Beagleluv6107

We were at the spot and started snorkeling around 10am. They gave us 90 minutes and honestly that is enough when you are swimming the whole time. Hubby and I had our very own snorkel masks for this trip. They worked very well. But... they are funny looking. While everyone else went snorkeling, I was busy amusing myself with selfies with this crazy mask on my face. I laugh every time I see these. I just had to share!!!

Hello Mlshum, 10/06 is right around the corner. That's fantastic. Your going to have a wonderful trip. Bermuda was so beautiful. We loved our time there. Thanks for reading along!

This is our mascot for the day Tito – Very easy to remember because we drank Tito’s and Cranberry all cruise long. I believe our Captain said we were headed to a good spot near Daniels Head. The coolest fish in the area is the parrot fish and there is an $80,000 fine for catching one. Luckily, we were not on a fishing trip... just merely observing! So beautiful!!

We had to have a mask on to walk off the ship and through the duty-free shop. I didn’t bring any masks with me, so we grabbed two from guest services. The second we walked off the ship, I spied our ride for the day. The Restless Native. She stands out in a crowd. We loved how close it was so very little walking. The front seating areas were taken by the time we boarded, which worked out great as it started to rain a little and we were cozy and dry inside. We also got to talk to one of the crew for almost the entire ride to our snorkel spot. Some of the highlights were how expensive everything in Bermuda is these days. Currently it is $65 for a case of beer. $10 per gallon of gas. The average 1 bedroom studio apartment is $2000 per month. Everything on the island is imported. They do make Rum there, but it’s shipped to Kentucky to be bottled and then comes back to Bermuda. Here's plenty of pics.

Day 3 – Saturday, August 13th – Bermuda Good Morning and Welcome to Bermuda!! Not one of us had ever been there so this was exciting. I was up and raring to go at 7am. I had to wait until 8am to get a Bloody Mary and our excursion was at 9am. 😕 This was going to be close. I sat at the Red Frog at 7:45 patiently waiting for 8am. DH headed to the Omelet Station and said he’d come back and eat with me. By the time I got my drink, it was cutting it way to close with these long lines. I found DH and told him I was getting a burrito and heading to the room to eat and gather up what we needed for the day. We were to meet the squad at the Lobby bar at 8:40am to walk off the ship. I am not sure what time the ship was cleared but, I believe it was well after our scheduled time of 8am.

We went back to the room to rest our bellies for a few minutes. I changed into jeans and a light sweater thinking we would head to comedy or somewhere indoors. We met the rest of the gang back at the pool bar. It was hot and muggy, and I was over dressed. I ordered a “Funship” to get back into the swing of things. Then I met a really sweet couple. I called her the Blue Long Island Lady. She talked me into trying a long island iced tea with blue curacao. Very Tasty! I didn’t get a pic. We stayed there until it was time for the Mega Deck Party. I went to change into something lighter because I thought I’d be dancing. It was quite the deck party! I didn’t dance and it was windy and cool where I stood. I had to laugh... I just couldn’t get it right. It was 5xs the crowd that the Freedom had for their Mega Deck Party. This place was jumping. It was fun to watch. Our CD, Ryan Rose, cracked me up every time he did the “Carlton”. After getting some pizza, we were back in the room around 11:20. It was such a fun night, and we didn’t do much but just hand out. Up next – Bermuda!

I had the cream of mushroom soup, baby spinach salad and CMC. DH had the shrimp cocktail but I can't find the pic. He also had the meatball soup and prime rib. He said it was fatty but tasted better than it looked.

Then it was time to liven up the party with a drink. I did take a picture of the price of the steakhouse. It’s $42 per person. Did it used to be $35? I headed back to the room to get a shower around 4:30ish. Before dinner, I walked up to deck 11 to get my hair dry. It was crazy windy. It only took about 10 minutes. 2 of the squad members headed for Sushi instead of the MDR. The other 2 hit the buffet. So, we had a date night… just me and the Hubs. It was fun.

I was back in the room by 10:27am. Here's my lil guy. And here's the one in our friends room. Time to hydrate!!! DH went out to join the boys. I finally had my phone working and saw I had text messages from the Boss that I needed to deal with. Then I rested my eyes until the captain came over the speaker in the cabins. I love how all announcements start off “Hello Magic Family”. It makes me feel like I’m on a Harry Potter Cruise and I have special powers. He gave the rundown of longitude, latitude and how deep the water was. He mentioned a few entertainment options closed due to choppy seas and asked that we all use the handrails. Now I know why I was so sleepy. We did have choppy seas and I felt the boat rocking. About that time, I realized I could use a beer. I headed up to the Lido about noon to lay in the sun with the girls and I happened to notice the line to the buffet was all the way to the elevators. These poor people. I felt bad for them. I guess we really were sailing at full capacity. That was horrible. I think around 1pm we went to Guys Pig & Anchor for some lunch. I didn’t get a plate because I was too nervous to walk it back to our table. It was that windy. I asked for a little mac & cheese and handed the server a cup to put it in. That was a little sad looking cup, so I didn’t bother with any pics. I took a walk around to get some pictures.

