GAPearl's "MAGIC"al Birthday Cruise! Complete Magic picture review-6/14/15 sailing.

[GreytRacer]

Hooray! Welcome back and I can't wait for your review and pics!

[gapearl]

I was up early to make my way to Houston. Got the trunk packed and I was ready for my flight.

 

 

It's only an hour and a half from Atlanta to Houston. There was a Make-A-Wish family on the plane with me that I discovered was also going on the Magic. You're the cruise critic lady! LOL And so it begins. (Hey y'all if you're reading!)

 

Me on the tram in the ATL airport, before makeup and before coffee.

 

 

My vacation nails.

 

 

Looks like we were going to get some rain thanks to the newly forming tropical storm. Please Mother Nature, I beg you to pop a Midol and calm down so I can have good weather this cruise.

 

 

We're landing in Houston to a very gloomy day. It was the kind of day where you just lay on your couch all day watching Dr. Phil and eating grilled cheese sammiches.

 

 

I'm not cruising today, but seeing this sign is getting me even more excited!

 

[Delta Dear]

Kim, you have taken your reviews to a whole new level. You are amazing.

Can't wait to read the rest, but take your time... (I don't really mean that.)

 

Do your thing in your own sweet time. Thanks for at least whetting our whistles.

[gapearl]

My mom's flight got in 3 hours after mine, so I hung out and waited until she landed. I called the hotel shuttle and shortly we were headed to the Courtyard Marriott by Hobby. I booked a suite for only $99 and there was plenty of room for all 4 of us. Ideally we would have stayed in Galveston and explored the island a little the day before, but the hotels were way too expensive, about $300 a night. This was a great hotel and I'd highly recommend it.

 

Hotel lobby.

 

 

 

 

They do have hot food available onsite.

 

 

Pantry with snacks and a microwave.

 

 

My mom- what's that? Me- a selfie stick. You use it to take pictures of yourself. Her- you young people. LOL Don't judge me.

 

[gapearl]

Some pictures of our suite.

 

 

We had a sofabed sent to the room, and it went in the corner there on the left.

 

 

 

 

 

[lido deck larry]

Your reviews at the best!!! SUBSCRIBED!

 

Haha----awesome movie!

 

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk

Edited June 23, 2015 by lido deck larry

[hulawho]

What an AWESOME way to start your review! Loved the video. Can't wait to read the rest of your saga.

[Namelocg]

Love your reviews. Can't wait for more.

[gapearl]

I love flying in a day or two (sometimes three) before a cruise. It's not just to be on time so I don't miss the ship, but also because I like to do something fun in the departure city. I've done the Everglades tour in Miami, went to Downtown Disney in Orlando, and salsa danced the night away in San Juan. Guess what I did in Houston?

 

I went to Walmart.

 

 

I swear I don't look like this when I go to Walmart at home. It's normally leggings and tank tops, but I was already cute from my flight to Houston. lol

 

 

The hotel shuttle dropped me off so I could pick up a few things for the cruise, a few things meaning wine. I also bought some sodas to bring onboard. CJ and JJ had arrived at the hotel while I was in Wally World. The hotel forgot to dispatch the shuttle when I was ready to return, so I waited 30 minutes to get picked up. It was about 5 pm by the time I made it back. It was great catching up with CJ and JJ as I haven't seen them in maybe 10 years.

 

After eating a fresh, healthy, nutritious dinner.....

 

 

I gave everyone the low down on how everything was going to work tomorrow and we got luggage tags on all the bags. CJ asked with a straight face and as serious as can be, "Are there gonna be pirates out there?" Hahaha, no of course not.

 

My mom loves sitting and working on puzzle books, so I got her a couple of new ones for the sea days.

 

 

 

The room got really hot and I noticed my mom had turned the thermostat up to 76. You do realize it's 92 degrees outside, right? I refuse to sleep with the heat on in June. She and CJ wanted it warm and JJ and I wanted it cold, so that's how we figured out our sleeping arrangements and who would sleep in what room. I watched a couple episodes of The Walking Dead on Netflix (LOVE that show!!!) and headed to bed early around 11ish. 11 is super early for me.

 

Dreaming of my cruise tomorrow. Yes, this is a cartoon version of me. LOL

 

 

I'm sorry to leave you hanging again, but my ipad is down to 9%. Let me let it charge and I'll be back with more tonight.

[kmarie10531]

The review to kick off the summer cruise season we have all been waiting for !! Looks like you had a ton of fun on your trip ..I may just have to buckle down and write my review for my trip haha . Question.... what did you use to shoot your video ?? Go-Pro ?

[PittsburghGirlee]

Thanks so much for YET AGAIN taking me on another one of your Most Excellent Adventures!,,

 

My next cruise is not until Halloween, so I have to cruise vicariously through your review...

 

[emoji485]Cheers[emoji485] to a job well done Girlee!!

[tropicaledrink]

YAY YAY YAY!

 

Another GA Pearl review! Thanks so much for doing these for us. You're off to a great start!

[SailingRNC]

[emoji568] HEY NEIGHBOR[emoji1]

[destaw7182]

Definitely subscribing to this! Can't wait to read more

[bluejay555]

I'm excited to read your review! Your video was great!!!! I was actually on the dream the same week you were on the Magic, and we met some "Magic" people in Cozumel at Nachi Cocom who told us their itinerary had been reversed due to Trop Storm Bill. Hope it didn't mess up any of your excursions!

