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    We're Only Here For The Boos: Our Halloween '18 Cruise Aboard The Carnival Magic!

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    24 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

    My daughter was tested for explosives, also, when boarding a plane in Orlando. Apparently they just came from one of the theme parks where there was some kind of explosions part of a show, and they were carrying the residue (??) from it. And as for FLL airport, it is the WORST airport I’ve ever been in. Absolutely no choice of food venues, limited seating, and people having to sit all over on the floors! Crazy airport! Following along on your review! Can’t wait to read it!

     Wow, that's scary! I get tested pretty much every time. 😕 This was our first time flying into/out of FLL, and I agree, it's awful!

    We're Only Here For The Boos: Our Halloween '18 Cruise Aboard The Carnival Magic!

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted · Edited by watermelonqueen99

    Sunday, October 28th, 2018

    Embarkation day had arrived! I am an early morning person, so I got up at 4, did some yoga, read some inspirational quotes, and took the time to do my hair and makeup. (Just kidding, this was me.....):

     

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    We dropped our rental car off at MIA and took the free Alamo shuttle to Port Miami. What ensued next was pure chaos. We were sent an email a few days before the cruise to show up one hour later than our assigned check-in time. When we arrived around 12:30, there were just masses and masses of people. Something that was new to us was that we were given a zone number card when they checked our boarding passes/passports:

     

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    We got into the waiting area and again, chaos and masses of people. A Carnival employee directed us to go have a seat and wait till our zone was called, which we thought was weird because usually we have to get in line to finish checking in. There were no seats available, so we just kinda stood off to the side. Once they started boarding, it actually went pretty quickly. Finally our zone was called. The not so nice employee checking boarding passes basically rolled her eyes and told us we needed to go see an agent to get our boarding passes stamped. So we were right, we did need to see an agent when we got into the terminal, the guy directing us just didn't know what he was doing. We didn't get onboard until 1:30, the latest we've ever boarded in 9 cruises. On the positive side, our room was ready, so we went to check it out after grabbing a FunShip. We had an "L-shaped" interior room this time, and we ended up really liking the layout. It felt roomier than a regular interior. We've decided this is the room type we're gonna book from now on. Here's where the Magic happens: (See what I did there?):

     

    20181028_134838-L.jpg

     

    **Tip: Carnival's "king" beds aren't really king beds. They're 2 twin size bed pushed together. This can definitely put a damper on said "Magic" goings on on this bed. C brings ratchet straps and secures the 2 mattresses together under the sheets. Keeps the bed from shifting, and you don't really even know they're there. **

     

    Vanity, mirror, dresser, safe, fridge all along one wall:

     

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    Looking toward the closet/bathroom, where the door would normally be in a "regular" interior:

     

    20181028_134912-L.jpg

     

    To be continued.....

     

     

    We're Only Here For The Boos: Our Halloween '18 Cruise Aboard The Carnival Magic!

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    Saturday, October 27th, 2018

    Now that my picture issue is resolved, time to crack on. When I left off we had just checked the monitor and learned that our flight to FLL was on time. Eventually it was time to board and we were on our way. The plane we were on was not equipped with Wi-Fi, so basically we rode a flying covered wagon to Florida. I wanted to ask the flight attendant for a bonnet, apron, and butter churner so that I could at least be productive on the flight, but C wouldn't let me. He can be such a Debbie Downer. We got excited as we said "bye, Felicia" to Houston:

     

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    We had some beautiful skies on our way to Ft. Lauderdale:

     

    20181027_102155-M.jpg

     

    At one point, the clouds looked like a blanket of snow:

     

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    Pretty soon we began our descent into FLL almost 30 minutes early. Hellllloooo, Florida!

     

    20181027_110601-L.jpg

     

    We landed, grabbed our bags and our rental car, and headed to Wal-Mart. We needed some essentials like Pringles, super glue, and wine. We made our way to our hotel, tired and hungry. Our hotel was near MIA, and it was in a weird almost industrial area. There were no restaurants close by, so I searched on my phone for options. As if they were listening to our conversations about food, someone kept slipping menus under our door every few minutes:

     

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    We had never had this happen before, and thought it was weird. We ended up just munching on the snacks we had. I had a nutritious meal consisting of the cookies and pretzels the FA's handed out on the plane. Eat your heart out, Food Network:

     

    20181027_200101-L.jpg

     

    After we had some food in us, we went out and partied it up in the 305. We hit every hot-spot on South Beach and rubbed elbows with the Miami elite. (Reality: We were exhausted from our early flight and we showered, got into bed and watched Halloween Wars reruns.) Despite the constant plane noise, we eventually fell asleep, and I dreamed that John Heald sent 2 complimentary yaks to our hotel room, and we rode them to Port Miami the next morning.

