Day by day, from onboard the Magic

[PenguinLife]

Day 5

 

We docked this morning in Nasau with the NCL Gem on one side, the Carnival Pride coming in on the other, later in the day an MSC ship docked beyond Pride. Again the thrusters did not disturb our sleep even though we are on deck 2 near the forward elevator bank. Speaking of the elevator banks, many of the ships clocks near the elevator banks are wrong, the ones along the mid ship elevator bank seem to all be about 10 minutes fast, and the one on deck 1 by the forward elevator bank is nearly half an hour slow. I shared an elevator with the ships 3rd Officer and asked him about the problem with the clocks, he said something got off changing the time on the TA cruise, and they hoped to get them fixed for the next cruise.

 

One comment on ship board internet, it looks like they are making provisions to switch from billing by the minute to billing by the megabyte, the totals show minute and megabytes used, and billing for minutes and megabytes with megabytes blank.

 

 

Nothing much else to report at this time

[PenguinLife]

Day 5 update

 

Well we just left port a few minutes later than scheduled, the NCL Gem was first out leaving quietly, we left next again exchanging a number of a number of horn blasts with Pride, the MSC ship even got in on the fun a bit. With Pride's horn sounding a bit like someone being buzzed by a low flying aircraft in and old movie, and Magic sounding its ultra low bellowing rumble.

 

To answer the question of how high the cove balcony is above the water, I would guess 30-35 feet being that we are on deck 2, the gangway is on deck 0 and that is still about 10 or so feet off the water (think around the same as a 3rd floor motel room balcony), although it feels a lot lower. As to the privacy I would rate it much more private than the traditional balconies, we are in the front most cove balcony so only have balcony neighbors on one side, the other being a steel bulkhead then an OV cabin, the cabin divider partitions seal more solidly on thesides than on traditional balconies so there is no accidently glimpse in passing as you walk out, however they are not floor to celing with about a 6 inch gap at the bottom and maybe 12-18 inches at the top at a height of about 7 feet off the deck. Our balcony does have some potential for accidental viewing though, as there is a crew only catwalk area one deck up in front of the lifeboat outside our cabin that would allow view only at least the aft half of our balcony, this may not be the case with other Cove balconies. Our access to the other decks is very easy as we are right next to the main front elevator bank, and the glassed in atrium elevators come down to our deck also.

 

ps the ship is rocking a bit more tonight, I would guess we have around 3-4 foot seas at the moment judging the the occasional white cap out the window

[onedarrian]

Thanks for all the great updates! We will be getting on the Magic when you return!

[dave76310]

You must go and do Cucina del Capitano at lunch it is simply delicious!!!!!!!

 

Have a burrito at the burrito bar......

 

Do yourself a favour, get a Fishbowl from the Frog.....you'll have a good time drinking it!!!!!

 

Why not look for the ships coin..I'll give you a hint where it is....it's near a "serene" place *BG*

 

Just wondering about the coin...I saw a box that had what seemed more like a silver emblem in the middle of a white surface that had some mildew/mold on it...is that the coin you are talking about or is there something more typical? I expected something better than that.

[missypriss19]

Hope the fog doesnt keep you from docking in Galveston like it did the Triumph this morning. I am ready to get on as soon as you get off. Keep the updates coming. Love reading this thread

[joe bucker]

Hope the fog doesnt keep you from docking in Galveston like it did the Triumph this morning. I am ready to get on as soon as you get off. Keep the updates coming. Love reading this thread

 

If the ship is late the wife and I get to spend another night in Galveston. It is a win win situatuion for us.

[MrSnarkyPants]

Hope the fog doesnt keep you from docking in Galveston like it did the Triumph this morning. I am ready to get on as soon as you get off. Keep the updates coming. Love reading this thread

 

The cold front that moved in overnight should keep the fog away for awhile.

[PenguinLife]

Day 6

 

Nothing much new to report today, it has been a quiet day at sea, I will post an update if there is anything worth reporting on this evening.

