crusin'mom

I second going to Little French Key in Roatan. Amazing place and food and drinks were included. You have to walk just outside the port and then they will pick you up and take you there.

In Belize we used Belize Exotic Adventures to book a trip to the Howler Monkey Sanctuary and Altun Ha Mayan Ruins. It was a great trip. Private tour and our guide was great. We got to see a lot of Belize and have lunch a local place. I would highly recommend them and definitely use them again

We have done STT so many times I have lost count. Finally on our previous trip I said we have to get to STJ and Trunk, so we bought the bullet. It was an enjoyable trip, even in the rain, and we really enjoyed seeing the island. Was simple to do on our own. However in Jan. it was back to Megan’s for an easy beach day. STJ is beautiful and deserves to be seen but if time or cost is an issue then it is really simpler to do one of the STT beaches.

Thanks for the advice! Since this is our first time in STT then I'm thinking we will just explore there and save STJ and Trunk Bay for a future trip.

Hi Lulu! Thank you so much! :*

 

The beauty of Trunk and Cinnamon is worth the cost and time for sure, and the trip is a nice experience for sure. The Hirt ferry ride is very nice on a sunny day. And cruising does indeed introduce us to new destinations, and we’ve returned to many islands for longer visits as a result of that initial glimpse.

 

I should add that we are partial to Sapphire because we stay there when visiting on a land vacation. Nothing like staying right but the water and the soothing waves at night! We also love the beautiful, sapphire-colored water and soft sand of Sapphire, this is one bay we feel oozes with character. But all of these beaches are gorgeous!

 

Zach we did Trunk Bay on our very first cruise to STT as well, that was a lifetime ago it seems...Looks like we’ll be cruising there again with friends on their first cruise, and we’ll accompany them to STJ if that is their choice. I make it sound like a very rough day! :rolleyes: Especially enjoying drinks at the Beach Bar before heading back...;)

 

cruisin’mom, your port times are also a factor, and it looks like you will have ~6 hrs of free time in port. So your family can get a nice experience on STJ and ~4 hours on the beach, or a few hours and a walk about or lunch in a Cruz Bay. The alternative (eg Sapphire, Coke, our Secret Harbor) would give you ~5 hours of beach time. So it is your choice, and you really can’t go wrong with any choice. The weather forecast when you arrive may also affect your decision. But you can definitely do Trunk and experience what your father described if you feel it!

 

[EDIT] One bonus of staying on STT is you can enjoy Paradise Point for the view and walk back to the ship from the aerial tram as long as the Magic docks in Havensight.

Great thoughts! Thanks so much for your input. We may just check out Sapphire this time and enjoy a meal somewhere. We were wanting to check out Paradise Point so this scenario leaves time for that. Seems like time in port always flies by!

Thanks so much for your insight everyone! It is very greatly appreciated. I've ruled out the ship shore excursion now, as I can see it's not necessary. I've never done a shore excursion through the cruise line as I usually find better deals/experiences elsewhere anyway. I may just play it by ear now and see how the weather is that day. Nice weather we may make the trek to St John and if it isn't great that day then maybe just stay on St Thomas.

We are cruising to St Thomas and I had originally decided on going to St John to Trunk Bay after seeing so many gorgeous pictures of it. But upon finding out that we would need to take a taxi, then a ferry and then another taxi I started to wonder if it was worth the hassle. My dad has been to Trunk Bay though and he says its a must see. So I'm back to trying to decide if it's worth it or not. My back up plan was just to go to a beach on St Thomas, such as Magens Bay and also do the sky ride thing. Any advice on this is appreciated. If I do decide to go to Trunk Bay, would I be better off just booking the excursion through the cruise line? I'm worried about missing a ferry back or something and not getting back to the boat on time. But the cruise excursion only allows about an hour and a half at Trunk Bay :(

Help me decide! (I have a tendency to overthink everything! lol) Also, I'm travelling with 3 children. Thanks!

My family and I are chip people so we always bring about 3 bags of different kinds of chips onboard with us for every cruise and have never had any issues with this. We typically just throw them in a carry on bag. I think the last cruise we stopped at a store on the way to the port and grabbed them and my son just carried them on in the plastic grocery bag. Zero issues as long as the bags are still sealed :)

I was just there in November and we went to Paradise Cove. I had my three kids, ages 2,8, and 11 and mom my mom, age 56 with me and we all had a great day. It was a beautiful place with amazing snorkeling.

We went here during our cruise in November and it was great! I booked directly through their website. When we got off in port we were directed to an area to wait and a man came along from there and directed us all to a bus. It was maybe a 20 minute ride to get there. Once there we checked in and were given snorkel gear and listened to a briefing on where you could snorkel. The snorkeling here was amazing! The best I have ever seen. I swam with several sea turtles for a long time. Food was decent at the little bar there. I was there with 3 young children and they enjoyed it as well. We never felt a bit unsafe. They do a great job of knowing when you need to be back to the boat and announce when you need to start getting ready to head back. They take you back and drop you off right where you get back on the boat. I would highly recommend this place. Don't be afraid to book an excursion that's not through the cruise line. I have never booked one through the cruise line and we have never had any issues. Have a great time!

