Review: Carnival Magic June 4,2016 Eastern Caribbean cruise

[cakerbakermom]

We are doing Magic in Nov with our 12yo girl and 10yo son. This will be their 3rd cruise. Did your girls go to the children's programming? I am most concerned about the 12-14 age grouping and if it is appropriate for our daughter.

[cruisebound2011]

We are doing Magic in Nov with our 12yo girl and 10yo son. This will be their 3rd cruise. Did your girls go to the children's programming? I am most concerned about the 12-14 age grouping and if it is appropriate for our daughter.

 

 

My girls had no interest in going to the kids programs because they are a little on the shy side and they would have been in 2 different groups. I think they would have gone if they had been able to stay together. The 12-14 yr olds can leave as they please (with parents permission) and I mostly saw that age hanging out in groups on lido.

 

 

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[tlw440]

Great review and pics, cant wait to read and see the rest.

[cruisebound2011]

The next stop on our excursion was the botanical gardens. I believe they said it used to be the company retreat for the Johnson and Johnson Company. It's not a huge place, but it was beautiful and it also included free rum tasting. They had so many various fruity rum flavors and were very generous in their servings. This was the longest stop and I believe it was over an hour (I could be wrong, but it was a long time).

 

 

 

There were breathtaking views from the botanical gardens too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

 

 

 

 

 

Our tour was almost over and we started heading back down to the ship.

 

 

 

 

We still had some time to spare so we headed to Señor Frogs for some appetizers to hold us over before dinner.

 

Then we went back to the ship (no line ) and started getting ready for dinner.

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

Thankfully we had eaten the appetizers at Señor Frogs because that allowed us to hang out in the cabin longer and we didn't miss this beautiful sunset over St Thomas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

Backing up a bit! I just remembered that I forgot to mention the muster drill on day 1. Oops!

 

Our muster station was the Showtime Theatre. So it wasn't bad at all. We got to sit in comfortable seats and listen to Dr E give hilarious instructions. He kept everyone listening with his funny impressions. The best muster I have ever attended.

 

Ok, back on track.......

 

After watching the beautiful sunset, we headed to dinner. It was 7:30 by now, but there still wasn't a line to wait in for your time dining. We walked right in, gave them our info and thankfully our table with Christian was still available.

 

For appetizer, I had Ceviche. It was very good.

 

 

Main dish was mahi mahi. While it tasted ok, mine had bones in every bite. So that wasn't fun. Others at the table didn't have bones in theirs, but noted it lacked in flavor.

 

 

For dessert, I had the s'mores parfait. It was delicious!

 

 

More fun with Christian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[DenaInWyo]

Loving your review! Your pictures are awesome, and all of just the type of things I want to see :D I can't believe the views of St. Thomas. Sigh..so far away! We'll be on the Magic in January.

[cruisebound2011]

Loving your review! Your pictures are awesome, and all of just the type of things I want to see :D I can't believe the views of St. Thomas. Sigh..so far away! We'll be on the Magic in January.

 

 

It's so beautiful there! You will have a blast on the Magic! We are ready to go back!

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

After dinner we went to the showtime theatre and watched the Destination Unknown show. It was very good and the magic portion was awesome. We had watched a "magic show" in the theatre the night before and it had been disappointing. It was a lame attempt to be funny and do basic magic and he failed at both. It definitely shouldn't be advertised as a magic show!

 

This was our towel animal for the night.

 

 

When the show was over, we joined Dr E in the atrium for 70s and 80s song trivia. He is so much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[tayzia00]

Loving your review!!!! Can't wait to read more!!! We set sail on the Magic in 10 days!!! We will be doing the same itinerary. We have only been to Grand Turk on previous cruises so we weren't sure what to do on the other islands. I love Senor Frogs and glad to hear there is one on St Thomas. My DH will be happy to hear this:D

[RobinSie]

Thanks for your wonderful review! We have been on several cruises on multiple lines, but will be on our first Carnival sailing on Magic over Labor Day. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your journey. I know it takes a lot of time to write, but your efforts are much appreciated!

