Carnival | Magic | May 25, 2014 | G&L

[BJWill]

We are going to be on Deck 8, so if you do upgrade and you do get a balcony, maybe you can find one near the aft of Deck 8 so you're close by for that sail away room hop party!

 

Let me know how the interior rooms compare to the Triumph. We were on the Triumph last summer and our lesbians stayed in an interior...it was too cramped for my liking. They are comfortable in the interior room though and prefer to save the money so maybe I'm just being a spoiled brat but I'll own that.

 

My singing is...amazing!! As in it's amazing that people don't start jumping off the ship, but my crew has a saying and "it's my cruise too" so everyone can just deal with my 3.5 minute serenade, take a shot and move on to the next performance :D

[twocruiseguys]

Jon, looks like I finally have someone to play Roulette with! I like the slots, but don't trust them on the boats. But I love Roulette and Black Jack...but hate standing there alone. Or we can have a "casino widow's club" with BJWill and all gossip at a bar somewhere. :D

 

Yaaaa! A roulette partner. I'm in! Leave the slots to Tony.

 

Actually, that's where he makes his money. The slots are pretty good to him on the Magic, and a few other ships. More than once, he has paid for the cruise in the casino, leaving our S&S account with a zero balance at the end of the cruise. Granted, it does not always turn out that way, but we're happy when it does. He did it in February, and we got a free cruise to boot.

 

BUT . . . there seems to be a trick to it. When I'm near him, or within 50 ft or so, his luck turns sour . . . or so he says. So I try to keep my distance. Superstition? Probably. But if keeping my distance makes those 7's come up, who am I to argue?

[dndranchguys]

The slots were good to Mike on Triumph, or so he said. He could have pumped money in while I wasn't looking. And I think it only took 1000 points until he got free drinks. I borrow a few of the free drinks. I broke even on the slots. I'm hoping the casino is slightly larger on Magic with better ventilation. It gets kind of smokey on Triumph.

 

Question: What dining time is everyone doing? We signed up for the "Anytime" dining time. We tried it last cruise and liked it. That way we could adjust our dinner time to what ever we were doing before or after. Like when you are having a good time at the pool hanging out and stalking eye candy, you hate have to break away for dinner just because of your seating time. Plus you can pick your dinner company.

[BJWill]

We do the late dining just so that we don't head in too early. If we do the anytime, then we are not guaranteed that everyone will show up at the right time if we had split up to do different activities earlier in the day.

 

You must not stalk your eye candy aggressively enough if you cant get it taken care of before chocolate melting cake! :p

[twocruiseguys]

The casino on the Magic may be larger than the Triumph. But it's still smoky. We're both non-smokers. We just deal with it.

 

We are on the early seating. I'm not fond of eating late in the evening. If I do, I tend to crash by 10 or 1030. Never have done ATD. We have always enjoyed having dinner with a table of 6 or 8 people that we can get to know. We love meeting new folks from all walks of life. And we have been fortunate on all of our cruises in that we have never run across anyone that we butted heads with. Quite the opposite. In most cases we have built some very good friendships, many of which we have maintained contact through the years.

 

And what's this about having to choose between eye candy and chocolate melting cake? Why can't you have both . . . together . . . at the same time?? :eek:. Come on, guys. Think outside the box.

[BJWill]

I am excited that the casino is bigger but I am sure it will be just as crowded. I am also excited to be on a cruise with the serenity deck as I have not had that experience yet. The hot tubs on the side of the ship also look like an excellent adult hangout as long as we can find one empty.

 

A double dessert...I like the way you think! I do feel like my ability to multitask may be tested in this scenario but I like a challenge!

[dndranchguys]

Well, we are stuck in steerage. We should have upgraded at booking. Now it is too late and they basically want to charge us for a balcony room minus the small fee we paid at booking already. Like $2000 difference. That's a lot of casino chips! Live and learn. Trying to snag one of the "Faster to Fun" upgrades. That will help ease the pain!

