Magic happens in Galveston! 10/11/15 Western Caribbbean on the Carnival Magic

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

Puerta Maya shopping area after it stopped raining.

 

 

Lunch back on lido deck. Caribbean and Tandoor while looking out at the water.

 

 

 

Parked across from the Carnival Triumph with our RCCL buddy in the distance.

 

Flat iron steak and basmati rice for dinner. Also got navy bean soup and braised rabbit, which was not that good.

 

 

Warm chocolate melting cake, the picture speaks for itself.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

Our progress, on the way to Grand Cayman. You can view this in multiple places on promenade deck, or on your room television anytime.

 

Decent promenade deck cover band played in the evenings. I want to say they were called Rhythmnation but not sure about that, cannot remember. They played in ocean plaza.

 

 

Pre-comedy show. Got a seat a little closer to the stage tonight for a change.

 

A crab as a towel animal and the next day's funtimes. Next stop Grand Cayman!

[watermelonqueen99]

 

 

 

Decent promenade deck cover band played in the evenings. I want to say they were called Rhythmnation but not sure about that, cannot remember. They played in ocean plaza.

 

 

Yep, that's Rythmnation! Those boys are good! We especially enjoyed them on formal night when they were all dressed up. The 2 different female singers that accompanied them over the course of the cruise weren't great, but we thought the instrument playing was fantastic!

[danacline]

Your mention of awesome hot chocolate got me wondering. I have noticed that if you take two envelopes of the same hot chocolate mix, and do one with hot water and the other with hot milk, the milk one tastes MUCH better. So much better that when I go camping, I take a ziplock of powdered milk (which isn't good for much else) so I can have good hot chocolate.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Yep, that's Rythmnation! Those boys are good! We especially enjoyed them on formal night when they were all dressed up. The 2 different female singers that accompanied them over the course of the cruise weren't great, but we thought the instrument playing was fantastic!

 

I had to go through the funtimes to get the band name. They were good, not the best Carnival house band ever but entertaining. Worth listening to for a little while each evening for sure.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Your mention of awesome hot chocolate got me wondering. I have noticed that if you take two envelopes of the same hot chocolate mix, and do one with hot water and the other with hot milk, the milk one tastes MUCH better. So much better that when I go camping, I take a ziplock of powdered milk (which isn't good for much else) so I can have good hot chocolate.

 

It probably has something to do with that. The cocoa mix is just in a tube and is dispensed and mixed with something in a machine that causes it to come out very foamy and rich. I don't know if it is milk or some dairy substitute as I thought hot cocoa mix had dried milk in it already. Maybe sugar, maybe just MAGIC? Who knows, but it is good. I got cup after cup of it while sailing the Breeze last September and it was like 90 degrees every day on that cruise as well.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Folks, after another short hiatus, we will now continue with the review. I hope you are thoroughly enjoying it, I am enjoying that I am able to re-live the vacation by writing about it almost three weeks after returning home. Yesterday was our first port visit day, and quite a bit happened both in port and on the ship. Hopefully you learned something about the Mayan Window or Cozumel or the ship that you might have been wondering about or didn’t know about before from reading. After sleeping some overnight, we moved on to our next port, which was Grand Cayman. So, we will pick up where we left off, on Wednesday morning, Day 5 of the adventure. I took a lot of pictures today and will hopefully be able to post them after writing up the day’s summary. Here goes!

DAY 5: GRAND CAYMAN

Yeah, I have been to Grand Cayman a few times before but each visit is a new experience. So, we arrived sometime around 0900 (of course I was still asleep seeing that our excursion wasn’t until later on) and anchored (?) or just set up shop in place a mile or so off the shore. If you know anything about the Caymans, you know that this is a tender port. I will talk much more about this and why there probably won’t be a dock built there anytime in a bit….

Anyway, as usual I got up, turned the tv on to see what was going on and went outside to the balcony to snap a few photos and see how things were outside. Mostly cloudy, humid and warm, kind of like the day before in Cozumel. Also noteworthy is that they came around at least once to powerwash the balconies which was neat and they left plenty of warning the evening before to keep your curtains closed in the morning so they couldn't see inside while they did their thing. Cool to watch them move along the side of the ship.

We had plenty of time to waste as our excursion wasn’t until noon, so we took our time going up to the lido to get breakfast. In general, breakfast is something that Carnival just doesn’t do all that well. Yes, you can get omelets or made to order fried eggs but that involves standing in a sometimes long line. It does beat the awful “scrambled eggs” they have in the buffet line though. The sausage is ok but is too maple-y and the ham is often dry. You can get bacon but you have to beg the Bacon Police to give you more than a few pieces of usually-overcooked stuff. You can also get hard-boiled and deviled eggs along with toast, jelly, bagels, etc and cereal and fruit. Breakfast just isn’t my favorite part of Carnival although it is when I am at home, probably because I don’t get it often and I appreciate really good diner-style or home cooked foods.

About the lido lines also. They say regular breakfast is supposed to be served until 1200 but they were shutting it down and changing everything to lunch, including the drink dispensers well before noon. You are lucky to find one leftovers line open on the open lido pool deck with limited selection after about 1030. However, that also means that there wasn’t a major line to get things such as fried eggs overeasy so that was a plus. The guava passion fruit drink they have in the machines in the morning is out of this world good and I wish they would serve it all day long, or at least through lunch. But after noon, it is only lemonade, water and iced tea unfortunately. No, I didn’t get any of it today and it took me until the next morning in MBJ to get some guava passion fruit drink for myself.

I finished my potatoes, eggs and meat and we just hung out on lido and watched the day’s weather situation unfold through the huge plate glass windows. It was starting to cloud up quite a bit. Just like yesterday. Parked next to us was the Carnival Paradise. An old Fantasy class ship, I have actually never sailed it but never really heard anything bad about it either. I think it is based in Tampa now, as only the small ships can dock there due to the clearance under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, linking St. Petersburg and Sarasota/Bradenton (if you have never cruised from there, it is pretty cool to go under that bridge at sunset and just, and I mean just, clear it).

