firespud

6 hours ago, CanadianCruiseCritic said:

 

We were looking at Blue Lagoon in Nassau ($350 for 4 ppl) and Catamaran ride in Grand Turk ($500) plus MG costs more as it is 7 nights vs. Odyssey is 6 night. I really didn't like walking around Nassau last time we were there so I would want to get on a boat and go somewhere else. Grand Turk we could just do the beach off the boat but figured it would be pretty packed with people. Amber Cover we plan to do the free pool! 

If you choose to go to Grand Turk continue walking down the beach to Jack’s Shack. Much less crowded and cheaper for food and drinks. There are also dogs on the beach that the kids might enjoy.

Looking to book a cruise in February. We were very disappointed in the live entertainment on our cruise last year. Has anyone been on a recent cruise that had a good live band? 

Good afternoon. After several cruises with DCL we felt it was time to switch since they were pricing us out of the wallet. Just booked today our Aug 2019 8 night cruise on board the Carnival Magic. We added prepaid gratuities to our reservation. What on board would cost us extra besides alcoholic drinks so we know what to expect & help us plan. Does Carnival have drink/beer/soda packages? Any photo packages we can look into? Are their any restaurants that cost extra outside of your included nightly dining rooms. All & any info would be very helpful. TIA!

Welcome to Carnival! We were on the Magic last year and will be on her again next month. Things that will cost extra on the ship are drinks (of course), but they do have Cheers, which includes alcoholic drinks, along with sodas and speciality coffee drinks. We have never purchased so not sure of exact details, but there is good information on Carnival's site about the Cheers package. You can also get the bottomless bubbles, which is just for sodas. Once again, never purchased, but can find info on Carnival site. If you spend anytime in the casino you will need money. Also, there is a charge to play bingo. Magic does have the steakhouse, which is a $35 charge and the speciality italian restaurant, $15 charge for dinner, free at lunch. We never buy pictures so I can give you any info on that. There are a few good recent reviews of Magic on here with lots of pictures if you are interested. The most recent one I have read is by Jamman54 - great pictures of the ship. I hope you enjoy your first experience with Carnival.

I'll be a first time cruiser next month on the Magic, and I, for one, am terrified. But I've done enough research and had reassurance from friends who have cruised to know that the fear is mostly mind over matter. But I'll say that these new "man overboard" reports aren't helping my anxiety! I'm doing my best to push it out of my head and focus on having a great time once I'm onboard!

 

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You will have a great time on the Magic with Dr. E!! We were on Magic last year and will also be on her again in February. Enjoy your cruise!!

If you have non-refundable OBC you can go to casino and "play" a slot machine. Just withdraw your OBC and then go cash out and receive the cash.

Great suggestions I'm reading from everyone. :)

 

A couple questions. Someone mentioned the "wrap around deck." Am I understanding that it is a deck that goes completely around the ship? If so, what deck is it, as I try walking as much as I can.

 

Also, I don't like the smoke from the casino, even though part of it is "supposed" to be smoke free??? My question, is there anyway (don't know which one it will be at this time) I can come down from deck 6 to one of the MDR, and "avoid" the casino?

If you are assigned to the Southern Lights dining room at the rear of the ship, you can take the last set of elevators/or steps from deck 6 and will be right at the dining room entrance. No need to walk through the casino.

We have been to Jamaica two times. First time did Dunn's River Falls. Very pretty, but way too many people. Second time we went to Blue Hole. We ported at Montego Bay so it was nearly a 2 hour ride. Blue Hole is very close to Ocho Rios. If we ever cruise again to Ocho Rios we would be sure to go to Blue Hole again. None of the cruise ships do this excursion so it is not crowded. Maybe a total of 40 people the day we were there and 10 of them were our group.

Have you thought about buying small plastic refillable bottles that are mostly sold for toiletries and putting your dressing in them. I would think you could just pack them like you would if they had shampoo in them. I always use them for shampoo rather than taking a large bottle. I know once the dressing is opened it has to be refrigerated, but maybe you could put it in the bottle right before you board.

quote=CRUISEWITHH;55001515]The only salad dressing that they will offer me is Vinegar and Oil. I also cannot use vinegar due to stomach problems.

As for making salad dressing, some brands of mayo even have onion powder in them and it becomes even more difficult when these items come in large vats and even the chefs do not have ready available lists of ingredients.

Also when I try to eat in the buffet, it is almost impossible to get thru the buffet if I would stop and ask at each item whether or not there is onion/onion powder in it. This means main dishes, fish dishes, gravies, ready made salads(i.e. potato salad) are out. That is why I go toward a green salad but at least I would like to enjoy it with my SAFE salad dressing on it.

