Carnival MAGIC review-Belize & Mexico with kids 7/15-7/22

[stressedmomof3]

I will post this review to the best of my opinion to help others as other reviews did help me.If you have questions, please feel free to post and I will try to answer the best as I can- but we are not night owls and did not stay up late to go to the clubs, parties, etc... So I can not answer any questions about those things. This will probably be a bit long winded- but here it goes!

 

We arrived at 10:30am at port-check in was immediate-A+.

We were called to board at 11:30am-very quick and efficient as we were hungry! We ate on Lido.

Had the burger and fries- tasted like old school food- that cardboard type of burger thing- I give it a C. But have to say as the cruise went on- I got used to that burger...

 

 

Let me start out by saying we are a family of 5. We stayed in 2 balcony rooms that connected together with my husband and teenager in one room and me and the other 2 children in the other. This worked out very good throughout the trip for us. For those who book these type of rooms with connecting doors- you will experience noise through the doors from the tv's when they are on and you will also be able to hear people talking in their room as well even with both connecting doors shut.

We were able to open the balconies together as well- but they only partially opened- it was not at all like the balcony dividers like the Ecstasy.They also have a fully stocked mini fridge FYI- we had our steward remove ALL liquor out because of our kids- but just so others know- you can have your steward lock the fridge too so not to have access to anything.

 

photo hosting

free picture hosting

 

 

My husband and I also went straight to the spa at 12:30pm when it opened to get spa passes for the week. It was $249 for both of us. They give you a card each time you go in and a new colored wristband each day. I have to say it was money well spent as we used it every day- sometimes 2 and 3 times a day. The T-pool is very relaxing and the heated chairs were wonderful on our backs. There was hardly anyone there all the times we went! It was great to get away from the crowds at the pools! The steam rooms my husband enjoyed alot and the locker rooms were ALWAYS empty! This was a great place to get your showers as they were HUGE! And lots of space to be able to shave your legs ladies. The showers in the staterooms ( at least ours) were really really tiny.I am willing to say I am a size 10 and there was no way I could shave my legs in that shower. We also had issues with the shower not draining well and could not turn the water on full blast- only halfway so it would not flood the cabin.

 

Picture of the T-pool:

upload images

 

Picture of the heated loungers:

 

hosting images

 

That night we ate in the main diningroom.We were scheduled for Anytime dining. We had a horrible waiter. I had the flat iron steak- it was not good- I rated it a D+ . The sauce was good- but that's about it. Then I ordered the WMC- I had to give it an F ( yes that's right) as it was soupy and tasted like it had way too much baking powder in it. It was gross. We just left as none of us were happy with the experience at all.

 

We did watch a couple movies on the big screen and have to say it was quite nice. The weather cooperated most days and it really seemed special to be able to sit out and watch. For the most part- it was loud enough to hear everything even with all the kids in the pools;)

 

free picture hosting

[Winterstale]

Keep it coming! Getting on her in 89 days and cannot wait!!!

 

Glad to hear the spa wasn't crazy-busy! We loved the Thalasso on Splendor and plan to spend a lot of time in the spa on the Magic. We have connecting balconies with our friends - the rooms don't connect, just the balconies.

 

Can't wait to read more!

[stressedmomof3]

We ate at the Lido for breakfast and it was quite good.The not having any trays bothered me a bunch the whole trip as I have a daughter whom I have to help get everything still- but we managed. The plates are huge though- so that helped out some.

 

We also ate lunch at the Lido and have to say my husband really enjoyed the Tandoor. The kids loved having the pizza- BUT they only give you 2 small pieces at a time unless you ask for more. The plates here are small. I have to say a teenager can eat a whole pizza by themselves no problem. They are about a size medium here in the states like if you order from Pizza Hut or something.

 

Now for the kids clubs:

I had one in the 6-8 group and she LOVED it! All she wanted to do was stay there all the time. She even begged to eat with the Kids Club and we let her 3 times.

I had another in the 9-11 group and he loved it there too. On his first cruise last year he never liked going-but this trip he stayed a lot more and even ate with the Kids Club a couple times.

As for the teenager- I pretty much hardly saw him.He made friends at the meet and greet and pretty much hung out with them for a lot of the trip.

Now I do have to say he is very responsible and we had him check in with us a couple times during the day, meet us for dinner most nights and he had to be back in the cabin at night when the activities stopped. It worked out well for our family.

 

Now my littler ones did participate in one of the Fun 'til 1 and the Fun at sea 'til 3 and both of them said they had a blast. Although it was hard for mom and dad to stay up (lol!) the kids having that much fun was well worth it!

