Carnival Magic 8 Day Cruise Review with Photos February 26, 2022-March 6, 2022

[lovestocruise19]

 Reunited and it feels so good! My last cruise was in December 2019. I just got off the Magic last weekend. What a long road it has been to get back to cruising. While this cruise didn't go exactly as planned, it was just what we needed to remind us how much we love cruising. 

 

Getting to the ship was super stressful. I was going with my parents, sister, brother-in-law and nieces. Family Cruise 2.0! Or so we thought. Last family cruise I was living in Florida so I didn't need to worry about weather. I moved back to NH in 2021 and Mother Nature decided to be an issue. Super long story short, my parents, hubby and I decided to change flights to Thursday instead of Friday and to an entirely different airline and airport to get ahead of a winter storm. Cost more, but nothing was going to prevent us from getting to our ship! My sister and her family weren't so lucky. They changed their flight to Thursday as well, but Spirit (boo, hiss!) cancelled their flight (nothing to do with weather, so I'm thinking staffing issues). They then changed their flight back to their original Friday flight and that got cancelled so they booked a flight out of a different airport and that one wasn't going to make a connection in DC, so they had to give up hope of making it to the ship in time. My sister said that was a hard phone call to make. I remember crying after she called. A bright spot is that a couple days later they planned a last minute trip to Universal. In all honesty, my nieces probably enjoyed that more than the cruise. Our cruise didn't have a lot of children on it.

 

Oh, and to touch on COVID testing: We did the at home proctored test. After not being able to connect to the sound at first, having my name show up in a different way and practically hyperventilating since I had an earlier flight to catch, the second time was the charm and it went very smoothly and I got my negative result. 

 

This smile tells it all!

[lovestocruise19]

We stayed at the Best Western in Orlando near the airport for two nights since we had taken an earlier flight. Want to hear some irony, though? On Friday, as we are driving to go get lunch, I see a Southwest plane coming in the air coming in for a landing. I'm like, oh, look, Southwest...wait a minute...it's 10:20 a.m. Hubby quickly checks his airplane app. YUP. That was our original flight that left early Friday morning. It didn't even get cancelled! The snow must not have been that bad yet. DOH! 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We had rented a giant 12 person van in anticipation of having my sister and her family there so that is the transportation we used to get to Port Canaveral. It was with Budget so it was very close to the port. Budget really needs to invest in some signage or something because there were people everywhere with no rhyme or reason. We finally figured out the cluster of people that were waiting to go TO the port and waited for the free shuttle van. We were impatient and almost gave up and called an Uber, but just after I ran out of the bathroom the correct shuttle van for the Magic arrived. 

 

My parents, hubby and I got to the terminal around 10:15 a.m. or so and they allowed us all to check in, but hubby and I were allowed to board right away since we are Platinum and in the A group for boarding. We literally barely sat down to wait and they called our group.

 

Hubby and I ate lunch and dozed on Serenity. New muster was super easy. We met in the main theater where they scanned our S&S card and gave us a demo on how to put on a life jacket. Done! You can go anytime you want before sailaway. 

 

 

 

Ahhh, Serenity!

[famof4togo]

13 minutes ago, lovestocruise19 said:

 Reunited and it feels so good! My last cruise was in December 2019. I just got off the Magic last weekend. What a long road it has been to get back to cruising. While this cruise didn't go exactly as planned, it was just what we needed to remind us how much we love cruising. 

 

Getting to the ship was super stressful. I was going with my parents, sister, brother-in-law and nieces. Family Cruise 2.0! Or so we thought. Last family cruise I was living in Florida so I didn't need to worry about weather. I moved back to NH in 2021 and Mother Nature decided to be an issue. Super long story short, my parents, hubby and I decided to change flights to Thursday instead of Friday and to an entirely different airline and airport to get ahead of a winter storm. Cost more, but nothing was going to prevent us from getting to our ship! My sister and her family weren't so lucky. They changed their flight to Thursday as well, but Spirit (boo, hiss!) cancelled their flight (nothing to do with weather, so I'm thinking staffing issues). They then changed their flight back to their original Friday flight and that got cancelled so they booked a flight out of a different airport and that one wasn't going to make a connection in DC, so they had to give up hope of making it to the ship in time. My sister said that was a hard phone call to make. I remember crying after she called. A bright spot is that a couple days later they planned a last minute trip to Universal. In all honesty, my nieces probably enjoyed that more than the cruise. Our cruise didn't have a lot of children on it.

 

Oh, and to touch on COVID testing: We did the at home proctored test. After not being able to connect to the sound at first, having my name show up in a different way and practically hyperventilating since I had an earlier flight to catch, the second time was the charm and it went very smoothly and I got my negative result. 

 

This smile tells it all!

Those nails are so fun!

[lovestocruise19]

We spent a little time on the balcony and then ate with Mom and Dad in the MDR. We had Anytime Dining and you could check in using the Hub app. We saw my sister and her family listed as our "companions" so every time I had to check us in for dinner it made me sad. 😢

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

4 minutes ago, famof4togo said:

Those nails are so fun!

 

Thank you so much! They are Color Street nails aptly named "Long Time No Sea."

