Carnival Magic 14th Aug - 1st Cruise Any Advice?

[tammez]

HI All,

 

We are a family of 4 from the uk on our first criuse and would welcome any advice. Our children are 11 and 13.

 

We have received no air tickets and our travel agents have told us that we produce our Carnival itinery is that right? We also have booked Carnival transfers from Barcelona airport, how does that work will we be hanging around the airport until they have a bus load?

 

We have booked 3 excursions with carnival (Venice, Mount Etna and Pompeii) any other recommendations for other ports greatly received.

 

Specific concerns regard tipping. As we are from the UK can you let us know whether Euros or Dollars as an addition to the paid for gratuities and how much,when and who would you tip?

 

Do we pack pool towels?

 

We have chosen 6pm dining time is that too early? We would like to see some shows and the outdoor movies. We would also like to meet other families when dining.

 

We have an outside balcony as I am an early riser and plan to sit outside and read - good plan?

 

Finally our return flight isn't until 7.30 at night any suggestions how to fill our day, I don't fancy sitting around Barcelona airport for days.

 

Thankyou so much, all advice valuable!!!:)

[mikel24m]

HI All,

 

We are a family of 4 from the uk on our first criuse and would welcome any advice. Our children are 11 and 13.

 

We have received no air tickets and our travel agents have told us that we produce our Carnival itinery is that right? We also have booked Carnival transfers from Barcelona airport, how does that work will we be hanging around the airport until they have a bus load?

 

We have booked 3 excursions with carnival (Venice, Mount Etna and Pompeii) any other recommendations for other ports greatly received.

 

Specific concerns regard tipping. As we are from the UK can you let us know whether Euros or Dollars as an addition to the paid for gratuities and how much,when and who would you tip?

 

Do we pack pool towels?

 

We have chosen 6pm dining time is that too early? We would like to see some shows and the outdoor movies. We would also like to meet other families when dining.

 

We have an outside balcony as I am an early riser and plan to sit outside and read - good plan?

 

Finally our return flight isn't until 7.30 at night any suggestions how to fill our day, I don't fancy sitting around Barcelona airport for days.

 

Thankyou so much, all advice valuable!!!:)

 

I would just look around on here visit the ports of call boards and find out where to go

 

 

We almost never book excursions through carnival (we look on here and research and have never been wrong yet) we always save money

 

dont bring towels the ship has plenty:)

 

tips are extra and are on your sign and sail unless you pay them in advance like we do

 

The staff works really hard for all of us and deserve to get paid and paid alittle extra too

 

 

the balcony cabin , now your screwed forever;)

 

the balcony cabins you get spoiled so dependant on your finances you can cruise for very cheap

[hubofhockey]

We are on the Magic next Friday and will be in Barcelona on Tuesday night. We did a longer Med itinerary last year on the Ruby Princess. I took a quick look at your itinerary, which is a bit different than ours. Your group, like many others for the Magic, looks to be having a cruise critic roll call meet & greet near the Tides Pool at 5 pm on embarkation day. It might be worth a take to combine efforts with others.

 

Monaco: Buses to Nice are less than €2. That is bus #100. If you stay local in Monaco, the palace and Oceanograpic Institute / Aquarium is a great thing to do, especially with kids. We are doing Nice in the morning and for lunch and the Aquarium in the afternoon.

 

Venice: I don't what excursion you have there. But Venice is not a city where you need any excursion. I would just get transportation to San Marco, walk around St Mark's Square, maybe take in the Cathedral, take a tour of Doge's Palace, and take a gondola ride.

 

Messina: I would not hesitate, as a family of 4 to contact Mario Astone and do his tour #2, which includes Mount Etna and Taormina. It's €80/person for four. I realize you already booked Mount Etna with Carnival. But why not get a full day that includes so much more, includes Castelmola, Taormina, and even Messina with Mario. I wouldn't hesitate to e-mail him at marioastone@tiscali.it

 

Naples: Pompeii is great. You could take a train on your own there and the one afterwards to Sorrento.

