Magic Review - April 30-May 7, 2016, With kids

[soulsistah007]

Enjoying your review and your kids are adorable!! We are also from Toronto and will be on the Magic in October with our DS who will be 2.5 at that time. That being said, what are your best tips for sailing with a kid that age? On the ship and navigating the ports? DH and I have cruised many times, but this is the first with our little one. Looking forward to the rest of your review:)

[BethersD]

Loving your review!

 

We're are just down the QEW in Burlington and will be on the Magic in January :) Nice to have a parents' perspective!

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Enjoying your review. Thanks for taking the time to write it. Looking at the Magic for next year.

[dalsti]

Great review so far!

 

Quick question.....Where is the deli located now? It used to be on the back of ship. I'm assuming they moved to the buffet line??

 

Thanks

[chuckles74]

Thank you for the review. We board Magic tomorrow.!

[T2C]

Just found your review. Thank you so much, we're on the Magic in just under 2 months

[Ahmne]

Great review so far!

 

Quick question.....Where is the deli located now? It used to be on the back of ship. I'm assuming they moved to the buffet line??

 

Thanks

 

It has a section in the lido buffet. I believe on the opposite side of where the Mongolian Wok was if I remember correctly.

[Ahmne]

I hope to post more this weekend. Long weekend followed by being sick...

[LadyBeBop]

Hope you're feeling better.

Edited May 27, 2016 by LadyBeBop

[RCmommy]

We are from London Ontario, but lived in Toronto for years. We are sailing the Magic in October and are are very excited!

 

Did I see Mr and Mrs Potato Head in a photo or am I crazy?

 

Also, what type of yummy drink is that your DS is enjoying?

[cocacola86]

Nice to see some fellow Canucks on here!

 

 

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[chuckles74]

Yes, Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head are on board.

[Pyrate13]

Very nice so far, any more coming soon? :)

[Ahmne]

Room service came at 6:30 right before DS got up. They were very early- we ordered for 7:15. DS and I watched the sun come up in bed with our and played on the ipad/tablets games as we approached Cozumel and waited for the other two to get up.

 

Room service arrived. The boxed milk that came with room service curdled in the bottom of my coffee. Eventually everyone got up and got ready. We went up to the lido for breakfast for the first time. No one came around to offer coffee. We went back to the room, to grab our beach stuff and headed off the boat. They had everyone get off at deck one and walk down a floor.

 

We found our way out of the cruise port and headed to the taxi stand for a ride to Mr. Sanchos. The taxi driver stopped and tried to sell us on the all-inclusive option. We did the a la carte as we knew we would only be there for a few hours.

 

 

The beach was ok. The bottom was a little bit rocky. The kids had fun playing in the sand. The toys we brought came in handy.

 

 

We headed back around 12:30 or so. DD was complaining about being hungry. She fell asleep in the taxi on the way to the port. We took some photos in the port and headed back on the ship.

 

We headed straight up to the lido to try Guys Burgers. DH and I also tried the Blue Iguana. It was ok. I wish they put the extra toppings in the burrito for you.

 

 

It was also Caribbean day at the lido so I sampled a few items which were good except the fried plantain wasn't sweet and the fried dumplings were flat.

 

Edited June 3, 2016 by Ahmne
photos didn't work

[Ahmne]

We headed back up to the rooms for showers. DH and DD slept. DS played on DHs tablet.

 

Once we were all up and ready we made our way to the Dr. Seuss parade and story time. This was really fun for the kids. They had streamers and I had a bell.

 

 

We made our way from deck 5 aft to deck 3 forward for the story. Dr. E was fully of energy with the kids! Parents with kids under 5 go on stage with them. Our story was the cat in the hat. They picked 4 volunteers from the audience to help act out the story.

 

 

After that we headed back to our room for a bit then up to headed to the spa to book a spa treatment with DHs gift card. He booked a pedicure for the evening with Roatan. There wasn't much availability left.

 

We went straight to dinner after.

 

 

I wasn't too impressed with the Chicken Parm. The breading needed more flavour.

[Ahmne]

Belize was an early start. We booked the Xunantunich ruins tour through Carnival and had to meet in the theatre at 7:30 am. I was able to find a cheaper price for the tour online and use the price match for this one.

 

We ordered continental breakfast from room service to start the day. It came on time. They brought cinnamon toast crunch instead of fruit loops and only brought the milk we ordered. I assumed they would just bring some to go with the cereal.

