Saint Greg's Magic Super Bowl cruise - Live - February 11-19

[icft]

Looking forward to this.

[Saint Greg]

5 minutes ago, dallasdan said:

Greg, the real question is will you be wearing a Kamara or Brees jersery during the game?

I only have Brees ones but I only wear them when attending Saints games. A T-shirt wouldn’t be out of the question.

 

[Saint Greg]

My winter movie rankings

 

Avatar: The way of water
Devotion
A man called Otto
Babylon
I wanna dance with somebody
80 for Brady 
House party
Plane
Missing
The Whale
M3GAN
Violent night
Knock at the cabin
Puss n Boots
Fear

[Saint Greg]

I don’t think I’ll be adding anything to that list. It doesn’t seem like any movies are coming out next week. Which is weird normally there are 1-3 new movies. Maybe there will be a surprise one that they aren’t showing on the future schedule yet. 
 

I’ve seen people complaining about the new dive-in movies. It seems like they’ve gotten to the fall lineup which I wasn’t a fan of. They do still have my #1 summer move “Top Gun: Maverick” and my #1 fall movie “The Woman King.” My #1 winter movie “Avatar: The Way of Water” is in the IMax. Hopefully they’ll add “Devotion” soon. That was a good one and the first of my winter movies to be released. It was released the week before I went on Celebration.

 

[Saint Greg]

I’m thinking about seeing Avatar in ScreenX. They didn’t have it today because they had some Backstreet Boys concert or something in that theater. I really can’t tomorrow because I want that big diet pepsi to go with my popcorn. I have a concert tomorrow night and that goes against my concert preparation. Maybe one night this week.

This is the screenx preview if it.

 

 

[vacruizer]

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

You think they’ll still put elegant night up against the Super Bowl? If they do I bet super bowl beats elegant night.

 

It’s been nearly 10 years ago, but I was on a Super Bowl sailing and they moved elegant night to the following day. Pretty much every place on the ship has it on with the exception of the Red Frog Pub that was actually listed as where to go if you didn’t want to watch. 😂 They were showing cricket. 

[soulsistah007]

Have a wonderful cruise! Interested in seeing how a super bowl cruise is and I'm looking forward to your port reviews. My parents are from St. Kitts and I have family in St. Maarten so those ports are dear to my heart. Both are beautiful places so I hope you enjoy! 

[Saint Greg]

Fun facts:

 

This will be my 3rd cruise on Magic. That will tie Magic with Elation on which I took my first three cruises.

 

After this cruise I will have 19 days on Magic, breaking my current record or 15 days on Elation, Glory, and Panorama (One day was an extra day in port due to covid but they count it).

[Saint Greg]

26 minutes ago, vacruizer said:

It’s been nearly 10 years ago, but I was on a Super Bowl sailing and they moved elegant night to the following day. Pretty much every place on the ship has it on with the exception of the Red Frog Pub that was actually listed as where to go if you didn’t want to watch. 😂 They were showing cricket. 

That’s kind of what I was thinking they might do.

[DeanDeeDee]

Looking forward to another one of your cruises on the Magic.  Happy cruising!

[scottasp]

My wife and I were on the Magic Feb 7 2016. We boarded that day did the old time muster drill went to Red Frog Pub and watched the Broncos win on a tv smaller than the one in my house. I just didn't want to run around looking for the best option when that was working fine for us. I know you will find a great spot or two, enjoy.

[SenatorsFan]

Hope you have a great cruise, Greg. Thanks for taking us along again! 😄

[Saint Greg]

46 minutes ago, scottasp said:

My wife and I were on the Magic Feb 7 2016. We boarded that day did the old time muster drill went to Red Frog Pub and watched the Broncos win on a tv smaller than the one in my house. I just didn't want to run around looking for the best option when that was working fine for us. I know you will find a great spot or two, enjoy.

Yeah if I wanted to get one spot and stay in there the whole time that would be the place because a bartender would hold my spot. But this being an accidental Super Bowl cruise…most likely my first and last…. I can’t just sit in the RFP all game. I gotta cover the lido deck and the theater. I’m expecting to matriculate around the ship during the game.