 

Civitavecchia: A BIRG ticket, which includes transportation all day on the train and Metro is only €9 per person. After that, find a walking tour or Ancient Rome and/or Vatican. Companies such as Roman Candle, Dark Rome, and Eden Walks will all offer you walks with licensed guides. You can see the rest of Rome on your own.

 

I don't know much about Savona. I know that Carnival failed to secure Livorno (for Florence) and this is a replacement port. We didn't get Dubrovnik this year or last year. I am not sure if you are staying in Barcelona before your cruise and your time is limited after your cruise. But some use Barcelona Day Tours. They will give you a tour and secure your luggage. With two kids and not that much time, you may want to see some of the Gaudi sites. Kids will love Casa Batllo and Parc Guell. Sagrada Familia is certainly worth a look as well.

 

I am not a big fan of cruise line excursions, especially in the Med because they are overcrowded and very impersonal. The thought of tours with audio headsets puts me off a bit. But some enjoy them as they are worry free.

 

You will not need to pack towels for the pool. Unless you are planning to go to the beach at a port, you should leave yours at home. The Carnival towels (unless they've changed dramatically since our last Carnival cruise in 2008) are very heavy and not great to travel with. But they are great for the pool.Those are the big dark blue ones. Maybe this has changed in three years. Others will kwow more.

 

Have a great cruise.

[tammez]

Thanks both!!!!! Good advice greatly received!!!!!!!!

[Colorado Beach Bum]

We are on the Magic next Friday and will be in Barcelona on Tuesday night. We did a longer Med itinerary last year on the Ruby Princess. I took a quick look at your itinerary, which is a bit different than ours. Your group, like many others for the Magic, looks to be having a cruise critic roll call meet & greet near the Tides Pool at 5 pm on embarkation day. It might be worth a take to combine efforts with others.

 

Monaco: Buses to Nice are less than €2. That is bus #100. If you stay local in Monaco, the palace and Oceanograpic Institute / Aquarium is a great thing to do, especially with kids. We are doing Nice in the morning and for lunch and the Aquarium in the afternoon.

 

Venice: I don't what excursion you have there. But Venice is not a city where you need any excursion. I would just get transportation to San Marco, walk around St Mark's Square, maybe take in the Cathedral, take a tour of Doge's Palace, and take a gondola ride.

 

Messina: I would not hesitate, as a family of 4 to contact Mario Astone and do his tour #2, which includes Mount Etna and Taormina. It's €80/person for four. I realize you already booked Mount Etna with Carnival. But why not get a full day that includes so much more, includes Castelmola, Taormina, and even Messina with Mario. I wouldn't hesitate to e-mail him at marioastone@tiscali.it

 

Naples: Pompeii is great. You could take a train on your own there and the one afterwards to Sorrento.

 

Civitavecchia: A BIRG ticket, which includes transportation all day on the train and Metro is only €9 per person. After that, find a walking tour or Ancient Rome and/or Vatican. Companies such as Roman Candle, Dark Rome, and Eden Walks will all offer you walks with licensed guides. You can see the rest of Rome on your own.

 

I don't know much about Savona. I know that Carnival failed to secure Livorno (for Florence) and this is a replacement port. We didn't get Dubrovnik this year or last year. I am not sure if you are staying in Barcelona before your cruise and your time is limited after your cruise. But some use Barcelona Day Tours. They will give you a tour and secure your luggage. With two kids and not that much time, you may want to see some of the Gaudi sites. Kids will love Casa Batllo and Parc Guell. Sagrada Familia is certainly worth a look as well.

 

I am not a big fan of cruise line excursions, especially in the Med because they are overcrowded and very impersonal. The thought of tours with audio headsets puts me off a bit. But some enjoy them as they are worry free.