We went back to the cabin around 1100 to get ready to hit the tender to get off the ship, and happened to see our steward in the area. We again told him about the broken safe, he looked at it and told us he would again contact maintenance to come out and fix it. He surely did his part, someone else obviously dropped the ball in getting it timely repaired. Note - when you see your steward the first day of the cruise, let him or her know what your sleeping patterns are so they can plan to either clean your room later in the morning or to possibly skip morning service altogether if you don’t really want or need it most days. We explained that to our steward the first day, and he never bothered us too early in the morning to come clean although we could hear him knocking on neighbors’ doors early each day. It is the little things you know. Anyway, we got cleaned up, changed, got our excursion supplies together and made our way downstairs to get a tender to port around 1130.

The tenders picked up and dropped off at least 2 different spots on the ship, possibly more and really kept the lines moving. Now, since it was later in the day, there wasn’t a line to get off but there might have been earlier in the morning and be sure to factor that in if you have an early excursion. We got our tender to land and got off in the usual customs and port shopping area. I got a nice pic on the dock with the ship in the background and of course, took a few pics of arriving planes into Owen Roberts Int’l (GCM) while we made our way to the port area. Once there, I got a bottle of soda and water for the tour, for like $3 or 4 total, reasonable for being in the port and we made our way over to where the excursion was meeting.

Again, we went through Carnival to book this tour as it appeared that booking it through the tour company would have been either the same or a few dollars more. I wonder why. Anyway, just like with Cozumel, we had each been here multiple times and there wasn’t much to choose from that we hadn’t already seen or done that we could both physically handle in terms of tours. So, we settled on the duck boat tour. I know the history of duck boats isn’t that great, one got run over by a cargo ship in Philly a few years ago and one crashed in Seattle I think just this year. Duck boats are still cool, affordable and I have felt safe whenever I have taken a tour on one. So we went with that. I think we could have gotten an earlier tour as I could see them going through the port area all morning from the ship but we thought 1200 would be a good time to take the tour. It turns out, that we might have been better served taking an earlier tour. Think rain and lightning once again…..

We met our tour driver and got on the duck boat, in a parking lot adjacent to the port area. The duck boat had open windows, yeah. Which would have been ok if not for the rain. We were introduced to the boat crew and made our way through downtown George Town. Not a minute after leaving the lot, it rained, hard. With thunder and lightning. Yes, another strong thunderstorm. This is the Caribbean after all, and storms just sort of pop up and move away in a blink of an eye. At least they had roll-down tarp style windows and quickly rolled them down so we didn’t get wet. Of course that made it very hot and stuffy in the boat and made it harder to take pictures but the alternative would have been to get completely soaked during the ride. I forget our guide’s name but he was cool. Originally from Honduras, has lived all around the Americas, and has settled and lived in Grand Cayman for about 20 years. Very unfiltered, real outlook on many things about the island, including the political situation.

After riding around downtown and seeing a few monuments, we headed into the water at the boat ramp located a few blocks from the port, and made our way through the coastal waters. Yes, the storm was raging here. Couldn’t see much out the windows and could barely see a hundred feet any direction. Saw lightning hit not far from us. What do you think we were all thinking now? LOL. I have always been taught to go indoors and away from water in an electrical storm but I guess this boat was grounded and we were perfectly safe. Just funny to think about. Anyway, the boat had an underwater camera so we could see the coral reefs and shipwrecks in the area and he explained what type of aquatic life they have and how deep the sea gets just a mile or so offshore. He also told us the history of the island, that it is British although they have their own dollar which is actually quite a bit stronger than the US dollar nowadays. I already knew this from a past visit and actually have a Cayman dollar sitting in a desk drawer somewhere at home. I do like to collect local currency from as many islands that I visit as possible.

Our guide also told us about the financial situation there. You probably already know but there is no tax there and it is huge banking location for folks around the world. It is also a very international place. Not many native Cayman Island folks, most live elsewhere and spend winters there or emigrate from other countries. It is not incredibly easy to get citizenship there though I believe but that may be incorrect. They have hundreds of banks although there are many more controls on that industry than there were decades ago. He explained that when you buy property, you pay one lump tax on it and then you own it forever, no yearly property taxes or anything. So, they still get money to run the government but it is not a high tax area. Many, many international businesses set up here, so jobs are aplenty as well although he said tourism still makes up the majority of the economy there. He said that they do have police and a court and prison system but not a lot of crime and so he joked that the cops just do a lot of nothing all day and collect taxpayer money to do so. He said that, not me, LOL. Also, the justice system is tough. Convicted of a crime and sentenced, you serve the sentence. Very rare to get early release there.

After the rain slowed down some, we stopped to feed a school of hungry fish. He gave everyone some of his very special fish food recipe (a loaf of wonder bread haha) and we fed the fish out of the side of the boat. Lo and behold, they jumped on that bread. Literally. Jumped out of the water and almost into the boat a few times. Too quick for me to get a good pic unfortunately though. We went right past our ship, which was neat and reminded you of how enormous it really is, having to look way up at it as you go by and made our way back towards land to finish up the tour.

It was here that our guide explained to us that the reason there isn’t a dock for cruise ships in George Town is because the tender boat owners just don’t want one. It seems they spend a lot of money to convince the local politicians that a dock would be a bad idea, ya know? I guess that makes sense and is probably true. But think about it, putting a dock there would be good for the economy. Surely they can come to some sort of compromise. Just if you were wondering why there was no dock there, that might be your answer.

