GAPearl's "MAGIC"al Birthday Cruise! Complete Magic picture review-6/14/15 sailing.

[gapearl]

 

 

I could have hung out here all afternoon but I know my people and knew they were probably ready to head back to the ship. We only stayed about 45 minutes at the beach. On the way back, Clifton asked if we'd like to stop at Margaritaville. No thanks, I don't do touristy places. I wanted to stop at a local restaurant so we could all have some authentic Jamaican food. The family wasn't hungry because they had a big breakfast yet I was hungry because I had no breakfast. We made it back pretty early, around 2 pm.

 

 

 

 

When I booked the private tour to Nine Miles, it was at $100 per person with a 4 person minimum. I put down a 10% deposit of $40 in advance to secure my reservation. When it was time to pay, I asked Rasheen if the price was still the same or would it be cheaper since we didn't go so far and our tour was shorter, and she said it would be the same because of the stops we made whereas Nine Miles wouldn't have had any stops. Because we decided to change our plans at the last minute upon arrival, I do feel it's only fair that they charged us the original price. However, I don't think the tour we did was worth $100 per person. It was nice to have our own private van and not be hoarded in with a dozen other people, but this was a tour worth only about $50 max. It would have been nice to stop at a museum or two or some other landmark, but then taking CJ into consideration, that might not have been feasible today. Our guides were good about tailoring this tour to make sure she was accommodated. I wish I had done some more Montego Bay research in advance. If so, I would have realized that Nine Miles was farther than I thought, and I would have also looked up some things to do on Trip Advisor so I could have said I'd like to see this and this. I might have to start lining up a plan b from now on just in case. Even though I didn't get to see or do as much as I would have liked, I did have an enjoyable day in Jamaica and definitely want to return in the future on a weekend trip for Nine Miles. Maybe that will be my birthday trip for next year. :) I did enjoy my tour with Peat Taylor, would definitely recommend them and book with them again.

Edited June 29, 2015 by gapearl

[gapearl]

Once back at the port, we browsed through a couple of the gift shops and I took a look through duty free. Sure enough, they had Sangster's there for $14 a bottle. Ugh I wish I had waited. I did find a pint of a local coconut rum for only $3, too good to pass up.

 

 

 

I can't come to Jamaica and not get some real jerk chicken. There was a bar with some light food there in the port area. I stopped for a drink and finally got my jerk chicken and talked with the locals for about an hour. During that time there was a downpour for 15 minutes, so typical of the Caribbean.

 

 

The Port Cafe's menu.

 

 

Jerk chicken was $9, and the rum punch was $5. It was so spicy I got choked up and coughed for a minute. Perfect! lol

 

 

Ya mon! I'm a happy girl right now.

 

[gapearl]

He wasn't shy either about wanting a tip for a picture.

 

 

I got a marriage proposal from the guy behind the bar. He took his ring off and put it on my hand. LOL

 

 

 

Back to the ship.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

I got back on the ship around 3ish and took an awesome hour and a half nap. When I woke up my family was going to find something to eat and I roamed the ship a while, taking more pictures. First I went out to one of the secret decks on deck 7 forward.

 

The guys on the bridge are hard at work.

 

 

 

Me and my hair are both over this wind today.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

The Fun Shops on deck 5 forward.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll try any adult beverage that's free. They were offering samples of Johnny Walker Black. This is so not my drink.

 

 

[gapearl]

Duty free.

 

 

 

The Magic atrium and where the band plays or DJ is set up.

 

 

They were getting ready for the Mardi Gras party tonight.

 

 

A fun hub and sail and sign kiosk.

 

 

Another fun hub and ATM on the other side. There's a $6 service fee to make a withdrawal.

 

[gapearl]

 

Deck 5 midship by Ocean Plaza.

 

 

Ocean Plaza. Karaoke and trivia are held here and the band plays at night.

 

 

 

 

Ocean Plaza Bar.

 

[gapearl]

Ocean Plaza Cafe with specialty coffees and desserts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

The Taste Bar, where you can sample food from some of Carnival's specialty restaurants. Today's taste was from the Blue Iguana.

 

 

 

This is the pepper pot, which was really good, and a fried sweet potato something. I ended up not eating it when I discovered it had pork in it.

 

 

Outside on The Lanai.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

This was set up from the art auction where you guess the weight of the art. It was pretty heavy. My guess was 30 pounds, but I never learned the correct answer.

 

 

The Chef's Table was tonight in the Vibe Nightclub.

