Carnival magic, april 29-may 6 western caribbean

[bandtaxi]

I have to begin by saying that I have read another review of this same cruise and one reason we love Carnival is that there is something for everyone on their cruises! You will find this review sounding like we were not on the same cruise, but we were!

We are a party of 12 in six cabins, 5 in cove balconies and 1 in an inside spa room.

 

Day 1 - We arrived at the port via Cortrans shuttle from MCO. We arranged this ahead of time. $20 pp - $40 pp round trip. The only thing that bothered me a bit was that they wanted round trip payment. I was a bit worried that they wouldn't be there to pick us up, but they were. All was well. They were great. We arrived at the port around 10:30 am

 

Embarkation was fine. We are platinum and our friends were not very far behind us in getting on the ship. We went to our room to get settled and then headed up to eat. Wow. We shouldn't have waited to go to Lido. It was packed.... lines everywhere. No seats..... we squeezed 6 people around a 4 person table and took turns getting some food. Buffets are not my favorite.... I got a salad and some dessert..... those strawberry cake pops will be easy to pass on the next time....

 

We spent some time at the Blue Iguana bar before going to our rooms to unpack and rest. The muster drill was long..... they now scan your card when you enter the muster drill, so they know who doesn't show up. They kept calling cabin numbers..... and waiting..... finally Dr. E went ahead with the drill. He is very funny....changing voices several times, making the information seem to go quicker.

 

Dinner was in the Southern Lights dining room at a table for 10. Thought it was a bit difficult to hear across the table. May be because of no tablecloths, but I don't care about tablecloths. I am not cooking or cleaning up. Our waitstaff is awesome. Elbert, Khrissssma, and Bojan. American table menu... fine for us... again, I'm not cooking or cleaning up.

 

We had spent the previous day at Disney and we were tired, so after dinner, we went to bed. Party poopers, yes.

[bandtaxi]

Day 2 - Sea Day - I ran on the track in the early am. Our group that had formed on social media had organized a slot pull so we had some fun with that. I think there were 47 people participating. We each paid $21, got 7 pulls on a $3 machine. At the end the money was split. We each got $14 back. Not a winning investment, but it was fun to participate and watch.

 

We had Guy's BBQ on deck 5 for lunch. Sat at a picnic table on the same deck. There is also a salad bar on this deck but only on sea days. Seems like a lot of area taken up only to be used for a couple of hours a day on sea days. The BBQ was good. Pork, beef, chicken, baked beans, potato salad, slaw, collard greens. My complaint on this deck is that there is not a place to get tea and lemonade. They did have pitchers of water or the coffee bar or other bars are there. We are just cheap.....

 

After BBQ, we decided to go to deck 10 to visit Guy's burgers. Wow. I love these! Visited with friends on deck a bit before going to our room to enjoy the cove balcony. I also love these!

 

Elegant night in the dining room. Lobster and Prime Rib. Had a Kiss on the Lips with my dinner of spaghetti carbonara. (Not a lobster or prime rib fan) We went to the Flick show in the theatre. Great show! We walked on deck 5 and then up to 10 for some popcorn and drink before heading to bed. (This is the first cruise where I was able to stay off elevators the entire time. Our cabin was on deck 2 so I usually took the stairs to 5 and then walked on 5 to the next stairway before continuing on upward to the FOOD!)

 

Our ship pins and platinum gift (back pack) were in the room tonight.

 

**interesting note. We were asked the first day if we wanted morning, evening or both for servicing the room. We are very low maintenance and chose evening. We did ask for an ice bucket and were told we would have to request it from room service. We didn't bother. But.... our friends a few doors down with a different room steward were never asked if they only wanted their room attended once or twice a day, always got it twice. They also asked about an ice bucket, got one and had ice in it twice a day...

[CaityMarie]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We are going on thr Magic and this itinerary in November.

