trirae

It's definitely noticeable. We did a GTY cabin last year, and ended up right above the piano bar. I was really worried about it going in, but in the end, it wasn't much of an issue. In fact, we booked cabins in the same location for our upcoming trip.

We could certainly hear the noise, but I've described it as more of a rumble, I guess. We always sleep with a white noise machine, and we could hear the voices from below over that but it didn't disrupt us for whatever reason. I had taken ear plugs and never used them. Hopefully, we'll have a similar experience this year.

It stated on the Carnival website that bottles of liquor are excluded but doesn't say anything about bottles of wine being excluded.

 

So, can we order bottles of wine less than $50?

No, I don't think so. It says in the included options, "25 percent discount off the menu price for wine and champagne by the bottle and larger format water bottles purchased outside the main dining rooms or specialty restaurants"

I've only been on one cruise and it was on the Magic. I concur with others who've said finding chairs by the pool is the only time it felt crowded. It's pretty well noted that the pools themselves are quite small as well. However, for dining and entertainment options, it never felt crowded to us.

This is great. On the Ocean Plaza, there was (hopefully still will be) a free continental breakfast section, which is where we ate most mornings. Cereal, pastries, juice, coffee, fruit.

I'm sailing on the Magic in April and was hoping she would have this by then. However' date=' yesterday John Heald responded to someone's inquiry about this, and , he said that she was not getting this upgrade while in dry dock. This is one time that I hope he is wrong[/quote']

 

Oh that's a bummer for sure. Was really hoping for that on our March 20th sailing.

 

Was that on a FB post?

Our kids were fine with water/lemonade. We bought thermoses/bottles. I don't think my kids would drink enough soda to make it worthwhile, but we'll let them splurge on an occasional non-alcohol daiquiri or something like that.

(Continued) "Hit" #3: Ports of Call

Costa Maya

We were supposed to go to Roatan (coming up in "misses") but ended up in Costa Maya. This is a good time to tell you I'm a planner. And a pretty darned good one at that. I like to be prepared. I'm not such a rigid planner that we we can't deal with some spontaneity, but the idea of getting off the ship and being stuck would have given me an anxiety attack, and this was probably the only port they could have picked I knew nothing about, so I paid for 45 minutes of internet as soon as they announced and got just enough to know where to look for some snorkeling.

We were in the first round off the ship by like 7:15 am. They were closing the gangway right after for about 20 minutes, and we wanted to be sure we got the most out of the port day.

We rode the shuttle ($3/person) into Mahahual. It's an open area tram, and it was quite breezy. We got off at the first stop and the guy we paid said it was the best area. I'm not 100% sure I agree, and I assume he got a kick back, but it's all good. We were dropped off at Senior Frogs. and we set up shop there because it was pretty quiet at that point—a little too party like for us as time went on. It's your vacation, but it's hard for me to fathom partying at 7:30 in the morning. Also not impressed how lazy people are with garbage. So many straws and cups just left on the beach. I started picking some up at one point, and as I was walking to the garbage, a guy reached out and handed me his empty cup. "That's nice of you. Thanks."

Umm, no. We did enjoy some snorkeling in that area--saw rays. We had to be back on ship by 1:30, so it wasn't worth worrying too much about it. It was a pretty-enough area. Right next to Blue Kay, which I'd read about. A fair amount of sea grass/week, but it didn't bother us. They were hand raking it. Disclaimer: we bought nothing here and used the beach. Ordinarily not what I would do and what is not customary, but it was early, and we were never sure we were going to stay very long. I did get a short massage.

I speak enough Spanish that I could ask anyone who was willing to listen about where to be ( the massage lady, the guy raking sea grass, some dude by the garbage can), and no one had strong opinion about the north or south side of the beach areas. They looked quieter in the morning toward the south, but by afternoon, they were hopping too. Later we walked the Malecon and had lunch at the Green Iguana, which the beach raker suggested. We could have waited to eat, but it had been an inexpensive day, and I didn't want to pass up more ceviche.

