Willdra’s Magnificent Carnival Magic July 9-16 Cruise

[willdra]

Keep it coming! I am enjoying this so much!

 

 

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Thank you for hanging in here with me!!! [emoji1][emoji1][emoji1]

[willdra]

I hardly ever reply on reviews as most people just say Thank You and flood up the review. But girl.... you are FUNNY!!!

 

This account puts me on that cruise with you and I'm loving it!

 

 

You just gave me some "Red Bull Rivaling" energy to keep me going!!!! [emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

[willdra]

Well done on this review. Waiting for the rest! Very funny. Will be sailing with you folks in October on Magic.

 

 

Whoop whoop!!!!! [emoji322][emoji322]⚓️⚓️[emoji322][emoji322] Hopefully I will have this completed before we set sail! [emoji568][emoji568][emoji568]

[willdra]

Is anyone else constantly checking their emails to see if Wildra has posted!?!? BEST REVIEW EVER!!!! <3

 

 

This!!!!!!!!! [emoji121]🏾️[emoji1489][emoji1489] [emoji171][emoji171][emoji171][emoji171]

[willdra]

My favorite part of this whole review is how you and yours seem to take everything in stride. Many would have let the port fiasco alone ruin their cruise, but you are a woman after my own heart...it is what you make it, and you made it fun and full of memories/stories to tell for long after it ends. Looking forward to reading the rest!

 

 

So many warm fuzzy feels here!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I am speechless!!! [emoji4][emoji4][emoji4]

[willdra]

I am loving your review! September 24 for my magical cruise!

 

 

The Magic is fabulous!!! You will not be disappointed! [emoji1]⚓️⚓️[emoji1]

[willdra]

Keep it coming! DH & I are taking our boys (8&4) on the Magic in January. Thanks for the preview :)

 

 

That's a great time to cruise! It shouldn't be overcrowded. [emoji6]

[willdra]

I needed to pause here for just a minute to let everyone reading this know that I am so grateful that you are taking time out of your day to read this review and to leave such positive comments!

 

For real though, ya'll got me out here like this lady:

 

 

 

You have also really taught me a lesson, and I will do a better job myself of leaving a compliment when I read something that I enjoy! :)

 

Ok break time is over, let me get back to writing my next post! I will be back soon!!

[dtess71]

[emoji1303]

[MissyGray2004]

Love your review we have large family group going on the Magic in April. We can't wait.

[willdra]

First, I owe my Cruise Critic fam an apology! I was reading through my previous post and I realized that I have paid ZERO attention to Fonts and Text Color! Please forgive me ya'll! Now that I know better, I will do better!

 

Now back to the story.

We were scheduled to arrive in Cozumel at noon. I woke up early and got my run in on a treadmill. When I got done, I showered, then W and I went to get breakfast. It was around 11:15 when we got to the Lido and they were transitioning from breakfast to lunch. We went to the front sections where they still had breakfast, and W stood in line for omelets. I went through the buffet line. I am pretty basic when it comes to breakfast, so I really just wanted either french toast or pancakes and the omelet that W was getting for me. I got to the middle section of the line, where they keep the most cherished items, and there was no french toast and no pancakes. There was just some random stuff that I really didn't want. For a split second though, my heart was broken and I looked at the server and gave him my best Oliver Twist “Please Sir, may I have some more??” pitiful face, but it didn’t work so I kept it pushing. I got coffee, ate my omelet, and chatted with W at our table until we got the all clear to head to the gangway. This occurred right at 12.

 

We proceeded down to meet K and T in their cabin because it was on the way out. When we got there, K told us that she was stuck in one of the midship elevators between floors for 15 about minutes this morning! She ended up having to call security on the phone in the elevator to come get her out. She said she was scared and that she prayed and asked Jesus to not let an elevator be the thing that finally took her out (because I guess there’s some sort of shame in that), then help arrived! She said that they were nice and patient, and that they really talked her through the whole ordeal, which also helped her remain calm. The elevator crew pried the door open, and then she had to climb up and out of the elevator ya’ll! In the end, she was so grateful for all of their help, she went to guest services to write an official thank you for the elevator team. At that point, we all agreed that our incident quota had been filled for the day, and we should have 0 incidents the rest of the day. That's not too much to ask for right?

