Seago2

Don't know about Amber Cove aqua zone as we got right back on the ship after the excursion.

Sapphire Beach was beautiful and yes we did take a cab on our own, I forget how much it was but you can ask in the ports of call section.

The hand held tablets make their own little "ding" and you get used to it! Super fast. But I know what you mean.

Thanks to everyone telling me to have a great cruise! It is really fun, though really long for a mom and her 19 year old son! Once again, I really wish carnival had programming, ANY programming, for those who have aged out of Club 02 but are not old enough to drink. Just a meet and greet a couple of times would have been great.

On Magic now- the casino is awful but if you walk quickly and hold your breath you only have to breathe once. I've made it through on one breath. Obviously I won't be gambling there :'). Not much smoking on deck. I've only smelled it twice and I'm on a B2B.

Have to give a shout out to La Cucina Capitano. So good. That plus the steak house, sooo well worth the uocharge.

Omg this wifi! Argh

The champagne, as it were, is Duc De Val Mer. Looks like a headache in a glass to be honest. ;p

The water in Lido does come out super slowly. There are lines.

People have decorated doors all over the place and there is a FB group about it but I don't personally know if they are magnetic. The ceilings are though; we have the birthday decoration package and they are magnetically stuck to the ceiling.

Sail and sign card was given to us before we boarded, old fashioned style. No machines that "ding" any more, they have hand held tablets that read your card. Much faster,

Where did you dock in St Thomas?

Charlotte Amalie. Two ships in port.

So now I have another question.. I'm going to put both so it's easier to just reply to one... 1) wondering about the spa specials they're offering on port days... and 2) I'll be on deck 9 too- how's the noice from Lido above?

 

Thanks much! Happy cruising!!

I don't know about spa specials but will check next time we're in port. We are all the way forward on nine so there's no noise from above. I would imagine there is noise under the Lido Buffet but I don't know for sure.

Following. Thank you so far for mentioning Any Time Dining (we always do) and 1 or 2 other things....

 

Have you sailed Breeze as well? Loved Breeze and have been curious about how Magic compares.

 

Oh and Amber Cove? Wondering how it measures up to other ports

Have not sailed Breeze. Amber Cove- we did a Carnival excursion, Big 3: zip line, ropes course, and something billled as an "exciting ride", lol, which was really sitting in some 50 year old military bus and rumbling along rock covered roads for 50 minutes. Oh and there's a beautiful beach there too. And a lunch but we didn't have time for it. It was really a fun excursion.

Sailing October 14! Very curious about no-pay food options . Have heard there is a free sushi station on deck 5??? What other food finds do you see?

Thanks

I have not seen any free sushi, except at the Platinum and Diamond party. Free foods are: Lido Buffet (really good food), Tandoor (excellent), pizza, Guy's, Sea Dogs, Pig and Anchor, Blue Iguana Cantina (excellent breakfast burritos). I'm sure I'm missing something and someone will correct me.

Hope this wasn't asked previously...but what type of cabin are you in? We are booked on Magic in about five months and have selected a cove balcony (first time). Was wondering about cabin location and type, if it was a good pick on my part. Enjoy the rest of your cruise(s)

YES it's a good pick, it's an excellent pick. Everything is so removed from the sea. Even the promenade deck is like 7 stories up, when you consider A deck and whatever else is below 1, and it's mostly surrounded by high plexiglass. If you don't have a balcony you will be potentially 150 feet above water if you're looking down from Lido, again mostly surrounded by plexiglass. We are in an interior, one door away from the secret deck on 9.

Line for Mongolian Wok was changed for my April cruise. They really messed it up making it 2 lines and only 2 cooks instead of 3. Took 45 minutes and I was 8th in line.

 

Has this been fixed?

I don't know, I just got it when we first got on and we are Platinum. No line. But I haven't seen any big lines in the Lido. The real problem is Guy's. It's complete insanity. Everyone clusters around the door to the Lido Buffet, people look miserable and hot in line, they either need to double Guy's or move it. Or not, who knows. It's crazy and so not worth it for a hamburger.

It's not supposed to work for iMessage but it has for us so far.

Following, as I'm eyeing Magic's October 7th 2018 sailing. Same itinerary as yours, too...great itinerary!

 

How was Sapphire Beach? Their webcam has been my go-to site for years. "Look where I could be right now, but noooooo!" :D

 

Magic has a LOT of food options.

Is Guy's Pig & Anchor only open on sea days? Any reports about SeaDogs? (Both would be new for me on Carnival.)

Has the line for Mongolian Wok been really long?

Sapphire Beach was gorgeous, simply gorgeous. Sea Dogs- meh. Clearly the hot dogs are boiled and then quickly thrown on a grill on one side. So overall: kind of mushy. Mongolian Wok: I went embarkation day, no line. Don't know about other days but will keep my eyes open. Pig and Anchor: again don't know but will find out.

Someone else answered me that Dr E would be on Magic until Nov 17, I will be sailing on Sept 24, so should have him as my CD. Goody!

 

What movies are they showing on board? I know they will be different for my cruise, just curious to how updated they keep the movies. You're doing a great job with all the answers. Thank You:)

I don't know the entire list of movies but will go down to GS and ask when they slow down a little. I will say that the other night it was Beauty and the Beast and LaLa Land. So those are both pretty current. Oh and Hidden Figures was one night, I really want to watch that.

