A MAGICal Cruise Review 5/10 - 5/17/2015

We were on the Magic 5/10 to 5/17. Myself, DH, and our twin 19 year old boys were traveling. Our experience:

Road trip: We made a short visit to New Orleans, spending an afternoon/evening and morning/afternoon there. We stayed at the Courtyard near the Convention Center (on points) – it was easy walking to the French Quarter. We had dinner at Port of Call (referred by many cruisers) on Friday night. It was a great burger, but be warned – if visiting during normal dinner hours be prepared to wait a while – seating is very limited. We ate around 6:00pm and waited about 10-15 minutes. When we came out, there were about 25 people waiting for a table. Breakfast the next morning was, of course, Café du Monde. We went to the one at Riverwalk because it was closer to our hotel and we had to check out by noon. After checking out, we found a meter and parked for about $3.00 to walk around a little more. We bought lunch to go at Johnny’s Po-Boys – I found them on line and chose them because they had everything that would accommodate our family (DH & DS wanted seafood po-boys, other DS just wanted a meat sandwich, and I wanted a muffaletta). This place was pretty good, but be warned – they accept cash & travelers checks only and are a little pricey.

Pre-cruise hotel stay: I originally reserved a room at the Hampton in Galveston to the tune of $225+. After some consideration, we changed to a Hampton in League City, about 20 miles north (directly towards Houston) for 12,000 points plus $56.00. We had a Hilton gift card that we won in an online contest that they held a few months ago, so the stay cost us $6.00 out of pocket. This left us a short drive on Sunday morning. I can say that I have never driven in such WIND before. We were in a Chevy Astro van, which was just pushed all over the road in the wind (especially when crossing the bridge to the island).

Embarkation: Easy. We used the EZ parking across the street from the terminal. DH dropped us and all our luggage off – we gave the checked bags to the porter and then he and one of the boys went to the parking lot. I had paid the discounted rate that did not include a shuttle ride back to the port, and DH said that worked out great. Priority line had no waiting and we were aboard the ship within 10-15 minutes after entering the terminal.

Ship: Was awesome. We have not been on a ship this size before. I was impressed with the decorating on this ship when compared to others. We spent a lot of time in Ocean Plaza – it was a nice little hang out place. We did the ropes course – it was fun. Boys participated in some of the sports activities on the court and had fun. Mini-golf course was in pretty good shape. We enjoyed the outside deck around deck 5.

Room: We booked a guarantee inside for 4 people. We were assigned a 4F on Deck 7. This was a decent location – right between the aft and midship elevators (or stairwells, since that is our exercise plan for the week), and 2 floors up from Promenade / 3 floors down from lido. The four in a room was okay, but not optimum. It was difficult if we wanted to nap in the afternoon – the beds come out of the ceiling and are put up every morning and brought back down at turndown time. We took turns in the afternoon – the boys would get shower/nap time and then us. Once I sent all 3 of the guys to the gym to shower while I showered in the room – that allowed us all to be ready quicker.

Dining: We chose assigned dining, late seating. We have used YTD maybe 3 times – we have never been overly pleased with it so we decided to do assigned (plus, travelling with a DS with peanut allergy and felt like it could be managed better with only one wait person responsible). The food was good – I certainly got my monies worth travelling with two 19 year old boys! They would go to breakfast then have pizza. Go to lunch then have pizza and ice cream mid-afternoon. Go to Taste Bar at 5:30, then dinner at 8:15. Around midnight? More pizza and ice cream. We ate at the buffet every day for breakfast with the exception of one sea day brunch. The brunch waiter seemed a little frazzled. For lunch we sampled the buffet, Mongolian Wok and Tandoor. We ate at the Cucina for lunch (free) on the last sea day – it was very crowded and we had about a 15 minute wait for a seat. Note to self: next time, don’t wait until the last sea day! DH had lasagna and I had pasta with meat sauce and Italian sausage – it was very good! We also visited the pizza (decent), ice cream, chocolate extravaganza (last sea day) and Taste Bar during the week. Also went to tea time on Thursday (it was our late, light lunch and just the perfect size after eating all week). We did not order room service. We sampled some of the offerings in the Red Frog Rum Bar. The conch fritters were a little chewy – would not order them again. The grouper fingers were terrific – I would order those all day long! The sliders must have been good – they disappeared before I got to try any.

Personnel: Our room steward was Hamid and he was very good. He helped take care of my 3 bags of platinum laundry. He kept our ice bucket and our collapsible cooler full of ice. Our dining room staff was Thadeo, Oleksandra, and Abdioka. They were great. I was very confident that they were taking care of the peanut allergy that we had. Each night Thadeo would bring the next night’s menu to DS for his order for the next day. They made recommendations on the menu each night. We were assigned a booth for 4 people (would have enjoyed a large table). I was a little surprised at how empty the dining room was during the week – some tables were empty all week long – other groups attended maybe 3 out of 7 nights. The booth next to ours (with a glass divider in between) held a couple with a toddler – they arrived one night at 8:45 for dinner. I really think they should close the doors after 8:30. We enjoyed Eli the Cruise Director. He was quite personable. He is from New Zealand – one DS is still walking around my house speaking in that accent! We did a lot of trivia and that was usually with Misty from Canada (whom we quickly dubbed “Canadian Mist-y” – some of you will get it). We won a sports trivia and got a ship on a stick!

Entertainment: We really enjoyed being back on a large ship – there was a classic rock band and a show band! Both were very entertaining. We also enjoyed very much the group Me and My Cousin – two guys performing singer/songwriter type music. Be sure you check them out. We enjoyed the shows we attended. We attended several of the comedy shows – all were good. There was a burlesque show one night – it was entertaining (the illusionist who performed on the ship was also involved in this show).

