Just off the Magic (Mar 30 - Apr 6) (writeup)

[Sabalon]

Just (well, hours ago) got off the Magic.  6 days from Miami to Cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya.   Am sitting at the airport right now so it seems like a good time to type while it's mostly fresh in my mind!     In hindsight, I think I wrote a small novel here as I finished it up at home.
Originally we were planning on going to Europe, but we never did nail down where/what so then it was go back to Aruba (our 30th anniversary this year, and that’s where we went for the honeymoon) but that was pricey for an all-inclusive and airfare - seemed a waste.  So cruise it is…which seems cheap but eventually adds up getting there, onboard, excursions, etc…  but still cheaper than the other two.

Getting There
We live outside Atlanta.  We've found it cost-effective to fly to something other than Miami and rent a car one way, and then do the same in reverse.  Delta wants too much (and more for the bags), Southwest likes to go through Baltimore too much.   This time we took a direct SouthWest flight to West Palm Beach.  Other than the flight leaving at 8am, it worked.   Our daughter grudgingly dropped us off, talking about how a cowoker's dad paid his daughter for a ride to the airport.  Flight was fine other than wifi cutting out halfway through what I was watching on the in-flight entertainment.

And then at West Palm, the fun began.  We got off (towards the back of the plane so one of the last off), took turns going to the bathroom and watching bags and went to get our luggage.  I'm used to Atlanta - you've got a lot of time before the bags show up.  Here, my wife thought her bags were the first off - nope...they were going on one last round before being taken to the luggage office.  As we were waiting for mine, and noticing no one else from our flight there, a SouthWest worker came over and took us to the office where they store unclaimed luggage.  Mine was not there, but one that looked kinda similar was.    The lady called the number on the bag tag and was told "yes...I have my bag."  "Well, ma'am, I have your bag here in the airport and called the number on it."  They were about 20 miles away and had to come back once they verified the goof up.  Ironically, the person that grabbed it lives about 10 miles from where I live, so had this been coming home it would have been easier.  Her daughter looked upset about having to come back.   So that is how we started this.   Little bit of a panic of how we would proceed all sorted out in the end.

 

We stopped at Rock and Roll Ribs (owned by the drummer from Iron Maiden).  Wife knows it's my price for dealing with all the transportation.  Great food.  Saw some road rage and drove on to Miami.  Called the hotel and there was no way to check in early.  Could have dropped bags, but the YVE in Miami is right downtown and finding parking would have been a pain.  So we took it slower getting there, stopped by Publix and got some wine to take on, and decided to just drop the car at the airport and take the rail/people mover to the hotel.  That would kill enough time.  Easy enough, thankfully the weather was great for this.  Check in was easy enough - just two elevators for 18 floors, so it took a bit to get to our 4th floor room.   Comfy enough for the night, but the room was smaller than our cruise cabin and the bathroom was smaller than the cruise bathroom.  Went to the marina area, had some dinner, mojitos and crashed for the night.   

 

The hotel had a desk setup for transport to the cruise terminal.   It was $16 for the two of us, so why not.  We also (over)paid for transport from the terminal to the airport on return - $40 for the two of us...Lyft would have been half...not sure about other options.  After an early breakfast at Mariposa, we sat in the lobby for a bit awaiting our shuttle time.  We had 9:45, but they had an opening a bit before that so off we went.

 

Checking In
We do(maybe did) Faster to the Fun.  The price hikes are making it less desirable.  But I usually have a lot in my backpack and dropping that off is nice.  We got to the terminal around 10:10 or so.  The priority line was empty so we walked right in.  This is the first time we've had passports instead of the birth certificate and license stuff.  WOW... so simple!   Breezed right through that.  The security checkpoint was ...  easy.   Like I said, a couple bottles of wine wrapped in the Publix bags.  Either their x-ray is that good or I could have  brought anything on board without being checked.  I guess after going through Atlanta TSA this seemed minimal.   Found seats in the terminal, talked to a few fellow cruisers, etc.   Was surprised not having to do the customer service counter since we did passports - they just used the passport info/photos..  By around 11 they started boarding some huge wedding parties, Diamond, etc...  by around 11:15 we were walking on board.    This was the simplest it's ever been.  This has convinced me that getting there as early as possible as we’ve done in the past just isn’t needed.  In reality it just changes where you sit for a bit.   Next time we’ll use that time for a more leisurely breakfast and sleep in a tiny bit more.

