Carnival Magic and Western Carribean: Sept 20, 2015 Review

[skittl1321]

Maybe about 9:30 or 10:00 we decided to head off the ship. We started the day by taking all the typical tourist photos. The port has lots of fun things to play with for this.

 

My husband and I:

Kevin and Jessi at Mahogany Bay

 

 

We did not take the magical chairs to the beach, and we easily "beat" them with our walk. The walk was really pretty too. But quite honestly, the walk back seemed a heck of a lot longer than the walk to the beach!

 

 

Walking to the beach there are TONS of benches, and even hammocks if the walk wears you out.

 

And even more things to distract you from the water once you get to the beach.

[skittl1321]

The beach day was perfect. It was not crowded at all (you can see SO many empty loungers in the photos.) We decided to sit a number of rows back from the ocean so that we could sit in the shade.

The Beach

A server came by and took our orders, so getting drinks was easy. They were priced reasonably, according to K; but like drinking out. It wasn't cheap beer. Still, he happily drank the day away as planned.

Beach+ Beer = Happy

 

I had brought water with me from the ship, so that's all I had on the beach (when we returned they scanned my bag and asked me if it was Carnival water; I got to keep it because it was. They were confiscating all other bottles). But I did make sure to take a goofy "pregnant lady gets no drink" photo.

Empty Cup

 

The water was not "Carribean Clear", but the temperature was nice, and it was clean water without a lot of gunk floating in it. The water was also really calm, so we enjoyed floating our in the water talking.

Jill in the Water

 

We went back to the ship at about noon to get lunch. Who were we shocked to run into at the Lido deck at about 12:30? Kevin!!!! His excursion was already over.

Edited October 12, 2015 by skittl1321

[skittl1321]

So, this is second hand- I am still trying to get Kevin to write an actual review. But he wasn't too thrilled with his excursion. Thankfully, it was only $100- which isn't TOO much for a scuba trip that includes a bus ride and rental gear. It still isn't exactly cheap though, as an independent wouldn't have cost that much more. (Unfortunately, we couldn't really find a strong consensus on an independent before we left, hence booking with AKR through the ship.)

 

Here's the thing. AKR is a great resort- a lot of local divers go there on vacation. So I can only assume they treat cruise ship divers differently, because this was not a good experience for him.

 

First off- he said the gear was "okay" but the regulators breathed really hard. One woman's regulator didn't work to the extent that the DM had her do both her dives off her octo (2nd regulator)- that's downright dangerous as the octo serves as an emergency air regulatory; if there was an emergency it is no longer available!

 

Second- these were times dives. Remember how in Cozumel he got to dive his computer/tank? Well here, it was 40 minutes and everyone gets out of the water. The first dive, it took one diver in the group 10 minutes to equalize/descend, which meant that 1/4 of the dive was spent by everyone else waiting on her. Kevin finished both dives with over half of his air tank remaining.

 

Third- he felt like the dive briefings were really poor. He was unaware what exactly the dive plan was (other than stay together and 40 minute max). So when they got to the wreck, for instance, and the DM (dive master) knelt on the ground and just stayed there, he wasn't sure how far they were allowed to explore. (He described the wreck as "really boring", mostly because of this. Everyone kind of stayed grouped around the, stationary, DM.)

 

And the final straw: a DM lost some of Kevin's personal equipment. Which we will now incur a cost to replace.

So here's the story: apparently many people on this trip were not highly skilled divers. They were very out of practice. He told me that two people actually climbed the ladder back onto the boat with their fins on. That is unsafe and just isn't done. Standard practice is to take your fin off, hand it up, and then climb. So the DM must have seen this, and decided to "help" the last person. But he did so without communicating to the diver.

 

Kevin had taken off his first fin and handed it up. He unsnapped the buckle on his second fin and the DM came up and started messing with his fin, without saying what he was doing. Kevin said he was really confused and kind of pushed him away, finished taking the fin off and handed it up to the boat, climbed the ladder, and got back on the boat. He then realized that the DM had taken it upon himself to unsnap the other side of the fin. Which meant the strap was completely unattached from the fin (having had both sides unsnapped) and was left either floating or sinking in the water. It was completely irresponsible for the DM to mess his equipment like that. And we are having a hard time finding replacement straps, which seem to be discontinued.

 

He was PISSED; and he had to do the 2nd dive in borrowed fins, which he said were more suitable to easy snorkeling than diving.

 

So we, combined with short dive times, the equipment loss at the fault of the DM really put a poor taste in his mouth. He said he found Cozumel to be much prettier with much more life, both coral and fish, so I don't know if we will go back to Roatan and dive again someday or not. We had planned to use this to scope out a future vacation.

 

But on a plus side, we got to have lunch with him (I enjoyed a selection from the Tandoor, he had a burrito and pizza) and then we headed back to the beach for the afternoon.