 

The drinks at the atrium bar were all A+

As for the casino- they seemed to be very very tight with the slot machines.I went once and skipped it for the rest of the trip.

 

1st Elegant Night Dinner:

 

We went back to the main diningroom for dinner as my youngest son wanted to have lobster this trip. We were soured by our experience last night- but decided to go anyways. We were brought to Damir's table for anytime dining.He is a blonde from Croatia ( I say this as there were 4 Damir's serving in anytime dining). He was WONDERFUL!!! I so recommed him to anyone going on this ship. he was attentive ( but very busy), remembered our names and patient. We asked for him for the rest of our trip when we went to the dining room.Also the drink waiter Annak was amazing as well. He learned our names, was wonderful with our kids and was a great jokster too;) The kids had absolutely NO PROBLEM using their bottomless bubbles cards in the main dining room.

 

One thing I will point out here is it did appear that these waiters were all overworked and not enough staff members to spread around. Many were red faced and sweating and running around like busy bees. You can definately tell that they were all very spread thin here,but again- we had a wonderful wait staff;)

 

Sorry no pictures on this Day 2- but the lobster was A+, the prime rib was an A, and the WMC- was an A+- it was PERFECT this time around!

 

We then brought the kids to the Kids Clubs and my husband and I went to the lanai whirlpools and it was DEAD! Very relaxing and happy to be away from the bustling crowds of elegant night!

img upload

[stressedmomof3]

Today we went to the Chef's Table!

The compay was GREAT!

It took a full 3 1/2 hours from the time we reported to the piano bar at 6:30pm. We barely made it in time to pick our littlest one up from Kid's Club at 10pm.

 

So we started at the piano bar with the appetizers. They also served champagne at this time.

image hosting

upload images

 

The chef came around and explained each item to us. Have to say they were good- but potions were tiny as you can see, you only get one of each.

 

Then we were escorted to the galley. It was very LOUD! You could barely hear the chef when he spoke- unfortunately I just tuned him out for the rest of the night as it just all blended together as noise.People were bustling about all over getting meals prepared and heading out to the diningrooms as usual. The chef did have an amp and microphone to speak to us- but it really did not make too much of a difference as I said- it all just blended in as noise.

 

The wagu beef was awesome as was the dessert. But was it worth the $75? IMO- I don't think the quality of the menu was there. I think if they just went ahead and charged and extra $10 or $15 per person and kept the old menu- it would have been better. Also if they would have had it in the library or set something up in the piano bar it would have been even more enjoyable. People who are paying $75 extra for a chef's table experience I don't think would mind paying a little bit extra to have a better quality menu. Again- just my opinion.

Tomato plate:

free image hosting

Wagu beef:

upload picture

Dessert plate:

image host

[stressedmomof3]

Today we were supposed to dock in Roatan. Unfortunately Mother Nature was not aware of this-lol! We along with another carnival ship we saw had to skip Roatan all together. The seas were rough and weather bad.Personally I am very happy that we had a captain that was very concerned with our safety with this matter. Unfortunately many other people were not. We overheard one lady at the Guest Services wanting her money back for the whole cruise because we had to miss Roatan.

Carnival did refund all of our excursion monies ( if we booked through them) and port fees to our sail and sign accounts. We were actually at guest services to pick up some free decks of cards but the line was unbelievable with many guests wanting to complain about missing the port.

For us- we just turned it into a Family Fun Day!

We went out to the waterslides and had a lot of fun with the kids.

It IS chlorinated so those with little ones can keep this in mind as all the pools and jacuzzi's are all saltwater-hth.

It was very windy so the ropes course was not open when we were there.

The putt putt mini golf was also a lot of fun as was the sposrts deck with the giant chess/checkers and foosball tables.

 

Sorry no pics really today to share as most were taken of the family.

here is one of the chairs by the slides though:

free image hosting

 

I will add also that the AFT pool seems to be more of an adult atmosphere. It was always packed with the over 21 crowd along with the 2 jacuzzis. Not that it's a bad thing as adults do need space too- but for those with kids- it seemed the pool midship on lido was more kid friendly-hth.

 

Serenity did not seem to have too many chair hogs and there seemed to always be room in the jacuzzi in the mornings.

Not too many chogs either at the mid ship pool either.

 

I have to also give praise here for our room steward,ARYA. We were in rooms 8440 and 8436 and he was great! We had a few requests like making up the sofa in one room into a bed so my husband can get the double beds for himself and opening up our balcony dividers.He always addressed us by name when he saw us and was always smiling. He always came and took care of our room like magic when we were out.