[leeza16]

great review. We sail this Saturday on Magic. Do you have the fun times to possibly post? I am such a planner, I like to see what is coming up on the different days.

[JoJoinGA]

We are sailing this itinerary in March 2017. Thanks for such a great review!

[cruisebound2011]

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

 

 

I just happened to wake up and peek outside to see El Morro going by! I yelled for my husband (he had gone to the bathroom), grabbed my phone and ran out on the balcony just in time to snap a few pictures. So heads up, if your cabin is port side, get out on the balcony early if you want to see the beautiful fort come into view. I took these pictures at 7:20 am. These pictures don't even do it justice either.

 

 

 

 

 

We ate a quick breakfast at Lido ( again we didn't encounter a line to wait in) and then our group headed into port to explore.

 

We asked around old San Juan briefly and it's a very beautiful old town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

That sentence up above should say "we walked around ....." Oops.

 

 

 

The little town square with all of the pigeons had quite a few local vendors set up selling handmade goods.

 

Half of our group walked to the corner by the other fort to catch the free trolley. While the other half continued walking around shopping.

 

 

 

We hopped on the little white trolley and enjoyed getting a tour of old San Juan without walking so much in the heat! There is also a very steep hill and a long walk to reach El Morro.

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

 

 

 

El Morro comes into view and it's more beautiful than these pictures show. There were so many people enjoying the big grassy areas. They were having picnics, playing games, and many were flying kites. It was a really beautiful scene.

 

 

 

 

There's a very long walkway up to the fort, but the trolley will take you all the way to the front doors.

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

 

 

There's a Starbucks if anyone is addicted and needs one of their coffees!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

After the trolley ride was over, we walked all over old San Juan and it's a really beautiful place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

We met up with the rest of our group at Barrachino's. This is where the Pina Colada was invented, so of course we all had one ( alcohol free for the little ones). It was delicious and so was the food. It's a very nice restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

After eating, we started our walk back to the ship. We stopped along the way for a few pictures and shopping. There was a park down that way with a lot of local vendors set up selling their goods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Time2CruiseAgain]

oh my goodness, this is WONDERFUL,! We sail the Magic in 51 days!! Can't wait - especially sailing with Dr. E!! Looking forward to the rest of your review and fabulous pics!! Thank you!!

[cruisebound2011]

great review. We sail this Saturday on Magic. Do you have the fun times to possibly post? I am such a planner, I like to see what is coming up on the different days.

 

 

I don't have all of the fun times, but I think Trumpster posted them a while back if you search for his posts. They should be pretty much the same minus an activity or two. His sailing was the first one out of canaveral.

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

As soon as we got back in the ship, we showered and got ready for dinner. We had all made reservations at 6:30 for the Italian restaurant. It was still early though so we met up with some of our family at the Redfrog Pub. That is a really fun place and it wasn't ever crowded. They have tasty appetizers too! I wish I had gotten more pictures in there, but didn't think about it. I was busy enjoying the moment.

 

Here are a few of my girls having fun in the pub.

 

 

 

We arrived at the Italian restaurant a few minutes ahead of the rest of our group. They have a nice waiting area with sofas. The servers were singing an Italian song to the guests. The restaurant is very nice and has a nice cozy feel to it.

 

 

The food was very good too and worth the extra money. It was so much food too! A lot of the appetizers were huge so it could be served family style and shared with others at the table.

 

For appetizer I ordered Caprese salad.

 

 

Main course was spaghetti carbonara.

 

 

Dessert was Tiramisu

 

 

 

 

 

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[cruisebound2011]

My girls had the lemon sorbet and said it was very good.

 

 

They also served bread before we got our appetizers. I didn't take a picture of that.

 

My wonderful kids. It's rare to get a picture of them together!

 

 

After dinner, we went to bingo and then the Mardi Gras party in the atrium with Dr E. It wasn't quite as fun as the sing a longs. But it's never dull with Dr E! The others then headed to the Love and Marriage show. It said 18+ so we went and found some kid friendly fun before heading to bed around midnight. That always included pizza and ice cream before bed!

 

This was our towel animal for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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