Just off the Magic 8/19 - 8/26

[SnowWhiteNYC]

Overall a great cruise and wonderful ship! Not going to do a review but thought I would post some of our overall observations, so here goes:

 

 

The Positives:

Loved the Magic in general! Loved the décor and layout.

Loved the Red Frog Pub.

Awesome Waterworks and waterslides. Felt that this drew many kids from the pools. The pools were still crowded but not as much or as many kids as I would have expected…for our son, he preferred the waterworks area. Didn’t see as many kids in the hot tubs as I expected either.

Excellent food at the Cucina Italian restaurant! Ate there for lunch. Would definitely consider dinner.

Really liked the menu at the brunch in the dining room. (However, no real comedy there – don’t’ go for the laughs, go for the food)

Staff and crew efficient and friendly.

Food, overall, very good to excellent.

Entertainment really good in general.

Enjoyed the assortment of movies on the big screen and the two deck parties.

Lots of live music around the ship which was really nice.

Thought the ship was very clean and saw crew constantly cleaning throughout the days.

Loved the Vibe for our CC Cocktail party! Great time!

Adored the Tandoor Grill!!!!! Ate 3 lunches there! Delicious!

Liked our VIFP tray of strawberries way better than the old trays. Would have loved 2 though.

DS 6 once again loved Camp Carnival and the counselors were excellent! Nice variety of activities.

 

 

The Not so positives:

VIFP party pretty much felt the same as the old one…no great shakes….

Ship felt crowded more times than I can remember on other ships, even the Dream which we sailed the same time 2 years ago.

Lido deck crowded for an extended lunch time as well as breakfast.

Often had to wait in line for beverages.

Hated not having a tray on the buffet line. Made getting food for myself and DS 6 tough and annoying.

Entertainment scheduling made it difficult to see and do all we wanted to since the times often conflicted making it necessary to choose between options. Hadn’t experienced this before. Also created conflict in getting DS from Camp Carnival as shows ended at pick up time, wound up having to leave shows before they ended to avoid being charged extra. Not a huge deal…but annoying….

Children’s movies on the big screen started at 6:30 – many families, including ours, had early dining making it impossible to see this movie and have dinner in the dining room.

Almost a complete lack of shade on the Serenity Deck – what’s up with that? The Dream had the clamshells with shade covers….non-existent on the Magic.

Pick-up procedure for Camp Carnival needs to be improved at least on this ship. 2 groups were picked up from the same spot: 6 -8 and 9 – 11 and one line was formed. Then a counselor would call, “anyone picking up 9 – 11?” and people would move up who weren’t 9- 11 and basically cut the line of 6 – 8’s. This happened on several nights.

[SnowWhiteNYC]

Open decks were exceptionally slippery...more so than I can ever remember....

 

Regret not doing the sea day bbq on Deck 5....oh well, will have to sail again!

 

Roatan: cabbed it to Bananarama....great day!

Belize: private snorkeling and beach break with manatee watch...excellent! would rec.!

Cozumel: Carnival excursion to Passion Island via power catamaran. Good, would have liked more time on the island.

 

Would love to answer any questions!

[TowMater]

Thanks for ur mini review.

 

Did u dock @ Mahogany Bay in Roatan? How much pp was the cab ride to Bananarama?

Did Bananarama rent float mats? (Like the foamy mats some beach places rent out)

 

Which company did u book thru for ur Belize excursion?

 

 

Thanks for ur time...

I may have more ???'s later :)

[SnowWhiteNYC]

We docked away from Mahogany Bay because of high winds. Coxen Hole? We negotiated RT to Bananarama for 50 for 3 of us (had been told it would be 60). Spent 5 bucks for two lounges. Didn't notice float mats...but they could have had....

 

We used Coral Breezes and would definitely use again. Easy. There were only 13 of us on the excursion and 3 reps from coral breezes. 2 went in the water with us and one stayed on the boat.

 

Ask away

[vivavegas]

Welcome Back! Glad you had a good cruise! Thanks for sharing you experiences!:)

[MzOhioLady]

Cozumel: Carnival excursion to Passion Island via power catamaran. Good, would have liked more time on the island.!

 

Would you care to elaborate a little on this excursion? I've been thinking about it for my Magic Cruise in September. Thank You!

