Magic Review - April 30-May 7, 2016, With kids

This will probably be a long one. Ryano recently posted a good one of the same cruise so check his out if you want something shorter.

We’re a family of 4 from Toronto. Me 33, Hubby who just turned 40, DS age 7 and DD 2.5. We booked the cruise in August and I read a lot of great reviews while we were waiting to the trip to arrive. Now I’m taking a stab at writing my own.

We wanted to do a cruise for hubby’s 40th birthday and we wanted it to stop in Belize. We compared itinerary and prices for a balcony room (a must for us with kids and my need for natural light) and the Carnival Magic looked like the best value. We also preferred to leave from Port Canaveral as there would be lots of flight options from Toronto. We booked the cruise in August 2015 and the flights in November 2015. We’ve cruise once before when DS was 3.5 on Celebrity and had a great time. We had heard the rumours about Carnival and were a little hesitant but the amenities on this ship were more family friendly which was what we wanted.

Originally, DH’s parents were going to join us for this cruise but they pulled out when it was time the book the flights. This was probably for the best.

Pre Cruise

We decided to fly into Orlando 2 days early on Thursday morning. The cheaper flights and baggage fees offset a hotel stay so we went for it.

Back when we thought the inlaws were coming, I’d booked a two bedroom condo at the Fountains by Bluegreen through a timeshare ‘deal’. The hotel itself turned out to be great. I wish we had more time to spend in the pools.

We were on the 11th floor of building 1 and could see the fireworks from Disney from our room. The timeshare presentation (of course) took up more time that it should have. Overall it was worth it but I think I’d stay closer to the port if we leave out of Cape Canaveral again unless we were going to be in Orlando for at least three days.

Here are a couple of shots of the hotel:

We cruise in less than 2 months, cannot wait to read your review (fingers crossed for lots of pictures!) :)

Ryano recently posted a good one ]

Thank you :) Really looking forward to yours! :)

Following.:)

Cruise day!

We had rented a car for our time in Orlando and planned to drop it off at Alamo in Cape Canaveral by 10sh.

We woke up, ate as much left over food as we could for breakfast with the hope of leaving the hotel by 8:45. I was ready, but it took everyone else some time to get it together so we didn’t end up leaving until 9:30. We’re on our way driving down international drive when the 2.5 year old asks for her beloved monkey. I check my purse where I had put it – not there. We pull over search our stuff and it’s gone. Back to the hotel to get back into the room and find it. She had put it between her bed and the window. If we were already on the highway monkey would not have joined us for the cruise. Finally around 10 we were on our way!

The drive was straightforward with minimal traffic and annoying tolls. (only one highway has one at home and you don’t need to take it)

DH didn't feel comfortable dropping us off and coming back to meet us so we all dropped off the car at Alamo. This worked out since both DS and I had to pee. The first two shuttles that came were both for the Disney fantasy that was also in dock that day. We got on the next shuttle for the 5 minute drive to the magic! The shuttle driver gave our bags to the porters and off we were to the line up. It was about 11:30 at this point.

There was a line up for the regular check in and two people in line for priority/FTTF. A win for faster to the fun! We breezed through the door, a 30 second wait to look at passports and boarding passes. No line up at check in. I did check in online too so that was a fast process. Pictures taken and off to the waiting area. As soon as we decided to find a place to sit down they called faster to the fun to board. We boarded smoothly with one more check of who we were before we got on. Everyone we encountered was very nice. The check in woman explained how to get around and gave us a map.

We went to our room 7387 right away even though we knew it may not be ready. It was and all of the items we pre orders were there, rum, ornaments, water and cruise cash. This is a balcony room on the starboard side between mid and aft. DD got the sofa bed and DS got the Pullman bed.

We dropped off our bags, put valuables in the safe and made our way to Cucina del Capitano for lunch. Good choice! The meat lasagna was yummy! Made with beef brisket, squash, spinach and tomato sauce. I'm going to try making it that way at home. I didn’t like the dressing on the cesear salad.

Enjoying your report. Looking forward to more.

As to missing monkey, we've had that happen with "Puppy". However, puppy belongs to my almost 14 year old, and frankly, even if I'd have been on the highway already, I'd have turned around to get him. The thought of losing him (he's been with DS since he was a baby) would be as traumatic for me as it would be for him.

ETA: Puppy has been on all of DS's cruises and if they gave points to travelling "friends", would be diamond in his own right by now.

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

We are going on Magic on July 16th. I can not wait! Looking forward to your review!

So happy to see another review for the Magic!! Just booked her for Christmas! Also happy that you had a good stay at The Fountains, we are bluegreen owners, and love that property! Can't wait for more!! Also.....how easy was the car rental? We are talking about renting a car to drive to the port, but we have never done it, so trying to figure out how it all works!!

After lunch we explored the ship. We stopped by camp ocean. I had already registered the kids. They checked out their rooms and got lanyards (for their parents).

We walked around to check out more of the ship

These guys were great all week:

So happy to see another review for the Magic!! Just booked her for Christmas! Also happy that you had a good stay at The Fountains, we are bluegreen owners, and love that property! Can't wait for more!! Also.....how easy was the car rental? We are talking about renting a car to drive to the port, but we have never done it, so trying to figure out how it all works!!

