Carnival Magic review with pictures!!!

[stacycakes1]

Lovinggg your review! Do you happen to remember the name of the place you had lunch at? Also, where did you book this Rome transfer or tour? I will be headed there in 2 weeks and waiting 4 hours in line just seems like that would be my whole time alloted in the city lol Even though my ship is docked for 12 hours, the drive to and from the port is 3 hours total which doesn't leave enough time to see everything so would like to make the most out of the day

 

 

Glad to see you saw it is RIL:) Unfortunately I don't remember the name of this particular restaurant:( The driver took us there and I didn't pay attention that day, I was too busy messing up bruscetta orders, lol!

[stacycakes1]

Wow, great review. I just spent the entire afternoon reading it. Glad RIL posted on their facebook page, and I found it.

 

I have used RIL twice in the past two years in several ports. Great people. I would highly recommend using them to everyone.

 

I do the same as you in keeping a blog to remember every place, every restaurant, every wine on my trips.

 

I blog every night from the ship so family and friends can follow along with us our daily experiences.

 

Enjoyed reading.

 

Yvette

 

 

I know, everyone keeps saying thank you for posting this but I have to admit I posted it for me and my hubby so we can remember the trip forever:)

 

It was such a pleasure writing about it, it brought back so many memories!!!!

 

Glad you enjoyed it.

[rufflesmom]

Wow!!! I am blown away by your review and pics. I will be on the Magic in Sept with my sisters and started reading to see pics of the ship. It didn't take long before I was enthralled with Italy. I have wanted to do a Mediterrean cruise but now it goes to #1 on my bucket list.

 

Thanks for all the hard work that went into that review. You made me feel as if I was there with you.:)

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

Stacy ~ I've been reading your review over the last 2 nights & really loved it. Lovely pictures of beautiful places, great food & a cute couple.:D It sure brought back memories of my Med cruises. I love those flowers too & they're all over the Med & the Caribbean.

 

That picture of Amalfi is my favourite & I'm wondering would it be okay with you to use it as my computer wallpaper please? Thanks a lot for sharing.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[BobbyD]

I just found this review a couple of days ago and it felt like I was there! Actually, we were on the cruise following yours, the 12 day Med on the Magic! Some of our pictures are actually the same, which is neat. I'm glad you had as great a time as we did. The Med is truly something which everyone needs to experience. We are now spoiled and every cruise after that will be a letdown! We are heading to the Caribbean this summer and we know that comparisons will be made. St. Thomas, while beautiful, is no Amalfi Coast!

 

I can't say enough about Rome in Limo. We even had the same drivers for two of the ports (Maurizio and Diego). We had 4 of us in a car and it was a great way to see these ports. I agree that it is not that much more expensive than the Carnival big bus tours, when you break it down to per person.

 

We did the reverse of your trip in that we spent two days on Las Ramblas prior to the cruise, then went to Paris for 4 days post-cruise. Again, a once in a life-time trip for me, my wife (our 25th anniv.) and our two sons, who had graduated from college a month prior.

 

Awesome review and thanks for the memories!

Edited April 28, 2012 by BobbyD

[zazou]

what a wonderful review! I will ask my teens daughters to read it as we will be on a similar cruise this summer.

[sylvis]

Best review ever!!! I am so glad you had a most wonderful honeymoon! I noticed on your signature that you went on the Tropicale in 1998. My husband and I went on her for our honeymoon in 1993, quite a difference from the Dream class ships!

[CruizeCast]

We did the Magic in the Med last summer and this brought back so many great memories. Thanks!

[CyberTag]

Thank you for an awesome review! How did you handle payment with RIL? I notice they don't accept credit cards. Did you hit an ATM in port or convert your money before leaving the states? Trying not to have too much cash on hand, which is one reason we are leaning towards the ship excursion. However, I will say you are swaying us otherwise.

[Igot2travel]

Thank you for your review. It has me so excited about our cruise on the Breeze in October.:D

[Podie]

Thanks for your review. Two days ago my husband and I returned from a month in Italy so your review was a pleasant reminder of our great trip!

[alprice]

WOW - thank you for your review and pictures!! We are thinking about a Europe cruise for out 20th anniversary in 2014 and this makes me really really want to go!!!

[Janet Foster]

Thank youse muc for your for your review. You do reviews the way I like to do reviews. So enjoyable and informative as we plan out Med Cruise for 2014. I'll hunt you down during our planning.

 

Thanks again for the fun, your review actually just about wore out my iPad battery...

 

Janet

[Princess & 4 Princes]

Thank you for posting such an awesome trip report, Stacy! We are doing a similar itinerary on RCCL in June! I am SO EXCITED! We had already booked RIL for 3 tours, but it really, really helps to see pictures what to expect in each port!

 

About your camera...I have a NIkon Coolpix, but don't think my pictures would turn out as great as yours did! What did you have it set at most of the time? Did you just leave it on the green "auto" setting, or did you mess with the settings? I love taking pictures, and want to make sure I have good ones after this phenomenal trip. Thanks for your help!

 

Best wishes for a long and happy life together with Paul, you guys are adorable! :D

Edited April 29, 2012 by Princess & 4 Princes
spElling

[cynt]

Excellent review!

