A MAGICAL Bahamian Cruise Review - with Photos!

[jtxo]

Get that next cruise built!! Pick a date and find your ship!!! I love having something to look forward to and dream about!!!

 

I haven't seen this itinerary since 2009. I love your photos!!! I can't wait for more!!!

 

I do have a question -- sorry it's technical about photos... I have a new computer, it's that new Windows 8.1 and I don't have any of the extra programs... just IE ... I can't post photos any more...

 

HOW DO YOU POST PHOTOS??? Sorry -- technical and you can wait to the end to respond... I just miss being able to post photos...

 

Thank you!!! I'll admit I am not much good at the technical stuff myself, but all these photos were taken with my iPhone. I then uploaded to my computer (when I synced the phone) and used Google's Picasa program to resize them. (I bet if you google Picasa you'll get to the download). When you resize the photos it will export them to their own folder, so then I just uploaded that folder to photobucket! From there you can copy the IMG code for each pic and just paste the IMG link into the review!

 

And IE has issues with LOTS of websites, so maybe download Firefox or Chrome as another browser to use? I usually have everything in Firefox.

 

Hope that helps! :)

[jtxo]

Enjoying your review. We are booked on the same itinerary in October and we haven't cruised in 10 years and it's nice to read about the ship and ports will be headed to.

 

Sounds like so much fun! I wish we were already headed back!

 

I'll post more ship photos today. Sorry for the delay - I left all my photos at work while off for July 4th!

 

Hope everyone also got to enjoy a nice long weekend!

[jtxo]

I'm following along and you are doing a great job! I'm super excited to read about your next 2 sea days. We leave Sunday on the magic.

 

So sorry I didn't finish before your cruise! I know you will have an excellent time. Show us your pics when you get back!! :D

[jtxo]

Good morning sea!

 

 

Our location this morning:

 

 

Today we chose to stay comfortable and skip Cruise Elegant #2. We spent the entire day hanging out on the deck, reading, and napping. Oh, and eating. It was nice to not worry about having an excursion today so I could have lots of coffee this morning without worrying about having to pee before reaching our destination! I could also have more of my great love - TruMoo Chocolate milk. Here's a pic I tried to grab with the sunlight behind it to show just how heavenly I think it is.

 

 

The cartons even have jokes!

 

 

We did go to the Love & Marriage show today and it was typical and funny. The poor newlyweds were married in Key West, and all their family was in the room. So that got fun and James does a really good job with this kind of stuff. He's a little effeminate for me, but he is funny if you can get past that.

 

I think one of my favorite parts of the cruise is how towards the end of the week, you see people all over the ship that you've met earlier in the week. Friends from our shore excursions, from some of our "table for two" dinner mates, everything. I think I most love talking to the seasoned cruisers like we met one night at dinner - they had been on over 25 cruises! They have the best stories, and even some good inside tips. Like this sweet gentleman that gave me the name and number of his PVP that he uses, and convinced me to give a call next time I want to book. Speaking of people you meet, sas anyone else met Ed and Shirley on the Magic? Apparently they are a staple, and they have been married over 65 years! 65! That's incredible, and if you've never talked with them, be sure to next time on the Magic. It sounds like more often than not, they are on it!

Like I said, we choose to skip dinner tonight, and let me tell you - the lido was just as good. They had the same steak and chicken that was on the dinner menu for tonight, and some excellent fish also. The only thing you really miss is the WCMC. But an ice cream cone and more chocolate milk do help make up for that. And the lovely Carnival chocolate chip cookies. Those are great too.

 

Tonight they were showing Gravity on the big screen, so we went out a little early to try to secure a good spot. Apparently we weren't the only ones with that thought, because all the seats I wanted to grab were gone. But we got the last of the loveseats directly in front of the screen, so it was still fine. It's amazing how many people will stop and stand right in front of you, so a few times the people beside us did the little "ah-hem" and most of the offenders apologized and quickly moved on. The movie was good, and then after we spent some time in Ocean plaza. More music and dancing!

