Magic Trans (boy it's a big ocean) Atlantic Review

[capndinghy]

Enjoying your review. Wish we had been on that cruise and in your group. Please tell me why did you choose Guttersnipe for your groups name? I haven't seen or heard that word for years :)

 

Hi Eileen...Thanks for again for you compliments. I am glad my missive has not bored you to tears.

 

The name Guttersnipe was born when a fellow on Facebook Lambasted us for a percieved wrong and called us a bunch of "Guttersnipes". We decided it was a perfect nome de plume if you will. The famous Reviewer Bill Z gets credit for the naming of our group. Sgt. S always has come up with great adjectives. :)

 

One reason I am posting so much about the group is because it Did work so well. All of us became friends on Face Book, so it was like old home week when we finally met in real life. I cannot recommend this Venue for making friends and aquaitances enough. It made the cruise special for all of us, because we had friends on board!

[Fazzdaan]

I will never ever forget Tim's first party where the Guttersnipes seemed to be having all the fun at that party and when we were all laughing our rear ends off pretty much the whole time. The two gals, C & W (you know who you are) were just flat out funny and we enjoyed our time with all of you and hope to see you all again.

 

Tim, thank you for organizing them and thanks for the review King Chuck.

[cruisingwithoutkids]

I will never ever forget Tim's first party where the Guttersnipes seemed to be having all the fun at that party and when we were all laughing our rear ends off pretty much the whole time. The two gals, C & W (you know who you are) were just flat out funny and we enjoyed our time with all of you and hope to see you all again.

 

Tim, thank you for organizing them and thanks for the review King Chuck.

 

Yes, I know who you are speaking of. This will be listed as some of the best days of my life ;)

[English Tim]

Several replys have been removed from my review!!

 

Why?

 

I assume someone complained but heaven only knows why?

[English Tim]

Interesting photos of us Chuck, not on the Magic! Thanks for the kind words. We love you guys.

[capndinghy]

I assume someone complained but heaven only knows why?

 

Yes Tim, go figure. Yours and 2 others were removed. I cannot see anything wrong with them, even if one was lambasting me for being a 'name caller'. BTW...thanks for coming to my defense!

[capndinghy]

One nice thing about many days at sea on an Ocean Crossing, were the many beautiful sunrises. I found I awakened quite early, no doubt due to my clean living and early to bed habit Since I was up so early I could enjoy watching the Sunrise with morning coffee.

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 248 - Copy by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

It became a ritual toe enjoy the sunrise on the aft part of the ship and What a great way to start the day!

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 099 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

After Sunrise, nice guy that I am, I would return to our State room with Coffee for Pat when she awakened. Then it was back to "Lido" to enjoy a nice breakfast while watching the wet world slowly sliding past. I found the breakfast's quite good and although there was the same foods, there was a nice variety. Unless it was a peak dining time I could always get eggs made to order at the omelet bar in a timely manner.

Magic Transatlantic Voyage 009 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

Our second port saw us docking in Malaga Spain after a one sea day transit from Palma de Majorca. Malaga is a pretty city located not far from the Straits of Gibralter on the Iberian Penninsula.

Magic Transatlantic 213 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

 

Good tourists that we are Pat and I once again booked a old fogey bus tour of the city and Tapas Bar City tour. We visited a really old fort that sits on top of a hill overlooking Malaga.

Magic Transatlantic 292 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

It seems in the olden days god less Arabs would try and sack the city from time to time (probably to swipe some of the inca gold columbus came home with). It was really interesting and you could walk the actual raparts where Soldiers with CrossBows Shot their arrows and poured Hot Oil on their Attackers below!

Magic Transatlantic 265 by capndinghy, on Flickr

[English Tim]

That picture of Pat, at the Lido buffet, looks as though she has a bowl of pink roses on her head!:D

[capndinghy]

Someone was nice enough to build the Bull Fighting ring below the fort so the

soldiers could get a free view of the Bull Fights. (By the way, if you have ever seen a Bull Fight, you will find yourself Cheering for the Bull!)

Magic Transatlantic 253 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

One thing was for sure. The Fort Certainly had a great view of the City and Port. I guess this was so the soldiers could see the Arabs sneaking in from across the Mediterrainean Sea in their (some time successful) attempts to capture the city.

Magic Transatlantic 270 by capndinghy, on Flickr

I wonder if the soldiers had to pay extra for their view?

