A MAGICAL Bahamian Cruise Review - with Photos!

[jtxo]

Hello friends! I have written a review of our latest cruise, May 18 - 25, 2014 aboard the Carnival Magic! I have learned so much reading similar reviews, and I am setting out to do the same for others (and to relive that glorious week). Please enjoy, and if you have any questions, let me know! Let's get started!!

 

This cruise was on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary with stops in Key West, Freeport, and Nassau Bahamas. The lucky ones enjoying this cruise were: Myself (31) and my husband (33), from the North Metroplex area (Dallas-Ft Worth area for the non-Texans). This was our first trip out of Galveston where we didn't drive down the day of the cruise. We had done so previously on the Carnival Ecstasy and Carnival Conquest with little trouble, but wanted this trip to be even more relaxing.

 

We stayed in Texas City, TX Saturday night at the Holiday Inn Express.

 

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It’s waaaaay cheaper than staying in Galveston and you’re only about 30 minutes away the next morning. We even went into Galveston Saturday night for dinner. All I’ll say about Galveston is that at least it has a cruise terminal. That beach is nasty! There were huge piles of black seaweed (I’m assuming it was seaweed?) all over the beach everywhere. Gross. We ate at one of the pizza joints on Seawall Boulevard and it was lovely.

[watermelonqueen99]

Well, I am DEFINITELY on board with this review, since I just did my own ~Magical~ review a couple months ago, AND we're doing this itinerary on the Dream in April. Woo-hoo, can't wait for more! :D

[jtxo]

It’s Sunday morning! Embarkation Day!!

 

I woke up early because I’m a crazy morning person, so we got ready and had a nice breakfast at the Holiday Inn – they do have good cinnamon rolls!

 

We were excited and got done faster than expected and left the hotel about 9:45. We arrived in Galveston around 10:15, and wow, there is nothing like seeing that whale tail as you come over the bridge to Galveston Island! It always makes my stomach flutter for a bit. I don't know why. We used EZ Cruise Parking - super easy to get to, and they were running buses constantly into the parking lot. Our bus had more seats, but depending on the luggage of your fellow passengers, our bus only held about 8 sets of passengers. Mostly couples, and one group of a mom and her two daughters and boy did they have enough luggage! I think Galveston is a port that is much easier to drive to than fly, and so I think it's much easier to over pack when you don't have to worry about airline luggage restrictions! It definitely shows at times at this port! Let's just say when I saw all the others we were boarding this bus with, I felt much better about my managing to get all our stuff in one big bag and one medium. However, later in the week I did regret this when I basically ran out of underwear. OOPS!

 

Anyways, we soon boarded a bus and were dropped off at the entrance to the port. There were porters there waiting on our bus, so that was pretty easy. A quick tip for the driver and the porter and we were on our way to check-in. This trip was going to be our first as gold VIFP members - now I know that's nothing special, but I was pretty excited to get a gold card!

 

Check-in was smooth, easy, and fast. We received our Zone 7 boarding card and went to wait. We sat down around 11am.

 

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By about 11:15, they started priority boarding for those platinum snobs, FTTF, and then the zones quickly followed. We were on board well before noon.

[Bellacruiser2712]

I wish I was a platinum snob!!! 😉

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[bluemoon12]

Loving your review and looking for more. We are going to the same three ports on the Dream in July. Your writing style is fun and up beat!

[watermelonqueen99]

I'm pretty sure the "snob" thing was just humor, people! :)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[jtxo]

Well, I am DEFINITELY on board with this review, since I just did my own ~Magical~ review a couple months ago, AND we're doing this itinerary on the Dream in April. Woo-hoo, can't wait for more! :D

 

Hi!! Yes, I very much enjoyed your review and looked at it over and over during the days leading up to ours! Thanks for writing it (and reading mine!) :D

[jtxo]

Platinum snobs? Really?

 

Sorry, I should have clarified that is a total joke because I'm completely jealous and working my way to become one as quickly as my wallet allows. No harm meant!