 

On the bright side...2 weeks from today Mike and I will be in the middle of the Gulf on our first Magic cruise. By this hour, probably tanked on a sea day. :D

 

By the way BJ, you can get the Melting Chocolate Cake at any seating. But that hunk who just had enough to drink and is getting friendly....timing is everything.;)

[BJWill]

Speaking of faster to fun...3 of our 4 couples got it but by the time the fourth couple tried, they were sold out. In your experiences, have they ever opened up additional faster to the fun passes that you know of? In order to stay with our group, we are thinking that the three couples who did get it might have to see if we can cancel.

 

Lucky dogs getting to sail so soon! If you take pictures, we may have to exchange e-mail or FB information so I can get a preview if that's okay with you.

 

I may be out of practice on this timing thing...let me know what time and which day you can give a few lessons.

[twocruiseguys]

Speaking of faster to fun...3 of our 4 couples got it but by the time the fourth couple tried, they were sold out. In your experiences, have they ever opened up additional faster to the fun passes that you know of? In order to stay with our group, we are thinking that the three couples who did get it might have to see if we can cancel.

A number of threads on the Carnival pages indicate some people noticing that previously sold-out FTTFs have become available again as the sail date approached. The general consensus is to keep checking daily. Even multiple times each day. Keep in mind you only need one per cabin.

 

We are looking for one also, but it's not really a big deal for this cruise. We don't have to board early, and we will self-assist off. The only thing FTTF will come in handy is an early tender ticket in Belize.

[BJWill]

Sounds like we will just keep checking back in hopes of getting one for our last couple.

 

Have you guys decided on any excursions?

[dndranchguys]

We signed up for tubing through cavetubing.bz for cave tubing in Belize.

The Twocruiseguys are going on this one too.

Haven't booked anything else.

[BJWill]

Help educate me please... since you have a particular tour company name, does that mean you did not book it on the carnival site? I do not see on the carnival site where it says who the tour company is for any of the cave tubing excursions.

[dndranchguys]

No, we did not book it through Carnival. And the thing I like, is you pay for the excursion when you get there. So, if you are a little hung over (it happens), the weather is bad, or what ever, you don't have to hassle with a refund. We had an incident in Cozumel where they didn't let everyone off the ship because of another ship coming in and we missed the excursion. And another where....well we couldn't handle daylight...again missing our excursion that we already paid for. I like not paying in advance, makes them wait for you if nothing else. Usually cheaper too. This excursion is only $50/person. Here is the link. Just follow the instructions. http://cavetubing.bz/tours/cruise

[BJWill]

Excellent plan! I will look into this with my group and if we decide to go this route perhaps we can arrange to be in the same tour group. Have you ever done cave tubing? Just trying to figure if it is easy enough for the not so athletic/adventurous members of our group.

[dndranchguys]

Have not done it. But we aren't in the best shape either and it is not supposed to be hard. Just a little hiking.

[BJWill]

I read where lunch is included and unlimited Rum Punch...the tubes have cup holders but did you happen to read if can you take drinks with you during the float?

[twocruiseguys]

Hey guys. There are quite a number of threads on the "Belize" page under Ports of Call > Caribbean. That's where I got most of my recommendations.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=109

[twocruiseguys]

By now you may have heard of the recent events in Roatan where a crew member from NCL was shot. There are a number of threads over on the Carnival page as well as on the NCL page. Here is one of the stories that originally broke from the Honduran local news services.

 

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2014/04...atan-honduras/

 

Since then, John Heald (Sr Cruise Director of Carnival) posted this on his F B page.

 

 

"Some of you have been posting about the terrible loss of the NCL crew member during an incident in Honduras. I send my deepest condolences to his family and to everyone at NCL who mourn the tragic loss of a friend and colleague.

I also wanted to share this statement with you which we are passing to our guests who are and will be sailing to Roatan.

As a result of a number of reports of armed robberies and other street crimes against tourists in and around the municipality of Santos Guardiolo, which is on the east end of Roatan, as well as in Palm Beach in the northeastern section of Roatan, we are now providing informational letters to all guests on cruises visiting Roatan. The letters advise guests of incidences of crime on the island and offer practical advice and safety tips while visiting Roatan as well as tourist destinations in general.

