Terab85

Awesome review!!!  Makes me so excited for our cruise in 18 more days.  Looking forward to your Transatlantic cruise.  Thinking of doing something like that in 2025. 

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

I still recommend Jack’s for those reasons—the beach is awesome, you are away from the ships at the port, and the crowd really thins out that far down the beach. Also, the jerk chicken was quite good, just expensive and a long wait if you want some around noon.

I agree.  We like the location more than anything.  I'll make sure to pay attention to the time so if we do order food, I'll do it earlier. 

On 3/24/2023 at 11:16 PM, BasicSailor said:

I've been to Jacks maybe six or seven time and found your comments to be exact. Even food poising for a friend that said he would never go back.🤮

That's such a bummer.  We were there last April and everything was fine but we only got one round of drinks.  I did order food which took a little while (maybe 20 minutes) but otherwise we just hung out on the beach and in the water.  Still nice to be away from the crowds.  We'll check it out next month and see if anything has improved. 

On 3/23/2023 at 10:05 AM, TravelBluebird said:

We are at Jack’s Shack right now!  Very overcast day so no sun and I can’t see those beautiful blue water hues I do love here. It’s drizzled a bit but we are under umbrellas.

 

we got off the ship at 8:15 to get loungers and umbrellas right by the water.  Almost 10–lots of loungers still available (second row).   Might be the overcast weather, or all the families are at Margaritaville.  Two ships I port We are here with a HAL ship.  
 

We watched the dive and tour boats leave and now it’s peace and quiet.  About to have a Mojito—heck it’s 5 o’clock somewhere! 😂

 

For those who have come here for years—Janet and Jack sold the shack to employees and retired to Canada!  Topher passed and they took the other dogs with them.  So no dogs today. Shack was damaged in hurricane and it’s been rebuilt—quite nice, improved bar area.  But not the same—it’s like Jack’s 2.0.  Still a great spot and worth the walk down the beach, and running the gauntlet of locals wanting to sell you a beach chair or braid your hair.

 

Two umbrellas and loungers.  $23.  Out of mint so drinking a rum punch.  Russ having the jerk chicken for breakfast—$17.  Gone up! Still good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the update about Jack's.  We'll be there in a few weeks. 

On 3/17/2023 at 8:56 PM, TravelBluebird said:

Our friends picked up their luggage exactly when we did; we met in the middle on the way to each other’s baggage claim!

 

Got a taxi at the airport (larger taxis were just sitting there, and we didn’t want to fuss with Uber. It was expensive—$130, not including tip  But considering a shared shuttle from MCO to hotels in the area would be around $25 per person or up, the extra $$ went to convenience.

 

Our hotel the Towne Place Suites is very nice! Big sitting area downstairs, pool, fire pits, restaurant, free breakfast in the morning, very nice front desk people. We ended up with a lovely room; definitely a free upgrade for being Lifetime Gold in Marriott because we booked a much cheaper room with the kitchen right in with the beds, and no view. We ended up with a lovely view of the water (not the port side) and a separate little kitchen area in the entrance.

 

We dropped off our bags, freshened up, and headed out to Fishlips for an early dinner. At first we thought of walking (25 minute walk) but when we realized we would have to walk on roads and grass, not good or safe walking all the way, we just took an Uber. Only $7.80 plus tip; showed right up (Uber X).

A word about getting to the cruise ship tomorrow. The hotel DOES have a shuttle but it doesn’t start till 10:30am. We have a 10am check in time (all in suites). We considered just taking the shuttle, but all feel like heck, we are allowed to be on the boat early, we want to be on the boat early! Hotel via phone before we arrrived said that they had some drivers they worked with and would hook us up with one when we arrived. This was not true.

 

SO, we pre-booked an Uber X for 9:45.  We hope we all fit in one with our luggage. VERY expensive; clearly surge pricing…$48!  Sigh. We decided we would just suck it up for $12 a person and take the Uber X.  Clearly we are not making smart financial decisions so far this cruise!

 

I’ll break here for some hotel//room photos, then I’ll post about our dinner and the Space X launch! Have 2 Queen beds because King rooms sold out; view is of the Springhill Suites and water beyond that. When I return home, I’ll also post some longer videos//reviews of port, hotel etc both here and on my Cruising With Dee YouTube channel.

