Carnival MAGIC - Trip Review and Diary - April 15th to 22nd - Lots of Pictures!

Carnival Magic - April 15th 2017

Costa Maya - Roatan - Belize - Cozumel

Hello all!

This will be a very detailed review and diary of our recent 7 day cruise aboard the Carnival Magic. I am Cathy. and joining me this year are my husband Steve and our daughter Allison, who is 12. We are from Southern Rhode Island. This is our 19th Carnival Cruise - and Allison's 12th. We also have two boys, Kyle a Senior in college and Matt, a freshman in college. Sorry boys, no family vacations for you while in school!!!

If you are interested in my past reviews, please see the link on the bottom of this page.

Since 2014, we have cruised this week - April School vacation week. Steve cannot take vacation from late October thru April 1st - so it always worked out for April Vacation. It is a great week to cruise, but transportation is a major pain! (more on that later).

We chose the Magic this year - based on timing, available flights, ports and and cost. We booked the cruise quite late - debating whether or not to even cruise because of the transportation challenges and costs. With two boys in college this year we had to be creative!! Finally we decided to go for it. It was our second time on the Magic - we cruised from Galveston three years ago and we all agreed she was our favorite ship!!

Pre Cruise Planning - or lack thereof!

If you read on, you will find that we decided not to be too daring this cruise. Our planning consisted of ordering 2 12 packs of water for the cabin and one excursion package for Roatan. We packed extremely light (well for me), since we are able to have laundry done on the cruise (a HUGE Platinum benefit!).

I was able to use Marriott Points for Pre and Post cruise hotel stays, and I was able to use Hertz points for a rental car on the day the cruise ended. We also used Southwest Points for our flights.

We were ready to book an Ocean View cabin, but then decided for just a few dollars more, that we would try a COVE balcony - something new for us! Due to a bathroom issue on the Sunshine, we received 20% off our total cruise price - so our costs for the three of us was less than $1700 for the week!!

Our Goals this cruise...

Steve - Ropes Course, Hang by the Pool, Eat a lot of Fruit

Cathy - Read, Relax and win trivia!

Allison - Circle C - Ropes Course, Mini Golf and to find the Shake shop!

Coming Soon.... Pre Cruise Travel and Day 1!

Catrin

This is going o be a good one

Day Before Cruise - April 14th

Both Steve and I worked a half day on Friday 4/14. Allison did not have school, due to Good Friday. We had packed everything starting Wednesday and finished on Thursday night. Suitcases were downstairs and ready to go when we got home from work. We got home at noon and we were out the door as planned by 12:30!

Flights....

Anyone who lives in RI or Mass knows its almost impossible to get a cheap flight out of Providence, Boston, Hartford or Manchester during April School vacation. Even Southwest - who offered $700 round trip from PVD as their cheapest option. Three years ago, we chose to go to Galveston and avoided the Florida rush. Two years ago, we went out of Hartford, since CT vacation was the week prior. Last year, we sucked it up and drove to Long Island and flew out of Islip, saving over $1200. (there were five of us last year).

This year, I tried and tried and tried to make it work.... but we ended up deciding on Islip again. We could fly Friday night - arriving on Orlando at 9:30pm. Then I found a flight EARLY Sunday morning, getting us home 12 hours later. Those flights cost about 60,000 Southwest points, which we had. (Steve has to charge a lot of things for work and then gets reimbursed... we are not complaining!)

So we ventured off around 12:30, drove 1 hour to the Ferry in New London. Took the 2pm Ferry to Orient Point. The another 75 minute drive to the Airport. (Allison slept most of the way!)Got to the airport with tons of time to spare. When we got to the airport, there was NO ONE there. No on at the luggage check in. No one at security (besides the 10 people working). We parked the car and we were at the gate in less than 10 minutes.

Islip is TINY - and sure enough most of all the restaurants were closed!! But we were able to find a salad for Allison and sandwich for Steve and I and we had dinner on the flight. Southwest is the way to go. The flight was half full, so we each got our own row. I sat with Allison for half the flight, and then jumped over the aisle and actually took a nap!! We arrived a bit early (they under-promise and over - deliver!). We got our luggage in no time and we called the shuttle for the Fairfield Inn at the airport. 9 hours later, we finally arrived!!!

