A Review of the Magic - 9/28/14 - Enter at your own Risk!

[dmdiver]

I'm loving this review - love your writing style! I'm also enjoying your take on Texas.

[springs741]

I was on this cruise with you. I am enjoying your take on the experience and so far agree with just about everything you have written. I too had occasion of visit guest services and listened to others while in line. Sorry I know it is in poor taste but I can carry on a conversation with you and still hear others around me. It is a talent or a cruse, I'm not sure which I really wanted to grab some popcorn and just hang out. Any way, looking forward to the completed review.

[NCWTSwife]

Loving this!

[SenatorsFan]

This is fun. I'm in! :D

Heather

[Jamman54]

GREAT start to your review!!

[Delta Dear]

So happy I picked this review for my, "I just have to read a review, today." No plans for me on going on the Magic, but some days you just need to see the sea from any Carnival ship to get your cruise fix. Thanks for the fun. I will have to check out those in the Guest Services line, too. That was laugh out loud funny. Wrong ship, LOL.

[Crusin Karen]

]So happy I picked this review for my' date=' "I just have to read a review, today." No plans for me on going on the Magic, but some days you just need to see the sea from any Carnival ship to get your cruise fix.[/u'][/b] Thanks for the fun. I will have to check out those in the Guest Services line, too. That was laugh out loud funny. Wrong ship, LOL.

Delta Dear, I am the same way! ;):D

[falkcor]

great start to your review, I'll be following along - I like your style :)

[KPfromCT]

This is absolutely HYSTERICAL:D:D

Great writing style.

Looking forward to much more.

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[portocaller]

Enjoying your review.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Forums mobile app

[flounder315]

Loving the review. Can't wait until the next installment.

 

I'm a proud Texan that says ya'll all the time. Was shocked when I went to California where everyone says "you guys" even when talking to a bunch of girls...

[karessamom]

So love reading your review!! We sail on Magic August 9 2015 for our 39th!! (Wedding anniversary) so excited to read it. Where are you from in Cali?? It's my old stomping grounds. Went to high school in Fair Oaks or was it Carmicheal?? Del Campo anyhow. And lived for a little while in Yuba city area. Small world. Glad you enjoyed your cruise!!

[Shaded Lady]

OMG too funny!

 

I'm on the Magic next Sunday (YIPPEE!!!) and I'm looking forward to the distraction of reading your review to help me pass the hours...

[Flytko]

Wow, some people never seek to amaze me lol....:)

[anandaindonesia]

Hahaha.... reading the first instalment and I'm hooked! Thank you. Definitely will continue reading after work.

 

Sent via TapaTalk. Sorry for typo.

[Crusin Hogs]

We to were on your cruise , some of the ya'll's from Arkansas ,

[cmcsharon]

Chapter 3 – Around the ship!

 

I know the port workers are very dedicated and work hard at what they do…I’m not trying to slam anyone here. But…on occasion…there’s a dud. This is the story of one of those dud’s. We’re in our cabin awaiting the announcement for muster and excited to get this show on the road…um, show on the sea…uh, set sail…whatever. I step out onto the cove balcony and am dumbfounded by what I see. So…naturally, I yell into the cabin at my son because he’s got to come out and see this!

 

Our cove balcony has a direct view of the Galveston port buildings and the activity that occurs to get a ship ready for its next voyage. We are literally across from a guy on a forklift that I could probably take my shoe off and throw at him…and clip him in the head…with no problem (which I considered doing…as I watched this all unfold)…we are that close.

 

He is about to get in the driver’s seat of the forklift. On one of the two forklift prongs, he has precariously balanced some poor schlub’s garment bag. Just on one of the prongs, mind you. He then proceeds to start driving the forklift…and…within just a few feet…the inevitable happens…the bag falls off and bump, bump, bump…under the forklift it goes. So…bump, bump, bump, he backs up. He gets down from the forklift…and, using his feet…he pushes the garment bag onto the one prong again…gets back in and starts driving. You can probably guess what happens next…bump, bump, bump. (I really hope it was only clothes in that bag…nothing breakable.) So…’the genius’…backs the forklift up again. About this time…a small truck comes speeding up to the forklift. A guy in a hard hat jumps out of the truck…he hurries to the front of the forklift…grabs the garment bag…hurries to the forklift driver and SHOVES the bag into his hand. And then gestures with his other hand for the guy to GO! The forklift drives off…the driver holding the garment bag…and…a small cheer erupts from our side of the ship. (Later we would receive notice that 3 different people were missing an item of luggage…but, none was a garment bag…so, apparently it made it onto the ship. Or, some poor schlub on the Royal Caribbean ship went missing a garment bag.)

