MAGIC - Our Photo Review of the Inaugural Sailing of the Magic

[cruisinskier]

Over 32,000 look-sees! Wow! And I contributed to about 100 of that number, lol. Your photos and reviews are FABULOUS.

 

I hope to sail the Magic next year, but of course it will be out of Galveston, not out of a European port, as your sailing was. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and photos with us. I especially appreciate all of the land shots. They are worthy of a travel brochure.

 

And the Magic - OMG, she is gorgeous. I cannot wait to sail on her. Thank you for giving us a taste of what is to come!

 

 

Yes thanks to all of you who have made comments and also to those who have stopped in for a "look-see". Obviously there are lots of people seeking info for upcoming Magic trips!! OK, time to get back to the review.....

[cruisinskier]

Again we were up around 7:00 for our Lido buffet breakfast (get your omelette right at the back where there are no lines). Again we all met up and were off the boat to meet up with Rome In Limo again for today's tour. Today all 12 of us were doing the tour so we had 2 vehicles with 6 in each. Our drivers were Manuel and Mauricio. And we were on our way...first stop was the Colisseum!

 

Welcome to Civitavecchia

 

 

It was a busy day in Port

 

 

 

 

Our vehicles for the day

[cruisinskier]

This was to be a day of seeing all of those historic magical sites that we had heard or read about for years.....

 

The first stop was the Colisseum. It is much larger than I had envisioned it would be. We took some pictures as we walked towards the gates only to be told that there was union activity today and they would not be opening until 12:00 noon. Apparently it is not uncommon for this type of thing to happen in Italy with minimal notice. While we were somewhat disappointed, our RIL professionals swung into action and started to reorganize our day on the spot...and they made sure we knew we would now stop back at the Colisseum at the end of the day (we were not leaving without going inside the Colisseum!!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruisinskier]

We then drove over to see Circus Maximus, with the Palantine hills in the background. This was the site of early Roman Games and chariot races.

 

 

Panorama of Circus Maximus

 

 

Next they drove us up a private driveway to a lookout at Piazza del Campidoglio. From here we had a great view of the Roman Forum and other ruins....

 

Roman Forum

 

 

[cruisinskier]

 

 

 

 

 

 

All hail Cesear!

 

 

 

 

Sophia Loren lives in the top 3 floors of the tallest building on the left

[cruisinskier]

Next we drove by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on our way to see the Duomo. I have to say that RIL knew the best ways to get us between each site quickly and also to get us as close as possible. One of our group is mobility challenged and uses an electric scotter but was still able to enjoy most of the sites thanks to the knowledge of RIL!!!

 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

 

 

Umbrella Pines

 

 

Duomo

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruisinskier]

Next up was the Trevi Fountain and then a quick drive by the Spanish Steps on our way to lunch. It had been a packed morning and we still had the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St Paul's Basillica and a return visit to the Colisseum to all fit in to the afternoon....we were starting to get sceptical of getting inside the Colisseum, especially when they siad we had lots of time to sit down and enjoy lunch...but we did need to sit and relax for a few minutes as it had been a busy day and we were only half done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spanish Steps

 

 

And something to help wash down lunch!!!

[TravellinGranny]

I hope you got the chance to toss a coin in th Trevi Fountain! Awexome pics......Thanks, brings back so many memories for me.

[Clairescurtains]

We used them and Mauricio was great two years ago.

[cruisinskier]

I hope you got the chance to toss a coin in th Trevi Fountain! Awexome pics......Thanks, brings back so many memories for me.

 

Yes we did toss something in the Trevi Fountain. The legend we were told is that tossing one coin means you will return to Rome, 2 coins means a new romance and 3 coins means divorce. I guess you could toss 6 coins and cover all the bases......they say they pull approx 3,000 euros out of the fountain daily.

[cruisinskier]

After lunch we met up with Jenna who was our tour guide for the Vatican / Sistine Chapel. We had pre-purchased tickets and were inside in under 5 minutes, jumping a long queue. Again we were shown things tha thad we not had aprivate guide we would have walked right past. Jenna explained each of Michelangelo's paintings within the Sistine Chapel to us prior to heading in....they do not allow pictures in the Sistine Chapel. We saw various painted ceilings throughout the Vatican on our way to the Sistine Chapel and they very much reminded me of what we had seen in Doge's Palace back in Venice.

 

 

The wall around Vatican City

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kezza]

Loved the Trevi Fountain, the Coluseum....just loved it all when I was there 3 years ago with DD and now can't wait to take DH for the first time..........your photos have just heightened my enthusiusm:):).

 

We got told with the tossing of the coin that to return to Rome you needed to throw it over a certain shoulder (can't remember which shoulder!!) ....not sure how true, but we and now I return for a second time, this time with my DH.

Kerri

[cruisinskier]

The paintings of the Sistine Chapel

 

 

The hallways within the Vatican

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Holy door in front of St Peter's Basilica (it is only opened once every 25 years)

[cruisinskier]

Loved the Trevi Fountain, the Coluseum....just loved it all when I was there 3 years ago with DD and now can't wait to take DH for the first time..........your photos have just heightened my enthusiusm:):).

 

We got told with the tossing of the coin that to return to Rome you needed to throw it over a certain shoulder (can't remember which shoulder!!) ....not sure how true, but we and now I return for a second time, this time with my DH.

Kerri

 

Yes, needs to be thrown over right shoulder so you have your back to the fountain....have a great trip!!

[solo2011]

Hello fellow cruisers. As I type this, we are onboard the new Carnival Magic enjoying an unscheduled day at sea. We were unable to dock in Monaco today due to high winds resulting in the Port Authority in Monaco closing the port....however we are making the best of a sunny day at sea. And while we wanted to see Monaco (and Eze), after 4 straight days of touring all day we can use a sea day to rest up a little.

