Pirate's "MAGIC"al Halloween Cruise Review

[pirate4me2]

Alright that is it for tonight! I have got to go to work in the morning, I will try and post at least Grand Turk's chapter tomorrow evening. Night all!

[christinalvt]

Im really enjoying your review! Sorry about your shoulder and getting sick. One of us always seems to get sick on cruises, usually due to the food not being what we're used to eating. I'm thinking of the Magic for next September so this is great research! Did you try the Southern Comfort Kitchen or the Guy's Pig & Anchor BBQ? Dying to hear how those restaurants are, we're so looking forward to them.

 

Christina

 

 

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[pirate4me2]

Im really enjoying your review! Sorry about your shoulder and getting sick. One of us always seems to get sick on cruises, usually due to the food not being what we're used to eating. I'm thinking of the Magic for next September so this is great research! Did you try the Southern Comfort Kitchen or the Guy's Pig & Anchor BBQ? Dying to hear how those restaurants are, we're so looking forward to them.

 

Christina

 

 

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Hi Christina!

 

Thanks for reading my review. :) I can't say that Chris or I ever tried the Southern Comfort Kitchen, is that in the Lido buffet area? Chris did try the Pig & Anchor BBQ on the last sea day for lunch and he said that it was really good, much better then the Sea Day BBQ he had on the Breeze a few years ago. The lines for that seemed to be either really long or really short, depending on when you went by.

 

I hope that whatever cruise you choose you have a great time!

[TrqoisWtrs]

Great review so far! Sorry to hear about your shoulder. I slipped on the tiles once in the bathroom when we were on vacation in a rental house. I didn't fall all the way down, but I fell against the door and pushed the knob through the drywall behind it! omg, luckily DH is handy with that stuff and told the owner if he brought the supplies DH would fix it. But the owner was cool and said not to worry about it. :p

 

Looking forward to more.

[dna529]

Great review! We are from NC also. We will be on the Magic for Christmas! What is in the Twilight Zone drink? It looked awesome!

 

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[lagienomai]

Just realized that I was on the Godfrey tour with you guys. We sat in the back with the three kids and went to Coki. I agree that the tour wasn't bad but wasn't the best. I think the weather ruined a lot of it. Next time I will probably just spend the day at Coki. I am glad I got to hear of an experience in Amber Cove. I wanted to do an excursion but we stayed in port.

[lelder1]

Awesome review! I have been waiting for a great review of Magic! Thank you!. Just confirming some things you wrote - there was a sit down breakfast on the days you docked late (St. Thomas)? We are docking late there too in April so it would be great to have real breakfast and not just the buffet. Also, did you say the Laundromat allowed you to pay for everything with your sail and sign card? So no quarters needed? Thanks again!

[Crusin Karen]

Really great review! I think we were on the Pride with you in March. The Journeys cruise??? Sorry about your shoulder and your cold/flu. SUPER STINKS when that happens on a vacation. I always have something happen on the last day....can't complain about that lol. Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. (and for giving me a diversion from tv/election analysis! :eek:)

[pirate4me2]

Great review so far! Sorry to hear about your shoulder. I slipped on the tiles once in the bathroom when we were on vacation in a rental house. I didn't fall all the way down, but I fell against the door and pushed the knob through the drywall behind it! omg, luckily DH is handy with that stuff and told the owner if he brought the supplies DH would fix it. But the owner was cool and said not to worry about it. [emoji14]

Looking forward to more.

Wow I'm glad you are ok and the landlord was cool about that! I never thought of tiles getting so slick, but dang they do! I think bathroom tile should have some kind of non slick surface to prevent accidents like ours.

Great review! We are from NC also. We will be on the Magic for Christmas! What is in the Twilight Zone drink? It looked awesome!

 

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I'm honestly not sure what's in the Twilight Zone! Ha-ha, is that bad?? It reminds me of a Pina Colada with Blue Curacao in it. It's really, really good!! I read about it on these boards and saw one on my Victory cruise, and I was feeling brave and decided to try it. I'm in love with that drink now!!

