Magic Review from Sept 2012

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Hello. I am looking forward to an upcoming cruise on Magic in 28 days. To help pass the time, I thought I would share last year's cruise on the Magic.

 

We chose the Exotic Western Caribbean from Galveston. It included Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. My DH and I went with 2 other couples. We happened to board on our anniversary!

 

We flew into Houston the day before sailing. There is absolutely no inexpensive way to get from the Houston airport to Galveston. We chose to rent a limo to take us to the hotel in Galveston.

 

 

We stayed at the Holiday in Beach. Loved it there and we are staying there again for our upcoming cruise. The views were amazing. From our room we could see the ocean and beach. From the back of our room, we had a view of the harbor. We saw Triumph turn around and sail away.

 

 

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Here are the views from our hotel balcony at the Holiday Inn Beach.

 

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

We decided to walk around the beach and shop a little.

 

Me

 

 

 

For dinner we ate at the Salt Grass Steakhouse. My favorite restaurant!!!! We took a taxi cab to get there. On our way back the hotel, we passed the Pleasure Pier. For our upcoming cruise, we are taking our kids and I think we'll be checking out the Pleasure Pier.

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Sunday morning we woke up and it was time to cruise. Unfortunately while I was getting ready that morning I got bad news from my parents. My mom called me to inform me that my cousin had been killed early in the morning at the hands of her boyfriend. It actually made me physically ill. My family insisted we continue with our cruise plans but it definitely changed my mood for the cruise. Did I mention it was our anniversary too? Very sad deal.

 

We left our hotel about 10:30 and took the hotel shuttle. They dropped us off at the port. If you have your own vehicle, you can park it there free for the week.

 

Here was our first up close glimpse of Magic.

 

 

I know we were onboard by noon... maybe 12:15 at the latest.

 

 

The first thing we did was go to the shore excursions desk and sign up for Behind the Fun tour given on the last sea day of the cruise. They only accept about 50 so if you are interested in this, you must sign up as soon as your board. Once that was done, it was time for our welcome aboard drink!!!

 

 

[KPfromCT]

Thanks for the review. Keep it coming!!! We did the Breeze in April, and now I am itching to try the Magic and the Dream. Loving your review and pictures:D:D:D

[TheGirlNextDoor]

The atrium was beautiful. I love that you can see the slides at the top of the atrium.

 

 

 

We decided to go up the lido deck and have lunch. I loved the food so much on Conquest and on Ecstasy... However, I did not love the food on Magic. It was ok but not outstanding. Both the buffet and MDR were just ok all week. Also, it seemed as thought the buffet lines were so much longer and slower on the Magic compared to Conquest and Ecstasy. It was hard to find a table on the lido. We ended up eating breakfast all week in MDR which was better.

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

My daughter back home and told me that the only souvenir she really wanted from our trip was cruise tickets. :D Well I knew that we would buy the future cruise certificates as that was the last week they'd offer them. In case you aren't familar, Carnival had a program that if you purchased a certificate for a future cruise, you'd get so much money as an on board credit for that cruise depending on length. They'd also put that purchase amount towards your cruise deposit. You didn't have to pick a date either... Just had to book a cruise within 2 years of date of purchasing certificates. We purchased 2 certificates for $100 each. We wanted to use them both on our upcoming cruise since we'd have to get 2 rooms. However, both certificates were in my name therefore Carnival would only let me use one. Very annoying but I know we'll still use that other certificate. It just would have been nice for each of our staterooms to have the 100$ onboard credit..

 

Knowing we'd surprise our kids someday with a Magic cruise... I took many pictures of water works and Camp Carnival.

 

 

 

 

Ropes Course and Mini Golf

 

 

[slverstone]

great review and pics thus far!! leaving on the magic next month and cannot wait!

[TheGirlNextDoor]

 

 

Camp Carnival was so colorful... Looks inviting!

 

 

 

One of the older kids clubs... Not sure which one.

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Another of the older kids clubs.

 

 

This is the 4th deck... Where the kids clubs were and the arcade I think. Also, I believe the art gallery was down here too.

 

 

 

 

 

The kids clubs look way too fun.

[TheGirlNextDoor]

The arcade was even fun for us grown ups. Ha ha. The arcade was connected to the last kids club above I posted....

