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Carnival Magic 6/30/2013 Review with Pictures!


Britbrie
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Hello! We just got back home from our short 7 day cruise onboard the Carnival Magic. I've written a few trip reports in the past, and wanted to share my vacation with you guys again! So, hopefully everyone enjoys!

 

I definitely want to make it clear before I start that any negative comment is not to be taken as me being a whiny, spoiled, and ungrateful person... but just an observation/rant.

 

So, We started out on Saturday, June 29 with a short 4-ish hour drive to Houston, TX. None of us have ever really driven through Houston, so needless to say we got a little lost! After finding the Galleria, and parking our car, we went inside the Westin hotel to check in for the night.

 

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After checking in, we took the elevator up to the 19th floor to put our bags in the room.

 

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The room was pretty nice, and was very clean. There was a mini fridge, safe, computer desk, free wi-fi, complimentary water/coffee/tea, and nice smelling soaps/shampoos.

 

The hotel had a resturaunt, lounge, and bar... but we did not take advantage of any of these. There was a gift shop down in the lobby that sold things you might have forgotten/water and soft drinks. Everything could be charged on your room card, and the staff was very friendly.

 

After checking into the hotel, we quickly exited the hotel to go shopping in the Galleria!

 

Up next: Galleria/Rainforest Cafe.

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Ever since I was a little girl, I had always heard about my friends going to the galleria to shop. I have ALWAYS wanted to go shopping there, so before we even set foot in the mall I had done my research on stores it housed. (I want to add that this mall is the most confusing layout ever! Definitely make sure you print a map if you ever go here.) We went shopping around in the typical clothing stores for a little while, until my dad got fed up and was ready to eat dinner.

 

We have eaten at the Rainforest Cafe in Disney World several times, so upon hearing that this mall had one... we knew we had to go! After being seated, we placed our orders. I ordered the Pot Roast (pictured below), my mom ordered the Rumble in the Jungle turkey wrap, and dad ordered cobb salad. When our food arrived, my pot roast was ice cold! So I asked the waiter to heat it up in the microwave for me... after waiting about 15 minutes, finally my food arrived only to be slightly warm. I didn't complain though, as I was starving! After eating, we hung around and noticed that there were SOOOO many kids running around the restaurant without parental supervision! I couldn't believe all of the kids that were running wild, so we left and went to Tiffany's.

 

After purchasing a ring, and a necklace... (I finally got something from Tiffany's!!!!), we went to a few more stores and then back to the hotel to go to bed.

 

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(The ring I bought! Sorry, I'm just super excited. lol)

 

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Up next: Embarkation!

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Early the next morning, we got our belongings together and started out for the hour drive from Houston to Galveston. Finally I got to see the ship I would be living on for a week!

 

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We parked the car, and boarded a bus to go to the port. Once all of our bags were off of the bus, we tipped the driver and walked down to the check in area. At this point it was around 10 am, and Carnival had emailed us the day prior stating that the crew would be undergoing immigration checks, which would delay boarding until 12:30 pm. We didn't find this to be a problem, so we sat down in the VIP lounge and drank complimentary tea and coffee.

 

About 12:35 pm, we were walking onto the ship! The lobby was super nice, and many people were heading to the bar. We got right onto an elevator and went up to the lido deck for some lunch.

 

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I really enjoyed that there was a lot more outdoor seating on this ship, and that it was very comfortable to lounge around!

 

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The staff was all very friendly! They were greeting everyone, and moved very quickly to clean up any messes that we created.

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On previous cruises, we have enjoyed going up to the top floor of the lido buffet to eat... however on this ship Carnival utilized the space and created an Italian restaurant called Cucina del Capitano (I'll talk about the restaurant a little later). I do have to say, they did amazing with the decor in this area!!

 

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On the buffet today, they had the typical Carnival salad bar, roast beef, potatoes, fish, bread, a burrito bar, and the Mongolian wok.

 

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Looking forward to the rest of the Review. We were on the Magic back in June of 2011, booked a short trip out of California for this past May so that our December 2013 second trip aboard the Magic would be our Platinum Trip.

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Looking forward to reading this! Just curious what part of Louisiana you drove from? We'll be heading there from Lafayette area, and thought we would drive in the morning of the cruise.

 

We drove from Baton Rouge! You could do the drive the morning of, for sure. We just didn't want to be all tired from the drive and stuff.

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We also always make use of the deli when we don't particularly care for any of the buffet choices. So instead of eating all of my buffet food, I got a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. They put mayonnaise on my sandwich, which was really strange, so I only ate a little. I definitely learned the remainder of the cruise to ask for no mayo!

 

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The view of the port of galveston at lunch:

 

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After eating, mom and I went up to the spa to do one of the tours. They led you around the spa and gym with your own attendant and gave mini demonstrations/talks about the services they offered. (I for some reason did not take ANY pictures, sorry!!!)

 

They showed us the thermal suite first. Which for those of you that are not familiar, it has a bunch of heated loungers that help your body relax and sweat out toxins. There is one that even consists of aromatherapy (which smelt AMAZING).

 

Next they showed us the thalassotherapy pool, which is a pool filled with sea salt water and it bubbles to help your muscles relax. You could buy a pass for both the thermal suites, and pools per day or the full cruise. Of course the spa cabins had unlimited use of those areas.

 

After this, they showed the hair salon and the GoSmile teeth whitening system. They also passed out little samples of whitening solution (that I am going to try this weekend... I'll let you guys know how it does.) We also had a short talk from the attendant specializing in the men's part of the spa. She tried to sell the various shaves they could do onboard, and she seemed very nice.

 

The next area we saw was the facial rooms. Here they actually had a lady getting a facial as everyone watched. They mainly pushed the Elemis Oxydermy Facial (which I got the first sea day), but of course they have more options. The facial therapist was very nice, and gave a demonstration of the microdermabrasion/oxygen technology that they use.

 

Next they showed us the massage rooms, couples massage rooms, and the seaweed wrap massage room. In the couples massage room they had a whirlpool bath that you could take part in (that looked veryyy relaxing).

The seaweed wrap demonstration was pretty neat, and I definitely wish I would have gotten it done. The spa attendant told us that they put a seaweed mask on your body and then wrapped you up in a plastic/aluminum foil wrap. You then would get to lay in a bed that would become weightless and help decompress your spine. Apparently it was like you had just slept for 8 hours when you got out! After your treatment, you would get to take an aromatherapy shower. Like I say I really wish I would've tried this spa treatment! If any of you had this done, let me know how it was!!

 

The next room we went to was the gym, where we met the two gym gurus onboard the Magic. They told a little bit about the seminars they would be having throughout the cruise, and you could sign up at the end of it. I do have to say compared to other cruise ships I've been on, the gym on the Magic seemed a little bit smaller... but it was busy the entire cruise!

 

The last part of the spa tour, we watched the acupuncturist give a treatment to a man's knee. I cringed, and no one on our segment of the tour wanted to watch anymore of it. (Thank goodness!) I'm sure acupuncture can be wonderful and healing, but it is just not for me!

 

We also had a talk from the Ionithermie Cellulite reduction attendant. She said that this treatment could help you lose up to eight inches in a single session! They also had a model having this done, but who knows if it really works or not.

 

Overall, the spa tour was very nice and did not take a large portion of the day. At the end they let you book appointments for any treatment you wanted.

 

After the spa tour, we still had a couple of hours until the safety briefing, so we went to walk around the ship and take pictures.

 

This is the aft pool (which is where the Tandoor, and deli are located. There is also a drink station, and a bar)

 

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The Red Frog Pub

 

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