Making Magic! Cruise Review Oct 19 - 26 2014

[jeffinhouston]

Thanks for all the details and photos; I am really enjoying your review. I leave for my first cruise on the Magic in 4 weeks so this is definitely getting me in the mood.

[Shaded Lady]

 

Missy & Jason

 

Craig (Bill Engvol)

 

Mitchel

 

Bill (again)

 

[Shaded Lady]

Shavonne & her Mom (really need to learn Mom's name!)

 

Duck Boats (again!)

 

After the M&G we went to the muster drill, which was long but painless, since we were seated in the upper level of the Showtime Theater. Back in our room we watched sail away- DH kept commenting that there was a strange ship following us the whole way (RCCL Navigator). We then unpacked (suitcases all fit under the bed thank heaven!) and were just in time for dinner in the steakhouse.

 

[Shaded Lady]

Some pictures of Galveston and Sailaway

 

 

 

My beloved!

 

The boat moving in to remove the pilot...

 

Up next- Dinner in the Prime Steakhouse!

[Shaded Lady]

We had dinner planned in the Prime Steakhouse the first night. I made reservations online several months in advance and got an email confirmation that our reservation was for 6:30. Make sure you confirm that when you get on the ship because we found out that our reservation was 6:00 PM according to their records!

 

The Prime Steakhouse is on the 5th floor aft, next to the Spotlight Lounge, where the comedy shows are. So we arrived at 6 PM, were greeted by name and seated immediately at a table for 2 with a view of the water. We selected our free bottle of chardonnay (it was okay, but then I’m no wine connoisseur).

 

Admittedly I didn't take as many food porn pictures as I planned to, but here's as much of our dinner as I captured before we started chowing down!

 

Lobster Bisque

 

Escargots

 

Crab cake

 

[Shaded Lady]

Shrimp Cocktail

 

Cowboy Steak and Baked Potato as a side

 

 

We both really enjoyed the meal and the service, although a couple of the items were surprisingly not as hot as we expected. But most things were spot-on and delicious. We both had the cowboy rib eye steak and thoroughly enjoyed it, although I couldn’t finish mine.

 

 

DH is diabetic and was trying to be a good boy this cruise so he skipped dessert (he ate the rest of my steak instead!) but I ordered the Chocolate Sampler- YUMM!!! As you can see, I didn't get a picture before demolishing most of it!

 

 

We didn’t finish our wine so the sommelier corked it for us and we took it back to our room. We ended up pouring it out the last night, not having had a sip of the rest.

[Shaded Lady]

We skipped the Welcome Aboard show and enjoyed some lovely time on our balcony, til we both decided to turn in early. The bed was firm (perfect for me, not so much for DH!) and we always travel with our own pillows, so sleeping comfortably wasn’t an issue for me!

 

At this point I need to mention that the weather wasn’t awful, but very windy going to bed. Being on the top floor in the front, the movement was unnoticeable until we went to bed, then it was a gentle rocking no worse than I’ve experienced much lower in the ship.

 

But at 3 in the morning, we turned hard to port for some reason. I know this because we tilted so much that I fell right out of bed! It was pouring buckets outside (remember, no cover on our balcony!) and there was heavy thunder and lightning so maybe the captain was trying to get around the storm to calmer seas. The tilt lasted about a minute, just enough to make me nervous but then righted itself and the normal rocking continued… DH slept through it all!

 

This little guy greeted us as we turned in.

 

[KPfromCT]

LOVING your review!!!!:D:D:D

[Shaded Lady]

Thanks for all the details and photos; I am really enjoying your review. I leave for my first cruise on the Magic in 4 weeks so this is definitely getting me in the mood.

 

Jeff- if you've never been on the Magic it's great. you'll love it! What itinerary are you taking?

[Shaded Lady]

LOVING your review!!!!:D:D:D

 

Thanks KP! I'll finish up on Sunday...

[jeffinhouston]

Jeff- if you've never been on the Magic it's great. you'll love it! What itinerary are you taking?

 

Same itinerary you had - which is one reason I'm enjoying your review so much!