 

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[bandtaxi]

Day 3 - Cozumel - Ran on the track, then a bit of breakfast. Our excursion leaves at 10. Give back with a Purpose. This is not your average excursion for a cruise. We took an open air bus to the first Catholic Church on the island and then to an orphanage. We had researched this ahead of time and had brought items to leave for the kids. This was a very good excursion. Carnival gives a portion of the money you pay (I know it might be 15 cents) and the excursion provider (Tripping Cool group) also gives a portion to the orphanage. The head of the orphanage said that Carnival is the only cruise line that does this excursion. They talked about the kids, their schooling, their living arrangements and what happens when they reach the age to leave. We took a tour of half the grounds and a home they are remodeling. We actually got to meet some of the kids as it was a holiday and they were not in school. The director did mention ways you could help out but it was in no way a hard sell. You could pick up info to bring with you, or purchase a tshirt designed by the children.

 

After leaving the orphanage we were taken to a local 'restaurant'. It was actually a large room in a home. We had a choice of 5 or 6 plates (different meats, rice & beans). Lunch was included in the price. Dessert was extra .... maybe $1. Hubby pays. I don't remember, plus we left a tip. Our tour guide, Jorge, was very passionate about his country and this orphanage in particular. We were dropped off at the port and we walked a bit to find a geocache, which is another thing we like to do while visiting other places.

 

We had reservations tonight at the Italian restaurant. It was very good. $15 charge pp. We took this cruise to celebrate our 40th anniversary, and hubby had made a video. The group found a quiet place and watched the video and then we went to the Red Frog on deck 5 to visit with friends. We always walk on deck 5 before heading up to deck 10 for ice cream, popcorn, coffee, or lemonade before retiring to our room to sit on the balcony.

[jewliana]

Will be boarding the Magic Saturday! Looking forward to all your thoughts! Thanks for taking the time to do your review!

[bandtaxi]

Day 4 - Belize - Well, Carnival seems to have us as a captive audience in this port. We generally do not take ship sponsored excursions (although we did in Cozumel), but we just could not find anything here to get us to the beach on our own without worrying about getting back on time. The water taxi timing to Caye Caulker does not seem to work well with the two hour time difference. Coral Breezes has good reviews but apparently didn't have enough people sign up for the day, so they canceled. We ended up doing the Shark, Rays, Snorkle tour. (did I mention I was cheap? It was really hard for me to pay $100 pp for this)

 

We were told to order our food from their 'preferred' restaurant ahead of time because everything was prepared from scratch on the island and if we went somewhere else, we might not get our food in time. We had researched and wanted to go to the Lazy Lizard, so we passed on ordered from their restaurant. We had our own snorkeling equipment, so I can't comment on what was provided, but everyone seemed to do ok. We went to the shark/ray area first. They feed them and they swim all around at the bottom. It was pretty cool, but there were alot of people on the boat, so you get kicked, etc. and it takes alot of time to load the boat when they are ready to go. We finally got everyone on and traveled just a bit to the reef. They had several guides and an EMT on board. We followed the guides around the reef area. The boat followed and picked us up. We did see an eel and a few fish, but it wasn't anything fantastic. I do enjoy just looking at the reef, and snorkeling so it was ok. . . . just not worth $100 pp IMHO. They took us to Caye Caulker for the lunch that we were supposed to have written down to have pre-ordered. We had about 80 minutes before the boat left to go back to Belize City. We took off for the Lazy Lizard. Got our lunch and drinks, and had plenty of time to get back. Fish and chips were good here. We wanted to get the big fish, but they were out. Our friends had conch fritters. They said they were good. Boat ride back was nice with rum punch being served.

 

We had friends do the City tour and Zoo. They said it was ok. Others did the Eco Park trip. They said the bus ride was long and hot.

 

Dinner in the Southern Lights dining room. One night we saw part of the county show. Don't remember which night. It was good. My hubby doesn't like to sit still long..... so we are generally on the move.

Edited May 8, 2017 by bandtaxi
words

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[bandtaxi]