 

 

After leaving the port we toured the City on foot. It of course being an old city had lots of narrow cobblestone streets. It seems that Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga so of course they are quite proud of that. They even have a square and stature of ole Pablo (no doubt thinking about triangles and girlfriends) sitting on a bench.

Magic Transatlantic 305 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

Malaga is a nice place and the narrow streets were fun to explore as our group of 50 wide eyed Americans traipsed up and down. There were a lot of unique little shops along with the usual ""genuine" local tourist trap junk that is made in China.

Magic Transatlantic 333 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

Our tour of the city included 2 stops at Tapas Bars so we could sample this Spanish Delicacy. These old establishments are fun to visit. Each one has an atmosphere all of it's own.

Magic Transatlantic 348 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

We sampled Tortas Espanolas (omelete with potatoes) and Paella. Each dish was of course accompanied by a tasty local red wine.

Magic Transatlantic 315 by capndinghy, on Flickr

[capndinghy]

After our visits to the Tapas Bars we continued our walking tour of the city which of course included the requisite visit to (your guessed it) a Church. This was so everyone could get the required 29 genuflects accomplished. We also visited some Roman Ruins where it looked to me there may have been some Happy Romans (ie Gladiators0 there at one time.

Magic Transatlantic 343 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

This Church only had one spire. I think because the guy building it died before he could build the other one. Either that, or, a (Stolen) Gold filled Galleon sank off the Florida keys and they ran out of Money to build the second spire. Another reason the Spaniards like to tell Gullible American Tourists is that Spain loaned America their money for the Spire to help finance the Revolutionary War. It seems Ben Franklin, or one of those guys, never quite got around to paying Spain back, so they could not afford to build the second spire. Me? I suspect the boat full of gold sank on the way home an that is the real reason for the 'lop-sided' church!

 

Magic Transatlantic 360 by capndinghy, on Flickr

[star453]

Hey King Chuck:)

As a present employee of the same company at DFW, I salute you:). I'm having a blast reading your review. Sounds like a fantastic time was had by the Guttersnipes. I look forward to reading the rest of your review. Thanks for writing this.

[capndinghy]

Hey King Chuck:)

As a present employee of the same company at DFW, I salute you:). I'm having a blast reading your review. Sounds like a fantastic time was had by the Guttersnipes. I look forward to reading the rest of your review. Thanks for writing this.

 

Hi Dennis...I am glad you are enjoying this missive. I hope my former employer does not take it's loyal employees through Chap. 11! I see you are in Saginaw, we are at Eagle Mt. Lake. (The Landing)

 

My Wifi is down at the moment so will resume with more installments when the WiFi returns.

[silverfoxcruiser]

I hope my former employer does not take it's loyal employees through Chap. 11! .

Hey, Chuck, excuse me, King Chuck:rolleyes: -- enjoying your review (again, love your writing!), and second this motion as an alumni!! Hi, Dennis!:)Silver

[capndinghy]

Hey, Chuck, excuse me, King Chuck:rolleyes: -- enjoying your review (again, love your writing!), and second this motion as an alumni!! Hi, Dennis!:)Silver

 

Amen...Mr S. Fox!

[islandcruisersnc]

I will never ever forget Tim's first party where the Guttersnipes seemed to be having all the fun at that party and when we were all laughing our rear ends off pretty much the whole time. The two gals, C & W (you know who you are) were just flat out funny and we enjoyed our time with all of you and hope to see you all again.

 

Tim, thank you for organizing them and thanks for the review King Chuck.

 

Yes, I know who you are speaking of. This will be listed as some of the best days of my life ;)

 

 

2 words....WOO-HOOOOO!!!!:D:D:D

[travelbugbit]

Loving your review, King Charles. So fun to relive the moments. Gonna steal a couple photos if that's ok? Excellent writing - keep it coming!

 

Nancy Guttersnipe

[av8tr21]

Thanks for the review so far. So much written yet we're still looking forward to your description of the ship. We were on the Magic in July and had a good time.

 

I will make two contrasting comments. First, we booked the Hotel Colon in Barcelona for two nights for two rooms (I don't share well with my kids while on vacation, for obvious reasons) before our cruise. It is about a quarter mile from Las Ramblas. That would qualify as "just off" in my books but perhaps not in others'. We paid a total of $674.24 via Expedia when we booked in March. So that is just under $169 per night, per room. Not sure why your one room was $450 per night. Ours were third floor, facing the cathedral, so pretty much same as yours.