[Peppa26]

I like your review!!!! Wish you guys have been to Key West ans the Bahamas, because we will sail on Dec 7 with Magic!

[labsnabys]

We'll be on the Magic in five weeks -- I can't wait! I am enjoying your review very much so far. Looking forward to the rest!

 

Lisa

[Shaded Lady]

I ordered coffee from room service the night before. I ordered 2 pots of coffee and extra creamer. They brought mostly sugar, not sweetener so I grabbed extra from the Lido deck to have on hand, since I was pretty sure this having coffee delivered to me before I even get dressed was going to be a recurring theme! And it was! The coffee wasn’t great, but it was hot and contained caffeine which is a requirement for me to function in the morning! We tipped the lovely lady a few bucks each morning.

 

We went to the Sea Day Brunch in the Southern Lights dining room. I had the Eggs Benedict (with the hollandaise sauce on the side- it’s fresher that way!) and a side of hash browns and bacon. Everything was perfect. We sat at a table with a bunch of people, some of whom I knew from our pre-cruise planning, some of whom were new friends!

 

After breakfast we did some exploring of the various parts of the ship…

 

Sports Deck

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shaded Lady]

 

 

Now that I look at them, some of these pictures were taken on different days. This first Sea Day morning was overcast and everything was soaked from the storms the night before... the sunny pics were taken another time, obviously!

Edited November 16, 2014 by Shaded Lady

[Shaded Lady]

 

 

 

 

[Shaded Lady]

Serenity deck (actually taken the morning of the Jamaica stop)

 

 

 

Red Frog Pub

 

 

[Shaded Lady]

At 11:30 on the first sea day (check your Fun Times) they usually have a cooking demonstration for foods offered in the steakhouse. I went and had a great time! Met with friends from Vegas, and enjoyed watching them make the dishes.

 

• Mushroom Cappuccino

• Baby Leaf Spinach & Fresh Mushrooms (a salad)

• Broiled Supreme of Chicken with Red Potatoes and Macaroni & Cheese

• Tiramisu

 

They give you a little recipe book containing all the recipes they make, and you get to sample each one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shaded Lady]

After lunch we went to the Showtime Theater to watch the Game of Love. I’ve heard tons about this but had never seen it so we decided to watch it. We got there at the tail end of the Turbo Trivia event, full of interesting adult content!- and watched one of our own, Shavonne’s mom win the trivia game!

 

We stayed and watched the Game of Love and James, our CD, was a hoot! I know a lot of the answers are canned responses designed to be funny, but he carried them off well… and he reads people so well that everything appeared natural. The middle-aged couple were a hoot! I saw the husband around the ship several times being razzed with calls of ‘Oooooh, TJ!’ just like James instructed! I’m glad we took the time to watch it… it was funny.

 

Since we were still full from brunch, we decided to hit the spa to check out all the amenities. First we tried the Thalasso therapy pool- like a big whirlpool but not very hot as I mentioned earlier. I don’t know if it helps much but I felt better afterwards. I have chronic back issues and travelling always makes it worse so anything that helps is welcome. We enjoyed the steam rooms and the heated loungers for a while, then decided to use the showers in the locker rooms- much larger than in our cabin! As we were leaving I asked about the body scrub and picked it up.

 

Back in our room we laid down for what became a cruise ritual- our afternoon nap! I read on the balcony for a while then snoozed beside DH for an hour or so! Of course, this meant I completely forgot about tea time! I’ve wanted to do this every cruise, and somehow, I always miss it! It is announced in the Fun Times some time around 3 every sea day… and of course, I missed it every day of this cruise too!

 

Since we had Your Time Dining we decided to eat around 6. It was elegant night but we didn’t want any pictures taken so we headed straight for the Northern Lights Dining Room. I’ve mentioned this earlier but we were surprised that the food, while good, was only warm, not even close to hot. But that wasn’t my first disappointment of the meal…

 

Since it’s elegant night, that’s the night for lobster and prime rib. I’ll skip dessert for those two items!! So you can imagine my surprise when I asked my waiter Aquino if I could have the lobster AND the prime rib, only to have him tell me ‘no- you can only have one.’ I said I was okay if they brought me 2 full meals, as I’d share some of it with DH and he still insisted it wasn’t possible. But then, DH ordered the prime rib and THEN he asked for the lobster… color me surprised when the waiter just said sure! So the bottom line was that we got what I wanted since we were going to share anyway, but only when DH ordered it!

