Our Carnival Magic Spring Break Review

[brookeq]

 

We headed out of the cruise area and took a right.  It was probably a 10 minute walk.   We passed some chickens. 

 

 

We eventually arrived to Eden Rock.  There are now some inflatables blocking the nice view of the ship.  They are part of the place next door.   Of course my kids kept asking to go on them.   

 

 

We got our stuff on and headed right in.   We brought our own gear that we got at Costco.  Mike and I have had ours for two years or so.  The kids was new.   It pays for itself after snorkeling one or two times.

 

They have a ladder for you to use to get in.  The dive shop asks that you use the ladder and not just jump in. 

 

Amelia and Hayden joined us.  

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by brookeq
photo placement

[Dvelocity]

I will be traveling with family in a year so it is very nice to hear about the struggles and triumphs of traveling with a group.  That was a lot of people to gather together for a photo.  Thanks for sharing

[LPYRCRUISER]

25 minutes ago, Dvelocity said:

I will be traveling with family in a year so it is very nice to hear about the struggles and triumphs of traveling with a group.  That was a lot of people to gather together for a photo.  Thanks for sharing

I'm loving this review for two reasons.  we're booked to go on the Magic next February with a group of friends.  Two years ago we sailed on the Ecstasy with 11 grandkids, 3 kids with their spouses and ourselves.  the kids ranged from 18 months to 15.  it was a once in a lifetime trip.  the oldest will be graduating high school this year, so the probability of getting everyone to vacation together is slim.

Were there bumps in the road?  sure with that many people and little kids, it's bound to happen.  It was the first cruise for the grandkids and I am proud to say all but one are cruise addicted!!

[JaniceB]

I didn't know about Eden Rock, thanks for doing a review.

[mrpayroll]

I know how it is traveling with a large group. After about two days, I am ready to be the " man overboard "

[dltvermont]

Great review so far. Will be watching for the rest. We sail on the Magic for the first time next year at this time.

[brookeq]

There was stuff to see right when you got in.  Lots of “fans”. 

 

 

 

We saw some fish and the kids were doing good.  We saw a lot of these brown fish that were kind of gross then they opened up and had these blue pretty fins.  ( you can see what they look like without the blue fins since there is one in front of this one).   We must have scared them away because no one else really saw them.   But they were right there near the ladder. 

 

 

So if you aren’t the best swimmer there is stuff to see right by the entrance. 

 

At some point Amelia got really freaked out and she went back to shore.  Luckily she is pretty easy going and can entertain herself.  She had some toys and snacks and sat on a chair with family who was just hanging out.  So we were still able to snorkel.

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by brookeq
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[brookeq]

They have three buoys out in the water.  That is where the good snorkeling is.   It’s a good swim out.  So make sure you have enough energy to get back.  

 

I tried to get a photo of some of our group with the ship. 

 

 

[brookeq]

Here are our underwater photos.  I missed most of the fish.  Or they are small and  you just can't see them.  There was a drop off area and there were lots of little fish there.  

 

 

[brookeq]

We decided to start heading back in.  On the way back my son was stung by a jelly fish.  It really scared him and we had to “tow” him back in .  That was the end of him snorkeling this trip.

 

When we got out a few of the cousins were saying they had some small jelly fish stings.   My poor son did end up having a good size welt.  Everyone else had pretty small ones.   

 

Before we left someone mentioned seeing an octopus between the stairs on one of the ladders.  Its kind of hard to tell but you can see a tentacle in the hole in the rock. 

[brookeq]

So that was our morning at Eden Rock.  More people started to come as we left but it didn’t seem to crowded. 

It was a good place to snorkel.  Everyone was happy with the choice.  My mother in law and her friend even got in and snorkeled around the ladder.   So definitely check it out if you are looking to snorkel or just do something different in Grand Cayman

 

 

[brookeq]

I forgot to mention that the dive shop has equipment you can rent.  They also have locker for rent.  they are only $5 but you need to put a deposit of $15 down.

[brookeq]

We then packed up our stuff and started to head back towards the ship.  On the walk here we passed a cab stand so we headed there.  We had another family join us so we now had 23 people.   We got our own taxi for all of us to cemetery beach for $5 a person.  He drove us there and we arranged a pick up time for him to come back.  He seemed worried we would just get another taxi on our own when we were done but we insisted we wouldn’t.  So we hoped he would be there when we were done!