 

Miami Day
We went to the Guy's Pig and Anchor for lunch.  Not bad.  Nothing earthshaking, but better than a burger.  Personally I couldn't tell the difference between the multiple sauces, but still enjoyed it.  We did that before going to our room since we had breakfast so early.  We blew past the "no admittance til 1:30" doors to drop our bags off.  While our room looked ready, we just dropped and went on our way.  On this “perk”, at the check in, they told us that when we got on board, food would be ready, and rooms at 1:30.  I asked about being FttF and dropping our bags off and was told that our rooms would be locked until 1:30.  I said that that was one of the perks of FttF and was told "well, you can try".   It seems that no one really knows what FttF is or what it includes, based on this, and other comments in other threads.

 

At this point I will change to just a general overview, because it all runs together.

 

The Ship
 After this last week, Magic is the favorite ship I've been on.  It just seemed right - the way it was laid out, the size, the location of things to our room, etc.

 

 There were 4500 people on board.  I remember the Glory having a 2 deck Lido and was expecting something like that, so I was a little worried at first about lines and so on.  But there was rarely a wait for anything.   

 

We found a few places to sit here and there, but once we got underway, some of those turned into smoking areas, and it seemed no matter what day, the smoking area was always in the shade and the non-smoking in the sun.  Of course, it could also depend on the time of day too.  We did eventually find that on the Lanai, there were a bunch of loungers laid out that had more shade.   
We walked through Serenity once.   Too much sun for my taste, and I'm guessing all the clamshells were full.  I don't like those anyway.  The Fantasy class that had some Serenity seating under an overhang that was nice...but each to their own.  If I'm sitting out, I want shade and a breeze.    We did have a balcony (room 6439, right above the Pig and Anchor) and the view was nice, and usually comfortable temperature wise, but I'm 6'4" so it gets uncomfortable after a bit.   Was jealous when we were parked across from a RCI ship with some deeper balconies!  The location of our room was great.

 

 We were aft/mid.  (back of the mid, front of the aft?)   Deck 6 made it a flight of stairs down to the activities on 5 and another flight or two down to dinner.  Also, being by the aft elevators made it easy to get to Lido Buffet for breakfast or water.  

 

One of the things I did not like about the layout was that to get from the fun shop/atrium area on Deck 5, you had to go through the casino.  Would be nice to have a non-smoking route, but it wasn't as bad as it could be.  Heard a kid telling their friends that "we can go through here, but we can't go on the carpet. That's illegal."   Hilarious.  The casino didn’t seem that busy, but it could have just been the times I went by.  I think craps was the only table that I saw people playing at.  The Blackjack dealers looked so bored just standing there.  I don’t really care for the casino as I don’t like plopping down money just to hand it away the majority of the time.  At least with the bar tab I’m getting something out of it.  Though maybe next time I’ll play a little of something.  Did play roulette one time and was up $10.  Big spender here…I think I almost qualified for a free glass of tap water…not quite at the iced tap water yet though.

 

Pixels was less of the waste-of-paper, photos on the wall, and more of a digital operation.  There seemed to be less people bugging you to take a picture at dinner, etc.  We almost got one of the photos but then the wife saw the price.   I don’t need to pay that much to know I’m old!  

 

We watched the shove off from Deck 6 forward.  Nice views, and we could see the whole "dance of the ship" when we turned around in the Miami harbour. It was interesting hearing the police escorts yell at other boaters.  Same with another boat that was trying to come up the cruise ship channel.  "What part of turn your boat around and move it are you having trouble with?"  
I did have a bit of a "duh" moment.  Things kept referring to the Magic Atrium.   I was wondering if I was missing an architectural feature or something about the atrium.  It finally hit me that "hey...it's the Atrium on the Carnival Magic."  Yeah....   go figure.  

