean. Not as rough as a hurricane, mind you, but if you're susceptible to seasickness, it's something to keep a weather eye on and may sway you to considering April.
Also - with the arrival of the Disney Wish on the horizon and it schedule to sail out of Port Canaveral, the fleet is shuffling around a bit. I looked to chart a course on the Disney Magic and found it is currently scheduled to spend late 2022 and early 2023 sailing out of Galveston and New Orleans! Diving into the maps a bit more, it looks like the Disney Dream will be sailing out of Miami during those winter months.
So if your heart is set on the Disney Magic out of Miami, your best bet looks to be this April! Or if it won't be a vacation without Miami, there are numerous options for an exciting vacation on the Disney Dream! If the Disney Magic is the draw no matter the date or port, you could always meet up with Tiana and Naveen in New Orleans or see what excitement awaits you as you embark in Galveston on the Gulf Coast of Texas!
Now, if you're as flexible as Elastigirl, and you and your crew are open to sailing out of San Juan, Puerto Rico in November, there's an exciting opportunity for one of the special Southern Caribbean itineraries! Of all the cruises we've taken, the Southern Caribbean itinerary we sailed a few years ago is still one of the trips we talk about most - right up there with the Panama Canal - so if you can make it work, I highly suggest it!
Whew, I know that was a lot to unpack, and you may have a few new headings to make sense of, but hopefully it all helps you chart the perfect course as you continue your planning, Talah!
Thank you so much again for your question, and if you have any other questions, please send another message my way here at planDisney!
May your anchor be tight and your compass true,
Andrew