Review: Carnival Magic June 4,2016 Eastern Caribbean cruise

[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!!

 

 

Actually I think it was mango and strawberry. lol Whatever it was, they liked it.

 

 

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[leedm]

Great review, takes me back to how much fun we have when we cruise. I guess that is why I enjoy reading cruise reviews between our cruises. Seeing families having fun.

Thanks :):D:D:D

[gannk]

I love your photos! I can't wait to read more!

 

 

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[saltybones]

Great review, great pictures!

 

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[cruisebound2011]

AMBER COVE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 

 

We woke up bright and early, went to Lido buffet for breakfast (once again, no line to wait in) then went back to our cabin balcony to watch Amber Cove come into view.

 

 

 

 

 

We were in no rush to go stand in a line to get off the ship. So we waited about 15 min after people started leaving the ship before we went down. There was no line by then and we walked right off. The pier is fairly long in Amber Cove, but there are plenty of young locals that will pull you in a pedi-cab if you can't walk or just don't want to walk that far. They work for tips only.

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

We chose to just hang out at the aquatic center right off the pier. It's free and you only pay for an umbrella if you want one and any food or drinks you want during the day. My girls and husband liked the zip line. It was $12 for adults and $6 or $8 (my memory is failing me now!) for kids and that is for all day. My girls enjoyed the water slides too.

 

 

 

The pool is large and never felt crowded. Of course we were the only ship in port that day. The swim up bar was nice and they had locals perform a dance routine on the bar.

 

 

 

The entire aquatic center is very clean and nice. It's very tropical and lush and just a great port overall. There were a few stores open in the shopping center, but not many yet. There is a restaurant at the pool and also in the shopping center. They had the same name. We ate at the one by the pool and the food was good.

 

 

After shopping, we made our way back to the ship about 3 pm. There wasn't a long line to get back on the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[dockside31]

Excellent review with pictures thank you.will book ship this fall.

[cruisebound2011]

 

We returned to our cabin and started getting ready for dinner. We all made reservations for the steakhouse at 6:30.

 

We were immediately seated in the steakhouse. I had read so many people complain about kids in the steakhouse. There were numerous children in there, including mine, and none of them were running around or even being loud. It was a very enjoyable dinner.

 

They brought out bread and various toppings for the bread (bruschetta, etc).

 

For appetizer, I had lobster bisque. It was ok. Others in our group didn't care for it either. It didn't taste bad, but it just wasn't like any other lobster bisque we had ever had.

 

 

For my salad, I chose the beef steak tomato slices with Gorgonzola crumbles. Oh.My.Gosh. It was the best thing ever! I could have made a meal out of that alone, and don't even love tomatoes that much.

 

 

My main course was a butterflied filet. It was delicious!

 

 

I had the baked potato with trimmings as my side.

 

 

For dessert, I chose the cheesecake. Huge and heavenly! I couldn't even eat half of it I was so stuffed.

 

 

I forgot to mention that the waiter brought out small samples of food before our appetizers and said it was compliments of the chef. I recall one being beef tartare and the other I can't remember. Sorry.

 

The steakhouse was worth every penny spent. My kids enjoyed their meals as well and liked the experience.

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

Here is a picture of my husbands dessert. He got the chocolate sampler.

 

 

 

Oh and dinner at the steakhouse only took an hour and a half with 10 of us eating. So not bad!

 

We returned to the cabin and found this towel animal.

 

 

Then we went out and about exploring the ship.

Of course, the kids wanted ice cream by 10:30. I'm not sure where they put it! I was still so full from dinner.

 

This was the scene at the ice cream machine at 10:30.

 

 

We turned in for the night a little while later. I always retreat to the balcony and relax before bed. The rest of our group did various things (casino, adult shows).

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

Excellent review with pictures thank you.will book ship this fall.

 

 

Thank you! You will have a great time. We are ready to go back on the Magic!

 

 

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[cjnix29]

Enjoying your review! We are sailing the Magic at Christmas. We are in a suite too, and I didn't even know they could turn a sofa bed into a double!