Just realized that I was on the Godfrey tour with you guys. We sat in the back with the three kids and went to Coki. I agree that the tour wasn't bad but wasn't the best. I think the weather ruined a lot of it. Next time I will probably just spend the day at Coki. I am glad I got to hear of an experience in Amber Cove. I wanted to do an excursion but we stayed in port.

I'm glad it isn't just me that felt that way about the tour. I was hoping that the rough start and my not feeling good wasn't clouding my experience. I really wanted to have an open mind about it, and the fact that you felt the same way makes me feel better!

 

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[pirate4me2]

Awesome review! I have been waiting for a great review of Magic! Thank you!. Just confirming some things you wrote - there was a sit down breakfast on the days you docked late (St. Thomas)? We are docking late there too in April so it would be great to have real breakfast and not just the buffet. Also, did you say the Laundromat allowed you to pay for everything with your sail and sign card? So no quarters needed? Thanks again!

Hey, thanks for reading along! Yes, the laundromat allowed you to use your sail and sign card for everything. I loved that! And yes, there was a sit down breakfast each port day in the MDR. The menu offered things like omelets, eggs Benedict, bagels, cereal, pastries, yogurt, fruit, sausage links, hashbrowns, bacon...a pretty decent selection, and much nicer than the buffet!

Really great review! I think we were on the Pride with you in March. The Journeys cruise??? Sorry about your shoulder and your cold/flu. SUPER STINKS when that happens on a vacation. I always have something happen on the last day....can't complain about that lol. Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. (and for giving me a diversion from tv/election analysis! :eek:)

Hey, yes, you were on the Journeys cruise with me! That was an awesome sailing, I want to do another one so bad! Maybe not 14 days, 9 or 10 would be good for me. I loved all the new islands!!

 

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[Crusin Karen]

Hey, yes, you were on the Journeys cruise with me! That was an awesome sailing, I want to do another one so bad! Maybe not 14 days, 9 or 10 would be good for me. I loved all the new islands!!

 

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Yea, St. Lucia was my favorite. I have ALWAYS wanted to go there to the point I was afraid once I got there it would be a "letdown" but it was awesome and everything I thought it would be. We did Spencer Ambrose excursion and it was the highlight of the 2 weeks. Thinking about the Journeys cruise on Pride in January, 2018 but don't know if I can wait that long to cruise again! :confused::rolleyes:

[pirate4me2]

Hey, yes, you were on the Journeys cruise with me! That was an awesome sailing, I want to do another one so bad! Maybe not 14 days, 9 or 10 would be good for me. I loved all the new islands!!

 

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Yea, St. Lucia was my favorite. I have ALWAYS wanted to go there to the point I was afraid once I got there it would be a "letdown" but it was awesome and everything I thought it would be. We did Spencer Ambrose excursion and it was the highlight of the 2 weeks. Thinking about the Journeys cruise on Pride in January, 2018 but don't know if I can wait that long to cruise again! :confused::rolleyes:

We did a catamaran cruise to the Pitons in St Lucia, that was pretty cool. I loved it.

I was actually eyeing the Miracle's partial transit of the Panama Canal in December 2018 that was mentioned in a press release about Miracle coming to Tampa and Splendor going out west. It's another 14 day, but I've always said a Panama Canal cruise would be on my bucket list! I need to do some number crunching to see if I could have enough PTO for that, as well as if we can afford that as well as the Dream cruise we have booked for March of that year.

 

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[christinalvt]

Hi Christina!

 

 

 

Thanks for reading my review. :) I can't say that Chris or I ever tried the Southern Comfort Kitchen, is that in the Lido buffet area? Chris did try the Pig & Anchor BBQ on the last sea day for lunch and he said that it was really good, much better then the Sea Day BBQ he had on the Breeze a few years ago. The lines for that seemed to be either really long or really short, depending on when you went by.

 

 

 

I hope that whatever cruise you choose you have a great time!

