Carnival Magic 7-13-14 Premium Vista 9C Deck 8 Review

Greetings!!

One day until our 7 day voyage on the Carnival Magic begins. This will be my 4th Carnival cruise, wife's third, and the first for our two kiddos. Son and Daughter, both 16.

I have gotten a lot of useful information off of the threads on this forum so I thought I would do my return the favor. There aren't a lot of reviews of the category 9C (Premium Vista Balcony) on deck 8 so hopefully the pictures and information that follows will prove to be useful for future cruisers.

We decided to splurge a little on this trip booking the Premium Vista Balcony as mentioned above. First cruise had a window, second balcony (for those of you that have never been in a balcony room and are considering it; be warned! Once you have a balcony it will be hard for you to even consider anything less.) Third aft view balcony. (Loved the aft balcony but after seeing the much larger wrap balcony that was next to us on the last cruise the decision was an easy one.) Get the best of both worlds. Get to see the "side view", and also have the less windy beautiful wake view.

We will be zip-lining and taking a private tour while at port in Roatan. (Roatan Ocean Adventures) Cave tubing in Belize. (Charlie's Cave Tubing) And hanging out on the beach in Cozumel. (Nachi Cocom Beach Club & Water Sport Center). We have been to Nachi Cocom before and enjoyed it. My son and I plan on scuba diving. My wife and daughter will hang out at the beach and probably get a massage.

Our last cruise was on Carnival Ecstacy so we are definitely looking forward to a much newer and larger ship.

Today I sit in my truck working in the Eagle Ford shale oil field with the hot South Texas sun beating down. Tomorrow this time I will sitting on our balcony with a cold drink in my hand!

I will try to get an update out tomorrow with pictures of the Magic and our room. I will wrap up the review with a day by day break down and pictures after we return.

That's all for now!

OOOHH!!! Have fun on your cruise! I'm looking forward to your review :)

I'm going on the Magic (same itinerary) in November, and I can't wait!

Could you try to post the Fun times if possible?

Thanks!

Have a wonderful cruise!!!

I have less than a couple months till I'll board the MAGIC!!!

Can't wait to read your review and see your photos!!! :)

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for the review

So glad to see another Magic review! my turn's coming the end of August! certainly helps pass the time to virtual cruise w/ others!

Have a fabulous cruise.

Me too Cerabella! But I have to wait until October!

You should have that drink in your hand by now! :D

Enjoy your cruise!! Watching Magic leave on webcam!!!

Hello!

Made it back to Galveston yesterday morning at 7:30am and I must say it was a bit depressing seeing the muddy murky waters of the Houston Ship Channel after being on the deep blue crystal clear waters of the Gulf Of Mexico and the beautiful Caribbean see. We had a wonderful trip on the Carnival Magic and are definitely looking forward to our next cruise.

I will be posting a daily summary along with tips, tricks, and advice and of course lots of pictures. I found a lot of the information I have read on Cruise Critic to be very useful. There are also a number of things I learned on my own that might be helpful for some of you.

I am working in the field today and it will be difficult to upload pics until later but I hope to have my "Day One: Arrival, Embarkation & Departure" summary completed later today or tomorrow morning. I have some great videos as well and will be putting together a youtube video by the time I have completed my review.

I hope you find the forthcoming information and pictures to be both entertaining and useful. Feel free to ask any questions you like. I will try to answer them if I can.

(One side note: We were on deck 7 not 8 as indicated in the original thread.)

Stay tuned!

Looking forward to it!

Looking forward to your review.....we will be on deck 7 in a 9C in November!

Baited breath and drooling...

HURRY HURRY!!! ;)

PS... Curious about what activities were going on at 1PM on the first Sea Day??? That's when our roll call has decided to Meet and Greet. Was it Mixology or Ice Sculpture or Hairy Man???

Do you remember or still have your FunTimes???

7/12/14

After working 14 days with only one day off it is definitely time for a vacation! My wife and kids have been very busy as well with camps and activities going on all the time so needless to say we are all ready for some relaxing fun in the sun.

Luckily my work day ended early Saturday (3:30pm) so I was able to make it home from Jourdanton Texas to The Woodlands Texas (Home) before too late. Looking down at the outside temperature on my way home was a good reminder as to why I want to get the hell out of here! (When I say "hell" I mean this very literally.)

Long two weeks in the Hot South Texas Sun...

Hot..Hot...Hot!!