 

The Food

 

We had Your Time Dining.  We prefer that to be able to better schedule what we're doing.  We hit the MDRt most nights.  The first night my wife had a salad with some oily dressing, and the oil and her stomach did not get along, and had her throwing up for half the night.  Great start to the cruise.  No fault of Carnival - her stomach and many things don't react well together.    But the next morning she felt fine, other than sore muscles!
I tried a few of the items off the Emeril section of the menu which was new to me.  VERY good.  I can't recall what all we had.   Salmon, Prime Rib, some BBQ pork croquette that was amazing.  While there were some obvious choices I preferred, I would say that the majority of the nights, there was a decision to be made as to what to get.  At no point did I have to default to the Ceasar Salad or NY Strip "everyday" menu item.   One night I did do double appetizers because I couldn't decide, and double dessert one night as well.  I did like when they used to do something related to the port your were in.  But I’d say I was impressed with the choices, the taste and the portions.  It felt it was just the right amount - you didn’t go away feeling like you stuffed yourself, but still full.

 

The Lido was pretty good.  One of the nights we didn't do the MDR, most of the menu items were on the buffet as well, so that worked out.   As for the omelet bar, we had heard on here that there were no more custom made ones, just cheese, ham&cheese or veggie.  Well, there may be less items, and that is on the menu up there, but they still made whatever you asked for.   But the Lido buffet is the Lido buffet - seems mostly the same as it’s been for years.   Wife did the seafood place one night and said it was good.  

 

Guys was Guys.  The fries don't seem as good as I remember, not seasoned.  But it is amazing just watching the amount of beef and cheese they go through.   Blue Iguana is still my go to breakfast.

 

Drinks were hit or miss - some of them hit hard, some tasted like they were a kids version.   Couldn't get a dirty mojito at one of the bars, even though I could see the spiced rum on the shelf.  Oh well...it that's the biggest problem.......

 

The Staff / Shows

 

Great as always.  Our room steward Dewi was so sweet.  I think I was officially knighted as she kept calling me Sir Daniel.  Still get that feeling of exploitation  seeing the staff.  Hard to shake that.   Makes me wonder how often they are able to get off the ship etc.  

 

Fun Squad were all good as well.  I’m horrible with remembering names, but Cruise Director Jake and his horrible puns did a great job.  Mambo on the Fun Squad kept you laughing.  Any mistake she made (misread something, was on the wrong question on trivia - "it's my jamacian accent")   My wife realized that our youngest would be a great Fun Squad member.  When we were heading to the tender in Belize, I heard Jake talking to another fun squad member about the tender process and what they had to do, as far as some passengers may try to get into the excursion tender line etc.  While I can’t remember exactly what was said, the tone was one of helping a staff member learn the ropes, but at the same time had a “yeah…this is the crap you have to deal with doing this job” flavor.  Nothing bad said, no bad tone, but it seemed very down to earth and realistic and human.  Probably doing a crap job describing it, but it made me respect the man for his approach.

 

We did some of the trivias, the shows, and I did the Carnival Quest.   Trivia was varied which was nice.  They can do it on a show you've seen every episode of and it makes you wonder if you ever watched the show.    

 

The three shows were 88 Keys (tribute to Piano rock), American Rock (mostly American classic rock from the late 60s to early 80s), and Flicks (tribute to film music).  88 Key started off cheesy with Piano Man, and cast members coming out of the audience as if they were in the bar - but the show was good.    I was amazed with the theater - it had several platforms that would raise and lower, and a section that could spin as well.  Pretty impressive for a cruise ship.   The Flicks show was supposed to be a FX laden production, bringing the movies to life on the stage or something - however we had some rough seas that night so for the safety of the performers, they just did a stripped down show with the singing and some dancing.  While I would have loved to see the whole show, they did a great job.  Some impressive singers in the troupe.   

 

We never did find the time to see a comedy show or the band (Lady and the Vamps).  The violinists in the atrium (Allure Strings) were fun to watch.  One night I think they did several James Bond themes in a row which I enjoyed the most.  Otherwise they would play popular songs to a backing track.    Have since found videos of them doing Fade to Black by Metallica on one cruise.      Did see the ice carving on Lido for the first time.  

 

I’m sure we missed out on a bunch of things we could have seen.  My wife loves to do the trivia, so in trying to get there and find a seat, we’d catch the tail end of other things like a version of Headbandz, ask the Showtime cast questions, etc.   Lots of things to find to do on the ship.  If you’re bored or hungry, that is on you!!!  

 

Ports of Call / Excursions

 

We stopped in Cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya.  

