jlebnet

Sunday, June 17, 2018 – Embarkation Day

We were all eager to get on the ship, so everyone got up, ate breakfast, repacked their suitcases and the car, and we were on our way with a few minutes to spare. Robby stopped at WalMart to buy a bottle of creamer for his coffee on the ship. I told him (probably close to 20 times) that they wouldn’t let him carry it on because it was in a bottle and not a can or carton. But he insisted that he was going to try it anyway. Whatever. I was secretly looking forward to being right and watching them throw away his brand new bottle of creamer.

I had reserved parking for the week with The Parking Doctors. It was $71.41 after tax and fees. We found their lot easily and were directed to a parking spot. It was a small lot compared to some we have used at other ports, but who cares? They said they usually have several vans that operate as shuttles from their lot to the Port, which is only a short distance away. But for some reason that day, only one van showed up. There were several large (and loud) groups that showed up after we did, and they pushed their way to the van in front of us. We didn’t really want to ride with them anyway, so we just let them go. It was a really hot day, and there were only a couple of chairs and a small tent for a bit of shade. After about 4 van trips and 45 minutes, it was finally our “turn”. Another family got in with us and we were really crowded, sweaty and stinky, but there was air conditioning and it was wonderful! We found out that the van drivers don’t even get paid by The Parking Doctors. They just work for tips from their passengers. Our driver got us to the port and unloaded our luggage quickly. As always, it was a little hectic trying to tip the shuttle driver, and tip the porters, while they are all working so quickly to get our luggage off the van and headed towards the ship.

We then made our way through the crowds of people who were just standing around for no apparent reason, and went up the escalator to enter the port. There was a bit of a line outside, but there was a big fan blowing and the line went quickly. There were several workers checking boarding passes and passports and once ours had been checked, they directed us inside. There was a longer line there, but it was air conditioned, and it went quickly also. We placed our carry-on bags on the conveyor belt where they were carried through a scanner. We walked through another scanner, collected our bags, and were directed to the next line. Let me pause right here a minute. My husband had his bottle of creamer in his backpack. I had a bottle of wine and several Ziploc bags of candy (M&Ms, Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, etc.) in mine. My mom and the girls all had a few canned soft drinks in their backpacks. They didn’t even look at any of it. Not the bottle of creamer, not the open candy that I had forgotten to throw away, not even the soft drinks to see if they were cans of beer! I was really surprised. Maybe we just got lucky. Maybe the Port of Tampa just doesn’t enforce the rules. I don’t know. I’m just telling you what we experienced.

The next line was not very long at all. We had to present our boarding passes and passports. They told us that they quit requiring the health questionnaire a couple of weeks before our cruise. They took our pictures and printed out our sign and sail cards that already had holes punched in them, so we attached them to our lanyards right away. I collected everyone’s passports, and we went up the escalator, down the hall, and through the tunnel. Just before we set foot on the ship, someone scanned our sign and sail cards. On all of our previous cruises, they swiped them, and we always had to take off our lanyards and hand them over. With the scanner, we were able to leave them on and just hold out our cards to be scanned. Much easier!

We boarded on Deck 3 Mid, on the right (Starboard) side of the ship. The elevators there were crowded, so we walked to the aft elevators and went right up to Deck 9 (Lido). We were later than we wanted to be because of the delay at The Parking Doctors, so we had a little trouble finding a place to sit in the buffet area, but we finally found a booth. We put all of our carry-on bags under the table and while everyone else got something to eat and drink, I went to guest services on Deck 2 to get extra room keys. We booked an adult in each room, knowing that we would rearrange once we got on the ship. (That reminds me – we used luggage tags for the rooms that the suitcases would end up in, and wrote the names of the owners. No problem!) So I asked guest services for the 5 extra key cards, and at first they told me that since other adults were booked in the rooms, those adult would have to request the extra key cards. I explained that I booked and paid for all of the rooms, and they just said okay, and gave me the extra cards. Robby is the only one who actually stayed in the room he was booked for, so he didn’t need an extra card. The rest of us had our sign and sail cards (that still opened the room we were booked in) as well as a key card that opened the room we were staying in.

I went back up to Deck 9 and got a cup of water before I went to the booth where everyone else was. I ate their leftovers, so I didn’t even have to wait in line for the buffet or pizza. By the time I had eaten and rested a few minutes, the girls told me that our cabins were ready, so we gathered our things and headed down to Deck 7 to get settled in.