[skittl1321]

So after lunch, we went back to the beach. This was really an excellent benefit to Mahogany Bay as there was no need to buy lunch- the ship was just a few minutes walk away!

 

Kevin got to take the goofy tourist photos:

Riding the Shark

 

I finally got to enjoy a beach day with my husband! (Excursions are so much more fun WITH him. It's almost like we like vacationing together.)

Us in the Water

 

I got to show off my incredible floating skills. Maybe I shouldn't be proud of how bouyant I am; but Kevin just sinks like a rock, so I like to do this to make him mad that he has to tread water.

Two Thumbs Up

 

And we got to take the requisite photo of the ship.

Magic

 

After two hours on the beach we headed back to the ship; stopping first to buy a scuba shirt for Kevin, and some duty free alcohol. They had a great deal on Johnny Walker Black and Tanqueray Gin. We got 4 bottles total, which we 'checked' when we got back onto the ship.

Edited October 12, 2015 by skittl1321

[skittl1321]

I should note that S and E got a cabana at Mahogany Bay. I believe they ranked it as their favorite day. They had free wifi, a hammock with misters, waiter service, etc. There was "security" keeping people off that area of the beach, so it was very serene with limited people.

 

Anyhow- back on the ship, we got ready for dinner. K and J elected not to come again, so Kevin and I got a table for two.

 

Roatan Menu

 

For appetizers, we had the escargot (I usually love, but they weren't my favorite- I blame pregnancy)

Escargot

 

I had the Chicken Pastelitos, which I have no memory of.

Chicken Pastelitos

 

and Kevin had the flatbreak, which I think he liked. Carnival has really hit the mark on all the flatbreads.

Flatbread

 

I also really enjoyed the bread basket!

Bread basket

[skittl1321]

For his meal, Kevin had the port-of-call fish dish. He liked it, but we were disappointed the tostones in it were part of the breading. Tostones (fried green plantains) are one of our favorite foods, so I think we were both hoping they were a side on the dish.

 

Pescado Asado Cubierto con Tostones

 

Not being too sure of what I wanted, I decided to go with the lasagna. Honestly, it wasn't very good to me; but Kevin ate it too (diving makes you hungry) and he really enjoyed it. So we'll call this pregnancy, not a poor dish.

Lasagna

 

But fate was on my side this night. The waiter originally brought the wrong dish to Kevin. He sat this down and called it fish. Well, obviously it isn't. It is the tomato Quinoa dish. That was the 2nd dish I was trying to decide between. Turns out this was the best thing I ate the entire cruise. It was too much food for me, and I actually ended up stacking it under the lasagna plate to force myself to stop eating because I kept going back for more bites. The fried things were potato/jalepeno and just so good. Everything about it was amazing; the sauce was flavorful, everything went together perfectly. I'm so glad the waiter made that mistake, because I didn't enjoy the lasagna and this saved dinner for me!

 

Tomato Quinoa

 

For dessert, Kevin had the cheesecake and I had the fruit plate.

Cheesecake

 

The pineapple was wonderfully fresh! The dessert fruit plate is miles above the breakfast ones in the MDR.

Dessert Fruit Plate

 

[skittl1321]

After dinner we met back up with J and K to listen to some Karaoke. K kept singing along, so when it opened I suggested we switch to the piano bar. I can't say I know what happened at that point, because I was totally worn out and went to bed. (K later told me he thought the piano player was an excellent player, but not a great singer. It sounded like he had fun with the sing a long though.)

 

Piano Sing-a-long Time

 

But at least I was greeted by a monkey!!!!

Monkey!

 

Up next: the lost sea day...

 

[skittl1321]

Loving your review! We just got off the Magic this morning on this same itinerary. :):):)

 

Lucky you!

 

It wasn't our best cruise ever, but I'd love to do the itinerary and even ship again. (Due to what happens in the next post, I do not want to redo THIS cruise though. Or because of the food issues. I'm still mad about the breakfast that wasn't. Well, not really, I don't give it that much thought.)

[skittl1321]

Sorry, there are no photos from today.

 

Kevin was feeling pretty worn out the previous night, but we figured he was just tired from scuba. Well he woke up feeling HORRIBLE. He clearly had a fever, which Tylenol helped drop; but could barely get out of bed. So bad that we had another cruise first (which wasn't as exciting as playing putt-putt)- we headed to the medical center. (We called and said we suspected a sinus infection, and they said they could not give antibiotics without a doctor's visit; which we greatly appreciated!)

 

He was diagnosed (well, confirmed? He kind of had already diagnosed it) with a sinus infection and given antibiotics and a steriod. He then spent the day in bed.