 

 

The Spotlight Lounge, deck 5 aft, where all the comedy shows are held.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

We were scheduled to leave at 6 pm but were still there at 6:30. I guess there were some late ship excursions coming in. I was back in the cabin to take a shower and get ready for dinner around 7 pm. When I made it back I found my mom back in the room, curled up in her robe and under the covers. She's still complaining to me about the temperature. Oh for the love of hot flashes! It's already hotter than Cinemax on a Saturday night in here! The thermostat war is surely what's gonna cause me to lose my inheritance after this trip. Since everyone had a late lunch, I headed to dinner solo tonight and everyone else went separate ways. The quote of the night from everyone (hostesses, servers, etc) was "You're here by yourself?" It's ok. I'm a single woman and used to having dinner by myself. :rolleyes:

 

Dress is from Bebe.

 

 

I was actually asked a lot this cruise if I was by myself. For the most part on the ship, my mom was at a slot machine, JJ was at the pool or hanging out somewhere with her new friends, and CJ stayed in the cabin a lot. To a certain extent, at times this did feel like a solo cruise. However having cruised solo 7 times now, it didn't bother me at all. I sat in Michelle's section again tonight. It's funny how things happen sometimes. The first two nights when we were at a large 8 top, there was an empty seat that would have been perfect to share with a solo cruiser. Even though I asked the hostess to be seated with others, I sat at a 5 top by myself. This allowed me to have some great conversations with Michelle and bar waitress Emma.

 

Tonight's dinner menu.

 

 

The wine list.

 

 

The cocktail menu.

 

 

Edited June 29, 2015 by gapearl

[gapearl]

Potato soup appetizer.

 

 

One of my all time favorite dinner entrees, the farfalle with turkey and peas.

 

 

It's bitter and blanc night!

 

 

The heavens opened up and the angels began to sing H-A-L-L-E-L-U-J-A-H!

 

 

Tonight there was a Mardi Gras party in the atrium at 9:30 pm. I finished my dessert just as it was getting started. I was going up the stairs to position myself for a good view, and then this happened.

 

 

I can't believe I spilled red wine on my new Bebe dress! :( I went back into the dining room and asked Michelle for some seltzer so I could attempt to scrub it out a little. It helped slightly but honestly didn't do too much. I guess I'll have to send it to laundry in the morning.

[gapearl]

While dealing with my stain, I missed the beginning of the party.

 

 

 

They played a game where everyone had to hold hands in a circle and pass a hula hoop from person to person without breaking hands. If you had the hoop on you when the music stopped, you were out. That was hilarious to watch.

 

 

 

Bird's eye view from up here of the bartenders hard at work.

 

 

The only way I saw Mardi Gras in this party was from the decorations and beads being passed out. I was kind of expecting (and hoping for) a second line through the lobby and maybe hurricane drink specials. It was fun, but nothing screamed Mardi Gras to me.

[gapearl]

At 10:15 pm in the Showtime Theatre was the show Destination Unknown. This is hands down the BEST production show I have ever seen on a Carnival ship. This show has a magic and circus theme. Some of the magic tricks were easy to figure out, and some had me like WHOA how'd they do that? There were lots of unexpected surprises throughout the show, and I won't give away any spoilers. I love that there were magic shows keeping with the name of the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh that's gonna hurt! :eek:

 

 

If you're going on Magic any time soon, do not miss this show. If this was playing in Las Vegas, I'd actually pay to see it. I mean, I wouldn't pay more than $30, but I'd still pay to see it. lol

[anewmac]

Tour still looks like a good time. Sometimes the best times had are those unplanned. Drinks looked delish again!.

 

Next time pack a Tide stick... I take one with me to dinner all the time. Usually I have chocolate all over me, I swear Im like a 5yr old with dessert LOL.

 

Show looked like a good one too, we didnt go to any of them this time.

[gapearl]

I went straight to the Spotlight Lounge after Destination Unknown for the burlesque show A Kiss Goodnight. It didn't start until midnight but I got there shortly after 11 pm and people were already arriving to get good seats. I sat next to this couple that were looking awfully hard at a really nice shiny ring on a left finger and asked if they were the couple that got engaged last night at the deck party. They said no but they had just gotten engaged today in Jamaica. How sweet! They were so excited about getting married and SOON having LOTS of kids. We had a nice little talk about relationships while waiting for the show to start. They were like "yeah dating at our age..." Pause. How old are you? 23. :rolleyes: Don't make me throw my phone at you. The soon to be groom told me he's heard my same dating stories from his older sister. I'm often asked why I'm single. Well perhaps if we ever run across each other one day on a cruise, we can head to the bar for the martini tasting and I'll share with you some of my dating horror stories. You'll want to buy me another round and tell me to write a book by the time I'm done. Consider yourself lucky if you're not in the 2015 dating world. The struggle is real. I guess I could go back to Jamaica and find the guy that proposed earlier. lol

 

 

Anyways, the burlesque show was wasn't too bad. It wasn't as risqué as I thought it was going to be. The girls wore thongs and fishnets but that's as far as it went. The magician from the Destination Unknown show Jason Byrne was there and did some tricks. There was some audience participation, all involuntary and really funny to watch.