[CapsR1]

Here is a link to the Red Frog menu https://www.goccl.com/irman/bookccl/shipboard_knowledge/RedFrogMenu.pdf

 

It comes up black and then loads the menu - just scroll down.

 

The fishbowl is mentioned on page 6.....it starts with like bunch of different kinds of rum - and is probably supposed to be shared because it comes with multiple straws ;)! Tasty and fun!! :D

 

Thank you so very much for sharing this menu. I have wondered what they served onboard.

Yummy conch fritters and conch in the middle of the ocean with a delicous rum concoction! Now THAT is my idea of paradise!

[5waldos]

Our family sails Magic in 102 days. This is interesting info-THANKS! Would love to hear more and see the funtimes...

 

You should come and join our Roll Call- we promise ourselves that we will get active after the holidays!

[happy cruzin]

Thank you so very much for sharing this menu. I have wondered what they served onboard.

 

Yummy conch fritters and conch in the middle of the ocean with a delicous rum concoction! Now THAT is my idea of paradise!

 

Agreed!!

We LOVED the Red Frog Pub!! Live music, tasty drinks and great atmosphere.....what's NOT to love??!?!?!?! Toward the end of the week it really had that "neighborhood bar" feeling - because often you saw the same people ;) :D.

[PenguinLife]

Day 7

 

Today was a busy day, we did the behind the fun tour which started out in the Prime Steak house with demonstration of what makes a good cut of prime steak, followed by a tour of the main galley, then some of the food storage coolers and freezers, then about a 15-20 minute talk in the engine control room by the chief engineer (The Magic has 6 engines generators, and is propelled by 2 electric motors, the engineer said they normally only run 5 of the 6 engines to reach maximum speed of about 23 knots, today we were running at a slow 14.5 knots and only running 3 engines at a fuel consumption rate of 1450 gallons per hour). One thing the engineer mentioned that may have an effect on all of us is that due to environmental regulations they will have to change the type of fuel burned in the main engines next year, and the fuel cost based on the current market rate will go from $750 per ton to $1,100 per ton. Other high points of the tour included the ships laundry, luggage handling areas, crew bar, and the officers dining area, crew training area, exercise room, brig, morgue, along with crew deck area at the front of the ship, back stage in the main showroom, the navigation bridge, including individual photos with the captain and more.

 

The whole tour took about 4 hours so as you can imagine there is a lot I did not mention, overall I would say it is well worth the $95 per person, as it not only included a behind the scenes view of ship operation, but also 2 group photos, photos with the captain, a goody bag with a hand carved soap swan, behind the fun cap, name tag lanyard, plus free drinks at the end of the tour and some goodies from the galley waiting in our cabin upon our return.

 

After the tour we went to eat in the southern lights dining room only to find they had the same menu as yesterday with only one thing on it that I could eat, it seems Carnival has stopped having different lunch menus in the MDR for each day of the cruise. We then ended up on the Lido deck just as the chocolate buffet was ending, had some cake, and then went up to the Pasta Bar to finish off a rather scrambled lunch selection. The pasta bar was good, selection is a bit limited, but otherwise I was very impressed with it, if your going to be on the Magic I suggest trying it as soon as possible before people discover it, since while it is free there is very limited seating available.

 

At 3:45 this afternoon there was a christmas show in the main showroom that lasted for about an hour, it was nice, not as big of production as the evening shows, but still nice.

[missypriss19]

Glad to hear you had a good cruise. We also want to do the behind the scenes tour. We will wave at you tomorrow as you leave ship. We will be impatiently waiting to board.

[DMBPICKLE]

Can you sign up before for the Behind the scenes tour?

[livestocruisetoo]

Day 5 update

 

To answer the question of how high the cove balcony is above the water, I would guess 30-35 feet being that we are on deck 2, the gangway is on deck 0 and that is still about 10 or so feet off the water (think around the same as a 3rd floor motel room balcony), although it feels a lot lower. As to the privacy I would rate it much more private than the traditional balconies, we are in the front most cove balcony so only have balcony neighbors on one side, the other being a steel bulkhead then an OV cabin, the cabin divider partitions seal more solidly on thesides than on traditional balconies so there is no accidently glimpse in passing as you walk out, however they are not floor to celing with about a 6 inch gap at the bottom and maybe 12-18 inches at the top at a height of about 7 feet off the deck. Our balcony does have some potential for accidental viewing though, as there is a crew only catwalk area one deck up in front of the lifeboat outside our cabin that would allow view only at least the aft half of our balcony, this may not be the case with other Cove balconies. Our access to the other decks is very easy as we are right next to the main front elevator bank, and the glassed in atrium elevators come down to our deck also.