 

For Cozumel, we did the Cozumel Downtown Shopping and Beach Break.  This was a last minute decision.  The excursion takes you downtown to do some shopping and then to a beach club for food/swimming.  The description makes it sound like you get  1.5 hours of shopping and then 2 hours at the beach.  While I didn’t time it all, the writer for the excursion description must write fantasy novels as well.  The ride is on a nice tour bus.  The tour guide was great - talking about the area and the people.   But you go to two places.   One is a tourist shop like you’d find in the port where you can get t-shirts, jewelry, beer, tramadol, souvenirs, etc.  Super-nice people, but underwhelming.  I think we had about 40 minutes there.   The second stop was an area with a number of stores in it - more or less a strip mall with more touristy stuff.  You could probably find lots of stuff in the stores, but mostly it was people saying “please…come see my store.”  and like most touristy areas, doing whatever to try and make a sell.  I wear tall sized t-shirts, and a shopkeep was trying to convince me that the 3XL was tall.  I was close to taking my shirt off to show him the 3XLT label on it.   The guide was up front and told us “no one can force you to buy anything, so only get something if you want it.  If anyone asks who your guide is and they say “that’s my cousin” I have no relatives that work there.”   There were a few other stores you could walk to around this square, but you had 25 minutes at this stop.    A lady working with the tour who took your picture at the port before heading on the excursion showed up with your picture in a Mayan styled frame.  Actually liked the picture so was the one thing I bought.

 

The beach club was Playa Uva’s.  Nice small little beach with an area cleared out to make it easier to get into the water without going over the rocks.  I did the tequila tasting as well.  I don’t like tequila, but this stuff was GOOD.

 

We got lunch there, and it took a good bit for the food to come out - but they were very busy.  Good fish tacos, but in hindsight we should have just played in the ocean more and ate back at the ship. 

 

Overall, I wouldn’t really recommend this excursion.  I guess for the shopping I was expecting something a little better with more variety, but didn’t stop my wife from finding a ring she loved.    We did this because we didn’t want to do something where you’re stuck at the beach for hours and hours.  At first we were going to walk down to Sunset or some other beach club…hindsight, should have taken a taxi down there or something.

 

For Belize we did the Lost World Jungle, Caves & Tubing with Lunch.  My wife read the description “ private cave tubing site that is the closest destination to the cruise port”.   It’s all in the wording - closest is quite different from close.    Tybee Island is the closest beach to Atlanta…but is still 4 hours away.   This excursion was about 1.5 hours away from the port.  The trip there is on an old school bus that has been retrofitted to have some rudimentary AC in it.   The ride wasn’t uncomfortable, but it also wasn’t comfortable.  A tour style bus would have been nicer, but with the last few miles being dirt roads, maybe that’s why they used the school buses.  The guides (Abby and Lenny) were good.  They talked a lot of the way there, talking about the site, people and country.  They also would take questions and basically talk about whatever.   They had you wear a helmet the whole trip as you went in and out of a few caves.   The owner of the company was there helping people get outfitted.  He moved down there many years ago from Michigan.    They had lockers you could rent, waterproof phone cases, you could get a beer or soda, picture that they took along the way (more for the zipliners at the same location).  They had changing rooms on site so you could change to a bathing suit if needed.  They told us that whatever you rented/bought would be paid for at the restaurant.  At one point we were also told that they would charge it back to Carnival to our room, same for any additional purchases at the restaurant.

 

The walk through the jungle was amazing.  I’ve never seen fronds that big.  They would tell you bits and pieces about certain types of trees that were harvested, showed us a tarantula burrow, went through a large cave and then another you actually had to duck at one point.  The walk was about half an hour, with water along the way if you needed it (you did…humid as could be!).  The cave tubing was neat, but I was very uncomfortable.   They lash all the tubes in your group together, and pretty much pull you through (occasionally your flotilla free floats where it gets deeper (like 8ft)).  The angle I was at on the tube just really hurt the neck, plus I was avoiding the rope the guide at the end was using to maneuver us.   Wife loved it though.  I think if I was more towards the middle it would have been a bit better.  Still a cool experience.  After that it was a short bus ride to the restaurant with chicken, rice and beans and cole slaw.  They provided water, and they had beer and other drinks if you wanted to buy.   We were ready to leave, but that is when what they said earlier was proven wrong.  The would not be charging back to the ship and you had to settle the tab before you left.  There was a lot of confusion about all that, but half the people had already taken care of everything.  Just inconsistent communications.   The ride back was about the same.  Mostly people just rested, but they also answered additional questions and point out various things as well.   We got back with about an hour or so before the last tender back to the ship (around 3:15).  Gave some time to look around the gift shops, etc. before getting in the long tender line.   This is my second time to Belize and the other time was to Xunatunich which was also a long boat ride and first tender off the boat, one of the last back.  Next time I end up in Belize I am not getting on a bus!!!  

