It was magic - or was it? My february 11-18 review

[jesskuhmarie]

Following, we are sailing on the Magic in May.

[maggie0057]

We were on the same cruise and I am really enjoying your review. We had YTD in Northern Lights but only ate in the dining room 3 times food and service was good every time we went. We also went to the Steakhouse for Valentine's Day dinner and it was worth the extra charge will definitely be going again on our next cruise which will also be on the Magic but not until February 2019

 

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[mikechass]

Thanks so much for taking time out of what must be a VERY VERY busy sked to do this review.

We leave on the 25th (fly to Orlando on the 23rd) and CAN NOT WAIT to board.

So so very excited.

I have two kids (DS15 and DD 12) they have never been fans of the kids clubs on the ship, they usually stay with us for the most part.

I can very much relate to you being the planner, and the rest of the family just going with the flow.

This is my first time planning/prepping for a trip while working so I am struggling with the list of stuff I have to do and the number of days I still have to do it.

Looking forward to the rest of the review. I will be scanning for it while I make my packing lists and "things I need to buy/do/clean" before we leave list!!!

Thanks again.

Chassity

[cruisergrandma]

Loving your review. Will be on the Magic April 1st with our granddaughters. Did cabin steward ask if you wanted morning or evening service or both? I have been reading that on some posts and it is disheartening.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Thank you so much for everyone that is following along. Been a busy weekend (son had a basketball tournament and we are remodeling a rental unit) but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to continue with the review.

 

I had let someone borrow my Fun times but I got those back today so I'll be able to reference those which will help me remember some things.

 

More tomorrow!

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Thanks so much for taking time out of what must be a VERY VERY busy sked to do this review.

We leave on the 25th (fly to Orlando on the 23rd) and CAN NOT WAIT to board.

So so very excited.

I have two kids (DS15 and DD 12) they have never been fans of the kids clubs on the ship, they usually stay with us for the most part.

I can very much relate to you being the planner, and the rest of the family just going with the flow.

This is my first time planning/prepping for a trip while working so I am struggling with the list of stuff I have to do and the number of days I still have to do it.

Looking forward to the rest of the review. I will be scanning for it while I make my packing lists and "things I need to buy/do/clean" before we leave list!!!

Thanks again.

Chassity

 

 

Yes my schedule is definitely busy but I get so much from the reviews I read on CC, I always like to try and give back.

 

Our oldest daughters didn't care for the kids club either - they hung with us. The middle 2 do like them and the younger 2 haven't cruised yet so I guess we will find out if they like camp Carnival next February.

 

I bet you're excited! I would be too. My oldest daughter and I are going on a last minute quick 5 day in May. Booked it 6 days after getting back from our Magic cruise. Looking forward to that one.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Loving your review. Will be on the Magic April 1st with our granddaughters. Did cabin steward ask if you wanted morning or evening service or both? I have been reading that on some posts and it is disheartening.

 

 

Yes actually he did. We at first told him evening only but then told him we would really like a quick tidying in the mornings too.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

We were on the same cruise and I am really enjoying your review. We had YTD in Northern Lights but only ate in the dining room 3 times food and service was good every time we went. We also went to the Steakhouse for Valentine's Day dinner and it was worth the extra charge will definitely be going again on our next cruise which will also be on the Magic but not until February 2019

 

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We will be trying YTD for the first time in May when we go on the Fantasy. Usually there are too many of us to do YTD so I'm excited about trying it.

 

We did the steakhouse on Valentine's too - our first time!

[Crusin Karen]

Wonderful start. With all you and Glen have been thru, I am glad you had some relaxing time together being pampered and spoiled! I have wanted to try the Magic since she first started sailing. Had to take this year off (lst year we haven't cruised at least once since 1996) due to STUFF, and wanted to book Magic for next year, but saw Pride Journeys cruise from Baltimore so booked that instead. I am definitely going to look into 2019 on Magic! Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[maggie0057]

We were on this cruise to and it was our very first cruise and we loved it. We will be cruising on the Magic again in February 2019

 

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[GeorgiaMomof4]

Finally having a chance to post some more! Hope you enjoy.