Our group of 6 included my husband (Robby) and myself (Julie), our three daughters (Jessie 17, Cortnee 15 and Molly 11), and my mom (Mammaw). This was Mammaw’s first cruise, the girls’ third cruise, and mine and Robby’s fifth cruise. We booked 2 interior cabins, 7287 and 7293, and an extended balcony, 7295. We chose Your Time Dining, and the 11:30-12:00 check-in time. We sailed out of Tampa, and visited Cozumel, Belize, Roatán, and Grand Cayman. This is going to be a really long and detailed review. I am starting from the time we left home, but I won’t go into as much detail about the places we visited and things we did before the actual cruise, although you can find those reviews on TripAdvisor (jlebnet) or just ask me here if you have any questions. To prepare for our cruise, I did a lot of research and organized everything in a 2” ring binder with pocket tab dividers. I separated the cash we would need each day into labeled envelopes, and inside each envelope money for each activity was paper clipped together and labeled with a sticky note.

We live in central Alabama, and left home around 6:15am on Friday, June 15th. The drive to Clearwater, FL took us about 10 hours, with stops at Chick-fil-A, Krispy Kreme, Five Guys, and a gas station along the way. We checked in to the Magnuson Hotel in Clearwater Central, where we stayed for 2 nights. Once we got settled, we drove to Clearwater Beach where we played on the beach and watched the sun set, and then ate dinner at Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill.

Sunset at Clearwater Beach

The next morning we ate breakfast at the Magnuson Hotel before going to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter and Hope from the Dolphin Tale movies. It was really fun!

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Winter and Hope

The Boathouse

Then we had lunch at Pearly’s Beach Eats – so good, and so much food!

Pearly's Beach Eats

Gnarly Nachos $12.95 and enough food for at least 2 or 3 adults

We played at Clearwater Beach until we got hungry, and then we ate dinner at LuLu’s Oyster Bar and Taphouse in Indian Rocks Beach. It was really good too. We had to make an emergency pit stop at the Waffle House for one of the girls, and then we finally made it back to the hotel for one more night’s rest before our cruise! Well, most of us rested. I washed and dried all of our towels that we had used on the beach so they wouldn’t rot and stink up the car while we were on the cruise. Then I rested too.

No prob! Sushi cart is by the SkyBox Sportsbar that is actually right next to the Red Frog. You walk out of the Red Frog and it’s on your right, before turning to head to the Casino.

Thank you!!

Did you get the WIFI package? If so, which one, and how was the service? What places on the ship had the best and worst service?

Thank you for your review!

Where did you find the sushi?

I appreciate the heads up about Manny Oliveira and the music at Red Frog. We will avoid Manny and hang out at Red Frog!

Thank you for your reply, JohninDC! Your information is very helpful and I appreciate it.

Can anyone else who has been there recently comment on the WiFi or drink prices?

I just thought of another question. Is there WiFi available for the Pay As You Go customers? If so, how much does it cost?

I am looking for information on the Pay As You Go option at Mr. Sancho's.

I know that they do not take reservations for Pay As You Go. There will only be 2 ships in port when we are there. If we arrive at Mr. Sancho's when they open, do we have a pretty good chance of getting chairs? How much do they charge to use chairs and umbrellas?

Virgin frozen drinks are not listed on their A la Carte menu - can the kids order them anyway, or are they only for the All Inclusive customers? If they are available, how much do they cost? The same price as the alcoholic version?

(We will be diving about half the time we are there, so the All Inclusive option would not be a good deal for us.)

In Costa Maya, I recommend "Maya, Lost Mayan Kingdom". It is a fantastic water park with water slides, zip lines, a zip coaster, a lazy river, pools and more, in walking distance from the port. You can see it when the ship docks. Everyone in my group (ages 9 to 49) loved it.

At Mahogany Bay, "Arch's Iguana and Marine Park" and "Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth Hangout" are lots of fun for boys. If they like snorkeling, West Bay Beach is a must-do. The reef is just a few yards from the beach and teeming with colorful fish.

Daniel Johnson's is amazing! You can look them up on Facebook and check out their reviews there as well. Messenger is the best way to contact them to ask about prices and schedule a tour. I think transportation, admission and snorkeling was all less than $50 per person.

What tour are you interested in? I am not familiar with that company, but I may be able to recommend someone else who offers the same tour.

Do you know what was available on the late night buffet?

I would LOVE to be in that line on the ship's deck right now!

Hi all, over-planner and 1st time Carnival Cruiser here!

 

I have attached an excel spreadsheet I made to familiarize myself with the dining options for the Magic since we will be cruising on her post dry dock on July 9th for the Western itinerary.

 

Everyone please free to use it for your own Magic cruise if you think it would be helpful however be aware that some information (especially some of the times) are speculation based on other ships time - especially for the new venues.

 

I tried to be pretty accurate, but I'm sure you Carnival experts will find some mistakes. Please let me know if there is anything I should add or correct.

Thank you theplanner2010! This spreadsheet is awesome! My husband and I always make one, but not as fancy as yours. I really appreciate you sharing yours and saving us the trouble this time.

Just got off the Dawn. We also took our own laundry detergent pods in preference of whatever they were selling.

We loved the Dawn, have a great trip.

Laundry detergent pods? Is there a self-serve laundry on the Dawn? I thought I read that there wasn't, but I really hope I am wrong!