[armadillo]

Guess I'll have to reply in order to subscribe to this thread. I love reading daily, full reviews! Keep up the great work! Maybe I'll attempt one during or after my next cruise (Sept 13)

 

I'll have to learn to post photos first and foremost!

[cruisexlife]

Kim,

 

Happy Birthday and I'm glad you're back. I noticed the Magic diverting it's itinerary and I was wondering if you were okay. Love the addition of the video, really takes it to a new level! Write some more tonight for me so I have something to do tomorrow, because you know how the day-before-the-trip is!

 

Thanks so much for writing this!! :D

[tiggerttfn61]

Abracadabra, hocus pocus, bibbidi bobbidi boo, pull a rabbit out of hat, it's time for some Magic!

 

 

Carnival Magic, that is! I have to say that this was a REALLY fun cruise. I take a birthday trip every year (past trips have included Hawaii, Vegas, and Punta Cana), but this was my first time celebrating my special day of June 19 on a ship. Welcome back to all the repeat readers of my reviews. To those of you who have no idea who I am, whether you're new to CC or maybe have been living in the wilderness of the Serengeti the last couple of years, allow me to introduce myself.

 

 

My name is Kimberly, and if you haven't figured it out yet, I live in Georgia. Traveling is literally 100% of my life as I work as a flight attendant and take A LOT of vacations. This was trip #3 for me this year. I won't name my airline on here (it falls somewhere on the list between Air Tahiti and Yemen Airways), but if you ever see me on your plane, tell me you read my review and maybe I'll sling you an extra bag of peanuts. lol :p Even though I look really young (so I've been told), I turned 35 on this cruise. This was my 13th time sailing Carnival. To those of you who have been asking for a travel blog from me, I was hoping to have it done before this review, but it's only about 75% finished. It's getting there I promise! And for those of you who have asked over the years and might be wondering if I've found love yet, the answer is still no. Single and holding for 5 years now. I got 99 problems but.... Nope, just got the 99 problems.

 

I had three traveling companions this trip. No one wanted their pictures posted, not even on FB, so I'll respect their wishes and not post any of them. However let me give a quick introduction of them as well.

 

My mom- She's a retired teacher from Memphis and this was her 4th Carnival cruise. She finally got her gold card! After keeping her anonymous in the first two reviews where I traveled her, I finally included pictures of her in my Breeze review. She was pretty adamant about not posting anything of her at all this time, so I won't. Unfortunately she got the dates wrong of when we due to set sail and would have to miss a church program where she was the chairperson. She didn't realize this until a few weeks before leaving. Unlike her daughter, my mother never uses bad words or swears, but I'm sure she wanted to when I told her she had to fly out on June 13, not the following week. She kept it secret from the whole church except the pastor and maybe 1 or 2 other people, and this will be significant a little later.

 

JJ- This is my 18 year old cousin from Dallas. She graduated from high school just before the cruise and will be headed to The University of Houston this fall with 47 credits already under her belt. This is her first cruise, first lengthy vacation, and first time leaving the country.

 

CJ- She's JJ's mom also coming from Dallas. Although she's not a blood relative (JJ is related by her father), she's still family. CJ has been unable to work for the last few years because of an illness that left her partially disabled, and there were a few times on the cruise when she needed special assistance from Carnival. This was also her first cruise and first time leaving the country.

 

Ok, so now that you know the full cast of this story, here's our originally itinerary. It ended up getting reversed because of Tropical Storm Bill, which now would have me in Cozumel on my birthday instead of at sea. Oh boy! :D I'll post the revised one a little later.

 

 

Really Carnival? That countdown clock tho!

 

 

About my reviews- they are long, very detailed, and VERY PICTURE HEAVY. This will not be a short "I had fun, the crew were great" review. If it was in front of me at any point, chances are good I have a picture of it. Also these trip reports are very time consuming to put together, so please be patient with me as each cruise day's post of sorting, editing, and uploading pictures, writing, posting on here, and responding to comments can take a full day. Don't expect this to get done overnight.

 

Those of you still here for the ride, enjoy!

Can't wait to read the rest of the review. 6 of us will be on this ship in September. Happy Birthday!

[Frank12]

Great video! Can't wait for the review.:)

[pdcat21]

Happy belated birthday! Just discovered your reviews and can't wait to read this one. I was on the Magic in May and also had a blast. I have a dream of celebrating my birthday on a cruise but cruises on my birthday (July 7 I will be 36) always seem to be way too expensive no matter where you want to go:(

[Jenna1983]

Excited to read this! I hear you're thinking about the Vista repositioning cruise in 2016 over Thanksgiving. Just booked it today!

[Violets Mommy]

Loving the review already!

[JinxyB]

Awesome! I saw your pic on John Heald's FB page and have been looking forward to your review! Happy Birthday!

[blueangel74]

Yay!!!!! Waiting to read your review. Hope your birthday was awesome. Going on the Magic for Halloween this year. :)

[Webecruzen]

Happy Belated Birthday! Thank you for the time you will spend with another awesome review. Loved the picture in the RFB. Vacations are always great that start with a free beer.