 

First let me introduce ourselves.....myself and my DW are both 47 and this is our 7th cruise, our second cruise with Carnival, and our first time to Europe. We have had a great cruise, knocking numerous items off of our bucket list!! We selected this cruise for numerous reasons including the itinerary, the price and the opportunity to experience a brand new ship.

 

We travelled as part of a group of 12 friends and family members ranging in age from 22- 88. Our group included one individual with mobility issues who required a motorized scooter and two individuals with diet restrictions requiring gluten free meals. I will provide more info on these custom items later in the review.

 

To this point I have taken over 2,000 pictures on this trip and while I will not bore you with all of them here, I will post some to assist in showing you details of the Carnival Magic and the ports we visited.

 

Pre-cruise, we spent 3 nights on the island of Murano, just across the harbour from Venice. I have to say this was a great choice as we were able to spend lots of time in Venice while experiencing the true Italian hospitality on Murano (at a much lower price than Venice). We will be spending 3 nights in Barcelona post cruise returning home on Friday. Based on availability of internet and also time, I will try to post some more before we return home. However once we are home I will post full details of our trip.

 

Overall I have to say the inaugural cruise on the Magic has been a very enjoyable experience. I have been pleasantly surprised as to how ready the Magic was for our sailing. While the cruise was not perfect, there were only limited issues and no worse than any other sailings. I will provide more details later but we have had a great cruise on a very enjoyable ship with mostly great weather and visited some amazing places!!! I am sure you all have questions and once we return home I will do my best to answer them. This is my disclaimer that what I say here is my opinion and I will try my best to provide facts and whatever details I can.

 

Stay tuned for more details to follow over the next few days and for all of you with future cruises on the Magic you can look forward to a great cruise.....

Hello, I'm enjoying your review of The Carnival Magic, can you tell me if you used a digital camera and what type of card you used and how many you used. so far i have 3 sd cards(2) 4g and (1) 8g and i'm not sure this is going to enough. Please advise

[cruisinskier]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michelangelo's Pieta (Michelangelo's last name was Buonarroti in case anyone cares...)

 

 

 

 

[cruisinskier]

Hello, I'm enjoying your review of The Carnival Magic, can you tell me if you used a digital camera and what type of card you used and how many you used. so far i have 3 sd cards(2) 4g and (1) 8g and i'm not sure this is going to enough. Please advise

 

Hi solo, I had 2 8g cards and still had room for about 500 pictures when I got home so you should be ok.

[cruisinskier]

St Peter's Square

 

 

[cruisinskier]

It had been a whirlwind tour of Vatican City but it amazing how much we saw in about 2 hours. It was now 4:45 and we truly were not thinking we would get inside the Colisseum....this was roughly the time that tour tour was to end and we should be heading back to the Magic. However both Manuel and Mauricio agreed that we needed to see the Colisseum....which was supposed to close to the public at 5:00pm.

 

The RIL drivers booted it through the back roads and got us back to the Colisseum with time to spare. Yes we made it inside and all I can say is WOW....this, like so many of the things we saw on this trip, can only truly be properly enjoyed in person but of course I will try a few pics anyway....

 

 

Almost back to the Colisseum

 

 

 

 

We are inside!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruisinskier]

A panoramic of the Colisseum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And one final shot outside as we are leaving...

[cruisinskier]

In the end, our RIL tour guides had added almost 2 hours to our alloted time by the time we made it back to the boat. We appreciated the adjustments that they had made, the knowledge they had shared with us, and we made it worth their while!! This was the end of our 2nd great day touring with RIL. Tonight we had a late sailaway at 10:00pm so there was no sailaway party for our group...we actually got back to the boat in time for a quick shower and change of clothes and then it was time to head to the dining room.

 

After dinner we spent some time at the Punchliner's Comedy Club (adult show....very funny), then a very short time in the casino before bed. We needed our rest as we had another full day ahead in the morning as we were touring Pisa and Florence, again with Rome in Limo.....

[KruisingMarina]

Phenomenal report!!! Can't wait to read your other reports. Thank you!:)

 

 

Cruises

 

12/30/2011 Carnival Inspiration Mexican Riviera

08/14/2011 Carnival Splendor Mexican Riviera

12/29/2010 Princess Sapphire Mexican Riviera

08/29/2010 Princess Emerald West Caribbean

03/27/2010 Carnival Spirit Mexican Riviera

12/31/2009 Carnival Elation Mexican Riviera

08/29/2009 Carnival Liberty East Caribbean

08/29/2008 RCC Monarch of the Seas Mexican Riviera

01/26/2000 Carnival Mexican Riviera

[LittleMissMagic]

WOWWWWW!!!!!!!! This TR has been AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thank you so much for the wonderful pictures! The ports of call look beautiful!!!

 

I also greatly appreciate the pictures of the Magic! I am very impressed. I've been on the Dream, and there were several things that I noted could use improvement, and it really looks like they stepped it up with the Magic! On the Dream, I was annoyed with the tacky buffet area with all of the colored glass... but the buffet on the Dream looks gorgeous!!!

 

I am still disappointed in the dining rooms, though. Those chairs look like convention chairs! Yuck!!!

 

Thanks again for the pictures and report! You have done a wonderful job with this TR!!! :)

[2010_cruisers]

I feel like I went o this trip with you guys.....I even choked up on some of the images, stunning work. You caught MANY moments...:):):) thank you!

[LynnA]

Can't wait to go on nher in December, great pics....