We rode down the main road, they drive on the left here, as in most Caribbean islands, and went to Seven Mile Beach. It is a few miles down the coast from the port, and you can see the ships off in the distance if you look to your left from the beach. There is a fee to get in there, but our bracelets got us in without extra charge, as the cost to get in there was included in our tour purchase. Inside is a nice bar and resort with a beach, and I went down and into the water up to my ankles but unfortunately I did not bring a bathing suit so I could not go too far in. The beach was crowded however and the water was nice. We spent a half hour or so there and were on our way back to the port. It was interesting to see the parking lot to the resort flooded badly due to the heavy rain earlier.

Our guide explained that yes, gas is about $6 a gallon but think that the island is only like 15 or 20 miles long so it is not too far to get anywhere and therefore they don’t use as much gas as many of us do back in the US. But he also said that it should not be that expensive there as taxes only make up a portion of the cost, the rest is just the greedy gasoline companies. He also told us about the school system, which I forget much detail about but I guess you could find out through wikipedia or whatever if you were that interested. He also told us that they make revenue from extremely high tariffs on imported goods which is why a lot of stuff there is so expensive as well. The big hand of government always finds a way to get your money, doesn’t it?

We also passed a KFC, a Wendy’s and a Popeye’s. Yes, they have all these on the island, just like here in the US. I noticed that KFC is big in the islands, and I don’t know why really. On the fried chicken scale, I only rank them around number 5 or so, behind Popeye’s, Roy Rogers (where you can still get it), Church’s and Royal Farms. Heck, some local grocery stores have better chicken here, lol. I guess it is the novelty and brand recognition, not so much the quality of the food. Finally, he told us that since there are really no mountains here, during hurricanes everyone leaves the island and few people ride the storms out as there is just really nowhere to hide. There are also no fresh water rivers, so all potable water is desalinated before it is safe to drink.

Anyway, we got back to port before 1500 and just hung around the port area for a while. My mom looked in some of the duty free shops but didn’t get anything and I walked up and down the main road to see what was around. I saw the Margaritaville, which I had been to in the past and isn’t that good and saw the Hard Rock Café just a few blocks further up. Of course there was other stuff to see along here as well. We saw a sign for island cab tours for $20, maybe that would be a good option next time. I have seen the attractions such as the Turtle Farm and Hell in past visits, and I don’t scuba dive or parasail, or drive ATVs around so once you have seen the touristy stuff, that is pretty much it. While walking back to the port, I passed quite a few places that wanted to sell bottles of liquor and saw a neat open-air fish market. I don’t know what type of fish was being sold but they were filleting freshly caught fish there and selling it. Neat.

Around 1530 the line was beginning to get long for the tenders back to the ship, so we just hung around the port area some to wait it out. There is a neat little bar off to the side, called Green Parrot, and they have all kinds of drinks and a bar food menu as well. I got some local beer called White Tip Lager and my mom got some sort of pina colada. Both were very good. It is not cheap to drink there in Grand Cayman though, total was over $17 for our drinks lol. Since the last tender was advertised as leaving at 1630 and the Paradise had already left, we figured the line would be getting shorter as time went on. Wrong. Many tours seemed to arrive back around 1600 and the line just kept getting longer. Whatever, we figured we would just go ahead and get in the line and go around that time as the line got still longer behind us. It did move fast though, and we were back on the tender by 1615. Once back on the ship, we could see that many people behind us were still getting on tenders and I would say the last one probably didn’t leave until 1645 or so. Of course they won’t leave you if you are in line at 1630, but that still doesn’t mean push it to the last minute.

So, we got settled back in and were hungry. This is the between meal time I talked about before and so it would be a perfect time to try out the Red Frog Pub for some grub. The atmosphere is cool but the service was lacking. It took forever to get someone to take our order (it was not crowded there) and then longer to get the food. All we ordered was some pork sliders, wings, a salad and a few sodas. The sports trivia that was going on in there was pretty cool though. I probably got about half the questions right. The mini pork sliders were OK, not excellent and the jerk wings were a little dry and overcooked but not awful. Each cost $3.33 and I would probably not get anything from there again in the future. And the plantains they had there were dry, too crispy and tasteless. Real plaintains should be sweet, tasty, and awesome if they are done right. I know a couple Jamaican guys back home who do them up just right and have passed the skill on to me. Even being plantain chips these things were nasty, as even good chips should have some taste to them. One plus is the foosball tables they have in the pub. Neat. Even if you suck at foosball as I do, it can still be a lot of fun to play with your friends or just some random strangers who might be in the area and want a challenge. Anyway, as we sat at the pub, located midship on Promenade, just aft of ocean plaza, we again set sail, with the next stop scheduled for Montego Bay, Jamaica.

I was honestly still hungry so my mom stopped at the deli, located aft on lido near the pool and bar and got a sandwich (the deli is pretty authentic and is not a bad option for cold sandwiches and is open pretty late) and I got a hot dog at the grill. I watched Jeopardy, then went up to the hot tub around 1900 to relax for a while before dinner and talked to some nice folks from Texas and we all went our own ways around 2000 to get ready for dinner. I think they said they were going to go to the dive-in movie on lido, which was some movie about stopping a volcano or something. Not my cup of tea.

We went to dinner at 2015 (I have actually gotten a lot better lately with getting to dinner right on time, haha) and I got some really good minestrone soup. I also got the St. Louis style ribs that have become a Carnival staple over the years and possibly a tenderloin which if I recall, wasn’t too good. Our neighbor ordered a filet mignon from the steakhouse menu and he said it was OK but not great, probably not worth the $20 in hindsight. I know I have been to two Carnival steakhouses over the years and while one was great, the other was just average and I don’t think it is worth the $35 for the food or experience. I much prefer Cucina del Capitano, which we actually did go to later in the cruise. Will talk about that in the next day’s recap. I got some mango cake for dessert and my mom got a graham cracker parfait which I sampled. Both were OK. We got out of the MDR early tonight around 2145 and mom went back to the room to relax for a while and I walked around the ship to see what the evening activities were.

