Willdra’s Majestic Carnival Magic October 15-22 Cruise

Ahoy and Welcome to Willdra’s Majestic Carnival Magic October 15-22 Cruise!

Part 1

Since this is only my big ole whopping second review, and ya’ll don’t know me from a can of paint, allow me to introduce myself. I am Willdra and I am a cruiseaholic. My husband and I have been cruising with and without our family since 2003. I usually refer to my husband as W, but in this review he will sometimes be the Ike to my Tina. Just threw that in to see if you were with me, don’t call the popo!

This cruise was just the two of us, and this was our 25th cruise. Nope not THE Milestone, because 21 on Carnival, 4 on Disney. We live in GA and our kids have blessed us by turning into adults, (Hallelujah most of the time) so we can pretty much cruise whenever we want. By “whenever we want”, I mean: within reason, within budget, when it works out, and whenever I decide we’re cruising, which usually happens twice a year.

We were celebrating my husband’s birthday which is Oct 13, and mine which is Oct 20. Whoop Whoop Double Libras! Yay us! It also morphed from a standard 7 day cruise into 3 pre-cruise days in Orlando and Walt Disney World AND a 7 day cruise. Wait! What? You’re going to try to do ALL of that, are you crazy??? You are not spring chickens you know! Yes, you read that right, and yes I am sometimes a few fries short of a Happy Meal! Send me the support group information please.

Since this is a “cruise review” (I use the term loosely) first and foremost, I will write a short review of the 3 Disney Days at the very end. So without further adieu (there really was A LOT of adieu, sorry!!!), I will get started!

Day 1-Sheraton Vistana Resort Villas then Carnival Magic!

For this Mega-fest we stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Villas Resort, and I am so glad that we did! I actually changed hotels 4 times until I finally settled on this one. Uh huh, I’m that crazy research everything, binder carrying, driving my husband crazy with my planning, maniac. MANIAC! The main reason that I chose this resort was for the free shuttles to Disney World (which save you $25 a day in parking fees), and for the amenities in the villas. Then there was the 7 pools, 3 exercise facilities (for me not to go to), onsite bars, restaurants, shops, and pretty much everything that you need very close by. The Resort is GINORMOUS and it spreads out over 135 acres. They even had an activity schedule with daily events for adults and kids that you could attend (which we didn't do either). I have a close friend who works for Starwood Hotels, and since she was able to secure the Starfriends Rate for me, it really became a no-brainer, or in my case, let me spend 8 more days researching 40 more options, then still come back to this one. I am one brilliant chick! High Five!

Here are a few pics of the resort in case you are interested:

To be continued........

Thanks for the review.

Part 2!

On Embarkation day, I woke up with my alarm at 7 am. I was tired boss, dog tired!!! I’m pretty sure this is the very first time I have heard an alarm, and let it ring a few minutes on cruise day! I always wake up before my alarm goes off, because I am so excited, and ready to go. Well, not this time. I almost started the “if I skip breakfast, brushing my teeth, and showering, I could really sleep 30 more minutes” bargaining with myself. Fear not though, since I was extremely concerned for the comfort of my fellow passengers, and for my own personal safety if I were to ruin the aforementioned comfort, I decided that skipping my hygiene was Team Bad Decisions. I did get ready really slow though. Really really slow.

We packed up our remaining stuff, and I made the last batch of waffles with eggs and bacon on the side. Since we didn’t have the free breakfast buffet here, but we did have a full kitchen, I packed our waffle iron, and I mixed up chocolate chip waffle batter before I left home. I put the waffle batter in a big Mason jar so we could keep it in the cooler on the drive down. We also brought eggs, cheese, and bacon which is all we ever really want, and also very easy to fix and transport. There was Starbucks coffee and a coffee maker in the villa, so we were all set for breakfast.

Here is a quick picture of my “waffle station” . Pure genius I tell ya!

So after we had a really quick breakfast, we threw the villa’s dishes and cookware into the dishwasher, and we were out! We made a brief stop for gas, where W actually pulled up the port directions on Waze BEFORE he started driving, and pretty soon we were on the highway. Waze estimated that Port Canaveral was 50 minutes, and what seemed like thousands of dollars in tolls away. Thousands of dollars. This usually results in me digging through every tray, pocket, and compartment in the car, my purse, and my husband’s wallet like we are homeless people. So sad. I will include my address later so you can send us quarters. Honestly, we need to plan for this better, but since I don’t do any of the driving, I really don’t think about it until we are pulling up to the toll plaza.