 

And while most of them are 100% nice and super helpful and fun to talk cruising with, there are definitely those with the sense of entitlement! We sat in front of the "platinum check in" while waiting, and boy! Some people! (and yes, I'm sure there are gold snobs, and red snobs, and even newbie blue snobs...)

 

Thanks for reading!

[jtxo]

I wish I was a platinum snob!!! 😉

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Me too! Someday, Bella, someday.... :p

[jtxo]

Once onboard, we headed to the aft elevators to head upstairs. Can you believe there was NO ONE back there? It’s hilarious to me how everyone comes in on 3 and just stands for a bit. (Obviously I haven’t done that on all.previous.cruises. Or this one. Heavens, no Remember I told you – I’M GOLD NOW) The entire back half of the ship was EMPTY. It was really neat to see that. I had read on CC to try out Cucina del Capitan for lunch since no one else seems to know about it on the first day. So we head up to 11, were quickly seated and enjoyed a wonderful pasta lunch. It was pretty uncrowded the entire time we were there. It was 12:15 when I texted my family that we were on the boat while waiting for our food to be brought out. And after that, I turned off my phone and quit looking at my watch. Vacation!

 

 

After lunch, we explored the ship some. I think I like the Magic a lot more than I expected. (Stay tuned to see if that holds.) She's big, but she really doesn't feel too much bigger than the conquest class that I love so much. I mostly love how there seems to be lots of places to go hide away somewhere quiet if you need to. She's full of little nooks and crannies that are quiet. Also, Carnival has done a good job on the seating on the Magic. There are lots of chairs that have comfy cushioning like Serenity does.

 

We decided to see if somehow our room was ready yet – and it was! No luggage yet, but that’s ok. I took the time to do the first thing I always do upon arriving in our cabin:

 

 

Don’t get me wrong, I feel like they do an excellent job of cleaning on these ships – everywhere you turn someone is constantly cleaning. But it never hurts to be safe! :cool:

[jtxo]

We were in cabin #8304, Deck 8 Port side. I was worried about smelling smoke on the balcony since I had learned Deck 5 port side is the smoking place and we are non-smokers, but I never smelled it from there. Just from our neighbors. Some room pics:

 

 

Actually that one is from day 2, please excuse the towel animal. I was too excited and forgot to take one Sunday before throwing stuff everywhere :)

 

 

 

Bathroom amenities weren’t much.

[jtxo]

Aaaaand, if you're crazy to know this info like I am, here's the storage in a standard balcony cabin:

 

Closet #3 with shelves (and full size mirror on the door)

 

 

Closet closest to the cabin door, containing life jackets and robes. Also, the hangers in this one face you, but are normal sideways in the middle closet. Weird.

 

 

Top drawer to the left of the vanity with the hairdryer that you cannot remove:

(and FYI, it was ok. Didn't get my thick hair super dry but I also didn't care this week - sea air humidity makes it pretty irrelevant anyways.)

 

 

There are 3 more good sized drawers beneath that one. I don't know what happened to my pic of it. I had a really nice one with the drawers staggered so you could see them all. Bummer.

 

Minibar cabinet. Ours stayed locked as we didn't need the fridge.

 

[jtxo]

Both nightstands look like this:

 

 

Cabinet with safe and shelf:

 

 

Shelves beside safe cabinet

 

 

Drawer at center of vanity

 

 

And finally, a flat screen TV. This is our first cruise without the clunker TVs.

 

[Flytko]

Very nice so far, My first cruise was on this itinerary on the Magic and we loved it so much, my wife and I went on the Magic again later that year to Jamaica to celebrate our anniversary!!!!

[Katmarha]

Both nightstands look like this:

 

 

Cabinet with safe and shelf:

 

 

Shelves beside safe cabinet

 

 

Drawer at center of vanity

 

 

And finally, a flat screen TV. This is our first cruise without the clunker TVs.

 

 

Great start! Following.

[SMSACE6]

Nice start to your review, and very good photos. I am looking forward to more.:) Thanks for posting.

