Carnival Magic review with pictures!!!

[stacycakes1]

Hello all! Just saw this for RIL on Facebook and thought I would share. Looks like RIL is making it even easier to setup tour groups now!

 

Rome In Limo Tour Sharing

What is Rome In Limo Tour Sharing? This site allows you to book tours or shore excursions! Create a group, or join an existing one, make new friends and save money!

www.romeinlimotoursharing.com

 

Happy sailing!

Edited May 7, 2012 by stacycakes1

[mrsfecura]

Thats awesome!! Thanks for the link Stacy!

[stormyitaly]

When we were finished onthe bluff we piled back into the van and zoom, we were off again to the next stop. As Mauricio drove he explained everything we were seeing. We wouldn't have time to stop and look at every little thing and he wanted to be sure we saw the big stuff.

 

Our next stop was a different angle of the Roman forum and the Coliseum. Mauricio dropped us off as close as cars could get and we set a time for us to meet him back in that same place in 1 hour. He also gave us a cell phone that we could call him on if we had trouble getting in to the Coliseum right away or got lost trying to get back. This was a nice security blanket to have.

 

The coliseum was everything I thought it would be. All of us kept saying "wow, I'm really here" over and over again. It was kind of funny.

 

Now I probably took 1000 pictures from this day so it will be hard to pick just a few of them but here are some I thought you may like!

 

It was raining a little that morning but it did end up clearing up and we didn't see another drop the rest of the trip...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stone road in this picture is older then Jesus! i thought that was really neat...

 

 

 

 

Loving your review. I have lived here in Italy for over 6 years and I still find myself saying, "I can't believe I'm here." It is such a beautiful country!

[stormyitaly]

Oh lordy, don't let that rude man make you doubt yourself! You look beautiful in these pics. Sounds like a jerk, full stop.

Edited May 8, 2012 by stormyitaly

[disneygal94]

Stacy, thanks so much for your wonderful review! We took a 12-night cruise on the Carnival Magic last summer from mid- to late-June (maybe we were getting off the ship on the day you boarded?). Your report and pictures helped me re-live my trip and all my great memories.

 

Your thread is inspiring me to do a trip report, even though it's 11 months later now. I just need some coaching on how to upload pics to CC. All of my pictures currently reside on Kodak Gallery, and somehow I don't think that I can just copy them from there and paste them here. If you have any instructions or advice, I'd appreciate it.

 

Thanks again for your trip report! Great pictures and great storytelling!

[vegadog2]

And just a few more pictures before we had to get on the bus to leave Italy, for good! We were so sad this was the end of our time here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the wonderful effort you put into this review !!!

[Otterman34]

Just wanted to add my thanks for an incredible review and wonderful pictures.

 

We are very close to our 11 night Med. cruise and I have a quick question for you Stacy (or anyone else who has an opinion).

With 5 or 6 private port tours set up (for 3 people), how did you arrange for all the cash (Euros)? I really don't want to take so much with us and exchange it over there, but do we go to ATM's or banks in each port and take money out piecemeal?

 

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

[redcc55]

Stacy,

Stumbled upon your absolutely wonderful review. No one writes reviews like this on CC!! You brought us all along with you. And your photos are breath-taking. It read and flowed like a review on the Disney oriented "Disboards" website.

 

We are traveling on NCL Spirit in August which stops at many similar ports. Thank you for all of your suggestions and information.

Thanks,

Bonnie and Rich

Edited May 15, 2012 by redcc55

[stacycakes1]

Stacy, thanks so much for your wonderful review! We took a 12-night cruise on the Carnival Magic last summer from mid- to late-June (maybe we were getting off the ship on the day you boarded?). Your report and pictures helped me re-live my trip and all my great memories.

 

Your thread is inspiring me to do a trip report, even though it's 11 months later now. I just need some coaching on how to upload pics to CC. All of my pictures currently reside on Kodak Gallery, and somehow I don't think that I can just copy them from there and paste them here. If you have any instructions or advice, I'd appreciate it.

