BeachLoverstoo

We sail on the Magic next month and I'm reading everything I can about her, so thanks for this review. I love your positive attitude, it's our thought that we are on the ship, not cooking, cleaning or doing anything but relaxing if that's what we choose to do. We were planning to make the Red Frog Pub one of our spots, so I'm really happy that you liked it.

Did you visit the Serenity area? No kids, just the two of us doing our first B2B and ready to be on the ship!

Pretty good accounting of the pros & cons. Is it nicer than a regular balcony...for the most part yes. But minimal protection from rain & sun is an issue, and a bigger one to me was the soot particulates that accumulate overnight. Despite being cleaned daily by the Steward, I usually cleaned the chairs again before using them.

 

To me, not worth the price differential in most cases. But like another poster said, if you're a frequent cruiser, it's worth trying once.

As has been stated here, to each their own. My wife and I love the aft balcony cabins preferring them above all others. The extra room I think is worth the price differential and being at the aft the quiet since there are few that come back there make it worth it. I do wipe down the chairs and railing each morning but that does not bother me. We had a Grand Suite on the Elation earlier this year and the noise from the balconies on either side (Grand Suites will hold up to 5 people) and the noise in the passageways was noticeably much higher. I even had to bang on an adjoining wall one night to get the people to quiet down :mad:.

We are aft balcony cabin fans. :D

We enjoy our own private sailaway with a glass of wine, toast the sunset most evenings and enjoy breakfast on the balcony too.

On our last cruise, the only balconies were the suites and that was nice, but much noisier than we were used to. For the most part, only the guests staying in the aft cabins venture back here.

Several years ago, we came upon two older women right near our cabin who were lost. When we asked what they were looking for, they said they thought they could get to the back of the ship and were disappointed not to find 'it.' DH opened our cabin door and pulled back the curtains for them to see that they were as far aft as they could be.

We've done several cabin crawls and people are always fascinated with the view.

Is it a walk to some parts of the ship, yes, but we enjoy the exercise. We've experienced some heat, but not all day, and nothing to stop us from sitting out there.

Hubby is up early every morning and loves the peace and quiet of the start of a new. Maybe I should mention he was on a submarine in the navy, so seeing the ocean is a treat!

I don't plan to register for the CC M&G on our two upcoming cruises. I've read they are held the last sea day and that is really pointless. So you meet and greet to say 'goodbye'?

The best M&G's we've had were organized by members of the roll call and held in one of the lounges on the first sea day. We pre-paid for them and attendance was what you'd expect when your money was on the line. Plentiful drinks and snacks were provided.

I think it was nice for CC to try this, but Carnival doesn't seem to be that interested in promoting it, sort of like the farewell party that went away due to lack of participation. Our roll call made sure we attended and we enjoyed it, but we were really the only people there.

Thanks...its hard to find something that does not leak.

You can order the French toast made without cereal and it is delicious. I also enjoy the eggs benedict, order the hollandaise sauce on the side and it is even better. Hubby goes for the steak and eggs every time. And by all means save room for the banana cream pie.

We had a bottle of champagne and used it to make mimosas for the table.

We love the Sea Day Brunch, but as it starts later, we order room service coffee, juice and muffins to enjoy early that morning on our balcony.

We purchase a wine package soon after we board. There's usually a spot in the lobby/atrium, but you can buy it in the MDR. There are three packages: basic, deluxe and premium. We've seen some changes in the wines offered, but across the fleet, not just one ship.

You get a little book of tickets with the list of wines on the back. Ours was delivered to our cabin before dinner.

Hand one to the waiter at dinner or a bartender if you want a bottle for your cabin, tell him/her what you want and that's all there is to it.

I've heard if you don't finish a bottle, they will store it and bring it to you the next night. Of course, we don't really understand the concept of leftover wine!

Hope this helps!

Since the OP is doing different itineraries, there will be some differences with the menu due to the port of call selections. We find so many items we want to try, having a second week is a bonus, not a downside.

Also on the Magic there are more dining options to try such as the free lunch menu at the Italian restaurant. If he likes the food, he might want to try dinner there on the second leg.:)

We just booked the Galveston cruise. Sounds like a good one.

 

 

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We just booked it too. Panama Canal's on my bucket list.

DH and I are doing a B2B on Magic with different itineraries. The first, a 7-day, is western Caribbean; the second is an 8-day to southern Caribbean.

Looking at 4 new-to-us ports as we missed Grand Turk on our last cruise.:)

You are in for a treat! Costa Maya is one of our favorite places to go. We made reservations with Steve at Tropicante and had a great time! He reserved some loungers and a table for us. Once we were there he arranged a snorkeling trip for 6 or 7 of us and we had several appetizers and coke products and I think our total bill was only $120 including the snorkeling. He will also let you call home from his phone if you need to check in.

 

You get can a great massage right on the beach for about $25/hour too!

 

You can catch a taxi right from the port to Mahahual (where Tropicante is) for about $2 a person I think.

 

Your teens will love it and this day won't break the bank. It was one of the cheapest things we have done. I just don't understand why the Carnival ships don't stay longer in Costa Maya.

