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Carnival Magic 4/29/17-5/6/17 REVIEW

wanderlust0713
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wanderlust0713

wanderlust0713

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Hello everyone!

We just got back from our honeymoon on the Magic and we had an incredible time! I will be posting my full review in a couple hours, so join along if you're interested and let me know if you have any specific questions!

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wanderlust0713

wanderlust0713

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Day 1

We're from West Palm Beach, FL so we didn't have a long trip to Port Canaveral. This was my 17th cruise and my (new) husbands 3rd cruise. This was the first time we ever had a balcony and we chose a Cove, room 2285. We boarded at 11:45 and walked right on the ship. We chose to wait in the LONG line for Guys burgers but it was so worth it! Our room was ready by 1:30 and we dropped our bags off in the room. We hungout on Lido until the muster drill, which was all inside. Dr. E is fantastic and we loved his accents for the muster drill. However, it was super long because there were many people that were trying to hide. After the drill we got ready for Your Time Dining and got in line at 5:30. I can't remember exactly what we had, but we were pleased with the American Table options. After dinner we went to the Welcome Aboard Show and my husband was actually called up on stage! We received some champagne, a ship on a stick, and recognition as "the newlyweds" the rest of the cruise. We chose to see a comedy show that night (I believe his name was Chris Wiles) and he was hilarious!!

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wanderlust0713

wanderlust0713

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Day 2

This was our first day at sea and also our first elegant night. We woke up early to catch the sea day brunch (which we love!), and then we rushed back to snag up some chairs by the main pool. We watched the red frog vs. blue tequila competition which was fun and then we watched the hairy chest contest! We love these events. After that we went to the room to get ready for dinner because we like to do all of the pictures beforehand. This was lobster night and we enjoyed dinner. After dinner we went to see the Playlist Show called Flick. We LOVED this show! The performers were amazing and unfortunately our cruise was their last one together before the end of their contracts. After Flick we saw the comedian Tommy Drake's last show. We didn't think he was very funny, but maybe it was because it was his last show before we got new comedians on board. We went to bed after the show because the next day was Cozumel!

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wanderlust0713

wanderlust0713

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***I made a mistake on my last post. We saw Tommy Drake on night 3, not two, and that was his last show on our cruise.

Day 3

Today was Cozumel day and the day we started getting a terrible sewer smell on our cove balcony. This was our only issue the entire cruise. We complained to guest services before we left for the day. We didn't have an excursion planned because we just wanted to relax. We ate lunch at 3 Amigos, which we go to every time, and then we laid in the beach chairs at the port. We did some shopping and then went back to the ship. We had dinner in the main dining room at 5:45 and then went to Hasbro The Game Show. We enjoyed it and a cute 4 year old girl won, which was amazing :) We then went and saw Tommy Drake, the comedian. I have to say, Dr. E was everywhere on the cruise and we loved his energy. We went to bed afterwards because we had an early morning in Belize!

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wanderlust0713

wanderlust0713

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Day 4

Belize day! We had to wake up early because we had an excursion and we had to meet in the theatre so we could tender together. We were on one of the first tenders and we were doing the Sharks, Reefs, and Rays excursion. We met at the port and took a long boat ride to the reef. The ride was 21 miles away and so it took about 30-40 minutes I would say. The guides stopped at the Caye to drop off lunch orders before we went to the reef. Lunch is not included in the price of this excursion. Once we made it to the reef, the guides made sure everyone had their life jackets. They said it was mandatory to have them but if you were a good swimmer you could just have it around your wrist. The guide did a great job of pointing everything out and we saw an eel! This excursion was pretty packed and everyone was kicking and bumping into each other which I didn't really like. However, the snorkeling was pretty good. The guides had us get back on the boat and then we went to where the sharks and rays were. It was fairly shallow, but you couldn't touch the bottom. Again, it was packed and so hard to see anything because people kept kicking up sand on the bottom even though the guides said to stay horizontal. I didn't enjoy this part. They then took us to the Caye where the people who purchased lunch could eat. If you weren't eating there wasn't much to do there. They then drove us back to the port where we didn't have enough time to do anything, so we got on the tender. Overall, we had fun on the excursion but I would choose something else next time. We went back to the room to get ready for dinner, which would be in the Steakhouse! We had never been to the steakhouse before and we decided to splurge because it was our honeymoon. We were SO impressed with the food and we will definitely be going every cruise in the future. After dinner we headed to the playlist show, Country Road. I am a big country fan so I really enjoyed this show and the fun beforehand. We went back to the room and took a nap before the adult Carnival Quest! If you have never been, it is a lot of fun. It's like an adult scavenger hunt among teams and its very competitive. Our team didn't win, but we had a great time. The Quest ended very late and we had an early morning in Roatan the next day.