 

After the show I went to Vibe and it was another slow night. There was a big group of maybe 19 year olds and a few couples scattered around. I left at 1:30 am but I wasn't ready to go to bed yet, so I walked around the lido hoping to find some more people out. The ship was really quiet since we had a super early 7 am arrival in Grand Cayman. I went up to 11, found a deck chair close to the water and enjoyed the sound of the waves and the fresh air until I finally decided to turn in at 2:15 am.

 

Wifi prices from screen shots I took. You can access Carnival sites (including John Heald's blog) for free.

 

 

You can download the Fun Times for free on your smart phone or tablet.

 

 

What IS this?

 

 

Grand Cayman is next. Only two more days until my birthday!

 

 

Thank you guys for continuing to follow along!

[Gr8DanesMom]

I am absolutely loving your review! Thank you so much for taking the time out to post this, especially with all the photos. We leave on the Magic on 11/29 and reading this is keeping my excitement levels sky high!!!

 

Oh, and the towel animals you had in your cabin…. I have no idea what they are. LOL! I'm thinking the person who made them was secretly laughing her tail off knowing they aren't anything at all, and she had you guessing for days. ;O)

 

Keep the review coming please!

 

- Cindy

[cbtengwife]

Even Santa came all the way down from the North Pole to party with us.

 

 

#SantaSelfie

 

 

We were on the Dream week before Christmas 2012 and there was a Santa on that cruise. I took a picture of him to show my grandbabies that Santa had to take vacation before his big night.

[TheCriuseDirector]

Finally Caught Up! I'm loving this review so much! Thank you! You have inspired me to go all out review style on my (95% Sure I'm doing) cruise in February! Looking forward to see the rest! :)

[chudster]

Hi there! Welcome to CC! :D I'm so honored that you are reading my review for your first cruise and that you're finding it so helpful. That's why I love doing these. Congratulations on taking your first cruise. Beware that they're very addictive and you'll be looking for your next one as soon as you get home.

 

Thanks! My late cousin and his wife (who is a CC member) took a couple of cruises a year, and are my inspiration for booking this one. I'm certain we will enjoy it.

 

The Magic is Carnival's second newest ship so you picked a good one. I'm not sure how old your sons are, but whether they're teens or small kids, there will be plenty of activities to keep them occupied.

 

My sons are teen and pre-teen, so they will be in Circle C (12 -14).

 

You'll find plenty to do for you and your wife as well. I hope you and your family have a fantastic first cruise! Please come back and report on it when you get back. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, and stay tuned as there's so much more I have to cover. :)

 

Looking forward to more of your posts!

[lido deck larry]

This review is great! I've learned a lot about Spanx as an added bonus! [emoji12]

 

Did you enjoy cruising with family more than you last solo vacation, or did you find them holding you back from doing some things you'd otherwise have done?

 

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk

Edited June 29, 2015 by lido deck larry

[True Texan]

Just ordered an Aqua Vault thanks to you. My husband and usually take turns going the water but now we will go in together. Yes someone could pick up the chair but that would be very obvious and don't think it will happen. Love love your review keep it up.

[cynt]

I knew there was a reason I connected with you and your reviews on SO MANY levels...WE SHARE THE SAME BIRTHDAY, JUNE 19!!!Happy BIRTHDAY from one Gemini to another!!!:D:D:D

 

Now to settle in, go back to page 2 (LOL) and catch up on this review. Just what I needed to help me get thru the week before I head to NOLA for Essence Fest!!!

Edited June 29, 2015 by cynt

[foxcent]

I don't know either. :rolleyes: Dating these days is rougher than that water in the video. lol

 

 

 

Thanks so much! I love dressing up on cruises because I never have the chance to dress up at home. Wait til you see the birthday dress! I outdid myself with that one! :D Yes, you must post a review when you come back.

 

I can't wait....

[gbearcruiser]

Yeah! Love your reviews! Happy Belated Birthday! Subscribing! :)