 

I have to say, we were impressed with the medical center. The doctor asked the right questions to confirm that Kevin did indeed have the self-diagnosed sinus infections. Kevin is allergic to the common antibiotics, and the Dr. gave him the antibiotic he requested that he typically takes; however, Kevin was really impressed with the doctor's pharmacology knowledge. (Kevin is a PhD medicinal chemist whose research focused on antibiotics). Typically US doctors don't have a lot of pharmacology and know drugs by name (and do know various alternatives), not necessarily by class- this doctor (from Romania) was able to talk about classes of drugs and their respective properties. He said if someone has the allergy Kevin has he prefers a certain drug, but thinks with so many allergies, going with what was known to help before was a good idea, since he had never taken this before, and on a ship wasn't a good time to find out he was also allergic (despite it being totally different class) and Kevin got what he typically has. Clearly the ship's pharmacy is well stocked.

 

And the price was reasonable; a doctor's visit, a course of antibiotics and a course of steriods was about $200. Well less than he would have paid here (and we are waiting to see if travel insurance will cover it.)

 

So the rest of the day I was balancing visiting Kevin to make sure he wasn't dead, and to try to get him food (mostly fruit, but at one point I did get him to eat half a turkey sandwich), and trying to spend a bit of time with J and K. I don't really remember much except we played Cards Against Humanity with some strangers in the Red Frog pub. I had lunch at the pasta bar, which was very good (though I really wish I had gone to the Tandoor again...). I did dinner on the Lido deck and brought it to the room- again, I didn't find anything I liked there, but got salad and a baked potato.

 

I brought multiple plates to Kevin throughout the day, and our steward was excellent about clearing them quickly from the hallway when I set them out. We declined cabin service for the entire day, so he stopped me and asked if I wanted towels, and he very nicely got me a second ice bucket so that I could keep washcloths in it to help Kevin's fever. He did ask if Kevin was hung-over (nope!) so I guess that isn't really uncommon... It was clear the steward was worried for him, and actually cared.

 

In retrospect "just a sinus infection"; but man did it hit him hard; this was a horrible horrible day for him, and a really stressful one for me- I was so worried. (I should add that he finished his medicine, and is just NOW really starting to feel all the way back to normal. Thankfully, the flights home were not too bad, with sinus problems we were really worried, but he was still really worn out for pretty much the rest of the vacation. And we returned home with one of our bottles of wine; once on the medicine, no more drinking. So our medical bill made up for lack of any bar bill from the final sea days!)

 

I don't really know what J and K did during the rest of the day that I was in and out of Kevin's room; but I do know they played some game that would have won them a ship on a stick but the ship had RUN OUT! So they got a bottle of champagne instead.

 

Oh, and that reminds me that I forgot on the first sea day we went on the water slides (Kevin thinks it was likely water up his nose from that that ended up causing the infection; though he is prone to them, so again- not Carnival's fault at all). The orange slide got the better review, although the big bowl at the end doesn't really "flush" you; the yellow slide was determined to be way too scratchy on the back. Due to neck issues I didn't go, and after "painful" reports back, I decided not to... Everyone else tried them.

Edited October 12, 2015 by skittl1321

[roboref]

What a bummer! Ron loves the slides but they always give him sinus infections, too. We're leaving for our cruise on the Magic in a few days. Hope we're able to find food we like a little better than you were able to. (Of course, I'm not pregnant, so maybe that will help.)

Hope Kevin was able to bounce back quickly. It's good to know that the medical center is wonderful. Thanks so much for the great review.

[cruiser fanatic]

So now we were well fed and off to enjoy our fun day at sea. What are some of the things we did? (These may be a bit out of order.)

 

Well, we checked out the Fun Shops. Both K and Kevin were interested in buying some duty free alcohol, so we checked prices so that we could compare at the ports. This was kind of moot, because we immediatly forgot the prices. In the end though, Kevin decided the deal offered in Roatan for 2 bottles of Johnny Walker Black (never found a real good deal on Gold), and 2 bottles of Tanquery (not the regular kind, but I don't know enough about Gin to know what made this stuff different) was a great deal, and we purchased there. I don't know if it was a BETTER deal, and so as to not kick ourselves, we did not go back and check the FUN Shops :)

 

Kevin did NOT get to buy this:

The John Walker

It was also not offered for sampling, so no idea if it is better than the standard :) Actually- the "liquor tasting" where they give you the tiniest sip of various liquors in a super crowded fun shop never seemed to be in the Fun Times. We also never saw a rum cake tasting. I'm okay with that- but we had told our newbies to expect these things, and they weren't available.

 

We took goofy photos (surely this is part of your Fun Day at sea too?)