 

Thanks again for your trip report! Great pictures and great storytelling!

 

I'm not sure if Kodak works or not??? I use photobucket. You download your pictures to it from either your computer or another site and then they give you a code for each picture and you insert the code into your replies. When you press "submit reply" they magically appear:)

 

Hope that helps! If you do decide to do a review post the link on here so I can check it out!!!

 

Happy Tuesday:)

[stacycakes1]

Loving your review. I have lived here in Italy for over 6 years and I still find myself saying, "I can't believe I'm here." It is such a beautiful country!

 

 

I am beyond jealous!!!! Living in Italy is my dream:)

[stacycakes1]

Just wanted to add my thanks for an incredible review and wonderful pictures.

 

We are very close to our 11 night Med. cruise and I have a quick question for you Stacy (or anyone else who has an opinion).

 

With 5 or 6 private port tours set up (for 3 people), how did you arrange for all the cash (Euros)? I really don't want to take so much with us and exchange it over there, but do we go to ATM's or banks in each port and take money out piecemeal?

 

 

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

We had three tours booked with RIL and struggled with this very question ourselves. There are a few options for you and you should pick what you are personally most comfortable with.

Option #1

(This is what we did) You can spend the least amount on fees and convert your money into Euros with your bank prior to leaving for your trip. We had figured out exactly how much each tour would cost and we also brought a bit for spending money. We had planned on using our Capital One venture card wherever we could because there are no fees on international purchases for that card (this was great because we never paid more than the actual price of things) so we didn't take too much for spending money.

I think we started our trip with a total of 600 Euro at the end of the day. We were careful to keep the Euro in Paul's "Rick Steve's Hidden Pocket" travel wallet that slides into the front of his pants and loops to his belt.

Here is a picture of that wallet (it is only $12.99):

There is no getting to the money unless someone puts their hands down my hubbies pants and we thought he would probably notice this:)

Once we arrived at our hotels and the ship we always locked the money up in the safes they provide and only kept the amount of money on us we needed for that day.

Option #2

You can wait to get money from ATMs. We did have to make one stop at the ATM during our trip when we decided we wanted a few extra spending Euros on us just in case.

They are very easy to use but you should check with your bank ahead of time to see what the fees will be internationally. I can't remember what ours was, I know it wasn't too bad, but we had decided to try and not do this too much. Plus we didn't want to keep stopping to use ATMs every day.

Option #3

Wait till you board the ship. Our ship (and I think every ship) had a purser open every day that exchanged dollars for Euros and Euros for dollars. They followed the exchange rate and also had some fees tacked on. If you want to be as safe as possible and don't mind paying these fees this would be the place to go.

All in all, it really depends on your comfort level with carrying the money. We felt it was secure enough on us and we would have to actually be mugged for it to be stolen, a pickpocket could not have gotten to it.

Everyone is always so scared about getting robbed when they go there but it is really no different than walking around New York City or Chicago. Just be aware of your surroundings and you will be just fine. I don't have to wear special bags and freak out every time I take the EL train to work every day or when I walk around at lunch time here in Chicago and it ended up being no different over there. Anything can happen but it is also nothing out of the ordinary.

Hope this helps you make up your mind:)

[stacycakes1]

Stacy,

Stumbled upon your absolutely wonderful review. No one writes reviews like this on CC!! You brought us all along with you. And your photos are breath-taking. It read and flowed like a review on the Disney oriented "Disboards" website.

 

We are traveling on NCL Spirit in August which stops at many similar ports. Thank you for all of your suggestions and information.

Thanks,

Bonnie and Rich

 

I had never heard of Disney dishboards! Thanks for the info:) I grew up with Disney World down the street and even worked there a lot during my high school years (Chip and Dale costumes in the summer are not fun by the way). My Mom wants to do a family cruise on Disney cruise lines this year and I am not sure if I will like itor not but hey, she's paying so I couldn't complain:)

 

Thanks again!!!!