 

Just after the forklift show ended our cabin steward, Dewa, stopped by. Dewa was from Indonesia. He was friendly and attentive…and LOUD! All we had to do was step one foot into the hallway – and Dewa would be conversing with us LOUDLY by name…and, my son would return an equally loud…Wass Up! We had a total of 4 cove balconies for us and the minions…but only 2 of us had Dewa. Yet…Dewa learned the names and relations of every minion and would LOUDLY announce their arrival or departure from the hallway. We could be a football field length away at the other end of the hallway and that eagle eyed steward would spot us and start shouting (his fellow stewards in the hallways would just shake their heads as we walked by). It was funny! Sadly…for those about to embark on the Magic…Dewa was leaving at the end of our cruise and taking some time off…there will be no shouting steward for you.

 

I highly recommend the cove balconies. They are wonderful! Some of the minions questioned my wisdom…tempted by what they thought was a good price for balconies on deck 6. But…when they walked around on deck 5 and saw…as I warned them…that people can see right into those deck 6 cabins…they were cheering on my wisdom (okay…not out loud…but, I could feel it).

 

I loved that we were so close to the water and that we could watch the waves breaking from the front of the ship. (Not the most pleasant thought here…but…as I was standing on our cove balcony it struck me that if a horrible emergency occurred…such as a fire or something catastrophic…it would not be difficult to evacuate into the water, if it were to become necessary. Not like having to drop 100’ up from those plush Deck 10 Lido or Deck 11 Spa Balcony…we’re just a quick drop to the warm Caribbean water. Sorry…it’s from years and years of living with someone in Law Enforcement…this way of thinking is drilled into me.)

 

Waves crashing at the front of the ship.

 

Our balcony was only wet on one day…and we had received notification of it the night before…because they’d be cleaning the balconies while in port in Jamaica. There was never any threat to close the outer doors or anything like that.

 

Our cabin, along with one of the minion’s cabins – four down from us, did not have the lifeboats over it (see the crummy picture below). It’s the area where there’s a small boat located and then a railing next to it…between the lifeboats. This was a GREAT location…as it allowed lots of sunshine onto our balcony and we could look straight up and see stars! We were in cabin 2309.

 

 

Another minion, four down in the other direction, did have the lifeboats over them. See picture below…along with a little view of the Galveston port area.

 

 

Let me talk about Deck 5 for a minute. This is going to be a rant. I’m sorry…this is going to be the angry mom rant! I was looking forward to Deck 5. We’re not ‘hang out and be seen at the Lido pool’ people. We like exploring quieter areas and we looked forward to the offerings of the outdoor space of Deck 5. (First off…I didn’t like that most of it was enclosed…I like open railings…but, that’s not my rant.) I’m on this cruise with my 18 year old daughter. I think I mentioned earlier that she doesn’t like to bring attention to herself. Well…she doesn’t have to bring it to herself…she attracts attention. She’s an attention magnet. Up until her medical situation she’d been working as a teen model since she was 16. She’s not famous or anything like that…but, she’s been in many magazines and on television…and, not many mom’s can say that the snapshot they took of their daughter from senior ball was picked up by Teen Vogue. But……….she’s still just an 18 year old girl. On our first sea day we sat down in the lounge chairs on deck 5 overlooking the water and I was appalled at the comments we could overhear from some men on the balconies above us. We were the only ones out there…so, it’s not like it wasn’t obviously directed at her. And…I know they weren’t talking about me…or those comments would’ve been saying…how did a full grown albino manatee get all the way up onto deck 5…and, how did it squeeze itself into a lounge chair?! Unfortunately, after only about 10 minutes, she was done with it and it resulted in her spending most of her time on sea days in the cabin or out on our balcony, if she wasn’t with one of us.

 

(Okay…rant over…and it in no way took away from the overall awesomeness of this cruise for my daughter or myself…we know, ignorant people can be anywhere. But…geez…have some manners…respect…something!)

 

Back to the fun…here’s a picture of my son and a minion on the ropes course!

 

 

And, the minion passes by the funnel on the ropes course.

 

 

Next up…Chapter 4...And then there’s Jamaica (Yea mon, Insane Cab Drivers and 6’ Wooden statues of…um…something that rhymes with ‘weenis’)

[douglinc@msn.com]

You are doing a great job, can't wait for more.

[Jenny in TX]

Enjoying your review. We live about 30 minutes from Galveston and yes it is an island. The water isn't beautiful but its all we have so we make do. Glad y'all had a good time!;) We have sailed the Magic on this same itinerary and loved it! Can't wait to read the rest of your review.

[AZmike480]

Sharon,

 

Your review has me laughing to tears! Thanks for sharing!

 

AZmike480

Edited October 13, 2014 by AZmike480

[babsee101]

Loving the review!

 

From: A Y'all.

 

:D

[springs741]

Your observation regarding the garment bag is why I keep preaching to folks that soft drinks and wine need to be in their carry on like the rules state. I am so tired of people posting, "oh we just put the bag of wine in our suitcase. It was fine". Yea, right.