 

I did NOT get a picture of our towel animal tonight, but oh man do I wish I had! May used one of our robes and made a person sitting up in bed! It was hilarious. I have never seen such before! It did startle us as we walked into the room too! We did see her at one point afterwards that night and told her how much we enjoyed it. We've never had a female room steward before, but May was lovely.

 

Now I'll post some random pics from around the ship that I took this day.

[jtxo]

Sorry, some of these are blurry. This is the casino bar, which is the only place you can watch sports (bad idea). The Spurs were in the NBA playoffs while we were on the Magic, and with so many Texans on board there was always a BIG crowd that wanted to watch. They did not all fit in this area.

 

 

Cherry on Top, the candy store:

 

 

One of my favorite areas, the little covered "lanai" patios outside Ocean Plaza on deck 5. One side is smoking, the other is blissfully not.

 

 

Bins of towels around Deck 5 - perfect for keeping warm when the breeze is cool. So nice to not have to lug down your blue towel or check one out. Hint: they also made excellent neck pillows while reading on the loungers.

 

[jtxo]

I love the secret decks up front. My favs are on deck 6 and deck 11. The ones up high really do give some great views. And from 6-7 you can usually spot some officers on the bridge.

 

Stairs from Deck 5 forward up to "Secret" deck 6.

 

 

The lovely emptiness of Deck 6. The only time it wasn't just me up there was the last night's sunset.

 

 

Benches on Deck 6.

 

 

I LOVE THIS VIEW!

 

 

The set of doors to go out on Deck 6 forward:

 

 

[jtxo]

Views from Deck 11 Forward:

 

 

Dusk deck 6 - it looks amazing in person:

 

 

Another secret deck shot, love how calm the seas are:

 

 

These are awesome - the chairs around deck 11 mid-ship above the main pool. They are an excellent place to read when the big screen and the DJ aren't blaring.

 

 

Same area, but behind those chairs, looking out to sea:

 

 

Deck 12 aft ship info:

 

[jtxo]

I found this area to be much easier to work out in than the actual fitness center. I always thought that felt cramped. If you come early morning, the weather is fantastic. It does get hot when the sun is high though.

 

Jogging track mileage:

 

 

What the jogging track looks like:

 

 

Outdoor weight machines:

 

 

 

 

[jtxo]

Waterworks:

 

 

A whale tail! And the hotdog stand! (Deck 12 by the mini golf)

 

 

Lido restaurant. I think the Magic definitely has some upgraded finishes in common areas like this. Lots of glass tile.

 

 

Oh, and we got our first Gold and up party invite!

 

[jtxo]

Here are some pics of the spa area. Even on a sea day I never found it very busy.

 

The locker room:

 

 

Toilets:

 

 

The big showers:

 

 

Sink area (with lots of hairdryers).

 

 

And here's where the rooms turn from regular to spa. Can you see the difference in the doors?

 

 

This one is terribly blurry because I took it on the fly. I didn't want to get in trouble! But I wanted to see the different color scheme in the spa rooms. Cooler colors do always seem more serene.

 

[wrigley80]

It’s Sunday morning! Embarkation Day!!

 

I woke up early because I’m a crazy morning person, so we got ready and had a nice breakfast at the Holiday Inn – they do have good cinnamon rolls!

 

We were excited and got done faster than expected and left the hotel about 9:45. We arrived in Galveston around 10:15, and wow, there is nothing like seeing that whale tail as you come over the bridge to Galveston Island! It always makes my stomach flutter for a bit. I don't know why. We used EZ Cruise Parking - super easy to get to, and they were running buses constantly into the parking lot. Our bus had more seats, but depending on the luggage of your fellow passengers, our bus only held about 8 sets of passengers. Mostly couples, and one group of a mom and her two daughters and boy did they have enough luggage! I think Galveston is a port that is much easier to drive to than fly, and so I think it's much easier to over pack when you don't have to worry about airline luggage restrictions! It definitely shows at times at this port! Let's just say when I saw all the others we were boarding this bus with, I felt much better about my managing to get all our stuff in one big bag and one medium. However, later in the week I did regret this when I basically ran out of underwear. OOPS!

