GAPearl's "MAGIC"al Birthday Cruise! Complete Magic picture review-6/14/15 sailing.

One of many drink stations.

 

It looks like Carnival has finally gotten the cups, ice and drinks in the right order! I've always wondered why they have the cups and ice on opposite sides on all of the ships that I've been on. Never made sense to me. Glad to see that, at least the Magic, got it right. :D

Happy 4th Kim, loving the review!

Aaaaaaaand going to read all your old reviews. :)

You need to get paid for this!

Before I get to responding to all the comments later when I have more time, I feel the need to address this. I'm absolutely insulted at this remark. I might be a lot of things, but one thing I am NOT is a racist. I have friends that are black, white, Asian, Latino, gay, straight, lesbian, Christian, Jehovah's Witness, atheist, Muslim, etc. I'm one of the most accepting, tolerant, open minded individuals you will ever meet. If you're going to insult me at a simple joke then yes, please stop reading. If anyone did take offense, I apologize as it was never my intention to do that. I could have said the same thing to someone from any other country in the world where I met a guy I liked. This was not directed at him specifically because of where he was from. As far as why travel there and leave, perhaps you missed the part of the review where I said I AM considering a temporary 1-2 year move to Central America. And before any more comments go way into left field, causing my thread to be locked, keep them to yourself. I have put in way too much work to have my review go *poof* on the account of a few.

 

Carry on folks. Nothing more to see here. :rolleyes:

Touche, GAPearl!!!

Very much enjoying your review, as always! Carry on!!!

Ok...reading about your cruise and now Vegas....I want to ditch my hubby and kids and hang with you!! ;)

LOL leave a few days worth of meals in the freezer and come on girl! They'll survive and you'll have a ton of fun! :D

Great review GaPearl.

Thank you Big Mama!

Oh my...mom waking you up after that night of birthday partying...not fun! Glad Carnival was able to get the wine stain out of your dress...major props to them.

 

Cucina looks fabulous!

 

Love the story about the four captains. Just showed it to my husband, thinking he would think that was very cool. Well, he already knew about it! Apparently he read an article on them awhile back. And he did not tell me! LOL

I tried my best to ignore my mom, but she wouldn't me. She was like KIIIIIMMMMM! I know you hear me! lol

I was soooo happy they were able to get that stain out. They truly worked a miracle. Cucina has really good food. Maybe next time I'll cough up the $15 and dine there for dinner.

I absolutely love your reviews. I've checked out a couple of them. I'm going to be doing almost this route in January 2017 on the Vista. Instead of Montego Bay it will be Ocho Rios. How is it when you cruise alone? I've never done it before and have thought about it. I just get nervous being a single woman alone…and I tend to be a little shy around people I don't know.

Hi there! Thanks so much for reading! I went to Ocho Rios on my second cruise and went to Dunns River Falls. I would love to do that again. A solo cruise might bring you out of your shyness a little bit. People are sooooo friendly on ships it will be hard for you not to meet people or find someone to hang out with. You will find yourself chatting with people in the most random places (at the buffet, in the elevators, by the pool, etc). Carnival is great about seating solo travelers together. I'd recommend late dining instead of early or any time as the solos tend to often go for the later dining time. Even though you will be traveling by yourself, you won't be alone. Feel free to inbox me if you have any other questions or concerns about traveling solo. I have the Vista booked for December, so you'll have a review before you go. ;)

How cool it is that my review is your first CC post. :D This review has brought out quite a few lurkers out of the woodworks. Any more lurkers want to say hi? I promise I don't bite! :)

Oh no!! I usually end up reading your reviews well after you written the whole thing. Now I have to wait. Haha. Love your reviews though. Reading this brought back so many amazing memories from the Magic.

Ok looking at your signature I now I know who you are! I can't wait to hear about your next cruise! ;)

It looks like Carnival has finally gotten the cups, ice and drinks in the right order! I've always wondered why they have the cups and ice on opposite sides on all of the ships that I've been on. Never made sense to me. Glad to see that, at least the Magic, got it right. :D

Gosh I never noticed that! LOL

Happy 4th Kim, loving the review!

Thanks love! Happy 4th to you too!

Aaaaaaaand going to read all your old reviews. :)

 

You need to get paid for this!

I wish I could figure out a way to. Heck, I'd be happy with just a free cruise! :D

Touche, GAPearl!!!

 

Very much enjoying your review, as always! Carry on!!!

Thank you, my dear. I understand there's always one....:rolleyes:

Spectacular review Kim. I spent July 4th afternoon reading it in its entirety and totally lost track of time. Oh well, the fireworks display can go on without me. :D I'm going to spend the evening reading your Splendor review.

Best wishes to you.

Thank you very much! You all are going to love her when she gets there.

 

 

 

I started with a $5 app called Mind Snacks that was 50 lessons. I went in my app store and downloaded pretty much everything Spanish. You have to stay consistent because it's so true that you lose it if you don't use it. I might study for 3 months, then stop for 3 months, which is why I'm not at a 100% fluency level yet. Look for that app though. It's a great introduction. I also have it in French, Italian, and Portuguese. :)

THANK YOU for this!! :D

And kudos for you to for standing your ground!