Past Guest Party: I’m including this since it’s been a hot topic the last couple of weeks. DH & I are platinum – the boys are not, so they didn’t attend with us. The event was held on the last sea day from 4:45 to 5:30 in the show lounge. The seats were just about 100% full with people standing all around the back wall (held only on the lower level). Platinum guests were asked to stand at one time – I would guess maybe 50 or 60 people stood. It was announced that there were 6 Diamonds on board.

Ports of Call: In Cozumel, we went to Paradise Beach. Taxi fare was $15.00 each way before tip. I thought that if you purchased the wrist band that you did not pay $3 for the chair, but if it was that way once it has been changed. We were charged $42 (pay in cash upon arrival) for 2 wristbands at $15 each and 4 chairs at $3 each. We purchased a bucket of beers and 2 frozen drinks while there. The ocean water was very murky and the ocean bed was a lot “muddier” than I remember – you would sink into the floor. When I got back to the ship and stripped, I cannot tell you all of the places in which I had mud stuck to me!

In Belize, we went through cavetubing.bz and did the cave tubing / zip lining combo. This was our first time zip lining, and we will definitely be doing it again! We were running late on time, so unfortunately our lunch was served “to go” on the bus ride back (but on the bright side, they were mindful of the time). I got a chicken leg, DH got a wing, with rice & beans, a spoonful of slaw and a bottle of water. After lunch they passed out rum punch to the adults.

In Roatan, we booked with Roatan Ocean Adventures (ROA) for a one mile drift snorkel. This was cancelled due to high winds and rough water. In fact, when we were at the dock ready to get on the boat to go to the snorkel site, the tour guide told us that if the ship had been docking at that moment there would only have been a 50/50 chance that we would have gotten into port. We were taken instead to lobster city, which is inside the reef and so protected somewhat from the wind and waves. It was only our family and the guide + one helper, so it turned out to be a private excursion. It was really great snorkeling – we saw lots of spiny lobsters, some cuttlefish, some conch, lots of good coral and brightly colored fish. We covered a lot of area. DS bumped his knee on some coral and got a small cut that bled for quite a while – it was a little shallow in some places.

Debarkation: Easy. We chose to put our bags out in the hall before 11:00 on Saturday night and meet the Platinum group for debark at 8:00am. I believe it was about 8:15 when were led out. Customs was pretty quick and we found a spot to sit with the luggage while DH went to pick up the car across the street.

Anecdotes: On the first sea day, DH went to the BBQ line. The lady in front of him was asking a server if he was new, as she didn’t recognize him and she had been on the Magic 3 weeks out of the last month or so. He exclaimed that he was not new. She then asked him if he knew who she was, as she was the “one with the service dog”. However, the curious part of this story is that the service dog was not with her at the time, which would lead me to believe that it is not a real service dog. I can’t think of any of the jobs that they do wherein they are not with their human 24/7. Perhaps I’m wrong. We did see her with the dog later in the week.

We were talking with a waiter while in Belize and looking at the Sunshine who was anchored near us. He asked us if we had been on her – we replied no. We asked him if he had been on her – he replied, “Oh, please no”. I jokingly said that it was bad luck to change a ship’s name and implied that there might be issues. He commented that “for guests, it is fine, but I hear that the crew quarters flood all of the time on that ship”.

We had a great time on the Magic. It was probably our last big vacation with our boys (we have two older kids, but have always referred to the twins as “the boys). We really had no issues at all on this cruise and had no real complaints. My focus was on making sure the boys had a good time, and as long as there was food available they were happy! I will admit that by the end of the week we were all ready to get off that ship, just because we had been spending a lot of time in close quarters, but all in all it was a great cruise.

I will be happy to answer any questions you have about the Magic.

Thanks for the review! I'm going to be on in a few weeks. Did you spend any time in the casino? When I was on, they had machines that were shaped like slots, but you could play blackjack on them. Wondering if they still have them.

Thanks for the review! I'm going to be on in a few weeks. Did you spend any time in the casino? When I was on, they had machines that were shaped like slots, but you could play blackjack on them. Wondering if they still have them.

Sorry, I can't really help with that - I only spent about 15 minutes in the casino on a poker machine.

Thanks for the review! I leave in 23 days. :D

Did you have the old menus in the MDR or have the new American Table menus been rolled out yet?

Great post thanks.

Thanks for the review! I leave in 23 days. :D

 

Did you have the old menus in the MDR or have the new American Table menus been rolled out yet?

We had the old menus, but I believe the Magic is getting the American Table before the end of May. I will look forward to your review of the new menus (well, really, I'll just look forward to your entire review!)

And, I continue to look for you everytime I pass through the Atlanta airport! :D

Entertainment: We really enjoyed being back on a large ship – there was a classic rock band and a show band! Both were very entertaining. We also enjoyed very much the group Me and My Cousin – two guys performing singer/songwriter type music. Be sure you check them out. We enjoyed the shows we attended. We attended several of the comedy shows – all were good. There was a burlesque show one night – it was entertaining (the illusionist who performed on the ship was also involved in this show).

Was the burlesque show called "A Kiss Goodnight" by any chance? I saw that one twice when we sailed on the Triumph and the second time I caught the show, I was sitting by myself waiting for the show to start and a GIRL hit on me.:D

IPlayWithString, for some reason I can't use the quote to answer you.

Yes, it was "A Kiss Goodnight".

Lol. :p

I might go see that again if it's still playing when we get on in a couple weeks.

DH goes to bed early, so I'm usually all by myself for late night stuff.