Enjoying your review, especially the pictures. Thanks for taking the time to post this. We are sailing on the Magic February 25th, but doing a different itinerary. Looking forward to reading about the entertainment, especially the live bands on the ship.

We cruise on February 25 on the magic. I just found out about this and went to set up my time but it didn't give me any options. I noticed on my boarding pass that I could report between 12:30 and 3:00. Not very well organized.[/quote

 

We are also on the Magic on Feb. 25th. I was able to select my check-in time yesterday. You have to go to On-Line Check In portion under "manage my cruise". On the left hand side, under the guests name, is "my check in time". This is where you will choose your time.

Yes, we did listen to Charlie and the Funk Factory. Great showband and enjoyed listening to them in the Casino Bar and the lounge. Don't think I've been on a cruise before where the showband performed other than the shows.

Just back from our cruise on the Liberty. If you have any questions I'll try to answer them.

Read this just a few minutes ago on another site:

"I was on Liberty last week they are called music Asia and they play a good mixture of rock / country lots of the Eagles, great band,also a solo artist called Travis plays vocals now and then with them."

We sail this Sunday and I am curious also. Wish a recent Liberty cruiser would reply. I will try to remember to come back here and post when we return.

Looking forward to your review. 10 of us leaving Feb.28th for our annual friends cruise. Would love it if you would include some information about the music on board in your review. Anxious to see if you are hooked on cruising now!

You can price match until final payment date.

 

I booked a cruise ES that became a premier. I was able to get the premier rate and all the goodies that came with the offer plus I was able to retain my ES ability to price match until two days.

 

I should share with you that I always check my premier cruises and have never had a rate go lower. I still check often. It is habit.

It seems that you booked ES first, and then price matched to the premier rate. The original poster seems to have booked the Casino rate only, not ES, so I don't think she's eligible for price drops without canceling and rebooking. It's my understanding that ES is the only rate that is eligible for price matching.

I would think you would you only be able to get reductions in prices if you were able to cancel and rebook without penalty. We have never booked ES rate so we never qualified for any price reductions. There were a couple of times that the price did go down and we were able to cancel and rebook at the reduced price. That was before final payment date. Not sure it would work after final payment. Our upcoming cruise next month was book was booked using Casino Rate (booked in August) and the price has not gone lower than the rate we got. We were very happy with the price and did receive some casino credit. If you received casino credits I'm sure you would lose that if you rebooked under a different rate, so that would have to be taken into account when comparing prices.

This is why I feel it is important to establish a relationship with a Carnival PVP. Ours has always been able to help with situations like this. He wants to keep us happy so we will continue to book with him. I hope you can get this worked out.

Yes, there was a cyber-Monday sale. We got an 8 day exotic Southern Caribbean, interior, for 2, total of $957.80 (including taxes and port fees) plus $100 on-board credit. Will be checking again this year for cyber-Monday deals.

Could you please tell me if there was any strenuous hiking or walking with the blue hole tour. Wife has bum knee. She is fine with uphill walking but anything strenuous is a no go. Thanks.

I don't recall the walk to the falls being strenuous, but there was some uphill. When you get to the falls, in order to really enjoy the experience, you have to walk in the water, over rocks doing a good bit of stepping up. This might be a little to much for someone with knee problems.

Last year we were already booked for a cruise in April of this year. We had booked early saver and had chosen cabins on deck 7. On Cyber Monday we were able to cancel and rebook at guarantee rate saving $500. Four cabins booked so we saved $2000. When we received our cabin assignments we were stilll on deck 7, same area that we had booked to begin with. We have already booked for next February, but will be checking on Black Friday and Cyber Monday for a better deal.

I would also highly recommend Blue Hole/Secret Falls. One of the best excursions we have ever done. This is one place we would go to again if we ever return to Jamaica. We had previously done Dunn's River and thought there we entirely too many people. Go to Trip Advisor and read the reviews.

I would also recommend walking a bit farther down the beach to Jack's Shack. We were there this past April and found it to be much less crowded and the water was so much nicer - no seaweed like there was where the ships dock. Tofor the dog is always there and he is very entertaining. We saw a little 2 year old just laying on him and it didn't bother him at all. He loves to dig in the sand and will try to catch the sand if you throw it in the air. I also believe it would be easier for your little ones to play in the water there.

The OP has not returned. Either everyone drove them away or they are a pot stirrer. :D:D:D

See post #12 - OP did return: "Holy moly, I honestly never even thought of the fire risk! Seriously, I've been on a ton of cruises and never had a worry. Thanks for letting me know...."

I also suggest you walk a little further down the beach to "Jack's Shack". We were just there in April. No crowds, reasonably priced food, and the water had no rocks in it. Nice, soft sand. When we returned to the ship and walked through the beach area at Margaritaville and the cruise terminal beach it was so crowded. We were so glad we chose to go to Jack's Shack.