MAGIC - Our Photo Review of the Inaugural Sailing of the Magic

[Hogladyrider]

I just spent a good 2 hours reading all 26 pages of this review, by far the best review I have ever read!

 

Your photos and descriptions are amazing.

 

I am curious, how far ahead did you book and/or start your research/planning for this trip?

 

When I went to Alaska in 2009, I researched and read these boards religiously and had an entire 3-ring binder with me on our trip. My mom and I sailed the Glacier Bay May 2009 on Spirit and it was truly a trip of a lifetime. The research made it so much smoother.

 

Some day I would love to cruise in Europe but feel it would be research intensive so I'd love to hear your thoughts on the process you followed.

 

Thanks again for the time and effort put into such an amazing journal!

Susan

[Rev. Joe]

What a review! Sounds like an amazing trip. Thanks for taking us on it! Now, we are looking at doing the 12 night Breeze next year, or doing a 7 day and then spend some time on land. After your trip, would you recommend doing the longer cruise or more land time?

 

Thanks so much!!

[cruisinskier]

Love the pix you posted. DH is hoping for your success on our upcoming cruise. Would you share some details about your camera? Make? SLR? If so, what focal length you used for the canal pictures? Thanks for sharing your experience with others.

 

Hi ninkb. I am guessing from your second post that you saw the camera details from another post. In case you did not, I used a Sony Cybershot point and shoot, no fancy lens but it does have 16 megapixels and a 10 times optical zoom. Glad you enjoyed the pix and hope you have a great cruise!

 

I just spent a good 2 hours reading all 26 pages of this review, by far the best review I have ever read!

 

Your photos and descriptions are amazing.

 

I am curious, how far ahead did you book and/or start your research/planning for this trip?

 

When I went to Alaska in 2009, I researched and read these boards religiously and had an entire 3-ring binder with me on our trip. My mom and I sailed the Glacier Bay May 2009 on Spirit and it was truly a trip of a lifetime. The research made it so much smoother.

 

Some day I would love to cruise in Europe but feel it would be research intensive so I'd love to hear your thoughts on the process you followed.

 

Thanks again for the time and effort put into such an amazing journal!

Susan

 

Susan, thank you for your kind comments. We booked the cruise about a year prior to sailing, but were among the last of our group of 12 to do so. And my research had began prior to that. Once booked I became the "host" of the group as I am the planner. So I did the research and booked all the excursions, hotels pre and post, etc. which I could not have done without all the help of other posters here on CC!! (and a little from Tripadvisor). And yes I also had a binder with me for this trip with tabs for each port, confirmations for our excursions and highlights for each port.

 

Overall the best decision I made was to use Rome In Limo for 3 excursions....they made all 3 days great, although each was different in structure and we had total flexibility to adjust on the fly. It was also nice to spend some time on our own without a tour in Venice and Dubrovnik. I think you need some balance between structured and unstructured days, with a few sea days tossed in. With this being our first trip to Europe, and having eleven other people's trips riding on my decisions, I felt I had to research and become an expert before we left. Overall we had a great trip and saw more than I ever imagined we would. But now we want to go back :D:D

 

Yes Europe is a high research trip, especially for those going to a location for the first time. I cannot stress enough that the more research you do, the more you will enjoy your trip. I do hope one day you get to Europe.

 

What a review! Sounds like an amazing trip. Thanks for taking us on it! Now, we are looking at doing the 12 night Breeze next year, or doing a 7 day and then spend some time on land. After your trip, would you recommend doing the longer cruise or more land time?

 

Thanks so much!!