 

Anyways, we soon boarded a bus and were dropped off at the entrance to the port. There were porters there waiting on our bus, so that was pretty easy. A quick tip for the driver and the porter and we were on our way to check-in. This trip was going to be our first as gold VIFP members - now I know that's nothing special, but I was pretty excited to get a gold card!

 

Check-in was smooth, easy, and fast. We received our Zone 7 boarding card and went to wait. We sat down around 11am.

 

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By about 11:15, they started priority boarding for those platinum snobs, FTTF, and then the zones quickly followed. We were on board well before noon.

 

Platinum Snobs???? Are you Serious :mad:

[wrigley80]

Later in the morning I went to James’ Fun Aboard Fun Ashore show. It was actually very informative. James was funny and really does do a good job of interacting with folks from the stage in my opinion. They also made sure to say 100 times that there is nothing in Freeport, so you’d better have something planned ahead of time.

 

I stayed for the shopping show, and I even sat close enough that I could have gotten one of the coupon books for $25 (if I wanted to be trampled to death by the thundering herd), but by the time they listed all the coupons it contained I had talked myself out of it. But boy is it hard to turn down a chance to win something, especially for me. Oh well. And seriously, the free necklaces and whatnot were not cute. If they had been, I’d have snatched up that book. They shouldn’t have shown it ahead of time.

 

Afterwards we had lunch at the deli. They serve mostly hot grilled sandwiches, but that always made me want chips…. Which they don’t have. Bummer, Carnival. But it was still very good. I had basically a fancy grilled cheese and my husband had a grilled Turkey and cheese. Both delicious! Then it was back to the room for a quick reading/nap session after checking the seas and our current location. I love that channel.

 

 

 

Making progress!!

 

I wanted to go to the gemstone talk at 3 to get those free earrings. I went, got my coupon (and not just the first 50 like they advertise, they had a whole stack of the cards) and then promptly left. It was in the comedy lounge and looked like it was going to be a real drag. I snuck out the back.

 

But at some point this afternoon, you could see another Carnival ship in the distance! She was too far away to know which one, but I wanted to know so badly that I almost worked up the nerve to ask one of the guys in white uniforms.

 

 

 

Formal night is tonight. Sorry, "cruise elegant". We have your time dining and knew that formal night would be busier but boy was it even more than I had imagined. We had to wait about 20 minutes with a pager before being seated which wasn't bad, but then service was SLOW. I mean so slow. So slow in fact, that we chose to forgo desert for a Lido ice cream cone instead. Yum! We did get showtime tonight, which did not happen on night one. I didn’t recognize the techno song they danced to.

 

After dinner and ice cream, we spent the rest of the evening in the Ocean Plaza. Can I say again how much I love this area? We watched the band "highlights" phonetically sing everything from Johnny Cash to Coldplay. It was entertaining, and interesting.

 

 

Then two of the hostess ladies came and started up 70's "Name that song" trivia which was really fun. They were just starting the 70s line dance when we called it a night.

 

But first, I have no idea what this is supposed to be.

 

 

Any ideas???

 

That is the Carnival Dream because it has the short, stubby funnel

[ryansmith18]

Platinum Snobs???? Are you Serious :mad:

 

It was clearly a joke, as mentioned a couple times in other posts.

[wrigley80]

It was clearly a joke, as mentioned a couple times in other posts.

 

Yes I realize that now after I continued to read the rest of the review but it was still unnecessary :rolleyes:

[bigman01]

Great review - I was also on this sailing, and I have to say, after 13 Carnival cruises, this one ranked right up there among the best. The weather was perfect the whole trip, seas were calm, great time in all 3 ports.

