Review: Carnival Magic June 4,2016 Eastern Caribbean cruise

[cruisebound2011]

Thought I would write up a review of our cruise since these boards have always helped me out.

 

When we planned our vacation, it was originally just our immediate family going. It soon became a big family gathering and we had others join us. So there were 10 of us in all, and we had a blast!

 

We all live just north of the Florida line in Georgia, so we all met up at my house the Saturday morning of the cruise and piled in 2 cars and headed south. We arrived at Canaveral around 10:30 am. We parked in the parking garage directly across from the terminal. It was $128 for the week. We were happy to pay that since it was a quick walk and we would have covered parking all week. Our car wasn't hot when we returned 7 days later!

 

Embarkation was a breeze. We gave our checked luggage to a porter, immediately went inside and were checked in right away since we had priority boarding (we were staying in a suite). There was no wait at all for us in the priority line. We quickly had our group boarding picture made and we made our way onto the ship by 11 am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

We went straight to Lido and found empty seats and tables one floor up on deck 11 starboard side. We had shade and plenty of breeze up there. It was where we stayed until our rooms were ready at 1:30. We all had Guy's burgers for lunch and they were delicious! There was no line. The condiment dispensers seemed to always be out of everything every time we ate there. But that was just a mild problem. They would put out bottles of ketchup, chipotle mayo, etc when they were told they were empty.

 

 

 

We also had the drink of the day from the Redfrog Rum Bar. It was very good and a great way to get the day started. We also ended up getting a couple of rounds of the drink in the tervis tumblers (Bahama Mamas I think?). I can't remember now! But they were also tasty and we wanted the tumbler. Of course my girls immediately hit the ice cream!

 

 

 

 

Ice cream in bowls first!

 

 

 

How about in a cone now?! Why not, we are on vacation!

 

 

 

We enjoyed sitting in the cool breeze, having a drink and anticipating our week to come! Before we knew it, it was time for our rooms to be ready.

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

We made our way to our cabins a few people at a time so we wouldn't lose our seats out by lido. We were in ocean suite 7252 and loved it! It had so much space for the four of us and plenty of storage space too. It never felt crowded thanks to the dressing area right outside of the bathroom. Loved having that space with 4 of us getting dressed all week. The suite was worth every penny. Others in our group were in ocean suite 7255 ( I think that was the number) and balcony room 7244.

 

We never had any issues with noisy neighbors or any noise at all really. We saw one of our neighbors out on the balcony once. I'm not even sure there was anyone staying to the left of us. If so, they were very quiet.

 

Our cabin was forward and my girls loved going out on the balcony and waving to the officers on the bridge.

 

Natalyia was our room steward and she was great! She came and introduced herself to us shortly after the ship left port. I'm not sure we ever walked down the hallway without seeing her working and staying busy. In the past, our room stewards were like ghosts in the night and we rarely saw them. But she was always out and about and super friendly. She was always trying to give us helpful tips and advice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

 

Everyone went and checked out their cabins and put their carry-ons up. We then walked around and checked the ship out before heading back to our cabins for sail away. Everyone came to our cabin and all 10 of us fit comfortably on the balcony.

 

 

 

After sail away, we went back to lido to check out the sail away party. Dr E is the cruise director and he knows how to get the party started! He's the best CD I've ever seen. Not sure we can cruise again without him!! He kept us entertained and laughing all week. I've never even remembered or really been aware of previous CD's. He takes it to another level.

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruzeluver]

Thank you so much for this! We are booked on Magic for next February so anxious to learn all we can.

[mamamaga]

Great read so far. I can't wait for the rest

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Clarea]

Great photos!

[cruisebound2011]

Thanks. I'll get some more posted tomorrow.

 

 

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[Keith1010]

Enjoying the review and photos.

Keith

[sc4125]

Great photos! I love the big pictures with detail. I will be on her in 4 weeks and I could even see the cabin I will be in from your first picture of her. I can't wait.

[jimbri]

Great photos!

[E&B]

Loving this! We're on the same ship and itinerary in 36 days!!!

 

 

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[Trumpster]

Love the Magic and your pics are great, I wish the suites are higher up rather than on deck 7, but it still looks like a great cabin other than deck 5 being so close.

[cruisebound2011]

Love the Magic and your pics are great, I wish the suites are higher up rather than on deck 7, but it still looks like a great cabin other than deck 5 being so close.

 

 

I agree. Higher would be better. Our cabin location was forward, so we didn't have much foot traffic below us. I only saw 4 people out there the entire week. If it was really windy, they had the front of deck 5 blocked off. So not too bad!

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the ship and learning where everything was. The kids in our group (ages 10, 12, 18, 19, and 21) had never been on a cruise before. They were amazed at all the Magic had to offer.

 

Before we knew it, it was time to eat. We had Your time dining and we arrived at the Northern Lights Restaurant around 6:30. There was no wait. We walked right up, gave them our room numbers and told them how many guests we had, and we were seated right away.