I went up to the sports deck to play some mini golf, but the course was still flooded in many places from the rain. Impossible to play. Challenging course though. They also have a ropes course here but obviously it was closed at night. Also have foosball tables here but the ones in the pub were in much better condition. Pool tables here are cool but hard to play while the ship is moving. There is an outdoor weight room and enclosed basketball/soccer court up there too along with a jogging/walking track which many people were taking advantage of.

And I complain a lot about this, but come on with leaving the golf equipment laying all over the place when you are done with it. You picked up the putters and balls from the rack when you started playing, so why not put them back when you are done? It is lazy but also dangerous as putters tend to disappear in the green carpeting they have and you can easily trip over one or a ball and hurt yourself. Maybe they have to go back to having people sign out equipment against their sail and sign accounts because they can’t be responsible enough to take care of it properly?

In the atrium tonight was a nice Mardi Gras celebration with some good music. Mom and I met back up around 2230 to look at pictures in the gallery and the music was good. However, the photo gallery was poorly set up. Hard to find your pictures and we just gave up a few nights and never did find the pics we got taken. We didn’t end up buying any but still. We actually did not have a comedian tonight because the ones we had at the beginning of the cruise got off and our new guys did not arrive until the next day. So not that much to do outside of the theater shows that we did not bother attending. I played $20 more in the casino and played for a good hour and half on that. I was actually up to $45 and thought about cashing out but I did end up losing it all after a while. I felt bad for myself but then I saw the people who quite obviously had spent most of their cruise in there and probably had lost far more than that so far. Anyway, I saw that the Rangers choked away Game 5 of the ALDS, to Toronto and lost the series. Cole Hamels pitched great but his defense let him down. That made me a little mad. Hamels is one of my favorite players.

Anyway, I got some pizza around midnight after everything had pretty much calmed down and sort of enjoyed the semi-rough seas that we were experiencing for the rest of the evening. Again, no pic was gotten of the sunset because it was again cloudy at sunset tonight. I have come to take it for granted that every night on a cruise will feature a great sunset, not this time around. I almost forgot to mention that our safe was finally repaired when we got back into the cabin for the evening, I guess they just went ahead and fixed it when they got the chance which we didn't really have a problem with when all was said and done. Just glad it was finally repaired. Also, during my hot tub conversations, someone mentioned that they said someone saw a funnel cloud or possible waterspout around the Grand Cayman area during the thundershow earlier in the day. I didn’t hear or see that but I can’t dismiss that it actually happened either. So, that was about it for the day. Went to bed around 0030, the next morning would be a later arrival and port day in Montego Bay, Jamaica. That concludes this part of the review, hope you found it interesting and fun. Pictures to come and good night.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

Morning pic from the balcony, hello Grand Cayman

 

 

 

Carnival Paradise, parked next to us. Our ship was a lot bigger and newer.

 

 

The inside of our tender boat. Each one was two levels, held about 300 or more pax.

 

 

Arrivals into GCM. Only located a few miles away, only a hour flight to Miami. American/US Airways A319 and Cayman Airways 737-300 coming in to land before the storm. Yeah, I'm a nerd.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

Me with the ship in the background, taken from the dock right after getting off the tender.

 

Famous Cayman Islands historical figures in statue form in front of the government headquarters. Hard to see in the rain.

 

Just as we were entering the water, we went from being a bus to a boat. Cool transformation.

 

Underwater camera on the boat, got nice pictures of the sea floor.

 

During the storm, our ship in the background. Lightning all around us during this, hard to see far it was raining so hard.

 

 

George Town, taken from the water, it had begun to slow down raining by now.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

We sailed right alongside our ship. That Magic sure is big huh?

 

 

Feeding bread to the fish. They sure were hungry today. It stopped raining by this point so they rolled the windows in the boat up.

 

 

 

 

 

Seven Mile Beach. Tourist attraction and resort with a nice beach and bar a few miles from port. You can see the bar and beach here and the ship off in the distance in one picture.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

On the way back to the port, a typical Cayman cemetery. I know some people have a thing for cemetery pics on cruise critic so there you go. Lol.

 

 

Our duck boat after disembarking. Nice ride and tour. Would recommend.

 

 

Open air fish market. Cool. Filleted and sold fish right here. Would have bought some but they probably wouldn't let me take it back on the ship.

 

 

Margaritaville/Hard Rock. Been to the Margaritaville, not impressed. Hard Rock looked cool though.

 

 

Me at the Green Parrot bar. The guy beside me was having way too much fun and beer....

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

White Tip Lager. Local brew. Kinda pricey along with a pina colada but nice treat.

 

 

The line to get back to the tenders. It wrapped around the port area and it actually got even longer than this.

 

 

Wings, pork sliders and plantain chips at Red Frog Pub. OK atmosphere but not great food or service. And keep in mind each food item costs $3.33, not a lot but not free either. They are open late though.

 

 

 

 

Ribs, dancing waiters and dessert smorgasbord at dinner. What a fun time.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

Towel animal and funtimes for tomorrow, when we would be going to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Also a note that they would be cleaning our balcony again tomorrow, to keep our curtains closed for the morning.

That's it for now! Hope you like it!

[marshhawk]

Thanks for the review=I am contemplating doing the Magic in 2017 out of Port Canaveral. Also, I am a misplaced Jersey girl, so I of course had to read your review.:)

[danacline]

The reason Grand Cayman doesn't have a cruise ship pier is different from the one you were told. To build a pier, and have those ships dock, would require destroying quite a bit of reef, both for the dock and to dredge the channel deep enough. However, their reefs get a fair amount of divers (dove there myself, just to the right of the tender dock). This has been covered in a number of news articles on the net.

 

There is hope. The latest scheme, which is actually inexpensive (comparatively) is to build a small island dock, out where the ships anchor, and have a cable car to shore. The plan is to build two of these, each docking two ships. Most of the island residents prefer this solution to destroying their reefs. The cable cars would be large, maybe taking 25 passengers each, on the 3-minute ride to shore. Since it would be a loop, they can put a large number of cars that are then decoupled at each end and slowed so passengers can get on and off. These are very much like Vail and other ski areas use, although the cars are larger like those used in the Alps. I don't know the time frame but should be within the next few years. I'll try to find out more when I'm there in January.