 

 

Rev, that is a hard question to answer....it all depends on what you wish to do, your past travel history, etc. We had not been to Europe before so the cruise was great as it allowed us to see numerous ports. Being the inaugural, it was 9 days and a "one-way" trip from Venice to Barcelona so instead of having to return back to where we started, we were able to extend out trip to 16 days, spending those extra days enjoying both Venice pre-cruise and Barcelona post cruise. I can say that having a few days in one spot did allow us to relax and enjoy the local culture even more. I feel we had a great mix of seeing 2 great cities in some depth and seeing the highlights of a few other port cities. I do think it is easy to forget that this is a vacation and come home more tired than when you left, but with great memories :D:D

 

In the end I don't think you can go wrong either way. The cruise is great but there are also so many things to see in each port (even the lesser known ones) that it is almost impossible to see everything in a one day port stop. Having said that, I have started planning the Greek Islands for 2013 so we are looking forward to a return to Europe. Whatever you decide to do, have a great trip!

[atxlady]

Your reviews and photos were awesome!!!! I really enjoyed following along on your Med cruise. What I could see it was an incredible vacation.

 

I will be sailing on the Magic in late Nov. I cant wait to see it in person.

I was wondering if wi-fi was available in the cabins?

 

Thanks again for working so hard to have so many pictures that we could enjoy.

[cruisinskier]

Your reviews and photos were awesome!!!! I really enjoyed following along on your Med cruise. What I could see it was an incredible vacation.

 

I will be sailing on the Magic in late Nov. I cant wait to see it in person.

I was wondering if wi-fi was available in the cabins?

 

Thanks again for working so hard to have so many pictures that we could enjoy.

 

Hi atxlady, glad you enjoyed the review. Yes the Magic has wifi in the cabins as long as you purchase one of the internet packages. Having said that, connection speed was slow at times, especially when there were peak users. I heard through others that it was much faster logging on at one of the "fun hub" locations around the ship. Enjoy your cruise in Nov!!

[isaiahsnana]

When I saw those, I immediately sent the link to my daughter who is off to a vacation in Venice in three weeks and will be very interested in those pix!! Your trip report is amazing. We are booked on the Magic for the Eastern Caribbean in January and can't wait. Our room is right down from where yours was - glad to see the details of a room very much like ours will be.

[lorry 1966]

Hi I have just sat for the whole evening reading the story of your cruise on Magic, I loved everything about it my kids have not seen me sit at the pc for so long. We are going on the Magic from Bcn 14th Aug, 18 days to go. I am sooo excited after seeing your pictures. It was great that you even got pictures of the kids places very much appreciated as i have 3 kids of all the age groups on the ship. Were there many British people on board? I live in London but originally from Scotland and my Husband is from Southern Ireland. This is our first cruise and you have made it so much easier to feel comfortable going on the ship and the ports.

Thank so much for a very interesting night.

[cruisinskier]

When I saw those, I immediately sent the link to my daughter who is off to a vacation in Venice in three weeks and will be very interested in those pix!! Your trip report is amazing. We are booked on the Magic for the Eastern Caribbean in January and can't wait. Our room is right down from where yours was - glad to see the details of a room very much like ours will be.

 

Hi Nana, firstly welcome to Cruise Critic!! Thank you for your kind comments. I hope your daughter has a great time in Venice and that you enjoy your cruise on the Magic!!

 

Hi I have just sat for the whole evening reading the story of your cruise on Magic, I loved everything about it my kids have not seen me sit at the pc for so long. We are going on the Magic from Bcn 14th Aug, 18 days to go. I am sooo excited after seeing your pictures. It was great that you even got pictures of the kids places very much appreciated as i have 3 kids of all the age groups on the ship. Were there many British people on board? I live in London but originally from Scotland and my Husband is from Southern Ireland. This is our first cruise and you have made it so much easier to feel comfortable going on the ship and the ports.

Thank so much for a very interesting night.

 

Lorry, glad you enjoyed the review. We have friends who will also be on the Aug 14 sailing of the Magic.....if you are in the Red Frog you will probably see them. :D

 

As far as the breakdown of guests, according to John Heald's blog there were only 47 from the UK on our inaugural cruise. You can see the full breakdown by nationality about half way down the page in the following link: http://johnhealdsblog.com/2011/05/02/its-bin-a-magical-start/

 

Enjoy your first cruise and I hope the Magic treats you well. Be careful though.....you just may get the cruising bug that most of the folks here on CC have got. :D :D

[tmackel]

After reading this review I'm already to book. Thank You for sharing!