 

By this time we had already walked down to the taxi stand, so we got in with another family and rode to Paradise Beach. PB is our go to in Cozumel. We have been going there for a few years, and it is always relaxed and just easy. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

 

We made it there, and found 4 seats together in the shade of course! There were lots of people there because 4 mega ships were in port that day, and remember we had the itinerary change, and that made it even more crowded than usual. We settled in and flagged down a waiter to take our orders. Now the thing that I live for in Cozumel at Paradise Beach is their Shrimp Quesadillas!!! OMG there are big chunks of shrimp melted with the most super spectacular cheese ever between 2 warm tortillas! Yessssssss!!! I get excited just thinking about them, and I’m convinced that these will also be in heaven!!!

 

After we placed our orders, we buried our heads in our devices, because free WiFi at PB. The sky started getting darker and darker. I checked my Weather App and I didn’t see any rain, but the sky was saying something completely different. Maybe around 15 minutes later, the sky opened up and dumped buckets of torrential rain on our safe haven! Our little piece of Paradise was getting soaked! Peeps were scattering and running around like surely they would perish if one drop of rain touched them! Of course I had zero chill, and I was right there scurrying with them! I ducked under a huge canopy with everyone else. What this Mexican rain is NOT going to do, is get me!! No sir, Not today!!

 

It has always been my experience in Cozumel that rain is very brief, and in about 10 minutes, it’s over. This was no exception. Very soon after it started, it stopped. We hesitantly made our way back to our chairs, just in case it was a trick. It wasn’t a trick, the rain was gone, and did not come back during our stay.

 

We got our food after that, so we ate and hung out for a few hours. When we were ready to leave, it took us around 30 minutes to find the server to pay. They were busier than we have ever seen them, so we knew we needed to invoke some extra patience. We took care of our tab, and got a taxi back to the port.

 

Me in Paradise!

 

Me and The Pips in Paradise!

 

 

 

K and T were tired.com, so they went back to the ship immediately. W and I shopped a little first. We have a list of things that we always get in Cozumel, so we went around to the shops in port and got our Cozumel “staples”. We finished up quickly and started the agonizing walk through the Dufry to get back to the ship.

 

Here is where I need to pause for a Public Service Announcement:

Please, please, please, for the love of all things good in cruising, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU GET THROUGH THE LINE AND UP TO THE SECURITY PERSON TO START DIGGING FOR YOUR SHIP CARD AND ID!!!!!

You are holding up the line, and in fact possibly creating an unnecessary line, by not moving to the side to fish through your bags, pockets, stroller, wallet, etc….

That’s all that I have to say about that (In my Forrest Gump voice).

 

Announcement’s over. Keeping it moving!

 

So on through the Dufry we go. We try to sprint through here as fast as possible because it can get really packed in that store.

 

Back at the Port

 

 

We made it back on board the ship a short time later. It was still very empty because sail away was not until 8pm. We walked around and took pictures until it was time to shower for dinner.

 

We met K and T at 7:30. There was no wait and no pager. I had the peach soup, shrimp cocktail and steak tacos. For dessert I had the s'mores parfait. It occurred to me that we haven’t seen the Bacon Mac and Cheese Side Dish on the menu so far. We asked our waiter about it, and he told us the Bacon Mac and Cheese is only served Saturday night. The night that we went to Cucina del Capitano. Only. On. Saturday! W and I were crushed! Our hearts had just been mollywhopped and chicken choked!!! There would be no Bacon Mac and Cheese euphoria for us on this cruise! Say it ain’t so!!!

As hard as it was, we did push forward and got through the best we could.

 

Peach Soup

 

Steak Tacos

 

S'Mores Parfait Perfection!

 

 

After dinner, we went picture shopping, and made our way to the "Guess that 70's and 80's Song Party" with Reverend Dr. E. So much YAY and LOL!!! It was a lot of fun and we got a workout! Dr. E is very funny and he does a great job keeping the crowd engaged!