 

If the Green Parrot bar is left from the tender dock a few blocks, it's right next to the 7 Fathoms Rum distillery. If you're a rum aficionado, it's worth the $40 per bottle - has won many awards and in my experience, the best rum in the world (better than Mount Gay 12-year). If you want to find out what makes it unique among rums, visit their web site at sevenfathomsrum dot com.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thanks for the review=I am contemplating doing the Magic in 2017 out of Port Canaveral. Also, I am a misplaced Jersey girl, so I of course had to read your review.:)

 

Go for it. If you have beem on its sister ships you will like it. I assume it will have a guy's burgers and blue iguana burrito bar after the drydock but honestly the burrito place they have on there now seems to be pretty much the same as blue iguana already. Lots to do onboard also. Port Canaveral has a nice terminal although logistically it can be hard to get to if traveling from Orlando or parking all week in cape Canaveral. Expensive also but if you stay in Canaveral, get the park and stay from the Radisson, nice hotel and resort and in a decent location. Or if going from MCO take 123 Friendly Transportation, it's a van company and affordable with good and prompt service.

 

And lol about the NJ connection. It is a unique outlook on the world we have and it never goes away no matter how long you've been away or how far away you may go during your life. I am glad you like the review so far and I have quite a bit still to go. I will try to get to the next part in the next few days, I have just been too busy to sit down and think about everything and put an entertaining and informative story together lately.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

The reason Grand Cayman doesn't have a cruise ship pier is different from the one you were told. To build a pier, and have those ships dock, would require destroying quite a bit of reef, both for the dock and to dredge the channel deep enough. However, their reefs get a fair amount of divers (dove there myself, just to the right of the tender dock). This has been covered in a number of news articles on the net.

 

There is hope. The latest scheme, which is actually inexpensive (comparatively) is to build a small island dock, out where the ships anchor, and have a cable car to shore. The plan is to build two of these, each docking two ships. Most of the island residents prefer this solution to destroying their reefs. The cable cars would be large, maybe taking 25 passengers each, on the 3-minute ride to shore. Since it would be a loop, they can put a large number of cars that are then decoupled at each end and slowed so passengers can get on and off. These are very much like Vail and other ski areas use, although the cars are larger like those used in the Alps. I don't know the time frame but should be within the next few years. I'll try to find out more when I'm there in January.

 

If the Green Parrot bar is left from the tender dock a few blocks, it's right next to the 7 Fathoms Rum distillery. If you're a rum aficionado, it's worth the $40 per bottle - has won many awards and in my experience, the best rum in the world (better than Mount Gay 12-year). If you want to find out what makes it unique among rums, visit their web site at sevenfathomsrum dot com.

 

I know there is a reef there and it is a delicate environmental area and a tourist attraction as well. I am sure that plays a part in no dock being there but other ports build docks in marine life areas. I figured the guide had his opinion on the subject and was telling us what he thought was the reason. Like I mentioned, he did seem to have a rather unique view on things but I like when the guides are like that. I wouldn't be surprised if there is an influence from the tourist tender owners there also though. I don't know how building a docking area away from shore and putting an expensive and complex tram in would help. I do know that they have lost plenty of revenue from cruise visitors over the years who never got to visit the island due to rough seas and poor weather and whose ships weren't able to park and tender. I thought they had another dock on the other side of the island but I have never seen it. See if you can find anything out about the future plans when you visit though, I am kind of interested.

 

I actually went to the outdoor bar part of the green parrot but I think they had a actual inside restaurant in the port shopping area as well. I didn't remember seeing a distillery but I wasn't really looking for it either. I walked a few blocks on the main road in both directions so I did see a lot of shops and restaurants though. I do like rum however, so if I get to grand Cayman again I will look for that place, thanks for the heads up.

Edited November 9, 2015 by FlyingCruiserNJ

[danacline]

On our first trip there in 2000, it was too windy to anchor in the usual location. They instead anchored at Spots Bay, and shifted everything there. Princess did an awesome job, the other lines less so. Still had a great time, just a different transfer point.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

On our first trip there in 2000, it was too windy to anchor in the usual location. They instead anchored at Spots Bay, and shifted everything there. Princess did an awesome job, the other lines less so. Still had a great time, just a different transfer point.

 

That is what I have heard happens also but I have been lucky to always be able to tender right there where we tendered this time. But I have heard horror stories from not being able to make it there. Gone there all three times on Carnival though. Can't say how Princess does things.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

It has been a while but I am back and ready as ever to get on with the review. Hopefully this review has been helpful for you if you were planning this itinerary in the future or maybe you just wanted to read about a cruise adventure and see pics and this is keeping you entertained. Where are we now? Yes, we have so far had a sea day, been to Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Our next stop would be a visit to Montego Bay, Jamaica, our third and final port visit. Enjoy!

DAY 6: MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA

Finally, a port that I have not already visited on this cruise. I have been to Ocho Rios and like I previously mentioned, I know a lot of people who are from Jamaica and have thus heard quite a bit about this city and Jamaica in general over the years. So, needless to say I was excited. If I am not mistaken, Montego Bay is the largest city in Jamaica, although it is not the capital. That would be Kingston, and I don’t think the two are anywhere near each other. I went to Ocho Rios on a cruise a few years ago and climbed all the way to the top of Dunn’s River Falls, an incredible feat when I look back at it. If you ever get a chance to do so, do the falls but know that if you are not in at least decent physical shape, you will not be able to come anywhere near completing the climb. Not to get too far off topic, here we go with my second ever trip to the wonderful island nation of Jamaica.