 

Costa Maya was the third day.  We were tired.  We did the Avarius “excursion” which is a bird aviary they have in the port area.  We did it via Carnival, though you could have just gone to the location and paid the same price there.  It took about 30 minutes to go through maybe.  Didn’t see any of the screech owls, which is what my wife wanted to see, but still with the $14.95 or whatever it was.  While we were waiting to get in, the people working there were asking us what the ships told them was provided…did it say that they provided lunch, how  long it was, was it one time through or multiple, etc.   I pulled up the info and let her read what Carnival had on it, but it sounds like maybe some other lines had some bad info, or people were just mistaken and misreading things.  RCI’s page says “at the end you can experience a local cocktail or shopping”  Yeah…you’re in the port, but I see how you could read it as it’s part of the excursion.    Otherwise we just walked around the port a little bit and then went back to the ship and found places to hang out and relax, enjoy a mostly empty pool, etc.  There were four ships in port, and I believe the Magic was the smallest, so it was busy there.   

All three stops, it was hot and humid.   Lots of water needed, and good lord did I sweat like crazy.  I think partway through walking around Costa Maya I was just done.

 

Disembark

 

The Magic is doing a digital disembarking.   Yes, with FttF we could have gone to the auditorium early and been out of there quickly.  But we had no rush.  With this, you decide if you do self-luggage or have them pick your luggage up the night before like normal.  Then you pick a disembarkation time.

 

 They are in 20 minute windows.  We picked 8:40-9:00.  You had to be out of your rooms by 8:30, so we went down to deck 5 and just sat around.  At around 8:50 I got the message via the carnival hub app that we could leave.  In theory you make your way to deck 3 to get off the ship.  We went to the midship elevators and while waiting, one that was “out of service” dinged and they had a fun squad member doing express service between deck 5 and 2.  Down to deck 2, you walked through part of the room corridors and they had an extra exit there.  Got lucky and beat the line on deck 3.  We went into the terminal, past all the bags waiting to be picked up, then got in the passport line.  The line for license/birth certificate was pretty long.  The passport one had about 4 people we had to wait for.  Facial recognition and we were on our way.  Amazingly simple.

 

We then called for the ride we booked.  It took less than an hour before pickup…they tried to make up some story about it being rush hour at the cruise port - like I’d believe that with 7-8 ships in port…lol.   But seriously, they were very prompt about calling back and giving updates.  If he said he’d call me back in 20 minutes, he did.  We got on the shuttle around 9:50 (called around 9:04). They had to pick up someone from another terminal who said they had been waiting since 8:20.  They were even more pissed when the shuttle stopped back by the YVE to pick up someone else as well.   We got dropped off at the car rental place first, and I’m surprised they didn’t freak about that.  They claimed they wanted out at the hotel but didn’t move.  Did get a chuckle out of the driver when he was getting our luggage telling him “perdone para los pendajos”.  My Spanish is horrible but he got the message.   The group they picked up at the hotel I believe was heading to the port, so I don’t know what they thought of the trip to MIA and back.

 

Picked up our rental at MIA, drove to Skyline Chili in Ft Lauderdale for lunch and then on to West Palm Beach and back home.  TSA is so much simpler at any airport than ATL....just so many people in ATL.  PBI we got out of the shuttle and right to the desk to check in our luggage and then a 3 person wait at TSA.   

 

The Bad

Bad may be overstating it.  The only real bad was the wife getting sick the first night, but thankfully got over that quickly.  

