MAGIC Cruise May 25, 2019 Southern 8 Day

[tattoos]

I sailed with my family on the May 25th Magic cruise with stops in Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Aruba and Curacao.  I am Diamond and my other family members are all Platinum.  The ship sailed from Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale)...we arrived at the terminal around 10:30 a.m., checked our luggage with the porters and walked right into the terminal.  Our check-in took only a few minutes and we were directed to seating on the first level in an area reserved for Diamond, Platinum and FTTF cruisers. 

 

They were already boarding a wedding party and special needs cruisers.  We sat down for about 5 minutes and then we were called and headed up to the second floor to another waiting area.  When the Carnival employee said Diamond and Platinum could proceed upstairs, a group of FTTF cruisers started walking with us to the escalator and she requested that they sit down until they are called.  So, apparently Carnival is trying to avoid any confusion regarding boarding procedures.  We didn't even have time to sit down once upstairs and they called all Diamond and Platinum to board.  From the time we entered the terminal until we stepped foot on the ship was maybe 20 minutes.  I don't remember which terminal we were docked at but if that is important to anyone, I can find out.

 

We proceeded to our staterooms and dropped off our carry-on bags then headed for a drink and lunch.  We made our way to the Red Frog Pub for a 1/2 priced fishbowl drink but the bartender said they would only be available at Noon.  The fish bowl drinks are $10, usually $20.  We took the elevator up to the Lido buffet for lunch.  Other venues open were Guy's Pig & Anchor, the Pasta Bar at Cucina del Capitano, Guy's Burger Joint, pizza, deli (good hot dogs), Blue Iguana Cantina, Seafood Shack and Mongolian Wok.  After lunch, we headed back to the Red Frog Pub and ordered two fish bowls to share.  I am a beer or Vodka martini drinker and don't like fruity drinks.  i couldn't see the bartender when he made our drinks but the bowl was filled to the brim with ice and I couldn't taste alcohol because the fruity punch overpowered it, awful drink, hated it and not worth $10, don't know how many people pay $20 for those drinks, yuck.  

 

The desserts available at the Lido buffet are delicious, beautiful, multi-layer cakes.  They had different cakes every day with beautiful mirror glazes, butter frosting, cream cheese frosting, whipped cream frosting, etc.  They were a huge improvement over the nasty brownies, cake pops, etc., that were on previous ships.  Please try the different cakes offered every day, they are wonderful.  My favorites were carrot cake, raspberry champagne, and hummingbird cake.  OMG, my mouth is watering just thinking about them.  They don't have them at the buffet for dinner, just lunch time so if you are a cake lover, please try them.

 

Now, the biggest disappointment for me on this cruise was NO BUTTER available anywhere and believe me, I searched.  No butter at dinner in the Main Dining Room and no butter at the buffet.  I had read that Carnival did away with those butter pats.  The main dining room has one tiny square ceramic dish that holds maybe a tablespoon of what looked and tasted like colored whipped Crisco.  It reminded me of the plastic bag of oleo with a yellow/red capsule in it that had to be massaged into the oleo to give it a hint of yellow and fool you into thinking it was butter that my mother brought home during the rationing of butter during World War II.  Anyhow, the whipped Crisco was also available at the buffet in small crocks.  There was a crock of knives next to the crock of whipped Crisco that you were supposed to use and then place your dirty knife in another crock.  Do you think anyone followed this procedure?  NOT.  And, some people just grabbed the crock and put it on their table and dug into it and just left it on their table.  People were milling around asking for the butter.  Butter, what butter, there is no butter.  The whipped Crisco was disgusting, I did not use it all week.  I now know what I'm bringing on my next Carnival cruise, that's right, not Vodka or any other liquor, BUTTER.  

 

Also, there are no packets of white sugar (sugar was also rationed during World War II).  Wait a minute, is it 1942 and I'm in a time warp?  We found some mid-week at the buffet but the staff member said once they use up all the packets, white sugar will only be available in pour out containers.  When we had coffee after dinner in the MDR, our assistant waiter had to run downstairs to the first floor of the dining room to get white sugar for our coffee.  He brought about 2 tablespoons back in the tiniest container I have ever seen.  Now that Carnival is doing away with those little wooden stirrers in the buffet, people will have to use their utensils or grab a soup spoon to stir their drinks.