 

You will not need to pack towels for the pool. Unless you are planning to go to the beach at a port, you should leave yours at home. The Carnival towels (unless they've changed dramatically since our last Carnival cruise in 2008) are very heavy and not great to travel with. But they are great for the pool.Those are the big dark blue ones. Maybe this has changed in three years. Others will kwow more.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Thanks for your response. DH and I are sailing on the Magic August 26th for the 9 day itinerary. We are usually super organized and have all of our Ports planned out but we have had a terrible year(my dad diagnosed with cancer) and have not had time to plan a thing.

We just now today are booking a hotel room for pre cruise in Barcelona. I think we have decided on the Universal Hotel. Hope it's a good choice. We have decided against all of the Carnival excursions, mostly because they seem like all 9 hours on a motorcoach, UGH!! So I am frantically trying to figure out how to get around at all of the ports. It seems the train is the way to go. My question for you is are we going to be able to figure out are way around from the train station. I know what sights we want to see. I am just hoping when we get there we can get to train station and see it on our own??? Any advice?

[Will&Hel]

HI All,

 

We are a family of 4 from the uk on our first criuse and would welcome any advice. Our children are 11 and 13.

 

We have received no air tickets and our travel agents have told us that we produce our Carnival itinery is that right? We also have booked Carnival transfers from Barcelona airport, how does that work will we be hanging around the airport until they have a bus load?

 

We have booked 3 excursions with carnival (Venice, Mount Etna and Pompeii) any other recommendations for other ports greatly received.

 

Specific concerns regard tipping. As we are from the UK can you let us know whether Euros or Dollars as an addition to the paid for gratuities and how much,when and who would you tip? I take from the above you have pre-paid gratuities. Any extra you wish to tip I believe should be in dollars as the ship operates in dollars not euros. As another posted said tips for drinks are automatically added to your sail and sign (15%) We have always tipped our wait staff a little extra on the last night - I think it was $20 each. We also tipped our cabin steward extra for going above and beyond again $20) We did not tip the Maitre'D when the envelopes were handed out last night on last cruise as we never saw him but we did on on our first - its up to you hope that helps

 

Do we pack pool towels?No there will be one each in your stateroom - don't lose them they charge it to your room

 

We have chosen 6pm dining time is that too early? We would like to see some shows and the outdoor movies. We would also like to meet other families when dining.Search for Funtimes for Magic but I suspect they do two shows one for early and one for late sitting- you can find fun times from a link on John Healds Blog

 

We have an outside balcony as I am an early riser and plan to sit outside and read - good plan?Excellent plan - room service is free- order your morning cuppa and sit on the balcony and watch the world go by (tea is awful take tetleys and order hot water

 

Finally our return flight isn't until 7.30 at night any suggestions how to fill our day, I don't fancy sitting around Barcelona airport for days.

 

Thankyou so much, all advice valuable!!!:)

 

Enjoy your cruise you'll get hooked:D

[bobcatcruiser1331]

I agree with most everything others have said. We just got back from the 7 day on the Magic which has several of your ports.

 

Just a couple recommendations on excursions... in Barcelona since you will have some time I would suggest the Hop on/off bus. It has several stops around Barcelona and you pick and choose where and when you want to get off to explore whatever part of the city you choose. Just be aware of the time since you have a flight, each of the three routes you can choose to do interchangeably took a little over an hour to do (minus stops). Another Carnival excursion we enjoyed was Taste of Sorrento & Pompeii in Naples (you stop at a farm and the food is amazing!).

 

For your dining time, we had the early seating and had plenty of time for outdoor movies when we weren't in a port until very late in the evening.

 

I think others have answered your other questions, but any others are welcome. Happy travels! :)

[T. Advisor King]

Just did the 7-day itinerary, so I have a few comments. Most of the earlier posts agree with what I would have advised.

 

 

- you should get your itinerary and all necessary Carnival documents by logging on to their website and downloading your cruise documentation. When you say, "we have received no air tickets", I presume you're mentioning that because you booked your air travel through Carnival. I don't have any advice there (we always book our air travel separately), but if you see nothing specific in your cruise documentation, I think you might want to give them a call to see how that works.