 

We dropped the kids off at 7:30 at Camp Ocean opened Leonine from Mississauga was there that morning (another Canadian!).

 

We headed down to the theatre. Our tour was the first one to be called and we were on the first tender out. This was our first time doing a tendered port.

 

We loaded onto the first bus doing our tour. The drive was about two hours long. Carla, our guide gave us information on the history of Belize. Gustavo, the second guide took over closer to the site and stayed with us till the end. The tour was run by Chukka Tours which we were familiar with from visiting Jamaica. The tour was informative.

 

 

 

Thank goodness I'd been taking the stairs for much of the cruise. It isn't too high and there are some breaks along the way. You’d definitely want good shoes. I'd suggest to just keep going on the way down. I stopped for a bit and started to feel pain in my right thigh. Still feeling it the next day. We also saw some spider monkeys. Their noise is what you would think dinosaurs sound like.

 

 

DH was the last one on the bus since he was shopping for a Mayan calendar. We were all waiting for him. We stopped for lunch a Hode's. Rice and peas, plantain, chicken and coleslaw, it was good, especially after not having much breakfast.

 

 

There was a little time to shop and we got back on the bus for the ride back. Back at the port, we browsed some stores. I wish FTTF worked for the way back too. The line ups were a bit long. We were the second last tender back.

 

We got back to the boat, picked up the kids to spend a bit of time with them before Chef’s table.

[Ahmne]

If you’re not sure about doing Chef’s Table, just do it.

We started off in the vibe nightclub with health forms and a glass of champagne and a few appetizers. The chef’s name was Harold from India. He's been on Carnival for 15 years. He did an intro about the number of passengers and crew on board (1400 crew/4170 about 500 kids), a plug for the Vista, and the new Guy’s BBQ. Before Guy’s Burgers they would have about 500 burgers eaten in a day, now they do about 2500 or so a day. He shared there's someone whose entire job is to crack eggs. We moved into the kitchen for the actual dinner. The food was phenomenal. The wine was free flowing. It was a great dinner with great company.

 

Champagne

Mango Sphere, Rosemary Biscuit

 

Salmon Tartar Cornets, Sesame seeds

 

Beef Carpaccio on Air Pillow, Chocolate Bacon, Apple Ribbons

 

Double Cooked Lamb, Tapioca

 

Bread on the side with blue cheese

 

[Ahmne]

Beet Blanket, Spiced Grape Tea with Asparagus, Cauliflower, Honey Carrot Tian, Mache, Lemon Streusel

 

Crab Stack with Corn Custard, Polenta Cracker, Tangerine and Passion Caviar

 

Duck Textures with Cream Quinoa, Parmesan Churros, Olive Snow, Port Wine Jus

Edited June 4, 2016 by Ahmne
wrong photos

[Ahmne]

Bisque Our Way- Two tomatoes, three basil, crisped Brioche, Garlic Chip

 

 

Sea Bass with Chorizo Crust, Fried Pop Corn Pudding, Lemon Macaroon and lobster foam

 

Wagyu with Bone Marrow Soufflé, Scallion & Garlic Panisse, Gremolata Crisp

 

Pastry Chef – Sea Salt Praline, Raspberry Mojito, Key Lime Cake, Apricot Vanilla Gel, Citrus Cream

 

[Ahmne]

A magician came to perform…

 

And we learned how to make chocolate melting cake.

 

Kitchen

 

Our waiters Ender and Claudiu also stopped by to see us in the kitchen.

 

After dinner we went to pixels to find our photos- not much luck.

We got the kids. Thankfully DD was sleeping.

We got ready for bed and watched the Raptors game (we still lost in OT) It was a busy and long day!

[T2C]

Oh that Sea Bass looks amazing, love the fish dishes on CCL.

 

Now that Chicken Parm looked like something I'd make here at home

[seaturtle5]

Loving your review!

 

 

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[fivemonkeysplus1]

Thank you for sharing! Great pictorial review :)

[Bandet]

Is charging for Earl Gray tea something new? i have never been charged for a bad of tea in past tea time events.....

 

Great review thanks for posting planning on going on the Magic sometime next year.

 

thanks again!

[Pyrate13]

The rest of the story???;) The old vaudeville line, "Leave them wanting more!":D