 

 

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

After a bit of exploring, we were able to go to our cabins!! All of us were on deck 8.

 

 

 

 

We were in balcony cabin #8320.

 

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

 

Looking down from our balcony

 

 

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Our friend's were in #8276. She was a bit excited to be on her very first cruise. HA HA!

 

 

 

Us girls decided to check out the spa while the guys went to the Red Frog Pub. Us girls decided to purchase the pass to the spa all week. The thermal suites were absolutely heavenly. I LOVED laying on those hot stone loungers. The thalassotherapy pool was just so nice.... I am for sure signing up for this pass on my upcoming cruise.

 

 

This is a shower that you rinse off in in the thermal suite. The water came out the sides as well as straight down. Pretty cool!!!

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

 

 

After we toured the spa, we decided to go find the guys at the Red Frog Pub. It ended up being their favorite hang out spot all week.

 

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Ocean Plaza... I really liked the Ocean Plaza.

 

 

Soon it was time for muster.

 

 

Luckily our muster station was in the MDR. I am so glad we didn't have to wait outside packed on a deck like sardines. If you read my Conquest review, you know how torturous it was.

 

After muster, it was time for our sail away party! For some reason, we didn't sail at 4pm like we were scheduled. It was more like 6pm. Never heard why.

 

Sail Away!

 

 

 

Finally!!!!!

 

Edited July 14, 2013 by TheGirlNextDoor

[cajun-crazy]

I'm loving this! You mentioned that you really enjoyed Ocean Plaza. Was that just a seating area or was certain food served there?

 

We'll sail in Oct on the Magic!

[TheGirlNextDoor]

 

 

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

We didn't have much time to enjoy sail away as our dinner was at 6pm. We scurried off to the MDR. It was our anniversary and they sang to us. I was surprised they knew on night 1. Maybe someone informed them beforehand.

 

 

 

I can't really remember what we ate that night either. Like I said before, the food was just okay...:rolleyes:

 

After dinner, the guys went back to the Red Frog Pub.

 

 

Us girls went to our rooms to change into bathing suits. We went to the hot tub on deck 5 that was closest to Red Frog Pub. It was so nice sitting out there under the stars. My friends let me talk a lot about my cousin.

 

After the hot tub, I went back to my cabin to get ready for the shows that night. While I was on the balcony, I spotted the guys coming to meet us. They serenaded me. It was funny!

 

 

The Welcome Aboard Show.

 

Edited July 14, 2013 by TheGirlNextDoor

[TheGirlNextDoor]

The comedians.

 

 

 

After the show, I was so ready for bed!! The bed looked so comfy!!

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

I'm loving this! You mentioned that you really enjoyed Ocean Plaza. Was that just a seating area or was certain food served there?

 

We'll sail in Oct on the Magic!

 

 

Hi there. Ocean Plaza is on deck 5. Its an open deck concept. There are doors that you can go out of and be on the outer deck with the hot tubs. On sea days, they have the seaside barbque there. Also, Ocean View is a seating area that has a karoke stage and bar. Its perfectly situated between the casino and the night clubs, Red Frog, etc. I believe the coffee bar is right there too along with the Taste Bar. The Taste Bar features samples from the steak house Chef.

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Day 2 was our first sea day. We had breakfast on lido... Nothing too exciting. We did enjoy our monkey drinks. YUM! I took mine home to my youngest for her to use as a piggy bank.

 

 

After breakfast, us girls went to the spa. We spent quite some time there. After our spa time, we went to check out the water slides. The lines were pretty long. I tried each slide once. I do think my kids will love this area of the ship.

 

 

 

These chairs were comfy

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

 

 

That first sea day was also elegant night. We had reservations for the Steak House. This is the only meal that I thought was to die for. It was absolutely amazing!!!!

 

We stopped by The Taste Bar. I have no idea what we tried but it was good. HA HA.

 

 

The Steak House

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

 

 

 

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

 

 

After dinner, we went to the Red Frog Pub.

 

 

 

Enjoyed some music in the Ocean Plaza.

 

 

Then we decided to go the comedy club. The little lounge the comedy club was held in was very disappointing. There are not enough seats and much of the room is standing room only. We were sitting in the back and didn't have a good view of the stage due to the pillars and all of the people standing in front of us. We never went back. It was very disappointing as we had loved the comedy lounge on the Conquest.