Magic 2/2 review - Fog, FTTF, CHEERS & an 10 month old. whew!

Me and my husband and 10 month old son just recently sailed on the Magic on 2/2 and I figured I’d give my best shot at writing a review. I am by no means a “writer”, but I so enjoyed reading reviews before my trip, so I figured id give it a shot.

If I leave anything out or if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

First off, a bit about us. I am 28 years old and a stay at home mom of an awesome little boy. I was travelling with my 28 year old husband of 10 ten years, and our 10 month old son. Our first family vacation, and second cruise overall. The last cruise was in 2011 on the Conquest (loved it) and we had planned to sail on the Magic in Feb of 2013, but I got pregnant instead lol

Well, here goes nothin'!

We received an email the night before telling us that the port of Galveston was currently closed due to fog, and that we would be updated by 11am the next morning. We were staying in Houston, and so we went to bed, hoping for better news in the am.

Sunday - 2/2 - Embarkation day!!!! Finally!!!

We woke up to no news, so we went ahead and drove into Galveston, and yea, they were right. It was super foggy and rainy. We received another email around 11 telling us it was still closed, and would be updated again no later than 3pm. :( We were pretty bummed, but what are you gonna do? So we just killed time driving around Galveston, up and down the seawall. We went to the beach, and ate at The Spot. At 2pm, we got an email stating that the fog had lifted enough that the Magic could finally come in to port, and that our check in was now scheduled between 5:30pm- and 8:30pm. We were pretty bummed because this meant we were pretty much sure to miss the Superbowl, but thats life. We killed a bit more time and headed to the port around 4pm.

Shes finally here!!

We had purchased FTTF and were standing in line at 4:19pm and didnt board until 6:30. The rest of my husbands family, who did not have FTTF, did not board until almost two hours later.

The line went fairly smooth, it was very hot in the terminal though, even though it was chilly outside. There were a LOT of people packed in there. Once they checked our birth certificates and made it through the scanners, we headed upstairs and got our S&S cards and tried to find some room somewhere to sit/stand. It was so packed upstairs as well. There was no room in the priority lounge for us, but we didnt really wait too long upstairs. Maybe half an hour. They did have the superbowl on, but it was hard to see or hear, so we didnt pay it much attention.

They soon called out that they would board the weddings, then platinum then FTTF. We went and stood by the FTTF lounge when they started boarding platinum and we were able to get on as soon as they released the FTTF people. Even with everything being so crazy, I would say that FTTF definately still made the process much easier on us. Especially with a 10 month old who was quickly getting tired of all the standing around.

After boarding at around 6:30, we were able to go immediately to our room and one of our bags had already been delivered and about 30 seconds after we got in our room, the second bag was delivered. We didnt really expect the FTTF to get us those perks, with everything being so hectic, so we were pleasantly surprised. My husband then went immediately went to camp carnival to rent a stroller for the week. We had heard they were limited, and we were glad we went first thing, as they had only two strollers at that time. I had been told by a carnival rep that they would charge me $30 for the week, but they did not charge us anything, though there would have been a $75 charge if we didnt return it or broke it or something.

We had an interior on deck one, midship. Cabin 1373. We chose this room because my son likes complete darkness to fall asleep, and the room had a cabin on only one side and a large "blank spot" on the other side, according to the deck plan. While my husband was out getting the stroller, i unpacked and let the little guy stretch his legs.

In my pre-cruise research, I had heard to bring a blow up tub to place in the shower, and it worked perfectly!

They soon brought us the crib, that I had requested a month or so before, and we put the little guy down for a nap until Muster.

We had muster at 10:30pm, which meant i had to wake him up but it also meant we could set sail soon, so off we went. Our station was C4, in the conference room on deck 4.

walking down the hall to our station

on the way we passed the dining room

After muster was over, we went back to our room and all passed out for the night!

Monday - First Sea Day & Formal Night!

