Carnival Magic review- lost my drivers license!

Normally I write my cruise report in another area (hopefully this goes through???) on CC, but when I do, it seems to not let me finish, so hopefully this will work.

Carnival Magic - Mar. 31- Apr. 7

Judy and I had never been on the Carnival Magic before. I have done a lot of cruises, and with all my experience, and with Judy speaking Spanish, if needed, I knew this would help us at the places that we were to be at.

Before getting on the ship, I did all the computer work of getting info into Carnival's website, as that helps us get on the ship faster.

Since we live in KC (received SNOW the next couple days after coming back:() we flew into Miami, and Carnival transportation picked us up, and took us to Cape Canaveral.

Before I go any further, anything you read here, will be OUR opinion only. I always try to be positive, and not nit pick about things that I see or do. We knew we could not get into our room until 1:30, and that we could go to Deck 5 (our deck was 6 just below - room 6352) or 10 for food. We decided to do deck 5 and the Bar b Que, and it was just fair. We went to our room at the allotted time, but our luggage had not arrived, so we decided to check out the ship. Magic is a large ship, and a person could get lost on it easily. :) One negative thing I found about all ships I have been on as yet. The restrooms are hard to find/locate. There are no signs stating what direction or where to find as they do with the headings of their different rooms of activities, fun shops, dining rooms, help desk, etc.

We decided to do the MDR at 8:15, as that gives us more time to relax, shower, etc. before dinner when coming back from the port/islands. Normally we would be doing the whole week at the MDR, but since Judy is timid in some ways, she preferred that we just go off by ourselves and eat, which we did at other eating places like the Lido or deli, etc. Speaking of the deli, the BLT sandwiches I had were MORE than good. They were not stingy with the food they put on the sandwiches. I thought they had onion rings close by, but when I ask, they were french fries (looked similar to onion rings), and they were tops! I have had a lot of french fries in my time, but nothing taste like these.

This was my first time to be away from home on Easter, and I wish they had a chapel on this ship, but they didn't. In the afternoon we did tea time, which was nice. That evening was elegant night, and I always like to dress to the 9's (a lot of people don't do this, and that if fine as well), as I don't get to do that very often in KC (Gladstone, MO. :) I love to watch the people that are all dressed up, and many with their families looking so nice, getting ready to take their pictures.

I will mention that at every port/island, there is plenty of shopping to do, if you wish.

COZUMEL - As I do a lot of Christmas baking, the first item I bought here was vanilla, as it is cheap, compared to the USA. I had booked a tour through Plaza Tours, but some way or another, we lost our connections, and wound up at the Sn r Frogs in downtown Cozumel. There were several Taxi drivers in that area that tried to help us, and eventually one of the men from Plaza Tours arrived, and we we were on our way. We had booked to go to Punta Sur Clarain Lighthouse. It was quite a drive, but once we got there, was beautiful. It had been many years since I had "climbed" a lighthouse, and I wanted to do it (at my age???), just to PROVE to my 3 sons that mom STILL could do it, again.:) After checking out the surrounding area, we decided to climb to the top. Judy (15 years younger than I) kept asking me, "Are we getting any closer to the top?". I kept telling her, just keep climbing as the steps get really narrow, and we'll get there. There are 233 steps up/down, and it was an EXPERIENCE! Once you get to the top, there is a square just so large that you either have to crawl, or climb (I called it doing the limbo) through then you can see everything from the top. After dinner we went and watched Love and Marriage which was very good, filled with a lot of laughter.

Since we had taken pictures for elegant night I wanted to check them out at Pixel. Pixel is different from last year with the pictures all out, for you to look at. To save money, they are now on done on computer, and it can be very difficult at times to find, but they have helpers to help out.

BELIZE is tendered, and it takes about 25 minutes to get there from the ship. We were going to go to Caye Calker beach which my son said was very nice, but because of the time, we were limited on what we could do. They have water Taxi's, but it would take about an hour to go to the beach, so we had a man take us to/from a man made beach, which turned out alright as well, as we did not want to miss the ship.

