April 9-16 Magica review

[fotoguy]

Well, the seemingly endless wait is over, and sadly, so is the vacation.

 

It was a wonderful week on board the Costa Magica. The ship was beautiful, though I never fully figured out which way to turn. (I'm a guy, what can I say?) I always found my way eventually though.

 

The cabin (8335) was great. How could anyone complain when there is someone cleaning up after you twice a day. We had a verandah, and I have to say, if I ever cruise again, I will never again NOT have one. Just having the option of simply sitting on your own porch, watching the world go by made the entire trip for me. What tranquility.

 

Our cabin steward, Brianne was always available and always offered a happy smile and hello.

 

I don't know, but perhaps because I was always smiling, I always got a smile in return.

 

There were activities abound for those who wished to partake. I am not one who cares to dance, so the daily "dance oriented" type activities did nothing to excite me. But tons of people enjoyed it.

 

The shows that I watched were great.

 

The food, unfortunately, despite the fact that I wanted it to be otherwise was mostly just GOOD. There were no dished that absolutely set my world on fire and made me say WOW!

 

Anyone who read anything I wrote before I went on the cruise will know that I was mostly looking forward to the lobster night. I dismissed any negative review that ANYONE would write about lobster night. Well, I have to tell you that, despite my absolute LOVE of anything lobster, this was some of the worst tasting lobster I have ever had.

 

Just as someone wrote before I left, the lobster was mushy. It was as though they boiled it first (too long) then baked it. The presentation, I felt, was very unappealing. They cut the lobster in half length-wise, gutted the head area, filled it with an aweful tasting stuffing (just my opinion), and put it on a plate.

 

You don't even get a whole lobster tail. You only get half of the tail's meat. And if you know anything about Caribbean type lobsters, you know that the tails don't have that much meat in them to begin with.

 

I wanted to give the chef the benefit of the doubt, so even though I honestly didn't like it, I had the waiter bring me two more. I know, that sounds stupid, but dogonit, I WANTED LOBSTER!

 

I ate two lobsters the next day in Freeport at a restaurant called Georgies. It was absolutely wonderful.

 

Having said all that, don't be afraid of the food. I did not come home weighing any less than when I left home. There were certainly enough options available for me, and I ate plenty.

 

Oh, despite what the boards said about the buffet, there were no lobsters served in the buffet lines on lobster night. I asked, and they told me that they only serve lobster in the dining rooms.

 

Costa Magica gave me a wonderful break from the realities of life, and though I may not have absolutely loved the food, I would certainly sail her again. I wish you all many wonderful dreams about your upcoming cruise.

[mek]

Thanks for the review - we'll be on the Magica this Friday!

[southern_yarddog]

Kevin ( fotoguy ), I agree with you 100% ..I never knew lobster could taste that bad. It was nice to get to meet you and your family. We ahd a wonderful time on the Magica and even though I am only 35 I really like the Holland America ships better. I know that cater to an older crowd but I love the piece and quite on there ships. I had people running up and down the hallways yelling all through the night last week on the Magica and I didn't get alot of rest. Never had that problem on HAL. Stepped out my rrom door 3 times last week and you could smell the strong oder of someone smoking weed.( dope for those who don't know what weed is. ) Had a wonderful time on the Islands. Had plenty to eat. Stayed on my verandah alot. Loved looking at the full moon at night right outside my door. Our room stewart ( Henry ) was the best I have ever had. Made sure he was tipped very well.

 

To everyone going on the Magica, I do believe you will have a blast. There is alot of things to do for the active ones. Hope all of you have a wonderful time and safe travels.

 

Keep smilin:D

[itsmlf]

OHHHH so sorry your lobster was bad....in Feb I can truly say it was wonderful lobster. I think it depends on when you have it. The worst I ever had was on Crystal and isnt that surprising. Main thing is that you had a great time.....

[mtl kid]

Glad you had a wonderful time. Our cruise March 05 this year on the Magica was Magique. I cannot wait for next year. Just to let you know that we were a group of 11 and I was the only person who does not like anything to do with fish or seafood but everyone enjoyed their lobster tremendously. In fact 2 people like yourself ordered 2 portions. They all said it was to die for. I just couldn't wait till they ate that disgusting thing and got ris of it. The only regret I had is that I did not tip our Maitre D and waiter and assistant waiter extra. Well if I see them next year I will gi Till then do not forget....

TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!

 

P.S. How was your Toga night.

[todd6106]

Five of us were on the Magica April 9 to 16 cruise: my wife and I, our daughter and son-in-law and their 8-month old baby son. Following are my thoughts on the cruise:

Embarkation -- very quick and smooth! Thanks to the baby and we were allowed to use the "suite line" and the boarding procedure only took 15 mintues.

The ship -- huge and beautiful! The interior decoration is definitely Italian and the colors on the ceiling and walls seem "very busy", which are not to the liking of many North Americans.

Service -- our waiter and his assistant in the dining room were excellent and so was the cabin attendant.

Cabin -- quite adequate for 2 people. In the bath room, there was only one bar of soap, so don't forget to bring your own shampoo.

