Carnival MAGIC - Trip Review and Diary - April 15th to 22nd - Lots of Pictures!

[Catrin]

Our room was ready so Steve and Allison got in their swimsuits and I unpacked our carry-ons. Before we went back upstairs, we enjoyed the sites from our balcony, as they were loading the pallets and pallets of food and drink on the ship. It is amazing to see them work and we watched them for quite a while. The only thing that was interesting was people moving the beverages in and out were opening up the cases and just drinking whatever was there. Hmmmm….. We also watched the luggage progress for a bit too!!

 

 

Steve and Allison went up on deck to the Aft Pool and “Hot”Tub by this time, it was still before 1:30 and most folks were in the Lido Buffet area.. and it was PACKED!!!!Just from this preview, we knew we were in for a very busy week.We hung out in the aft area, no longer an adult only area, for an hour or so… then Allison decided she wanted to go to the Waterslide.We met her there and watched her go up and down a few times.. and then Steve went down too!!

[Catrin]

I understand the chicken strip issue (I hope she found them later) we just got off the Pride, and my kids are begging for "normal food" when we get home. I actually think they're tired of pizza and burgers. The Lido didn't have normal food it was mostly Carribean or Lamb/exotic style food. We really missed the pasta station and the comfort foods (like mashed potatoes, Mac & Cheese etc)

 

Great start to the review though! I laughed when I read about the UBER. I cannot believe they didn't have enough gas for a trip to the port.

Nope... they never did. Last year, on the Sunshine, they offered them daily at the main Lido Buffet. This year's offerings were challenging to say the least. Thank god for Caesar Salad!!

As far as Uber.. it was really kind of funny in a "this is a story to tell" kind of way. He was actually mad that he had accepted our request!! Hey buddy, details, details, details... he probably wanted to go to Disney. :):D

[Catrin]

We stopped by Circle C on the way back to our room.... grabbed a schedule and checked out the room. Allison was planning to spend a good amount of time here and was looking forward to her first cruise in Circle C! No more Camp Carnival, no more signing in and out, no more Night Owl Parties, no more waiting in line to pick her up.... this was a new adventure!!

Coming up later....

Sail away Party, Your Time Dining Experience ... and meeting the Rev. Dr E!!

Catrin

[bajangoddess82]

following

[As You Wish]

It looks like you're off to a great start! You have a lovely family. I'm enjoying your review. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[Catrin]

After hanging out by the water slide, I went back to the room to take a nap! There is NOTHING like a nap during a cruise… with our late night travelling and early morning,it was good just to rest! Steve and Allison came back a short time later with our suitcase! So, we totally unpacked. At this time, we did meet our Room Steward,whose name is Made. Well, Made MADE our week! He asked us our preference for when we wanted our room cleaned and beds made. We asked him if he could still service twice a day, as we were used toand he said No Problem. We also asked for Ice, and he asked me if I wanted a robe, which I declined. I am not sure how many rooms he had, but he certainly had plenty… my guess was almost 30. But I think most people only wanted once a day service – or did not realize they could have twice… as we saw a lot of flyers in slots instead of in rooms like ours.

 

Before we knew it, it was time for the Safety Drill. On this ship, we are lucky to have been assigned to the aft dining room, where we could sit quietly and listen to the Safety Briefing. One new thing for us is the use of Ipads for security purposes – and they scanned everyone’s card as we entered the room. The Safety drill did take a long time, but it was easier to manage sitting down in a cool dining room as opposed to a HOT SWEATY deck!!

After the Safety Briefing we climbed up 7 decks (yikes!!) right to the Lido Deck for the SAIL AWAY PARTY!! Allison loves line dancing and I told her that I would go to the Sail Away party with her to do the Cupid Shuffle, Cha Cha Slide, Electric Slide etc. We had a lot of fun during the short sail away party! We had our first meeting with our cruise Director… the Rev. Dr. E – who was as enthusiastic and fun as they said he was! We hung up on deck as the DJ played and just enjoyed the enthusiastic passengers who were ready for another fun week!!

We noticed the deck area was thinning out… realizing that it was soon Dinner Time!! We had selected Your Time Dining – purely based on the itinerary of this cruise. We prefer Early dining, but most ports lasted until 5 or 6 and we did not want to rush back for dinner at any port. For the first night, we arrived round 6:20 and we were seated at a table back near the kitchen. We were always seated at a table for 3, and e had the same servers twice. Overall, if feel you DO miss something by not dining with the same staff each meal …. But as long as you understand what you are getting, there is nothing wrong with Your Time Dining. Would we choose it again? Perhaps…. But the only thing making us lean that way would be the itinerary.

Dinners – Overall I was disappointed in dinners on this cruise. The menu choices changed slightly, and some of the old favorites were either gone or had slight changes to the recipes. I felt there were times the food was not hot, and only slightly warm. I am not one to send back, but thinking that maybe a few times I should have considered.

 

 

We do enjoy having a bread basket, and those cranberry rolls are marvelous!! Also enjoyed having water carafe at the table, although often times they removed it to fill and we never got one back!! Our first meal, I had chicken and it was delicious. Allison had Fried Calamari and Tomato Soup for dinner.. and I was fine with that!! She actually did pretty good for food this cruise… she is a picky eater, but managed to enjoy her salads, soups and a few other dishes.