 

 

Im sorry, its not called Southern Comfort Kitchen, just Comfort Kitchen, and I think it may just be a section of the Lido. Its listed as new on certain ships on the Carnival web site, so i was looking forward to it. Glad your hubby liked Pig & Anchor.

 

 

 

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[pirate4me2]

Who's ready for some Grand Turk?? This is my favorite island to sail to...the beautiful clear water, Jack's Shack, the laid back atmosphere...I love it!

 

I woke up today at 9 feeling pretty rough, and Chris and I opted to order room service for breakfast. I absolutely love a Carnival BLT in the morning.

 

To go with that wonderful BLT, and since I am totally weird, I also got a Caesar salad. Maybe it was because it was only 9:30 in the morning, or maybe it was my cold, but the salad was just OK tasting.

 

And any time that I order room service, I also have to order...COOKIES!!!!!

 

After eating my very non-traditional breakfast, I got dressed and Chris and I headed down to the atrium to watch 60 Seconds or Less. The contestants had to suck up ping pong balls with a straw from one cup and deposit them into another cup. It was quite entertaining to watch.

 

 

[pirate4me2]

While we were watching 60 Seconds or Less, I ordered a Bluemoon martini from the atrium bar.

 

Um....bartender, I think you forgot something...

 

Ahhh, there it is!

 

The drink was STRONG. I sipped on it, and then we walked around a little bit since we weren't cleared to disembark quite yet.

 

What's this? Looks like we have company in Grand Turk today. Another whale tail!

 

Who else loves this beautiful, clear water?

 

Chris and I decided to eat some lunch before disembarking. I went for another Blue Iguana taco salad, and I think he had a burger...or pizza....I don't really remember. I wasn't feeling good at all, but I was determined to get off the ship in my happy place!

 

After we ate, we headed off the ship.

 

It's Glory with us again today!

 

We walked on down to Jack's Shack, and we paid $10 to have an umbrella with 2 chairs. For those who want to know, chairs are free at Jack's, but you have to pay for an umbrella. Chris tends to burn pretty easily, so I figured the umbrella would be a good investment.

 

My view from under our umbrella

[pirate4me2]

Topher was up to his usual antics today.

 

 

 

It was about 1:30, and Chris and I decided to get into the water. Chris waded right in and ended up staying in the water almost the entire time we were off the ship. I got in, but I got chilled pretty quickly. I don't know if it was my being sick or what....I had sweated on the walk down to Jack's, and the water felt good for a bit, but then I was cold. I went and laid on the lounger with my towel covering me like a blanket for a bit. I felt like I was wasting my time in paradise and my chance to be in that lovely water though, so I waded back out for a few minutes. Again I got chilled to the point that my teeth were chattering, so I got out. Chris got out with me and we decided to order our favorites off the menu at Jack's: jerk chicken for him (he looks forward to this every time we cruise to Grand Turk!) and a Reef Recker drink for me with conch fritters. Our drinks were brought out pretty quickly, and we sat and sipped on them while we waited for our food.

 

After about 10 minutes our order came, and when the food was set in front me I knew I was in trouble. I love my conch fritters, and I had been so looking forward to them this whole trip. However, the smell of them set my stomach into motion. Chris dug into his chicken, and I sat there for a few minutes glaring at my fritters. My stomach settled down, and I ate one slowly. They tasted like they always do, amazing. I slowly started to nibble on another one, and then one of the dogs came over and I decided to share with it. When I went to bite into the third fritter, I realized that I was making a mistake, my stomach was not having it today. I ended up feeding the rest of my conch fritters to the dogs. :( Also, I am sorry to say, with my upset stomach I completely forgot to take pics of my delicious drink and the yummy fritters and jerk chicken. Sorry....blame it on this cold that has been ruining my vacation!