 

Cemetery beach gets its name because there is cemetery next to the public beach access walk. 

 

 

There is lots of shade but no amenities.  No bathroom, food…nothing.  We packed a lot of snacks and waters.  We didn't need anything just this great beach.

 

 

We found a spot away from the groups of people who were already there.  It was a great beach.  The water was clear.   Everyone was happy with our choice.  Sometimes I hate being in charge because you feel bad if they don’t like what you chose.  Everyone was happy with my choices for Grand Cayman.  

 

 

We spent the day playing in the water and just enjoying the warm weather.   The kids enjoyed looking for sea glass.   My brother in law tried to snorkel.  The spot where you needed to go was pretty far out though so he didn’t see much. 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by brookeq
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[brookeq]

Some more photos from our day. 

 

 

[brookeq]

So we really enjoyed our day at Grand Cayman. 

 

Just some tips if going to Cemetery Beach...

Pack food and water.  There is nothing here.  But that keeps the crowds away.  

Arrange for a cab driver to pick you up.  This beach is at the end of where everything is.  So I don't know if many cabs are around to get one last minute.   And since it is far away leave plenty of time to get back to the ship.  Traffic can get bad at certain times.  There is a bus that comes by but our family didn't want to do that.   You can find lots of posts on this site about that.  Its pretty cheap.

 

[brookeq]

We spent a few hours here and then headed back to the road and our cab driver was there waiting for us.  Yay!  We got dropped off and got on a tender and quickly went to get some real food.   My son was starting to get cranky.  I have noticed that when he gets hungry his behavior is worse. So I try to keep him fed.  But we have to watch because he is a big boy.

 

So we dropped off our stuff and headed straight for the lido deck.  It was busy.  My son got a burger since that line is the fastest.  My husband noticed that the deli special was the Vietnamese sandwich he liked last cruise so he got that.

 

 

 

My daughter tried the grilled cheese from the deli.  But the bread was just too hard/crunch y for her.

I think I got pizza.  The line was long though.  And slow.  Two people working is not enough. 

 

 

The kids did the ropes course again with their cousins. 

 

 

And the girls got drinks after (gotta use that on board credit)

 

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by brookeq
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[brookeq]

I went to Friends Trivia with my niece.   I got a peach cosmopolitan from the alchemy bar.  I love these bars.   I have been re watching friends on Netflix and thought I would be really good at friends trivia.  They were some hard questions!  We didn’t come close to winning.   I didn’t really care for the guy who did the trivia. 

 

 

Eventually it was time for dinner.  My daughter stopped at the fun shops and got a small giraffe.

 

 

And she had to wear the birthday headband.

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by brookeq
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[brookeq]

Here were the menus for tonight.   

 

I didn't take many photos of the food tonight I just forgot.

 

I know that  I had the cheese soup and the chicken Milanese.  The chicken was good but it was too much food for me.  I also remember that the fried shrimp was a hit with most of our group.  My husband got the beef skewer appetizer that I didn't really like and the pumpkin soup.  He enjoyed both. 

 

Before the trip I told my son all about the steak house.  He loves steak and wanted to go.  When I realized that we wouldn't be doing anything with the rest of our family on the islands, I decided that missing a dinner with everyone wasn't the best idea.  so I promised him he could order a good steak from the steak house one night.  He chose tonight.  He also ordered a steak from the regular menu too!   His steak came and he looks happy here.  But for some reason he did not like it.   He was kind of getting in one of his moods where nothing pleases him. 

 

 

My husband and I both tasted and it and thought it was good.   He ate it all so it couldn't have been that bad.   

I tried the popcorn dessert.  The pieces of popcorn were good but I didn't not like the texture/consistency of the rest of it.  

 

 

Our waiters sang to Amelia and brought out her cake.  It was vanilla with strawberry cream in the middle. I ordered a small cake so the kids table had that. 

 

 

Amelia opened some small gifts.  She loved them all.  Especially  her new headband with hair extensions.  She loves anything girly.  

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by brookeq
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[brookeq]

After dinner we watched the sunset. 

 

It was a good one.

 

 

Then the girls went to watch some of the hasbro game.   The boys went to watch Creed at the pool. 