 

And any time I ordered anything extra Aquino acted like he was having to pay for it! I wanted soup and the shrimp cocktail and he just stared at me… when I asked for 2 scoops of ice cream he acted like he was my personal dietician! Okay, so I know I’m not the smallest person on the cruise (nor the largest, either!) but I’ve never had a waiter make me feel like a pig for ordering multiple appetizers or some such! He really put me off! So much so that the next night I asked to be seated in a different section, but that’s a story for tomorrow night.

 

Here's the pics from Elegant Night Dinner:

 

S&S Fried Shrimp

 

Peach Chilled Soup

 

 

Lobster- small but yummy!

 

The Prime Rib- wasn't worth fighting for, IMHO...

 

 

Sorry- that’s it for the food porn. I thought I had a lot more than that, but I guess I forgot most of the time to snap a photo before we dug in… and most of the time taking a pic of a half-eaten plate is just tacky!

 

One notable thing from this dinner (other than the lobster was great, small but great!) was that for the second time, I tried Warm Chocolate Melting Cake… and I didn’t hate it! The first time I tried it it was just warm cake batter with a hard crust, too gooey, too rich- I didn’t like it at all! So I decided to try it again and it actually wasn’t half bad! Not my favorite by any means, but like I said, I didn’t hate it! So if you’ve sworn off WCMC, maybe give it another try!

 

After dinner we caught the show Grooveline in the Showtime Theater. We’re not live performance/show/concert kind of people, so we kinda enjoy this when we cruise. This show was good, even if DH kept arguing with me that Carol King recorded You’re So Vain- when we ALL know it was Carly Simon! The female singer is much more powerful than the male… so while she was nailing every song, he was better when he hit those songs that suited his voice best. And of course, I think the dancers are awesome!

 

After the show we wandered the ship a bit, checked out the gift shop to buy me a tshirt (I know- with the extensive list I have HOW could I possibly have forgotten my pj’s? Note to self- don’t pre-pack items unless you cross them off the list first… I was sure I’d packed them!). Then we decided to hit the hay early. DH watched the football game til we fell asleep.

 

Our night watchman!

 

[Shaded Lady]

Once again, Room Service brought us coffee at 7:30 (I’d asked for it each day at 7:30 to 7:45- it never arrived before 7:20 and never later than 7:30!). This time they didn’t bring enough cream so I made sure to write that down on the order from now on…

 

Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday- brunch in the Southern Lights MDR, followed by some quality time in the spa… today we actually ate lunch a bit later on the Lido deck. While we were there, the ship hit another squall and it was raining buckets. The aft pool emptied out and some minor flooding was happening out on the deck near the deli and Tandoori spot. There was also some water in the aft part of the Lido buffet area because of it.

 

Just as we were deciding to leave to give someone else our table, the ship took another hard list to starboard… we leaned for about 30 seconds, just long enough to make you nervous! But then it righted itself and we had smooth sailing after that. We figured that again, the captain was trying to get us out of that squall and back into drier weather. But the unfortunate part of that hard turn was that we tilted so badly that many plates and glasses slid off the tables onto the floors, other cruisers, etc!

 

The table closest to the window at the very rear was the worst- the cruisers had just set down their plates, glasses etc when the tilt happened. Four peoples’ plates slid across the table, smashed into the window and left bits of food and drink all over the window, the ledge, the floor! I felt sorry for the staff, they had quite a mess to deal with!

 

After lunch we wandered the ship again, then went for our nap. Here are a bunch of photos from around the ship.

 

Aft Pool

 

 

 

Lido Deck

 

 

 

 

 

[Shaded Lady]

I'm going to insert this here because this is the only picture I have of James, our cruise director.

 

I've been on several cruises now and I've yet to really recall the name or personality of a cruise director. To me, they've never had a real impact on my cruise before... they were just kind of there.