The squad met us at 9:30 and I requested our table for brunch. Table #545 was ready in less than 10 minutes. I had the Brunch Burger for the first time ever. It was great. I also had the Banana Cream Pie. I only order this for the butterscotch ice cream. It did not disappoint. DH and one of the girls both ordered steak and there was a little confusion on whose was whose so I took a picture of both.

Day 2 – Friday, August 12th – Sea Day It’s a new day and a new me!!!! I have no idea what got into me yesterday. Today was a new day and I was ready… maybe. Since we went to sleep immediately after pizza at 10, we were both wide awake at 6am. I read on previous reviews that nothing opens until 8am as far as getting a drink. I tried to confirm that on my Hub App, but it kept kicking me out. After DH went and grabbed some coffee, we went wandering to see what was going on. I went to guest services. I told the Rep the Hub App wasn’t working and she didn’t seem to care and just handed me a Funtimes and pointed me to the Lobby Bar. I did remember to ask at what capacity we were sailing, and she said “Full”. I figured as much by the lines I had seen at the buffet and burger spot. I walked over to the Lobby Bar and was quickly told it was not open yet. That didn’t surprise me because I was still thinking it was 7:30am. We walked to the Red Frog to patiently wait until 8am when lo and behold, it was really 8:30am. Whoohoo!! The ship had changed to Bermuda time. I didn’t realize that because my Hub App wasn’t working. I logged out and shut my phone down and then logged back in. That did the trick and it worked after that. I was able to screen shot our total expenses for the day before. DH $150.26 and me $29.19. I sent that to my in-laws but neglected to tell them he bought me 2 beers and 2 Funships. teehee... I know, that was shady. 😉 Hello Bloody Mary, you look marvelous today! Mine is the normal looking one. DH has to pepper everything to death so that's his. It was a little gloomy out at the moment. I now realize my camera was 2 hours off.

Hello Weeziblu, I am so happy that your getting ready to set sail on Saturday. Your going to have so much fun! Enjoy every bite of that Pizza!!! 😊

Awe, thank you so much Kelkel2! I really appreciate you reading along 😎

After dinner Hubby and I went straight to the Red Frog Pub. I think it was about 8pm. On the Breeze in 2019, they had these very tasty chickpea snacks. I asked and they said they have nothing these days. Our friends showed up at 8:30 and I left to go to the room. I was still not feeling like myself. I was in bed asleep by 9pm. The Hubby came in around 9:45 and I popped up like a top. He was a bit in shock and thought I’d be knocked out cold. He asked if I wanted Pizza. Well, who doesn’t wake up after 1 hour craving pizza? I said sure. So, after he left to get the pizza, I thought well … if I don’t get up, I’ll just fall back to sleep. I put some respectable attire on like sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and slippers and set off to find him. On the way, I passed by the buffet and just happened to catch a glimpse of chocolate chip cookies. Hmmm... that sounded like a good idea so a grabbed a few. I found DH in the pizza line. He was shocked to see me and stuffing my face with cookies. I’m so glad he’s the only person who knew me. I was obviously not myself that night because I don’t let him or anyone for that matter, see me with no makeup on. Here I was, strutting around the whole ship with “O” natural face. 😱 Here’s our treasure. Midnight Pizza was now 10pm Pizza but just as tasty. I’m not sure what our total drink count for the day was but the cost was $180. Up Next – Sea Day #1

We were at our table in the MDR at 6:40. We were so lucky and had an incredible view. Our Team was I Made, Ricardo, and Andika - Table 789 My phone would not load the menu for some reason. I had the Quesadilla and Smoked Poblano Soup and CMC. DH had the Salmon and Chicken Parmesan.

Here she is finally!!!!!!!!!! Not one good picture. Ugh!! Bummer.

The boys and I eventually made our way up to the girls on Deck 11 and we took tons of pictures. My Lady Liberty selfies did not come out that good. Probably because we had an extra hour and a half at the Red Frog. Teehee! I think we finally pulled away at 5:59. We sailed by Lady Liberty around 6:30.

Sail away was scheduled for 4pm. The girls went up to deck 11 to save seats. Ugh, that was a mistake. It was hot up there. Like crazy hot. I had to go get my hat. I couldn’t believe they stayed. I took my good old sweet time. I stopped and told the boys. No one seemed to know why we were delayed in leaving. We had early seating for dinner and would certainly miss our 6pm time. The Sail Away party was in full swing at 5:45 and I was still at the Red Frog.

