Live B2B2B2B From the Carnival Magic 11/26-12/22

[exlondoner]

Coming from Cunard, I was interested in your assessment of the food. Like you, I found the breadth of the choice on the MDR menus for dinner most impressive (certainly compared with Cunard’s somewhat narrow range of choices), but it almost never looked as nice as it sounded, often being plated in a way that was rather a mess. From what you say, it pretty often, though not invariably, tasted nice though. And top marks for consistent cruets obviously. 😀

 

Please let us know when you are next on a cruise and are posting about your experiences. I greatly enjoy your voyages.

[silvercrikhix]

Thanks for the huge review!  Bravo on your wrap up!
Thanks so much for all the time and consideration! 

Enjoyed the vicarious cruise through your days 😃

 

[Gumbo4Life]

Really enjoyed your LIVE review on the Magic!  Enjoyed your TA reviews, learned a lot about Cunard and look forward to your future trips regardless what cruise line you are all.  All the best to you, safe travels!!  

[grima625]

Thank you for sharing your trip. I enjoyed your review. 

[NCTribeFan]

Thanks for sharing so much detail.  Looking forward to trying some of those Emeril offerings in MDR.

 

I have some friends that are boarding tomorrow.  I have to wait until the 7th.

[Von & John]

Thanks for another Amazing Review & Final Thoughts by Category...

As always - I am behind & do the binge reading to catch-up...

Hope you had a Very Merry Christmas w/ Mom...

Where did you hide the Ducks & how long did it take Mom to find them?

Wishing you a very Happy New Year filled w/ Happiness & Laughter!

 

Cheers - Von

 

[jam19872016]

On 12/27/2023 at 9:05 PM, princess76021 said:

Please give us a link when you're ready to take us on another cruise!

Hope you are having a great holiday season!

Hugs from Texas

I will be sure to post a link on here when I do!

 

Busy but great holidays! Hope you enjoyed yours as well.

On 12/27/2023 at 10:26 PM, SenatorsFan said:

I think your wrap up is fair and balanced. I like to read about both the good and the not-as-good. Thanks for taking us on these cruises. Happy New Year!

Thanks! Happy New Year to you too!

[jam19872016]

On 12/27/2023 at 10:53 PM, Cscomedygrl said:

Thanks for the wrap!

Thanks for reading along!

 

On 12/28/2023 at 7:20 AM, pe4all said:

Great ending to your review.  We enjoy the Magic, and look forward to boarding her in 4 weeks.  Magic is the largest ship I think I will go on again - Horizon really pushed my "people-boundaries" and it was only 60% full when we covid-sailed on her.  (even with having Havana to hang out in). Wishing you a Happy, Healthy New Year!

I also sailed Horizon at 60% capacity back in August 2021. I could not believe how crowded that ship still was at just over half capacity. I'm not an outdoor person, so sadly Havana would not save me from the crowds since everything I want to do is inside 🙂. I'd still like to try and sail Vista again but definitely during off season.

 

Enjoy your cruise on the Magic!

 

Happy New Year!

[jam19872016]

On 12/28/2023 at 8:37 AM, #55worktoplay said:

Thanks for your review it was great to follow. 
 

I hope M came out ahead in the casino, she had some serious $$ showing on that FireLink game. If I had that kind of cash I would cash out take starting amount out and the rest in the safe. However, I am not a 50.00 per spin better so I would not see those kind winnings. 
 

When’s your next cruise?

Sadly she did not come out ahead. Not by a long long shot. She did tuck her hand pay slips away (four in total I believe) in the safe but by the end of the trip she got into them.

 

The next cruise if all goes according to plan is January 8th on Celebrity Summit.

 

 

On 12/28/2023 at 9:54 AM, Jeafl said:

Having just got off the Magic 2 weeks before you got on, I would have to agree with just about everything you posted.  There was nothing horrible, but nothing spectacular either.  Your piano player sounded far better than ours, though.

 

Your comment about the loungers was spot on.  We actually saw  a rather large man go right through it one day.  Luckily he wasn't injured but he was pretty embarrassed.  Other than that we thought the ship was in pretty good shape for how old it is.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do the review.  It was a real pleasure to read.  🙂

Agree, the ship was in really good shape. Carnival doesn't have a great reputation for maintaining their older ships so I was pleasantly surprised at how well Magic is holding up. Lounge chairs and a couple automatic doors excluded.

 

I had Scarlett the first week in the Piano Bar. She doesn't seem real popular but I did enjoy her when she could be bothered to show up. Glad that they replaced her mid voyage and Rodney was a great replacement, even if he did close up shop early.

[jam19872016]

On 12/28/2023 at 10:15 AM, exlondoner said:

Coming from Cunard, I was interested in your assessment of the food. Like you, I found the breadth of the choice on the MDR menus for dinner most impressive (certainly compared with Cunard’s somewhat narrow range of choices), but it almost never looked as nice as it sounded, often being plated in a way that was rather a mess. From what you say, it pretty often, though not invariably, tasted nice though. And top marks for consistent cruets obviously. 😀

 

Please let us know when you are next on a cruise and are posting about your experiences. I greatly enjoy your voyages.

Plating is not their strong suit for sure. Then again, as my buffet plates demonstrate, it's not mine either 😄.

