On July 26, Portugal's Porto Cruise Terminal welcomed the maiden visit of Disney Magic, which was also the first DCL-Disney Cruise Line operation at Port Leixoes.
Disney Magic was on a 7-day voyage from Barcelona (Spain) to Dover (England UK) also visiting Cartagena, Leixoes, La Coruna, and Bilbao, arriving at the Porto Cruise Terminal early morning with 1260 passengers onboard, and leaving the cruise port in the late afternoon.
In one of the most spectacular cruise liner arrivals in the history of Leixoes, a pair of Port Authority water cannon tugs formed a guard of honor and escorted DCL's Magic ship to the Porto Cruise Terminal pier.
Guests and crew members were welcomed with Portuguese traditional dances and performances for the youngest as well as some offers marking the first call of the vessel to the port. A Port Wine Tasting was served as cruisers returned to the terminal in the afternoon from their visits to Douro, Porto, and North of Portugal Region.
To commemorate the maiden visit of Disney Magic to Leixoes, a Plaque Exchange Ceremony was held onboard with Port Authorities, the ship’s Captain, and his staff.
Disney Magic is the first ship owned/operated by DCL, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Built by Fincantieri Italy, Magic was launched in 1998. The 294-m vessel has max passenger capacity ~2700 plus ~1000 crew/staff.
As with other Disney ships, the Magic’s horn blast plays the snippet of ‘”When You Wish upon a Star”.
The ship has 20 yellow lifeboats which, along with the black, red, and white colors of the ship herself, match the colors of Mickey Mouse.