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

[gapearl]

After leaving the Turtle Farm we were dropped off at Captain Marvin's boat dock while everyone else on our morning tour were headed to the beach. Our boat arrived shortly after we did, along with another bus of people, and we all loaded up ready for our ride. We had a big boat and there were only about 20 of us onboard.

 

 

The water looks very brown because they had recently had a lot of rain, and this is the result of salt water mixed with fresh water.

 

 

We passed by some really nice houses.

 

 

Can you spot the iguana?

 

 

 

Looks like a fun kayaking excursion.

 

[gapearl]

Some more nice million dollar homes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's the pretty blue water we were waiting for!

 

[gapearl]

We arrived at Stingray City during peak time. I counted 13 other boats in the water. We had 30 minutes here to have a little fun with the rays.

 

 

Can you see it?

 

 

Our guide caught one for us.

 

 

 

Selfie with a photo bomb!

 

 

My back massage from a stingray.

 

[gapearl]

Can I hold him?

 

 

 

 

Too cute! :)

 

 

[gapearl]

We had some squid available to feed them. The stingrays don't have any teeth so no fear of them biting you.

 

 

They suck it out of your hand like a vacuum.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Many of the stingrays do still have their barb. You have to remember that these are still wild animals. However the stingrays here are used to being around people every day.

 

 

I'm having way too much fun!

 

 

We were here for 30 minutes. There were still hundreds of people in the water as we were preparing to leave.

 

 

Suck it in, Kim! lol Bikini is from Target.

 

 

Last one here.

 

[gapearl]

Our second stop on the boat was for snorkeling. The water was about 10 feet deep. We were provided with snorkeling masks, fins, and life vests if needed. We could see the Cayman Trench drop off not too far away. I swam for 30 minutes and considered this my exercise for the day. I've been bored with snorkeling for a couple of years now. It's definitely time for me to take the next step and get my PADI certification so I can start scuba diving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teresa be sure to show this to you know who.

 

[gapearl]

 

 

One of the guides dove down to bring these seashells up for me. I gave them to my mom to take home.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

The ride back to Captain Marvin's dock was 30 minutes. There was a photographer on the boat that had been in the water taking pictures of us. She showed us our pictures and offered me a cd with all of our images burned for $55. I passed since I already had so many good ones with my camera. She gave me her card and told me if I changed my mind I could still order them up to 3 months.

 

Our boat, the Cayman Jewel.

 

 

I took a Titantic king of the world picture in my suit, but I haven't been squatting or running as often as I should be the last two months and would need to photoshop the heck out of my "assets."

 

 

This one came out great though. No photoshopping necessary! lol

 

 

There were drivers at the dock waiting with their vans to bring us back to the ship. Imagine my surprise when I saw a driver I met my last time here 4 years ago waiting to give us a ride. Fabian and I kept in touch through Facebook. He remembered and pointed out exactly where he met me, and even remembered that I went horseback riding that time. I guess I made quite an impression on him! It was nice unexpectedly running into him. We made it back to the port at 2:15 pm.

 

 

My mom and JJ got back on the ship. I wanted to buy some rum and rum cakes. You have to buy your alcohol in Grand Cayman at least an hour prior to when the tenders will stop running. The stores here deliver your purchases to the ship. You can't walk in and walk out with a bottle.

 

I got this 5 pack of assorted Tortuga rum for $20. This is my favorite rum for making rum punch. I also bought a 4 pack of Tortuga rum cakes- 2 chocolate and 2 original- for $21.

 

 

I really wanted a bottle of Big Black Dick coconut rum but they were all out so I purchased a bottle of BBD vanilla rum instead. BBD is some really good rum you can't buy in the US. Well apparently they were out of everything BBD because when I got home, I opened my box and discovered this.

 

 

It's not what I wanted but oh well. It's not like I won't drink it. lol

Edited July 1, 2015 by gapearl

[gapearl]

The Fun Times said the last tender would be at 3:15 pm. At 3 pm the line to get back to the ship looked like this.

 

 

Forget that. I went to The Green Parrot and ordered a couple of drinks, enjoyed some free wifi, and chatted with other cruisers also smart enough to skip the line as well.

 

 

The Green Parrot's food and drink menus.

 

 

 

I had the Cayman mama for $9.

 

[gapearl]

More from The Geen Parrot.

 

 

 

View from my bar stool.

 

 

The line never seemed to get shorter. It just kept getting longer.

 

 

Maxi dress is from Old Navy.

 

[gapearl]

Another cool shot in black and white.

 

 

At 4 pm I finally got in line, but there was still no rush.

 

 

Back at the tenders.

 

 

One last view of town.

 

 

The beautiful Carnival Magic awaits me.

 

 

I needed a little snack from room service once I made it back to my cabin.

 

[gapearl]

I took a nice long nap after showering. It was just my mom and I for dinner tonight. I forgot my nightly staircase picture, so I took a mirror selfie instead. Dress is from Express.

 

 

When we showed up to the table, Michelle offered me a glass of white wine. Oh you got jokes! haha

 

 

I had the roasted half spring chicken.

