SASA13

What a wonderful surprise.   Glad you all had a wonderful time.   The Magic is one of our fav's.

On 5/23/2024 at 5:56 PM, TravelBluebird said:

We were docked next to the Carnival Venezia today!  My transatlantic on her still one of my favorite cruises ever!  And we ran into the wonderful MarQ who remembered us!  Hugs all around, he’ll be on Venezia till August then over to Vista!

great pic.  We sail the Magic in August and the Venezia is November  🙂

Great start, can't wait to read more.  Magic is one of our fav's.   We will be sailing her again in August.

4 minutes ago, Wannacruisek123 said:

The good list

1. 1. Embarkation - quick and well organized. We had a suite and therefore had priority boarding, so I can’t speak to what it would’ve been like without that. We were on the ship before 11. Our cabin was ready around 1, with our luggage delivered at 130. We were not able to put our carry-on stuff in the cabin prior to this as some posters had mentioned was a perk of having priority boarding. 
    
2. 2. Debarkation - quick and well organized. 
3.  
4. 3. Bonsai Teppanyaki - excellent. The chef was great. Funny, friendly and entertaining and the food was 10/10. Highly recommend this. FYI: you get a ton of food, so make sure you show up with an empty stomach. You get all 6 appetizers on the menu, two entrees and veggies and a big bowl of rice, and a 6 item dessert bento box.
5.  
6. 4. Ship was well laid out to accommodate the flow of 6000+ guests. Rarely felt crowded. I was pleasantly surprised by this. Any time there was a line, it moved quickly.
7.  
8. 5. Anytime dining - no issues getting a table. Longest wait was maybe 10 minutes for MDR and specialty (Chibang and Italian)
9.  
10. 6. The Carnival Hub App worked well for checking in for dinner. It was handy when we were out and about on the ship and wanted to see what was happening and where. We paid $5 for texting, and this came in handy for checking in with our young adult kids and meeting up. Sometimes texts were delayed in coming through however.
11.  
12. 7. The wifi worked well. My kids both had premium packages. When they weren’t using it, we could access it quite easily on the app. They just had to be logged out. It was very fast, and not glitchy at all. 
13.  
14. 8. The Italian restaurant was good. Friendly servers and food was delicious. 
15.  
16. 9. You can eat at Chibang and Italian once without having to pay extra.
17.  
18. 10. Mobile trivia. Kind of like Jackbox if you ever played that. You answer the questions through your phone. My only suggestion to Carnival might be to hold it in a different venue like the theatre. The screen in the limelight lounge was at floor level which meant you couldn’t see around people's heads very well and the game moves fast.
19.  
20. 11. MDR staff at dinnertime. We had anytime dining, and only ate there three times, but we had the same waiters. Joey and Ye. They were excellent.
21.  
22. 12. Loved Amber Cove. Despite a rainy start, we made the best of it. Rented an umbrella and kids went swimming in the rain. It eventually cleared up, and turned out to be the best day of the cruise. No problem getting chairs right at the pool (it was raining, lol. This may have had something to do with it). Service was excellent, drinks were good and you could taste the alcohol (unlike on the ship). Food was very good. Everything reasonably priced. $28 for unlimited zip lining all day. $5 for the water slides.
23.  
24. 13. Grand Turk - this was our 2nd time here so we didn’t do an excursion as we did a tour last time. Plan was to spend half the day at Margaritaville and half at the beach. Due to generous alcohol in the margaritas we spent most of the day in margaritaville. The beach by the dock isn’t great. We stopped there just before heading back. You need water shoes. It’s not rocky, it’s more like broken shells under your feet in the water.
25.  
26. 14. Broiled sirloin in the main dining room was delicious. A good sized piece of meat for an “included” entree. Better than the old flat iron steak that they used to offer. 
27.  
28. 15. Chocolate melting cake is as good as ever and the same size (I had either read on here or saw on you tube that it was smaller, but I didn’t think it was.
29.  
30. 16. The Gelato bar at lido was good. Different flavours each day and a variety of cheesecakes and other desserts. 
31.  
32. 17. The cabin bathroom was roomy with a large shower (we had an ocean view suite), lots of shelves and storage space.

 

Interested to read more.   

Ship water is fine.  We always drink it.  Bring a Thermos bottle / mug etc.  Easy to fill, and it will keep cold.

58 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Magic is a Dream Class ship. The 3 most recent classes starting around 2010 are Dream (Dream, Breeze, Magic), Vista (Vista, Horizon, Panorama), and Excel (Mardi Gras, Celebration. Jubilee). Each ship in the class is more or less identical to her 'sisters'. They were all built in order without any overlap between the classes.

 

The Excels hold about 6600, the Vistas about 4000 and the Dreams about 3600.

 

Older classes still in the fleet are the 2 remaining Fantasy, the 5 Conquests and the 4 Spirits. Our personal favorites are the Spirits. Wonderful modest sized ships.

 

Technically there's 8 classes when you toss in the Costa ships and Splendor. Here's a good article.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/carnival-cruise-ship-class-guide/

Our favorite is also the Spirit class.   We are going to try to Excel class ( Celebration) next year, just for the experience.   

Yes, they do.  It was great.

We always take the water from our cabin, and have never been charged.

TY for the pics.   We sail to the Panama Canal in March.   Can't wait.