I could be completely off here, but it was Semana Santa (Holy Week), which is a major holiday week in Mexico. I got the impression more folks from Mexico were in that area of the beach. Not that there weren't also cruisers, but it seemed like more of a mix. Had excellent service there and really tasty food. Overall, a fine day with some good snorkeling.

Tip: taxis can't come into the Costa Maya Port area, so you need to walk outside the gate to get a taxi which cost $2/person rather than the $3 for the shuttle. Not much but saves a couple of bucks and it wasn't an open air buggy type thing, and you might get some inside information from a taxi driver. I always enjoy Mexico, and I was happy we were given an alternate port. You can have a reasonable beach day here. As a port, it wouldn't be one I would avoid, nor would it be one I would seek out.

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. On to the next "Hit" of the trip.

#3 Ports of call

Okay, so I'm going to whine majorly about this in my misses section, too, so be prepared for me to be a bit contradictory. I'll get there soon enough.

One of the things we loved best about cruising was getting off the boat, something we suspected would be the case in advance. It was great to have something a little different each time. For the 7-day cruise, there were three Ports of Call. I'm listing these as an overall "hit" but I'll take a few moments to talk about each one.

Cozumel

As I said we'd been to Cozumel before, so we knew what we wanted to there. With 6 ships in port, we were also aware that it could be difficult to maneuver. Ultimately, we didn't have any issues, and I think we floated against the grain a little. For example, right off the ship, we walked out of the port area and kept walking toward downtown. I'm not sure how far we got walking, maybe a mile. It was hot and we were loaded with gear (towels, snorkel, gear, camera, etc.). However, it was nice to feel a little independent again. Eventually, we hailed a cab to make it the rest of the way to San Miguel.

We walked in and out of shops for a bit. We're not big shoppers, and we weren't really looking for anything--the kids like to poke around for souvenirs. We were a little disappointed the town square was under construction, but we were able to hit up a little bakery we'd loved on our previous trip, and we stopped by a beloved ice cream shop. Vacation, right? Oh wait, I let my kids have ice cream before noon that day, but after all, how often are you in Cozumel?

Then, we took a cab to the Money Bar which wasn't too busy and gave us some fine snorkeling and good Ceviche. We knew with so many ships in port, we didn't want to do any of the big clubs, and this was the perfect fit for us. Our cups from the previous trip were pretty faded, so it was definitely time for some new ones. Plenty of beach chairs available. The beach there is iron shore but they've brought in some sand. It's not really a swimming area, but we knew that and were prepared. My husband did take my 8 year old out snorkeling once, but otherwise, she still managed to play in the sand and entertain herself for the day.

Clearly, I had no problems enjoying myself.

We made sure to arrive back in to the ship in plenty of time for my eldest and husband to watch for pier runners. Fortunately (or unfortunately), there weren't any runners that day.

One of my favorite places on earth. I would always go back here. I have a couple of other favorite quieter beaches I'd pick next if I went for a day.

Belize

For Belize, we hemmed and hawed about what to do, and finally decided on a Carnival Excursion to Starfish Island. Given the goal of this spring break was relaxation, a beach was really top priority, and I considered Goff Caye and even staying on the ship. In the end, Starfish Island seemed easiest since we would leave directly from the ship. It wasn't cheap at $230 for basically 3 hours on the beach, but we knew that going in. I would have enjoyed ruins, but the kids didn't want to do that on this trip, which was fine.

We were told to meet at the theatre 7:30, which definitely hurts on vacation, and I'm an early riser. Then, we sat for a half hour until hey began the process at 8. Our group was called us at 8:15, and we walked downstairs to the elevators by the gangway where we then stood for a ½ hour waiting for our boat to arrive. Quite frustrating to be up so early and have to wait so long. Seemed like they could have staggered meeting times. It was one of the few times we felt like "sheeple". In fact, "funny" story. On the way back, we ALL got on the wrong boat. All of us. We were half way back when our real boat came up behind us. Still kind of mad at myself for not questioning why the boat was so different.