 

 

When that was over, we went back to our cabin, and got ready for bed. I said a prayer thanking God for saving K in the elevator, for those Shrimp Quesadillas at Paradise Beach, and for the fact that W and I were sailing on the Magic again in Oct, so we will be able to get our Bacon Mac and Cheese then! All was not lost!

 

Deuces and Smooches!!!

[willdra]

[emoji1303]

 

 

❤️[emoji7]❤️

 

 

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[willdra]

Thanks for the great review!

 

 

Thank you for calling it great! [emoji2]

 

 

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[willdra]

Love your review we have large family group going on the Magic in April. We can't wait.

 

 

I know you must be excited! I love it when we travel with the fam! There are more memories and laughter! [emoji28][emoji23][emoji4]

 

 

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[Time2CruiseAgain]

Totally loving your review! We will be on board the Magic in 42 days!!! CANT WAIT!! Did you, by chance go to the club or the piano bar?

[Namelocg]

Absolutely awesome review. Can't wait for more. Keep the laughs comimg.

[Jamman54]

Really loving your review. We can't wait to sail on the Magic for the first time next year :D

[dna529]

Love your review. You're cracking me up! We might sail the Magic in December.

[willdra]

W and I got up at 7:45 and went to breakfast. There were no real lines, so this was a good time to go. I must've gotten my french toast that morning, because I didn't mention it in my notes! After breakfast, we still had lots of time to get to the lounge for the tour.

 

When it was time, we went down to deck 3 to the Theater. Holy Smokes Batman! The line to get into the Theater was wrapped around the lobby and all the way back to Guest Services. We have never experienced this before, so we made sure that we were in the right place. The way his attitude is setup, W is not going to stand in an unnecessary line not even for a second. We checked and Yep, this is the line to get into the Theater for Carnival’s excursions. It was around 9:15 when we got into the line, and around 9:35 when we made it into Theater. Once we got to the door of the Theater we saw why this was a line from-you-know-where! They had tables setup right at the door, and you had to find your excursion sheet on the table, then get your stickers, then you could go find a seat and wait.

 

Um, excuse me but who’s idea was this? Can I speak to the Manager??

 

I started to wonder if there was someone sitting in an office somewhere going: “Now how can I guarantee to make this as confusing and difficult as possible?” Or maybe the peeps in charge of this stuff don’t realize that when we are on vacay, we shouldn’t be required to do a whole lot of critical thinking and looking for stuff! In the morning. Before cocktails. They were really asking too much of us!

 

It took me and ALL of the Pips hunting for our excursion sheet for a few minutes until we found it, and we are not unintelligent people. At least I don’t think we are. Maybe. Sometimes.

 

Next to find a seat in the theater………… Okkkkkkkkkk

Oh yes up there all the way in the front was a space just barely big enough for our group.

Sweet!

 

So I mentioned before that we got into the Theater at 9:30 ish. We waited in there until our group was called at around 10:30. Ya’ll know by now that W is not just bursting with patience, so I was silently praying that he didn’t lose it waiting that long. It could get ugly, and I wasn’t about that life today. It was too early to be angry! No worries though, he played a game on his phone while we waited so he didn’t notice the time.

 

We took the tender into Belize with our group and we stayed together as they led us to a spot to wait for our bus. Hmmmm more waiting. Okee Dokee!

 

Oh well, at least we were waiting right in front of the restrooms because W and T had to go. W will be 50 next year, so I guess his bladder is transitioning now. Anywho, our tour bus finally came thru and we got going around 11:30. It took us 50 minutes to get to Bacab. The bus driver talked and gave us lots of information on Belize along the way. At the risk of sounding snobbish, we have all been to Belize lots of times before, so we were pretty familiar with the city. W took a nap on the way. I guess all of that waiting and being on vacation made him sleepy.

 

So we make it to Bacab and I will admit at first, I almost didn't want to exit the bus. This looks NOTHING like the pictures! I was about to hit my wall slide and quiet corner cry. This is NOT what I signed up for!