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn, right outside the Orlando Airport. The area is filled with a dozen hotels, and all the major restaurant chains. The hotel was simple, basic and very clean. The hotel was only 10,000 Marriott points for the night, so certainly a great bargain.

So.. day before was a good one!! Uneventful travel (although a bit long) ... and we already felt the warmer weather!! It was time to sleep and wake up for our 19th cruise!!

Coming Up...

Day 1 - Kids, Kids and More Kids!!

Catrin

Following. Great start to your vacation and review!

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I'm really looking forward to this!

Boarding Magic in a few weeks. Looking forward to your review!! Thank you so much!!!

We sailed with you, looking forward to reading your experience.

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Great start. Looking forward to it

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Following!

I'm on the Magic in 2 weeks on 5/13, Your review is going to be the best for the wife and I to get the last minute details on the ship and to find out who your favorite crew members are...

Tagging along....looking forward to your TR!

Following!!! We are on the Magic in June. Cannot wait!!!

We are also struggling with SW airfare. I still haven't booked from Hartford. Waiting patiently for it to come down, but so far, nothing.

We did the ISLIP thing one year, but it sucks coming home after the cruise and having that drive.:mad:

This is going o be a good one

Looking forward to your review! We have a Magic cruise planned this summer! I have 13-year old twin boys, so please provide lots of details about Circle C and the activities your daughter did.

We also stayed at the airport Fairfield last summer (before a Majesty cruise) and really liked it a lot as well! Super clean rooms and lovely breakfast. Our ship's boarding was delayed (until 5:00-ish), so we ended up going to see a movie within walking distance to the hotel.

Looking forward to your review, we are sailing in September on the Magic.

Looking forward to reading more

I'll be back later today!! It may take a few days - but I'll plug away on this every night after work. Thanks for the encouragement!!

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Hey Cathy!! Great start to your review. We will be on the Magic for the first time doing a B2B, and this itinerary is one of them. We are looking forward to the rest!! :cool:

Great start! Can't wait for the rest.

Magic is in the top three of our favorite Carnival ships. Looking forward to your thoughts. :)

Following!!! We are on the Magic in June. Cannot wait!!!

 

We are also struggling with SW airfare. I still haven't booked from Hartford. Waiting patiently for it to come down, but so far, nothing.

 

We did the ISLIP thing one year, but it sucks coming home after the cruise and having that drive.:mad:

You just have to hit a sale just right, or suck it up and go for the drive!! You are right, coming home is a lot worse than going there, that is for sure. But the cost and ease of ISLIP sure makes up the difference! Have fun in June!

Hey Cathy!! Great start to your review. We will be on the Magic for the first time doing a B2B, and this itinerary is one of them. We are looking forward to the rest!! :cool:

Since I have read many of your reviews over the years.. I have a lot to live up to!! You will love the ship... she is one of the best!

Saturday, April 15th!

Our plan today was to wake up, have a nice hotel breakfast,then leave the hotel about 9:30. Stevewoke up early and had breakfast first, then I followed and then I went downwith Allison…. That way we could take turns showering, etc.

Free Breakfast was usual hotel fare… gross eggs, scary looking sausage, cereal, frozen Danish, etc etc. But you know something… it was justfine. Nothing like a bowl of RaisinBran and a cup of hot tea to make me happy. After breakfast, I wanted to go to the Mini Mart to buy a 12 pack ofsoda… so Allison and I walked there. Butcome to find out the store listed as Mini Mart was actually a liquor store withsouvenirs. Oh well, no canned soda…looks like a soda card is in my future!

Our transportation plan to the port was quite easy…. We weregoing to UBER it! We had a great experienceusing Uber in Galveston, so we decided early on that is how we would get toPort Canaveral from the Orlando Airport Area. Getting an UBER is quite easy on theAPP, and we saw that our driver would pick us up in 8 minutes. I noticed while waiting that the GPS on the UBERwas off a few hundred yards.. and although we saw his van coming and waved… hesped right by us!! I had to call himand ask him to turn around…. We knew then this would be an adventure.

