My Magic Review 5/5/13 - 5/12/13

[aggieastrosfan]

Thanks for the review and the maitre'd's e-mail address. We sail on Magic on May 19. I just e-mailed Ante and received a reply about thirty minutes later.

 

Ante is great, he's lots of FUN FUN FUN! Have a great time! :)

 

 

Meredith

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[aggieastrosfan]

Regarding Ante - one night he went around the dining room with a stack of printed emails looking for everyone who had emailed him to check up on things and make sure we were happy with the table. Which I of course was thrilled since it was the one I had actually mentioned as a reference. Very nice of him to follow-up and do that. :)

 

 

Meredith

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[marjenn]

Enjoying your review Meredith! Thank you for sharing it!

[aggieastrosfan]

I'll get to Saturday later today/tonight. Swim meet day. :)

 

 

Meredith

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[todzie]

 

I ordered my ribeye medium rare. I have been ordering steaks like this in this same steakhouse, and in the dining room for three trips on this ship now, and they have always been perfect - or pretty close. My steak was still raw when I got it. My mom ordered hers medium. It looked perfectly medium rare to me. She decided to make a go of hers, but I sent mine back. It came back still raw. I sent it back again. It came back with a message - "The chef says this is medium rare." When it's still raw. While explaining this to the server, and that apparently the chef and I have a different opinion and that I don't want it raw - the chef comes to the table, which appears to impress the servers. But all he came out to say was that it was medium rare, not to apologize. I explained to him that it appeared we had a difference of opinion and that's fine, but I did not want my steak raw, and pointed to my mom's and said that's how I wanted it. It came back overcooked for me - a perfect medium. Sigh. My mom and I ended up just switching steaks, and all was well. They offered to cook a new one for me, and the hostess and servers were very apologetic (which they really didn't need to be, they didn't cook it), but there was no need when my mom and I could just switch and we were both happy.

 

 

We had the same issue in the steakhouse on Tuesday night of the same sailing regarding the steak temperatures. Husband's medium rare steak was also served very rare. Never had that problem before either.

 

 

Our service was a little better, as we were in and out in about 1 1/2 hr, but it was almost as if they were trying to rush us out towards the end of the meal. The steakhouse manager (?) actually came over when our dessert was ordered and asked for the sign & sail card to go ahead and charge the meal. I thought that was a little strange, not a big deal, but I've never had them ask to settle the charge before we were done with the meal either.

 

 

As for the group of Carnival bigwigs, we were told on Sunday by one of the Red Frog staff that they were undergoing a week-long inspection...the guys would actually be sailing all week doing various things. And we did see lots of different types of "work" being done on the ship throughout the week.

[aggieastrosfan]

Last day. :(. This was the latest we slept in, about 9:00. Got my last bag of laundry sent off and off to another Lucky Charm breakfast.

 

I never cared for Lido breakfast, but it really seems to have taken a turn for the worse in recent years. I had been getting eggs oner easy in the omelette line, but I got tired of waiting, so most mornings I just had cereal. The over easy eggs were great when I had the patience to wait for them.

 

Today was tie-up-loose-ends day. Looked for last-minute pictures and got my flash drive for picture #10, where I was offered the 10 digital copies for $10. Today was the last slot tournament. I used the other half of my platinum buy one, get one. And bought another. Still didn't make the finals.

 

I did finally redeem my free drink coupon. After my first slot play, I went down to the lobby deck and found quite a line at the lobby bar redeeming coupons. They weren't getting to me in time before my next slot round, and I was assuming they would stop redeeming coupons at 1:30, when the brunch closed. I was told I could come back after the tournament to redeem it. They did let me use it with no issues when I got back.

 

After some more Red Frog time it was time to go pack. Four women trying to pack together is not a bright idea. So two went outside to the balcony while the other two of us packed. And it was just after 6 when we looked at each other with the same question in our eyes - do you smell that?

 

It was a burning smell - rubber/electrical type burning smell. Our eyes went to the outlet. Nothing plugged in, nothing sitting next to anything that might burn. No smoke. But definitely a smell. We peeked outside into the hallway - and saw heads sticking out of at least 10 other cabins with the same question. No coincidence here, something's going on.

 

So a floor supervisor shows up pretty quick, and informs us an A/C tech is on the way. But some people do look a bit worried, so I decide to crack a joke. "Oh, no, I don't want to poop in a red bag tonight!" I say. I am greeted with a glare from an assistant cabin steward. "Zeez iz NOT ze Triumph!" is the glaring response I get. Okay, joke not appreciated, moving on...