2 hours ago, helensobol said:

Is there a separate buffet or salad station in the Serenity area? I have seen it on other ships but I didn't when I was trying to get a list of 'food' areas online. 

I was on the Legend ( same class ) in November, and there was no salad station in Serenity.

On 12/7/2023 at 4:35 PM, audcc77 said:

I really wish they’d bring this back.  
 

When I was in my early 20’s I had no money nor did I understand how this worked.   
 

I’m ready to play now!!

wow,  what a memory.  I forgot all about those, and yes, we loved them too.

22 hours ago, goldfish65 said:

The Carnival phone rep was very good, he could not say anything definite but said that a refund would be a likely option if the ship could not traverse the locks. 

Our party agrees that doing an excursion from a nearby port to see the canal just isn't the same, so we will not be taking this cruise. 

For anyone thinking of a canal cruise in the near future, if you had not heard about the restrictions on the number of ships, I hope this is helpful. 

 

Thanks for the info.  I am currently booked on this cruise.   I had no idea about this.  I will touch base with my PVP, and see if he has any further info.  Thanks again.

5 hours ago, eas2225 said:

On the Horizon this past May, my husband tested positive for covid, while I was negative.  This was on day 3 of the cruise, after my husband was coughing and having difficulty breathing.

 

They offered to move me to an interior cabin (we were in an extended balcony) so I could still enjoy the cruise with our friends, but I stayed with him in our original cabin.

 

Carnival treated us great while quarantined!  We were able to order food from anywhere, even specialty restaurants, and they gave us free wifi and movies.  The medical team called both morning and evening to see how my husband was feeling, and we were given a future cruise credit for the cruise days missed.

 

Since we had insurance, we were reimbursed for our medical costs and trip interruption.

 

Eileen  

 

 

 

That is good info.    Bravo Carnival.

They had it at the Deli on the Magic in June.   It was delish.

Excellent.  Baby Steps.

12 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

Be sure you let room service know that there are two Platinum or Diamond members in the cabin.  You can have them delivered at the same time or specify what days you want them delivered.

 

Also, each of you can receive your own pin and gift, so you won't have to share it😁, and you get three bags of laundry PER PERSON.

 

 

 

THANK YOU 🙂 

9 hours ago, SASA13 said:

QUESTION:  Is the chocolate delight one per CABIN  or one per PERSON, since we are both

Platinum (in the same cabin ) 

 

Thank you

On 9/28/2022 at 6:22 PM, lazydayz said:

Only other things I can think of are the Chocolate Delights plate that can be ordered through room service, and on the Mardi Gras, a free drink is added to your card on the day of the Diamond and  Platinum party.  

QUESTION:  Is the chocolate delight one per CABIN  or one per PERSON, since we are both

Platinum (in the same cabin ) 

On 5/17/2023 at 10:31 AM, john91498 said:

Chocolate melting cake....yummers...

Definitely, with a side of Peanut Butter, and vanilla Ice Cream  🙂

On 5/12/2023 at 11:34 AM, wemjam said:

Try the melting cake with the butter pecan ice cream.  My husband says its the best!  (I don't eat the melting cake very often, but if I do I am a straight up kind of girl)

Will do for sure.      TY   

On 5/12/2023 at 9:33 PM, hurricane0226 said:

We have done two Panama Canal cruises on the Pride, and have loved both of them,

the ship is small and slightly used but a nice ship.

Great to hear.   We have the Panama Canal cruise booked for next March.

On 2/22/2023 at 9:03 AM, five. said:

Most of my tips and tricks have been taken by others. Caveat though, the Magic is my favorite Carnival ship and class, for what we enjoy about cruising.

 

Spa - thalassotherapy pool is amazing on this class.

Deck 5 - 2 hot tubs per side. My wife burns easy and we can switch sides depending on the sun and she can stay in the shade. We alternate between hot tub and reading in the loungers. Many times it takes until later in the cruise before people discover the hot tubs on that level. And I love that deck goes around the ship, so it's the real place to walk laps.

Embarkation day - BBQ is open and uncrowded. Great food when you get on. The BBQ is open for lunch on sea days as well.

Sail away location - "secret decks" all the way forward on decks 6, 7, 9, 10, & 11. You go past the cabins and there will be doors that lead outside. I think deck 9 has wings, so it might be the best spot. Here is a website with more info.

Relaxation area - there is a spot in the spa area that has lots of couches and cold water and air conditioner and it is open to the public. Picture here.

Ship coins - There is a mystery coin that you can look for from when the ship was commissioned. On the magic it was on deck 14. . Thread about the Magic coin.

Adults only aft pool - Sometimes the aft pool will be adults only. It varies depending on how many kids are on board I think.

Sodas - 12 pack of soda (cans) and 750ml of wine can be carried on

 

GREAT INFO.  Thanks

Great info.   Thank you.

On 5/9/2023 at 8:22 PM, dlphn501 said:

Am the in the minority with the chocolate melting cake?  With a side of peanut butter!

I am right there with you.   I order that most nights   🙂  

MY FAV...  oh,  and I also ask for a side of vanilla ice cream.

On 4/9/2023 at 8:57 PM, BlerkOne said:

I suggest not buying anything on any cruise line if you don't know what the same item would cost back home, from Amazon, etc.