We woke up around 8 or so and went to the breakfast buffet on the lido. This is where we would eat every morning. I always got yogurt and juice for my son, Colt. And coffee, cereal and a couple of pastries. The cheese danish and apple turnover thing were so delicous. We always avoided the eggs and bacon as it was almost inedible, and the omelet station was usually pretty busy. but cereal and pastries work just fine for me :) After breakfast, me and my husband decided to go to the casino bar on deck 5 and sign up for the Cheers program because the bloody mary's are always on special in the mornings and i was about ready for one!

They went through all of the rules and made us sign something saying we understand, and that the program is non refundable. We signed it, i got my first spicy bloody mary of the trip, so delicious, but not "knock me on my butt" strong. just right.

Our S&S card, with the Cheers and FTTF stickers:

After we signed up, Colt was ready for a nap, so we went back to the room, where he slept and me and the husband just watched tv for a bit.

After about an hour, Colt woke up so out we go again. It was still pretty cloudy and chilly out, so we decided to just explore the ship today.

Pool area on the Lido deck:

Loving all the lights and colors

one of my favorite spots to enjoy the sunrise/sunsets, all the forward deck 10

Camp carnival:

Colt is too young to go to camp carnival, but they do have a small 2 & under program that we found out about. We took him a couple of times to the sea days play time that we stay with him at. He really enjoyed being able to crawl around in an open space

Thanks for the review and pictures.... We are on this cruise in July... cant wait.

After exploring the ship for a bit, and people watching from deck 4, we went to the lido to hit up the buffet. For whatever reason I have no pictures of any of the food we ate, but it was mostly good, and certainly no lack of options. We ate pretty much every meal at the buffet.

After eating, it was naptime again. I went and laid down with Colt, while my husband went and found his family and hung out around the pool on the Lido.

When we woke up, the sun had popped out just a little

After a little bit more exploring on the ship and a couple of drinks, it was time to get ready for dinner. Tonight was formal night and my husband really wanted the lobster.

We dropped the baby off with grandma and papa so we could get ready, as they werent going to the mdr tonight. We had anytime dining and were ready to eat at about 6pm. Colt stayed behind with grandma because he was having too much fun. :)

When we got in line, it was pretty long, but we only stood in line about 10 minutes, if that.

Hubby got the baked stuffed mushrooms to start, the lobster and the banana gateau for dessert. I got the spaghetti carbonara to start, the spare ribs, and of course, wcmc :)

He liked his mushrooms, said the lobster was chewy and loved the banana cake. My spaghetti carbonara was a bit dry and the ribs did not have a very good flavor. The wcmc made it all worthwhile though. This was the only night we would eat in the MDR.

After dinner, we went and got our boy, and went back to the room to relax and turn in a bit early.

and apparently i forgot to post the pic of our first nights towel animal, ....

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq190/trisha_c85/cruise/cruise2014069.jpg

The baby is up from his nap, so thats all for now. Hope my review is somewhat helpful so far and not a complete mess! :)

Thanks for the review and pictures.... We are on this cruise in July... cant wait.

Its a fantastic ship with a fantastic crew! You'll have a blast

Thank you for the review with the pictures. I will be sailing on her next year.

Your son is incredibly cute!

I am thinking of taking my granddaughter on a cruise, but am hesitant.

It looks like the weather was not so great. I hope you had a good time anyway.

Your son is incredibly cute!

I am thinking of taking my granddaughter on a cruise, but am hesitant.

It looks like the weather was not so great. I hope you had a good time anyway.

Thank you :) we had a blast with him. We werent really sure what to expect but it went really well. He had so much fun and loved all of the attention he got. and the weather gets better, and turned out perfect, thank goodness, but a good time was had by all, no matter the weather!

Tuesday - Fun Day at Sea

I woke up around 5:30 am, and decided to go out on deck and explore a bit while the boys are asleep, along with everyone else on the ship :) Its already MUCH warmer out and I can tell its going to be a much more "fun" day at sea today!

After filling up my travel mug with some coffee, i walked around the ship a bit more to explore and enjoy my "quiet time"

seating area on deck 11 overlooking the pool on the lido

The seating around the buffet area on the lido where i sat for a bit after i got my coffee and woke up a bit

so pretty! cant beat this view in the morning!!

people are finally starting to appear!

