Magic Review Sept 16-23 2013:

[Stevesan]

Sailing the seven day Western Caribbean itinerary, round trip Galveston. Ports are Roatan, Belize, Cozumel.

 

Shore Excursions:

I only snorkel. If you aren’t into diving or snorkeling, skip this part.

The Western Caribbean. Is world class for diving and snorkeling.

 

Roatan: Unfortunately, Maya key is an exception. Near shore is sand and grass. Entry is at the end of a long pier with many other snorkelers crammed into a small area. Most of the coral is dead and there was very little marine life. I previously visited Tabyana beach. It has excellent snorkeling off shore. I once did a boat snorkel with Anthony’s Key Resort on the West side. That was magnificent. Anthony’s is a 5 star operation.

 

Belize: I spent most of the day in my cabin with a stomach problem. However, I can attest from previous trips that snorkeling at any of the small to mid size islands is excellent.

 

Cozumel: I repeated Eagle Ray Divers three-reef boat snorkel. It’s a small operation with excellent guides. They often mix divers and snorkelers with a separate guide assigned to each group. Eagle Ray also offers a two-reef trip, but they only visit near shore reefs. That doesn’t compete with the off shore reefs such as Columbia, Palancar, Punta Sur, etc.

 

Highlights:

There was Minimal crowding in public areas, despite nearly 4,000 fellow passengers. Food and service in MDR was excellent. In and out in slightly over an hour. That’s record time in my experience (25 cruises and counting).

Balcony cabin (deck 10, Lido) intelligently designed and comfortable, with lots of storage space. The balcony is small, but adequate for drying out snorkel gear :p

Kiddy programs are first rate. Topside water features are everything a child could ask for. The kids are well cared for, and also well behaved. Attribute the latter to most passengers being from Texas where children have a proper rearing.

The grill located aft on Lido deck provides good deli sandwiches and other munchies.

Soft serve ice cream and drink stations more than adequate.

Many activities throughout the day. They are varied enough everyone should find a few things they like.

 

Lowlights:

Pools are too small for swimming.

Boarding began early but cabins were not accessible until 1:30PM, even though disembarking guests are “encouraged” to be out of the cabins by 7:30->8:00AM. Princess has the same timing, but their cabins are available between 11:30AM and 12Noon.

Buffet area (Market Place) design is disjointed and difficult to maneuver. But the food was okay. Good omelet stations.

Charging for small snacks, cookies, etc, at the Ocean Plaza’s coffee bar is miserly.

Worst were the cruise director’s PA announcements. They are FREQUENT, LOUD, LONG and studded with SALES PITCHES. They’re reminiscent of a key phrase in David Mamet’s Glenglarry Glen Ross film: “Always be Selling”

Immigration lines were loooooong There was a one hour plus wait. Not the fault of Carnival or the Immigration officials who had nine stations open. 4,000 is a lot of folks to process.

 

In summary, a very good cruise only 60 miles from my driveway.:)

[vivavegas]

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

[Spring1onu]

Glad you had a good time! Thank you for sharing :)

[Crusin Karen]

Thanks for the review, but...ummmm....cough cough....hate to tell you this, but the year we are living right now is 2012. :p;):rolleyes::p;):rolleyes: Good news is you are one year younger than you thought you were!

[EnTnSA]

Boarding with my crew in a little less than 30 days now...getting really antsy!

[MicksMom]

Welcome back! Could you tell me how disembarking was? Have read other posts that say customs is taking longer when returning from these ports.

[cruiser fanatic]

Welcome back! Could you tell me how disembarking was? Have read other posts that say customs is taking longer when returning from these ports.

 

 

Hi we went on that same cruise but in August we recieved a letter in our cabin saying that since we visited Belize we would go through extra screening which we never did we were through customs in 5 minutes most easiest debark ever.

[PathfinderEss]

Welcome home, glad you had a good cruise.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[Stevesan]

Welcome back! Could you tell me how disembarking was? Have read other posts that say customs is taking longer when returning from these ports.

 

"Immigration lines were loooooong There was a one hour plus wait. Not the fault of Carnival or the Immigration officials who had nine stations open. 4,000 is a lot of folks to process."

[MicksMom]

Thanks for the replies. We have passports so that will help a little. I am one that once we are back, I want to get on the road for the 5 hour drive. :(

[DpTxQt31]

Thanks for the replies. We have passports so that will help a little. I am one that once we are back, I want to get on the road for the 5 hour drive. :(

 

We too had passports and was on this same sailing as the poster. Doesn't really matter passport wise on this one. It pretty much seems that it took about 5 minutes per person/couple. The lines for the birth certificates was going faster then the ones for the passports. :rolleyes:

 

They were being very precise on their checking back into the U.S.

[mephistoles]

Kiddy programs are first rate. Topside water features are everything a child could ask for. The kids are well cared for, and also well behaved. Attribute the latter to most passengers being from Texas where children have a proper rearing. <--- I see what you did there :p

 

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you had a great cruise (minus the stomach issues...)