 

The girls also took some cute cousins photos. 

 

 

I also took the kids to hide some ducks we brought.  If you haven’t heard about it, basically you bring some toy ducks and add a note and then hide them.  People who find them are supposed to post on the unnamed internet site a picture and where they re hid it.  The girls each hid a duck.  We didn’t find any ducks.  Others on our roll call did.  And one of the older cousins found one. No one posted our duck so not sure what happened to them.  We did walk by the next day and they were gone.  

 

I think the kids may have swam again that night.  I was tired.

 

I headed to bed but didn’t get a good sleep at all.  I woke up covered in bites.  It started out with two here and there.  By the middle of the night I was covered in patches all over my body.  And they were really itchy.  They just kept popping up everywhere.  It was a rough night for me and we had another morning port arrival.

  

This was just a small patch of them.  It was way worse.  😞

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by brookeq
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[brookeq]

Up next ...Roatan

[vacationlover16]

Great review! Thank you for sharing!! This is definitely helping me with my cruise fever! 😊

[brookeq]

So I was up pretty early due to itching.  I had some kid benadryl packed so I used that to try to help a bit.  The itching came and went.  If any of the dots were bumped then they got itchy.  As the day went on I got more and more.    

 

 

We were up early enough to head to the main dining room for breakfast.   I got the breakfast sandwich with bacon  My fried eggs tasted almost hard boiled.    My husband got the pancakes and the granola.  He enjoyed both.  My daughter also got the pancakes with cereal and bacon. She was happy. My son did not come.  He doesn’t like breakfast and you just can not make him eat.  He will refuse.  I knew this would be a problem later.  Sigh.

 

 

We arrived to Roatan and the Vista was already there. So was the Liberty of the Seas (at a different pier).  I think there was more ship that still needed to arrive.    It was a busy day for ships on this island.  We got off the ship and started the walk out of the cruise terminal.  You have to walk all the way out and up a hill.  Then down the hill and there are the tour guides.  It was hot!

 

The last time we were here we went to West Bay beach for the day.  Unfortunately it poured most of the day so we didn’t get to snorkel.  This trip we wanted to do something new and then snorkel.  We booked a private driver for the day thru Rony’s tours.   It was $25 per person and any entry fees to the places we chose to go.  Brian our driver was there waiting for us.  He had a nice clean Camry for the day.  He pumped up the AC and we were off.  We saw our family members crammed into an old bus for their beach day (thru the ship) and we were so thankful to be with our own guide. 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2019 by brookeq
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[brookeq]

Brian took us to a small shopping center with a nice view.  The view was more of where the other ships dock but still a nice view. 

 

 

 

We stopped into the small store and got some cold drinks and some aloe spray for my sons sunburn.  Brian helped us with the amount of money it would cost. 

 

Edited April 19, 2019 by brookeq
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[brookeq]

One of the main things we wanted to do was see the sloths.  Someone on here posted a review that Rony took them to a new place to see the sloths.  Since its new it wasn’t crowded at all.  I did some research and decided this was the place I wanted to go.   It was called Manawkie Eco Park.  Brian took us in and helped gets us paid up.  Then he stayed in the car and waited for us. 

There was one other family of 3 there so it was a small group.  Our guide was very nice.   I don’t remember his name.  He took us straight to the sloths.  They brought out the sloth and told us a lot of facts about them that I didn’t know.  They are interesting animals. 

 

My son got to hold the sloth first. 

 

 

My husband was next.

 

 

My daughter was all decked out in her sloth shirt but got really upset and didn’t want to hold one.  Poor thing.  She really does have a fear of most animals.  Before the cruise she said she wanted to try.   She gets sad because she wants to do it but then is just way too scared. 

 

 

We skipped her and it was my turn.  It really wanted my sunglasses.   So it moved a lot more that I thought it would when I was holding it.

 

 

We gave Amelia another shot just asking her to pet it.  It didn’t go over well. 

 

 

So our family shot also didn’t turn out.  Ha ha

 

 

We were not rushed at all.  In fact they gave us each more time again if we wanted.  So some of us held the sloths again.  

 

Edited April 19, 2019 by brookeq
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[brookeq]

After the sloths the guides took us around and showed us their plants.  He would tell us all of the things they used them for.  It was interesting.  The kids didn’t think so ha ha.