We arrived at the port in Montego Bay at approximately 0900 but of course I was still sleeping when we arrived. Lol I love to get more than that recommended 8 hours of sleep whenever possible while on vacation. I probably woke up around 1000 to hear the crew emergency drill as it was happening. You know there is always a lot of turnover in a crew of over a thousand, and there are always new crew members coming onboard, so it is important that they are properly trained on what to do in the event of an emergency onboard. Most cruises I have been on do a crew drill on one of the port days. It is good that they do this if you ask me as it keeps them current and shows that they do take safety seriously. Obviously in a real emergency requiring evacuation things would be more hectic but at least in my experience, if you are in a safety oriented position and properly trained, when the real thing happens you just instinctively go back to your training and get things done without even having to think. I mention this because I read the recent thread on the Carnival CC board about what people thought crewmembers would do in a real emergency onboard. Others may think differently but that is my opinion. For a good half hour the captain came over the intercom and ran the drill from beginning to end. Of course they gave ample notice to all pax that this would happen so people weren’t freaked out when they heard everything happening.

So, after the drill was over I just hung out on the balcony for a while and looked out at the harbor area. Another hot and humid day with mostly cloudy skies and rain eventually in the forecast. Three days in a row. Never had that happen to me while cruising, ever. I usually get really good weather and if it rains once while onboard that is a lot. I was told later that this was the tail end of a stalled cold front that had barreled through the southeastern US and had actually developed into a tropical wave that began drifting through the Caribbean. I wonder if that was the same disturbance that crossed into the Pacific and became that monster hurricane a week later. It would be logical that it was. Anyway, being able to hang out on the balcony every morning is a nice perk of having a balcony that you take for granted if you have always had a balcony cabin in your travels. This was probably only my fourth or at most, fifth time ever having one. They are the way to go if you get a lucky upgrade or want to pay a good deal more money. If nothing else, it gives you an idea what to expect weatherwise for the day when you get off the ship.

We again went to breakfast around 1130 and we were able to take advantage of the late risers breakfast setup on lido that they supposedly have until 1200. I got fried eggs overeasy at the omelet station along with some potatoes, bacon and ham. The line was not long at the omelet line but if you go at peak times, you could be waiting forever. But if you want freshly made eggs, that is the sacrifice you will have to make. We sat near the window and looked out at the city of Montego Bay and watched the clouds thicken, the skies darken and the rain begin to fall. It only got worse, and was again accompanied by thunder and lightning. I got pics of the areas around the ship as the storm raged and stopped by Serenity to see the place completely deserted and very wet from the rain. No covered areas that I know of up there and besides, there was lightning around. I still did see people hanging out in the lido pool and on the loungers during the fireworks though. Carnival staff won’t force you to take cover during a storm, but you really should use common sense and take yourself out of danger if you see lightning within like a half mile of the ship, you know? I did just that myself after taking a few storm pictures.

Eventually, after noon, the storm slowly moved out but the rain remained in the area for the rest of the day. We did not plan any excursions here because the ship tours were expensive and took you far away from the port area and we did not want to travel 4 hours round trip to do an excursion. However the port is not near anything so if you want to do something in the city, you have to get a cab ride. We were determined to make it to Doctor’s Cave beach, as my mom had been here years ago and said it was really nice. We also read reviews of it and it seemed to be a cool thing to see. So, around 1230 we got our beach gear together and headed off the ship into the little welcome center with shops located right on the pier.

We asked a port employee what the best way to get to the beach was and they directed us to the cab pickup area. All cabs that come here are licensed as you have to go through a guard post and pay a fee to access the port in a vehicle. So, we and a bunch more people packed into a van cab and told the driver and guide where we wanted to go. A few folks were headed to Margaritaville, which is on the main lower road that runs along the coast and a few other people came along to get dropped off at the shopping area downtown. Our ride to Doctor’s Cave cost $7 US, a good value, but it was raining with the occasional rumble of thunder the entire time. Our guide, Marcel told us that the beach would be deserted today due to the weather and it wouldn’t really be a nice experience and we agreed. She offered to take us and another family that stayed onboard on a sightseeing tour of the area instead, for $20. Good deal. We agreed to the tour and rode around the area after dropping our other pax off at their destinations.

So, they asked us what we were all interested in seeing and we went ahead and got to see what we were interested in. The guide gave us a pretty good and detailed guided tour, and our driver, Massive, was cool as well. Sure enough, we went past the beach and it was deserted. It would have been a crappy experience to spend the money to get in there and not have any fun, we made a good choice. We rode along Gloucester Road, which runs along the coast and got to see some of MBJ’s local restaurant and entertainment district on one side and city parks and recreation areas on the other side. Nice area. Just like in Grand Cayman, she talked about their version of KFC and that it is not particularly healthy (duh) but it is popular around payday for obvious reasons. Anyway, I told them that I liked jerk chicken and they said they would stop at a real authentic local place for that on the way back to the ship. More on that shortly….

There are some really good views of the sea from the road on your left as you head away from the port, and although the weather was lousy, you could still see the ship from a few different vantage points. Jamaica is really a green island, lots of vegetation and rather mountainous. We stopped at a shop that had local stuff such as Jamaican spices and rum along with the usual touristy stuff for purchase and got free rum samples when we entered. I didn’t get anything but I was considering getting some of the local jerk sauces or spices that they had for sale. I decided against it seeing as they were rather expensive and I could swear I saw similarly branded stuff on sale at the local grocery store recently anyway. I didn’t get any alcohol because as I said before, taking it back to TX and then home would be more of a hassle than it was really worth. My mom did get some Green Mountain Coffee though, and you are able to negotiate a price with the staff there, as long as you are reasonable with them.