 

I told Chris that I was feeling pretty ill and I didn't think I should stay off the ship anymore. My stomach was jumping around like crazy, I was sweaty, and I felt weak. It was about 4, and back on board was 5:30. I told Chris to go ahead and walk around the shops, and I went back to the room. I showered, got into my pajamas, and crawled into bed. When he got back to the room he asked how I was and what my plans were. I told him that I was going to stay put for the rest of the evening, and I told him to go have fun out and around the ship. He cleaned up and decided to go to the dining room for dinner, and I watched Big Bang Theory on TV, along with some other shows that I honestly don't remember what they were. When Chris came back from dinner, he told me that Minnie and Melinda (our servers) had kept him company all thru his dinner so that he didn't feel lonely. They stopped and talked with him and made sure that he always had company. It warmed my heart to know that they went out of their way, even though I am sure they were busy, to make sure he had a good dinner.

 

It was an early night for me, I am not sure what Chris was up to for the rest of the evening. :eek: I went to sleep with hopes of feeling better in the morning. It was our last day onboard, and I wanted to have some fun!

[pirate4me2]

I woke up at 9:30 today, and although I was still congested, the nausea was gone. THANK GOODNESS!!! I was super duper hungry, so Chris and I headed to the Sea Day Brunch to get some grub.

 

I started off with a Caesar salad with jerk bacon. YUM!!

 

Chris got the Caesar salad with chicken.

 

For my main, I got...you guessed it, eggs benedict with no meat. Yummy!

 

Following brunch, I made a pit stop by Guest Services. I wanted to add some gratuities to our room steward and dining staff as they had been outstanding this week. Seriously....our room steward (I wish I could remember his name!!) was so sweet, he always called us by name and asked us how we were doing, how was our day, what did we do, was our room OK, did we need anything, etc. I know he was busy with a lot of cabins, but he was always so nice and talkative and always smiling. He also always gave us fresh ice, twice a day, even though I never asked for it and did not need it. He deserved some extra. Minnie and Melinda were also outstanding, and after they went out of their way to make Chris's meal the night before more enjoyable since I wasn't there I felt they deserved some more. They didn't have to carry on conversation with him and add that extra workload to their already hectic dinner service, they could have just took his order and did the bare minimum necessary to get by.

 

Anyway....back to Guest Services...it was INSANE! I was so greatful to have FTTF for this purpose! I was able to get in line and I only had to wait maybe 3 minutes before the next available associate called me over. The regular line was probably 15 people deep....crazy! I did what I needed to do and went on my merry way, right up to the spa. :)

 

I spent some time in the T-pool (gosh how I was going to miss this!) and then went and laid in the tepid room on one of those comfy heated tile loungers. I laid there until about 1:30 just relaxing and enjoying my last day at sea. I honestly never would have pegged myself to be a spa girl, but I enjoyed the experience this week!

[pirate4me2]

Chris wanted to try his hand at the ropes course, so we headed up to the sports deck for him to do that. He tried to get me to try it as well, as I had said I wanted to do that when we talked about sailing on the Magic. I told him it probably wouldn't be a good idea for me to do that today though. I was still feeling pretty weak, and with my congestion I was slightly dizzy. I also have a major fear of heights, and add that to my illness and I just didn't feel it was a wise idea to attempt the course today. I told him next July when we are on the Magic with our friends I will give it a go.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris said that the course was pretty easy...but then again, he is trained for high angle ropes rescues for his job back home. :rolleyes:

 

For his successful completion of the ropes course, Chris got ice cream.

[pirate4me2]

We went back to the cabin to pack, and then at 4:15 we went to the Play It Again piano bar for the Q & Awesome with Dr. E. He spent about 45 minutes answering people's questions about himself, ship life, and whatever anyone would ask him. He seems like a pretty cool guy.

 

I took my free drink coupon to the Red Frog Pub after the Q&A to get another one of my favorite Carnival drinks...the Caribbean Colada.

 

A balloon drop was scheduled to happen at 9:30 tonight. Chris and I walked by the area on deck 10 and they had a table set up where you got a slip of paper, wrote your "magical moment of the cruise" on it, put it in the balloon, and blew the balloon up, then threw it in the net.

 

 

 

My balloon....hey, I am an animal person, what can I say??