After exploring for a while and a few mugs of coffee, i figure i had probably better go back to the cabin and see if Colt has been up terrorizing daddy yet. They are just waking up as I come into the room. We get up and head to the lido to grab some breakfast. Again, I have cereal and some pastries, Colt has yogurt and my husband gets the eggs from the buffet, which he always gets and always hates, some bacon which was consistently undercooked and very greasy and some sausages, which were not really sausage but more like hot dogs with cheese in them or something but were very good and i think i had them every morning the rest of the cruise :)

After a leisurely breakfast, its just a little after 8am and we decide to head up to camp carnival to the under to "stay & play" that they have on sea days from 8am-10am and 4p-5p. Basically, they just let the under 2's crawl around and they have a blanket with a bunch of toys laid out. Which, of course, he could care less about. Its much more fun to get the things you're not supposed to have!

after playtime, Colt is wore out, so me and him head to the room for a quick nap while dad heads to the pool area to find a spot to hang out.

exhausted!

After naptime, Me and Colt head for the lido to grab some food and find Justin. Today, i decide to try out the pizza, and its just "ok". everyone seems to love it, but its nothing really special to me. We quickly find my husband, who scored a table close to the pool and is under the covering from the upper decks so our son isnt out in the sun. Its hot out and everyone and their brother is out by the pool today. Soon after we get out there, they announce they are going to be doing the Miss Carnival Magic Contest.

Everyone crowded in front of us at our table to get a better view, so i didnt get too many pictures, as i wasnt interested enough to get up from my seat. lol

We pretty much stayed in this spot the rest of they day. We got up a few times for snacks (ice cream mostly lol) and diaper changes. Rudiwan, who goes by Rudi, from the pool bar became our favorite and we pretty much only ordered drinks from him the rest of the trip. He helped maximize our Cheers experience, allowing my husband to order bloody marys for me with my card so I didnt have to go up to the bar as well. A few times throughout the trip, he also would allow us to basically get "beer buckets", if we werent drinking a whole lot. He would bring us a bucket with 4 unopened beers in it, and then he would just enter in our s&s card #'s back at the bar, waiting the 5 minute interval. That way we could take the beers back to our room. He was fantastic. He also gave my husband, who obviously drank a bit more than i did on the trip, a few free drinks, and we were able to use the cheers to purchase soda and virgin drinks for others that we were travelling with. A few times i ordered a drink of the day (in a regular glass so it qualified for cheers) and didnt like it because it was too strong, so he allowed me to give it to someone else we were with, which was nice.

We stayed out on the lido until about 7pm, when Colt decided he'd had enough and it was naptime. So me and him headed for a nap, and Justin headed out with his sister and brother in law. They played (and lost) in the casino and went to a couple of comedy shows later that evening. They went to the adults only and said they were pretty good.

Me and Colt were going to just lay down for a nap, but he was overly tired and had a bit of trouble falling asleep, so by time he finally fell asleep, I decided we were done for the night. Besides, we had a big day for Colt tomorrow, so i figured the extra rest wouldnt kill me anyway!

Wednesday - Mahogany Bay

Since we were travelling with a baby, we decided to skip doing any planned excursions and just shop in all of the ports and stay fairly close in case of any meltdowns, diaper blowouts, etc. Today was the first port day, in Roatan and I had heard about the beach close by, so we decided we would shop and then head to the beach until Colt decided we'd had enough!

perfect weather

While the boys were finishing up breakfast, I went up to deck 10 all the way forward to watch us come in to port. We were a bit late due to wind, and the captain was backing us in to port. The Dream, i believe, had to move to another port due to the delays.

I was so paranoid we would hit these things. lol

our first view of the beach we'd be at later today

view of the ship as we were walking in the shopping area

We bought a few shirts and a bag from the Harley Davidson store and a couple of small souvenir knick knacks, and decided to head to the beach. It was hot and we could have swore that the whole place was swaying slightly, but we suppose it was just our sea legs getting the better of us :)

The ski lift thing that can take you to the beach, we decided to walk as its not very far. Im not sure about pricing for single trips, but it said it was $12 for an all day pass.

the swim with the dolphins area along the walk to the beach

There were a lot of people here, but there were plenty of chairs and it never felt too crowded