     

    To be continued......

     

     

    • Like 1
    • Haha 2

    We're Only Here For The Boos: Our Halloween '18 Cruise Aboard The Carnival Magic!

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    **Another quick note, I didn't take near as many pics this time as I intended, we were just busy having fun and relaxing. So this won't be my most thorough review picture wise, (still have a bunch, but not as many as my Dream review) but I do hope you still enjoy it and find it at least a little helpful! Also, my photos seem to be lesser quality than last year, even though I used the exact same phone. But then again, I'm the worst photographer ever, so that could have something to do with it.**

     

    Saturday, October 27th, 2018

    As always, we headed to port the day before the cruise. We're budget travelers, and always book the cheapest flights possible on Southwest, even if it means when we board we look like Walking Dead extras. (In other words, my usual Saturday morning hungover look.) So of course we had a super early flight, and we left our house at approximately "eff this Sugar Honey Iced Tea" o'clock:

     

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    We only live 15 minutes from the airport, which is good because we overslept and had a near Home Alone moment as we raced to our gate just in time for them to call the A boarding group for our flight. As I mentioned earlier, we're cheap, so only C gets the Early Bird check in with Southwest, basically guaranteeing him an A boarding pass, then he just saves my window seat until I board. I had a C pass, but eventually I joined him. I love flying when it's dark, and we had a beautiful view as we said goodbye to Tulsa:

     

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    We were also treated to a sunrise as we made our way toward Houston:

     

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    Our flight was quick and uneventful, and in just under an hour we were on the ground at Hobby. We were hungry and had some time to kill before our connecting flight, so we went to hunt down some food. We ordered two breakfast burritos from a restaurant that I can't remember the name of, and $19 and three bites later, we were looking at each other like:

     

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    C being a guy, he finished his burrito despite it being nasty and making Taco Bell taste like authentic, delicious Mexican food. I, on the other hand, decided to go have a proper breakfast. I had whole grain toast, egg whites, and some organic skim milk. (Just kidding, I had a double vodka on the rocks from Buffalo Wild Wings. I was warming up for my Cheers package.):

     

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    We finished our respective breakfasts, and decided to go check the status of our flight. Our flight to Ft. Lauderdale was on time:

     

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    To be continued shortly......

     

     

    • Like 1

    We're Only Here For The Boos: Our Halloween '18 Cruise Aboard The Carnival Magic!

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    Ok, so while I continue to upload pics, I will do a little preface to my review for those who are new to my writing. Actually, I think disclaimer is a better word than preface. But anyway, as always, I will just copy/paste my intro from my other reviews and modify as necessary and then continue from there:

     

    Ladies and gentlemen, just as promised, Watermelonqueen99 is back with another review! This time, it's a picture review of our Western Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Magic that left Miami on 10/28/18. I have written reviews of our last couple of cruises on the Freedom and the Dream and I really enjoyed doing them. I won't link to them, because I'm not into contributing to delinquency (that's a lie, it's actually a hobby of mine), but they're on here if you wanna search for them. (Disclaimer: If you're easily offended, your last name is Duggar, or you're currently on medication, I don't recommend it.) Because Photoshop now wants to charge me to host my pictures, and that money could go toward alcohol, Botox, or scratch-off tickets at the gas station, only the text remains on the Freedom review. And like most of my life choices, the Dream one is sketchy thanks to the jankiness that is/was Flickr.  But they're worth a read if you're planning on sailing on the Freedom or Dream, or if you want to lower your IQ by a few points. To begin, I will give you a little overview of who we are, my writing style, and what we do and don't do when we cruise, then I'll get started with the actual review. So, allow me to introduce ourselves:

     

    Hey, girl, hey! We are T (me) and C (him). We met in 1998 in college, and married the next year. We just turned 40 this year, and we own our own business that allows us a lot of flexibility. We first started cruising in April 2014 for our 15th wedding anniversary, got completely hooked, and this cruise on the Magic was #9 for us. We try to cruise 2-3 times a year. We are currently Gold (actually, it's more of a mustard yellow color ), and looking forward to that Platinum card, mostly so that we can get our draws washed for free and we don't have to keep going to the Deck 2 laundry room like mere pheasants. We'll only be lowly Gold card members for 1 more cruise, thankfully. We are loyal to Carnival, and are very laid-back and easy to please. We have a 16 year old son and a 12 year old daughter, but we do not cruise with them. On the ship, we are very social, very friendly, and love to make new friends. During the day, you'll find us around the ship playing cards, people watching, day drinking, wasting money at the casino, or getting wind blown on one the lower, quieter decks. At night, you'll find us at our favorite bar, hanging out with our favorite bartenders and new friends we've met. We don't go to any of the shows, comedy or otherwise. We don't go to dinner in the MDR. (We prefer the classy ambiance of Guy's Burger Joint and/or the Lido buffet.) We do not cruise without the Cheers package, and we make full use of it, no shame. (15 drinks? Honey, that's not a limit, that's a goal.)