OK - I just realized I haven'tsaid anything about our room steward. His name was Bambang and we didn't even see him until sometime Sunday Ithink. We asked that he keep ice for usin the room (which he did) and that was about it. He did ask us if we wanted once a day serviceor twice a day service and we told him we preferred twice a day. We did end up eventually changing that toevening only though. We did a lot ofnapping and decided it was pretty useless for him to come in and make up thebed when we were just going to crawl right back in it before long.

 

He was nice enough - butdifferent from earlier cruises we have taken. I think I am spoiled to the days when your room steward had a fewminutes to actually talk to you - tell you about themselves, how long they hadworked for Carnival and about their family back home. I thoroughly enjoyed those talks and gettingto know them a little better and how things were in the countries they werefrom. I wish Carnival would hire a fewmore people so their staff wasn't spread so thin.

Sorry that I don't have any pictures to post of our room, but I didn't even take any. Even though it was a Lido deck balcony cabin, it was still just a regular balcony cabin. No changes from any other balcony cabin we had been on. I did notice this time that we didn't have robes in the closet like normal. That didn't really bother me - I usually run on the warm side anyway and a robe is usually just too much for me.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Sunday - sea day

 

We awoke Sunday morning to a beautiful sea day. It was actually mid morning which is a rare thing for me - with young kids we are usually up early because their internal clock doesn't realize it's Saturday or Sunday and that they can sleep in!

 

We didn't actually get up until close to 9 and we got dressed and went for breakfast on Lido.

 

We met up with Michael and Donna. Glen and I both had omelets and as always they were delicious. Added some fried potatoes to go with my omelet I was set.

 

After breakfast I went back to the cabin to change into my swimsuit. I was so ready to get some sun and just sit and do nothing. I actually brought along a couple of books but wasn't even sure I was going to read those. Glen is not a sun worshiper like I am so usually he, Ronnie and Michael hang out together. Donna, Lisa and myself found us chairs on deck 5 and we sat down to do nothing.

 

I napped and enjoyed the ocean, napped and enjoyed the ocean, napped and enjoyed the ocean - well you get the picture. There was a lot of napping involved.

 

After a while it was time for lunch and we could smell the Pig and Anchor food and it smelled really good. The line was super long when it first opened at 12 so we decided we would let the crowd die down some and goabout 1 or 1:30 since we had kind of eaten a late breakfast anyway.

 

Michael, Donna, Glen and I went about 1:30 and there was absolutely no line at all. I got the bbq pork, the brisket, potato salad and slaw. To be honest, I was kind of disappointed. I loved the potato salad but wasn't a real fan of the meat. I think we do better bbq here in Georgia- There were a lot of other people who said they thought it was really good. Maybe it had just been built up in my mind from the reviews I had read about it being so good and I was let down - but it was fair at best in my opinion.

 

After lunch it was back to the lounge chair for another nap and then I decided I had better get back tothe cabin and start to get ready for dinner since tonight was Elegant night. I think I took another nap first though!

 

Glen does not like to dress up but on cruises he always does it to appease his wife - he is a sweetie! I always kid him and tell him we clean up pretty good for country folk!

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner tonight was good - I had the prime rib and lobster. Lobster was on the chewy, rubbery side though and it's usually so good that I ask for another one. Not tonight though. As was last night, service was on the slow side - again not because of lack of trying - just too much to do I think.

 

After dinner we took a few pictures went to the Ocean Plaza to watch the band #6Appeal. Again, they were really good and we enjoyed watching them.

 

Our CD announced that the show "Flick" would not be able to be performed because of some kind of technical difficulties but that the performers would still be in the Showtime Theatre to perform the songs from the show.

 

Glen said he was tired and decided to turn in, but Michael, Donna and I went. All I can say is that I sure hate it that we didn't get to see the show because the songs they sang were awesome. There was some real talent in the performers and they sang songs from movies that brought back a lot of memories. I really hated it that we missed getting to see the show but understand things do happen beyond their control.

 

I went back to the room and Glen was already snoozing so I went out on the balcony and enjoyed seeing some of God's beauty. The moon was full and beautiful that evening shining down on the water. Gosh I could have stayed out there all night!