[cruisebound2011]

Enjoying your review! We are sailing the Magic at Christmas. We are in a suite too, and I didn't even know they could turn a sofa bed into a double!

 

 

Yes, it was great! I couldn't ever find pictures on the Internet of the sofa turned into a double bed. That's why I wanted to include a picture. It basically flattens like a futon.

 

 

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[Florings]

Enjoying your review and great pictures! Looking forward to more...

[mikechass]

Thanks for writing this up.

I loooove the pictures.

I'm really enjoying this review.

Can't wait to read more.

Thanks again

[rmh661983]

Loving your review! We are doing the same itinerary but over the week of Halloween. We have a total of 9 in our group so I am glad we will be able to sit together in the MDR if we are wanting to.

[cruisebound2011]

Loving your review! We are doing the same itinerary but over the week of Halloween. We have a total of 9 in our group so I am glad we will be able to sit together in the MDR if we are wanting to.

 

 

The large tables will seat 12. But there aren't a lot of them. We lucked out and got one every time.

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

ST THOMAS, VIRGIN ISLANDS

 

 

We didn't wake up as early this morning since the ship didn't dock until 11am. We sat on the balcony for a while and noticed birds flying alongside the ship. We took our time dressing, ate breakfast at Lido (still didn't have to wait in a line for food), then went up to deck 11 and sat in the shade and watched St Thomas come into view. What a gorgeous place!

 

 

 

 

My girls talked us into letting them get ice cream. They enjoyed it while watching the ship sail into port.

 

 

St Thomas is beautiful. I wish we had more time there.

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

We had originally all planned to take a taxi to Coki Beach. But the night before we decided to book the Carnival excursion Top 10 Sights in St Thomas. We were doing a beach day in Grand Turk, so we went with something different today. It was a great decision. However, it didn't leave until 1 pm. So we had time to waste.

 

We started walking and headed towards some shops. Ugh. It didn't start well. We entered the first store and a local man flashed my mother! She pulled us out of there immediately and we stood outside waiting on the others still shopping. He followed us outside and stood feet away staring. He was definitely up to no good. The rest of our group came out, we told them what happened and we started walking. He started following us! He finally entered another store and we lost him.

 

Then we get to the corner (across from the Harley store) and its chaos with so many taxi drivers yelling and harassing us, honking horns. I never expected St Thomas taxi drivers to be so in your face and aggressive. Scared my girls to death! haha They've never experienced anything like that. Between the drivers and the flasher, they were ready to get back on the ship!

 

We walked back towards the shopping strip and it was more calm. We shopped, took a picture, then it was time to catch the excursion bus.

 

 

The excursion description said it was an open air bus. We lucked out and got an air conditioned van! Woo Hoo because it was so hot!! We had a blast on the bus. Our driver, Chilly, was nice and he was informative. The other passengers on the excursion with us were fun too. The van ride up and down the mountain and around the steep drop offs were like an amusement ride!

 

The first stop was at a small shack like building. It had souvenirs, snacks, drinks and an overlook. You could see St John in the distance.

 

 

 

 

Chilly pointed out sights along the way, but we didn't stop again until we got to the highest point on the island. There was a nice welcome center of sorts with a large viewing platform, a huge store to shop in for souvenirs, and they also made fresh banana daiquiris there. They were delicious and I don't even care for banana flavored drinks. But they use fresh bananas. Gorgeous views of Magen's Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[TJ92813]

Thank you for the wonderful review!!!

[cincicruisers]

Enjoying your review. The pictures are great.

[cruzin Phillis]

Your pics are gorgeous!!

[cruiselife4me]

Loving your review!!

[CruzerDeb]

Sounds like a great trip; can't wait to read more!

[golf43]

Your review is wonderful. I am thinking about booking this cruise ship for next year.

Thanks for sharing it.

[cruisebound2011]

Thanks everyone! I'll try and get more posted tomorrow. My kids are keeping me busy this summer! They think we are supposed to go to the beach and pool every day!

 

 

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