The light in the bathroom in our cabin had a mind of its own.  You’d turn it on and it would take 3-20 seconds to come on.  Even Dewi thought that there was something wrong and put in a work order for it.  By the time they got there, we had realized it just needed time so nothing was done.  Probably a ballast going out.  

 

The bathroom shower also was slow to drain so you had to watch how high you had the water on.  Otherwise it would flood over the shower lip and into the main bathroom floor which also drained slow.  The shower also had a constant drip to it.  Only time this was bad is if you forgot and hung clothes on the line to dry and turn the shower head.  

 

I use a CPAP and the only outlet was across the room.  Thankfully I always bring an extension cord, but it would be nice to have a courtesy outlet on the bedside lamps.   I am surprised no one tripped on the cord for a bathroom run overnight.  

 

I forgot my ginger pills which I use for motion sickness.  Our trip last year had me getting sick, but I think that was something else and the motion was amplified.   Ended up getting some (overpriced) natural oils in the Fun shops that you put behind your ears.  May have been placebo effect, but this was on the third day before the tender ride and did not feel sick.   Am half tempted to put them on now as I’m sitting at home and my body thinks things should still be moving.

 

There was a speaker in the hall right outside our door.  Laying in bed you could clearly hear all the music it was playing.  The first night when she was sick, the wife called guest services about it.  She just really wanted to know if it was going to shut off.  They just heard "noise complaint".  They let us know the next day that someone had checked the area out and there was no noise found (yeah...cause about 10 minutes after she called the music stopped (at 10:30).)  They followed up with a letter to the room, a voicemail and another call.   I don't think they ever understood the original problem/question and just thought it was a rowdy guest or something.    Probably if she hadn't been sick it wouldn't have been an issue.  And after know that it did shut off at a certain time helped.  She was worried it was going to be a constant thing the whole trip. 

 

Kids - not really bad, but you get a group together and they can be loud.  There was only a few times where I think they may have been playing tag in the hallway at 11pm or something, but some of the adults were just as bad.  Got on the glass elevator and there was a dad and a 4 year old daughter who was just bouncing around it “I get to press the buttons…it’s fun”   Found it hilarious.    But also a lot of people found it odd the very able kids who would take the elevator up or down one deck.  Just everywhere you went, there was someone about half your size ducking in and out.

 

Overall
In hindsight…
Loved the ship.  The balcony rooms don’t look straight down to the water like some other ships because of the Lanai deck, but that’s okay.  Level 7 would have been better I think.
Would have done better planning on the excursions, but my wife was having kidney stones broken up right before we left, so we didn’t know what was going to be doable until we were about there.
YVE hotel in Miami - did it via priceline, but still pricey…would stay elsewhere -  you’re paying for location.  But when you don’t have a vehicle, then it’s nice being someplace you can walk to food.  
Faster to the Fun - jury is still out as to the worth.  Starting to see less and less value, but am so far away from Platinum.  We should have started cruising earlier but was worried about my motion sickness.

If you read this far, I’m surprise and impressed.  Come see the movie version 🙂  

But if you have any questions feel free to ask and I’ll answer if I can.
 

Edited April 7 by Sabalon

[Bearsthatsail]

When you plug in your CPAP extension cord and let it lay across the floor, place the white bath mat over it and it helps for bathroom runs in the night. We leave the bathroom light on and close the door 90%. I am Diamond and have been during this for years --- now making 2-3 times to bathroom each night (getting old)!

[Butterbean1000]

Great review, thank you.  The Magic is one if our favorite ships.  We are booked on her next month.  The last time I was on her I was pre-surgery and had to get around on a knee scooter.  I'm really looking forward to being able to get around on the ship.  I have heard that the Magic is in poor shape and needs some TLC.  How did you find her, other than the bathroom issues?  Also what terminal did you leave from?   BTW, we're on Lake Lanier and Go Dawgs!

[Frank12]

Thanks for your thoughts. We love Magic!

[ninjacat123]

Awesome report!!  Glad your wife recovered and was able to take part on the cruise.  So many funny comments/observations:

Our daughter grudgingly dropped us off, talking about how a cowoker's dad paid his daughter for a ride to the airport.

Big spender here…I think I almost qualified for a free glass of tap water…not quite at the iced tap water yet though.

 I don’t need to pay that much to know I’m old!  (I hear you!!)