 

 

 

 

After that it was time to turn in because Monday was a port day - we were going to Amber Cove. This would be our first trip to Amber Cove.

[JaniceB]

I had the same thing happen on my cruise with Flick. I really wanted to see that show but didn't go hear the songs.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Monday - Amber Cove

 

We were up fairly early today because we were to be in Amber Cove at 9 am and we wanted to get breakfast and be ready to get off after the first initial rush of people getting off the ship.

 

We didn't have anything planned for Amber Cove as I just didn't see anything that grabbed my attention that I wanted to do. There was a waterfall excursion I would have loved to do but I couldn't get anyone to do it with me!

 

 

 

The Magic in Amber Cove

 

Me, Glen and Michael and Donna got off together and decided we would grab a taxi for a sightseeing ride. Well, we got a ride alright. I have never in my life been somewhere that has as many motorcycles as Amber Cove does. They were everywhere - zipping in and out of traffic like crazy.

 

I know you all are going to think I have or had been smoking something but I promise you I'm telling the truth. We actually saw 3 people on 1 motorcycle and they were carrying a propane tank (like for a gas grill). We also saw a guy on a motorcycle transporting lumber (you know - like 2 x 4's which were 8 or 10 feet long). It was a sight to see! I'm sure it's just their way of life, but it would terrify me. These weren't Harley Davidson style motorcycles either - they were small ones! There were concrete barriers that divided the lanes and the motorcycles would cut through there and just come right out in front of you. It was scary!

 

 

 

Our driver took us to Playa Dorada Beach at the Grand Paradise Resort. It was pretty, but nothing spectacular. We hung out therefor about an hour or so and decided just to go back to the ship.

 

 

 

When we got back to the port area Glen and I walked over to the pool area. It was nice, but it's just a pool in my opinion. If I am going to the Caribbean,I want a beautiful beach not a pool.

 

We got back on the ship and went and grabbed some lunch. I think probably after lunch we went and took a nap. We did get up early that morning remember!

 

We went to dinner at 6 and again our service was slow and the food was just ok - nothing to write home about.

 

After dinner we went to look at our photos from Elegant night and decided to hang out in the Atrium area for the 70's music trivia party that was put on by our cruise director,Schwartz. It was a blast! He was all dressed up and they played little snip its of songs some of which we hadn't heard in years and you had to guess the name of the song and the artist. At the end, they played more of the song and you got to sing along. We all really enjoyed it. Michael and Donna didn't know all of them -they are the younger ones of the group though!

 

 

 

After that we headed to the Showtime Theatre for the Country Road show. It was a great show and we were glad we went. Our entertainment staff really had it going on this cruise!

 

 

OK - just need to tell you this - because I found it truly funny.

 

We talked with our kids back at home every day. It was fun to Face Time and be able to see the little ones. I was talking to Whitney, our oldest who was in charge of the clan while we were gone on Monday evening. She said "Mom, I just want you to know that I haven't been to the bathroom by myself in 4 days". "Justin goes with me everywhere I go and he even sits on the step ladder in the bathroom right outside the shower when I take my shower". I thought it was funny because that's how he does us. I really don't think I've been to the bathroom by myself in 22 years and probably have another 5 or 10 to go! I know one day I'll miss all that though!

 

Picture - Whitney and Justin -#8512

 

Whitney and Justin!

After the show it was bedtime for us. We will be in St. Thomas tomorrow and I'm so excited. Our first cruise was supposed to take us to St. Thomas,but Tropical Storm Jeanne decided we wouldn't make it that trip.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Sorry - meant to post this one of the beach in Amber Cove instead of the motorcycle one again -

 

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Tuesday - St. Thomas Day and Happy Valentine's Day

 

 

We awoke to another beautiful day. We slept in a little today because we weren't set to arrive in St. Thomas until 11 a.m.

 

Prior to coming on this cruise I had researched these boards to try and help me decide what we should do. I would really be ok with just going to the beach everywhere we go but we have some that aren't beach people like me so I had to come up with something to mix it up a little. Also, since none of us had ever been to St. Thomas I thought we should see some of the island too.