[cruisinskier]

After reading this review I'm already to book. Thank You for sharing!

 

Thanks tmackel, just remember to tell Carnival to send me my commission. :D

Glad you enjoyed the review and I hope you do book the Magic!

[shebring02lx]

This is by far the best review I think CC has ever had! Thank you for taking the time out to share your journey with us ... I almost felt as if I was there with ya'll!

[futureAG]

Thank you, thank you!!! Your review was fantastic!!! Loved every second of it!! Your pictures of the ship are actually what helped us make our minds up. We were torn between the Magic or the Liberty. Hope to see another review from you soon!! I would love to visit the place you all went! It was amazing in the pictures, I can't only imagine how awesome it was seeing all those wonderful places in real life!! Thanks again!!

[cruisinskier]

This is by far the best review I think CC has ever had! Thank you for taking the time out to share your journey with us ... I almost felt as if I was there with ya'll!

 

Heather, thank you for your kind comments and glad you enjoyed the journey. And thank you to you and your husband for his service in the Navy as he not only protects the U.S. but also the friends to the north here in Canada.

 

Thank you, thank you!!! Your review was fantastic!!! Loved every second of it!! Your pictures of the ship are actually what helped us make our minds up. We were torn between the Magic or the Liberty. Hope to see another review from you soon!! I would love to visit the place you all went! It was amazing in the pictures, I can't only imagine how awesome it was seeing all those wonderful places in real life!! Thanks again!!

 

AG, glad I could assist with your decision process and surely I can expect Carnival to forward me a cheque for convincing you to cruise on the Magic....I am sure it is in the mail. :rolleyes: ;) :D

 

Seriously, I am glad you enjoyed the review and yes the trip was surreal....originally we were not going on this trip with friends and family and we were among the last to book. Looking back we would have missed so much had we not gone (and so would they as I ended up planning all the excursions). While it was not the ideal time for us to do this cruise, sometimes you just need to make it work. Enjoy your time on the Magic and I do hope you get to visit those places in Europe at some point in the future.

Edited August 4, 2011 by cruisinskier

[AWorldCruise4Me]

Love the pics. of the ship and would love to sail the Magic. Thanks for taking the time.

 

Michelle

[cruisinskier]

Love the pics. of the ship and would love to sail the Magic. Thanks for taking the time.

 

Michelle

 

Thanks Michelle. Glad you enjoyed the review. It was fun to re-live the cruise and the time in Europe. Hope you do get to sail the Magic one day!

[J&B in GA]

We knew that our hotel room would not be ready in the morning so we had arranged a tour with Barcelona Day Tours to take us and all our luggage from the cruise port around town for 4-5 hours and then drop us at the hotel....and it seemed to be a great deal for 37 euros pp!!

 

Hi Jerry,

 

Thanks for posting such a great review and sharing your beautiful photos ! :) We are sailing on the Carnival Magic TA in late October and will be spending 3 days pre-cruise in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona.

 

The Barcelona Day Tour you described sounded great for our arrival day, with a pick-up at the airport, 4-5 hour city tour, then drop off at the hotel in the afternoon. I found a website BarcelonaDayTours dot com (not sure if it's the same site you used) but it comes highly recommended on Trip Advisor and I found a very similiar tour you described, but at 59 euros pp ? :(

 

If it's the same website, did you negotiate your 37 euro pp price because you had a private group of 12, or has the price just shot up ? Did your tour operator require a pre-payment or non-refundable depost ? Also, did you have to pay additional for museums and church admissions ?

 

Any advice you can provide as to how best to handle a city tour booking would be greatly appreciated.

 

We're sooo... looking forward to our upcoming TA voyage on the Magic !