Starfish Island was pretty quiet, and our boat was the first to arrive so we had our pick of chairs, which were plentiful. In the end, It was what we expected, and our only complaint was the debarking process. It was a fine place to spend a few hours, and it served the purpose we'd hoped for. Was it the best place I've ever been? No. Would I do it again? Given the options in Belize, I would certainly consider it.

The food wasn't terribly good here, and my kids didn't eat it at all, but we were back on ship by about 1, so plenty of time for them to eat lunch. I was pleased that the island didn't feel crowded. It was a bit harder to find Starfish than we would have expected, but my husband and daughter made it happen.

Good shelling beach, too. I didn't see anyone kayaking that day. The kids enjoyed the hammock areas.

In looking at cruises, I'd probably not seek out Belize as a destination from a cruise ship, not that it isn't possible to have a good time. Just not the easiest to manage in a short time frame.

For the sake of more pictures, I'll do a new post for port #3: Costa Maya.

I really should not be adding to this review right now. I have a whole LIST of things I should be doing. Not surprised are you? Anyway, I'm going to squeeze in another quick "hit" because I'm having fun going through pictures.

Top Five Hits of our week on the Carnival Magic

2. Our cabin/cabin stewardess

This may have been my biggest fear going into the cruise. By way of background, we are condo-travelers. Since we have a timeshare, we almost always stay in 2 bedroom condos when we take our vacations. We had also wrestled with balcony versus two ocean view rooms in the early planning of our trip, but everyone in my family agreed that balcony was more important than space for this trip.

Also, I went with the GTY cabin because it was a substantial savings. If it had been a small amount, I probably wouldn't have risked it, but if I recall, it took like $400 off, and it made the cruise so cheap, I decided to go for it. We got our cabin assignment pretty quickly after booking—maybe a week? And then I got really nervous. Our cabin was 6473, right above the piano bar. I read several reviews, and worried that wouldn't sleep at all. So, I bought ear plugs (which never came out of the package) and we packed our noise machine and hoped for the best.

Ultimately, we loved the location of our cabin. Given that it was aft, we were not above the jut out of the lanai, so there weren't any real privacy issues. We were assigned Southern Lights Dining room so just a quick walk down two floors and we were right there. Quick walk down one floor to Ocean Plaza.

It was great to watch the sunrise and to see land as we pulled up into ports.

Could we hear the piano bar? Yes, for sure. But for whatever reason, it just didn't bother us. Maybe we were too tired. It wasn't a sharp noise, more of a dull roar, so it probably blended with the noise machine. I think I would have been more bothered by loud neighbors, which we thankfully did not have. I'm not sure I saw or heard anyone all week, and as I understand it that wasn't true of other decks on this cruise so I'm really grateful.

The cabins are small, but I was impressed by how easy it was to store everything. The only times we felt cramped were when we were all trying to get ready for dinner. Ouch. Otherwise, the space worked well, and everyone slept fine.

A MAJOR hit here was our room stewardness, Natalya. She was so incredibly sweet and friendly and worked so hard. Again, since we're condo travelers, I'm not even used to having housekeeping on a trip, much less someone anticipating our every need and our schedule. She had cleared our minibar before evening of the first day of the trip. Ice bucket was always filled. Towel animals every night. Here are a couple of them.

Loved her to pieces. In part, I'm sure that's what keeps the cabin from feeling to cramped. Keeps the cabin more organized throughout the trip. I used some of the standard "tips" as well. The over the door shoe organizer was great in the bathroom. Command hooks and suction cup hooks were useful all throughout the cabin.

Ultimately, I tend the think the balcony would probably be a deal breaker for us, but was I was very pleased that the tight was so functional.