 

While doing my research I came upon a gentleman who did private tours. His name is Dean Chinnery, Dean'sTaxi and Tours and I contacted him to see if he would be available on the day we were to be in St. Thomas. Sure enough, he was available so the 8 of us booked the day with him. My request was that he show us some of his beautiful island and then we wanted to spend some time at the beach.

 

We got off the ship right after 11 a.m. and met up with Dean right outside of the port gate. There was very little walking for Glen as Dean was parked just outside the gate in front of Senor Frogs. His van was very nice and well kept and we had plenty of space.

 

Unfortunately his microphone wasn't working that day so the ones seated in the rear couldn't hear much of what he was telling us as far as what we were seeing.

 

Now for those of you who have never been to St. Thomas let me tell you about the roads. Well,some are narrow, most are like climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro- well maybe not that bad but they are steep and very curvy - like meeting yourself curvy. Come to find out a lot of the roads were once trails for the donkeys - I believe it. I don't think cars were really intended to travel on some of the roads we were on.

 

Anyway, our first stop was Paradise Point and it was beautiful. Unfortunately by the time we got to Paradise Point some in our group were beginning to turn a little green. We got out and he told us that all they asked was for us to buy a little something and they didn't mind us taking pictures, etc. from there. The view was stunning and we got some really good pictures of the ships that were in port that day.

 

 

Pictures 765, 827 and 828

 

 

From there he took us through downtown and I stopped and ran into Diamonds International (I needed some earrings - it was Valentine's Day after all), but ended up not buying anything.

 

We then trekked on to Mountain Top. Wow - the views were amazing but the curves and all really got to 3 or 4 in our group. There was a great gift shop on Mountain Top as well as the famous banana daiquiri's. I didn't partake of any alcohol, just tried to get most of my souvenir's purchased. We enjoyed our stop there and took some pictures and back down the mountain we went. More twisty roads and to the beach we went.

 

 

 

 

View from Mountain Top

[easyboy]

How much was your tour with Deans Taxi?

[atj1971]

Following along. I love detailed reviews, even if they aren't about the ship I am going on. :)

[GeorgiaMomof4]

How much was your tour with Deans Taxi?

 

 

I can't remember exactly but I do remember he told us his initial price was for pick up at the port and drop off back to the port. Since we wanted a stop at the beach it was an additional $12 per person. He still stayed with us but said it had something to do with the way the taxi fares were structured. I believe it was around $41 or so including the additional $12. I do have his card if you are interested in getting in touch with him.

[Thrilled2012]

Loving your review. Thank you for sharing with us. And your kiddos are beautiful

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Loving your review. Thank you for sharing with us. And your kiddos are beautiful

 

 

Oh - thank you! I think so but I'm just a tad prejudice. I'll post a pic of all of them later in the review.

 

Glad you are liking it. Boy, they are time consuming but I love to do them.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

St. Thomas - continued

I had debated on which beach to go to. Part of me wanted to go to Magen's Bay but I knew it would be crowded. I thought about Sapphire Beach, but Dean suggested Secret Harbor so that is where we went.

 

By the time we made it to Secret Harbor,Lisa, Andrew and Megan were all completely green! It had not been a good experience for them going up or coming down the mountain with all those curves. I guess the rest of us had iron stomachs because it didn't bother us at all.

 

Secret Harbor was nice, but they wanted $10 each for lounge and umbrella rentals and since we were only gonna be there a couple of hours we decided to forego those and we just hung out in the water and then had some sodas and appetizers in the restaurant there.

 

The water was beautiful and there were fish everywhere swimming right around us. Donna freaked out just a little - there were big fish too, but she finally calmed down and we enjoyed the sun and the water.

 

 

 

 

[GeorgiaMomof4]

After a little while we headed back to the ship. I think Lisa, Andrew and Megan may have kissed the ground in front of Senor' Frogs when we got back. There was a long line to get back on the ship and I sent the others on while I made a quick trip into Senor' Frogs to buy Lindsey (my 20 year old) a t-shirt. By the time I was back out the line had gone down and I didn't have to wait.