Seago, are you Platinum? If so, what is the platinum gift right now?

Don't get your hopes up! It's a backpack made for a doll, remember those Chrissy dolls? Like that size. It's a joke. We unrolled the thing and laughed out loud. So we brought them down to GS and exchanged the for little chargers in holders. So this cruise I guess we keep the backpack. Honestly Croc visors would have been better :')

What dining option do you suggest for this ship? I am sailing in one week with my 2 kids (ages 7 & 9), my mom (65), and my niece (17). I am trying to decide between "Your Time" or Early.

We started off early and switched to any time. If you get there at 5:45-6:00 you'll be out by 7. Any time is best for the two of us so they don't stick us at an awkward table of four. Big tables I don't mind but it's hard to keep up convo with two other people for 7 nights. Any time rules! Plus you sit in different areas of the dining room, see different sights.

How is the weather been for you so far?

Great! The first day was rainy but the rest of the time- beautiful.

Excellent, I've never had a problem and I'm lying on one right now and it is so comfortable.

How is the internet service? I am sailing on July 8th and will have to take an exam while in port on July 10th. I can deal with little slow but I'm scared to death I will lose my connection and get locked out of my exam. Any information you can provide about the internet will be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!

It gets slow at times when everyone is on. Just to be on the safe side, I would get the most expensive option. I haven't gotten a lost connection yet (I have mid level option) but it's been slow here and there.

Are you doing back to back cruises or is this one long cruise?

 

 

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Back to back, one 7 and one 8.

To the person who asked about bottomless bubbles/cheers and diet sports drinks, the answer is no. They are all sugar containing.

Still have to find out about the champagne, will do!

Watching sail away from San Juan on the bow cam. It's formal,night, aka cruise elegant night. Most of the men had on ties and jackets the last formal night. A group of men were turned away by the hostess but the women, who were wearing sundresses, were let in. You could tell they honestly didn't know it was formal night and were coming right back with collared shirts and pants instead of shorts.

I have seen no bad behavior on this cruise, no big kids acting up (or even littles acting up), everyone has been polite. Definitely a higher level demographic than my last few sailings.

What's the "naughty" room. When you cabbed to sapphire beach. Are there always cabs waiting there to get back? Also does this beach have regulat chair seating as a cafe/dining?? My mom can't get low to the ground.

The naughty room is a cutesy name given to a place where grown adults have their smuggled liquor confiscated. Can you tell my opinion on that? It's like skipping tips.

Anyway, yes there are cabs waiting after, yes there are loungers. Here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2512696

I have never been to the naughty room! I don't drink and I don't have a habit of bringing my nunchucks on board ;p.

Seriously, I don't know how people can risk having to deal with security and the naughty room. What a way to start a vacay,

You thought you were in San Juan but now you made a correction and you were in St Thomas? LOL. How could you even confuse the 2?

I had two Fun Times sitting by my bed and I read the wrong one. BTW, you check off the card when you board whether you want AM, PM, or "both" cleaning services from your steward. I ticked "both". All I have received is AM. At night he leaves the Fun Times, etc, in the mailbox. If I see him in the hallway I ask for new beach towels. Not a huge deal, just letting you know.

Boarding in PC was a total breeze but this is our first Platinum cruise- what a difference! Lol. It's laughable. They whisked us away to comfortable chairs and did everything, them we waited in more comfortable chairs. On board at 11. Room ready but none of the others around us were so I felt bad for intruding on their work. Suitcases delivered at 6.

Muster was in the first floor of the Showcase Theater, which is three stories. All stories filled with people. It's a lot easier but if there's a fire I'm going to have a hard time forcing myself to go from nine, two doors away from the secret deck and fresh air, way down into 3 forward. It might be a drag to muster under the lifeboats but think about it. I could go on here.

Sorry, correction, I was looking at tomorrow's fun times. We were in St. Thomas from like 11:30 til 6:30. We took a taxi to Sapphire Beach.

Dinner times: the night we had early dining it took a while because our table mates were 20 minutes late. There was also a period of about 15 minutes where we just sat there with empty plates.

Since we switched to Any Time dinners have been 60 minutes or less.

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We had bitter and blanc tonight, once again not on the Hub App but on the menu. The Hub App is great and I wonder how I ever lived without it. Just being able to quickly toggle between users on the wifi plan without waiting for the wifi to slooooowly crawl along is great. But some times are wrong and the menu coverage is about 75% correct.

The small coffee shop, Plaza Cafe, is only on the Promenade Deck, sadly. I love it when it's in back of the Lido Buffet as well. But truly the regular coffee has been really good this trip. I'm a FOB so I drink a lot of coffee and I like lattes.

I'm not sure which port you are asking about below but today was San Juan and we were here with Norwegian Escape, at Charlotte Amalie from 8 am- 3:30 pm.

If I get a chance to ask Dr. E I will. Funny but we have two views of Dr. E in this cabin... I think he's funny and entertaining and he drives my 19 year old son crazy. He can be a bit much to take on the loudspeaker with his singing. The morning show seems a bit over the top and forced at times.

Ok mental note to check champagne type and diet drink types tomorrow!

Gotta go, son is about to do the dreaded "switch devices" on my. Shared wifi blows!