 

The Diamond/Platinum gift was a cheap looking lanyard (gave mine away).  I wish Carnival would just do away with gifts or give their loyalty program members a choice, i.e., drink coupon, free bingo card, etc.

 

We had a balcony stateroom on this cruise and noticed a lot of wear and tear and rust on the balcony.  The in-room safes are PIN number accessible, you don't have to swipe a card with a magnetic stripe.  You do need a card to put in the slot by the door to turn on the lights (I brought my Duffy's Restaurant loyalty card).

 

We ate at the Steakhouse one night, didn't like the room configuration on this ship and the food and presentation was not as good as it was on the Conquest.  We probably will not eat in the Steakhouse on our next cruise, takes too long, food was nothing special.  We tried the pizza (good, fresh, crispy crust), Guy's Pig & Anchor (yuk), Guy's Burgers (greasy), Wok (o.k. but long wait), Deli (loved their hot dogs with sauerkraut and chili), Main Dining Room (food was just o.k.), Blue Iguana Cantina (good).

 

The casino smelled rancid with smoke even when no one was there in the early morning, yuck.  The Sea Monkeys band played in Ocean Plaza and they were good.  They had three women violinists play in the Atrium almost every day and they were very good but got boring after the second day.  We went to the Rock show in the main show lounge, yawn.  I won a Ship on a Stick at trivia (it pays to be old and accumulate all this random info in your brain that you'll never use except during trivia on Carnival, ha!).  We never made it to the Comedy Club or piano bar.  My daughter and grandson watched a couple of movies at the Dive-In movies on the Lido deck.  The Ocean Plaza was a great place to sit at night, always good music.  Also, in the morning, they had a small breakfast buffet set up at Ocean Plaza between the Alchemy Bar and Plaza Cafe where they had coffee, pastries, bagels, scrambled eggs, etc.   

 

The aft area on Deck 11 was very nice and we always found chairs back there.  This ship has lots of areas with chairs in the sun and shade but everyone crowds around the pool.  Our Cruise Director, Simon London, was great, he was everywhere, dancing, talking to people, etc.  

 

In Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay, we found some loungers and just enjoyed the beautiful water.  In Aruba, we took a taxi to Palm Beach and found chairs and umbrellas to rent near the DePalm pier so we would be close to food, beverages and restrooms.  It was a beautiful, clean, beach.  The food and drinks were very good.  We would definitely go back here again.  We had a long day in Aruba so after dinner and a shower, we made our way off and walked around the stores.  In Curacao, we booked a snorkel tour through Carnival.  The Captain took us to a quiet cove where the water was calm and provided snorkel equipment to everyone.  You could jump off the side of the boat or go down the ladder into the water.  The deck hand cooked hamburgers on a grill in the back of the boat and complimentary rum punch on the way back to the ship, rum and cokes for me.  It was a beautiful excursion and well worth the $49/person.  We went back to the ship, showered and walked to the RIF Fort and had a sundae at the ice cream store.

 

Overall, we had a great cruise, good weather and loved the Magic.  Debarkation seemed to run very smoothly, we walked off the ship around 8:30 a.m., found our luggage and went through the serpentine line to the exit.  The line kept moving and it was a fairly quick process.  We have already booked another cruise next year on the Magic and looking forward to sailing on her again, 319 days and counting!!!

 

I'll be happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have.

 

 

 

[RoperDK]

Thanks for the review.  Uggg about the ill thought out "environmental" changes that are beginning.  Other cruise lines have individual pats of butter that you pick up with tongs.  No need for a tub of butter like substance that you dip out of.  If artificial sweeteners in paper are okay,  then why not sugar?  I love the ABC island itineraries.  Never been on the Magic but just sailed on the Breeze a few months ago.  Looks like the Magic would be a good ship to try out.   

[TNcruising02]

Thank you for posting your review, both the good and not so good.  I enjoyed reading it!

[levon10]

Is the aft pool adult only ?

[carnivaladdix120]

Great post! Thanks for sharing the changes, good and bad. I had no idea about the butter and sugar so that's good to know. We are sailing on magic for Thanksgiving and can't wait! 

