Banks822
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Posts posted by Banks822
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Port 2- Belize
Well we got up nice and early because of the long tender ride even though we had fttf. My hubby can't stand being late and I'm a don't rush me I'm waiting for the last minute kinda girl. Lol What we didn't know was that Belize was 3 hours behind ship time! Our excursion to Goff's Caye was set for 9 local time. I could have slept in!!
So since we were up we had breakfast and took our time getting ready. Then the kids ate a snack again since this excursion didn't include lunch. Only 9 of us went out today. The other 5 stayed on the ship and relaxed in Cloud 9 Spa and on their balconies. I've been to Belize 1 other time and stayed inside the Port to shop. I had no clue just how beautiful it really was! Wow! And the people were so nice and told us so much about the area.
Goff's Caye is a tiny little island, but it's just beautiful. We paid $40.00 each to go and snorkel. Once we tendered, we walked to the shopping center area and paid off our balance. Then we got on a boat and rode out to the island. It took about 15 minutes to get there. They gave us cold water in bags (so neat) on the way over and explained who everyone was and how our day would go. Once we arrived, we had 10 minutes to look around and get ready to snorkel if you wanted to. They split us up in groups of 6 or 7 per guide and took us a little ways out. We actually swam around and made our way to shore. We snorkeled for 45 minutes then had 1 hour on the beach. The water was choppy, so I was glad to have guides because I knew my children were okay.
Once on shore we found a picnic table and shared a few plates of shrimp, chicken, and rice, $8.00 a plate, then hit the water again. They had rum punch and fruit punch, but we stuck with the water. On the way back we saw several dolphins. They stopped the boat so we could watch them jump out of the water. It was a great beach day and we were tired! We got off and right back onto a tender boat for the Magic. After dinner that night it didn't take any of us long to fall asleep. I didn't even make it to the Love and Marriage show because I was out by 8:00. I'll post a few pics of the island next.
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Port 1- Cozumel
We went to Nachi Cocom for the day. It was $55.00 per person and included lunch and unlimited drinks. None of us drink alcohol, but still thought it was a good price. For the kids under 16 it was $39.00 each. Brad and I had been there once before and enjoyed it.
We did have a nice time, but the water was really cloudy this trip and we had to rent floats because there was so much sea grass that nobody wanted to swim. The kids stayed in the pool most of the day. Lunch was appetizer, soup or salad, main course ,and dessert. The portions were big and we all left full! Our waiter was really nice and ran all over the place! He was helpful with finding drinks with no alcohol, besides just soda. My mom and her friend got massages. $40 for 30 minutes. They said the ladies did a great job and it was worth the price for sure. We had to be onboard by 5:30, so we headed back around 3:30 and was back on the ship by 4 so we could rest and clean up before dinner.
Only downside was cost for taxi! We had 2 taxi's with 7 people in each one. It was $34.00 per taxi each way. If you have all adults and can split the cost that's not bad, but 6 of our group were teenagers so mom and dad had to pay. Lol
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Days at sea:
We had 2 sea days and enjoyed them for the most part. I didn't enjoy having to sit outside by 7:30 just to have a chair for the day because most of them were towel holders for hours and hours! We watched the hairy chest contest, ice carving, Groove for St. Jude, dance lessons, and the morning shows. We went to brunch the 1st day around 9:30 and liked everything we tried. My DH is a fan of the steak and eggs.
On the 2nd sea day 5 of us went to tea time. It was fun and a nice break from the noise.
The kids and a few adults got on the waterslides and the boys played a lot of basketball! We made the best of our time and had fun, but still managed to relax.
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Night 1 was actually my anniversary and the wait staff brought out a cake, sang to us, and had us kiss through out the song. It was sweet!
They sang to our oldest son on night 2 when he turned 16 as well.
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Dinning:
We had early dinning at 6pm in Southern Lights. We were staying deck 11 forward and had to walk to aft for dinner. The only one it bothered was my mother-n-law, but she managed to deal with it. We had 2 tables in the corner upstairs and loved the location! Walked in, went right, and there we were. The 8 adults were at table 700 and 6 teens at 702. We enjoyed our wait staff and they had fun picking with the teenagers. Every night we always found things to eat that we liked. I never tried anything that wasn't good. Some nights it took longer then others, but we're patient people. Both formal nights I was pleased with how many people dressed up! I know some don't like it, but we enjoy it. We dressed nice every night for dinner and went all out for formal nights. Our daughters especially loved that part.
I have noticed on larger ships that the wait staff have a lot on them and are really stretched. Even though they were tired they always smiled and made our vacation enjoyable. Here are a few dinning pics...
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Our luggage came quickly so we unpacked while the kids were at the waterslides. They wore their swimsuits to board so they didn't have to wait on luggage. We had time to unpack and make last minute calls before muster drill.