[SnowWhiteNYC]

The excursion was great! We were told to meet in the Showtime Lounge at 7:30 am. We waited til a little after 8 to disembark. We made our way off the ship and met at Fat Tuesday's. They then escorted us to the pier with the catamarans. There were a lot of us, we were near the back of the pack. At first we were concerned that we would be stuck down below (there were two decks to the power catamaran) but lucked out as they opened a second one and we got a seat up on top! It was about a 45 minutes to Passion Island. Nice sail along the coast! Everyone signed in and was issued a color coded wrist band.

We had 3 hours on the island from when we docked. It is a beautiful island. The only things not included were frozen drinks, massages, the stores, and shots of liquor. The buffet was up and ready when we arrived. BBQ chicken, fish, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, another pasta dish, rice, chips, salsa, guacamole, salad, fruit, mini muffins, fries... The food was good, not great, but definitely plentiful. The salsa, chips, guacamole, salad and fruit were excellent!

Great water toys! My DS 7 and my DH had a great time in the water!

There were kayaks and peddle boats...but we didn't use them.

Plenty of tables in the shade beneath beautiful palm trees. There were a lot of loungers in the sun but most people were up in the shade.

They played some games. My DS played in the water balloon toss and musical chairs. There were people playing volleyball.

Bathrooms were clean.

When your 3 hours were up they made announcements and then proceeded to board the catamaran. They did a count and check before sailing away.

Would do it again in a heartbeat!

[SnowWhiteNYC]

Got back to the pier with more than enough time to shop the shops.

[MzOhioLady]

The excursion was great! We were told to meet in the Showtime Lounge at 7:30 am. We waited til a little after 8 to disembark. We made our way off the ship and met at Fat Tuesday's. They then escorted us to the pier with the catamarans. There were a lot of us, we were near the back of the pack. At first we were concerned that we would be stuck down below (there were two decks to the power catamaran) but lucked out as they opened a second one and we got a seat up on top! It was about a 45 minutes to Passion Island. Nice sail along the coast! Everyone signed in and was issued a color coded wrist band.

We had 3 hours on the island from when we docked. It is a beautiful island. The only things not included were frozen drinks, massages, the stores, and shots of liquor. The buffet was up and ready when we arrived. BBQ chicken, fish, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, another pasta dish, rice, chips, salsa, guacamole, salad, fruit, mini muffins, fries... The food was good, not great, but definitely plentiful. The salsa, chips, guacamole, salad and fruit were excellent!

Great water toys! My DS 7 and my DH had a great time in the water!

There were kayaks and peddle boats...but we didn't use them.

Plenty of tables in the shade beneath beautiful palm trees. There were a lot of loungers in the sun but most people were up in the shade.

They played some games. My DS played in the water balloon toss and musical chairs. There were people playing volleyball.

Bathrooms were clean.

When your 3 hours were up they made announcements and then proceeded to board the catamaran. They did a count and check before sailing away.

Would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

Thank You So Much for the Information!

[SnowWhiteNYC]

We thought it was well worth the $70 price tag...

[TowMater]

Sounds like u had an AWESOME trip all the way around.

Yea!!

 

I think it was $50 roundtrip. But want to make sure.

So, in Roatan... for 3 peeps, u spent a total of $50 for cab fare to & from Bananarama? .... Or was it $50 each way = a total of $100 roundtrip?

We have 4 peeps in our group.

We definitely want to head to West Bay. Trying to figure out transportation.

Did ur cab wait on u all day, or did u just grab a different cab on ur way back to the ship when ready to leave the beach area?

 

TIA :)

[SnowWhiteNYC]

The taxi fare of $50 was RT. He did not wait for us but returned to a designated spot at the designated time.

 

The fare may be cheaper from Mahogany Bay as it is closer to the West End. When we went 2 years ago it was 30 for 4 of us RT. That time he waited and stopped for pictures. We could have stopped this time but didn't really want to.

 

We left enough time to shop at the port but it wasn't as nice as Mahogany Bay, so we made our way pretty quickly onto the ship.

 

Such a stress free port! Love it!

[SnowWhiteNYC]

One other note:

The comedy shows were popular and crowded. BUT, if you went to the 7:30 Family Friendly there was rarely a line and usually seats to be found, even last minute. We discovered this and went many nights. Enjoyed all the comedians for the most part. Didn't do the adult comedians because we had DS 7 with us.