ROATAN has Mahogany Bay, which is owned by Carnival. I had heard of Rusty Fish store where the products that you purchase there, the money goes back to them. They had a small one (other stores in the Honduras area as well) at Mahogany Bay, and I was able to buy a couple items. From there we got the cable cars (can walk as well) to take us to/from the beautiful beach area. The lounge chairs are nice, but unless you are one of the first ones to the beach (like on the ship), you have to walk quite a distance, just to find two lounge chairs together. I also saw in that area, a few chairs where people could sit, since there were no more lounge chairs. If you want to check out Roatan more, you have to book a tour or take a Taxi to that area, as you cannot see if from the chair lifts. We were getting ready to leave, and I discovered my drivers license which I had on me, was MISSING!!! I was really scared then, not knowing how I was going to get on/off the ship and also fly back home. Once we got back to the ship, I went to the Pursers/Help desk and explained my dilemma.:( The lady explained that if it is not turned in, I can have a copy of my passport made for the ship, as well as the airline, which relieved me a tad. I was not expecting a call, and about an hour later, the help desk called, and said someone had turned my driver's license in, thank God!!! The help desk did not say they would call me, but for me to check back later, so I thought that was very accommodating of them. After getting back on the ship each day, they normally are running some specials in their fun shops or on that deck. After eating, we went to the Showtime Theater (3 decks to use) and watched America Rocks, which was very good.

COSTA MAYA - there is quite a walk before you get to the main area of shopping which is nice, along with flamingos, and a pool, if you want to use it. Years ago, I had been to what they call their Mal econ, which was beautiful then, and I wanted to see Costa Maya's as well. For a couple dollars, we can take the shuttle (will not bring you back) to that area with the beach. Once we got there, it was nothing like the Mal econ that I had seen before, and I was disappointed, but they had a nice beach there, which we did not use. We had to get a Taxi back, and normally they want $8, but we got it for $4 pp. After eating, we went to the Showtime Theater and saw Flick which is good.

There was always a variety of music going on in different areas during the day/night. We watched the hairy check contest, played miniature golf, and many other activities to do/see if you wished. The worst part I thought was (they have areas where there is supervision from the Carnival personnel) young children around 8 - 12 running everywhere other than where they should have been. Dr. E the direction was funny/good. I will say, any personnel from Goda our room steward and helper, to anyone else that worked for Carnival were very accommodating and friendly.

I know this is long, but if you have any questions, and I can answer, I'll try.

Brenda - KC lady

What a nice, thorough, review. My main impression is that you had a good time.

The Magic is a nice ship. I've sailed on her three times and enjoyed every cruise. The piano bar was a favorite.

Thanks for posting your thoughts and experiences.

Appreciate the detailed feedback.

I’m going on the Magic this weekend. So with the pictures at Pixels they don’t have them out to look at anymore?

I’m going on the Magic this weekend. So with the pictures at Pixels they don’t have them out to look at anymore?

It's easier to download the Carnival Hub app so you can view them on your phone. Once I discovered the photos there, I didn't even go to Pixels.:D

It's easier to download the Carnival Hub app so you can view them on your phone. Once I discovered the photos there, I didn't even go to Pixels.:D

I am so happy that this is a thing now!:)

Thank you all for your comments.:)

If I go back, "maybe" downloading the Carnival app may work for me. I still would like to know if any of the Carnival ships handle the pictures the old way, but then that is just ME. :)

We did go to the piano bar, as we have always enjoyed it before, but this time it was crowded and more noisy than usual, so we left.

Glad you got your driver's license back!!!

Thanks for the review.

Yes, I was so thankful that someone found, and turned in my driver's license as well. Many people nit pick about Carnival, etc., and I just wanted to let people know that I felt they went beyond what they had to do, to let me know it had been turned in. I know they are very busy at the desk, and they took time out to make the call to me. I also wanted to mention, God forbid that it happen to you, that if you should lose your driver's license like I did, what the steps would be to take if you still need to get off/on the ship and the airline as well, as I had no clue, but I sure learned!:)