Here is evidence of me not driving and not digging for loose change at the moment:

The drive over went really fast because for most of the ride in the car, I was texting with my adult daughter about some wine that she FINALLY realized that she wanted us to get her from Epcot, which we were no longer at. She was trying desperately to convince me that she simply HAD to have this wine that her friends raved so much about. Surely she would not be able to show her face in public if word got out that she had an opportunity to secure this holy grail of wine, but failed to do so. This wine would solve world hunger, world peace, pay her bills, and give her a pedicure! Dang maybe I need to get a bottle of that wine for myself! However, since we were heading to Port Canaveral and AWAY from Orlando, good luck with that! I must've stopped speaking English at some point, because she just didn't get that we were on our way to board a ship to the Caribbean. Poor baby bless her heart, but been there done that, got the T-shirt, not going back. At least not today! Even adult offspring deserve eye rolls from time to time! Ok, a lot!

We arrived at Port Canaveral at 10:30 am, and we had a reservation to park with Port Canaveral Parking. We got checked in and were on the shuttle at 10:40. We didn't get off of the shuttle until 11:30. Why so long you ask? Was there another bomb threat??? Medical Emergency perhaps?? Nope, we just had to go to the Radisson to pick up more people. Then wait for even more people. Then some of the first group was M.I.A. so we waited for them too. Then we waited for them to get their luggage on. Then drop them ALL off first at another ship. Deep breath. Exhale. Repeat. Big smile, we are so close to the Magic!

After we were dropped off, it took all of 15 minutes to check in and get on the ship. The process is very fast and smooth at Port Canaveral. Our first stop was to drop off our carry on luggage, and take a few cabin pictures. We were in cabin 2252 which is a Cove Balcony.

Here are a few shots of the cabin before it started to look “lived in”:

To Be Continued.......

Good start. Nice photos too. Will be following along.

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Subscribing:)

Looking forward to this review. Also enjoyed your first review.

AWESOME start to your review!!!!:D:D

Lots of Magic reviews lately, which makes me a happy girl, as we are on her in June. Counting the days!:D

Patiently waiting for more...:)

I just love love love your writing style.

Don't even care which ship you're on, I'm reading just so I can laugh out loud. You're good!

Looking forward to the rest of your review! We'll be on the Magic next June, so I love getting other people's perspectives. By the way...you are a HOOT :-) Loving it!

Following.

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I'm following too. Can't wait for more. Carnival Magic June 11,2017 for grandson graduation. We have 18 going so far.

Following...you are funny.

We are thinking about booking a cruise on Magic.

following!!!:)

I loved your last review and was so excited to see you are writing another! Waiting for more....

Good start. Nice photos too. Will be following along.

 

 

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Thank you!!! [emoji2]

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Subscribing:)

Sweet!!! Welcome aboard!! [emoji6]

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I loved your last review and was so excited to see you are writing another! Waiting for more....

Awwww thank you!!! [emoji6] I will post more tonight! [emoji16]

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following

Thank you! [emoji5]

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Following...you are funny.

 

 

 

We are thinking about booking a cruise on Magic.

Thanks and you really should sail the Magic! She's wonderful!! [emoji106]🏾

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AWESOME start to your review!!!!:D:D

 

Lots of Magic reviews lately, which makes me a happy girl, as we are on her in June. Counting the days!:D

 

 

 

Patiently waiting for more...:)

Thank you so much!!! [emoji7]

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I'm following too. Can't wait for more. Carnival Magic June 11,2017 for grandson graduation. We have 18 going so far.

Wow that's going to be a fabulous cruise!! Congrats to your grandson!! [emoji56]

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following!!!:)

Welcome aboard! ⚓️⚓️⚓️

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Looking so forward to reading more of this as its posted.

Thanks for taking the time to write it.

Chass

Looking forward to the rest of your review! We'll be on the Magic next June, so I love getting other people's perspectives. By the way...you are a HOOT :-) Loving it!

Thanks!!!!! [emoji2]⚓️[emoji2]

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