So, after a little while, we were back on our way. This area was located not far from the departure end of Runway 7 at Sangster International Airport (MBJ/MKJS), and we could see and hear traffic climbing out every few minutes as we rode back towards the main roadway. The road runs right parallel to the airport and you can get some awesome views of the entire airport if you are high enough up on the terrain adjacent to it. We rode past the airport and although I didn’t get any decent pics of the terminal or the many planes parked there as we were just moving too fast, I got a blurry pic of a Westjet 737 that had just landed and was exiting the runway as we rode past the perimeter fence. It was really hard to even make out what the pic was afterward though. Keep in mind that they drive on the left in Jamaica and the speed limit on this highway was 80 kilometers per hour. Even Jamaicans joke about how dangerous driving is in Jamaica, lol but in honesty, our driver was really good and we felt safe and secure the entire time.

Right across the road from the airport is a low-income and high-crime neighborhood, and they said it is one of the worse neighborhoods in Montego Bay. They have a military base strategically located nearby which they said was supposed to help in keeping crime down in the neighborhood. After that, we headed further up and saw a really nice, well-to-do area up in the mountains. We also saw MBJ’s only 18-hole championship golf course, located right near the highway. Marcel explained what the homes were like, who owns some of them, and how much you can expect to pay for one. She said the prices on these homes are negotiable also. Just know that some of these homes cost more than I can afford. She took us past her “dream house” as we made our way through the area as well. It would be really nice to spend winters there when it gets cold and snowy back home I gather. I already knew this but she did mention that the exchange rate is 110 Jamaican dollars to 1 US. She said that October was actually a slow month for cruising but that it would pick up bigtime in November. I don’t recall seeing any other ships with us there this day in port now that I think about it.

So, after seeing some highlights of the island, we made our way back towards port via the upper roadway. Breathtaking views from here, got a good pic of our ship as we rode back. We told them we had to be back on board the ship by 1530, so they worked with us to get us back in plenty of time. We did like it here but we didn’t want to miss the ship and get stuck here, haha. So, as we rode back, we stopped at a local restaurant on Gloucester Road, called the Pork Pit, which was a local eatery that featured all kinds of smoked and grilled foods and drinks. I got a jerk grilled half chicken for about $13, to go and apparently Massive liked this place also because he got something for himself while we were there. Good atmosphere. Order, pay, get receipt, stop by the huge outdoor cooking area, give the guy your receipt, he chops your chicken right up and puts it in a container for you to go. Can’t get fresher. I ate my stuff in the van on the way back, I was not sure if they would let me take it back on the ship with me so I finished the entire thing in one sitting. I must mention it was good and not particularly messy. Didn’t even need a beverage to go with it. Only a couple of napkins as well. Good jerk should be spicy and tasty but not overwhelming to where your mouth is on fire after eating it. Really cool lunch I got here.

We stopped back at the Margaritaville to pick up our other riders who got off here earlier and as you can imagine, it was really congested here. They said that it can get this way in late afternoon, especially during bad weather as everyone is headed back to the ship or home from work on this one road. Again, traffic to them is just a normal day in the megalopolis though so I wasn’t too upset about it. The family that we rode on the entire tour with wanted to go to Burger King (why I have no idea) so we waited until they got their stuff there and we were back on our way to the ship. Really. I am not going to Burger King when I am in Jamaica and have a chance to sample local delicacy but to each their own I guess.

We arrived back at the port area by 1445 and security checked out our sign and sail cards before letting us through and collected the taxi fee from our crew and we made our way back to the port building. We tipped our crew, thanked them for giving us a nice personalized tour of the island and headed back to the ship. There is a Welcome to Montego Bay sign right on the dock, before you reboard and I had to get a picture taken in front of it. There was also a local band, playing “When the saints come marching in” and that was neat. I make note of that because it is always neat to see how different countries are when it comes to honoring maritime vessels through musical tributes. I guess it is an old tradition. Anyway, around 1500 we got back onboard and headed up to get some late lido lunch.

I had not yet been to the Mongolian Wok on this ship, so I had to check it out before closing today. I figured that it would be less crowded right before shutdown time of 1530 but it was more crowded than usual then. Probably waited a good half hour, and there were two separate lines going with 3 woks in each line. It is popular for sure. I honestly could have skipped it today though, it just wasn’t that good. I get rice noodles, lo mein noodles, veggies and today I got mussels to go with Thai bbq stir fry and it was not worth the wait. Thai BBQ is just tasteless and the ingredients just did not go well together. A rare bad experience at the Wok. I went there again a few days later and it was much, much, much, much better.

So, after that, we began sail away around 1600 and I ran to the starboard side to try to see if the band was still there but they were not unfortunately. I was in Saint John, Canada a few years ago and they played Amazing Grace as we left the dock. Really moving experience. I think some other places still do this but they did not do that here unfortunately. It is a nice goodbye at the places that do it. So, I went back to the cabin after we were off the dock and watched as the local pilot boat guided us out of the narrow port channel. We got a few miles out and they peeled off and that was it, goodbye MBJ, til we meet again. We were in the eastern time zone here, so the sun set around 1815 and again, no pic of the sunset as although it stopped raining by the end of the afternoon, it was still cloudy and obscured the sun too much. I was also tired from our day and took a nap in lieu of my normal hot tub trip until it was time for dinner.

I mentioned that this ship has a Cucina del Capitano onboard, and that I had been on the one on the Breeze last year. We made reservations for the Cucina tonight for 2030 and it was not crowded at all this evening. I think they take seating until 2200 and I don’t know if you have to make a reservation ahead of time, but you should to make sure you get a seating, especially at peak times. Also note that although the upcharge is $15 for dinner, lunch is free and is something that you should really check out if you even remotely like Italian food. So, we were seated and while I forget her name, we had a good server who had also worked on the Breeze before coming to the Magic. She agreed that both ships are nice but very similar but that she did like working on both. I got some good minestrone soup as an appetizer, and got a coke for my beverage. I didn’t like the wine selection so I didn’t get any. I also got a really good Italian seasoned steak with spaghetti on the side for my entrée, it was better than anything I have gotten in a Carnival steakhouse. For dessert I got a really good warm apple tart for dessert. Plenty of good food, service and a nice atmosphere. They did come around to sing and dance once during our dinner which was cool. Cucina is located on Deck 12 aft, near the elevators I think.