Sometime after 1:30pm we went to check out our room. I am a balcony snob and would be in an interior room for the first time ever. Whew, it was tiny. Our luggage was there waiting for us. Our room steward Ari popped in to say hello. He was fantastic the whole trip. Hubby napped while I put everything away. I wondered if our fridge was on the coldest setting, but I couldn’t get my head in there to see. I snapped a picture. I’m not sure if you can see but one side has 2 snowflakes, the center is off, and the other side is just 1 snowflake. I only had to keep bottled water cold, but it worked just fine all week after I switched to 2 snowflakes. 😂

Ok, where did I leave off? Oh yes, I was wandering around taking pictures. Here’s our steel drum man. He was great the whole trip. Hubby got his favorite Mongolian Wok. I decided to get the Funderstruck Burger with no bun and no fries. It wasn’t bad. I really like the nacho cheese on it. Next time I may ask for extra cheese if they have it. It was time to switch up to beer. The burger didn’t help straighten me out. I was still having fun from the 1st Funship. There was no way I needed to worry about hitting 15 this day. We did ask the Bartender, and he confirmed… “no one would be cut off at 15 on this very first night”. This was good time to order a bucket of beer because the beer is always so warm at the Red Frog. I had to keep pouring mine over ice. DH ordered a bucket... 4 for him and 2 for me. They take off $1 per beer if you buy the bucket. Total cost $48.21.

Hey Pe4all, Thank you for reading along. I'll give ya a spoiler alert... We had such a blast that we booked the Magic for exactly 1 year later. I crack up every time I see someone write "welcome to the addiction" to a newbie. Yes, my name is Beagle and I can't stop booking cruises. 😁

Hey Stick93, Keep an eye out for pics. Maybe I caught you in one 😎. Thanks for reading!!!

Hey Cruisin Karen, I am so happy to hear your setting sail on Saturday. It's so nice when you can drive to the port and don't have to fly. Good luck getting around Fiona! Hope you have a blast!

Hey CC Family, I cannot believe I am writing another review. It’s only been 4 months from my last crazy trip report. I’m still experiencing a little PTSD from that horrific ending. For those of you that didn’t get to read about my Freedom Adventures, I’ll recap here: The Good · We had an absolute blast on the Freedom The Bad · On day two, I deleted my entire SD card on my camera · On day three, my MIL chipped her 2 front teeth · On day four, my friend lost her cell phone with all our group pics, etc. · While debarking, we had our flight canceled and we were stuck in Florida for two more days · We sat in the airport for about 8 hours before our flight home on day ten · And lastly, my dear sweet MIL caught the Covid and gave it to me as a parting gift. Thanks Ma! Like I said, I still have some trauma but let’s not dwell on the past. Let’s get right to how I managed to go on two… yes two, cruises in one year!!! Let’s just say it took a little Magic… the Carnival Magic in fact! We had some friends that were offered a good deal for this 4-day trip from NYC to Bermuda. We were jealous but we had big plans for a land trip to San Francisco in September, so we put those feelings aside. At least, we tried... but then our other cruising friends booked, and we couldn’t resist. Our group, AKA, “The Squad” would be back together! It was only 4 days and no airfare so it would be much cheaper. We booked an interior on deck 7, paid for everything plus the Cheers Package, and moved on with our day. I have no idea how we will pay for San Fran but oh well, right? No sense in worrying about bills that haven’t come yet. Exactly!! 😊 Ok let’s move on. This will be my 9th Carnival Cruise. I am inching ever so close to that Platinum Status!! Woot Woot. When I was on the Freedom in April, I took these 3 pictures of the Magic docked next to us. At the time, I could have reached out and touched this ship. I had no idea I would sail on her 4 months later. One thing is nice about booking at the last minute… you don’t have to research for a year about what to do. We had to make decisions right away. We have from 8am – 4pm in Bermuda so we decided to do a catamaran trip on the Restless Native. I reached out to them first based off reviews on TA but, it turns out, that Carnival uses them for an excursion through the ship. So of course, you must book through Carnival which was only $20 pp more than they normally charge. Not as bad as some excursions. Since we were sailing to Bermuda, we had to go to their government website and fill out an authorization form and pay 40 bucks. Yes, 40 darn dollars just to step foot in Bermuda. In fact, just to board this cruise you had to complete the form and get authorized. Maybe they are trying to recoup lost revenue from the pandemic but Geez! We were sailing on 8/11 so we were able to fill out the form on 7/11 – 30 days out. Here’s the funny thing… it seems like they don’t bother until it’s close to the sail date. No one had their approval within days of sailing so we each had to email them. At least they sent a response within an hour. Hmmmm Ok, we had it and that’s all that matters. 1 step closer…