[t60]

Hi there, I really enjoyed reading your review and the photos are lovely. We´re off to Malaga, Barcelona, Cannes, Rome, Naples, Corsica and Gibraltar on a princess cruise in a couple of weeks, but our roll call is very quiet.

Will be checking out RIL on your recommendation

sandy in Spain

[vegadog2]

Thanks SO much for sharing

[vegadog2]

Love your review so far ... but asian tourists :confused: are they different than other kinds of tourists or something?

 

Do you REALLY have to nit pick this post.OK I'll tell you what I think of your comment.Have you ever been to DISNEY WHEN they have the tour groups form WHAT EVER country with the guide and the 100 people following.NOW do you know what the poster was saying.Please just ENJOY.

[deise17311]

I have never sailed carnival, but came over to read your review...had to post a thank you...you both are great and I really enjoyed your pics...brought back great memories of my own med cruise...you are right on about the excursions...we booked our own and they were fantastic!!

 

Mazel Tov to a great life and many kids!!

 

Dwight

[gabby71]

Oh gosh! So not a racist remark!!!! There "literally" was a HUGE crowd of asian people at that exact moment taking pictures of the Mona Lisa! There must have been a tour going through. Sorry if I offended anyone, it was most definitely not my intent just an actual fact.

 

I thought the comment was perfectly fine. People need to read it as if they're reading a book. The author gives you detail as to how something looks or someone looks so that you have a visual in your mind. If you would have said "a group of people" that's just bland, but when you wrote "group of asian tourists" I had a more clear picture. Just like reading a book!;)

 

I'm only on the second page of your review and I'm LOVING it!

 

By the way....I love the wedding shot at the beginning of your review.

[Gator Man]

Stacycakes 1, I must tell you this is absolutely one of, if not the best reviews I have read on this site. Your pictures are truly amazing, the tips you have given are priceless, you surely seem to have gone to great lenghts to plan your cruise out. Your review was so good one seems as if they are along for the ride themselves. I plan on doing this cruise in the future and your advice is priceless, as Paris is my all time favorite city, the tidbit about Air France is invaluable. Also will be trying to use limo service, again thanks for taking the time to post a review, it was a joy to experience it with you and your husband, hope you have many more memorable cruises in your future, will be anxiously waiting to read about them.

[stacycakes1]

HI all!

 

Stacy ~ I've been reading your review over the last 2 nights & really loved it. Lovely pictures of beautiful places, great food & a cute couple.:D It sure brought back memories of my Med cruises. I love those flowers too & they're all over the Med & the Caribbean.

 

That picture of Amalfi is my favourite & I'm wondering would it be okay with you to use it as my computer wallpaper please? Thanks a lot for sharing.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

 

Of course:)

[stacycakes1]

Thank you for an awesome review! How did you handle payment with RIL? I notice they don't accept credit cards. Did you hit an ATM in port or convert your money before leaving the states? Trying not to have too much cash on hand, which is one reason we are leaning towards the ship excursion. However, I will say you are swaying us otherwise.

 

We had calculated how much we would need total for each tour (including what we were going to tip) and had gotten it from the bank prior to leaving for our trip. We then kept it locked up in the room and cabin safes and just took what we needed for each day so we weren't carrying it on us all day.

 

Paul also has one of Rick Steves wallets that goes inside the waste of your pants and I had a travel bag that has mesh wiring so that pickpockets can't steal from it. We were very freaked out from these boards about getting our money stolen but I have to say it really isn't any different then being in a city like New York and Chicago. Just be aware of your surroundings and keep you money on your person and you will be okay:)

 

My biggest advice would be that you shouldn't not go on a certain tour because you are scared of money being stolen, you will regret it if you do! So many people take these tours everyday all day and very few have problems with money being stolen.

Edited April 29, 2012 by stacycakes1

[stacycakes1]

Thank you for posting such an awesome trip report, Stacy! We are doing a similar itinerary on RCCL in June! I am SO EXCITED! We had already booked RIL for 3 tours, but it really, really helps to see pictures what to expect in each port!

 

About your camera...I have a NIkon Coolpix, but don't think my pictures would turn out as great as yours did! What did you have it set at most of the time? Did you just leave it on the green "auto" setting, or did you mess with the settings? I love taking pictures, and want to make sure I have good ones after this phenomenal trip. Thanks for your help!

 

Best wishes for a long and happy life together with Paul, you guys are adorable! :D

 

 

Yeah, we did mess with the settings a bit depending on the time of day and where we were. Some times they came out beautiful and sometimes they were just okay. We actually had over 3000 photos by the end of our trip so I really only posted the ones that came out the best. Just keep snapping away and you are bound to get a few you love:)

[stacycakes1]

Hi there, I really enjoyed reading your review and the photos are lovely. We´re off to Malaga, Barcelona, Cannes, Rome, Naples, Corsica and Gibraltar on a princess cruise in a couple of weeks, but our roll call is very quiet.

Will be checking out RIL on your recommendation

sandy in Spain

 

 

It looks like RIL has a place where you can ask others to join you for a tour on there website now. You should check that out too and see if maybe there are others not on your same ship that would join you.