Come see the movie version

Thanks for taking the time to write this up!!  Love Magic and it was fun seeing it through your eyes!😺

 

So when's the next cruise?😉

 

 

Edited April 7 by ninjacat123

[JenWag]

Thanks for the review - leaving on the Magic May 4th & can't wait!

[Sabalon]

4 hours ago, Bearsthatsail said:

When you plug in your CPAP extension cord and let it lay across the floor, place the white bath mat over it and it helps for bathroom runs in the night. 

 

I thought about getting the vinyl mat that they have for the luggage when you get to the room, but it got shoved way under the bed so we just hoped for the best.  Like the floormat idea - with a little light it should stand out.  In the past we've done the door thing and it does help.  

[Sabalon]

4 hours ago, Butterbean1000 said:

How did you find her, other than the bathroom issues?  Also what terminal did you leave from?   BTW, we're on Lake Lanier and Go Dawgs!

 

We found her by going to the port and looking for the big white ship that said Magic 🙂 lol...   8 ships in port, not as easy as it sounds...took a while to scroll through the different ships and what terminal they were at.  We left from Terminal D, which seemed nice...have been out of Miami 3 times and no idea if it's been the same terminal each time or not.  When we came back, we were in Terminal F instead of D - no idea why, but we had a letter saying if you were parked in D they would offer you a shuttle to get to your car.

I'm not one to nitpick, so unless it was something pretty egregious, I probably wouldn't care.  The ship seemed nice and well loved.  Didn't notice anything like torn seats in the common areas or signs of "meh...we don't feel like fixing it."  One night outside the 3rd level entrance to the Northern Lights dining room, they had one of the doors closed and a team working on a leak.  When we left, we had to exit via the 4th floor, but the next night it was back to normal.    That could happen on any ship.  

This was the newest ship I've sailed on, so to me it looked great!  

About the only thing that I thought felt dated as the lighting.  It seemed to all be old-school fluorescent tubes in the bathroom cabin and balconies.   I guess it would be a big undertaking to swap them out with modern LED ones and don't know if it would turn into energy and then fuel savings.  

But when you have the Symphony of the Seas parked across the dock from you, it's the little things you can see between the balcony layouts - how they do the connectors between them, the additional room etc.  Maybe one day I'll get on one of the newer ships and see what has been designed and built in the last 5 years.   Looking at videos of say the Celebration, the room décor just seems very dated, but regardless, I wasn't in my office so it looked great to me!

 

We're from McDonough, though right before the cruise I was at Lake Lanier for a conference...first time I'd ever been up there...very nice.   Don't care for college ball though, but if they had beet Bama in Dec I would have had fun giving my sister crap for weeks!  🙂
Hope you get around better without the scooter and have a great time!

[Sabalon]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

So when's the next cruise?😉

 

Glad you liked the humor.  Love throwing those in.  As for the next, not sure yet.  Gotta hurry up and get to Platinum so we need to pick up our pace.  I know after the heat this year, my wife said we should go during her winter break  (Feb) next time (works at a school).  Gotta decide if we're taking our girls (25 and 22) with us.  Also we've been trying to get some of our closer friends to go with us as well - heaven knows we've been talking about it for 5 years!

[tradewinds traveler]

Your review for the Magic was great. Thank you, we are sailing on the Magic in November.

[ninjacat123]

7 minutes ago, Sabalon said:

 

Glad you liked the humor.  Love throwing those in.  As for the next, not sure yet.  Gotta hurry up and get to Platinum so we need to pick up our pace.  I know after the heat this year, my wife said we should go during her winter break  (Feb) next time (works at a school).  Gotta decide if we're taking our girls (25 and 22) with us.  Also we've been trying to get some of our closer friends to go with us as well - heaven knows we've been talking about it for 5 years!

We take our DDs every so often now (21 & 23) but it’s getting more like me and DH moving forward on cruises. It’s hard not bringing them along😔

[Derbie]

We are going on the Magic on June 29th (8 day Western).  We are traveling with our son, wife and four grandchildren.  We wanted to do the same route as you were on, but it is no longer a closed loop sailing.  I had to hunt us down one where, our son's family could sail without passports.  DH and I both have passports.  I am most pleased to read your review.  I was worried, as not all comments in the ship review board were positive.  I understand you can't please all.  I do worry there will be enough on the cruise to keep them busy.  Last year, we took them on the Panorama and the year before on Oasis of the Seas. They are 18, 16, 14 and 8.  Money belt tightening up, as the grandparents retire.  :0)  Now l

et the port planning begin!