So, what do you think? Are we cruise people?

Can't wait to see your review. PS - we are Texans but I lived in Madison for 2 years.

Waving hi!

There seemed to be a good many Wisconsinites on this cruise. I think we all needed the escape from the winter. We're just south of Madison.

Just one comment. Gingers Rock !!:D

Aww, thanks! My two girls and I are a matching set. Impossible for them to deny I'm their mother. Mwahaha!

Thanks so much for reading. I have to say, I really enjoyed trip reports in preparing for the cruise, and I think it went a long way to helping us have a good experience. At the same time, we often came away with a different impression than many reviewers.

Okay, let's do some list-making.

Top Five "Hits' of our week on the Carnival Magic:

1. Food

I'm going to break this down a bit, and give you a sub list of our favorites Hooray for another list!. But first let me say that yes, there were things that weren't great, but overall, about 90% of what we ate was good. It was convenient and tasty and I loved not having to think about meals.

I realized nothing in the MDR came into my top five list so let me just give a few brief thoughts here. The MDR was good, though our service was slow and that got frustrating at times when we wanted to get to an early activity. Tables around us would be on dessert while we were still waiting for our entrees, so it seemed like it was our team, but they were friendly folks, and I know they worked hard. I'll talk more about that later. In the end, I could talk about a lot more because I have very little negative to say about the food or the food service. We were honestly confused by negative reviews of food, but maybe we just didn't over-do expectations.

We had been waitlisted for 6 PM dining and were initially assigned 8:15, which we knew was too late for us. Visited the maître d on the first day and was told to go to original time and would be informed of a change by the next day. Can't say he was terribly friendly about it. For that reason we went to Cucina Del Capitan for dinner the first night. After that, we were switched to 6:00 PM in the Southern Lights at a 4 top (only our family, where we ate all but one night. I don't have many food pictures, but here's one of our table on the 2nd elegant night. I know had the basa fillet which I loved.

My youngest had the flat iron steak like 4 times (which I didn't like, but she thought was yummy). Bonus, our waiter did the cutting!

Top Five Foot "hits"

Tiramisu at Cucina del capitano. Actually, we loved everything there, and we had both lunch and dinner there, both on the first day. We love Italian. I can't remember all the specifics, but I know I had shrimp and my eldest had chicken parmigiana. I enjoyed the wine on the first night. But that tiramisu. Oh dear. Here's a picture of it, though it makes me drool. And a cannoli just for fun.

Oceanside BBQ. Again, I can't think of anything I didn't like. Had a quick snack there one day, and honestly, I was CRAVING it the next. Couldn't wait to have a slider and some tortilla chips. Smelled so good and tasted even better.

The deli. Great sandwiches. The one night we didn't go to the MDR, we eventually ended up around the Lido Buffet. My husband and I both had a sandwich—he had pastrami and corned beef, and I had a turkey and swiss, both grilled. Both excellent. They were a little slow, but definitely worth it.

Tandoori. Delicious. Only made it there for lunch one day. I had a huge sampling of items, When I say huge, note that I am 5' tall, and it was probably a fairly small plate, but there wasn't one thing I didn't think had good flavor. I would have happily gone back, but variety is the spice of life.

A whole bunch of other yummies. Hmm, coming up with a 5th is hard, so let's break it down into another list. I knew you'd agree. Here is a list of five things we liked a lot or thought were pretty nifty but wouldn't stand out as an actual 5th item.

1. Breakfast at the ocean plaza/taste bar area. Underrated spot. Continental but quiet and plentiful. My kids mostly like Danish and cereal for breakfast anyway. Since we were on Deck 6, it was so easy to run down there or to bring something back. Loved the oatmeal, too.
    
   
2. Breakfast buffet at the lido deck. You know I read a lot of mediocre reviews, but we liked it a lot. Pastries were good. Bacon was plentiful, and the omelets were great. As far as actual buffet items (not counting Mongolian wok, Tandoor, Off the Grill or Deli), it had the best meal choices.
    