I like to pack my own bags when I travel so there was lots to do. I started to gather all of my "stuff" and by 11:00pm I was ready for bed. One bag partially packed and the rest of the bedroom littered with clothes, snacks, cameras, electronics, gadgets, trinkets, towels, sun screen, etc. When it comes to "stuff", I have my share. My GoPro is a must for a cruise to the Caribbean along with all the accessories necessary to capture the right shots. I also have two other cameras, tripods, suction mounts, chargers, battery packs, sync & transfer cords, etc., etc... I would have brought the kitchen sink but it wouldn't fit in my suitcase. The sink is very small on the ship and this would have been very handy. Maybe next time. I have worked on the road for many years now and I like to have the things I need (and think I might need) when I travel, even though I always regret this while getting from point "A" to point "B" and vice versa. My wife tells me I need to simplify my life by travelling with less but I can't seem to do it. She is right. (You will learn throughout this review that my wife is always right! It's really amazing, not sure how she does it!!

7/13/14

Alarm clock goes off at 7:30am. Not sure why I use an alarm clock actually. I always wake up 5 minutes before and the annoying tune usually starts waking up the rest of the house when I am busy in the bathroom. Go figure..

We let the kids sleep a little later and in a very systematic way start to load all of the suit cases, rolling duffels, hand bags, garmet bags, etc. Slowly what looked like a small explosion at Walmart became a little more organized.

We woke the kids at 8:30am and they quickly packed their relatively small bags. Not sure how they manage to pack so efficiently after watching their parents do the complete opposite for so many years.

The plan was to leave at 10:30am and arrive at Galveston around Noon. This being the case, I made sure to tell everyone that the car would need to be loaded and everyone in their seats at 10:00am. The general rule of thumb in our house is 30 minutes late so in most situations this works pretty well. Not this one... We were in the car and ready to pull out of the driveway at 11:15

No room for anything else!

The traffic in Houston is usually light on Sunday mornings but that can always change in an instant. Today, luck was on our side and we made good time to Galveston. Prior to leaving the house we made an online parking reservation at EZ Cruise Parking. (http://ezcruiseparking.com/) This was a quick and painless process and they had our name on their list when we arrived. They have a relatively small parking lot and there were lots of spaces available. We parked roughly 50' away from the pick up point which was very handy considering we had 32 bags.

View from parking lot.

Transfer van Driver.

I wondered how they were going to get all of our stuff on the van and still have room for us. Then a little yellow school bus arrived. (The kind you didn't want to ride to school when you were a child.) Surprisingly, all of our things fit and they were able to get us and a couple more people on board. The driver and the staff loading the bags were friendly and efficient. One thing I found a little strange... They don't pool their tips. The driver and each individual keep their own tips, so I wasn't really sure how to split the gratuity up. I don't use transfer bus's very often and maybe this is common place, but I wasn't prepared for it.

We arrived at the Magic around 12:45pm and it was obviously much bigger than the Carnival Ectasy which we cruised on last. The Royal Caribbean "Navigator of the Seas" was right next to us and the two ships looked similar in size.

Front of the Magic..

The transfer van (or bus in our case) will drop you off across the street from the terminal and it took a little effort to land a porter but with a little hooting and hollering I was successful. (My wife always tells me I am full of hot air, especially when it is 95 degrees outside so I was able to release a bit of it here.) We entered "Terminal 1" at 1:00pm and the line to security moved fairly quickly. I don't remember exactly, but we probably got through security and to the check in counter at 1:20 or so. Here you show your passport, receive your sign and sail card which will act as your onboard credit card and room key. The "Folio" number on your key is NOT your room number for those new to cruising. This is done for obvious security reasons so when your common sense escapes you due to all of the hustle and bustle or the fact you never had any to start with, don't go to the number on your key. It will not get you to your room and most likely you will end up on an entirely different deck.

To be continued in next post...

I do have pic's of all the "Fun Times" and will be posting them with my daily review. I do believe the hairy chest contest was the first day at sea but we missed it. Stay tuned for more info. Let me know if you have any other questions.

7/13/14 Continued..

Mid Ship. (Too close to get it all!)

From check in you are given a number that identifies the group you will enter the ship with. We were group 4 and at the time we entered the seating area they were boarding group 2. Probably waited another 15 minutes or so and we were on our way up the gangway to the ship. There will be Carnival photographers desperately wanting to take your picture. They must be on a quota system because it really is difficult to pass them up without first being assaulted. In all fairness they are friendly but this will not be the last time you will be asked to have your photo taken.

Line to Security..

We entered the ship on deck 3 (along with everyone else) and quickly noticed the décor, which is a major upgrade from the Carnival Ectasy. The lighting was perfect and the space was roomy, even with all the others boarding. The atrium goes from the 3rd deck to the 12th deck and you can see all the way up, through the glass roof, to the water slides above. Gives you a good perspective on the size of the ship.

View straight up from Lobby floor..

Stage above Lobby floor..