 

I have waited to see if you mentioned one thing that happened that was amazing, but you haven't mentioned it so I'm guessing you didn't see it. On Friday morning, we were just off the coast from Key West, headed back to Galveston. Somewhere I'm guessing around 10 am (I was on vacation, so I wasn't watching the clock!), we were sitting on our balcony, just enjoying the view. I heard a noise off in the distance, but couldn't figure out what it was. At first, I thought it was deck chairs being moved around. But that wasn't it.

 

The noise kept getting louder, and a few seconds later, without much warning, a Navy jet buzzed the ship. It was, I'd estimate, no more than 200 yards off the ship, and it was awesome. The whole thing, from the first time I heard a strange noise until the jet was gone, lasted no more than 15 seconds - it all happened so fast. We had 2 balconies side by side with the dividers opened...there were 3 of us sitting out on the balcony, and when it was over, we all 3 just looked at each other, wide eyed, as if it so "did that really just happen?". It was probably the most spectacular thing I've ever experienced on a cruise.

 

And, since you didn't mention it, jtxo, I'm guessing you missed it? If you weren't outside when it happened, you wouldn't have had time to run out on a deck and see it. But, it was an awesome thing to see!

 

Anyway, it was a great cruise, and your review is great too!

[jtxo]

Great review - I was also on this sailing, and I have to say, after 13 Carnival cruises, this one ranked right up there among the best. The weather was perfect the whole trip, seas were calm, great time in all 3 ports.

 

I have waited to see if you mentioned one thing that happened that was amazing, but you haven't mentioned it so I'm guessing you didn't see it. On Friday morning, we were just off the coast from Key West, headed back to Galveston. Somewhere I'm guessing around 10 am (I was on vacation, so I wasn't watching the clock!), we were sitting on our balcony, just enjoying the view. I heard a noise off in the distance, but couldn't figure out what it was. At first, I thought it was deck chairs being moved around. But that wasn't it.

 

The noise kept getting louder, and a few seconds later, without much warning, a Navy jet buzzed the ship. It was, I'd estimate, no more than 200 yards off the ship, and it was awesome. The whole thing, from the first time I heard a strange noise until the jet was gone, lasted no more than 15 seconds - it all happened so fast. We had 2 balconies side by side with the dividers opened...there were 3 of us sitting out on the balcony, and when it was over, we all 3 just looked at each other, wide eyed, as if it so "did that really just happen?". It was probably the most spectacular thing I've ever experienced on a cruise.

 

And, since you didn't mention it, jtxo, I'm guessing you missed it? If you weren't outside when it happened, you wouldn't have had time to run out on a deck and see it. But, it was an awesome thing to see!

 

Anyway, it was a great cruise, and your review is great too!

 

YES!!! I heard it, but was under the deck 5 lanai shade and didn't see it! It scared me though! My husband was sitting out in the sun and did see it, he said it was incredibly close!

 

I can't believe I forgot to mention it! Crazy stuff!! And I agree - didn't we have just the best weather and seas?? Amazing week.

 

Thanks for the reminder!!!

[jtxo]

Yes I realize that now after I continued to read the rest of the review but it was still unnecessary :rolleyes:

 

I'm actually am really sorry if that offended you. Like I said before, I am just 100% jealous. No harm meant at all!! :o And you and your dad seem like a great example of those platinum cruisers that are wonderful to talk to, give great tips, etc. If only they were all like ya'll! I definitely have enjoyed your reviews! Thanks for stopping by!

[jtxo]

That is the Carnival Dream because it has the short, stubby funnel

 

Thanks for the definitive answer! I never noticed it was short and stubby, but sure enough!

[Badfinger]

Great review - I was also on this sailing, and I have to say, after 13 Carnival cruises, this one ranked right up there among the best. The weather was perfect the whole trip, seas were calm, great time in all 3 ports.

