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Just of the Magic - Eastern Caribbean

thall17

By thall17,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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thall17

thall17

Posted
Posted

Family of 6 - 4 boys 17,13,9 and 6

2 Adjoining balconies deck 9 aft

Port Canaveral

Amber Cove

ST. Thomas

San Juan

Grand Turk

 

Port Canaveral was very nice, clean and organized. We had Faster To The Fun so getting on board was a breeze.

 

Once on board we hiked to our rooms which were ready as well as our luggage.

 

Rooms were what we expected, it was nice having the adjoing balconies. Wife, my 6yr old and I in 1 cabin and my 17,13 and 9 in the other. Beds were very comfortable and I was pleasantly surprised at the shower pressure..better then most hotels!

 

Room temperature could have been colder though we did sleep under the covers most nights. Some of the best sleep I have had in awhile!

 

Rooms were serviced twice a day, morning and night. The room steward was attentive and friendly as well as most staff. Not over the top but never really saw anyone not liking their job.

 

The ship is huge, took us several days to find everything and had to consult the "you are here map" several times.

 

The ship was clean and well taken care of. Workers were always cleaning something.

 

The pools are small though never too crowded to get wet. The water park was very good, specially the spray area. Hot tubs were crowded at times.

 

The food was above average and could always find something for everyone. We did the steakhouse one night and while it was very good, I wouldn't spend the $200 again as the food in the MDR is plenty good as well as the buffet.

 

Guys burgers are some of the best we have had and the pizza was tasty.

 

The ice cream machines are the hardest working things on the ship and it shows...

 

I being a heavy soda drinker purchased the bottomless bubbles and honestly with the ability to bring on soda and the lemonade there was really no value in it. The bar tenders rather service the drinkers then the soda people and it showed. The bar service in the MDR was bad, took forever to get a drink and forget about a 2nd....

 

Overall a great vacation and even with the cruise being sold out, really never waited too long in any lines...

 

Some notes:

Faster to the Fun -worth every penny if only used to bypass line at guest services

 

Bottomless Bubbles - not worth it, bring your own

 

Steak House - Very good, not for my family at $200

 

Shoes for deck are a must as it gets VERY HOT

 

No need to bring towels

 

DO NOT OVER PACK - we took advantage of the $15 bag of laundry...great!

 

DR. E is FANTASTIC

 

Carnival is definitely the younger party crowd.

 

We had an awesome time!

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ryano

ryano

Posted
Posted (edited)

Great review of Magic. I agree 100% with everything you said pretty much. I found the steakhouse to be very much worth the upcharge but I was only paying for myself. NOT a family of 6! :eek::D

 

The good Reverend Dr E is an outstanding CD.

Edited by ryano
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Drazil65

Drazil65

Posted
Posted (edited)

We love this itinerary (did it in January on the Valor), we are doing it again on the Magic in December (weather pretty near perfect for this itinerary in Dec & Jan). We are in a balcony mid ship and are looking forward to our first trip on the Magic.

 

Totally agree with your FTTF notations, we have had it for our last 5 trips and again in December, we love it!

 

Thank you for the review and on behalf of DS, did you happen to see where the location of the giant chess board is? Can find pix of the chess board on the Breeze but looking for direct location on Magic?

 

Thank you and cannot wait for more and hopefully some pictures of your trip :D,,,

Edited by Drazil65
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simplelife

simplelife

Posted
Posted

We did this same sailing in late July and I agree with your opinions. Though Lido and Serenity hot tubs were often crowded, the ones on the Lanai deck were not. Loved the lanai deck and spent a good deal of our time there. Quiet and shadier/cooler than Serenity.

We have found bar service to be slow in MDR on most cruisers. We get a drink in a bar just before dinner and bring it in wth us, then if we want a second drink we order it the first time the server come around.

Magic is a great ship with plenty of interesting places to explore.

On the Amber Cove stop we stayed on the ship most of the day and had the aft pool to ourselves all morning. After disembarking and seeing the nice but very crowded pool area we reboarded and sat by the uncrowded pool area on the ship rather than the hot and crowded on on shore.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Jenn1974

Jenn1974

Posted
Posted
Family of 6 - 4 boys 17,13,9 and 6

2 Adjoining balconies deck 9 aft

Port Canaveral

Amber Cove

ST. Thomas

San Juan

Grand Turk

 

Port Canaveral was very nice, clean and organized. We had Faster To The Fun so getting on board was a breeze.

 

Once on board we hiked to our rooms which were ready as well as our luggage.

 

Rooms were what we expected, it was nice having the adjoing balconies. Wife, my 6yr old and I in 1 cabin and my 17,13 and 9 in the other. Beds were very comfortable and I was pleasantly surprised at the shower pressure..better then most hotels!

 

Room temperature could have been colder though we did sleep under the covers most nights. Some of the best sleep I have had in awhile!

 

Rooms were serviced twice a day, morning and night. The room steward was attentive and friendly as well as most staff. Not over the top but never really saw anyone not liking their job.

 

The ship is huge, took us several days to find everything and had to consult the "you are here map" several times.

 

The ship was clean and well taken care of. Workers were always cleaning something.

 

The pools are small though never too crowded to get wet. The water park was very good, specially the spray area. Hot tubs were crowded at times.

 

The food was above average and could always find something for everyone. We did the steakhouse one night and while it was very good, I wouldn't spend the $200 again as the food in the MDR is plenty good as well as the buffet.

 

Guys burgers are some of the best we have had and the pizza was tasty.

 

The ice cream machines are the hardest working things on the ship and it shows...

 

I being a heavy soda drinker purchased the bottomless bubbles and honestly with the ability to bring on soda and the lemonade there was really no value in it. The bar tenders rather service the drinkers then the soda people and it showed. The bar service in the MDR was bad, took forever to get a drink and forget about a 2nd....

 

Overall a great vacation and even with the cruise being sold out, really never waited too long in any lines...

 

Some notes:

Faster to the Fun -worth every penny if only used to bypass line at guest services

 

Bottomless Bubbles - not worth it, bring your own

 

Steak House - Very good, not for my family at $200

 

Shoes for deck are a must as it gets VERY HOT

 

No need to bring towels

 

DO NOT OVER PACK - we took advantage of the $15 bag of laundry...great!

 

DR. E is FANTASTIC

 

Carnival is definitely the younger party crowd.

 

We had an awesome time!

 

Did you find there was enough to do to keep the 17 year old entertained? I will be traveling with my 18 year old son and his friend this coming June and I sure hope they arent bored.

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thall1719

thall1719

Posted
Posted

Hope to answer most of your questions:

 

Amber Cove - Ocean World - Nice, friendly a little small....

ST Thomas - Sea Turtle Snorkel on Castawaygirl via carnival -AWESOME!!

San Juan - Walked the fort - could of easily stayed on board

Grand Turk - Just did the beach by Jack's Shack - AMAZING!!! Margartiaville pool WAY crowded and just a drunk fest...should have stayed longer at Jack's Shack!

 

My 17 year old loved watching all the activities and I think if he had a friend along he would have joined in. Loved every minute of it, never bored...with a friend, they will have the time of their lives.

 

Boys did not take advantage of kids club, 17yr old went one night and was the oldest there and felt awkward.

 

Chess board is near splash pad on deck 10

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