 

The other comment, which I make at the risk of contradicting an expert in his profession, is that we absolutely loved Iberia Air. Our vacation started in Venice. We flew from Venice to Barcelona via Madrid on Iberia and had zero problems. The next leg after our trip was Barcelona to Nice, which again we did via Iberia with no problems. The fare was inexpensive (921 pounds sterling for both sets of flights for four passengers via the Expedia UK website) and my only recollection was that everything was on time or very close. We had no problems and therefore no concerns with the fact we didn't pay double or more to find a direct flight from Venice to Barcelona.

 

You must have been lucky with Iberia then. They are known for their rude personnel and lack of customer service. I spent a month in Spain last summer and stayed far away from Iberia. Spanair is cheaper and while their employees may not be super nice, they are courteous and for the most part friendly. Was there a chance you flew on Air Nostrum? This is Iberia's regional partner, and their service is fantastic!

[Sargent_Schultz]

Once I ended up on Iberia from Chicago to Madrid via a frequent flier ticket on American and thought they were GREAT. Especially for cattle class. No complaints at all.

[capndinghy]

Once I ended up on Iberia from Chicago to Madrid via a frequent flier ticket on American and thought they were GREAT. Especially for cattle class. No complaints at all.

 

Bill, I agree. The Iberia flight from MAD to BCN was great. The connection in Madrid left a lot to be deisired. A very long walk, clearing immigration, then back through security, and a search for the correct gate. All without any guidance from Iberia personel. I think it is always easier to go nonstop to your destination if at all possible.

[Disconnections]

Once I ended up on Iberia from Chicago to Madrid via a frequent flier ticket on American and thought they were GREAT. Especially for cattle class. No complaints at all.

 

Bill, I was so disappointed when I found out you weren't going on the cruise. I was looking so forward to meeting you. I guess we will meet up on some other cruise, eventually.

 

I would also like to say that you are writing a great review, Chuck. We flew Virgin Atlantic from Miami to London and British Airways from London to Barcelona and thought Virgin Atlantic was great. We did book them separate so it wasn't a connecting flight. Awaiting the next installments of your review. It was great meeting you, Chuck.

[capndinghy]

Bill, I was so disappointed when I found out you weren't going on the cruise. I was looking so forward to meeting you. I guess we will meet up on some other cruise, eventually.

 

I would also like to say that you are writing a great review, Chuck. We flew Virgin Atlantic from Miami to London and British Airways from London to Barcelona and thought Virgin Atlantic was great. We did book them separate so it wasn't a connecting flight. Awaiting the next installments of your review. It was great meeting you, Chuck.

 

Jason Pat and I really enjoyed meeting you and your family. I am glad you are enjoying my installments. I have heard good things about Virgin Atlantic.

[capndinghy]

We returned to the ship having had our fill of Tapas, Omelets, Paella, and fine wine.

We found a two long lines of people waiting to board the ship. It seems the left hand did not know what the right hand was doing. Although everyone had cleared through security inside the Malaga Cruise Termnal, some Security Expert exerting his influence. was making everyone re-clear as they boarded the ship. Finally some sanity entered the picture and they let eveyrone on board without going through the Carnival on board Xray machine.

Magic Transatlantic 377 by capndinghy, on Flickr

The ship's hrn blasted promptly at 5PM the signalling our departure.

We made our transit through the straights of Gibralter and into the Atlantic on our next leg of the journey enroute to Las Palmas, Las Islas Carnarias (The Carnay Islands)

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 050 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

That night was Hallowen. Pat and I had also had reservations for the Chef's Table. The Chef's table is a Carnival 'additon' and I think well worth the extra $75 per person. Pat and I dressed as Hippies and attended the specail dinner held in the Kitchen. There were 6 couples and we enjoyed a specially prepared Gourmet Dinner. The service is excellent and the different courses were exotic and tastey. I really do recommend attending the Chef's table if the opportunity arises. As a side note, these dinners have become very popular and I would recommend signing up BEFORE your cruise.

Chef's Table Collage by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

After dinner I spent some time at the Piano Bar listening to the very Talented Ron Glass along with other Piano Bar Fans. (Personally I missed the smoke but............) There was a great turn out for the Halloween Costume Contest with some very original outfits. As you can see Rick and Donna made great Ahab the Arabs

Carnival Magic Transatlantic Canon Elf 086 - Copy by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

 

And Deb and Phillip were all ready for the Toga Party. (or was it an Orgey?)