Deserts were mixed, and some nights I skipped ... would rather have an ice cream cone! . Steve ordered the tropical fruit plate each night.... sometimes with dessert, sometimes just alone. It was always wonderful!! One thing that was interesting… is I was NEVER offered tea during desert on this cruise. I never think of it, but I know if I was offered it, I would have had it a few times. Maybe it is because they were turning overtables as soon as they cleared.

 

[Catrin]

After Dinner, we went back to the cabin…. And spent a few minutes just checking out the seas from our Cove Balcony. BOY was the water close!!! Something about it, we just really liked it a lot more than we thought. It was peaceful, yet full of action. It was a lovely night and we could have stayed out there for hours.

In our room the first night, was the first of our Towel Animals… and Made was so talented and experienced!! We also had our Platinum Pins waiting for us and our drink Coupons. I also at that time signed up for the Social Media package on my I phone. For $30 for the cruise, I was able to use Facebook plus Facebook Messenger to communicate to my boys and my mom! It was so much better than the old package that used to cost $100 for 60 minutes!!! Technology!!

[Catrin]

Allison had a welcome aboard event at Circle C at 8pm, so she ventured off to attend that. More on Circle C later….. Steve and I decided we just wanted to walk around and perhaps go the Red Frog Pub and listen to some music. When we got there, the place was empty, so we kept walking! We sampled a few shots from the Gift Shops, popped in the welcome aboard show for a minute, and ended up at the Magic Lobby bar and had a drink…. When out comes Rev. Dr E – who was ready to host “Rock the Promenade”! We had not planned on joining…. But he asked.. Who loves Music? And of course I raise my hand!! He picked me to play NAME THAT TUNE against another passenger!

During “Rock the Promenade” you follow the Cruise Director to five bars –Lobby, Casino, Lanai, Piano and Comedy Club. They play a game in each and they raffle a free drink. Each stop you have a ticket and you put your ticket in the bucket. Well, I played name that tune…. And I won!!! So… not even one day in, I earned my SOLID GOLD PLASTIC SHIP ON A STICK!!! We decided to follow the crowd and went to each stop… and sure enough at the Piano Bar.. they called my number! FREE DRINK FOR ME!!! This was something we had not planned, but ended up just going with the flow and having a great time.

We went back to the Red Frog, where Guitaro 5000 was playing…he was pretty good and really tried to please the crowd. We stayed for a little bit then called it a night!

Allison returned from Circle C earlier than we thought – she said it was OK, and that most kids were older than her. But she was hopeful it would be better tomorrow.

SO>.. that is DAY 1!!

Upcoming – Lazy Day at Sea

 

Catrin

[Catrin]

That is it for me for today!

I will be back tomorrow with a few more days. I hope!!

 

Please feel free to ask any questions, as we are pretty experienced on doing NOTHING on cruises. LOL

 

Thanks for reading so far!

[clmsntgers]

Subscribing!

 

 

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[tropicaledrink]

We had Made in December! He was one of the best we have had!

 

We are getting back on the Magic in just under two weeks (but up on Deck 11 this time) - but he told us he thought he might be off by then. We are still planning to check and see if he is still around so we can tell him hello again!

[Riley's Mom]

We wil be on the Magic in less than 2 wks and are also doing an 8 nighter.

We loved Dr E that last time we were in the Magic.

Can I ask.....which days were the formal nights on?

Thank you,

Carla

[jolyroger]

Looking forward to this review! We'll be doing this exact itin.on the Magic for Christmas this year. We've always cruised in April due to our girls spring break schedule here in RI,which airfare is never cheap. But looking for Christmas time, holy crap , its a hole other ball game!!! We looked into islip, but price wasn't that great to make us book it yet. We just keep looking! But keep the great review coming!"

[Sjb0704]

Following. We have this same itinerary on Magic in September.

[adam3313]

Great review so far.

 

In regards to Uber, I'm pretty sure that the driver is not given your address until you are in the car, and they "begin" the trip. I'd assume this is done for many reasons, namely safety. I've never experienced a driver having to stop for gas, though. These days you usually pay what you're quoted in the app for the trip, so hopefully it didn't add any cost to your drive waiting for him to get gas!

 

Can't wait to read the rest of the review. The Magic is the only ship on the Dream class that I haven't cruised on yet.

[NC_Cruisin]

Cruising Jan 2018 on the Magic with my 9 year old daughter. Looking forward to your review!

[FloridaMommyof3]

40 days till Magic for me! Can't wait.

[JimAOk1945]

I'm looking forward to reading about your experiences on shore. This is a great itinerary.

[bosoxfan5]

Can't wait to read your review and see the pics!! We are on the Magic in July!! First time on this ship.

[Jkodko]

thanks for doing the review , we are booked for Christmas cruise this year.

[Florings]

Looking forward to more! Thanks for sharing your vacation memories with all of us!

[As You Wish]

Great review so far. I'm looking forward to the rest.

[DReed93]

Love reading. Cruising in Magic in June. It is tortuous waiting

 

 

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[Catrin]

Hi folks ... well real life interferes.. 12 hour work day and I'm unable to write anything today. I promise I'll continue tomorrow!!!

 

 

 

 

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[watermelonqueen99]

Subscribing! The Magic is our favorite ship, Dr. E is our favorite CD ever, and the cove balconies are our favorite type of cabin! And I agree with you, Southwest is the only way to go! We live in a Tulsa suburb, and as a whole, flights out of TUL are outrageous. 80% of the time, we drive 3.5 hours to Dallas and fly out of there and save hundreds of dollars.