Food -- very nice in the dinning room, except the lobster served at the formal night (Friday). Fotoguy is right in saying the lobster was marshy and that was the worst lobster I ever had! A warning :do not order what is not on the dinner menu. One night, my wife ordered a steak that was not on the menu and the steak turned out to be really well well done (like a piece of rubber).

Buffet -- the food was quite adequate, but not exceptional. The tables at the buffet are arranged too closely and with many passengers on the ship, it was hard to move around.

Tendering -- took a long time to take passengers to shore and the waiting time was not acceptable in my opinion.

swimming pools -- too small for too many passengers (3,300 on the ship at this cruise)!

 

In conclusion, my rating of Costa Magica is 3.5, compared with Zuiderdam

(4.0) which we were on in April 2005.

Would I go on another Costa cruise? Maybe! The price has to be right!

[pujro]

just to add my "two-penneth",

We had a great time, the ship was a little too busy perhaps, lots of kids(Easter break, of course), a waiter told us there were an unprecedented 800 under adult age. I think one or two were frustrated that the adults only pool frequently had kids in it! The disco was also mainly kids, on our last cruise(MSC)they kicked the kids out at midnight!

I'd agree with all before who commented on the food, good, not exeptional but at the price we paid, a bargain and plenty of choice.

Cabin - was very good, again as mentioned elsewhere, a balcony(our first) really does gives you your own space and true relaxation whenever you want it.

Embark/debark - took us about an hour each way, could have been more efficient with some thought.

Service - excellent, all smiles, and the staff do anything to help - possible exception being one or two of the shop staff.

The worst part was at Fort Lauderdale Airport, not a huge queue to check in(100 people maybe?) but it took 2 hours! Not enough desks open, people fiddling about to get luggage under the 50 pound level, what a mess! Apparently the ticketing didn't give any indication of the 50 pound per item limit, and the advice notice was half way along the queue, hence chaos.

Ah well, it's all over now, must start planning the next ASAP!

Cheers

[fotoguy]

I thought that once I was done with my cruise, I would post my review and not be compelled to visit these boards any more.

 

Yet, here I am.

 

Just thought I would make some comments about the excursion on Grand Cayman. We chose to do the Island tour and Swimming with the Stingrays tour.

 

The tour guide Henry was very enjoyable. He was full of information. We stopped in "Hell" which would be a really fascinating place if you didn't have to go through a dark, nasty bar to see it.

 

We went to the turtle farm. It was fun to hold the turtles that they allowed you to. It is a great program they have going that will insure the preservation of the turtle on the island.

 

What was the deal with the "Rum Cake FACTORY"? It wasn't a factory as far as I could tell. It was a tourist store that happened to sell rum cake. The only plus to this place was that you could sample some rum cake. Otherwise it was a waste of time.

 

Swimming with the stingrays! DO IT! It was the coolest thing. Those stingrays, while I know that they are only there for the food, were absolutely unbelievable. They were so soft and so graceful. I wish I could have spent more time there.

 

We didn't book an excursion in Jamaica but in retrospect wish we had. We decided to just get off the boat and visit the little shops that they had at the port.

 

It was amazing how quickly and agressively the shop keepers were on you.

"Let me braid your hair Ma'am. Let me braid your hair Sir."

Have you ever noticed that the people who are trying to force their braiding services down your throat do not have their own hair braided? What does that tell you?

 

I was approached by a man offering me pot. I am only 41 and I may sound old, but it is sad that almost every tourist trinket I saw was somehow "pot related". Every little statuette had a Jamaican man or woman with big lips and a joint hanging out of his or her mouth. Not my sort of thing, so I thanked him and walked away.

 

The city tour in Key West was fun. If you are not a fan of Hemmingway, the tour of his house will be meaningless to you...unless you like a lot of cats.

 

While purchasing excursions through the ship will be more costly, it is well worth the "insurance" that it buys you that the ship will not leave without you. In Grand Cayman, the tour was an hour later than the ship was supposed to be in port. As soon as we got on board, the ship left the pier.

 

Eric, it was nice to meet you and your girlfriend. It would have been nice to have gotten together, but I swear, I looked for you and never saw you on the ship again.

What room were you in?

 

I would have loved to have gotten the moonrise photo we talked about, but the clouds on the horizon always obscured the moon as it came up over the water.

 

I did take some breath taking sunset shots the second to last night. Drop me an email at helenaphotography@msn.com and I will shoot it off to you.

 

We enjoyed the cruise immensely, but like yourself, would have liked a little quieter environment.

 

I have to say, the most annoying thing I experienced was how people walking in front of you would just STOP. They wouldn't look around to see that they were blocking the hallways. How many times did you have to loudly say "Excuse Me!" to people who just stopped at the foot or the top of the staircase?

 

And have you ever noticed that the slowest people in the world always walk in front of you...three abreast?

 

Just an observation. Have a great day!

[kchesneylover]

So did you guys participate in the arts and crafts or tea time? We did, I am a glad. We painted T-shirts and clay pots. They are cute memories to take home with you. Arts & Crafts & Tea Time were offered on Sea Days.

 

I had such a wonderful time on the Magica. ! Did y'all get to go to the free spa facilities? We loved those so much! So relaxing!

 

I thought the Lobster was mushy too, but I don't really care for Lobster, just because you will be hard-pressed to find anyone to cook Lobster the correct way, anyway.