 

 

 

 

free image hosting

And a gorilla towel animal with my daughter's American Girl this evening:

photo hosting

[etwright]

Loving your review so far:)

[Meyer2]

Great review so far! I had heard your cruise missed Roatan, I'm hoping we won't have to on ours, but we are like you, we wouldn't be mad & complain. Rather be safe than sorry. :)

 

I look forward to reading the rest of your review.

[stressedmomof3]

We had SO MUCH FUN HERE!!!

First let me say that we booked the Altun Ha/River Wallace tour. Going in we knew it was going to be a long hot day and a little rough with the kids.

The forecast called for scattered showers and it was overcast at Altun ha. That was actually great because with the breeze- it was tolerable for the kids and we were not all sweating like pics-lol.

 

Okay backing up now-

 

We had our tickets in hand that morning after having breakfast on the lido. We went to the Showtime theater to get our tender tickets.They hand you little colored stickers with numbers on it to put on your shirts. This is how they call you for your tender. They load from the back of the theater- so the later you show up before your ticket says board time the better. We showed up way early and got the front of the theater and were the last to leave for the tender. But our tender was #2 to board so it was okay. Better safe than sorry!

Photo of a tender boat waiting as we leave:

upload picture

When we got to the pier- we found our guides right at the pier. They led us to the bus terminal for any bathroom breaks and then onto the bus. The bus ride I will say was rough- but expected. No bathrooms on the bus-hth. There is airconditioning but do not expect to ride anything like the greyhound buses like we have here in the states.

WE had a wonderful guide by the name of Amailia. There was another guide on the bus- but did not catch her name. IMo- I would have loved to have sort of a quiet peaceful ride to Altun ha- but the guides were very informative about the area and passionate- though a bit long winded.Altun ha is not completely uncovered and is a bit compact and small as compared to Tulum and Citzen Itza- but great for those who can not walk much or children to get their feet wet with ruins.

a few pictures of Altun Ha:

upload picture

upload picture

image hosting

upload pictures

image hosting

 

The tour was guided and then we were given about 30 minutes to walk around ourselves- we got to climb 2 sets of ruins also worth mentioning as that is kind of rare to find these days.

Also they have clean bathrooms here and there are a few "shops" but wait until you get back to the pier as it has a better selection-hth.

 

Next up is the Black Orchid resort break for lunch and River Wallace part of the tour...

[stressedmomof3]

The Black orchid resort:

 

Have to say for us this was a BIG disappointment!

They were not tready for the 2 bussses of ours to arrive here.

We ended up going to another dining area from the other bus load of passengers-we all were given dirty looks as it was our fault for them not being prepared.

Each lunch with 1 soda expect to pay about $10 for.

We were only given about 40/45 minutes here to eat.

Now- of that 45 minutes we waited 20 minutes for a waiter. We did not get one until after I got up 3 times and spoke with 3 different staff members. When we finally got our food- we literally had 6 minutes to scarf down the $50 in food we purchased before we were getting shoo'd out to go to our boat waiting on the River Wallace.

 

River Wallace part of the tour:

 

This was FANTASTIC! WE saw monkeys and iguanas and rode in a nice boat ( unfortunately they cram alot of people in this tiny boat). But it was awesome. We went slow at times and then went very fast. Mother Nature decided to let it rain from the heavens at this time and the rain pelted us for about 20 minutes.The kids and my husband that it was great-lol! We were given ponchos and a lot of passengers were really nice to eachother to help keep cameras dry under the little roof.It was really quite comical and something I don't think any of us will ever forget-lol!!

 

photo upload

image host

image upload

 

That night we also caught the Destination Unknown illusion show- it was quite good in my opinion. My husband -not so much.

 

Also if any of you ladies like CHOCOLATE- I HIGHLY recommend the Mocha Chocolate Getaway drink they serve on the boat. It is like having a cross between a chocolate daquiri and a Mud Slide. Quite Yummy!

 

Next up:

 

COZUMEL!

[newbieMom]

we were on the same sailing :) Loving your review so far. Too tired to start my own yet, LOL! My 8 yo daughter was in Camp Carnival too and made a bunch of little friends. Her name is Chloe, I wonder if our girls met?

[newbieMom]

Also...do you still "feel" the ship moving? I'm the only one in my family that feels it, but it's intense! (and sort of fun)

[ooulio]

We were on this ship in Feb. It was the best ship we have been on concerning not rocking so bad. When we were on the Legend, we rocked so much.. That was the bumpiest we have ever been on except for one Disney years ago.