[jtxo]

Our gold pins were here too! TAKE THAT RED CARD LOSERS!! (Kidding) ((Not really)) (((ok really I am, I love all card colors)))

 

 

One other funny thing – I was prepared (thanks to cruise critic) and had kept my Holiday Inn room key with me so I could use it in the eco-light. But when we got in the room, there was already a taped up playing card stuck in it! Later that week we saw a stack of them on the room steward cart – sticking it to the man! Haha!

 

 

Speaking of room stewards, this is when we met our new best friend, May. She took the best care of us all week! She had real big hair, so you could always pick her out coming down the hallway. It always amazes me how fast they learn our names. They are simply the best. I wanted to take her picture but was afraid she wouldn’t like that.

 

Since there was no luggage to unpack, somehow I managed to talk my husband into taking the spa tour with me. Or shall I call it, the spa hard sell pitch. LOL! They showed and demonstrated about every service the spa has, everything from your regular hair and nail services, massages, and even weird body wrap with attached electric nodes "will shrink you inches" treatments. They also try to make it seem like everything is almost sold out, so don't delay! Order now! I mostly went to check out the aroma steam room and the room with the stone chairs and the thalassotherapy pool (I still don’t know how to pronounce that btw). It's neat, and seriously the steam room and the room with the glass tile looking chaises is really, really amazing. But it's not like you can stay in it all day right? I mean, you’d like to, but that can’t be safe right? And I don't think I would use it enough to spend $250 per couple or even $150 for myself. I'd rather buy a few frozen drinks and relax cheaper that way :) So I politely told them no thank you.

 

So, after the spa we went down to deck 5. I love love love this deck. I love the wraparound lanai, it’s great for walking anytime of day. There are a ton of deck chairs that are in the shade (a must for vampire skins like me) and quick easy access to the super cool Ocean Plaza. We read for a while and people watched and waited for muster time.

 

About 3:30 it was time to go to muster. Ours was station B4, which was in the upper floor of the Northern Lights dining room. This was my first cruise to not have to stand on the deck for muster, and it was so nice! People were mostly quiet and attentive. I think all the muster stations were indoors.

[jtxo]

When muster was over, we headed up one floor to 5 to the open deck for sail away - and we had already pushed off from the pier! The Magic is a smooth sailer for sure - you can't even tell she's moving half the time!

 

 

 

Gross seaweed as you leave Galveston.

 

 

[jtxo]

We watched for a while, then went and unpacked before dinner. We have anytime dining, so we went to the dining room about 6pm so we could get out before the 7:30 Welcome Aboard show. There was only one show tonight. Dinner was good, and the dining room wasn't too crowded. Service was the fastest we experienced all week. (That’s foreshadowing FYI) Afterward we went to the welcome aboard show and it was actually pretty cute. Our CD is James Dunn. He seems nice and very good with people. They had one musical number, and then had a kid come up who was very cute of course. Then they pulled up 6 passengers for a game of musical chairs. James kept it funny.

 

 

Afterwards we came up to deck 11 at the lido pool, where tonight’s movie was The Vow. I hate that movie because it isn't very easy to watch, but I listened to music on my ipod and read. It was very nice outside, and the seats we sat in were 100% wind blocked.

 

 

Lovely, right?

 

Free popcorn was a nice touch too. After that, we had had a pretty busy day and were ready for bed! But not before greeting our friend for the night.

 

 

And ever since reading GAPearl’s reviews, I no longer see a seal….

[jtxo]

Very nice so far, My first cruise was on this itinerary on the Magic and we loved it so much, my wife and I went on the Magic again later that year to Jamaica to celebrate our anniversary!!!!

 

Fun! Thanks for reading!

 

Great start! Following.

 

Thanks Kathy!

 

Nice start to your review, and very good photos. I am looking forward to more.:) Thanks for posting.

 

Thank you! We had a snafu with our good camera (cough, someone forgot the lens, cough - totally me, not to make you think it was my husband) so all of these are from my iPhone! Thanks for the follow!

[LambKnuckles]

I'm lovin' this!!!

 

I'll be where you were in 9 more sail aways!!!

 

Except -- we're heading to Belize, Honduras, and Coz...

[LBumb]

nice photos

[pspercy]

FYI the seaweed is a seasonal event, beyond anyone's control.

[618mom]

Following :)