 

I have waited to see if you mentioned one thing that happened that was amazing, but you haven't mentioned it so I'm guessing you didn't see it. On Friday morning, we were just off the coast from Key West, headed back to Galveston. Somewhere I'm guessing around 10 am (I was on vacation, so I wasn't watching the clock!), we were sitting on our balcony, just enjoying the view. I heard a noise off in the distance, but couldn't figure out what it was. At first, I thought it was deck chairs being moved around. But that wasn't it.

 

The noise kept getting louder, and a few seconds later, without much warning, a Navy jet buzzed the ship. It was, I'd estimate, no more than 200 yards off the ship, and it was awesome. The whole thing, from the first time I heard a strange noise until the jet was gone, lasted no more than 15 seconds - it all happened so fast. We had 2 balconies side by side with the dividers opened...there were 3 of us sitting out on the balcony, and when it was over, we all 3 just looked at each other, wide eyed, as if it so "did that really just happen?". It was probably the most spectacular thing I've ever experienced on a cruise.

 

And, since you didn't mention it, jtxo, I'm guessing you missed it? If you weren't outside when it happened, you wouldn't have had time to run out on a deck and see it. But, it was an awesome thing to see!

 

Anyway, it was a great cruise, and your review is great too!

 

We did that itinerary last summer and we were buzzed by the navy jet as well. Super loud but super cool. Of course at the "show" where you can ask the crew any questions, a few crybaby types had to complain about it. Must have been the platinum snobs ;)

[wrigley80]

I'm actually am really sorry if that offended you. Like I said before, I am just 100% jealous. No harm meant at all!! :o And you and your dad seem like a great example of those platinum cruisers that are wonderful to talk to, give great tips, etc. If only they were all like ya'll! I definitely have enjoyed your reviews! Thanks for stopping by!

 

Sorry I didn't read far enough to see that it was only a joke....my bad :p ;) :)

 

Oh yeah you're right my dad loves to talk to fellow cruisers onboard. A few times I have left him to go do something else only to return to find him still in the same spot but now talking to someone else :) oh well that's what cruising is all about meeting new people.

[wrigley80]

Thanks for the definitive answer! I never noticed it was short and stubby, but sure enough!

 

When we were on the Dream in April....the funnel is unlike any other in the fleet. It is quite short and very stubby....kinda like me :p

[jtxo]

We did that itinerary last summer and we were buzzed by the navy jet as well. Super loud but super cool. Of course at the "show" where you can ask the crew any questions, a few crybaby types had to complain about it. Must have been the platinum snobs ;)

 

 

That is so neat! It almost makes me want to do this iten again just to see it! I can't believe I missed actually seeing the jet.

 

Oh no - don't start a trend with the platinum comment - you'll really get me in trouble!! :eek:

 

I missed the crew questions show - when/where is that? If nothing else, I bet it is funny to hear the things some people will complain about!

[jtxo]

Well, today is the last day on board. While I'm sad it's already over, I do always get ready to go back home. I'm a homebody. I can't help it.

 

We once again were spoiled with beautiful seas and weather today. We really did have the best cruise weather all week. There were barely any clouds any day!

 

 

Our morning location:

 

 

It was more of the same today. It seems a lot of folks stayed up late last night and were up later again this morning. It was nice and quiet pretty much everywhere that morning. Time for a little reading, a little trivia, and a lot of people watching! And packing up later today... BOOOO!!

 

May left us our last towel "animal" with our debark info sometime in the early afternoon:

 

 

In the early evening hours, deck 5 was practically deserted. You'd never expect that on a ship with this many passengers, but I have proof!

 

 

 

Tonight we actually skipped dinner in favor of watching the sunset from one of the secret decks on 6 forward – but we weren’t the only ones. There were people everywhere! It was a nice last night, and we got everything packed up and ready for self-debark in the morning.