 

 

 

 

We stayed at that Springhill Suites last April and it was very nice.  We are also Marriott Gold members and they always give us a upgrade when we arrive. We're staying at the Courtyard in Titusville in a few weeks because they wanted way too many points this year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great review!!  We're doing a B2B on the MG for the first time next month and so glad since it seems there are so many places to eat and drink that a week isn't enough. Super excited to try Emeril's and hang out at the Fortune Teller Bar. 

13 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

After my doctor's visit I will send some more pics (of the cruise,  not me). Peace.

I'm sorry that this happened to you.  Hopefully nothing serious and your recovery is quick.

13 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Gather, cross the gangway and down the ramp, 3 minute line,  face photo taken,  back on board. 

Awesome!  Thanks!  I know depending on the size of the B2B group, that could change. 

On 2/11/2023 at 9:23 AM, IntrepidFromDC said:

B2B gathering. My new cabin is just down the hall from my old one. They let me "move in" to the new cabin at 8am.

How was the process on the MG?  We've done it on two other ships and both processes were a little different.

Looking forward to more of your review, especially the B2B process on the MG since we'll be doing that in April. 

6 hours ago, sunshower9 said:

That's what I thought too.  I asked on John Heald's Facebook page if he had any info but I was told that it's due to "operational issues," which tells me nothing lol.

Operational issues?  2 years from now? *lol* 

45 minutes ago, sunshower9 said:

I got the same email.  Wondering why they changed it so far in advance.  I was looking forward to visiting St. Kitts for the first time, but I'm sure I'll be happy with St. Thomas.

I had the same thought about it being so far in advance and thought maybe St Kitts was going to be doing some port construction.  

We just got an email changing St Kitts to St Thomas for our April 2024 cruise.  Anyone know why?  Not that I'm complaining but was just curious. It would have been our second trip to St Kitts but always wanted to go to St Thomas. 

We did our first B2B on the Horizon Sept 2021.  We received a B2B photo and a bowl of fruit, no champagne. This trip we had to change cabins, so that was a little bit of a drag.  Our second one was on the Magic in April 2023, we had the same cabin which was great and did receive fruit & champagne.  Both these and the 2 we have booked in the future are all 14 days (8 + 6 and 7 + 7).   

We're on the same cruise as you and lucky enough the cruise after.  Can't wait!!!

3 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

You're going to hear noise . The theater is loud. This question has been asked and answered over the years. Just passing along what was said 

Thanks!  I'm usually better about looking but thought since we were 2 decks up we'd be good.  Oh well...

Just realized we booked a cabin right above the Imax on deck 9 on the Vista.  Any problems with noise?

I don't think they will reinstate FTTF until they start increasing the capacity.

On 2/25/2022 at 10:50 AM, maxandmolly said:

We are booked to sail in the Magic 5/1 out of Port Canaveral. Most of my cruises have been on Fantasy class ships (I can’t remember what ship we were in god our honeymoon but it did have a steakhouse). What’s different besides the pax capacity?  What is the Serenity area like?  On Fantasy ships it’s little more than after thought. What should we absolutely do?  We have the steakhouse reserved but other than that what do we need to try?  I know nothing about this class of ship other than what I’ve seen on the deck plans!

We're on the same cruise.  We sailed on the Magic in 2017 and it was one of our favorites.  Just big enough.  Cucina does lunch but they also do a great dinner for $15.  Totally worth it if you like Italian food.  We loved the Serenity on it.  Much better than on the Horizon which we thought was cramp.

We did our first B2B in September and we also had to change cabins.  We had everything from our room packed in our suitcases except for what was hanging in our closet and by the time we got through customs and back on, we were able to go to our new cabin and everything was there for us to unpack again.  Double check with your room steward and we made sure to tip them both (our old one and our new one). 

We received a fruit basket on the 2nd leg of our B2B in September.  We're doing another B2B in April, so maybe we'll get lucky and score a bottle of champagne. 

Does anyone know the surcharge amount for extra guests for the villa?  I try clicking on it from the Carnival site but it just takes me to the food/beverage site.

17 hours ago, eyern1 said:

It was NOT in effect on the MAGIC in October. No happy hour on embarkation or any other day that I recall.

Friends were just on the Magic a week ago and he said they had it.  Maybe they started it back up as ship capacity has increased.

11 hours ago, mcgore83 said:

Guest services called us on boarding day to come down and select our villa.  We chose Villa A.  Loved it!

So we could probably go right to Guest Services when we board?

We are renting a Beach Villa on HMC for the first time.  Last time we did a cabana but that was years ago.  How do we pick which villa we want or do they get picked for us?  The email said that we would receive tickets in our stateroom.  Any help would be appreciated.