 

Carnival Magic Transatlantic Canon Elf 087 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

Jack came as a Monster. (I must say it did improve his normal appearance.)

Carnival Magic Transatlantic Canon Elf 089 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

As you can see everyone was having a great time and got into the Spirit of Halloween. And yes I confess, everyone's great costumes made our Hippie's look lame. What can is say, at least our headbands and tshirts were easy to pack.

[capndinghy]

The next mornng we all woke up to a gently rolling ship as we had entered the Atlantic ocean. My friend Betsy captured this lovely Atlantic Sun Rise.

377386_2732359474263_1415560258_3110247_583788426_n by capndinghy, on Flickr

Photo by Betsy

After Breakfast on the Lido deck, Pat and I found ourselves (yes you guessed it) enjoying our ritural morning Bloddy Mary. Carnival has a (bar revenue enhancing program0 of offering discounted Bloody Mary's everyo morning until Noon. I must ask you...what is a person to do?

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 254 - Copy by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

We found it a great way to start each day off and I of course being the health nut I am, need my Vitamin C!

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 256 - Copy by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

 

After our morning eye openers, I would then head for a chaise lounge and Pat for a Slot Machine. I was surprised that there seemed to be ample lounges around the pool area and on the surrounding decks. I personally did not see much evidence of "chair hogging". Here you can see lots of open Chaise's as English Tim waves (saludes) to everyone.

381281_2733063971875_1415560258_3110541_187198007_n by capndinghy, on Flickr

Photo by Betsy

 

I did notice the the upper deck surrounding the main pool did fill up with folks. I suspect that is because it is covered and provided shade and a break from the wind. *There seats were very comfortable and one would see lot of (old) folks like me, reading their Kindles.

Canon Elf Transatlantic Photos 145 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

The Big Screen would provide morning news and also movies. Sadly it seems Carnival is too cheap to provide first run flicks. Although I did enjoy seeing Casablanca (again and again and ....).

326271_2732307152955_1415560258_3110230_1963263761_o by capndinghy, on Flickr

Photo by Betsy

[capndinghy]

I am always surprised at the activities some people enjoy. I mean "to each their own", but one of the most popular activities turned out to be the Bean Bag Toss! In true old folk fashion, people would gather and cheer each other on as they held their daily tournament!

 

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 023 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

They held the bean bag toss in the main atrium so everyone could view this exciting activity. I think it must rival celebrity shuffle board in popularity.

 

 

One of the new features the Magic, is an area on the main deck (deck 5) called the Ocean Plaza. It has a dance floor, coffee bar, and regular bar and lots of game tables. You would not believe how popular this area was. The Ocean Plaza was always full of folks enjoying themselves playing dominios, cards, trivia, canasta, bridge, and what not. Fortunately no one was playing Strip Poker. That could have been down right Scary! They had food available and I would not be surprised if some of those folks spent all 16 days right there.

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 035 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

 

Located just outside of the Plaza was the Smoking area on the Lanani. I did hear one jerk complain because he claimed he could smell smoke when the door opened. I was sitting next to him and could not. People like that really upset me . At any rate, those demon smokers could sit outside and enjoy themselves without offending *anyone. {*except the jerk mentioned above}

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 039 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

Contrary to popular belief, the ship is not like this! In fact I was happy to see many folks enjoying their favorite Havana Cigar without bothering anyone (except those habitual complainers!)

 

Marlboro Ad by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

The ship had hot tubs galore. There were 2 aft, 4 located mid *ships on the Lanai deck, and 2 more located forward the Serenity (adults only - non nude) area and I am sure more in the indoor spa area. These were quite popular and often were filled to capacity with folks enjoying each other's company and a libation or 3.

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 071 by capndinghy, on Flickr

 

It was not uncommon to see folks walking around it their bath robes having just climbed out of the hot tub.

Carnival Transatlantic Voyage 275 - Copy by capndinghy, on Flickr

[Sargent_Schultz]

Bill, I agree. The Iberia flight from MAD to BCN was great. The connection in Madrid left a lot to be deisired. A very long walk, clearing immigration, then back through security, and a search for the correct gate. All without any guidance from Iberia personel. I think it is always easier to go nonstop to your destination if at all possible.

 

My connection from BCN was to FCO and I had about 10 hours to find the gate. ;-)