[teknoge3k]

That's funny you and I were posting our reviews for the same voyage at the same time. 🙂

[dctravel]

Thanks for the review. You are getting us excited for this itinerary on the Magic in August!

[tattoos]

RoperDK:  Thanks so much for your comments.  I agree about the sugar, they had raw sugar in paper packets and 3 or 4 different artificial sweeteners in paper packets available.  So why get rid of the white sugar packets only?  The tub of butter in the buffet was disgusting and unsanitary as far as I'm concerned, everyone was dipping into it and putting the dirty knife back into it, yuck.  I saw one woman dig out a big scoop, butter her toast, dip back in and put a big scoop on her plate and put the knife back into the crock.  Talk about cross contamination.  If you liked sailing on the Breeze, I think you will like the Magic.  We chose the cruise for the itinerary, port, and ship.  I love the ABC islands.

 

TNcruising02:  Thanks for your nice remarks.  There was a lot more I could have covered but tried to keep it concise.

 

levon10:  As far as I know, the aft pool is adults only.  It was so nice back there and the wait staff kept walking around to take drink orders.  I did see some chair hogs but not as many as on other ships.  There are so many areas on this ship to enjoy lounge chairs that there were areas that had rows and rows of empty loungers even on sea days.  The aft deck area is really nice and I love the way the food venues (Seafood Shack and Pizza) are partitioned off from the pool area.

 

Carnivaladdix120:  Hi, neighbor, I live in Delray Beach.  I knew prior to sailing about their new "butter policy" but had no idea about the white sugar packet ban, good grief.  I hope you have a great time on your Thanksgiving cruise!!

 

teknoge3K:  We must have passed each other in the hall, we were in stateroom 10224.

 

One thing I forgot to mention was the cruise elegant nights on our 8 night cruise.  The first elegant night was on Sunday which was our Half Moon Cay stop and the second elegant night was on Friday which was a sea day.  Everyone that I saw respected the suggestions for dress attire posted on carnival.com.  There were only a few women in long gowns, most of the women (my daughter and I included) wore black dress slacks and a dressy top.  The men also wore nice slacks and shirt, some with ties, some without.  I only saw a few men with suits or dress jackets and slacks.  

 

dctravel:  Have a great time and explore the ship, there are hidden areas that are not available on the Conquest or Fantasy class ships.  There is so much going on all day that it's hard to choose what to do.  We brought door ornaments and that sticky putty to adhere them.  There were a lot of people on our deck that decorated their door.  One door had a white board with a marker and they asked a different question every day and had lots of responses, some very funny.  The water in the shower was really hot so run it before you step in.  We did not order room service on this cruise so can't comment on that.  As I mentioned, the entertainment in Ocean Plaza in the evening was always good, they had Motown night, Latin night, etc.  

 

 

 

[TheTravelista]

Can you give more specifics about where exactly you went on Palm Beach and how you got there, IE did you tell your taxi driver anything special? I'm looking for exactly what you described, easily accessible rentable chairs and umbrella, good food and drinks, all on a beautiful beach and its like pulling teeth to find specifics. Thank you so much!

 

 

And I'm definitely going to be bringing my own butter pats, sugar packets and coffee/tea stirrers on my next cruise lol

Edited June 11, 2019 by TheTravelista

[modes]

5 hours ago, levon10 said:

Is the aft pool adult only ?

It is not.

[tattoos]

TheTravelista:  Last year we sailed on the Conquest with a stop in Aruba and we chose Eagle Beach in front of the New Amsterdam Hotel.  This year we decided to try Palm Beach.  