 

 

My mom had the fried chicken from the every day menu.

 

 

I had my usual for dessert, and my mom had a scoop of ice cream.

 

 

It's show time!

 

[gapearl]

Tonight we danced to "Shake, Shake, Shake," a fun Bollywood kind of song.

 

 

Michelle and I getting our dance on.

 

 

Finally a towel animal I recognize, a rabbit.

 

 

After dinner I went to the 10:15 pm show of WIN! taking place in the Showtime Theatre. It was part game show, part production show, featuring the Carnival singers and dancers and a couple of lucky guests brought on stage. After that was the 11:30 pm Punchliner Comedy Club performance of JR McCollom. He was funny as hell and will have your stomach hurting from laughing so hard. Next stop was the Vibe Nightclub.

 

Oh snap! It's June 19! It's officially my birthday!

 

 

Two minutes later at 1:18 am my new friend Jason bought these so we could celebrate my first birthday drink.

 

 

So did I enjoy my 35th birthday on the Carnival Magic?

 

 

Stay tuned!

[anewmac]

Grand Cayman Day looks great...I have that same pic with Big Black lol

[USNUZULOOSE]

Wow! You had a fun birthday cruise. I felt like I was with you. My BD is june 20th, so I felt like I was enjoying it with you! I love the Dopey picture. Love your review!

[jbhcw]

Grand Cayman day was great! When we went to the turtle farm years ago they were recovering from a hurricane...love your pictures!

 

Question...I have a milestone birthday next year...and we are doing a family cruise in March..but thinking maybe just the hubs and me for a June cruise....were there a lot of kids on this cruise? We usually avoid cruising in the summer due to price and so many kiddos:)

[mykeb14]

Loving you review! You would be amazing to cruise with!

[pirate4me2]

I am so glad you posted about your excursion in Grand Cayman. We are going there on one of our Vista cruises and I was looking at going to Stingray City. I knew I wanted to use Captain Marvin, but didn't know I could combine two tours like that! I want to try the turtle farm, that looks awesome. How did you arrange to have them combined like that?

[hlb76]

Love your Turtle Farm pics. We went for the first time last year and really enjoyed it. Brad was our guide as well and really liked him!

 

Excited to see what your Birthday has in store!

[gapearl]

Grand Cayman Day looks great...I have that same pic with Big Black lol

 

He's a popular man on the island! lol Grand Cayman was a lot of fun. At first I was worried we wouldn't make it because of Bill.

 

Wow! You had a fun birthday cruise. I felt like I was with you. My BD is june 20th, so I felt like I was enjoying it with you! I love the Dopey picture. Love your review!

 

Happy belated birthday to you! I love making people feel like they're right there with me in my adventures.

[gapearl]

Grand Cayman day was great! When we went to the turtle farm years ago they were recovering from a hurricane...love your pictures!

 

Question...I have a milestone birthday next year...and we are doing a family cruise in March..but thinking maybe just the hubs and me for a June cruise....were there a lot of kids on this cruise? We usually avoid cruising in the summer due to price and so many kiddos:)

 

Thank you very much! Grand Cayman was a great day.

 

Yes, there were A. LOT. OF. KIDS. on this cruise. This was the first time I've every cruised in the summer. Like you, I prefer to go when the kids are in school. For the most part, I didn't see any unruly children and they all seemed to be on their best behavior. But yes, there were kids everywhere. Price wise yes, this was more expensive than what we would have paid in September, which is when I've taken my mom in the past.

 

Loving you review! You would be amazing to cruise with!

 

Thank you very much! Maybe I'll cruise with all you guys one day!

[gapearl]

I am so glad you posted about your excursion in Grand Cayman. We are going there on one of our Vista cruises and I was looking at going to Stingray City. I knew I wanted to use Captain Marvin, but didn't know I could combine two tours like that! I want to try the turtle farm, that looks awesome. How did you arrange to have them combined like that?

 

I had to book them separate, but I emailed their office so that they knew I was combining the two. People do it all the time. Whether you do hell/turtle farm first or snorkeling first will depend on what time your ship will be in port. No deposit was required, but I did have to give my credit card number to hold my reservation. We had a great day and I'd highly recommend them.

 

Love your Turtle Farm pics. We went for the first time last year and really enjoyed it. Brad was our guide as well and really liked him!

 

Excited to see what your Birthday has in store!

 

Thank you for continuing to read! Brad was a great guide. Cozumel might have been even more fun than GC. :D

[iloverags2]

Finally caught up! I am really enjoying this review especially since it looks like we will be sailing Carnival in 2016. As you can see from my signature we are not the biggest Carnival fans; however the best itineraries out of Canaveral are on Carnival, and I must admit I am more interested in sailing with them now that I have seen the Breeze (and now Magic!) in pictures.

 

As for Miss Jamaica...yes she was SCREWED ROYALLY out of the title! What a shame that was.

 

Looking forward to reading about your birthday!

[tiffy0428]

Have you ever done the dream?