 

And by bedtime, we were almost back:

 

[jtxo]

Good morning Galveston!

 

 

 

 

We woke up early so we could be downstairs close to 7-7:30. The night before it looked like a good amount of people were NOT doing self-debark (we saw all the suitcases lining the hallway) so I was feeling like maybe it wouldn’t be too terrible. By far the worst part of self-debark in my experience is getting to the floor where you’re getting off the ship. If you don’t beat the crowd there, you’ll pay for it because we all know standing in line on the stairs turns into a giant mess (see excursion debark, Key West day). I could tell we were parked a little before 7, so after watching Navigator of the Seas park herself I kept going to look at the atrium. It always amazes me how they can just parallel park those big boats.

 

 

 

I could see carnival employees manning the floor to keep you out of the lobby. (By the way, we were exiting on Lobby floor 3.) So we took our bags and sat on Floor 4 in the atrium by where all the pictures are. I saw them directing people to the dining room there behind the spiral staircase and finally figured these must be platinum people maybe? Do you get special debarkation if you’re platinum? I had never seen that before. They were supposed to call self-debark by floors, but I never heard any of that. I actually never heard any announcements. Once we saw them leading the (platinum? FTTF? people who need assistance?) folks out of the dining room and off the boat, we headed down the forward set of stairs to level 3. They still had us blocked off, but by that time there was a line all up and down the stairs! Thankfully we didn’t waste much time and were already in the line on the actual lobby level. Whew. They had two lines leaving the boat, and we were quickly off. Customs was fast and easy since we didn’t buy anything outside the US. We waited on the bus to take us to our parking at EZ Cruise, and were quickly on our way back up to the Metroplex! I made a note that we were in our car a little after 7:30 am. Someday I want to try relaxed debarkation, but by the end I’m honestly a little homesick and ready to go! We had a long drive ahead of us, so it was best to just suck it up and get started.

[jtxo]

Final Thoughts:

 

I was really happy with the Carnival Magic. I had read some reviews that made it sound like she must be too big, but I didn't find that to be the case at all. Don't get me wrong, she's definitely a big girl (but aren't we all?) :p

 

There are tons of little nooks all around the ship, so you actually can feel like you can get away from the other 5,000 people onboard if you need to. That is no small feat to make a ship like the Magic feel that way. I like her décor also, as it seems a little more understated than other ships.

 

I thought the Serenity area was a total bust. Usually I love hanging out there because it's quiet and I can find a nice shady spot to read in. But the Magic's location is just terrible. It's very difficult to get to, and there is zero shade up there. They did a good job of blocking the wind up front, but with no shade it's almost unbearable. I walked through it twice, once early on and then later to be sure I wasn't missing out - I wasn't.

 

One other odd thing I saw were the dogs on board. There was an older couple that had two dogs with them. Maybe some kind of chihuahua? Something small like that. The dogs had on vests like they were service dogs. :confused::confused: Seriously? I don't want to judge, but it sure did seem awful strange. And I really want to know where those dogs took their potty breaks. :eek:

 

I never did manage to try the seaday brunch or the seaside bbq (just forgot/missed it every sea day) but heard good things about both.

 

I am sad that the Magic doesn’t have Guys burgers or Blue Iguana Cantina. On other reviews those places look sooooo good! We haven’t sailed on a 2.0 yet – maybe next time! I thought the food was good all around the ship though.

 

The Magic was the newest ship I’ve been on and I’m convinced Carnival still knows how to serve up an awesome cruiser experience! I feel like Carnival produces a great product and is definitely the best buy. I can’t wait to plan our next cruise and start the countdown!

 

Oh, and if anyone is interested I do have all the fun times. They are such a burden to scan so I haven't scanned them yet but I will if anyone needs to see them.

 

Thank you all so much for following along! Please ask any questions you have. I’ll be happy to help if I can!

 

Hopefully we’ll see each other on a funship soon! Happy Cruising! :D