Carnival Magic Cruise - DAY 10 - Sunday, Dec 7th, 2014 - Debarkation Day/Travel Day

You can find the beginning of this review here, DAY 1

DEBARKATION DAY/TRAVEL DAY

I was up really early. Too early. 

I grabbed my cell phone, slipped out of the cabin and went out on deck. It was still dark out. 

I could see we were very close to Galveston and I immediately called my Sweetie. Of course he was awake and we talked for a while. I had A LOT to tell him about my week!

I told him I was going to try to drive straight through and get home that night. I wasn't sure if I could make it, but I was going to try. 

As the sun came up, people began to wake up and come out on deck. I spent some time with my new friends and we exchanged email addresses and info. 

We hugged and said our goodbyes. We all promised we would cruise again together someday, and I hope we do. 

Back in the cabin, my roommate was awake and packing the last of her things. 

I ordered a bagel and some fruit from room service, and ate while I got my things together.

My roommate and I had been given instructions on where to meet to get off the ship. We were to be in the Northern Lights Dining room at 7:45

The neighbors had a different meeting place. 

At 7:45, my roommate and I went downstairs. We sat in the dining room for about 10 minutes and we were told we could get off the ship. 

When we got off the ship, we first went to the area to find our luggage. 

Oh boy, what a nightmare! All of the luggage was put out in rows, and  we had to walk up and down the rows looking for our bags. It was bedlam. 

People everywhere trying to find their bags, and there was nowhere to put your bags you found while you searched for your other bag. 

We were in debark group 1 but we finally found our bags in with the group 2 bags. One of our bags may have even been in group 3!

This was one area where I thought the Port of Miami had a better system than Galveston. In Miami, they have conveyor belts (kind of like the airport) where you stand still and the luggage rolls by on the belt. Much easier and less chaotic. 

I hope Galveston can update their system for picking up the luggage. 

It took us about 20 minutes to find our luggage, and then we went to the lines for customs. 

We waited in line for about 10 minutes, and we were through customs with no problems. 

Outside, I left my roommate near the curb with the luggage while I went to get the truck. 

It didn't take long for me to get the truck (it felt like seeing an old friend!), and circle around to get my roommate and the luggage. 

We were on the road by 8:45AM, and the traffic heading out of Galveston wasn't too bad. 

We drove for a long way before we stopped that morning. 

It was a pretty uneventful drive. My roommate and I listened to music and talked. For the most part, everything went fine but there were a few times throughout the day when I had to bite my tongue. I kept reminding myself that we were getting closer and closer to home. I had already put up with this for 9 and a half days so far and I could make it a few more hours by continuing to keep my mouth shut. 

As we got closer to Kansas, it got colder outside (sad that we had left the sunshine and warm weather behind us). We had to turn the heater on by early afternoon. By the time we crossed into Kansas, it was dark out. It was also foggy, and misty, and cold. Ick.

We pulled into my driveway at 10:30 that night. I was soooooooo exhausted, but so proud of myself for making that long drive in one day. 

It was so good to hug my Sweetie. He had been asleep but he got up to welcome me home. It was nice to be home. 

My son came out and moved my roommates luggage from my truck into her car. He also brought my things in the house. I was worried about my roommate driving an hour to get to her home that late at night when I knew she must be tired too. I invited her to stay the night and drive home in the morning. 

She decided to head home. 

She and I said goodbye and said we would talk soon. 

It was about 2 hours after I was home (and now fully awake and happy to be home) when I reflected on the entire vacation. I really did have a good time after all, and I was glad I went. I also decided that the way my roommate treated me throughout the 10 days was unacceptable. Yes, she apologized for her behavior (kind of), but after the apology the behavior continued. I'm not sure what was going on but I just don't need that kind of negativity. At this point, I am going to choose to let that friendship go and spend my time and energy on some of the more positive friendships I have.
I just felt she had been very unkind to me throughout most of the trip, and there is really no excuse to treat anyone that way.

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To wrap up my vacation, here are a few things........

Carnival Cruise Lines:
I know Carnival has been getting some horrible news headlines in the past few years, but I do think Carnival offers a GREAT cruise vacation at a very reasonable price. I have enjoyed all of my Carnival cruises (I have been on 5 now) and I would definitely book another Carnival cruise in the future.

The Carnival Magic ship:
This was the newest and biggest of the Carnival ships I have cruised on. I thought the Magic was BEAUTIFUL! It was easy to find my way around the ship. I loved the Carnival Magic.

Ship Service: The service and staff on this ship were top notch. Everyone I came into contact with took very good care of me on this cruise.

