Carnival Magic April 22-29 2017 Review with pics

[Mrs.C05]

Went to the room and watch a movie...... Hmmmmmmmm TMI.............

 

We were watching the movies they were playing on TV.:rolleyes:

[Mrs.C05]

Day 3: St. Thomas

 

We pulled into port right on time, and NCL Escape was in front of us. Before grabbing a taxi for our excursion, I stopped in a store to find shoes, but no luck. When we were here like 5 years ago, I found sound reef sandals I really liked. Eventually they wore out, and tossed them. I have always looked since but no luck.

 

 

 

 

 

Excursion:We have a day pass to Resort a Day with Marriot Morningstar Beach. It was a bit of a task getting a taxi and then to the correct place, but we eventually got there at 1pm. We grabbed some chairs with an umbrella and Ethan started playing in the sand eventually. Our package came with $100 total in drinks, so the bartender Jarrett kept a tally for us. We could order whatever we wanted but food was not included. I had 4 drinks (1 painkiller, 1 “Coconut Madness/Lime”can’t remember what he called it, 2 bud lights), Tommy had 2 rum punches and 2 sprites, and Ethan had 2 bottled waters. All of it came to $98. Not too bad of a deal in my opinion. We walked along the beach getting pictures after the rain passed. It was a quick rain shower that quickly went on by. We packed up around 4pm to head back to the ship. They called us a taxi and we were back on board with no problems.

 

View from the Marriott which is on the point coming in to St. Thomas. This wasn't actually where we ended up. They shuttled us down to another part of their hotel.

 

 

 

We were actually down further....

 

 

Chairs and umbrella's were included in the price of our resort ticket.

 

 

 

Continued......

[Mrs.C05]

We walked down to the end to see what's there to see.....

 

We all grabbed showers before going to dinner in the MDR. Ethan had a pepperoni pizza which came out very quickly (probably because we were still in port) and Tommy and I had the minestrone milanese soup, I had the shrimp curry for the entrée, and Tommy had the southern fried chicken. All ofit was pretty good. Ethan danced with our waiter, Wi tonight. Afterwards Ethan was asking to go to Camp Ocean so we dropped him off and went to the casino.The craps table was dead and cold every time we went. We got Ethan at 8pm and went back to the room. Tommy and Ethan started watching a movie, and we didn’t turn the lights out until 10pm.

 

Here is my favorite picture that I finally got after so many cruises.....

[chilly1470]

So I realized I haven't even done my review of the Carnival Magic we did back in April 2017.

 

Going back and looking at my previous reviews, I see photobucket is making you pay $400 which is absolutely ridiculous, to allow 3rd party hosting :mad:.

 

I could do my review from my phone and upload photos which will allow me to do so, but from my phone may take a good while.

 

Bare with me while I figure out which site to upload photos to and get them on here. Right now I have Google photos so I may just use that if I can figure out how/if it'll post here.

 

$400?? are you sure that is right? If so, screw them, that is ridiculous.

[chilly1470]

My all time favorite pic of my and DH

You guys look great and very happy!

[Mrs.C05]

San Juan is going to be a busy day and A LOT of pictures. We decided early on to book an island tour since we haven't done anything in this port before. We have departed on a cruise from here twice, and stopped here for a port of call here twice as well, doing "nothing" except walk around by the port. This time we did a private tour with Island Marketing Tours. It kinda stars off rough, but in the end it was perfect and we'd definitely do it again.

[Mrs.C05]

$400?? are you sure that is right? If so, screw them, that is ridiculous.

 

Yep!!!! Well I mean it's $40/month or $400 annually. I am not sure what it would cost to cancel it after 1 month, but if other places offer free uploading, etc. then why pay? The "Plus 500" is the only one that allows 3rd party hosting. If I am misreading it, then someone please tell me. I'm pretty savvy on the computer but I'm not a computer nerd to know the ins-and-outs, etc.

 

[Clarasgrandma]

Will be doing this cruise in 196 days!

[Bernardo62]

We were watching the movies they were playing on TV.:rolleyes:

Lol...... if you say so!!!

;)

[Clarea]

Enjoying the review and great photos.:)

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

Thanks for the review! You have an adorable family.

[NTYCING28]

Great review!

[Mrs.C05]

Sorry to leave ya'll hanging.....

 

Back to Day 4: San Juan, Puerto Rico

We arrive in San Juan Puerto Rico at 8am and we have a private tour with someone. It’s called “Old San Juan Fortress Tour” which I believe is 3-4hrs. We booked this a while ago after searching around for tours.It wasn’t too much more more for a private tour, so we decided to go with that. We have to be at the meeting place at 8:45am which is right across the port at the Sheraton Hotel/Walgreens. Since we’re on US Time, I’ll call him once we arrive and walk down. I am hoping we see a Starbucks because the coffee on the ship is gross!

 

 

 

And I hear angels sing..... *aaahhhhhh*.....