[lovestocruise19]

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We had Edi as our waiter and he was fun and upbeat! Food was delicious! Hubby and I walked around a bit and then went back to the room. We watched the Welcome Aboard show. Our cruise director was Simon London and we both liked him. He seemed very personable and down to earth. Below I'll post some pictures from around the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

Now THIS was super cool. They had the regular smoking casino and this nonsmoking casino on Deck 4. I pulled my mask down and took a deep breath. It was glorious! We didn't end up gambling, but if we did we would have used this casino.

 

Side note on mask wearing. Kind of a pain, but we did what we had to do. The real issue was when March 1 rolled around and half the people on the cruise stopped wearing them because of Carnival's new rule. However, because our cruise started before March 1, I believe we were supposed to still wear them in the inside areas. They should have addressed this better, but they did not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We slept in until 8:30 a.m. or so. It was windy which made for some more ship movement. Hubby and I got breakfast on Lido and then went up to Serenity and found a clamshell. We were there for about a half hour or so and then Mom started messaging me. She said she had been on Serenity since 8 a.m. A couple minutes later I hear Mom's voice. I sit up and see she has been in the clamshell next to us all along! Lol! 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

Side note: Our room steward was Margarette. We liked her. We passed her in the hallway a lot and she was always asking if we needed anything. She also told me how young I looked. When I told her I was 40 she was shocked! She also complimented me on a dress one night that had navy blue and hot pink on it. Flattery will get you everywhere! Lol!

 

 

Another side note. We had balcony room 7209. I would not recommend this room as the bridge is right above which made the view slightly obstructed if you wanted to look up to the sky. See photo below:

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

I had a turkey wrap for lunch, but found it to be very dry even though it was supposed to come with mustard I believe. 

 

 

 

Lemon meringue cake:

[lovestocruise19]

Mom and I went to the Ladies Pamper Party where they gave us different creams and lotion samples for our faces. Mom then headed to the room to meet Dad so they could go to the spa together. Mom got acupuncture and Dad got a massage. I tried to find hubby at Bingo after I got some ice cream, but it was too crowded so I went back to the room to read and doze. When hubby got back he told me he was two numbers shy of winning a free cruise.

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

We got ready for elegant night and ha some pro pictures taken. We ate in the MDR and I went with hubby to Lido for dessert. Hubby and I met up with Dad later to go to a comedy show. It was more of comedy magic, which was okay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

 

 

 

 

Dad bought me my favorite drink: The Mocha Chocolate Getaway! 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

Pro photos from Elegant Night:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jamman54]

Great start to your review. Looking forward to the rest! We'll be back on the Magic in September 2023. 

[Rudyard]

1 hour ago, lovestocruise19 said:

Side note on mask wearing. Kind of a pain, but we did what we had to do. The real issue was when March 1 rolled around and half the people on the cruise stopped wearing them because of Carnival's new rule. However, because our cruise started before March 1, I believe we were supposed to still wear them in the inside areas. They should have addressed this better, but they did not.

 

We embarked on Breeze on the 28th and were told (without actually being told) not to worry about masks after that day. Even on the 28th enforcement was non-existent. After the 28th you might see 10% of people wearing masks even in confined spaces such as elevators. 

[pohlerbear]

3 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Great start to your review. Looking forward to the rest! We'll be back on the Magic in September 2023. 

I just booked Magic in May. I went back and looked at your Magic review.  

 

Have you ever cruiser from Norfolk?

[lovestocruise19]

2 hours ago, pohlerbear said:

I just booked Magic in May. I went back and looked at your Magic review.  

 

Have you ever cruiser from Norfolk?

Never cruised from Norfolk. Hubby and I were actually wondering the other day if Carnival still went out of Norfolk. 

[lovestocruise19]

5 hours ago, Rudyard said:

 

We embarked on Breeze on the 28th and were told (without actually being told) not to worry about masks after that day. Even on the 28th enforcement was non-existent. After the 28th you might see 10% of people wearing masks even in confined spaces such as elevators. 

 

There was absolutely no communications (announcements or in print) and crew members were still handing out masks on Lido after March 1. 

[lovestocruise19]

The next day was another Sea Day. We ate breakfast on Lido. We bought two water bottles, a magnet and reusable shopping bag in the shops. The fridge in our room didn't get cold AT ALL, so hubby and I figured we can put ice in them and put our water and soda in them. Went up to Serenity, but there were no empty seats so we sat in the rubber looking chairs just outside of Serenity near the water slides. 

 

We hung out in our room for a bit as it was still too windy to enjoy the balcony. I went to Mom and Dad's balcony to see Haiti up close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

I ate lunch with Mom and Dad on Lido. I had the falafel wrap from the deli. Better than the turkey wrap, but still dry. I then went to Serenity because I was cold. I layed in a lounger in the sun for a half an hour. A lady from SC was next to me and she thought I was a student. I told her I was 40 and she was shocked. Between her and our room steward, I sure did get a good ego boost on this cruise! Lol! 

 

We all met up at the theater to play Bingo. It was fun, but we didn't win. Mom and Dad went to dinner in the MDR and hubby and I chose to eat on Lido. We watched the sunset from our balcony before dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lovestocruise19]

 

 

 

After dinner we listened to the string trio and bought two for $25 tshirts.