 

But this cruise I really noticed, and appreciated, James Dunn as CD. He was funny and was very visible around the ship. I saw him lots, talking to just anyone, and even spoke to him myself a few times... so maybe the CD does make a difference- I've just never had a good one before!

 

Anyway, here's James on the Seaside Theater- they show his Morning Show there as well as on the TVs in the staterooms... James is on the right.

 

 

While I'm here I'm going to post a few other pics from around the ship:

 

Magic Atrium (much less impressive than the Fantasy class ships I've been on, again, IMHO)

 

 

 

 

.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Shaded Lady

[Shaded Lady]

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner! Cruise casual was the mode of dress. So off to the Northern Lights dining room we headed.

 

Now, as I mentioned I wasn’t very happy with our surly waiter from the night before, so when we got there I asked for a different section. They complied- and sat us in another section waited on by the same staff! I mentioned it to the hostess, but DH didn’t want me to make a fuss (of course he didn’t! He GOT what he ordered!) so I let it go. But she must have said something to him, because his attitude was a bit better that night- he was still surly but at least he didn’t act like I was being piggish because I wanted the Caesar Salad AND the mango soup! Part way through our meal the hostess stopped by to make sure everything was okay and I just told her it was fine… complaining wasn’t going to change anything, but I made sure we sat in completely different sections after that.

 

On that note, I’ll mention here that I found most of the staff throughout the ship to be friendly, helpful and smiling… so much so that the odd exception made them stand out even more (like Aquino!). All of the wait staff for the rest of the trip were great.

 

The weather was still pretty iffy and outdoors on any deck or our balcony was not an option, so we watched TV & read in our cabin until bedtime. Tomorrow is Jamaica!

 

[Shaded Lady]

Again, we got our Room Service coffee on time. It’s horrible stuff, but the caffeine’s there so I dealt with it. The best coffee of the cruise was actually in the dining room each night after dinner, which is weird! You’d think that they would use the same brand of coffee all around the ship!

 

Anyway we sat on the balcony for over 30 minutes but never seemed to get any closer to the shore of Jamaica we could see in the distance… finally we went to breakfast in the Southern Lights MDR. While we were eating breakfast we (sort of) watched the docking process.

 

 

 

 

 

We went back to our cabin to get a few things and headed down to Deck 0 to get off the ship. We’d waited about 30 minutes after the first crush to let those with excursions and planned outings to get off, so we were able to just walk right off.

[Shaded Lady]

Montego Bay Cruise Terminal

 

 

 

This was right beside the port, but we never figured out what it was! A school? Living quarters? Businesses? If anyone knows, please weigh in here!

 

 

Hop On Hop Off Bus- we didn't try it but you could apparently buy tickets in the port building for it using your S&S card...

 

 

A Steel Drum Band

 

We went back and forth about what to do in Jamaica and finally decided to just check out the port shops then spend the day back on the ship. We picked up some souvenirs for the family watching our fur babies and were back on board by 10:30! We changed into our bathing suits as the weather was finally sunny and headed for the first time up to the Serenity Deck. It was deserted and we were able to claim both a clamshell lounge and a hammock! I tried the hot tub there and it was nice and hot! We read and napped there for the whole morning and when we left there were only 2 other people in the area.

 

Docked near us was the Norwegian Pearl- interesting paint job on their ships.

 

[Shaded Lady]

We went to lunch on the Lido deck- the food is okay, not great. But since we didn’t find anything else to our liking we got sandwiches from the Deli… they’re the best! I tried the Tandoor spot the day before… I like Indian food but I found it wasn’t very fresh- the naan was hard and crusty, instead of soft & pliable like it’s supposed to be! So we had our reuben sandwiches and sat there in the Lido buffet area for a while, enjoying the AC (it was actually surprisingly hot and humid, considering the sun wasn’t out very consistently).

 

Before we knew it everyone was getting back on the ship. We watched sailaway from our balcony… it’s funny to watch people saunter toward the ship at a few minutes to 6, knowing that we’re supposed to be leaving at 6! I’d be too terrified of the ship leaving my butt behind to leave it that late, yet tons of people showed up well after the 5:30 return time and didn’t seem at all concerned.