[ihibernate]

Hi Regina! It is bringing back great memories for me too! My next one isn't until December! Too long! The Dream out of Port Canaveral. Great to see your name again!!

[bcwaves]

Stacy, Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us! My favorite review so far. :) I want to know what kind of sunglasses you have - if you don't mind me asking - they're great!

 

I loved all the pictures and appreciate the time you spent writing it all up.

 

Thanks!

[stacycakes1]

Stacy, Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us! My favorite review so far. :) I want to know what kind of sunglasses you have - if you don't mind me asking - they're great!

 

I loved all the pictures and appreciate the time you spent writing it all up.

 

Thanks!

 

I am actually a cheap sunglass girl:) I lose them and break them so often I never spend more than $20 on them and usually less than that. These were actually from Walgreens believe it or not and I lost them on the last day of the trip! I now have a VERY similar pair from New York and Co. in black.

[TX Southpaw]

Thanks for writing such a thorough review and providing pictures. I'm getting on the Magic this Sunday and am very excited! :D

[boricua2007]

Wow! I know many people have tell you this already, but THANKS!. This is a wonderful review. And thank you for posting the link on the port of calls. I wouldn't have found it otherwise.

 

We're cruising in two Weeks and you're review just gave me a taste of what its expecting us!

 

You're a cute couple! May God fill your life with many blessings.

 

Mari

[tright]

Wow I am so glad I came to the Europe thread and found your review! It was fantastic. The picture were great and you did an excellent job with the reviews of the ports.. We will be taking our first Europe cruise this Nov. and you reviews some of the ports we will stop at. Thank you for taking the time toright this review and to enter the pictures. May God Bless you, your husband and your new marrage with many happy years and great trips to come

[paget]

Stacy, congratulations on your marriage. Thank you for writing such an amazing trip report. We are taking a mediterranean cruise next summer for our 25th wedding anniversary. You have given us some great tips. Thanks again!

[txsmith]

Thanks Stacy for the outstanding review. We're heading out on the Breeze in a few weeks and this was a superb primer. Kudos!

[stacycakes1]

Thanks all! Have a great Tuesday:)

[etwright]

Stacy,

Me and DW sat and rad through your entire review and it was absolutely amazing. We felt like we were right there with you. Now DW had made the decision we are going on a Med cruise in 2014 for our 30th anniversary. And we definitely will check out the Rome in limo. Thanks!!!:)

[mike77]

This was one of the best reviews I have ever read! Thank you!

[Texarribean Chick]

Stacy - just wanted to give you a little props! I referred my boss to Rome in a Limo based solely on your review. Kind of risky I know, especially with your boss; but he and his wife just returned from a 10 day vacation including Heidelberg Germany, Rome Italy and Venice Italy and booked a private tour with Fabio of Rome in a Limo! They raved about the whole experience and service. I can't thank you enough - BIG POINTS FOR ME :D :D :D :D

[JMHAM1]

Your review brought me back to our honeymoon. We did the Med as well from Barcelona but did not have time to do Paris (sigh!) Europe was extremely port intensive and we did not get much use of the ship either. We did wear out our balcony because of the wonderful views.

 

Doing Europe on your own with RIL is the only way to go. We, however, loved to mention to others when asked exactly what all we did an how much (or how little) it cost. We also felt like rock stars when we passed up all the long, long lines.

 

I loved your review and will try to keep that tone in mine when I write our next one.

 

LOVED the sundresses. I am a maxi dress fiend because it flaunts all the right "assets" and minimizes anything else. Didn't hurt while in Rome either to be blonde rocking a sundress :eek:

 

I would go back in a heartbeat but alas, we now have a baby and several other older kids so we will have to live vicariously through you and yours and just shuttle all our littles to the Caribbean.

 

Enjoyed it so much that I ALMOST booked on with us and our brood but then I talked myself off that ledge when looking at flights.