 

We checked out the men's hairy chest contest:

The guy who got second place didn't have a hair on his chest, and I think it may have been rigged for "good abs contest". We actually didn't stick around for the whole thing... it went very long, and eventually changed into a "dress up in women's wear" contest- having never actually watched one before, I'm not sure if that is normal. Since Kevin was my photographer, there are no hairy chest photos... just while their shirts were still on :)

 

And we listened to the mixology contest from the upper decks. But we were not down on the lido- why? Because we went and put closed toed shoes on and went to be there for the opening of the Sky Course!

 

 

The hairy chest contest has had its days IMO. Most of the time they don't have hairy chests.

[DH30]

Thanks for the review.

[skittl1321]

Hi all. I've had some really difficult things happen in my life recently and I won't be able to finish this review.

 

If you'd like to see photos of the final sea day, they are located here.

[skittl1321]

What a bummer! Ron loves the slides but they always give him sinus infections, too. We're leaving for our cruise on the Magic in a few days. Hope we're able to find food we like a little better than you were able to. (Of course, I'm not pregnant, so maybe that will help.)

Hope Kevin was able to bounce back quickly. It's good to know that the medical center is wonderful. Thanks so much for the great review.

 

He was able to get out of bed the next day and do a bit of the 'fun day' at sea; but it really hit him hard.

[Sooner-Cruisers]

Hi all. I've had some really difficult things happen in my life recently and I won't be able to finish this review.

 

If you'd like to see photos of the final sea day, they are located here.

 

I'm really sorry, sending you all the best. It was kind of you to update us.

[roboref]

I hope you are able to check back -- we just got back from our Carnival Magic cruise and want to thank you so much for the great job you did with what you were able to do on the review. You helped us in many different ways. Sending good thoughts and prayers --Pam

[knight2096]

Great review thanks so much. I hope everything is OK.

Edited November 6, 2015 by knight2096

[Tiff77]

Thanks so much for the review. Taking my girls on this cruise in January. This review was very insightful. Best wishes for you and your family.

[KittyMack]

Hey, friend - it's me - April. I will PM you elsewhere with the serious stuff. Here I'll...not do that.

 

Thank you for the lovely and specific trippie. I especially appreciated the menu and food photos (oink!). You know I am not a food snob (cough*plasticcheese*cough)...but there seems to be quite a difference between the food on DCL and what you showed here. Would you say this was typical for Carnival? Or do you feel this was more...Walmart (for lack of a better word) than what you would have expected?

 

And do you think that Carnival pitches its offerings to...perhaps...groups of young friends? Or young couples without kids? Because ropes course aside...it didn't look appealing to me at all. DCL is so desperately expensive - but reading this has made me cross Carnival off my "maybe" list. Thank you for being so frank.

 

 

PS: I think the Indian was meant to be an homage to the Village People (though - sob! - you are probably too young for the Village People). I liked him. :)

[skittl1321]

Hey, friend - it's me - April. I will PM you elsewhere with the serious stuff. Here I'll...not do that.

 

Thank you for the lovely and specific trippie. I especially appreciated the menu and food photos (oink!). You know I am not a food snob (cough*plasticcheese*cough)...but there seems to be quite a difference between the food on DCL and what you showed here. Would you say this was typical for Carnival? Or do you feel this was more...Walmart (for lack of a better word) than what you would have expected?

 

And do you think that Carnival pitches its offerings to...perhaps...groups of young friends? Or young couples without kids? Because ropes course aside...it didn't look appealing to me at all. DCL is so desperately expensive - but reading this has made me cross Carnival off my "maybe" list. Thank you for being so frank.

 

 

PS: I think the Indian was meant to be an homage to the Village People (though - sob! - you are probably too young for the Village People). I liked him. :)

 

This was the worst food of any of our Carnival cruises- both for me (though I admit being pregnant, I wasn't happy with food) and for my companions. However, it was perfectly edible, you won't go hungry. You should go look at my Triumph review for Chef's table. If you do ever find yourself on Carnival, I think you would enjoy that experience.

 

We haven't done another line because I am a budget vacationer when I can be - I go for the islands and those are the same on DCL! We try to avoid too many sea days, because I don't love the ship activities as much as other people do. I'd like to try other lines, but the prices are so high! I don't think Carnival is the party line it used to be; but younger is probably their target market. I'm not sure about "without kids" though, as the boats are filled with them and they seem happy. Not having kids when we travel though, I can't tell you about their kids programming.

 

People do say it is the Walmart of the Seas, but honestly, I'm a Walmart shopper. It's a good value product. It isn't the Dollar Store of the Seas, or the Thrift Shop of the Seas. I'd love to try DCL- but only if someone else is paying. Clearly I'm not a Carnival cheerleader; but I also always tell people we have fun on Carnival, and clearly I've been back plenty of times!

 

I do think the Indian was an homage to the Village People. But with it being a different time, I would have picked a different person. The cultural appropriation thing is just too much for me. I get really uncomfortable when people are in those sorts of headdresses.