Authorities in Roatan have announced an increase in the number of police patrols in areas typically frequented by travelers. Carnival Cruise Lines ships visiting Roatan dock at the Mahogany Bay Cruise Center which is a dedicated cruise ship facility managed by Carnival Corporation. Mahogany Bay features direct beachfront access, duty free shopping and dining venues situated among 18 acres of landscaped grounds. For guests who want to explore beyond the Mahogany Bay Cruise Center, we are strongly encouraging them to book a shore excursion sold through the ship or to utilize Mahogany Bay Cruise Center taxis which are subject to an inspection program for fair pricing and safety practices.

Our security management continues to closely monitor the situation in Roatan.

Thank you."

 

 

So it looks like we all may be receiving a communication from Carnival soon. Mike & Doug - - since you are going to be there in about 2 weeks, I would bet you get something from Carnival in the next few days. Just wanted everyone to be aware of the buzz that will be circulating. It will very likely affect our experience in the port at Roatan.

 

Jon

[BJWill]

Thanks again for the research Jon! You are really making this easy on me...have you considered a career in travel advisement??

 

I've been following the incident in Roatan and John Heald's post made me feel a little more easy about getting off the ship in the Mahogany Bay area but am still discussing with the group what our plan may be for that port of call. Not sure if we will venture out too far. I guess we have the "safety in numbers" thing working in our favor but that doesn't really help when you are at gun point.

[dndranchguys]

We haven't received a letter yet, but will be on the look out. I understand that NCL is not going to Roatan now, but they use a different docking area. We booked an snorkeling excursion through Carnival for Roatan in 2 weeks, and I am a little concerned that some of the reviews say that we will have to walk about 1/4 mile away from the ship to reach the boat taking us. I'm hoping this is not true. Roatan has pockets of extreme poverty so you never know. I'll have Mike take his big purse just in case there's trouble! That thing will leave a mark I swear! Otherwise, having been to Roatan before, the area where the Carnival ship docks is very nice and their private beach is just steps away. And eye candy.....!:D

[twocruiseguys]

I'll have Mike take his big purse just in case there's trouble! That thing will leave a mark I swear!

This I just gotta see!

 

Seriously, though . . . Doug/Mike, not sure what snorkeling excursion you booked. Was it one of the Maya Cay trips? If so, then yes you will walk a short distance from the Mahogany Bay compound down to the dock to meet the boat(s) that take you the short distance over to MC. But the walk is pretty much still within the M-Bay compound. I would not worry about that. My concern is that Maya Cay is just a stone's throw from downtown port where NCL docks (Coxen Hole). We did this excursion in February. When we were at MC, the Navigator was there at Coxen Hole. Hmmmm . . . . if NCL has indeed pulled out of Roatan, I wonder if RCCL will follow their lead?

[dndranchguys]

Jon, we booked the "Barefoot Catamaran Sail & Snorkel with Lunch" excursion. Frankly, the "open bar" part in the excursion description caught our eye. I don't know where it leaves from, except for someone mentioning in the reviews that they had to walk a quarter mile. Even then, we would be with a group I'm sure.

 

Mike doesn't really have a big purse. He does have luggage to match his boots though. Don't worry, I am not letting him bring boots on the cruise. I wish I could say the same for all his ball caps. :mad:

[BJWill]

Have I mentioned how jealous I am that you are getting to sail before us? I am sure they will have increased security and awareness over the next few weeks just be smart and don't wear your big jewels out on the excursion!

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a man in boots and a ball cap!!! Luke Bryan comes to mind all of a sudden.

[twocruiseguys]

. . . and don't wear your big jewels out on the excursion!

Don't know about you, but I AM bringing my jewels!:rolleyes:

[dndranchguys]

Well, I saw Luke Bryan on Ellen when I was at home over the Christmas holidays cause I was watching hoping I'd be one of the "at home" winners of the "12 Days of Christmas" thing that she does, and let me tell you, I thought to myself, "Gurl...you are with your people!" He was such a big sissy! He is hawt though! Now I love my husband the way he is, but he ain't no Luke Bryan. Of course, I ain't nothing to look at either.

 

Speaking of jewels, if y'all what, we have tons of Mardi Gras beads we could bring for the sail away festivities. Let me know and we will supply!

 

And Jon I know you can pull off the big jewels!:)