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wanderlust0713

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Day 5

Roatan! My husband and I had never been to Roatan so we were very excited. We met some very nice people on the ship and it turns out there were many of them on the same excursion as us. We chose the Jolly Roger Catamaran sail & snorkel with lunch. I will for sure be coming back just to do this excursion again. We left on the catamaran and they took us to the other side of the island where the seas were calmer. It was very choppy on the side where the ships dock. The water was beautiful and once we reached the West side, it was calm. We put on inflatable life vests and jumped in the water. The guide was AMAZING at pointing things out. This was by far the best snorkeling I have ever done in my life. There were so many cool fish, turtles, barracudas, and an eagle ray. The water felt so nice and was so clear. I can't recommend this excursion enough. We had plenty of time in the water and then we got back on the boat to some lunch and an open bar. The chicken was incredible and the rum punch was strong. They also had a photographer on board who took pictures the whole time and emailed them to us for free which was very nice. We then were taken to a bus where they drove us back to port. We had plenty of time to shop in port afterwards which was nice. The port is beautiful, but it was so hot! We went back to the ship to get ready for dinner. Our balcony still smelled horrible and it was getting worse so we didn't use it. After dinner we went to the Love & Marriage show which was hilarious. Dr. E is a great cruise director and we were talking about the show for the rest of the cruise. After that we went to sit in the Piano Bar to wait for the comedy show. Roddy was the piano man and he was great. After a little while we went to see the new comedian that just got on, Thomas Brown. Thomas was hilarious and we went to every single one of his adult shows for the rest of the cruise. We talked to him after the show and he is just a great guy. We went to the room afterwards and were happy that we could sleep in some the next day because we didn't have anything planned in Costa Maya.

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wanderlust0713

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Day 6

Today was the last port day and we called on Costa Maya. We didn't have an excursion booked because it was a short day. We arrived at 7 and we had to be back on by 1:30. I went to blue iguana to get a breakfast burrito and it was very good. The whole lido deck was covered with towel animals and towel people and it was very cool to see! Everyone was happy to see it. After I ate we got off the ship and just hungout at the pool at the port for a couple of hours and then went back. The line at Guys wasn't too long so we ate there for lunch. We rested in the room before dinner, which was the second elegant night. I thought the menu was just OK this night. We saw the Playlist Show 88 Keys and we enjoyed it very much! The lead, Nick, was phenomenal. If anyone got a video of him singing Piano Man I would love if you could send me it! After that we went and saw Happy Cole, the comedian. He was hilarious!! They make you clear the lounge in between shows so we got back in line to see Thomas Brown again afterwards. Both comedians are fantastic and we hope to see them again.

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wanderlust0713

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Day 7

Our last day :( It was a day at sea, so we went to the sea day brunch which was great as usual. We then went to lido to watch the morning show on the deck and we laid out for a bit. We enjoyed the cruise so much that we went to book a future cruise on the same ship, but eastern caribbean! Dr. E and the rest of the staff really ensured that we had an amazing vacation. We ate at the BBQ restaurant which is only open on sea days for a couple hours at lunch time and it was very good. We wish we could have had it more. We had earned a VIP backstage entertainment tour so we saw the dressing room and the stage which was very cool. We then went and purchased some photos and go figure, we forgot to pick up one before we left :loudcry: They always get me with the pictures. We went to dinner which was the one where they sing the Fun Ship song and it makes me sad to leave. We saw the Playlist Show, America Rocks and it was one of my favorite shows. The cast was so talented and I'm sad that they won't be together anymore. Then we went and saw both Thomas Browns and Happy Coles comedy shows. They were hilarious per usual and we thoroughly enjoyed them. We chose to self embark the next morning, so we didn't leave our luggage out.

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wanderlust0713

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Day 8

Debarkation day :loudcry: This is always a sad day for us and we probably say 100 times that we don't want to leave. Debarkation was super easy and we were in our car by 9:30am.

Overall, we had an INCREDIBLE cruise. We keep saying that we don't know how anything can top this one. The food was great, staff was great, entertainment was great, and the ship was great. Like I said, the only complaint we had was about our smelly balcony but we were fairly compensated for that. We loved our room steward and he was very friendly and helpful. Dr. E truly made our experience the best and we look forward to sailing with him in the future. Roatan is my new favorite port and I can't wait to be back there. We received many goodies for being part of the show and for being on our honeymoon. Oh one thing I forgot... We received a $50 spa gift card for being on our honeymoon, but there was only a handful of things it could be used on so we didn't even use it. We also wish that the staff would drop off pictures for the forgetful people like us who bought them and forgot to pick them up on the last day. I hope you found this review helpful and I would be more than happy to answer any specific questions you have. We were on the Allure in January so I can make some comparisons if you would like that as well.

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wanderlust0713

wanderlust0713

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Did it smell on your balcony the whole cruise or just that one morning? We're booked in the cove next door for an 8 day, leaving this weekend.

 

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It smelled the whole cruise. It fluctuated in how bad it smelled though. It was only an issue on the starboard side and for a couple cabins.

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islandga

islandga

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It smelled the whole cruise. It fluctuated in how bad it smelled though. It was only an issue on the starboard side and for a couple cabins.

Great! What did they do when you complained?

 

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