 

This marching band performed for the last 30 mins before we left... they weren't very good but hey, they tried! It didn't help that people (drunk or not paying attention!) were forever walking through the middle of their formations!

 

 

 

So this was when we experienced our second negative experience with smokers- other than the guys on the balcony beside us we found smokers to be a very considerate bunch, no rogue smoking where they weren’t supposed to, grabbing an attitude about where they can/cannot smoke. (although I did see a few folks using the e-cigs in the dining room and theatre, but since it doesn’t smell, doesn’t give off fumes, why should I complain?).

 

The exception was the group beside us. On sailaway from Galveston someone a few doors upwind of us was smoking a cigar, until someone below us yelled that there’s no smoking allowed anymore on balconies. I noticed the cigar smell stopped immediately. But waiting for sailaway from Jamaica I was sitting on our balcony and all I could smell was cigarette smoke. There were 4 cabins in a row all travelling together and they had their dividers open.

 

The lady in the cabin beside us was very nice, and I don’t believe was the culprit. But everyone congregated on her balcony as we were waiting for sailaway. Someone (or ones) started smoking heavily. To make sure they knew they were busted, I asked others from balconies around us ‘does anyone know where that cigarette smoke is coming from?’ The guys beside us started laughing and said ‘uh oh- we’re busted!’ But they didn’t stop!

 

So since I didn’t want this to be a recurring issue I ratted on them. Called Guest Services and told them what was going on. Our steward Chris and his boss came by to ask for information and I explained that they basically admitted to smoking out there, but didn’t stop. I made sure to let them know that it wasn’t the woman beside us but her friends. Funny thing is, a few minutes later the smoking stopped so I guess the message was delivered. Thankfully there were no more incidents for the rest of the cruise, at least while we were on our balcony.

 

So I thought I’d mention something that happened at this point that convinced me I’ll get FTTF each time I cruise, if possible! I needed to go to Guest Services to check on a lost & found item. During the whole cruise I probably had to go there 4 or 5 times for different things. Each time, in spite of a long line up I went to the VIP line and was served almost immediately. Definitely worth the money!

 

The VIP Line is on the far left of that small rope divider and I never saw more than one person in line... you can't see it on the right but there were about a dozen people waiting in line, other than the people already at the counter.

 

 

This evening there were maybe 10 people lined up in the regular GS line, and 1 person waiting in the VIP line in front of me. A guy near the front of the other line was really vocal about the fact that one of the GS staff helping on that side stepped over as soon she finished with the person she was helping to ask the person in front of me how she could help.

 

This guy started getting louder and louder about rude people not waiting their turn, about why was this person served before him… the GS staff closest to him explained that that was the VIP line and those people had earned the right to be served first. (I didn’t bother to correct her, that I’d paid for the right!) Well everyone else in the line was okay with that, but this guy wasn’t happy.

 

When the person in front of me finished and walked away I was called to the counter next and this guy totally lost it! He started yelling about people who think they’re better than others, about how he paid as much for his cruises as we did… no one from GS could get this guy to calm down!

 

Finally this very tiny Guest Services Manager (like, 4’10 tops!) came out from behind, walked right up to the guy and told him to please calm down, keep his voice at a normal level and he would be helped shortly. If he opted NOT to follow these directions she would be more than happy to call security to explain it to him again- in their office! Wow! What a firecracker she was! Yet not once did she lose her cool, raise her voice or be anything other than professional and friendly with him. It was great to see her diffuse the situation so easily!

 

That night we went to the magic show Destination Unknown in Showtime Theater- maybe I’m just not that into magic shows but it was just alright for me… I wasn’t crazy about it. But heck, I didn’t have a lot else to do so it worked.

 

After the show we went to dinner and were seated in a completely different section. Waiter and staff couldn’t have been nicer! Again the food was just okay, good enough but nothing was hot.

 

After dinner we walked around a bit then went back to our cabin to sit on the balcony. Unfortunately it was really windy, even though it wasn’t raining. So we had a soda on the balcony then went to bed early again.