     

    So, now that my plagiarized (Is plagiarizing yourself a sin? Asking for a friend.) intro is complete, let me give you a little background on this cruise. A lot of great things came out of 1978. 8 track players, 63 cent per gallon gas, the movie Grease, hot floral pattern couches with matching drapes. But most importantly, C and I. That's right, we both turned 40 this year. I have always looked forward to my 40's and rocking the whole older woman thing. Most young women look up to the likes of Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony, Michelle Obama, Amelia Earhart. My idol was Stifler's mom from America Pie. But anyway, we knew we wanted to do something significant to celebrate. Should we donate blood? Volunteer somewhere? Visit the Bunny Ranch in Nevada? (That was my idea.) Nah, we wanted to go on a cruise. Because of work commitments, we wouldn't be able to go until the fall. That would mean we would be going longer between cruises than we have gone in a long time, so I threw myself into planning around March. We were originally sailing on the Glory. As time went on, I realized I am a size queen, and really wanted to sail on a Dream class. Mainly because by the time Muster rolls around, I'm 4 FunShips in and standing outside in the heat, crammed in like sardines for 30 minutes just isn't my jam. We decided somewhat last minute to switch to our favorite ship, the one where it all began: the Carnival Magic. It would be our 4th time on her, but our first since she was dry-docked and moved to Miami from Galveston. All of the ports would be repeats for us, so we were really just looking forward to enjoying the ship, relaxing and meeting some new people.

     

    Now that I've gone over some background on this cruise and I'm ready to get started, I will say this one more time. If you are easily offended, this review is NOT FOR YOU, so please don't bother reading it. Back in September I triggered someone with a JOKE I made, and a response to their comment that I thought was my usual eloquent self. (Sarcasm) They flagged my post and I was put in CC jail for a few days. It didn't bother me to go back to the naughty chair, I'd been there before for using the word "d*ck to describe someone who was being, well, a d*ck. So to pass the time in the CC naughty chair, I grabbed some TV dinners, a martini shaker, and some reading material so that maybe I could learn to use my words more wisely:

     

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    Anyways, all I'm going to say is that I'm thankful for my sense of humor. I got it from my late father, who even in the face of stage 4 cancer, was still cracking jokes, usually at the expense of himself and/or his illness. If you can't laugh in life no matter the situation you face, well, that's a pretty sad life in my opinion. But anyway, enough negativity. Please join me as I relive our week aboard the Carnival Magic!

    • Like 3

    We're Only Here For The Boos: Our Halloween '18 Cruise Aboard The Carnival Magic!

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    I promise to start this review tomorrow! I am still exhausted from yesterday's travel, and also in the process of getting all of my pictures uploaded. Also, it's election night, so naturally I'm drinking more than normal. Hope ya'll will be patient as I gear up to hopefully inform you, maybe entertain you, and more than likely make you feel mildly uncomfortable at some point. 😂

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1

    We're Only Here For The Boos: Our Halloween '18 Cruise Aboard The Carnival Magic!

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    7 hours ago, pghsteelerfan said:

    I am really looking forward to follow along on this one and if this is anything like you others, I'm ready for some side splitting laughter.  I may invite my friend, Captain Morgan, along so we can set sail as we enjoy this journey.  Thanks for taking the time to do another review. 

     

    The only way to read/get through a Watermelonqueen review is with a drink in your hand! 😂 Thanks for following along again!

    • Like 1

    We're Only Here For The Boos: Our Halloween '18 Cruise Aboard The Carnival Magic!

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    Watermelonqueen99 is back with another review! Right now we're sitting at the airport, and yet again the female TSA agent got to second base with me, I got tested for explosives residue AGAIN, and all I've had to eat today is half a dry, burned Auntie Ann's pretzel dipped in some plastic fake cheese because FLL has a serious lack of eating establishments and the few decent ones are packed. There's a baby crying and a lady who won't stop cackle-laughing. So, for right now, I'm just holding this spot! I'll be back tomorrow evening with my first installment!

    • Like 4
    • Haha 3
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