Glad to hear you had a great cruise. We will be taking our kids aged 11 and 12 for the 1st time in April. They want to know about the arcade lol did your older kids go and how was it?

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

We did visit the arcade a few times and they enjoyed it! It was bigger than I expected and had some fun games. Several crane machines, some racing games, skeeball, that big fish wheel game (not sure what it's called), and some very fun Pacman air hockey game that releases several small pucks every so often.

That's true. I've seen huge ones that block the hall.

We were all the way at the back of the ship so maybe that's why they were allowed to leave them parked where they were.

 

Glad to hear she is ok. I'm happy you guys had a good time. I tried to get the FTTF yesterday for our January sailing and it was sold out :(. I figured it would be a less stressful check in and boarding experience with the little one. We are both experienced cruisers however we haven't cruised since becoming parents and are hoping it will be a good experience. We booked the deluxe oceanview cabin with the extra half bath which includes a tub...it was marginally more expensive and we figured it was a wise move. We do have an umbrella stroller that we plan on taking. We're hoping he will sleep peacefully in it because we don't want our night to be over when he goes down. He sleeps well in it now but who knows with the change of environment.

 

We did not have FTTF and did just fine without it. Check in and boarding went very quickly and was a breeze! So I wouldn't worry too much if you are unable to get it. I've never cruised without kids so I don't know the difference, lol. But I'm sure you will still have a great time, it just may be a different than you're used to. My little one slept great on the ship, maybe the movement helped her.

 

My little one will be 13 months when I go on the Magic in January...any advise specific to sailing with a small toddler?

 

 

My little one did great on the cruise and the crew was wonderful to her. Someone was always stopping to interact with her and greet her. Crew offered to help me several times while I was carrying her through a buffet line, or offered to get my drink for me. Everyone was super helpful. We only had the shower in our room, but it was never an issue for us. I simply had her sit down and took the shower head down and gave her a little mini-shower. I also did not take a stroller with us. I wore her several times in a carrier, especially when getting on and off the ship. But when on the ship she loved to run down the hall to our room and walk the decks with us. It was one of her favorite things to do. The people in the room beside us did have a stroller which they left parked in the hallway every night, so if you take a stroller that's an option also. There seemed to always be a highchair free in the Lido buffet area and a high chair was always provided for us in the main dining room. My little one still takes a bottle before bed and we could usually get milk from the buffet before a certain time. But if there was none left there a simple call to room service would have it delivered to us in just a few minutes. My little one also decided to spike a fever and be a fussy butt our second day at sea, so we ended up visiting the medical center. The doctor there was great! She ended up having an ear infection and he gave her some antibiotics. She felt much better by the next day. I hated that she was sick at first, but its nice to know now that the medical center can help out at times like that.

Agreed, cracked me up!

 

Have they built a pool on Serenity?? LOL

 

How were food temps? I've started saying the first night I've had problems with hot food being only warm and don't want that to happen and it has helped a lot.

 

Did you use the spa?

No pool, lol.

I didn't get to use the spa :( Darn it for cruising with kids!

Our food temps were always good, didn't have any issues.

Just to reiterate, the lovely, and talented Mrs. Jones was on your cruise as well, and she had a FANTASTIC cruise. It was her 50th Carnival cruise, and according to her, her FAVORITE Carnival cruise as well. ;)

 

"SKY"

50th???? That's awesome! It was only my second one, but I certainly enjoyed it. Hopefully I make it to 50 cruises someday!

 

Thanks!

 

How early did the pool chairs fill up on sea days?

 

 

I didn't pay too much attention since we were usually up on the top at the waterworks area. The last sea day we went up around 9:30 and was able to easily get a seat up there. I would say around 11-3 were peak times for people using the pools and waterworks. Other times it wasn't too crowded.

Sailing in August...how were the lines? Did the ship seem crowded? Pool? I too will my 4 boys...did they like the kids club?

 

Thanks!

I think our cruise was pretty much to capacity, but I still didn't think it seemed too crowded. Certain times of day of course, the waterworks area would be crowded with kids and not too many empty chairs. But it always cleared out in late afternoon when the early diners would be getting ready for dinner. The pools were pretty crowded at times, but sometimes in the evenings would barely have anyone in them. I didn't think lines for food were ever too bad. On port days breakfast lines were a little longer, but still never took more than 10 minutes to get through. The line for Guys Burgers was often long when everyone was getting back on the ship after a day in port, but those guys crank those burgers out and it probably never took more than 5 minutes to get through the line. Probably the longest line I waited in was for the Pig and Anchor BBQ and it was maybe 10-15 minutes on the last sea day. My kids did enjoy the kids club and would ask to go to certain things on the schedule. Counselors seemed very nice!