 

We lucked out and got the best waiters! Christian, from Indonesia, was so great. We requested his table every night we went to the main dining room. He remembered our likes and dislikes from day 1. His assistant,Sebastian, was wonderful as well. They were happy to tell us about life on the ship and life back home. Both entertained us all week with magic tricks, riddles, and napkin animals. So much fun.

 

Christian making a napkin bunny.

 

 

The food was very good. For appetizer I had a chicken quesadilla, main course was salmon, and dessert was chocolate melting cake of course.

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastian making my daughter a napkin purse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

One more comment about dinner.....the macaroni and cheese I had with the salmon was seriously the best!!! It was never on the menu again (on the nights we went to the MDR) and I was so disappointed!!!! I could have eaten it every night.

 

After dinner, we walked around more to check out the nightlife. We returned to the room once and our steward had been there for turn down. The sofa bed was prepared for our two girls.

 

 

 

This picture was obviously not taken at night. But I wanted to include this because I couldn't find many pics of the sofa made into a double bed before we went on our cruise.

 

 

At 10:15, we attended the Welcome Aboard show and really enjoyed it! Dr E had us laughing!

 

 

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[sunset785]

Can't wait to hear the rest! 22 days until we sail!

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

SEA DAY

 

 

 

 

Woke up to the girls wanting to hit the water slides, so we dressed and went to Lido marketplace for breakfast around 8:30. There wasn't a line at all and surprisingly it wasn't too crowded. The food was good. Nothing spectacular, but it was good for buffet food. We were at the water slides by 9 am. I didn't see any available lounge chairs on lido, deck 11 or 12. But there were available chairs with umbrellas by the waterworks area. That was fine since that's where we were going to be anyway.

 

The girls and my husband tackled the slides. They had a blast. However the slides are a little rough where the sections are put together. The first time my husband went down one, it scraped the skin off one of his elbows. The girls said it was rough on them too, but they kept on! I saw quite a few kids with bright red backs after getting off the slides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

Of course fun on the slides was followed with ice cream! We had been at the slides for quite some time.

 

 

 

Then the girls wanted to play putt putt.

 

 

 

Our girls had been really excited to do the ropes course. But it was closed that day due to high winds. Unfortunately, we never thought about going back another day because we stayed busy doing other things. I don't even know if and when it was open any other times.

 

By the time we did all of this, it was lunch time. We headed back down to lido and found a table outside by the pool. We got food off the buffet. It was ok food, but the cheesecake I got didn't taste like cheesecake at all. I don't know why the buffet desserts can't taste as good as the desserts in the restaurants, but they aren't. My girls found things they liked on the buffet though. Which is strange because they are picky eaters. The 12 yr old even went back for seconds. I ate the few things I got off the buffet and then headed to the Blue Iguana cantina. Delicious! I got the tacos simply because there was no line. There was a moderate line for the burritos, but I didn't feel like waiting. But the tacos were so good!!

 

 

After lunch, we walked the ship to see what was going on. The rest of our group was doing various things. Some were at the casino (my aunt won about $1500 during the cruise on the slot machines) and some had gone to the brunch earlier. They said it was very good!

 

The girls wanted a smoothie, so we bellied up to the atrium bar and had a girls toast to a great vacation.

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

 

 

 

We went back to our room to take a break and rest for a while before it was time to shower and get ready for dinner.

 

 

 

I took the girls out on the "secret" deck since it was a few feet away from our cabin. It was extremely windy! They had fun though and thought it was neat to be the only people out there on the front of the boat.

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

 

Tonight was our first elegant night. This was the first cruise I've been on where I didn't bring a cocktail dress, but I'm glad I didn't. Very few people were really dressed up in more than Sunday best. That was fine by me. I noticed some were even in tshirts in the MDR. There was a variety of styles all week that's for sure.

 

 

 

For my dinner, I chose the shrimp cocktail, lobster and shrimp, and creme brûlée. It was all delicious!

 

Afterwards, we all went back to the cabins to change into more comfortable clothes and/or shoes before heading out to see Grooveline in the Showtime Theatre at 8:15. The dancers and singers really put on a good show.

 

 

After the show was over, we stayed out in the atrium and enjoyed Guess That Motown Song with Dr E. So much fun! We made sure we returned to his atrium sing-a-longs every night after that. Dr E is like the energizer bunny.

 

 

When that was over, our group went separate ways. Some went to hear the adult comedy shows, some went to the casino and my husband took our 10 yr old back to the cabin because she was sleepy. So the 12 yr old and I had a mommy daughter date with pizza and ice cream. Then we called it a night.

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

Oops, I forgot to post pics of my food from elegant night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[abgupton]

Great review! Love your pictures! My little girl is looking forward to our cruise in December. What kind of smoothies did your girls get?? The orange and red one? They look yummy!!

[cruisebound2011]

Great review! Love your pictures! My little girl is looking forward to our cruise in December. What kind of smoothies did your girls get?? The orange and red one? They look yummy!!

 

 

I can't remember the actual name of it right now, but it was peach and strawberry with whip cream on top.

 

 

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