Car rental was super easy. We went to the reservation desk in the airport an hour before our scheduled pick up and it was fine. We booked a full size car and chose a Sonata which was fine for us, three suitcases, carry-ons, an umbrella stroller and my shopping at Target:D

Alchemy Bar

Plaza Cafe with DS putting himself in the photo

Deck 5

Great start!!! Sail on her in 8 days! Look forward to the rest!

I'm looking forward to reading the rest! We are going on the magic next year with our daughter who will be turning 3 during the trip and an 8 year old nephew so I'm eager to hear how it was for the kids!

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Thanks for writing your review! I'm excited to read the rest. We're looking at Magic for this winter, and our daughter will be 2.5 for that trip. I hope you all had a great time.

Thanks for a review that includes some kids! A bunch of us sail on the Magic in a few months, so I'm tuned in. Great start!

Was the sail n sign card punched when you got it, or did you have to get it punched in order to use the lanyard?

Yeah! Another magic review. We sail away on her in 28 days

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Thank you for the review and especially the pix, we are booked on her 12/17 thru 12/24 and we are very excited. We are not too far from your cabin on deck 7 so I am happy to see some pix.

Thank you!

Looking forward to more. Have to wait till Sept. to take part in the Magic..:)

Was the sail n sign card punched when you got it, or did you have to get it punched in order to use the lanyard?

It was punched when we got in. Later in the cruise I swapped the camp ocean one for one of the sparkly lanyards from the gift shop onboard.

We heading back to our room around 3. My suitcase was there waiting. I unpacked while the kids got ready to go to the water park. In that time their suitcase came and I unpacked it too to get it out of the way.

Our steward Agus came to introduce himself and learn our names. We didn't have this experience on our last cruise and felt it was a nice touch.

About this time Dr. E made an announcement that the waterpark, food etc. Would be shutting down in 15 minutes for the muster drill. This did not go over well with DS. It was my fault for taking so long to unpack! We changed back into our clothes (I didn't even change yet). DH’s bag arrived and he started unpacking. We made our way down to the E4, the fourth floor of the southern lights restaurant for the drill. Dr. E did a good job of keeping it entertaining by changing up his voice to sound like different people. DD had a bit of a breakdown because she wanted to pee and we couldn't leave. She had just gone before we left. By the end of the drill she was sleepy. We went back to the room. DH stayed with DD while she napped and DS and I headed up to the lido for the sail away party.

First we stopped on deck three to sign up for the green eggs and ham breakfast. The line-up, even in priority was too long plus it wasn't urgent so we left.

We got drinks from the blue iguana tequila bar. I had a guava margarita and he had a virgin Miami vice. His was half white half red like the carnival logo. We found a booth, relaxed with our drinks and took some photos. Dr. E came around to say hi to everyone but stopped just before he got to us.

The DJ was playing good music! Definitely what you needed to get in the mood for a Caribbean vacation. They were dropping balloons from the 11th deck which DS enjoyed. The fun team came out with the cat in the hat and thing one and thing two. They played the wobble, Cupid shuffle, palance, did a Congo line, streamers shot out. It was fun!

After the music wrapped up I noticed it was after 5 and we headed up for dinner since we had the early seating. We have table 574 on the left side of the dining room. It was a booth and perfect for the family. Our head waiter is Ender from turkey. He was supported by Cladiu who was good and another Asian woman who seemed to be very new and didn't know much English. I noticed my fork was dirty, gave it to her and asked for a new one and she didn't bring it until later when Ender asked her. She didn't quite understand our dinner order either. She was nice though.

I didn’t really know what I wanted to eat so I ordered the Indian. It was okay. I wish they had naan in the dining room.

Ender even cut up our son’s food at dinner

Tiramisu

After dinner we went to deck 5 to check out cherry on top. DS picked out some sour skittles, rainbow fruit leathers and some gummies. It was 90 cents for the loose candy. I thought it would be more. We wanted to do the free liquor tasting but the line-up was too long for a shot of alcohol. We watched people, learn and practice the cha cha cha and samba down in the lobby and headed back to our rooms. The correspondence dinner was on. I had planned to go to the club for free champagne for the ladies and the music at the sail away party was good but I fell asleep during the dinner.

Thanks for the review.

Thanks very much for the review. You're doing a great job! Just the right balance of telling us about it and photos and I'm enjoying very much so far!

We will be on the Magic a very, VERY long time from now, but are hungry for reviews out of FLL since this is pretty new.

Your little boy is darling! Love the pic with him and his sunglasses and drink

:D Hope to see more of him and your little girl too.

I'm with you on the ceasar dressing. I know there are rave reviews of it, but I thought it was odd tasting, and no, it wasn't the anchovy flavor. It was something else and I just didn't care for it.

Following along!

The picture of your son with his drink and sunglasses is a perfect ad for cruising and Carnival! Adorable! Thanks for the review!

Following. I sail in the magic 1 week from today

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