 

Thanks again for your review ... :D

[cruisinskier]

Hi Jerry,

 

Thanks for posting such a great review and sharing your beautiful photos ! :) We are sailing on the Carnival Magic TA in late October and will be spending 3 days pre-cruise in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona.

 

The Barcelona Day Tour you described sounded great for our arrival day, with a pick-up at the airport, 4-5 hour city tour, then drop off at the hotel in the afternoon. I found a website BarcelonaDayTours dot com (not sure if it's the same site you used) but it comes highly recommended on Trip Advisor and I found a very similiar tour you described, but at 59 euros pp ? :(

 

If it's the same website, did you negotiate your 37 euro pp price because you had a private group of 12, or has the price just shot up ? Did your tour operator require a pre-payment or non-refundable depost ? Also, did you have to pay additional for museums and church admissions ?

 

Any advice you can provide as to how best to handle a city tour booking would be greatly appreciated.

 

We're sooo... looking forward to our upcoming TA voyage on the Magic !

 

Thanks again for your review ... :D

 

Hi J&B, yes that is the same tour company / website we used. The difference in price is based solely on the number of people. The 59 euros pp is for 6 or less. I can tell you at one time we had 10 people and the price was 44 euros.....it dropped to 37 euros when our group increased to 12 people. One suggestion would be to go on your roll call and see if anyone else would be interested as the more people you get, the lower the price.

 

Yes we did pay extra to go inside Sagrada Familia however they go to a group line so we basically walked to the front of the line, paid in euros (no credit cards accepted) and walked right in. The tour guide did come inside with us and gave us approx a 90 minute tour inside and into the basement area.

 

I did provide a credit card to the tour company at booking time for a 50 euro deposit and paid the balance at the end of the tour. This was a good tour not only to move our luggage and get us to the hotel but we saw the highlights of Barcelona and also got a general understanding of where some things were around the city so we could come back for more extensive visits later. Enjoy your time in Barcelona and on the Magic!!

[J&B in GA]

Hi J&B, yes that is the same tour company / website we used. The difference in price is based solely on the number of people. The 59 euros pp is for 6 or less. I can tell you at one time we had 10 people and the price was 44 euros.....it dropped to 37 euros when our group increased to 12 people. One suggestion would be to go on your roll call and see if anyone else would be interested as the more people you get, the lower the price.

 

Yes we did pay extra to go inside Sagrada Familia however they go to a group line so we basically walked to the front of the line, paid in euros (no credit cards accepted) and walked right in. The tour guide did come inside with us and gave us approx a 90 minute tour inside and into the basement area.

 

I did provide a credit card to the tour company at booking time for a 50 euro deposit and paid the balance at the end of the tour. This was a good tour not only to move our luggage and get us to the hotel but we saw the highlights of Barcelona and also got a general understanding of where some things were around the city so we could come back for more extensive visits later. Enjoy your time in Barcelona and on the Magic!!

 

Thanks Jerry !

 

Our problem is not everyone is arriving the same day or staying at the same hotel, so organizing a group will not be that easy. ;) I contacted the tour company and was quoted 115 euros pp for 2. :eek:

[ooulio]

I just wanted to say thanks so much for all your beautiful pictures. They are so clear and beautiful. Maybe one day I will get there . We are going on Magic in Feb out of Galveston. Kinda nervous about going out of there. Saw so many bad reviews. All our cruises have been out of Florida. Never had problems except once out of Ft Lauderdale with a major snowstorm. Always used to have a problem with the same airlines. 6 cruises ago we changed and can't be happier. Hawaii will be our next big one. Did you find problems with the gf people traveling. ? I am celiac and also hate the bread on carnival. Even toasted with jam. Did your members that traveled with you find anything different on Carnival that was gf?Always looking for something different. Again thanks so much for all of them. I spent a couple hours looking. I give you credit for the cove balcony. We saw them on Dream. I was too afraid. We are always on 7th and 8th floor. I feel safer up there.

