Mini Magic Review May 19-26th 2018

[CarnivalCruiser875]

Thought I would post a condensed review on the Magic sailing out of Port Canaveral. We had a blast! Enjoy.

 

Hampton Inn Cocoa Beach- $120 for the night before. Left Atlanta around 6pm, got to hotel around 2am. It was clean enough, breakfast was hot. At 2am, you'd take anything. We booked ahead and got a discount rate for being Georgia residents.

 

Park Port Canaveral- $90 per car for the week, gated and on site security 24/7. Shuttle took us right to port. If we ever go out of PC again we will park here. Professional staff.

 

Port Canaveral- Just like everyone said it would be. Great port, easy to get through on embarkation and easy to get out of on debarkation. Very energetic, professional, and effective workers there.

 

Staterooms- We had Balcony 7222, which is 3 rooms away/right under the crow's nest of the ship (where the captain is). Clean, comfortable, a little rocky on rough waters but we love the rocking to put us to sleep! Lilith was our stewardess and was great.

 

Cruise Director- Cookie is flat out AMAZING. What a joy to be around! So heartfelt, you can tell he is in love with his job. Go to the Q & A he does, you'll get to know more about him, his life, and what its like on a cruise ship. Make sure to ask his most memorable/funniest story that's happened on a cruise ship! Seriously, what a great guy. If you were on this sailing with us, "pineapples"!!

 

Ports of Call- We stopped in Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. We stayed on the ship in Costa Maya to lay out in the sun, drink, and hang out as a family and don't regret it one bit. Most people said the port was okay. Roatan was our absolute favorite, so much I'm planning a vacation to go back. We snorkeled and shopped, by far the best day. Belize we snorkeled and shopped as well. The water there was crystal clear turquoise, beautiful to see, VERY hot. Hit 94 degrees at one point. Shopping was okay. Cozumel we had a snorkeling excursion booked and we were so excited, however it was a torrential downpour ALL DAY. Bummer! Thankfully this excursion was through Carnival and they refunded us 100%. We shopped some and still had some fun. Overall a good itinerary.

 

Shows- We saw 88 Keys and Country Roads and enjoyed both very much. I remember when Carnival did actual productions but I think I enjoy these more.

 

Comedy- PG shows were great! Funny for the whole family. The R 18+ show we saw was vulgar. I mean, VULGAR. No way would I have let an 18 year old see that show. At 23 there were parts I was even uncomfortable with. But for many they found it hilarious. Just not for us!

 

Food- The part you're waiting for! We consider ourselves foodies, what can I say. Marko was our waiter and was amazing. All of our recommendations include: swordfish steak, strawberry bisque, spaghetti carbonara, spring rolls, navy bean soup, caesar salad, linguini, beef tenderloin, bitter and blanc (aka what I LIVE for), melting cake, chicken pastelitos, penne mariscos, and filet mignon. Our favorite bar drinks were the mojito and the caribbean colada for pool/sea days. The punchliner drink at the Punchliner Comedy Club was good, and trust me, it WILL get you laughing! We also went to Cucina del Capitano on the last night since this cruise was a celebration for a college graduation. We typically don't lean towards the specialty restaurants but OH MY. This place was great. Calamari, salads, pasta, wine, dessert, everything was just phenomenal. For $15 per person, just bite the bullet and go. We also ate in the MDR for breakfast every morning, and every morning I had the yogurt parfait, avocado toast w/ scrambled eggs atop, and bacon, and was pleased each time. My mouth is watering thinking about that darn avocado toast!!

 

Pools- Good, never too crowded. Although there is no lifeguard, I did notice some staff would stay by the pool and tell kids to not be so rough in the water.

 

WiFi- Overall good. Worked best first two days, spotty at peak times, like 6pm and 10pm. Lagged some but also worked some. I had the value package and was able to receive iMessages as if I was on land. Facebook & Snapchat also worked very well, Instagram and Twitter not at all. The Hub app was great and always worked no matter what time of day.

 

That's all I had to talk about in my notes, I wish I was as good of a reviewer as some on here, but I figured this may be helpful to some. Feel free to ask me anything!