Thanks for the write-up. We are there from noon to 8 and looking forward to a visit with Steve. Might have to check out the massage as the onboard services drive me nuts with the product sales pitch.

We are doing a B2B (15 days) on the Magic with two different itineraries. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to try lots of new things with the port of call menus. Even if we didn't have that there's an everyday menu and the nightly "specials". I don't usually order more than one entree and many nights there are several things tempting me, so with a second cruise, I might be able to get more of them!

Yes, we went to Guest Services because there was no line, but I think you can DIY at one of the kiosks in the lobby/atrium. We already had some OBC, but with the addition of the cards our final bill was under $10.

Thank you for your replies. I'm aware that it isn't a true B2B and I've never heard the term S2S. I love B2B's, believe me if I could do one I could. But I could not find a way to do 15 or 16 days in the continental US- go look, it's impossible. Any ship that has 5 day cruises will have a 4 day in between. Even Vista has a 7 between two 8's, so no chance of a 16. Hawaii is not in my budget this year, no way.

 

It's my son (18) and me, both able bodied, so rolling the bags is not a problem. I'm hoping we get an expedited line so we don't have to kill the whole day in the terminal. We'll be Platinum on the second cruise so we'll be moved up that way but I was hoping it would be an even faster jump.

In November we are doing a B2B, 15 days on the Magic. The first leg (7 days) is Western; the second (8 days) is Southern. We will be Platinum for both.

What a great write up! We are on the Magic in November and I hate that Dr. E won't be there since I've read so many good things about him.

We are doing a B2B and plan to try every dining option, so I appreciate your comments on the for-fee and free options.

Seeing you are from Tampa, any scuttlebutt on whether they are bringing a year-round spirit-class ship back?

Oh..I can see it now. 500 platinum guests all choosing to go to dinner at the same time...the chaos, the upheaval.

 

Glad I like late dining.

If there were 500 platinum guests doing YTD, I wonder how many would choose YTD? :confused: The dining room staff knows the answer, not me, but if there were 500 and they all had YTD, I'd expect there would be delays, but not chaos.

We were on the Conquest and had FTTF and found it useless. It did not get us to the front of the line. So having an excursion would insure you off the ship promptly as that is controlled.

We've only had one instance with FTTF and tendering. We went to guest services, showed our card and were escorted to the front of the line for the first tender. We didn't have an excursion, just wanted to get off early and find something we wanted to do.

A couple of questions:

First, the wine at the Italian cafe - is it just the first night? Any comments on how it tasted? I 've read the free wine at the steakhouse isn't great, but you can buy something else for half off on the first night. Wondering if that might be a possibility at the Italian place if it's just OK.

Also how was the buttered popcorn pots de creme? I've missed it on our cruises, but with 15 days coming up, I hope to check it out.

Thanks for lots of laughs. I'm reading everything I can on the Magic.

Hello all,

We are doing a back to back cruise on the valor, and was wondering what we should do between the two cruises when fewer people are onboard. We were thinking that we could try to be the first to the red frog pub for the free pint of beer, or to go to the pool while it is quiet. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Goldencruiser

Our B2B is coming up too. I wondered if the bartender(s) know who is doing the B2B and refuses the freebie since it's sort of cheat. I mean hubby would love a free beer and who doesn't want to grace the pages of the un-named media site?

98% of the passengers have never HEARD of Cruise Critic! No worries...you won't be sailing alone!

This is the answer. CC is popular among its fans, however I've asked people on several recent cruises if they do CC and they don't even know it exists. We've always had roll calls for longer cruises, but i think the shorter ones that draw in more first timers who don't know about roll calls create the 'no roll call' scenario.

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We were in a GS on the Elation in May and really enjoyed the balcony. We had three chairs (one reclined) and a table. We had ample storage with the walk-in closet and the dresser shelves. FYI, ours didn't have a hair dryer, but i brought my own so it was fine. We really enjoyed the seating area - an-L-shaped sofa that makes out into the double, but also two other comfortable chairs. Even though there was just the two of us, everything in our cabin was set up for five guests - towels, glassware, hangers.

Our ship was first in but I never found it overly crowded. We had an early start and reserved our chairs through Carnivals Beach and Kayak package. The kayaking was great! We paddled down the lagoon to an other beach where there was a turtle sanctuary. It was really cool! We were able to hangout with 7 beautiful sea turtles. Definitely a highlight not to be missed! Oh and it was free!!!

That sounds like fun, but I didn't see any excursion with kayaking. Do you know if that was the name of the excursion?

And I have one other question please. I thought I saw they had a wine package you could order but I can't find where I saw it to place the order. All I'm seeing now is Bubbles and Cheers. Did they do away with the wine package?

Search for Cruise the Vineyard to see what is available. We always purchase when we get on board, but there is a phone number you can call and order online. Should be part of the information in your search.

Thanks for the review. We are on the Magic for a B2B in November. :) We have Western and then Exotic Southern so there will be lots of interesting "Port of Call" items to try. Fifteen days, seven ports, including four that are new to us. Missed Grand Turk last time, so we hope for better luck this cruise.:D