Day 5 - Roatan - Research had us with Victor Bodden tours here for a private tour. Tour guide for as long as you want. $25 pp for 4 or more people. Some of our friends us just wanted to go to West Bay Beach and it cost them $30 pp to get to the beach and back in a taxi. We had 8 of us in a van with Big Al as our guide. He was great! We set the stage for the day, giving him the things we wanted to do and he was open to whatever we wanted. Our list.... orphanage stop to drop off items, West Bay beach for snorkeling, local food, seeing some sights of the island. The orphanage we went to housed only boys. We chatted with the lady in charge, she gave us a short tour, and we left our donations. We then headed for the beach, all the while, Big Al is telling us about his island, his life, his jokes,..... We went to Bananarama because some in our group wanted beach chairs. It was $10 pp. (we could have gone to a public area of the beach, but we were the only snorkelers, so we went with those that were staying on the sand while we were in the water) Big Al helped us find chairs,(farther back to not be as bothered by those selling things on the beach) pointed out where to go to snorkel, and stayed right in the beach area where we knew where he was when we were ready to go. Snorkeling here was betting than in Belize in my opinion. When we left the beach we were ready to get some FOOD! He took us to a restaurant in the middle of nowhere! It was cafeteria style. You walked along and picked it out, but they put it on the plate. The fried fish container was empty, so I asked if they were out. She said no, it would just take about 5 minutes to cook it. I was a bit shocked when it arrived at my table.

It was good though. After lunch we drove on a beautiful beach and then headed back to the port.

 

Dinner was in the dining room. We walked on deck 5, climbed the stairs to deck 10, had some ice cream, or pizza, or popcorn and then headed to our balcony.

[bandtaxi]

Day 6 - Costa Maya - Short day in port. 7 am to 2 pm. We had beach chairs reserved at Tropicante in Mahahual. We headed off early to get the most out of our day. Walked through the shopping area, past the buses, the gate and to the taxis. It was $2pp to get to town. Our van was stuffed. First day all 12 of us went to the same place! Hubby rode in the back behind the back seat! There was someone from Tropicante waiting at the taxi drop off. He walked us the block or so to the beach and we picked out our chairs. We swam, snorkeled, drank, ate, laughed and had fun. The guys here are more than willing to help you in any way, whether its the best place to buy something, to the best place to get a massage. There is a geocache here also, that's how we found this place several years ago. Food and drinks are good here. We have some 'items' that this group of friends pass around as haha's when we are together and we had the guys get us a platter, we started laying the items out on the platter, added a shot of whiskey and a shot of tequila and they were more than thrilled to deliver it to our friends in their beach chairs. If you go here be sure and talk to the owner, Steve. Very friendly and interesting guy!

 

Too soon we had to leave. Back on the ship we did the ropes course several times, and relaxed until dinner. Tonight was another elegant night. I had the filet and short ribs. The ribs were better than the filet.

[bandtaxi]

Day 7 - Sea Day - It's coming to an end too quickly! Run on the sports deck, then breakfast/brunch in the dining room. Interesting tidbit. Our free drink for platinum had to be used for breakfast, brunch or lunch in the dining room. We don't drink at breakfast, and we didn't get the coupon until after the first sea day brunch. So that left the last sea day brunch for our free drink. Guess when they had the platinum/diamond guest reception....... 11:45 am on the last sea day...... so if we get free drinks at the platinum reception, when are we supposed to get our 'free' drink??? Our friends, who are gold, also got a coupon for a free drink. It had to be used on the last day, after 5:00 pm but could be used anywhere on the ship...... ok.. off the soap box.

 

Breakfast/brunch was good. I like to do dining room breakfast because I like pineapple juice and you can't get that on lido, but hubby wants to be outside, so usually just one dining room breakfast is all I get.

 

Platinum/Diamond reception....... another place where changes have been made that we don't appreciate too much. Drinks were not terribly plentiful.... I didn't care for anything on the trays, so they did make me a Miami Vice. I passed on the sushi, and tried the rice cake...mehhhh. The little BBQ sandwiches were good but they didn't appear in our area until people were leaving. Actually the whole thing was maybe 30 minutes. The new movie is much shorter. The captain wasn't part of the crew that came. They had a couple of guessing games, but didn't really explain what they were until about 5 minutes before they drew for winners. Just seems like they don't really try here any more.

 

Headed out to sit on the open deck and a storm was blowing in. Temp dropped and dark clouds formed. Most people were heading inside. We went to our balcony and sat until time for tea. After tea we walked on deck 5 until time to get dressed for dinner. I got a steakhouse filet tonight in the dining room. I'm cheap but I was really disappointed in the filet the night before so I sprang the $20 for the steakhouse filet. It did not disappoint. I savored every bite.