[thundercrack]

10 hours ago, Sabalon said:

 

I thought about getting the vinyl mat that they have for the luggage when you get to the room, but it got shoved way under the bed so we just hoped for the best.  Like the floormat idea - with a little light it should stand out.  In the past we've done the door thing and it does help.  

You can also get small magnetic hooks from amazon and run it up the wall, across the ceiling, and then back down the wall.  I do this with my Cpap, easy to do and never in the way.

[pe4all]

Great review!  Love the Magic - going on her again (4th time) in January.  One of my favorite ships.  You have a great sense of humor.  Sorry your wife got ill.  I can get it - my dd throws up at least 1x every cruise due to the food disagreeing with her- lol!  We have not done digital debark yet, but looking forward to less back-up on the ramps getting off Magic and down the escalator to the terminal.  We also debarked at a different terminal than we embarked at - seems this happens often to Magic passengers.  A lot of people were bent out of shape when getting that letter the night before, but everyone managed to get where they were going.  Jake was our CD also - very pleasant guy, and Mambo was leaving the next day as her vacay/contract was up.  Glad she came back - she was really funny, and "on the edge" with some of her comments - loved it!

[CruzerDeb]

Thanks for the great review! 

[Noledad77]

This was a fantastic review. I've never been on the Magic but this kinda makes me want to now. Cheers!

[Jeafl]

I enjoyed reading your review.  We really liked the Magic, other than the convoluted way you have to go to access the one and only elevator to the Serenity deck.  It was not easy to find!

 

[StephPS79]

Great and thorough review - thank you for the time to share your experience!

[Sabalon]

3 hours ago, Jeafl said:

I enjoyed reading your review.  We really liked the Magic, other than the convoluted way you have to go to access the one and only elevator to the Serenity deck.  It was not easy to find!

 

I saw that elevator on the map but never did find it.  Just took the stairs.    Now that I have it up on my desktop I can see where you get to it.  Oh well - adventures for next time!

[nydney1]

Thanks for the great review.

 

The Magic is a ship that I have not gotten to sail on yet.

[pe4all]

1 hour ago, Sabalon said:

 

I saw that elevator on the map but never did find it.  Just took the stairs.    Now that I have it up on my desktop I can see where you get to it.  Oh well - adventures for next time!

That elevator was out of order when we sailed in January!

[ninjacat123]

13 minutes ago, pe4all said:

That elevator was out of order when we sailed in January!

That's not good for people who can't use stairs.  I hope Carnival fixed that pronto!

[nancy1031]

Going on the Magic in Oct- koved your review- can't wait to cruise now- 185 days to go!!!!

[SDPadreFan]

Great review. We had a B2B scheduled on Magic in a Spa Balcony but that got canceled due to a "certain pandemic". We'll get back to her eventually.

With regard to the tripping hazard and leaving the bathroom light on, we bought these magnetized night lights on Amazon and they now go with us on every cruise. They stick right on the metal walls.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MHVTHQS

 

Because they are motion sensing, the first night, you just have to figure out where they work best and don't automatically trip on every time you move around in bed. Once that is set, everything is good to go. BUT REMEMBER to take them with you when the cruise is over. They are easy to forget on debarkation morning. We actually have a little "post cruise" packing list so we don't leave anything behind.

 

Someone also mentioned magnetic hooks and we have those as well. They are great for hanging, hats, jackets, etc. on the wall to reduce clutter. Some people like those over the door organizers. We use one of them on "some" cruises, but with STRONG magnetic hooks, we can hang it on a wall vice the bathroom door. I mention STRONG magnetic hooks because the rating is for pulling them OFF the wall, not for horizontal strength (what keeps them from sliding down the wall). So strong is better. On an Alaska cruise, you might have a heavier jacket to hang on those hooks. These are the ones we have.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08F55SKST

 

For the door organizer, we went with this one. Again - only used for certain cruises.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HH6NLQ4

 

 

 

Edited April 9 by SDPadreFan

[nydney1]

We purchased the same magnets and love them.