We found our way to the LONG hallway on deck 7 that will lead to our room. We took the glass elevators up to deck 7, then walked down the hall to our rooms. The better option is to go to deck 4 (Mezzanne) or 5 (Promenade), walk to the elevator location that is closest to your room, and go up or down to your deck from there.

Deck 12 looking down and glass elevators..

Due to all the hustle and bustle (read above) I lost my common sense somewhere between deck 3 and deck 7 and forgot that the state rooms are broken up into odd and even hallways. Port side even, starboard side odd. After a long walk down the PORT side of the ship aft, I was perplexed when I could not locate our kid’s room. (Odd room number) A fellow cruiser noticed my confused condition and told me the odd rooms are on the other side. What I heard in my mind was the other side of the hall, what he meant was the other side of the ship. After another long and embarrassing 60 seconds or so I realized what he meant and needless to say I felt like an idiot. Luckily for me we did not see them again on our trip. Let this be a good lesson as to why while at sea we don’t use terms like “other side”, “ left”,” right”, or “front” and “back”. I had a nautical terms lesson with our kids (and my wife) and covered the basics. (Forward, Mid, Aft, Starboard, Port, etc.) We had a quiz later and they forgot everything I told them. I guess this is why I am not a teacher.

We made it to our rooms and to our surprise some of our luggage had already arrived. We booked an interior state room for our kids that was a few doors down from our aft view extended balcony room.

Kids room..

To be continued...

Thank you for doing this! I am loving your review, and writing style.:D:D

Patiently waiting for more. :o

7/13/14 Continued..

We continued down the hall another 50' or so to our room which was located at the end of the starboard side aft. (refer to nautical terms lesson above.) We had two of our 32 bags delivered to our room when we got there around 1:45pm or so. (Alright-I think we had 8 bags but it felt like 32). We entered the room and I was very happy with the size and layout. My wife thought it might be a little smaller than the aft view room we had on the last cruise but I would guess they are close to the same size. After opening the curtains to the 2 large windows and door the room seemed to grow in size, and the 90 degree view out the windows was great!

The following pics were taken with a GoPro to capture more of the room. I will post some pics from a normal camera later..

Room 7459, Category 9C, Premium Vista Balcony

Room Entrance..

Room Hall..

Room Continued..

Continued..

Bathroom..

To Be Continued..

7/13/14 Continued..

Window blinds open, and a look outside!

BTW: If you haven't noticed by now, I have chosen to blur the pictures of my wife and kids out of respect for their privacy. Although I am not in many, I am not as modest or bashful and will not be editing my pics, (The good, the bad, and the ugly..)

Room continued..

From Balcony door looking towards port side/aft..

From Balcony door looking starboard side/forward

I do have pic's of all the "Fun Times" and will be posting them with my daily review. I do believe the hairy chest contest was the first day at sea but we missed it. Stay tuned for more info. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Bless you and Thank you... I'm catching up right now!!!

LOVING IT ALL!!!

7/13/14 Continued..

One more balcony view before continuing on to the good stuff..

You will notice in this pic that there is a good size section of this balcony that is on the port side of the ship. All of the 9C rooms on the Dream Class ships are different. (Room shape, layout, balcony location, etc..) Deck 7 has the largest side view, and the smallest aft view. In my opinion this is a perfect combination, especially considering the time of year and that a nice balcony breeze is sometimes preferred. I think the Deck 6 balconies are slightly wider but they are located directly above the Starlight lounge and I would not recommend for those that are light sleepers or those who don't want to fall asleep with the sounds of a late night comedian or Karaoke in your head. If you look at high resolution pictures of the aft part of the ship you will see the balcony dividers which will give you an idea as to what I am talking about.

And now the "Good Stuff"

After unpacking the couple of bags we had delivered at the time we got together with the kids and had a "Bon Voyage" toast on the balcony. It was very hot so as soon as my eyes started burning with sweat, I decided it was time to grab some lunch. Wife and kids were in agreement. It was after 2:00pm and there wasn't time for breakfast so we were all starving.

Before I get into my "food reviews", allow me to post this disclaimer: Although I love to cook, and love to eat, I am not hard to please when it comes to food. I try to find the good qualities and maybe point out the things that could have been better. Even poorly prepared food can usually be "repaired" with salt, pepper, butter, cheese, and sour cream. Yes, I know this is strange and no, I do not weight 300 pounds but as sad as it is, these are my staples and my go to first aid kit for food. We (I speak for all of us here) did not come on this cruise for the food, although the vast options and wide varieties were enjoyed by all of us.