 

Met friends at the Red Frog after dinner and finally retired to our room to pack. :(

[bandtaxi]

Debarkation and other thoughts - We carried our luggage off. When we got up one flight to leave it was mass mess. Don't know what the answer is to this process, but something has to be better than what it is. But, we were patient and finally we were off. Remember I wasn't wild about pre-paying for our trip back to the MCO? Well it all worked out fine, we found Cortrans guy and he called for a van and we were off in about 15 minutes.

 

Thursday morning deck 10 chairs were covered with towel animals and people. I had seen these before and it's really cute. Don't miss it. What I hadn't seen before, is our friends just down the hall from us (the ones that got an ice bucket in their room?) opened their stateroom door on Wednesday night and had one of those towel people on their bed. The room steward had put the Mr's tennis shoes on the towel legs and the Mrs. screamed when she opened the door, looked in and it looked like someone was laying on the bed! We had a great laugh about that!

 

I thought the shows and music were much better on this ship than they have been on our last few cruises. They cut back on the live band for shows a few years ago (I'm a music geek, 2 of my 3 kids are music teachers) and I didn't care for it. But the singers and music groups around the ship were really good for the most part. Pleasant surprise for me! (I LOVED the violin trio)

 

Smoking on balconies is not supposed to happen if I understand correctly. I'm not bashing smokers, would just prefer to be able to be on my balcony without smoke coming from my neighbors. Also a little unsettling to walk on deck 5 and see all the burn marks on the floor from cigarettes that were apparently flipped from balconies above that didn't make it to the sea but onto the deck. If you smoke, please do so in the assigned places and dispose of the remains properly.

 

All in all this was one great vacation. I have never gone on vacation (or been at home) where everything has been perfect, so I try to not let the small stuff overtake the important stuff! Happy sailing!

[13cheermom]

Thanks for the great quick review. We will be doing this itinerary on the Magic in November. We sailed on her last November but were on a southern itinerary. Can't wait to be back on the Magic!

 

 

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[Clarea]

Nicely written review, thanks!

[easyboy]

Glad you had a great vacation. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

 

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[dbenlee]

Thanks for the great review. We are looking forward to cruising on the Magic in a few months, but an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. I found it interesting that you were geocaching while on your cruise. Quick question, were you using a GPSr or an app on a smartphone?

[bury me at sea]

Thanks for your interesting and thorough review. I really enjoyed the Magic.

 

Happy sailing.

[AmberTeka]

We are headed to Aruba and Cureaco late August. I am looking forward to it. Thank you for taking the time to write a review.

I like the MDR for Breakfast too. Husband likes to graze in the Buffett. And he is skinny! Eats like a horse when unleashed. he is a bacon addict. Never eats it at home for health reasons, eats a lot when on vacation.

Men are odd. Necessary and much loved, but odd.

[BeachLoverstoo]

We are on the Magic next week. We discovered on our B2B last year that the Italian restaurant is a great place for lunch the first day. Few people realize it is there and free. A completely different menu from at night, but really good food, and did I mention, it's not crowded!

[mrpayroll]

Sounds like you had a very enjoyable cruise. We enjoyed our cruise on the Magic and are heading back in September. :)

[BeachLoverstoo]

We are a party of 12 in six cabins, 5 in cove balconies and 1 in an inside spa room. .

 

How were the cove balconies? We have one next week and I'm getting a bit worried because of complaints of a sewer smell on the balcony. We live on ours, so I'd hate to find it unusable.

[bandtaxi]

We were on port side, forward. No sewer smell for us on the cove balcony.

[crusinpsychRN]

Make sure to comment on the stupid rule about the free drink and limiting it to when and where.

 

There is a smoking area on port side of 5 outside Red Frog.

[CaityMarie]

Thanks for the great quick review. We will be doing this itinerary on the Magic in November. We sailed on her last November but were on a southern itinerary. Can't wait to be back on the Magic!

 

 

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When in November? We are going on the 11th.

 

Caity

[crusinpsychRN]

When I was on Magic recently the P/D party only had sushi.

[tea4ular]

Make sure to comment about the free drink and limiting it to when and where.

 

The free drink coupon is good on the last night, after 5 pm, at any bar on the ship. We used ours in the comedy club. I enjoyed a vodka cranberry and my friend tried the Punchliner. Both were good and we enjoyed them. :D