 

At 5:45 Chris was hungry, and I was kind of beginning to get there too, so we headed to the MDR for dinner. Minnie and Melinda asked me how I was today, and they told me they "took good care of Chris last night. He wasn't lonely." I thanked them for that, and we exchanged email addresses as Minnie said that she may be back on Magic when we are there next July. :)

[pirate4me2]

To start off with tonight, Chris ordered the BBQ chicken flatbread. He said it was good except for all the mushrooms on it.

 

I ordered the caprese salad, and it was wonderful.

 

Chris ordered the prime rib. This was taken before they brought the sauce or the toppings for the potato.

 

I got the cornmeal crusted chicken, which was excellent!

 

I also wanted a side of the whipped potatoes. Mmmmmm!

[pirate4me2]

I didn't have any room for dessert after dinner, and neither did Chris. Minnie seemed a little concerned, but we just told her that we were both stuffed, and thank you for the excellent service. We hugged her, and then headed for a walk around the ship. It was only 6:30, so we had some time to kill before the 7:30 comedy show. I forget where all we walked around, but when the time came we went and saw Dale Jones's comedy and he was pretty good. We then went and walked the upper decks for a bit, and went back down to the atrium to watch the dancing going on. At 9:30, Dr E came out for the farewell "Magic Moment."

 

 

The Captain also made an appearance

 

Then, this happened.

 

 

 

 

It was a party, with balloons being popped everywhere, a giant balloon train being tossed around, and people cheering. It was a great celebration to end the cruise.

 

After all the fanfair died down, we headed back to the room to finish packing, and then I decided to order dessert from room service....along with 1 last BLT. Haha. I got the BLT, and I decided to try the chocolate cake on the menu. OMG! It was great!!! I forgot a pic of it, but take my word....it was incredible! The perfect ending to a good day.

[pirate4me2]

Ugh, the dreaded time has finally come....we are being kicked off the ship. :(:mad:

 

With FTTF we got a letter saying that if we were doing the self assist option (taking our luggage off ourselves) we were to meet in the show lounge right after we arrived in port for priority disembarking. Chris and I got up at 7 and went down to the show lounge at 7:20, and people were already getting off the ship. We got in line, and with 10 minutes we were off the ship. Another 5 minutes and we were thru customs. Port Canaveral is efficient! :eek:

 

The shuttle to take us back to the Radisson was already there and waiting for us, and within a few minutes we had a shuttle full of us ready to head back. The ride to the hotel was quick, and the driver dropped us and our luggage off right there in the parking lot. Chris and I wheeled our luggage to Red (my truck) and were on the road back home by 8.

 

All in all, even though I was sick for most of the trip, the cruise was enjoyable. There were some areas that Magic kind of let me down...the entertainment wasn't as good as some past cruises we have had. They are in the middle of switching over production shows, so I understand why that area was weak this cruise. The weather also kind of put a damper on things, but hey, that is no fault of Carnival's. Our two Carnival excursions that we chose for this cruise were the best we have ever chosen, so in that area I have no complaints whatsoever. The service on Magic was great as well. I look forward to being back onboard her next year to experience all the things that I missed this time around!

 

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. I will do my best to answer them. Thanks to everyone who has followed along and read this!

[SKosto]

Quick question, has the blue iguana always had taco salads, and I've just missed it? I've been on two different ships with the cantina and I've never see it on the menu before. Its just funny because I was reading your review with my girlfriend and she saw the salad and her eyes lit up with joy haha.

[pirate4me2]

Quick question, has the blue iguana always had taco salads, and I've just missed it? I've been on two different ships with the cantina and I've never see it on the menu before. Its just funny because I was reading your review with my girlfriend and she saw the salad and her eyes lit up with joy haha.

 

I believe it is new, and it's not on the menu but I saw the shells sitting there and asked for one. It seemed like most people were getting their food in one, I think they are really popular!! This was the 5th ship I have been on with BI and the first time I've seen them.

 

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[Micahs Grandad]

Thanks so much for your review, our turn is Sat.:)