Booked on Magic!! 1st time with Carnival

[4olivers]

We just booked our first cruise on Carnival, on the Magic - April 2018 western itinerary - Cozumel Belize Roatan Costa Maya

 

Looking for tips and feedback on the magic, excursion suggstions, etc

 

We booked balcony room on deck 8 we will have our 13 and 16 year old with us as well 🙃

[bury me at sea]

The Magic is a great ship for adults, kids, and families. You will find lots to do alone or as a group.

 

I think you'll enjoy your deck 8 cabins.

 

Encourage your kids to go to the meeting of the kids' clubs the first night. The kids tend to form informal groups then and hang out together for the rest of the cruise.

 

Don't know your interests but Belize is a good port to book an excursion. There isn't much to do there on your own other than shopping in the port area.

 

Hope you have a great time.

[kctwinmommy]

We did the Magic last fall with our 13 year old. I agree about going to the teen clubs on the first night. That's when they seem to meet up and decide who they want to hang out with on the cruise. We were on deck 11 when we went. It was a nice ship, we enjoyed it. I wrote up my review about it. It had pictures too, until Photobucket stopped the sharing option. Oh, and for a large ship, the only real problem was getting chairs on the pool decks - which is often a problem though.

[Port of Tampa]

We loved the Magic it is a great ship with lots to do and many dining options. One of our favorite excuirsions was cave tubing in Belize. Port Canaveral is a nice port to cruise out of as well.

 

Have a great cruise.

[efuzz]

We are on the Magic Feb. 18 but we've done this itinerary several times. I echo the cave tubing trip - it was great! Also, for Costa Maya I suggest walking right through the port shopping area and taking a taxi to "town" - I won't try to spell it :D. You can find plenty of info on this in the ports forum. It's great way to spend a day and won't break the bank.

[skidawg79]

We just booked our first cruise on Carnival, on the Magic - April 2018 western itinerary - Cozumel Belize Roatan Costa Maya

 

Looking for tips and feedback on the magic, excursion suggstions, etc

 

We booked balcony room on deck 8 we will have our 13 and 16 year old with us as well

 

I did this same cruise last may. I actually made a vacation movie on it.

 

Magic has the 2.0 upgrades and thought she was a great ship.

 

We did the mayan ruins in Costa Maya (Chocchoban). One thing i will say about Costa Maya, the vendors in the cruise terminal area are really pushy. Other than that we had a great excursion. Nice beach about 5 min cab ride from the port...Mahahual.

 

Roatan- West bay beach is beautiful. We did a snorkeling excursion that took us by West Bay, and the beach looked gorgeous and some great snorkeling right off the beach.

 

Belize- Cay Caulker...amazing, we went snorkeling at the barrier reef then swam with the nurse sharks. One thing about Belize, the tender is a long ride ~25 min or so and the port area isn't all that impressive. I would definitely schedule something here.

 

Cozumel....well it's Cozumel...definitely cater to cruisers. We rented a jeep and drove around the island....The east side of the island is actually very beautiful. More waves, a few cool beach bars.

 

Check out my video, the link is in my signiture...also if you have any questions let me know, ill be happy to help where i can.

[watermelonqueen99]

The Magic was our first (and second and third :D) cruise, and to this day remains our favorite ship. You picked a great ship. :)

[willdra]

You are going to love the Magic! We sailed on her twice last year, and wouldn't hesitate to give her another go! :hearteyes:

We always go to Paradise Beach in Cozumel http://www.paradise-beach-cozumel.com, and our new favorite is Yaya Beach in Costa Maya https://www.yayabeachclub.com. ;)

<3Bon Voyage!!!<3

[BossOfTheHouse]

We just got off the Magic Sunday. Family of 4 - kids are 9 and 4. We will be back on the Magic over Spring Break.

Kids did not like the kids club (in comparison to RCCL) but the teens onboard seem to love meeting and hanging out with each other.

Dr. E (Cruise Director) is amazing!

Glad you didn't book a cove balcony. It was nice being by the water, but the balcony stayed wet and our collected all the debris from when the other (upper) balconies were cleaned.

We didn't like anytime dining. It was utter chaos.

[riclop]

Enjoy your cruise.

[cruisinqt]

Welcome to Carnival. :) One thing Carnival has that you may not have had with other cruise lines is the Carnival Hub app. It's free in the App Store and doesn't work till you're on board. With this app you have access to an interactive ships map, daily schedule of events and where they are on the map, location and opening times of restaurants, you can view and purchase your pictures, and there's even a chat feature. For $5 per device per cruise you can chat (or text) everyone in your party. You can also purchase wifi internet on it packages too. It's definitely the best idea Carnival has come up with in years IMHO. ;)

[easyboy]

For port excursions, you can also post on the Caribbean Port of Call Forum. Just scroll down and select your itinerary port.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587