[cruisinskier]

I just wanted to say thanks so much for all your beautiful pictures. They are so clear and beautiful. Maybe one day I will get there . We are going on Magic in Feb out of Galveston. Kinda nervous about going out of there. Saw so many bad reviews. All our cruises have been out of Florida. Never had problems except once out of Ft Lauderdale with a major snowstorm. Always used to have a problem with the same airlines. 6 cruises ago we changed and can't be happier. Hawaii will be our next big one. Did you find problems with the gf people traveling. ? I am celiac and also hate the bread on carnival. Even toasted with jam. Did your members that traveled with you find anything different on Carnival that was gf?Always looking for something different. Again thanks so much for all of them. I spent a couple hours looking. I give you credit for the cove balcony. We saw them on Dream. I was too afraid. We are always on 7th and 8th floor. I feel safer up there.

 

Hi Esther. The gluten free menu onboard the Magic was fantastic. Each night the dietician (Alina from Romania) would visit our table to meet with our two celiac people. She would provide menus for the next day (the same menus we would be receiving at dinner the next night). Basically the two of them pre-ordered their meals the day before and they were made especially for them in a gluten free manner. So they were able to enjoy the same foods as the rest of the table (some served slightly different or altered to keep them gluten free). And every dessert was also available gluten free (including creme brule and the warm chocolate melting cake!!). They could also pre-order breakfast or lunch meals gluten free at the same time each night, the only requirement was that they had to come to the dining room to eat them. One night we were too tired to go to get dressed for the dining room but the two went down to order the next nights food....Alina arranged to have that night's gluten free meals and dessert delivered to their cabins. Overall they could not have done a better job of dealing with the gluten free meals.

 

As for the balcony, we were not in a cove but were in a regular balcony cabin (8457). Enjoy your trip on the Magic and I look forward to hearing how the Magic makes out sailing from Galveston....

 

Carnival has a program where each night at dinner, the person in charge of special diets on board (Alina from Romania...and she was fantastic!!!!) would stop by our table with the next day’s menu. The 2 who required the amended diet would select from the same menu and then these items would be prepared especially for them in a gluten free manner. They were also able to make most desserts gluten free including crème brule and the warm chocolate melting cake. These meals are only available in the dining room so that was why we did lunch on the sea day in the dining room....we actually did all 3 meals in the dining room this day.

[ChristieDawn]

Thank you for taking the time to post all of the beautiful pictures! I was excited about our Magic cruise in December but now I am like a kid outside the gates of Six Flags waiting for it to open! I can barely sit still!!!! The ship is far more beautiful than I has expected! thanks again!:)

Edited September 27, 2011 by pensgrl

[cruisinskier]

Thank you for taking the time to post all of the beautiful pictures! I was excited about our Magic cruise in December but now I am like a kid outside the gates of Six Flags waiting for it to open! I can barely sit still!!!! The ship is far more beautiful than I has expected! thanks again!:)

 

Thanks Christie. Glad you enjoyed the review and I hope you have a great cruise on the Magic. I look forward to reading your review!

Edited October 2, 2011 by cruisinskier

[sunsailsand]

wonderful review and great pictures

[cruisinskier]

Hi all. I know lots of you have enjoyed this review and continue to refer to it as we have now had over 107,000 views. I thought I would share with you that we have recently started a travel journal to share info from our various cruise, ski and land vacations. For anyone interested, it can be seen at: http://bondfamilytravel.com/index.html

 

We have added hundreds of pictures, links to sites that helped with our planning and some of our feedback. Be gentle the site is still in its infancy but we will add additional info as soon as we can. Thanks and happy sailing!

Edited April 15, 2012 by cruisinskier

[jakeHOU97]

Just read your review.

I know its been about a year since the cruise and this review started, but I was wondering if there was alot of kids/teens on this cruise. I was curious because you wouldn't think there would be a whole lot of kids on a European cruise in the middle of school.

 

Also, you noted how you got a ship coin, and wondered if people on the Galveston Inauagral recieved. Does anyone else know?