[bury me at sea]

Thanks for your review. It is really nice to hear you were pleased with the fare in the MDR.

[proudpatriot07]

Thanks for your review! We are going in a few weeks and I can't wait. I'll definitely check out the shows and the cruise director Q&A, been awhile since I've been to one of those.

 

The comedy shows are always hit and miss. I think the comedians rotate with them getting on and off and ports, so there's no telling if the one you saw who was super vulgar will be on my sailing or not. We liked the comedy shows on the Ecstasy last October so I hope these will be good too.

 

I've never seen avocado toast on a menu with Carnival. Did they change out menus for the cruise? I love the breakfast in the MDR and the sea day brunches.

[Dremac373]

Many thanx for the mini review lol can't wait to sh sail her in August

[disneyfan551]

Sailing at the end of the month...thanks for the review!

[teknoge3k]

If you were on this sailing with us, "pineapples"!!

 

Cherries!

 

The funny part about this whole situation (assuming you were part of our social media group, which I am sure you were lol) when Cookie kept talking about the pineapples and cherries at the beginning of this cruise, he had NO idea what they meant. Someone finally explained it to him and he was so embarrassed. Now you know it takes a lot to embarrass that man. haha.

 

That was the largest social media group I have ever been a part of in terms of cruise roll calls. I could not believe how big it was.

 

We were going to Mr. Sancho's in Cozumel but that rain sucked. They refunded the deposit, I guess next time.

 

Glad you had fun, it was a great sailing despite the weather we had.

[CarnivalCruiser875]

Thanks for your review! We are going in a few weeks and I can't wait. I'll definitely check out the shows and the cruise director Q&A, been awhile since I've been to one of those.

 

The comedy shows are always hit and miss. I think the comedians rotate with them getting on and off and ports, so there's no telling if the one you saw who was super vulgar will be on my sailing or not. We liked the comedy shows on the Ecstasy last October so I hope these will be good too.

 

I've never seen avocado toast on a menu with Carnival. Did they change out menus for the cruise? I love the breakfast in the MDR and the sea day brunches.

 

If you look on the Dining page on carnival.com, look at the MDR breakfast menu there. That's the menu we had. I always had the same thing but the other two tried something different every day and were very pleased.

[proudpatriot07]

If you look on the Dining page on carnival.com, look at the MDR breakfast menu there. That's the menu we had. I always had the same thing but the other two tried something different every day and were very pleased.

 

Thanks! I am there now- this is a different menu than on our October cruise. I'm excited to try the new items.

[mjrcruiser]

Cherries!!!

 

We also had a great time on this cruise!! I remember when Cookie said "pineapples" in one of his first announcements....hysterical!!! :') He was fantastic and yes, his Q & A was great!!

[CarnivalCruiser875]

Thanks for your review. It is really nice to hear you were pleased with the fare in the MDR.

 

Yes absolutely! We are self-certified foodies and were pleased every time. We've only sailed Carnival before, and sometimes wonder if we should venture out but Carnival's food is always what keeps us coming back!!

[CarnivalCruiser875]

Cherries!

 

The funny part about this whole situation (assuming you were part of our social media group, which I am sure you were lol) when Cookie kept talking about the pineapples and cherries at the beginning of this cruise, he had NO idea what they meant. Someone finally explained it to him and he was so embarrassed. Now you know it takes a lot to embarrass that man. haha.

 

That was the largest social media group I have ever been a part of in terms of cruise roll calls. I could not believe how big it was.

 

We were going to Mr. Sancho's in Cozumel but that rain sucked. They refunded the deposit, I guess next time.

 

Glad you had fun, it was a great sailing despite the weather we had.

 

Yep that rain DID suck!! We've been to Cozumel before, but that was 10+ years ago. Oh well, just another excuse to go back!

[kcdancerkc]

We did the valor for NYE week, enjoyed the MDR brunch once. Does this ship have it?

 

Thanks :cool:

[CarnivalCruiser875]

We did the valor for NYE week, enjoyed the MDR brunch once. Does this ship have it?

 

Thanks :cool:

 

If you're referring to the Sea Day Brunch, yes this was available! We never tried it but heard nothing but good things.