   
3. French fries at the beach pool grill. I really liked these a lot. I have a thing for French Fries. And these were crisp and tasty. My husband also had a huge plate of food as a late night snack during a Dive In Movie one night, and he seemed to like everything. I took bites, and though it was all good for buffet grill food. Better than most.
    
   
4. Cold soups were a fun hit for the kids. Honestly, appetizers in general are a rarity for us, so this was fun. They explored, tried new things. Both only ordered off the adult menu, and they loved the soups, especially.
    
   
5. 4. Ice cream cones. Yum. Maybe it's silly to put this here, but heck, we don't consider it a vacation with ice cream, and since we could have it whenever, that made it even better! I'm a mean mom though and made the wait until after noon, and they never had more than 2 in one day. Here's the first one:
    
   
   

So all in all, the food was a HUGE hit for us, and something I miss a lot. Loved the portions in the MDR. Just right for tasting new things. Made good choices and I didn't gain any weight at all. Makes me want to go back right now just thinking of it.

Next up: 4 more of our Top Hits of the cruise!

Yes, each day there was a $1 off drink at open deck bars, and it was listed in the Fun Times.

The "Are we cruise people" trip report

It was our first time cruising, so let me set a bit of a stage. We've kind of always said we aren't really "cruise people". Typically, when we travel, we like to spend some time in an area, getting off the beaten path so to speak. We are a family of four with 2 girls, aged 13 and 8.

We've been to major cruise ports like Cozumel, Nassau, and Cayman and really enjoyed spending time there, always thinking it would be sad how much we'd miss on a cruise. So, how did we end up on a 7 night cruise, you might ask? One too many drives in snow made me do it. I swear. My kids were very interested in cruising and really excited when I suggested it. It was the cheapest way we could get the warmest during a fairly last-minute spring break trip, so we decided it was worth a shot, though admittedly, it wasn't without some reservation, and my husband, in particular, was never convinced we would like it.

I love lists, so I've decided not to do this by day but by lists of "Hits" and "Misses", and I'll break down a few of them into sub-lists. List-galore! Woot!

However, to start, I will say that we booked the cruise about 5 weeks out for a great deal (more the merrier, GTY balcony cabin). We decided to drive from WI to TX, which ended up not being a problem at all. My kids are well-traveled and handled the time in the car with no issues.

Also, I scored Faster to the Fun passes by stalking the cruise-specific Facebook page, and for us, it was totally worth it. We were on the ship by 11:30, and our luggage was to our room by 2:30. We were able to debark early and get on the road for the long ride home. Never went to guest services, but I never regretted spending the $50. Once I knew we had the passes, I altered our plans slightly, but I had a lot of hotel points, so the the extra night on the road didn't cost us anything. We enjoyed being able to over-pack without airline issues.

I'll start with "Hits" of course, because why not put the emphases on the positive? It was Spring Break on a cruise, after all!

Get ready for the good stuff!

Which port are you crossing with? One year we were at Costa Maya and we went by ship time even though their time was different.

Cozumel. I'm not sure we will try to cross paths while there, but I figured it would be worth knowing what the possibilities were.

Thanks for feedback!

Hi all,

I've been reading about ship time versus port time, and I have a question. We are sailing out of Galveston and we have friends who are sailing out of Port Canaveral. We will both be in the same port on the same day. Ours is listed for 9-5, and theirs for 7:30-5:45 based on times on the port schedules and our respective itineraries. Are those listed times ship times as well? Or are they the local times? I wouldn't care at all and would only think about ship time, but I'm just trying to determine how our schedules overlap.

If it's ship time, and that's based on local, then I'm guessing ours ends up in port 2 1/2 hours after theirs. Am I reading this correctly?

Thanks so much from a first time cruiser leaving in 5 days!