Category: Uncategorized

The new Carnival Magic will be home-porting out of Galveston, TX starting this winter.

Official Site – WWW.CARNIVALMAGIC.COM

Here’s a quick walking tour of the ship

We have been on several Carnival cruises, most recently on the Legend in February out of Tampa. We thought they have really cut back on a lot of things and that left us disappointed and missing Royal Caribbean. Their food, selection, entertainment and service was not as good as it used to be. But if you live in the south and want to drive to port, this is a great option out of Texas especially in the summer when the other cruise lines go to Europe, Austrailia or China to make the big bucks.

We have also sailed on the Conquest and the Fantasy. I would have to say the Fantasy is our favorite out of the Carnival ships we have sailed on. If you want an affordable cruise go on Carnival. They are significantly more affordable but be aware that you get what you pay for. Despite our experience with Carnival in February we ended up having a great time, especially in our ports of call: Roatan (our favorite snorkeling site), Grand Cayman (always a lot of fun) and Cozumel (can’t go wrong). Carnival does have a great selection of itineraries and that alone is what would get us back on one of their ships. If they get their food, service and entertainment back up to par they would again top our list of favorite cruise line, but for now Royal Caribbean does. When we can afford it, we’ll pay more for a better cruising experience.

If you have any questions about Carnival, leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer 🙂

Tonight on Planet Green: watch

Extreme Cruise Ship (Building Oasis OTS) & Ultimate Cruise Ship (Building Freedom OTS)

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I’m currently researching for our next cruise some time late summer.

Right now it looks like we’ll be going on the Allure of the Seas – Eastern Caribbean.

Got a cruise planned? Where are you going & on what ship?

Christmas Family Cruise

Spring Break 2011

http://youtu.be/PZQc0RSNEtw

Great HD Video

http://youtu.be/q4bjSPGXppE

General Tour

http://youtu.be/t_ReGyYBjFg

My Favorite!!!

N’JOY

Update 2/5/13: The Smithsonian Channel has been kind enough to post the entire episode.

http://youtu.be/gyaJ2cUX6K0

These people were on our same cruise back in May of 2009.

Carnival Conquest from Galveston to Key West, Freeport & Nassau

1) Read recent reviews of both the ship & itinerary.

2) Get a cabin on a lower deck, between cabin decks (not below or above public spaces) & mid ship.

3) Make a packing list and don’t wait till the night before to pack.

4) Get travel insurance! This will cover over seas medical, evacuation, trip delay, job loss, etc.

5) Extras you might not think of: safety kit, poncho, highlighter, sticky notes, card games, popcorn.

6) Afraid you’ll get seasick? Wear sea bands for a non-medicated remedy – Walmart.

7) Are the beaches rocky? Take water shoes.

8) Don’t over-pack. Take multi-use clothes and coordinate with only a couple pairs of shoes.

9) Going to beach and getting in the water? Get a water proof pouch for your money & credit cards.

10) Know your cruise lines price protection policy and watch for price drops.

11) Carry copies of your PP & DL ashore along with emergency numbers & port authority number.

12) Keep track of the time when ashore. Don’t miss the boat!

13) DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT YOUR PASSPORT AND DL! ALWAYS KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!

Special Pricing (interline, military, past guest, state, teacher) – http://www.vacationstogo.com/

Actual pictures of rooms – http://www.cruiselinerooms.com/

Anything & Everything – http://www.cruisecritic.com/

Everything, ports & roll calls – http://boards.cruisecritic.com/

Deck-on-Deck info & ship tours – http://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/Main/virtualtours.php

Travel Insurance – http://www.insuremytrip.com/index.html?linkId=30002

First Time General Info – http://www.cruisecritic.com/ftc

We had a great night in Galveston last night. We took our time leaving the house and got there at about 4. Then we walked down The Strand and stopped in La King candy store, soda fountain and ice cream parlor. we got some hot fresh taffy and candy. oh we stayed at The Harbor House right next to the cruise terminals and saw dolphins out our window. we went to Landrys for dinner and it was delicious. we walked down to the beach but it was raining and the tide was way up. we were quite tired so we just hung out in our room the rest if the evening. we got up at 6 am this morning to watch the ships come in. we got lucky and they upgraded us to a suite so the ships came right by our window. we headed to the cruise terminal at about 10:30 and it took maybe 30 minutes to get through line and seated in zone 1 boarding till they cleared customs. we were on the ship by 12 and are eating on the lido deck.

Finally in the getting ready stages for our New Years cruise that sails next weekend! It’s too cold here to think about warm weather clothes though :-p We’ve decided not to go as formal this time, so that we can take smaller luggage. We’re just not sure we’re gonna have room for our snorkel gear. We may have to strap it to the outside of the bag since we’re planning to carry on. Neways, I’ve been in hybernation mode and feel a bit awkward in shorts and tshirts. It will be hard to resist all the Christmas goodies this week to make sure I’m not too bloated and fat feeling for my skimpier clothes. I need to save all my eating for the cruise. I didn’t stuff myself quite as silly as I did on our cruise in May. I skip the buffet at lunch and have a sandwich or go by the salad bar. Limiting my trips to the pizza bar will be the trick. I’m usually too full by dinner to eat much even though the waiter usually insists I order all the courses. We’re definately going to the Supper Club this time. I have to have that lobster – yum!!! I need to go to Party City to get our door decorations. On top of getting ready for the cruise, I have to make 2 cheese balls and 2 batches of fudge tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get up before 7 tomorrow morning to see the ships come in on the webcam, but we’ll see I have yet to get up early enough…