[Ragdollbd]

11 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Maho 

Not sure if you want to spend all your time at Maho, the beach is very tiny right now.  I always book Jo Junie Tours, very reasonably priced and they take you all over the island. including Orient Beach   He usually picks you up in an a/c bus just outside the port.  Check out his website.  The last stop is usually a couple hours at Maho Beach

Edited February 5, 2023 by Ragdollbd
did not get to type a message

[jerseyjjs]

14 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

You think they’ll still put elegant night up against the Super Bowl? If they do I bet super bowl beats elegant night.

 

 

 

Absolutely.  I had the entirety of Playmakers on Oasis to myself during the late Sunday afternoon games thanks to people prioritizing dinner in the MDR.  (it was a 35% capacity cruise and one of the first of the restart).   Never underestimate the volumes of people who want to dress to the nines to eat mediocre food for 2 hours.

[Saint Greg]

24 minutes ago, jerseyjjs said:

 

 

Absolutely.  I had the entirety of Playmakers on Oasis to myself during the late Sunday afternoon games thanks to people prioritizing dinner in the MDR.  (it was a 35% capacity cruise and one of the first of the restart).   Never underestimate the volumes of people who want to dress to the nines to eat mediocre food for 2 hours.

35% though. I routinely had the 2nd floor tiki bar to myself on sea day afternoons when Mardi Gras was at reduced capacity.

 

[Jamman54]

14 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

35% though. I routinely had the 2nd floor tiki bar to myself on sea day afternoons when Mardi Gras was at reduced capacity.

 

That certainly is not the case anymore. 😎

[Hogladyrider]

@Saint Greg...looking forward to following along.

 

Feel your pain with hotel pricing in Orlando or PC area.   Florida is out of control!

[Saint Greg]

JH posted this on Instagram. I’m guessing I’ll get the same one.

 

 

[maluhia87]

22 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Port Canaveral

Having now cruised from 9 different home ports with Carnival, I can say Port Canaveral is my least favorite. I didn’t really think it was anything special the last time I was there.

 

It would’ve been cool if I could’ve caught a launch. But I ended up getting up at 2am and walking a mile for a scrub. And I’m not talking about bathing. Apart from that there’s not really anything I want to do there. There’s certainly nothing I want to do that’s worth paying $400-600 for a hotel.

 

The Radisson Resort at the Port I stayed at last time was starting at $370 before taxes and fees. That’s more than double what I paid in 2021. Even hotels by the airport were starting at $300 for not so great hotels. I’m not interested in paying Disney prices just for a hotel the night before a cruise. After months of watching hotel prices, I decided to fly in on embarkation morning. This may be the last time I cruise out of Port Canaveral. 

 

 

I'm the strange person who likes to sail from Port Canaveral over Miami. In December we stayed at the new TownePlace Suites and were able to catch a launch by going out on our balcony at 4 am.  

[maluhia87]

10 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Yeah if I wanted to get one spot and stay in there the whole time that would be the place because a bartender would hold my spot. But this being an accidental Super Bowl cruise…most likely my first and last…. I can’t just sit in the RFP all game. I gotta cover the lido deck and the theater. I’m expecting to matriculate around the ship during the game.

This would be the year that I would need to stay in one spot since KC is playing. 

 

We've done an accidental Super Bowl cruise before but the game was available in the rooms (2014) so always had that as an option to watch.

[crewsweeper]

22 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Booking

I wanted to book this cruise for December of 2019. I was only booking about six months out and the room selection was limited. Prices were through the roof. I booked a six-day Magic cruise instead. I then booked this itinerary on Breeze for late August of 2020 with a better room and a lower price. That cruise was of course canceled due to COVID. I booked the same cruise on Breeze for the spring of 2021. A few months later that was canceled as well. Finally, I booked this one on Magic two years out.

 

At the time I booked this cruise it was purposely scheduled to be the week after the Super Bowl. As you may know the NFL has since added a week to the season. They tacked that week onto the back end of the season, pushing the Super Bowl back a week. I went back and forth on whether or not to keep this cruise or change it. I dithered too long, pushing my decision past the deadline to keep the $600 onboard credit I got from Carnival for my COVID canceled cruise. In case you haven’t figured out yet, I decided to keep it.