Dr. E was our CD. He is my favorite and we've cruised with him before on the Breeze. He was being filmed this time for something and wasn't as involved as before, but still my favorite.
Since they now use tablets and scan your card as you walk into your muster station they knew exactly who didn't show up. They called out a very long list of cabin numbers a few times. This made the drill take longer than needed. Please just go to the drill people and get it over with! Now that's over, let the fun begin!!
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We were at the Port around 9:30 and had to stand outside of the door, in line, until 10:00. We all had FTTF, so once we were inside it went fast and smooth. We had already filled out health forms which helped speed things up. We were onboard a little after 11:00. I know the 1st timers were all amazed at the size of the Magic, especially my mom.
We had 4 Spa rooms on deck 11. We went up and dropped off our carry on bags 1st and met the room stewards. Then we went exploring! I went to guest services and put a money limit on my kids cards and got everyone's Hub apps going. We all got connected, which took a few minutes and was totally worth $5.00! Most of the group went to Guy's for burgers and my mom and I went to the Italian restaurant for lunch. It didn't open until 12, so it was pretty empty while we ate. It was quite and I had time to explain to my mom how the muster drill worked and what to expect for the day.
That was my only time eating at the Italian place all week because it was a port heavy cruise. It was really good though! My family however ate their fair share of Guy's all week!!
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Besides strangers walking into our room while were sleeping, lol, Comfort Inn was a great choice for our group! We loved that they had beach access, because some we looked at close to Port did not. We had 4 in our room, parking, breakfast, and shuttle service for $148.00. We were pleased with that.
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We booked the Park and Go package with Comfort Inn, so Saturday morning we were up at 7:00 getting ready and eating free breakfast. The waffles were good and all 14 of us found things we liked no problem. The guys parked all our cars in the back of the hotel where they'd stay for the week and a few us walked across the street to Walgreens to get 12 packs of soda and sunscreen for the ones who forgot it. The shuttle was there at 9am and started loading us up. And we're off to Port Canaveral!
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After the beach we floated around in the pool waiting on my family's room to be ready. Our room connected to our in-laws and was right near the pool, laundry room, and a drink machine. It was ready by 2:00, so Brad got our keys and carried our stuff over while the kids and I were drying off from swimming.
We had planned to eat at Fishlips at the port for a meet and greet around 4:00, so we all started getting ready and it was a quick ride from the hotel to the restaurant. The food was good, but they sat us right in front of the singer and it was LOUD!! We watched a Disney ship and the Sunshine sail away. All the 1st time cruisers loved that part and waved at the people as they sailed out of port.
After dinner we went back to the hotel. We were all exhausted from the drive and being up since Thursday morning! I helped everyone get their luggage tags on and made sure all their paperwork was ready for the morning and was asleep by 9:00.
Then we heard our room door open! I screamed, a woman screamed, my husband jumped up and a lady said I'm sorry, I'm sorry they gave me a key and said this was our room. The front desk said their system had went down and they forgot our room was already booked. Now I'm wide awake! Lol
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We had trouble finding flights that everyone could afford so we drove 9 hours to Florida. We left at 12am Friday morning and after a few stops for gas, coffee, breakfast and restroom breaks we arrived at the Comfort Inn and Suites Cocoa Beach around 11:30.
I had called ahead about an early check-in and 3 out of 4 rooms were ready when we arrived. Check-in was easy enough and we brought our stuff in, grabbed lunch at Taco Bell around the corner, and then hit the beach for a while so the in-laws could rest.
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I returned home Saturday, May 6th, after a great 7 night cruise on the Magic. This was the 1st time cruising with a group, 14 in all, so I thought I'd give a quick review.
I'm Nicole from NC. 35 year old mom of 4 teens, who was in major need of a getaway!
There were 14 people in our group, including 6 teens from 14 to 17, myself and my DH, Brad, his parents, my mom and her friend, and my Pastor and his wife. I spent several months planning this cruise because half the group were 1st time cruisers. My pastor called me Julie from Love Boat all week because he said I knew everything about the ship. Haha! I just wanted everyone to enjoy themselves so I researched a lot!
Now that everyone is back to work and school, I have some quite time to give you my thoughts on the Magic and the ports.
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Following! My group of 14 will be on the Magic April 29th.
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Little French Key in Honduras and Nachi in Cozumel or Mr. Sanchos. I prefer Nachi, because it's more laid back. Both all inclusive so no worries all day!
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Aloe! It cost way to much onboard!
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I'm packing ,watching YouTube videos of my ship and counting down 15 days to go right now!
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I was able to get FTTF today and it was $79.95, but it's an 8 night cruise. I spent the money because Ft. Lauderdale port was so unorganized last time! I'd rather bypass all that chaos.
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Quick Magic Review
in Carnival Cruise Lines
Posted
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