 

After walking through the terminal building and outside, go down the steps and turn left and you will see someone loading passengers into taxis going to different places on the island.  We got into the queue line and told the organizer where we wanted to go and the four of us were loaded into the next van that pulled up.  We asked the driver to drop us off at the walkway that runs alongside the RIU Hotel to the beach.  It was maybe a 10-15 minute taxi ride and cost $15.  Taxis in Aruba charge flat rates per van not per person..  Our driver dropped us off right in front of the paved walkway.  It's not a rough path thru the woods but an easy walk on a wide, paved, sidewalk to the beach.  When we arrived at the beautiful beach, we turned right because there were lots of empty chairs under palapas and umbrellas.  We asked the person in charge if he had chairs available for rent.  He said that he had available chairs but the palapas were only for hotel guests and he did not have any more umbrellas available.  So, we walked to the left of the paved walkway to a stand on the beach and rented four lounge chairs and one umbrella and I believe they charged $65 but I'm not sure because my son-in-law paid.  We had a good spot near the pier and when we got hungry, we walked to the pier and ordered take-out and brought the food and drinks back to our chairs.  There were a lot of people being towed in those big, inflatable chairs.  Maybe there are other vendors charging less for chairs and umbrellas but we did not want to walk too far, it was so hot and we wanted to stay close to the restaurant.  There were no vendors on the beach taking drink orders and no people walking up and down the beach selling souvenirs or hair braiding or massages.  I don't know if it was because we were in front of the beautiful RIU hotel or if vendors were not allowed but I was happy, we had a nice, peaceful day at the beach, the water was clear and clean.  When we were ready to leave, we walked on the paved walkway back to the main road and there were taxi drivers there waiting to take people back to the ship.  We were prepared to go into the hotel and have them call a taxi for us but it wasn't necessary.  I would definitely go to this beach again, it wasn't crowded and gorgeous.

[ski_mom]

Thanks for the review.  We are going on this same trip leaving next Saturday.

 

[TheTravelista]

1 hour ago, tattoos said:

TheTravelista:  Last year we sailed on the Conquest with a stop in Aruba and we chose Eagle Beach in front of the New Amsterdam Hotel.  This year we decided to try Palm Beach.  

 

After walking through the terminal building and outside, go down the steps and turn left and you will see someone loading passengers into taxis going to different places on the island.  We got into the queue line and told the organizer where we wanted to go and the four of us were loaded into the next van that pulled up.  We asked the driver to drop us off at the walkway that runs alongside the RIU Hotel to the beach.  It was maybe a 10-15 minute taxi ride and cost $15.  Taxis in Aruba charge flat rates per van not per person..  Our driver dropped us off right in front of the paved walkway.  It's not a rough path thru the woods but an easy walk on a wide, paved, sidewalk to the beach.  When we arrived at the beautiful beach, we turned right because there were lots of empty chairs under palapas and umbrellas.  We asked the person in charge if he had chairs available for rent.  He said that he had available chairs but the palapas were only for hotel guests and he did not have any more umbrellas available.  So, we walked to the left of the paved walkway to a stand on the beach and rented four lounge chairs and one umbrella and I believe they charged $65 but I'm not sure because my son-in-law paid.  We had a good spot near the pier and when we got hungry, we walked to the pier and ordered take-out and brought the food and drinks back to our chairs.  There were a lot of people being towed in those big, inflatable chairs.  Maybe there are other vendors charging less for chairs and umbrellas but we did not want to walk too far, it was so hot and we wanted to stay close to the restaurant.  There were no vendors on the beach taking drink orders and no people walking up and down the beach selling souvenirs or hair braiding or massages.  I don't know if it was because we were in front of the beautiful RIU hotel or if vendors were not allowed but I was happy, we had a nice, peaceful day at the beach, the water was clear and clean.  When we were ready to leave, we walked on the paved walkway back to the main road and there were taxi drivers there waiting to take people back to the ship.  We were prepared to go into the hotel and have them call a taxi for us but it wasn't necessary.  I would definitely go to this beach again, it wasn't crowded and gorgeous.

 

You are a LIFESAVER. Thank you so much!!

[tattoos]

TheTravelista:  The name of the restaurant on the pier is Bugaloe Beach Bar and you can access their web site for menus, etc.  

 

bugaloe dot com

 

There is a photo on their web site taken from the water that has the RIU hotel in the background.  The rental shack that we used when we turned left on the beach is down closer to the water.  The sand is hard packed close to the walkway and turns soft and velvety as you get closer to the water.  There is a nice paved walkway that runs in front of the hotels on the beach with lots of shade.  I wish I was there right now.

[tattoos]

ski_mom:  Have a wonderful time on your cruise, hope you have great weather.  Can you pack me into your suitcase?