CARNIVAL MAGIC REVIEW 5-20-12 Exotic Western Caribbean

[andr3a]

Thanks for sharing your fair & honest review. I'm sorry to hear that your tour through Victor Bodden wasn't up to par with the reviews he receives. And with the other responses here, that's not a good sign. If you ever are back in Roatan and want to give them another shot, I highly recommend Channon Bodden (pronounced Shannon) for your guide. He was great with us, very friendly, & took us all over the place, including a few extra spots that most tourists don't get to see. He told us so much about the island and the history; made it fun and very interesting. We had plenty of time at a beach at the west end, where we got to snorkel. We weren't interested in the monkeys, so I'm not sure if he would handle that any better than your guide.

 

btw, you didn't miss much at Mahogany Bay. It's a man-made beach. Sure, it could still be enjoyable, but it's not at all pretty like a real beach is. The cruise ships have been building up some ports like this, to try to keep cruisers and their dollars right there by the ship. The problem with that is that you don't get to see the true island. It's as if you never really went to that island/country.

 

I agree that debarkation is a mess at Galveston. It's just not like that at other ports (Port Canaveral, Mobile, NOLA, Ft.Lauderdale). I don't know why they're so much worse at it there. It's partially the cruise ships fault, but much of the blame goes to the passengers not following initial directions and poor management from the port itself.

 

I'm glad you made it to the comedy juggler's show. I love that show. It may be the best show on the ship, although his clever brand of humor may be lost on some people.

 

If you ever think of going on a cruise with this itinerary again, there are options out of Florida: the Dream out of Port Canaveral and the Legend out of Tampa. I think Miami & Ft.L also has cruises that go to Cozumel, Belize, & Roatan. The Dream adds Costa Maya, & the Legend adds Grand Cayman to those 3 ports. However, Dream has the same problems with not being able to dock in Mahogany Bay quite often. Plus, other cruiselines go to these places, and Carnival seems to be in a real funk right now. The much cheaper cost of cruising out of Florida may offset the extra cost of driving to Florida.

 

Thanks! Unfortunately we weren't given a choice in our driver, people were just lined up and assigned the first available person. I think if we ever do this itinerary again we would opt for a water or adventure excursion. It sounds like the folks who go those routes loved both roatan and belize.

 

My very first cruise was a 3 day out of Miami...what a gorgeous port!!! Driving would be a bit much for us, and I really dislike getting on planes but maybe someday, we're very limited in the time of year we can vacation as Matt's involved in his family's business and we can only go May-Aug. Sailing off season would make things WAY easier. We've considered going out of New Orleans though, so that may be an option in the future.

 

People who were watching the Magic attempt to dock in M.B. said it looked very tricky for as big a ship as she was, regardless of weather. It may be a crap shoot in general for the Magic to get in there. I slept through it. :P

[newbieMom]

Thanks for your review! We're doing the same itinerary on July 15th :) Did you by any chance bring home your Fun Times?

[bharz]

Thanks for your review. My kids, my mom and I cruised on the Magic last May on her Eastern route. I'm excited to go again, and to see a few new sights.