 

When I was first interested in this itinerary I had not been to San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, or Grand Turk. I have since been to Grand Turk on Magic in 2019 and San Juan on Mardi Gras in 2021. I still have not been to St. Maarten or St. Kitts so that part of the cruise is exciting for me.

 

At the time I booked this I was very intrigued by the 4J cabins. Those are the cabins in the front of the ship with a window overlooking the “secret deck.” At that point in time I was trying to book those for all cruises even though I hadn’t been in one yet.

 

Now that I have stayed in a couple of them, they are no longer important to me. I found I didn’t use the window very much because the curtains have to be closed at night. And ideally you want them closed anytime you’re changing clothes. Mine were basically closed anytime I was in the room other than maybe a few minutes in the morning.

 

Now my preference is an interior room close to the secret deck. If it’s just a small price difference, I’ll take the 4J. But more often than not it’s not going to be worth it for me. I do have a 4J on lido deck that I booked two years ago on this cruise.

 

Port Canaveral

Having now cruised from 9 different home ports with Carnival, I can say Port Canaveral is my least favorite. I didn’t really think it was anything special the last time I was there.

 

It would’ve been cool if I could’ve caught a launch. But I ended up getting up at 2am and walking a mile for a scrub. And I’m not talking about bathing. Apart from that there’s not really anything I want to do there. There’s certainly nothing I want to do that’s worth paying $400-600 for a hotel.

 

The Radisson Resort at the Port I stayed at last time was starting at $370 before taxes and fees. That’s more than double what I paid in 2021. Even hotels by the airport were starting at $300 for not so great hotels. I’m not interested in paying Disney prices just for a hotel the night before a cruise. After months of watching hotel prices, I decided to fly in on embarkation morning. This may be the last time I cruise out of Port Canaveral. 

 

Flight

I was looking at my Spirit flight options and I could leave at 6am the day before the cruise, 1pm the day before the cruise, or 6am the day of the cruise.

 

I have had no problem taking those 5am flights when I’m going some place like New York or Miami or Seattle. But there is really nothing I want to do around Port Canaveral that warrants me getting to the airport at 4am the day before the cruise. I started looking at the afternoon flight. This would just leave enough time to get dinner and drinks. After being unable to find a hotel a price I liked, I ended up booking the 6am flight on embarkation day. I paid about $300 with a checked bag and the exit row aisle seat upgrade. A month later I went ahead and added another $100 to upgrade to the big front seats I like so much. 

 

Parking

I strayed from The Parking Spot Thanksgiving weekend because they were up to $25 per day. This time they’re down to $12. I usually book them at $8-10. I went ahead and booked the DFW Remote South Lot again. I got 9 days for just $40.50. Not bad at all. 

 

Transportation

Since I’m flying in on embarkation day and I have a lot of onboard credit to spend, I went ahead and booked the Carnival Transfer from MCO to Port Canaveral. My flight is scheduled to arrive at 9:28. I’m hoping I can make the 10am shuttle. Otherwise I’ll have to wait until 11am. If it’s anything like Miami, the 10am shuttle won’t leave until 11am.

 

On the return trip I have a late flight. I was hoping Carnival would have an excursion that takes you to the airport at the end. They had several of those in Miami. All they have available at the moment is a regular transfer to the airport. If they don’t come up with something better I’ll either find something to do on my own or just use more onboard credit for the transfer. Each of these MCO airport transfers cost $35.99. 

 

The last time I cruised out of Port Canaveral I spent $62 on a Lyft to my hotel. Uber would’ve been $133. On the return trip I spent $30 on an 888 shuttle to the airport. They had a stand outside of the port. I remember it being a long wait for a shuttle. Uber and Lyft were running $80-90. GoPort is a popular option at $30 each way or $60 round trip. I remember last time one of their shuttles broke down on the side of the highway and a bunch of people ended up ordering an Uber/Lyft to take them the rest of the way. I figure I have the onboard credit, spend it on something I need.