When we got into the van, he then plugged in our destinationand said…. “you want to go there??” – Hey, didn’t you check that out when youaccepted the assignment? Then, he didnot have enough Gas.. so he said I have to get Gas. Ok, whatever, no big deal. So he pulls into the Gas Station right nearthe hotel – and puts $20.00 in. BUT>>> you know those rip off gas stations near the airportthat charge you $5.00 a gallon? This wasone of those!! He was NOT a happy UberDriver…. And said nothing to us for the rest of the trip. But bottom line is, we got there safely andon time… and the cost of an UBER at $38.00 was well worth it and we would do itagain from there in a heartbeat.

Arrival

We arrived at the port at about 10:20am. This arrival and check in was to be theEASIEST we have had in 19 cruises. Wewalked right through the Priority Line, had our passports checked, got usheredto the Priority Room, got our Sail and Sign Cards… and then we were told to goupstairs. There were several hugegroups upstairs already, and come to find out there was a big wedding on boardand those were the guests of the wedding. We sat in our assigned chairs.. and before we know it… they said, okPriority Guests, please start lining up ….. before I knew it, we were escortedall the way to the gangway….. and we were walking on the ship!! We looked at our watches… we were on theship at 11:02am!!

The only bad thing aboutthis quick boarding, is we realized that night we did not have our picturetaken by Carnival as we boarded the ship. Not the end of the world, but Ialways enjoyed those pictures.

Once we arrived, we went right to our room..... BUT>>> because we got on so early, they were not even close to having our room ready.... and we could certainly see they were a long ways away from 1:30. We met our room steward for about 10 seconds... we told him we were just dropping off our carry ons.... we threw them in the closet and went right to the Lido Deck. It doesn't matter that we are Platinum or even if we were FTTF... we did not need our room 100% as long as we could drop off our things before heading upstairs.

Coming Up... checking out the ship (again!) and Day 1 Festivities

Catrin

Arrival

We arrived at the port at about 10:20am. This arrival and check in was to be the EASIEST we have had in 19 cruises. We walked right through the Priority Line, had our passports checked, got ushered the Priority Room, got our Sail and Sign Cards… and then we were told to go upstairs. There were several huge groups upstairs already, and come to find out there was a big wedding on board and those were the guests of the wedding. We sat in our assigned chairs.. and before we know it… they said, ok Priority Guests, please start lining up ….. before I knew it, we were escorted all the way to the gangway….. and we were walking on the ship!! We looked at our watches… we were on the ship at 11:02am!! The only bad thing about this quick boarding, is we realized that night we did not have our picture taken by Carnival as we boarded the ship. Not the end of the world, but I always enjoyed those pictures.

We really love the first day on the cruise ship. We are lucky enough to be past our exploration stage.. so we just jump right in to relaxing and hanging out! Even though we had hotel breakfast, and it was before noon…. We were on a Carnival Ship … and you know what that means…. LUNCH!! I have a tradition of Mongolian Wok on Day 1. Why? Because that is the day before the lines GROW AND GROW AND GROW!! So after walking up on deck and just enjoying the sights of people happy, we decided to get lunch. Steve got himself a huge salad, I got my wok, and Allison searched high and low for Chicken Strips (something she had on the Sunshine Daily)…. But did not have any luck. She settled for a couple slices of pizza instead!

We ate our lunch on the lounge chairs on the Lido Deck,relaxing. Already, we were watching folks save chairs… already!! This would be theme throughout the week. We hung out on the Lido for a while… and then Allison asked to go swimming. The bathing suits were in the carry-ons, so we decided to go downstairs to see if we could get in our room yet.

Our Room – 2408 Cove Balcony.

We loved this location. Right next to the Aft Elevators and one of the last Cove Balconies. We did not have a lifeboat above us, so we had full range of view from our cabin. We enjoyed being out there a lot more than we thought we would. We do NOT have to HAVE a balcony. We are perfectly happy with Ocean View cabins… and have had everything from a Aft Corner to Lido Deck Balcony to Ocean View on Deck 1. This cabin was a pleasant surprise and we would consider booking a Cove again if the price was right.

I understand the chicken strip issue (I hope she found them later) we just got off the Pride, and my kids are begging for "normal food" when we get home. I actually think they're tired of pizza and burgers. The Lido didn't have normal food it was mostly Carribean or Lamb/exotic style food. We really missed the pasta station and the comfort foods (like mashed potatoes, Mac & Cheese etc)

Great start to the review though! I laughed when I read about the UBER. I cannot believe they didn't have enough gas for a trip to the port.

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