 

At this point, our cabin is getting pretty warm. And we've had no issues with the cabin temperature, it got downright cold in there when turned all the way down. We've got the cabin door propped open, so the smell is gone. My mom decides we should open the balcony door to get some fresh air. No, mom, don't do it, the cabin door is open! See, she has never stayed in a balcony cabin before. So she had no concept of the "wind tunnel"...quickly corrected, but not quick enough. Time to leave the warm cabin. The supervisor is still there, as is the AC tech. Off we went to leave them to do their job, we were pretty much packed anyway.

 

PS - when packing, take the life jackets OUT of the closet! I never would've found the shirt that made its way wedged in the middle of them if I had just looked around them.

 

Meredith

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[aggieastrosfan]

We had the same issue in the steakhouse on Tuesday night of the same sailing regarding the steak temperatures. Husband's medium rare steak was also served very rare. Never had that problem before either.

 

 

Our service was a little better, as we were in and out in about 1 1/2 hr, but it was almost as if they were trying to rush us out towards the end of the meal. The steakhouse manager (?) actually came over when our dessert was ordered and asked for the sign & sail card to go ahead and charge the meal. I thought that was a little strange, not a big deal, but I've never had them ask to settle the charge before we were done with the meal either.

 

 

As for the group of Carnival bigwigs, we were told on Sunday by one of the Red Frog staff that they were undergoing a week-long inspection...the guys would actually be sailing all week doing various things. And we did see lots of different types of "work" being done on the ship throughout the week.

 

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one questioning the steak. Mine wasn't extremely rare, but it was definitely too rare to be medium rare. Explains all the attention the sommelier was paying to that table. Doesn't excuse it, but explains it. And they definitely seemed to be in no rush to get us out, lol! Our meal ended up being close to three hours.

 

I will definitely make sure to ask who the chef is in August, and order my steak accordingly! :)

 

 

Meredith

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[aggieastrosfan]

Before meeting the rest of my group at karaoke, I had to stop at the coffee bar to try some of the dulce de leche ice cream. And all I can say is YUM. I even managed to get some Ghiradelli chocolate syrup on it. I will definitely be eating that more often, just delicious.

 

On to karaoke. I didn't stay here long. It was here that I confirmed the host is in fact the same Jay who used to be on the Ecstasy back in 2009. I know a lot of people love this "absolutely BRILLIANT" host, so I won't go into much detail here, as my issues with him are from four years ago, not this cruise. I ended up - where else? - the casino.

 

Dinner was dinner. Had a wonderful Grand Marnier soufflé, even if I couldn't eat much of it. For once I didn't cry when the waiters sang the goodbye song. I just smiled and said, "see you soon!"

 

I think I made it until about 1:00 before I decided to call it. We put the room service tag out early (thanks to our visit to Guest Services, we got two - one of which I ended up giving to my MIL next door, since they still didn't have any) and requested breakfast at 5:45-6:00.

 

They showed up right in that window. What was interesting is the room service tag, which someone had written "PLATINUM" on the top and highlighted. So whoever posted around here that diamonds and platinums get priority on room service may be on to something. However, we were missing a milk, so no tip for him until he came back with it. And I stupidly waited until after he left the second time to check everything. The two orders of white toast were wheat. The strawberry yogurt was raspberry. We were short two spoons. So platinum apparently gets you priority service, but it doesn't necessarily get you what you ordered.

 

We met at 6:45 for priority self-assist debarkation. We were called to debark around 7:15, and with the help of a porter, were through customs by 7:35. Home by 9:50, before luggage 8 tags had even been called to debark.

 

And that's it. :). I'm sure I'll have some final thoughts tomorrow, but for now that's all I got. Overall I really did have a great time, whether this review portrays that or not. Loved everyone in the casino, Red Frog, and Southern Lights dining room. Guest Services was prompt and friendly the few times I had to visit there. All in all, looking for a fun - albeit different - fourth trip on the Magic with DH and DS7 in August on the same itinerary. Saturday was rainy, so I got rained out on the ropes course this go round. Another tip - don't wait until the last minute to do something you really want to do! You never know what will happen to keep you from getting there. Next time I WILL make it to the ropes course - if nothing else, because my 7 year old would never let me hear the end of it if he missed it, it's one of his favorite activities.

 

Any questions, happy to answer if I can! Hope you enjoyed my long-winded journal. :)

 

 

Meredith

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[YadaYadaJodi]

Thanks so much for your review Meredith!

 

37 days and counting until we join you and your family on the Magic's 8/4/13 sailing!!!!!!!!!!

[cruisetexas]

Meredith, would you please share the catamaran tour operator you used in Roatan? Also, were you happy with them (besides the annoying Quebec gentleman!)?

 

Thanks for the great review. We're headed on this itinerary in September!

Susan

[Sarapdot]

Love it!! And LOVE that I know who you are refering too! :p

[Stephanie.Texas]

Great review! I am on the Magic 7/14 for my first cruise. Really getting excited.

 

 

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