Thanks for the fantastic review! You had me in stitches! Sounds like your birthday night was similar to one DH and I had once. :p How you've finally recovered. ;)

What a birthday!! Love the hangover picture [emoji23]

Love your reviews! My family and I are booked on the Vista in February 2017. I know your review in December will be everything we need to get ready for our cruise! Which cabin are you staying in? We will be in the Havana area. Just can't wait! [emoji1]

Only 28 pages for me to start to read though? Girl, let me hold my pearls!

Can't wait!

Kim,

LOVING the review! I'll be heading to read your other reports when I'm caught up with this one.

I'm only up to this post, so I don't know how many people have responded.

 

My mom brought one of the new puzzle books I got her and we could not figure this one out. Can anyone get it without using a calculator, and what was your strategy?

 

Here was my strategy:

There are a lot of low numbers, I thought 46 needed to be one, but I wasn't sure. So, I took the next three highest numbers (35, 36, 37) and that only gets you to 108. That made it clear 46 was one of the numbers. Next, I subtracted 46 from 114 and got 68. Then, it was a lot easier to get 37 and 31 to make the remaining 68.

Awesome review Kim!

Your reviews are always so fun - they are what gave me the confidence to go on my first solo cruise last year!!

Now I can't wait to plan my next one!

I see that your travel blog is going to go "live" this month - I've bookmarked it already and can't wait to read all your adventures!!

Spectacular review Kim. I spent July 4th afternoon reading it in its entirety and totally lost track of time. Oh well, the fireworks display can go on without me. :D I'm going to spend the evening reading your Splendor review.

 

Best wishes to you.

Awwwm thank you! I'm sorry you missed the fireworks because of me. lol I hope you enjoyed the Splendor review as well.

THANK YOU for this!! :D

 

And kudos for you to for standing your ground!

You're welcome, I hope it helps. And yes I will always stand up for myself (and anyone else for that matter) and for what's right.

Thanks for the fantastic review! You had me in stitches! Sounds like your birthday night was similar to one DH and I had once. :p How you've finally recovered. ;)

No joke, it took me 3 days to recover. :cool::eek: I'm glad you enjoyed my comical review.

What a birthday!! Love the hangover picture [emoji23]

Lol the struggle was real! That was a rough morning, but the birthday was great! :D

Love your reviews! My family and I are booked on the Vista in February 2017. I know your review in December will be everything we need to get ready for our cruise! Which cabin are you staying in? We will be in the Havana area. Just can't wait! [emoji1]

Awesome! I'm loving all the teasers JH is posting with Vista pictures. I'm staying in a basic inside cabin. I wanted to do this trip as cheaply as possible so I'm not going all out in one of the fancy ones. Maybe I can sneak down to the Havana area and get you some pictures though. ;)

Only 28 pages for me to start to read though? Girl, let me hold my pearls!

 

 

 

Can't wait!

Girl catch up! :p

Kim,

 

LOVING the review! I'll be heading to read your other reports when I'm caught up with this one.

 

I'm only up to this post, so I don't know how many people have responded.

 

 

 

 

Here was my strategy:

 

There are a lot of low numbers, I thought 46 needed to be one, but I wasn't sure. So, I took the next three highest numbers (35, 36, 37) and that only gets you to 108. That made it clear 46 was one of the numbers. Next, I subtracted 46 from 114 and got 68. Then, it was a lot easier to get 37 and 31 to make the remaining 68.

A few people posted their strategies. Pretty much what everyone else did is what I did, but it seemed to be trickier than it really was so we just quit after only a minute. Kim, are you smarter han a 5th grader? Nope. lol

Enjoy the reviews!

Awesome review Kim!

 

Your reviews are always so fun - they are what gave me the confidence to go on my first solo cruise last year!!

 

Now I can't wait to plan my next one!

 

I see that your travel blog is going to go "live" this month - I've bookmarked it already and can't wait to read all your adventures!!

Rock on girl! How was your first solo cruise? The blog is close to being ready. I'm pretty much done with Colombia, Vegas birthday last year, and Guatemala is almost done. Then I need to start on Nicaragua. I want them all to be finished before I publish any of them. I'm not as funny there as I am here, mostly very informative on it, but I do have a gazillion pictures, what is what everyone mostly wants.

What is your blog gonna be called?

What is your blog gonna be called?

The Jetsetter Girl :cool:

Kim,

Awesome review as always. I got back from our summer family land based vacation last night saying that a cruise is soooooo much better only to find your review! YAY!!! I'm looking forward to ours coming up in October.

Did you use your selfie stick to get the pics of you swimming with stingrays? If so, where did you store it? tee-hee!

What camera did you use to take your underwater pics? I always struggle with getting good pics of us in the water because I don't want to keep up with a camera.

Kim,

 

Awesome review as always. I got back from our summer family land based vacation last night saying that a cruise is soooooo much better only to find your review! YAY!!! I'm looking forward to ours coming up in October.

 

Did you use your selfie stick to get the pics of you swimming with stingrays? If so, where did you store it? tee-hee!

 

What camera did you use to take your underwater pics? I always struggle with getting good pics of us in the water because I don't want to keep up with a camera.

Totally agree there is nothing like a cruise.

I leave in 41 days for the dream. I would love to steal your video idea for my review