How old are the kids? Did they enjoy the camps?[/quote

 

My kids are 10, 7 and 15 months. The youngest of course could not attend, but the older two did enjoy them. The counselors seemed very nice and were very helpful. They didn't spend a ton of time there since we were in port a lot, but they did enjoy it when they did go. My 10 year old loved the scavenger hunts they had and my 7 year old little boy enjoyed getting his video game fix in occasionally, lol. The last night they had a little party and decorated tshirts that the kids all signed.

Was the staff rude and lacking knowledge and not smiling?

 

Was the food on Lido awful?

 

Did you have bed bugs?

 

Will you never sail Carnival again and go back to Royal?

LOL! I did read that review and am convinced there must be 2 Carnival Magic's! I commented several times on how nice the staff was. I never encountered anyone who wasn't willing to go out of their way to help. We were constantly greeted with "good morning", "good evening", "have a great day", etc. I have a 15 month old and was offered help several times while holding her and going through food lines. They offered to carry my plate, bring me things, get my drink. I thought the staff was amazing!

I didn't have any complaints about the food either. I am a picky eater, but that's on me, not on Carnival. There was still always something that I liked and I certainly didn't go hungry!

No itchiness or bed bugs in our cabins. And I've only sailed on Carnival and have no plans on changing!

I was just on the Magic out of Port Canaveral, Western Caribbean itinerary. I don't really have the time or talent to write a giant day by day review but would be willing to try and answer any specific questions anyone has about the ship, ports, etc. I was travelling with children so I didn't get to do/visit every where on the ship. Our ports were also rearranged due to medical emergency on the ship, so we did not get to visit Mahogany Bay as planned.

We made the mistake of leaving our little one home on our first cruise after she entered our lives. We were MISERABLE the whole time, and couldn't wait to get off the ship. So ignore anyone who may say to leave him home, citing "they won't remember a thing". The thinking is wrong. It would be THE TWO OF YOU that would be missing those memories.

 

We altered our previous cruising life when we took her on the next, and every subsequent cruise. We got a balcony room so that when she went down, we were right outside.

 

You don't really need a bath, but if your so inclined, just bring a blow up thing they can bath in. We just washed her down with the removable shower head.

 

And we went about our cruise pretty much as normal, even the shows. Eating was fun, as we got to sample differnet things off both menus.

The staff was attentive, and played to her at all encounters.

 

All such happy memories. She's off to college next month <sniff sniff>

I'm glad someone else sees things the same way I do. I never considered leaving my little one home. I want the memories that we will make together. And I would worry about her the whole time I was gone and not be able to enjoy myself. I think as long as you are flexible and understand that with a baby, you may have to alter some of your plans, that you can still have a great time!

I am cruising next week with my little one on the Magic. She turns 15 months on the day we board. So after we get back I'd be glad to let you know how it went and any tips I may have.

I was curious if anyone left the stroller at home completely and just used a baby carrier? I have a breathable mesh carrier I wanted to bring and wondered if I could get by with just that? He can sleep in it and I don't have to worry about trying to maneuver a stroller around other people.

 

Any baby wearers out there with insight!?

I'm curious too! I will be taking my 15 month on her first cruise next month and am debating on if I even need to drag a stroller along. I plan on taking our Tula and would rather just wear her when need be then deal with a stroller I think.

Thanks for your review! We are a little under 2 weeks away from our cruise on the Magic! Looking forward to seeing the fun times :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this! I'm also on the July 9th cruise and this will come in very handy :)

I loved both ships, but the Dream is by far my favorite ship of any that I've been on. I've had 3 sailings on Dream, and they are 3 of my 4 best cruises out of 15 that I've taken. Having said that, Magic does have several things that Dream does not have: Guys burgers, Blue Iguana cantina (although Dream still has unbranded burgers & a lunch burrito bar), an extra-pay Italian restaurant for dinner (but both ships have the same free pasta bar for lunch), the Red Frog Pub, and a ropes course. Of all those, the ropes course is the only thing I would find myself missing on the Dream.

 

Dream does have better entertainment overall, but the Magic's entertainment is still quite good. Magic has an incredible magic (illusion) show, and Dream has the amazing "Dancing in the Streets" show. Both are their respective specialty shows. After the Magic was built, Carnival moved away from this type of entertainment. Both ships still have live music for the shows. Dream has the incredible Blackjack Band playing in the oceans plaza, my favorite of all the cover bands, and very friendly people. I've cruised with them 6 times, and they remember me every time. I had some great talks with them during breaks or after their sets on my last cruise.

 

So either ship would be great. For the ship, I lean towards the Dream. For the itinerary, Magic's is better, with the extra port. It does seem odd that ships coming from Port Canaveral can get to the ports & back quicker than ships coming from NOLA or Galveston, but that's how it is, allowing for the 4th port. I've cruised out of NOLA once, and it was nice & interesting, but I do prefer the more tropical feel of sailing out of PC.

Thanks so much for the info!