Love love the review. Keep it coming.

[hello]

Your writing style is great!! Thank you!!

 

I'm sorry your daughter was subjected to that completely uncalled for behavior.

[cmcsharon]

You’re going to have to wait just a little longer before Jamaica…here’s a few other ship things first.

 

First off…thank you all for your kind comments regarding this review…you guys are GREAT! (Ha ha…did you catch that? As flounder315 so eloquently stated…Californian’s say ‘you guys’ …which is not gender specific… instead of y’all.)

 

Let’s talk about the Cheers program. I mentioned that I’m not a big drinker but I ordered it anyway. I wanted the opportunity to try new things when I wanted…and, I really liked having unlimited non-alcoholic smoothies and frozen cocktails…in addition to soda. I knew it meant that I’d have to order it for my 21 year old son as well…so, we went in with one ground rule…no getting ridiculously drunk in front of the minions (especially his Grandma!). Since I’d already crushed his dreams of exploring seedy underbellies…he was pleased to be getting this service…and, in the beginning, was worried about how quickly those 15 drinks would run out. I’m happy to say that he only reached double digits on one day…and that was when he’d made it to 12. I’m proud of that guy…he handled himself well. (For myself, I probably averaged 4 alcoholic drinks per day, another 4 non-alcoholic frozen type drinks, and 4 diet sodas…for a rough estimate of 4x$10 + 4x$5 + 4x$2 = approx. $68 per day, if bought separately, and I paid $37.50 per day plus tax. Not a huge savings…but, worth it to me to know I wouldn’t be surprised with a large bill at the end of the cruise.

 

For cruises out of Texas you can’t purchase the Cheers program until the second day because…um….uh…..? Hmm, this is really surprising. It’s not surprising that I don’t know the reason…it’s surprising that Texas has this restriction. I have to admit…my brief experience in Texas was….refreshing! Throwing our luggage, and ourselves, onto a pink trolley that was being towed by a Jeep…would NEVER be allowed in California. We drove that entire way to the port…WITH NO SEATBELTS! Unheard of!

 

As we were walking along the Galveston seawall the evening before the cruise I noticed there were pieces of the concrete along the sidewalks that were UNEVEN, and even pieces MISSING. I had to watch where I was walking. In complete contrast, the beautiful city I live in has pristine sidewalks…all perfectly smooth. And yet, section by section, the city is ripping out every section and replacing it…all because some brilliant politician decided the cracks between the slabs needed to be a ¼ of an inch smaller…and…if the city doesn’t do it, they’ll be sued. Oh…Texas…how I miss you. (It might take me awhile…but…I could probably learn how to say y’all.)

 

Back to the ship stuff…we loved the Movies up on the Lido deck. I think this was Men in Black 3.

 

 

They serve popcorn at the pool bar…which I recommend you add the salt to, which is sitting next to the popcorn machine. My kids went through a lot of popcorn even if they didn’t stay for the movie. Some of the movies playing this week were Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, Maleficient, Rio 2, Gravity. Oh! And, the only time on this trip that I actually felt it rain on us…was during the movie……….wait for it…….…Noah! How poetic. God’s irony!

 

In addition to the popcorn…some favorite food places were the Mongolian Grill (they have shrimp on embarkation day…go! Along with octopus, mussels and salmon throughout the week. Beef and Chicken were offered often and occasionally pork.)…we also liked the pizza place and the deli. We tried the burrito bar…and the outdoor grill but they weren’t favorites. And, we only used room service twice, once for a late lunch and once for breakfast on an early port day. Both times were great. We never went hungry…in fact, it was a joke between all of us that if it’s been 20 minutes since we’ve eaten…we must be starving!

 

We had a table for 8 for dinner, at the early dining service, with a window view. We got to watch many a sunset from our table out our dirty window.

 

Sunset from our table...through sea spray covered window.

 

Our servers were Wayon and J. They were wonderful and very attentive. We had absolutely no complaints about anything with the food or the service. (Though…some of the minions were very vocal about their dislike of the warm chocolate melting cake…referred to as a bowl of uncooked cake batter. I’ll keep them away from cruise critic!)

 

One of the funny highlights of the cruise was when one of the minions did a spectacular Augustus Gloop impersonation as he got stuck in the water slide tube! This is a picture of him trying to scoot himself down! If only I could’ve remembered the words to the Oompa Loompa song…we’d have had a sing-a-long!

 

 

Eventually he made it down the slide and was deposited into the bowl.

 

 

And…another minion comes out of the slide.

 

 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled wait for Jamaica.

 

Next up…Chapter 4...And then there’s Jamaica (Yea mon, Insane Cab Drivers and 6’ Wooden statues of…um…something that rhymes with ‘weenis’)

[douglinc@msn.com]

Great job, can't wait for Jamacia.