We headed up to Cucina del Capitano to try out the specialty Italian restaurant. I had read in Cruise Critic reviews that this was a good choice on the first day as the Lido buffet and other dining options are usually crowded. Again as is consistent throughout the ship I loved the décor. There was definitely an Italian feel and the atmosphere was comfortable and cozy. Although this spot is free for lunch the menu is different than the dinner menu and there are not a lot of choices.

We were all a little disappointed with the food here. I did enjoy the meat sauce but it was watered down a bit and the Caesar Salad was poorly drained and watery as well. On a positive note, the bread was warm and tasty, like it just came out of the oven. I tried my wife and kids and it was just ok. Not to make excuses for the staff, I think the first day of a cruise is probably a difficult one. There are literally tons of food coming on board that need to be dealt with, and I would expect that quality control goes out the window (or porthole) while the managers are taking care of their inventory, etc. It really isn't that hard to drain a salad and blend a sauce properly. Maybe it was just bad timing on our part.

Also bad timing, was the very aggressive game of basketball that was taking place directly above our heads while we were trying to enjoy our meal. I think the Houston Rockets were on board and at any moment I was expecting James Harden or Dwight Howard to land on my lap. I was pleasantly surprised that the basketball, players, lights, ceiling panels, etc. remained in there appropriate places. The court is closed during dinner and a quick look at the Fun Times would have helped us avoid this spot during the NBA Playoffs.

Although the food wasn't great we all had our fill and were ready to explore the ship, hopefully burning off some linguini and bread along the way.

We travelled up and down and around and found out quickly we would be getting some exercise on this trip. When you stand at the end of the hall and look the other direction it literally looks like the scene in Willy Wonka where the hallway comes to an end, or for lack of a better term, a very small point.

We explored a number of the decks and liked the layout of the ship. The elevators were very busy and after being separated twice from my wife and children it was decided (by me) for all of us to take the stairs. They refused to get on an elevator that had more than 4 people in it. I really don't understand the problem. I have been on the underground subways in London and have no problem bumping shoulders with the person or persons next to me. Apparently my wife and kids feel differently. I will say that all of the up and down and running around does make you a bit sweaty so her (and their) decision to not follow me into the elevator was a good one. Once again, she is always right!

We spent some time on the Lido deck (Deck 10) and our balcony as we were sailing away from Galveston and got some nice sunset pic's.

To be continued...

:confused: I just realized that I wasn't paying attention in class either.. We were on the starboard side of the ship, not the port side as mentioned above my last balcony pic! Sorry for the mistake!!

7/13/14 Continued..

I really didn't plan on spending this much time on the first day! Hopefully I haven't bored everyone..From time to time I do some technical writing (engineering) for my job and when details are omitted, thousands of dollars can be lost. So, you get the details, plus a little humor and sarcasm.. Hopefully I can get this review done and not lose my job in the process.

Enough rambling, I will continue...

As the sun set and the moon came up we sent a lot of time on our balcony. There was a storm to our north and there was a nice breeze so it was very pleasant. Although you will read that the premium vista balconies are "not private" and people can see you from below this was not an issue for my wife and I. The only way you can be seen from below is if you are hanging over the railing (Not a good idea) or climbing up to the balcony on the deck above. (Also not a good idea). If you have a nosey neighbor they could lean their head around the balcony divider and look onto your balcony but a cold glass of water to the face will take care of this problem quickly, I can assure you. I learned this lesson the hard way..

After some wine on our balcony we all showered and got ready for dinner. A note on the bathroom. The space is very small, especially for a man that is 6'4" and 220#. But even as small as it was, I loved the shower. The water temperature is set by selecting the actual temp you prefer, not screwing around with the position of the handle. (38 degrees celsius or 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit is the recommended setting and I found this is just about right.) The water pressure is perfect and there are a number of "spray" options available. There is shampoo and body wash mounted in the shower but I opted to use my own.

We got together with the kids and headed to the Northern Lights dining room for dinner. We chose the "anytime" dining option which allows you to go when you like between 6:30pm and 9:30pm every day. We made it to the dining room around 8:00pm and soon discovered this was not the best time to eat. I'm not sure what the seating times are but the service was extremely slow. Last course was served at 9:45pm. There were lots of things to choose from, and the food was fine. Not sure if it was a coincidence but our first two meals were our least favorite of the whole week. Here are some pic's of the menu.

The following are pictures of the menu that are available on your TV through the home option on your remote. You can see all menu's here for the entire week, including room service and the speciality restaurants. This would have proven to be very handy had I found it before the last day of the cruise.

After dinner we were all tired and decided to call it a night. Got back to the room, had a drink and cigar on the balcony, and went to bed..

Up next... Day Two: First day at Sea

Good Night!

Great review and photos , enjoying the ride along , cheers, Buzz.