 

- I think you will be hanging around BCN until they have a bus load. Again, we always arrange our own transportation. In my experience, it is cheaper for a family of 4 to arrange their own trasport than to pay Carnival. But I appreciate there is a benefit to the convenience of putting yourselves in Carnival's hands.

 

- We did the Magic 7-day, so we stopped in Messina, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno and Monaco (in that order, which was reversed from the original itinerary due to weather). In Messina and Naples we took public transport (to Taormina from Messina and Pompeii and Herculaneum from Naples). The Italian train system is fairly straighforward and there is information posted on the ports of call section of this site. We rented a car in Civitavecchia because we had just been in Rome the previous year and chose to spend the day in the country rather than the city. The previous poster's advice about the train ticket was good though. Due to a threatened train strike the day we were in Livorno, we rented a car from Avis on the dock when we stepped off the ship. We had planned to take a taxi, but when they had cars there for 100E for the day (less if you were willing to fuss with a manual transmission), we knew we'd hit the home run. They had the car right there on the dock and they were there when we returned at the end of the day. It couldn't have been easier. Monaco is very walkable for the main points of interest, so I wouldn't suggest planning anything there.

 

- The ship operates as a US "entity" where US conventions apply. They will automatically bill your room for $10 per day, per passengers for tips. In addition, they will automatically include a 15% tip in the price of any drinks. As a result, you do not really need to tip extra, although you're welcome to if you want. For the first time since auto-tipping has been in place, we provided a small extra tip (15E) to our head waiter on the Magic. I'd suggest tipping in Euros rather than US Dollars. The ship is in Europe and the staff will be spending any tips in Europe, so it saves them the hassle of converting.

 

- As others have mentioned, they provide you with towels. They are good size and weight, so in a sense maybe not easy to carry around, but if you have beach plans one day and don't have a lot of walking to do, they are worth packing into a bag for the day.

 

- Dining time is a personal thing. We picked the 6:00 pm sitting because there is no way we'd last until 8:00 pm. We also like the idea of having some night time after dinner rather than going pretty much straight to bed. They show films on deck at night, so you'll have no problem watching those after dinner.

 

- Sitting outside on the balcony to read in the morning. Good plan. I found that because our travel plans depended on us being up early, there wasn't much time to sit around in the morning, but if you're up at 6:00 and you aren't leaving on your excursion until 8:00, then you probably have some time.

 

- I like the other suggestions on what to do in Barcelona. The hop on/hop off is great, although it will run your family about 100E. The Sagrada Familia is not to be missed, in my opinion. It is on the bus route. You'll need to find something to do with your luggage, so you should look into that first. I seem to remember reading something about there being storage places, but we didn't have to do that, since we knew people in BCN and had to do laundry that day anyway. Or maybe if you're travelling with transfers via Carnival that they take care of that as well.

 

- Finally, your kids are the perfect age for the Carnival kids programs. They can show up when they want, stay or leave when they want, attend whatever programs they want, etc. My kids have as much fun meeting new friends on the cruise as they do hanging out with us (hard to imagine, I know).

[tammez]

Thankyou so much everyone, this forum is excellent you have answered all my questions and hopefully in the future, after many cruises, I will be able to give something back!!!!!;)

[carnicruisa3]

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1125055&page=21

 

Hi tammez not sure if you've already found our cruise critic group for the aug 14 sailing... I've put the link above for you.

 

This is our third carnival cruise were from uk.

 

We'd luv to hav u at cruise critic meet and greet. We are meeting at the aft pool bar after the lifeboat drill and they should be placing the details in the fun times for us.

we are travelling back to Barcelona at 3pm on fri 26/8. Not decided what to do on final day so may just leave cases at airport and go in barcelona for a few hrs.

 

Any questions we're happy to help but the last ten or so pages on the thread above should answer any further questions have.

 

Look forward to meeting you. My email is manda.Rodney@gmail.com

 

Thanks

Amanda :)