 

We arrive in San Juan right at 8am and get off by 8:15am. We find a Starbucks which is about 3 blocks up past the Sheraton. Right at 9am our guide Anthony shows up and it’s a large passenger van for the 3 of us. He took us around town for a solid 4hrs. We stopped many places, went to 2 forts, a beach and spotted a pirate that walks around town. Good eyes Mommy! ;p Once we were done it was right at 1:30pm but we were tired so we hopped back on the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mrs.C05]

Thanks for the review! You have an adorable family.

 

Thank you!

[Mrs.C05]

 

 

 

 

[dctravel]

Thanks for the review. We are on this itinerary in August! Thanks also for posting about the apps in the Red Frog. I'm kinda excited about that!

 

 

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[Mrs.C05]

First we drove around with him telling us the history, heritage and culture of San Juan Puerto Rico. He even said we'd see a pirate which intrigued my son. He asked if it was a real pirate, and Anthony answered that he was real and we'd have to keep an eye out for him!

 

We went to 2 forts, with 30minutes at each. We wanted to see both of them, so we opted for that. Otherwise we could've had an hour at 1 of them.

 

This was at Castillo de San Cristobal:

 

 

 

 

[Mrs.C05]

I spy......a pirate!!!! Anothony was pointing out the fortress wall still stretching into the city in some places. This being one of them. This guy, dresses as a pirate every day, giving history lessons to the school kids, and sometimes tourist too. We stopped to see what they were doing and they were having a "faux battle" with a "flint lock" pistol, and made sounds like pop rocks do.

 

We continued on the tour, and we stopped at this public beach here which Anthony said was the smallest beach in Puerto Rico:

 

It was cute and we didn't stay long. Someone was making pina colada ice cream, which my son thoroughly enjoyed thanks to the heat.

 

Eventually we made it to the final stop:

 

As you can see there is plenty of room to run around. Several people had kites with them. I really thought there was a kite stand nearby that would have bought a kite from but no. It was windy so it was perfect for flying a kite, but one little girl lost hers twice almost. If it weren't for 2 older boys to chase them down, she would've lost it into the water.

 

[Mrs.C05]

 

 

 

 

[Mrs.C05]

This fort was the last stop on our way back to the fort. Once we were done it was right at 1:30pm but we were tiredso we hopped back on the ship. We were going to eat at a restaurant that wasrecommended by Anthony but they were packed, and Ididn’t want to wait, nor did I know how long the wait and service would havebeen.

 

We thanked Anthony, gave him a tip and said our goodbyes. We got back on the ship after stopping in Walgreens for some waters. We were starving and we were just at the end of Guys Burger and Blue Iguana. Tommy and Ethan had Guys, and I had Blue Iguana chicken tacos andpico. We left port at 3:30.

 

While we were still dressed appropriately, I wanted to see if the Skycourse was open, and it was! Yay!!

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight was the 2nd formal night so wegot showered and ready by 5:30, then had a few pictures taken by the professionals.

 

Here is one at dinner:

 

Dinner tonight I had the clam chowder and crab cake for an app and the Duo Filet Mignon and Short rib for entrée. It was all very good. Tommy got the same thing except pasta fagoli for the soup. I forgot what Ethan had, but most likely it was pizza.:confused:

 

Ethan wanted to go to Camp Ocean so we dropped him off there once we were done. We went to the casino which wasn’t too bad tonight. We picked up Ethan at 9:30pm and called it night.

[Mrs.C05]

Sunset from the balcony (although I admit, I was inside), I didn't want my hair getting messed up. Haha!! :o

[lvetocruise2012]

Great review!

 

 

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[oncruisecontrol]

Day 3: St. Thomas

 

 

 

Excursion:We have a day pass to Resort a Day with Marriot Morningstar Beach. It was a bit of a task getting a taxi and then to the correct place, but we eventually got there at 1pm. We grabbed some chairs with an umbrella and Ethan started playing in the sand eventually. Our package came with $100 total in drinks, so the bartender Jarrett kept a tally for us. We could order whatever we wanted but food was not included. I had 4 drinks (1 painkiller, 1 “Coconut Madness/Lime”can’t remember what he called it, 2 bud lights), Tommy had 2 rum punches and 2 sprites, and Ethan had 2 bottled waters. All of it came to $98. Not too bad of a deal in my opinion. We walked along the beach getting pictures after the rain passed. It was a quick rain shower that quickly went on by. We packed up around 4pm to head back to the ship. They called us a taxi and we were back on board with no problems.

 

View from the Marriott which is on the point coming in to St. Thomas. This wasn't actually where we ended up. They shuttled us down to another part of their hotel.

 

We were actually down further....

 

 

Chairs and umbrella's were included in the price of our resort ticket.

Wow!. I was on this beach way back in 2009, and it was quite a bit wider than this! That is a narrow strip of beach indeed! Wondering if this is just the high tide or erosion? Not asking this question to the OP; it's just a rhetorical question. But jeez, I cannot believe how the beach has disappeared.

[aghawkins]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this review. I'll be doing this same itinerary in a few weeks. Would you recommend the private tour in Puerto Rico, or the beach getaway in St Thomas? Can you please provide contact information for them or a website? Thanks again.

[Victory.Feb.29,2008.]

awesome job!