 

Onboard Purchases

I loaded this cruise up pretty good during the various sales Carnival had since the COVID shutdown. I purchased the discounted Cheers package during the shutdown, transferring it to this cruise after the first two were canceled. Last spring when Carnival had a 20% off spa code that worked for everything, I added premium internet for 20% off. Then just before they raised the prices of the specialty restaurants I booked the Steakhouse and Cucina Del Capitano at the old prices. I of course used my Carnival gift cards for everything so knock another 10% off the top.

 

I am going to have $825 onboard credit this cruise with almost everything paid for. The automatic gratuities and write-in tips will take up some of that. If they bring back the “Behind The Fun” tour in time for my cruise, I will book it. I booked The Chef’s Table to eat up some of it (pun intended). I used up about $250 onboard credit booking a couple of excursions.  And I may do some Alchemy bar classes this time. 

 

Ports

St. Maarten

This will be my first time in St. Maarten. I’ve always wanted to spend a day a Maho Beach where the planes take off right in front of you and land over your head. That’s the plan. I may book transportation through Carnival since I have onboard credit.

 

St. Kitts

This will also be my first time in St. Kitts. What I’ve been wanting to do there is the St. Kitts Scenic Railway. This is not something that needs to be booked through Carnival, but I wanted to book with them just to use some of my onboard credit.

 

I couldn’t decide between St. Kitts by Rail & Scenic Drive or St. Kitts by Rail & Sail. I wanted to check into it further to make sure I wasn’t missing out on part of the train ride to book the catamaran. By the time I got around to looking at it, both were sold out. This was a month before sailing. I decided to continue checking back and two days later the St. Kitts by Rail & Scenic Drive opened up so I booked it.

 

San Juan

The last time I was in San Juan I did The Forts of San Juan. This time I just want to spend a little more time checking out the town. Maybe get some food and drinks.

 

Grand Turk

The last time in Grand Turk I did the Hop on Hop off tour that took me to the lighthouse. Then in the afternoon I took a dip in the ocean. This time I was going to just treat it as a beach day. But with the onboard credit I decided to book the Whale Watching Adventure. It’s an afternoon excursion and only a three hour tour. A three hour tour.  That will leave me the morning to hit the beach.

 

You should be in GT at the height of whale watch season.

In San Juan,  Look up La Gratis Yaz.  They're on FB.  It's in the La Perla section near the cemetary and between the forts, which is not where you want to be at night, but ok in daylight.  Great views of the ocean and really good local food.

When at Maho, the Sunset beach club is nearest to the landing strip, but the Driftwood Boart Bar is a better spot all around.

Not sure where to RR tour drops you off, but if you have an option, head down to Shipwrecks in South Friars Bay.

 

Oh.  And Have a great Time as only St. Greg can have.

Edited February 5, 2023 by crewsweeper

[Saint Greg]

8 minutes ago, maluhia87 said:

I'm the strange person who likes to sail from Port Canaveral over Miami. In December we stayed at the new TownePlace Suites and were able to catch a launch by going out on our balcony at 4 am.  

That’s cool but it seems like you have to get extremely lucky to catch one. I don’t think they have one next week. They had one when I was there in 2021. I got up at 2 or 3am and walked a mile in the rain for a scrub. 

[Knights on the Beach]

16 minutes ago, maluhia87 said:

I'm the strange person who likes to sail from Port Canaveral over Miami. In December we stayed at the new TownePlace Suites and were able to catch a launch by going out on our balcony at 4 am.  

 

We love cruising from Port Canaveral but we live here. So all we have to do is hop in an Uber (or have a friend drop us off) for the quick drive. But we spend a lot of time at Grills or sometimes Gators at the port at their tiki bars and love watching the ships leave. We're not a fan of Miami at all and haven't cruised from there in years but we'll be on Celebration in December so we'll see how that goes.

 

5 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

That’s cool but it seems like you have to get extremely lucky to catch one. I don’t think they have one next week. They had one when I was there in 2021. I got up at 2 or 3am and walked a mile in the rain for a scrub. 

 

There's supposed to be a launch today at 5:32 but the weather is crap so chances are good it will be postponed. Maybe you'll get lucky and it will be moved to 2/11. 

[Slainte57]

Jumping on board with this🛳