 

We had 2256 on the last Med cruise before the TA and it was right over the gangway. Would have made for a great 'wake up call' if we hadn't already been enjoying room service coffee and croissants already. :D Step out of the room and take your pick of either set of elevators. I wish they all had cove balconies. :)

[livestocruisetoo]

Can you sign up before for the Behind the scenes tour?

 

Make excursion desk your first stop.

[PenguinLife]

I am using up the last of my internet time plan before getting to shore, and wanted to make a couple of more general comments about the cruise.

 

First for those that smuggle I have heard repeatedly onboard that Carnival is getting a lot more strict on this, with few people being successful getting alcohol on board. Also on being more strict they are scanning S&S cards with soda stickers to make sure the photo matches the user, I bought one and found my card being scanned well over 50% of the time, one of the reasons I had bought the soda sticker in the past was for the easy wave and buy approach to getting a coke, if they keep doing the full scan of the card to get a coke I might as well pay as I go as it would only add signing a ticket to the process

 

For those of you about to head out on the Magic I hope what I have written will help you enjoy your cruise..

 

Ike

[joe bucker]

I'm sitting in the motel waiting for daylight so we can get onboard.

[pe4all]

Thank you so much for taking some of your vacation time to write an "as you see it" review. I am booked on Breeze (Magic's sister) for Christmas 2012, and can't wait! Safe travels home.:)

[FloridaGators]

LOVED your day by day review! We will be on Magic in 34 more days and we can't wait!

I have one question about the Red Frog Pub......how big is it? I mean is there a lot of waiting to get a table?

[dude_hdt]

Ike,

Thank you much for spending your paid online time educating us on the ship. 1 hour til I load the van, head out to pick up other relatives...and do the 30 wonderful minute drive to the port.

 

Bracing myself for the magnificient view of the Mariner and Magic as we round come over the Causeway!!!

[PenguinLife]

Well I am sitting here in the main show room waiting for our zone to be called to get off the ship and burning through the last bit of my internet time plan. I can't answer too much about the red frog pub as I never did eat there, just walked through a couple of times, I would guess there was seating for about 50-75 people inside and maybe 20-25 outside, I never saw anyone waiting for a table there. I needed to have an internet plan to keep in touch with work, and it really did not eat into the time too much, I would compose my messages offline then cut and paste to post them, I doubt it used more than 5-10 minutes of internet time all week.

[Banditswife]

I too, wish to thank you for this review. It was nice getting a play by play during your cruise. Very informative. I hope you'll post back once you are at home to tell us about the debarkation process. Thank you again.

[misguidedangel]

To answer the question about the Red Frog, there is a LOT of seating. There is seating out in the front of the pub off the promenade. Once you go in there is a fair number of booths and tables before you turn the corner (right) to get the to bar. The bar area has stools all along the bar and behind there is more seatings as well, but it is tall stools with long tables. There is a small area off the pub with a shuffleboard table and a foosball table.

 

If you are hoping to be the first in the pub you need to have VIP boarding, be at the port before 1030am, and get off at Promenade and RUN to the pub to be the first in the pub......ha ha ha, we did that and we were the first in the pub at 11:10am....free beer, your photo on the screen/wall forever and ever, and a mention over the loudspeaker as to who was first in the pub *BG*...The 2nd guests arrived less than 10 minutes later and were sadly disappointed that they were not the first.....as they say, you snooze you lose

 

If I could only scrape up around $5000-6000 or so I would be back on the Magic for the next Blogger's cruise in March...

[ginag]

Loved your daily review and updates! Thank you for sharing!