 

We dropped off our purchases in the cabin, rested for just a few minutes and joined Michael and Donna up on deck to watch the pier runners. There were a few but not many. We were at the front of the ship on the Serenity deck when the ship's horn blew and we just about jumped off the ship - it was loud and scared the crap out of us. We watched the Norwegian Escape leave port -it is a beautiful ship.

 

 

 

 

We stayed up there for along time - the sun was going down and all the lights of St. Thomas were coming on. It was a beautiful evening! We didn't have to rush back to the cabin and get ready for dinner because we had reservations at the Steakhouse for dinner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reluctantly we finally headed back to the cabin to shower and dress for dinner. Donna had made reservations for all 8 of us at the steakhouse about 2 months before. We had hoped for a 7:30 or 8:00 dinnertime but our reservation was at 8:30. Who cares, we have nowhere to be tonight and it's Valentine's Day.

 

This was our first trip to any specialty restaurant in all our cruises. We had always enjoyed the MDR food and just never really saw a need to pay more for a meal when you could eat in the MDR. I'm so glad we booked the steakhouse though -it was downright wonderful. Probably the best steak I've ever had. With the service and food the way it had been in the MDR we all thoroughly enjoyed our meal in the steakhouse. Needless to say after 2 hours of eating, we were all stuffed!

 

On our way back from the steakhouse we saw the deck party getting ready to start and decided we would sit up on deck 11 and watch it for a while. After a little bit we headed back to the cabin to get ready for our day in San Juan.

[inlinesick]

suscribed!!! Megan's bay is one of the nicest beach we ever been on! Never heard of the one you talking about!?

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Wednesday - San Juan

 

 

It was an early morning for us today because we were to arrive in San Juan at 8:00. It was another gorgeous day - we had been blessed with those on this cruise.

 

We headed up to the Lido for breakfast because we had to be off the ship as soon as possible as we were meeting our driver for the day at 8:30.

 

We have been to San Juan once before(when the whole clan was along) and we stayed around the port area - took in some sightseeing, went to one of the forts, did some shopping and then went on a Snuba excursion I had booked myself. So, this time we decided we wanted to explore outside of the por tarea.

 

I did some research (on cruise critic of course) and decided to contact a gentleman named Ellis through Facebook. He had great reviews on here and on trip advisor. I told him kind of what we wanted to do and he gave me several suggestions based on Glen's limited mobility. He said whatever we decided to do was fine with him, just to let him know.

 

We originally booked for all 8 of us, but later on Ronnie, Lisa, Andrew and Megan backed out - decided they wanted to save that money and just stay around the port area. I notified Ellis and he said that was fine because he could take the 4 of us in his vehicle where he would have had to have another driver for all 8 of us.

 

He picked us up in front of the CVS right there at the port. We still didn't know which rainforest we wanted to go. He had told us we could go to Charco Azul orto El Yunque National Park. He said that Charco Azul was more of a natural setting and El Yunque was more of the touristy spot. We all decided we would go to Charco Azul. He said the walk into the rainforest to get to the pool was about 15 or 20 minutes but there were benches along the way for Glen to rest and that it wasn't a strenuous walk.

 

It was about an hour's drive to get there but we got to see a lot of San Juan away from the port. We were amazed at all of the Americanized places we saw. We stopped in Guavate fora restroom break and then headed on to the rainforest.

 

Here we are!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We began our journey through the rainforest and it was beautiful. The temperature dropped about 12 degrees from the time we left the port area of San Juan to the time we got to the rainforest.

 

 

 

 

One of the neatest things that we saw were the cork trees. Yes,cork, as in wine bottle corks. Some of them were huge and they were really spongy. There was a lot of bamboo also, but he said it wasn't native to that area that it had been planted there. He said that it can grow up to 6 inches overnight. That was amazing to me.

 

Here is the cork tree -

 

 

 

We continued our walk,crossing over the water 3 or 4 times. There were benches all along the way and we stopped when Glen needed a rest. We finally reached the pool area and wow, it was beautiful. One of the best parts was we only saw 3 other people the whole time we were there. It was so quiet and peaceful and you didn't feel like you were being herded along with a bunch of other people.

 

Here is the pool and waterfall -