 

Next cruise is on Celebrity who takes great care in careful presentation. The food, IMHO, is over rated though and selection is pitiful. I will be sure to post a link when I start that review. I found the fried bread when I went on that four day in November. I hope to find it again and if so I will be having at least a piece a day 😋

 

 

On 12/28/2023 at 7:04 PM, silvercrikhix said:

Thanks for the huge review!  Bravo on your wrap up!
Thanks so much for all the time and consideration! 

Enjoyed the vicarious cruise through your days 😃

 

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading along!

[jam19872016]

On 12/29/2023 at 1:20 AM, Gumbo4Life said:

Really enjoyed your LIVE review on the Magic!  Enjoyed your TA reviews, learned a lot about Cunard and look forward to your future trips regardless what cruise line you are all.  All the best to you, safe travels!!  

Thanks for following along! Hope to sail with you again someday! Those TAs in 2025 are quite the bargain right now.

 

On 12/29/2023 at 9:37 AM, grima625 said:

Thank you for sharing your trip. I enjoyed your review. 

Thanks for following along! Glad you enjoyed it.

[jam19872016]

On 12/29/2023 at 1:02 PM, NCTribeFan said:

Thanks for sharing so much detail.  Looking forward to trying some of those Emeril offerings in MDR.

 

I have some friends that are boarding tomorrow.  I have to wait until the 7th.

Enjoy your trip on the Magic! Those Emeril choices were very good. I really enjoyed the new menus they did a really great job with them.

 

On 12/29/2023 at 4:10 PM, Von & John said:

Thanks for another Amazing Review & Final Thoughts by Category...

As always - I am behind & do the binge reading to catch-up...

Hope you had a Very Merry Christmas w/ Mom...

Where did you hide the Ducks & how long did it take Mom to find them?

Wishing you a very Happy New Year filled w/ Happiness & Laughter!

 

Cheers - Von

 

I failed with the ducks. I forgot to load them in the car (or unpack them from my suitcase for that matter). Ooops. 

 

Thanks for reading along!

[jam19872016]

I forgot to post my final weight update. I returned from the trip +15.8 lbs which was 1.2 lbs over what I ended my TA trip at so slightly over goal, but not terribly so.

 

With the holidays I am not getting it off as quickly as I would have hoped. So far I am down 6.4 since getting off of the cruise. I would like to get it all off before I start my next trip but it is not looking good.

 

Truthfully I was hoping to get more than the 16 off because I really want to wear my smaller clothes, I don't really have any clothes that fit as all my other clothes are from when I was 300 LBS and are way way too big on me at this point.

[Von & John]

Looking forward to "our" next cruise 🙂 

[Cherries Jubilee]

I really enjoyed your review as usual! Thank you for taking us along!

[jam19872016]

On 1/7/2024 at 4:24 AM, Cherries Jubilee said:

I really enjoyed your review as usual! Thank you for taking us along!

Happy to do it! Thanks for reading along.

[jam19872016]

So like I thought may happen, plans fell through and I had to cancel my 1/8 and 1/13 cruise (and another in April).

 

Next up now is Celebrity Reflection 1/28 and I feel like that one has good odds of going off as planned.

 

I also have a last minute $50 room offer from Carnival. They sure know how to reel me back in sooner rather than later 🙂. I'd like to do one more trip on Liberty before she moves to New Orleans. It's my favorite of the Conquest class sisters, it is so pretty inside. But for the same $50, if I could get on Horizon, Celebration or Mardi Gras I would probably pick one of those instead. Just waiting to see when things get a little more stable at work and then I will see what I can snatch up, those rooms go quick and can often be gone in the time it takes to click on book.

 

It's just as well I had to cancel, my weight loss journey is going very slow. I'm currently down 11.8 lbs since leaving Magic 17 days ago. I tried on my skinny clothes and while I was able to button them up, they were incredibly tight and would not have survived ten days of poor diet choices. Now I can have a little more time to work on getting back into them.

 

Wherever I land next, I will be sure to post a link here to the next review.

[jam19872016]

On 12/31/2023 at 1:24 AM, Von & John said:

Looking forward to "our" next cruise 🙂 

Thanks, me too! I can't help but play the "where should I be right now" game with myself after having to cancel my trip for this week.

[jam19872016]

It's official! I am able to take off on another cruise this Sunday! Even though it has only been just over a month since I've been stuck on dry land, it feels like ages and I am excited to put my sea legs back on!!!

 

Here is the link to the review I just started on the Celebrity boards.

 

 

I don't know anyone on those boards since I don't travel Celebrity very much so I would love to see some familiar faces (names?) join me for this review as I head back out on the water!!

[princess76021]

5 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

It's official! I am able to take off on another cruise this Sunday! Even though it has only been just over a month since I've been stuck on dry land, it feels like ages and I am excited to put my sea legs back on!!!

 

Here is the link to the review I just started on the Celebrity boards.

 

 

I don't know anyone on those boards since I don't travel Celebrity very much so I would love to see some familiar faces (names?) join me for this review as I head back out on the water!!

Just signed in on your celebrity page!

happy for this thanks

hugs from Texas

[jam19872016]

9 hours ago, princess76021 said:

Just signed in on your celebrity page!

happy for this thanks

hugs from Texas

Thanks 😊 happy you made it over for another adventure 😀 

[jam19872016]

Wow, I am not sure how CC chooses the thumbnail but I see instead of grabbing the first picture in the review, it went with my upside down pineapple shirt 😱 

[Von & John]

Already to page 3 on your new review...

Just signed in & need to catch up to page 3

Enjoy your time w/ Celebrity - Cafe al Bacio is one of our Faves