After dinner, I stopped by lido and saw the end of whatever the dive-in movie was (it was so good I can’t remember what it even was, ha) and went up to the sports deck to try the mini golf again and did play some. The course was not flooded tonight and although it was very challenging, it was good fun for a while. While I played on the multi-level course, I listened to the music that was playing down below on lido. They began a Mexican deck party at 2230 with music and food to follow later on, but I didn’t hang around as there was a comedian tonight and I would rather see that. Based on past experiences, I knew it was best to get in line early for the late comedy show so we were in the lounge at 2300 for the 2330 show. Tonight’s new comedian was Cowboy Bill Martin. He surely had his own style and was pretty funny. Very Texan type show and that was cool because most folks there were from Texas. Mark Miller did his own variety show earlier and I would have liked to see it but I was at dinner. Wonder if anybody saw it and was it really funny like I heard it was?

To talk some about the other activities that I missed earlier in the day, too bad I missed the beer pong tournament they had earlier in the pub also, I would have done pretty well at that LOL. I also have to mention that I did not see a dedicated EA Sports bar on this ship. Most ships have them now and it was noticeable that there was not one on here. All sports had to be watched at the Casino bar on Promenade. And of course the LA Dodgers lost to the evil NY Mets tonight in Game 5 of their divisional series so Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins won’t get a chance for another ring after all. Thanks for the great losing effort when it really counted, Zack Greinke. To be truthful, if not for Utley and Rollins, I would have found it humorous that the $300,000,000 best team that money can buy Dodgers again failed in October so whatever but you know.

Anyway, I got an Angry Orchard to enjoy during the comedy show and it was good although like with the other shows, it was over after a half hour and at midnight, it was back upstairs to take in the midnight Mexican fiesta buffet. The Mexican fiesta buffets are actually pretty good now. Got some made to order tacos, some noodles, fruit and a cup of jello that had flavors that made up all three solid colors of the Mexican flag and finished my cider as we just hung out for a while. While the weather was lousy, the seas were still not that rough and that was good but they did get a little rougher the next day.

I headed back to the cabin and watched some late night CNN International (LOL that is the best programming I could find) and tried to translate the news ticker on the bottom of the screen from Espanol to English. After all, we did not have any more port days after this, the next two days would be lazy sea days as we made our way back to Galveston. So no need to get up early the next morning. Therefore I probably did not get to sleep until close to 0130. I will mention that our towel animal for the night was a dinosaur, but no sea day free drink coupon. Oh well. Can’t have everything. I won’t miss it that much anyway.

So, that is it for Day 6, it was again a lot of fun and pictures to follow. Next up will be a sea day, as we began to make our way back to the port of Galveston and the cruise was beginning to wind down. Have a good evening all and happy cruising!

　

　

　

　

　

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

 

Good morning Montego Bay. Taken of the harbor from our balcony. Best weather we would see all day sadly.

 

 

The nasty weather, taken from lido after breakfast. Still trying to decide if we were even going to be able to take an excursion today, the weather didn't seem to want to clear up.

 

 

A wet Serenity deck. No fun being up here in a thunderstorm.

 

A selfie of myself standing on the dock in front of the ship after getting off. Not a ton to do in the immediate port area.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

 

 

Some pics taken while riding along Gloucester Road, public parks and beaches on the left, restaurants, bars, homes, hotels, etc on the right.

 

 

Margaritaville. Right on the water but it looked to be crowded today, we dropped some pax off from our cab here. There is a Burger King across the street from here also if you are interested LOL.

 

Random picture of a normal Montego Bay neighborhood and the rocky cliffs inland.

 

 

Westjet 737 landing at MBJ. Taken as we rode past. Hard to get a good pic between the raindrops on the windows and the fact we were going really fast. Really nice photo ops from higher terrain though. MBJ seems to be a very busy international airport.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

18-hole championship golf course. We were on a 4-lane divided highway. Remember they drive on the left side in Jamaica.

 

 

Our guide Marcel's dream house. I don't even remember how much she said that would cost if it were up for sale. LOL. Lot of nice houses in this area. Great views of the entire island from up here also. Was still raining off and on.

 

 

 

Pics taken from the upper road on the way back towards the ship. You can clearly see our ship docked from here. Nice views.

 

My lunch, a half jerk chicken from the Pork Pit restaurant, located right off Gloucester Road, not too terribly far from the port but definitely a cab ride away. Good local place, our driver Massive liked the stuff from here also as he got some for himself to go.

 

Steel drum band playing music on the dock as people were coming back to the ship. Too bad they didn't hang around to play Amazing Grace as we left, as they do at some places.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

Me in front of the WELCOME TO MONTEGO BAY sign, right as you pass through the door to head back to the ship.

 

My lunch from Mongolian Wok, mussels and Thai bbq with noodles. Not worth the wait, not as good as usual. Would be better when I went later in the cruise though.

 

 

The harbor pilot boat as we were leaving, taken from balcony.

 

 

Later Montego Bay!

 

 

My best attempt to get the sunset. Not a good night for that, too cloudy.

 

 

Sailing past MBJ on the way out. Most ops done for the day it looked like, so no planes buzzing us on the way to land, no repeat of my Aruba experience from last year, haha.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

 

Cucina del Capitano. Best specialty restaurant on this ship. $15 cover charge but well worth it. Deck 12 aft. Great food, service and atmosphere.

 

 

 

Menu, table setup and atmosphere. Not crowded as we went late but food was good. You can order a starter, an entree, side and a dessert as part of the cover price to be seated.

 

 

Minestrone soup starter.

 

 

Steak with spaghetti on the side as entree. Soda for beverage, had to get my 4 in to break even for the day, lol. No wine tonight, didn't like the selection.

 

Apple tart puff pastry for dessert.