Gamecock1216

I really liked the Beach Comber in the Red Frog Bar. Really tasty!

Y'all are so adorable! What a great trip you had! Thanks for sharing!

I was on the Magic last week. Arrival was delayed due to a medical evacuation on Thursday that caused about a 5-6 hour delay and they were never able to make up the time due to engine issues. We didn't get to leave the ship until close to 3:00 Saturday. The port was a mess, but we made it out with minimal delays.

Loving the review! I just want to tell you how grateful I am for your reviews, we are semi-rookies at cruising and are leaving Saturday on the Magic with the whole family in tow. Your reviews and Patti's wonderful pictures have really given me lots of knowledge and things to look forward to. My husband & I will drink a Thirsty Frog Red in your honor!

Small world! I grew up in Roanoke then Botetourt County before moving down here with my wife 15 years ago.

 

We're a family of 4 as mentioned with 2 kids and we just had them drive us around for the day. Since it was a private driver, I gave him $20 + bought his lunch so around $30 total I'd say. Normally I just tip $20 and buy their lunch.

 

Thanks for reading my review! I love doing reviews. They're almost as much as planning since I get to mentally relive the vacay. ;)

 

(BTW looking at your screen name I am guessing you're a UScar fan? My little cousin graduated from there. Most of my family lives in the Greer/Spartanburg area. I myself went to Carolina. I'm a Tar Heel. :)

Thanks for the answer- it gives me something to go on for sure. My husband & I are both USC grads and we love the Gamecocks. Goooo Cocks!!

Great review! We will be on Magic this Saturday. I read along on your blog and noticed that you guys live near Roanoke. That's my hometown, so it made me a bit homesick, even though I've been gone a long time. What a great area!

Can I ask- we have a tour on Roatan through Victor Boddin and wondered what will be an appropriate tip for our driver? We are just trying to plan cash and wondered what to expect. Thanks again for the great review!

We are also on this sailing. I tend not to believe weather forecasts this many days out. I'm keeping fingers crossed for good weather.

Question about Bodden tours and tipping. We have the Fun and Sun tour booked with a visit to the sloth/monkey farm and a beach stop. I know we should tip our guide. Do we have a separate driver too? What is the standard amount for tipping? There will be 5 of us. We, especially my teenage daughters, are really looking forward to this excursion. I just want to be prepared. I will agree with others that Victor has been very easy to work with so far and responds very quickly.

Did you email the ship maître d?

What is the email address for Magic? We have a somewhat similar situation, except our 2 bookings are split (one with YTD and one with Late) and I've tried multiple times to get it fixed and haven't made headway over the phone. I would love to have this settled before our trip June 9. We (5 of us) would prefer YTD, but at least we all need the same!

I'm one of *those* planners - you know the one with a spreadsheet with 13 tabs. That said, I've been saving the best tips for years now and recently added ones from a Cheers thread that I will include here too. Hope this helps!

These were really helpful and full of good explanations for relative newbie (also a Type A planner!) like myself. Thanks for posting.

They are great! Your son will look perfect.

Just booked the Fun & Sun tour for our June 13 stop. Victor was very quick to respond and was pleasant to deal with. Excited for the trip!

49 days until we sail on the Magic!

Nice review. I was happy to read about your daughter enjoying Circle C. We are taking our (also shy) 13 year old daughter on the Magic in June and I really want her to find people her age to have fun with.

Thanks friends! I did my bookings and paid with gift cards and saved almost $15 per booking. It was really quite easy.

I booked a spa treatment online for my wife last week using a gift card. Super easy. What is the 15% promo code?

ESPA15. Maybe it would work if you canceled that booking and started fresh?

I was wondering if it would even charge me now? Maybe I can just book now and get the 15% and pay once we board?

I'm new to Carnival gift cards and don't want to mess things up, so I came straight to the experts here. We purchased AARP gift cards (thanks to all the advice here) and would like to use them to pay for some spa bookings now since they have a 15% off code right now. I'm thinking I would load them into my account and book the spa treatments using those funds. Would this work?

We are on the Magic June 9 and are so excited. I wanted to book these spa treatments in the Teen Spa as a surprise for our teenage daughters and the 15% is too good to miss. I keep telling myself I am really saving 25% including the 10% we saved on the gift card. Cruise logic!

This exact situation is happening to us. Two bookings, originally at Late Dining, trying to move both to Your Time. I've gotten one switched over but am waitlisted on the other. I called and they were no help at all, which I just can't understand. I feel encouraged that maybe I can get it straight pre cruise.

Following along. We are on the Magic June 9. Y'all sound like my husband & I- we give people names too...lol... and love to people watch. We were back and forth on the Cheers program, but I'm glad to read your account.

Sorry about Belize- that is so disappointing.

Enjoying the review!

Could someone please post a link to where you can purchase the AARP gift cards? I have searched their website to no avail. Thank you!

We are scheduled at 8:15 too and I tried to get switched to anytime dining and was waitlisted. Is waiting until we board to try and switch the best strategy for us as well?

Really enjoyed the review. We will be on the Magic in June and while we aren't first time cruisers, we aren't professionals like you all! I enjoyed following along with your adventures and the food pictures were great. We have already booked Mr. Sanchos and your review confirmed we made a good choice.

I'm glad to see this. We will be on the Magic in June with our 13 year old and 17 year old daughters. I have been pushing the Club activities to my 13 year old. She is scared no one will talk to her. You know how girls this age are so self concious. I told her she needed to go the first day and at least try it. If she doesn't like the initial meet up, fine. She is welcome to hang with us, I just thought she would enjoy things with kids her age. This is her first cruise and she doesn't know what to expect.

She would be able to text us via the Hub app to come get her if she didn't want to stay, correct? I haven't sailed on Carnival in many years so these boards have been very helpful!