[vivavegas]

Great review and photos too! Looking forward to reading more of your review!:)

[stressedmomof3]

we were on the same sailing :) Loving your review so far. Too tired to start my own yet, LOL! My 8 yo daughter was in Camp Carnival too and made a bunch of little friends. Her name is Chloe, I wonder if our girls met?

I am betting our girls met at one time or another- my daughter was in there many times every day-lol. She could not get enough- her name is Tori .:D

[stressedmomof3]

Our last port stop was Cozumel- I just love this port!

We booked the Deluxe sail and snorkel beach party here by Fury Catamaran.

It was a bit pricey- but it included snorkels., masks, and flippers if needed. It also included all drinks on the boat and at the beach ( soft drinks, water and beer). There is no discount if you bring your own snorkel gear or child prices.

You snorkeled for about 1 hour and spent about 1 hour at the beach. The whole experience is about 3 hours.

Lunch was not included on this excursion and hamburgers were priced at $9.00 each- no sides!

But if you get out to the pier and on one of the first one or two boats- you will get back to the pier around 12-ish and plenty of time to grab lunch at the pier or on the boat.

 

The beach itself was nice- it had lots of fun toys like kayaks, ocean slides, water trampolines, etc... for kids ( and kids at heart) to play on. There was no pool though.

Was it worth the money- yes- we have great memories.

Just wished it was a longer excursion for the price.

Our snorkel group:

image host

underwater reef photo:

photo upload

Catamaran:

photo upload

Beach Toys:

image upload

Hammocks:

free picture hosting

[CruiseeNut]

Great review so far! We were on this cruise with you. We had a great time!:)

[stressedmomof3]

Massage hut:

free picture hosting

 

On the last sea day we just chilled around the boat. WE did got to the chocolate extravaganza on the lido. I did not find it much appealing, but the kids enjoyed tasting it all.

Here are some pics of the chocolate buffet:

img upload

image upload

 

We also took the kids out one last time to the waterslide area too:

free picture hosting

 

In short/overall:

 

Soda card: It was worth it for the kids- me not so much. All of the sodas from every bar we tried they were pretty flat/not bubbley like normal. Kind of like when you let a 2 liter sit 2 days after opening or leave cans to sit in the heat for a while.

 

The comfort level of the beds: One word-HARD.All the mattresses were hard and the sofa "bed" not any better.

 

Photo ops: lots of them- but every elegant night photo I saw they were all blurry. Seems they try the "soft touch" lighting- but the photos just don't look right in the end.

 

Bar service: It was always great.

 

Kid friendly environment: Extremely

 

Children running wildly: not so much. There seemed to be a few bad apples- but that is in any situation really.

 

Kids Clubs: Very happy with the security of the little ones, the way they handled sign in and out for the 9-11 year olds and my eldest in Circle "C" loved most of the events for him as well. The Fun 'til 1 and the At Sea 'til 3 was also handled very well too. They walk the 9-11 year olds back to their staterooms after the event is over.

 

 

 

 

 

All in all we had a great time and will probably cruise again in the next year. On the Magic again- unsure as you could definately tell that "something" was just missing from the whole experience of cruising.In the end- I just think it was very apparant the workers are spread very thin and there was just too many people to accomodate- so the quality and service seemed to be down in the very beginning.

 

Would I recommend this cruise to anyone: I think I would but I would also be forthright in telling everyone the positives and negatives and let them make the final decision if it is the right thing for their family.All I have to compare the Magic to is when we were on the Ecstasy here out of Galveston.

But again- we had a great time making family memories and chose to try and turn any negatives into positives throughout our vacation. Life has hiccups- so it is to be expected that there will also be hiccups on vacation too...

[cruiser fanatic]

Glad you had a great cruise we sail her next month with the same ports can't wait.

[stressedmomof3]

***Oh and did forget to mention about the Bamboo Massage I had- it was WONDERFUL for anyone considering this. I did mention on the form I did not want any hard sells and my wish was granted . The Bamboo Massage is really intense so if you are "tender" I do not recommend this one for you. For those who are really wound up tight- this IS definately for you;)***

 

Well- this is the end of my review -hope you enjoy and hopes it help some of you out there as other reviews did help me prepare for my cruise.

Happy sailing!!!

[Meyer2]

Enjoyed your review & Pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to write your review and share your photos.

Glad you had a great time.

[stressedmomof3]

your very welcome- I never realized how long it takes to write up a review

on here and add lots of pictures.

I think I will be starting to thank

others for their reviews I read in the future

instead of just lurking around as usual.;)

[TexanTodd]

Love the review, thanks for all of the great pictures.