 

Once I realized that I was alone in my apprehension, I had to man up and keep it moving. We joined our hostess for the day at the Information Center and she gave us our instructions. Then we took about a ¼ mile walk to the pool area. Right before you get to the pool area there is a crude man made looking bridge that you have to walk over. I immediately start looking at W, K, and T to see if they were thinking what I was thinking, but their faces were blank. Oh, so we are just going to ignore the fact that we could be taking the walk of doom right at this very minute?? Yep!

So I said a silent prayer for our safety and took my rightful place on Team Bad Decisions!!

 

Let me say here that once you get to the pool area, it does look like the pictures. It was a nice area to spend the day. Maybe not the best that we've seen, but definitely not the worst.

 

We were told to meet back up in the Information Hut at 3:30. Then we were released to enjoy the facilities. We found a nice table and chairs and a couple of loungers that we could maneuver into the shade and setup base camp. I set my alarm for 3, so we wouldn't be late getting back.

 

Lunch was included with fruit punch or water. You could also rent mosquito spray and lockers for the day. Rent. Mosquito. Spray.!

Where they do that at??? SMH I don't even want to know how that works!

 

Pool area at Bacab

 

The slide and waterfall

 

 

They had a full size bar with other food and drink options as well.

After we got food, I laid around and read, W got into the pool, and K and T tried to use the free, ancient, turtle slow WiFi until it was time to go.

 

I had to make water so I went over to the bathroom. These bathrooms were kinda dark and scary ya’ll! I actually went in one stall, then jumped out and chose another one. I couldn't see a thing in that first stall and I had a quick vision of a huge man eating snake just chilling in there waiting for its next victim! Uh uh it won’t be me! Today is NOT the day for that!

 

 

We were ready to go at around 2:50 but we waited to take the walk of doom back over that bridge until 3. That bridge was super scary and I kept thinking of any of the bridges in an Indiana Jones movie. You know the ones that fall apart with every step Indy takes??? Yes those!!

 

The ride back to the terminal was pretty uneventful, and soon enough we were back in port.

 

At the port, K and T were overit.com, so they got in the tender line to head back. W and I went through a few shops then joined the longggggggg line to tender also. Those tenders hold a lot of passengers because we were actually on the same tender as K and T, but we were downstairs.

 

When we got back on the ship, we dropped off our bags then ran up to Guy's. We went back to the cabin to chill before dinner.

 

There was no line or wait for dinner which was good. I had fried shrimp as an appetizer, lasagna for my entrée, and buttered popcorn pot de creme for dessert. This was actually our first night catching the waiter’s “Showtime”. They danced to "Happy", and it was a lot of fun.

 

Fried Shrimp

 

Buttered Popcorn Pot de Creme

 

Lasagna

 

 

After dinner W, T, and K went off to play shuffleboard. I went back to the cabin. When W got back, it was lights out!

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God for not letting us die on that bridge, for not dying in that bathroom either, and that there are still a few years until I turn 50!

 

Peace!

[gotscrapz]

Loving your review so much!

I know you'd be so much fun to cruise with - I'm sailing on her August 6th,

maybe you should come back and cruise then too:D

[MamaB2B]

:( we're already on day 6! Your review end will be as sad as a cruise end. Thank you so much for such an amazing, entertaining review. We need more people like you in the world! I didn't know I could get more excited about the cruise but you've elevated my excitement!

[pcvtmom]

You are HILARIOUS! What a great review (and attitude!)!

[mscreneet]

Lmbo at the transitioning bladder omg your review gave me life this morning.

[EZcruiserfamily]

Thank you for writing your review! I see a few of your readers will be with me on the Magic on Sept. 24, and you have got me that much more excited to get on board!!

[dtess71]

This is the best review EVER!! A lot of people would be dissing Carnival, Magic, etc for the mishaps, but you just take it in stride- so refreshing! "What?? No bacon mac & cheese?? I'm never sailing Carnival again!!" Lol!!! Thank you for taking the time to write this review and put a smile on our faces! What drinks did you try??