Ship Food:
I ate at the MDR (Main Dining room) twice, and both times the service and food were very good.
The buffet was also very good. They had many choices at every meal, and also a carving station set up at every dinner.
Room service was very fast (usually about 20 minutes) and also very good! I highly suggest a BLT from the room service menu!
The Steakhouse was AMAZING, and worth every penny of the upcharge.

Ship Cloud 9 Spa: 
I really loved the use of the Cloud 9 Spa almost every day while I was on this cruise. I thought it was wonderful! I will definitely book another Cloud 9 Spa cabin on the Magic or the Dream someday (those are the only 2 Carnival ships with a Cloud 9 Spa)

Ship Smoking Areas: I thought the smoking area on the 11th floor was great. Since my cabin was on the 11th floor, it was very convenient for me. There was also outdoor smoking on deck 5 at the Red Frog Pub. Smoking was allowed in the night cub, and at the casino bar. I was happy with the smoking areas on the ship.

Our Cabin: 
I thought our inside spa cabin was nice. It was smaller than I expected, but it was fine for the two of us. We had plenty of storage for our clothes and things.


Weather: It rained at least once a day, sometimes twice. The rain only lasted about 20 minutes, so it really wasn't a problem for me. Other than that it was mostly sunny and warm. An online friend of mine (Hi Rita!) had been to the same islands we went to, but she went the week before my cruise. She had posted that the weather was very rough. They had a lot of rain for several days and they had 20-25 ft waves. She said their ship was really being tossed around the sea. They weren't able to visit one of their islands (Belize, I think). So with that knowledge, I was pleasantly surprised that we had mostly sunny days and not a lot of rain.

Port Of Galveston: I thought check-in and boarding went very smoothly. I was happy with the way the process went.
I thought getting off the ship was fine. Walking up and down rows and rows of luggage, and finally finding some of it in the wrong zone was the only area where I felt Carnival fell short.

Galveston Park-N-Cruise: This was very convenient. I was able to pre-pay online before the trip, and the lot was directly across from the Port. The people that work there were very friendly and helpful both before and after the cruise.


All in all I had a good vacation. My travel companions weren't a good match for me but I thought I made the best of a bad situation. Looking back I wish I had seen a show or two, or visited the comedy club at least once.

THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ MY REVIEW!

BEFORE YOU GO, PLEASE SEE MY TOUR OF THE CARNIVAL MAGIC SHIP.

Carnival Magic Cruise - DAY 9 - Saturday, Dec 6th, 2014 - Seaday 3

You can find the beginning of this review here, DAY 1

Reading through the last 2 days of this trip was a little depressing! Sorry if I made it sound like I was so sad. It really wasn't all that bad. 

To help cheer us all up, I want to tell a funny story that happened to me on this cruise. I'm not sure why I left this out of the review, and it's too late to add it in onto the day it happened, but Phyllis is urging me to tell the story, so here goes:

Remember when I mentioned that a woman had spent some time with my roommate and I on the 2nd night of the cruise? She went with us to the Piano Bar and then to the Club. 

The woman's name was Betty.

The part I left out was that at some point that night my roommate, Betty and I ended up browsing around in the gift shop. While we were there, I showed Betty a rack of jewelry that had some really good sale stuff on it. Most of the rings were $10 or less. 

Betty and I looked on the rack and we each picked out a ring we wanted to buy. 

We went to the register and I signed for my ring using my Sail & Sign card. 

When it was Betty's turn to pay for her ring, she reached into her pocket to get cash. The cashier told her she couldn't use cash on the ship, she has to use her Sail & Sign card. 

Betty said she hadn't gotten paid yet, and hadn't put any money on her S&S card. She said her payday was "tomorrow".

She told the cashier, she didn't want the ring, and she would come back the next day. 

The cashier told her the 10% off sale wasn't going to be happening the next day, so her ring would cost more. 

Then the cashier had the bright idea to point to ME and suggest that I pay for the ring, and Betty can give me cash. 

Sounded like a great idea, and we all agreed.  I signed the receipt agreeing to pay $8.85 on my Sail & Sign card for her ring.

It actually would have worked out fine, but Betty never gave me cash that night. As we walked away from the register, she asked if she could catch up with me the next day, after she got paid. 

Yep, you guessed it! Betty never caught up with me. Actually, she avoided me for the rest of the cruise. 

It was a funny story when I told it to my friends out in the smoking area. We were all on the lookout for Betty for the rest of the cruise, and we had more than a few laughs over the whole thing during the rest of the cruise. 

Sure I would have liked to have my $8.85 back, but it wasn't enough money to get me upset. 

I was glad the total hadn't been more!!! 

I think Betty got her karma back though, that ship is actually pretty small when you are trying to avoid someone. She couldn't even go to the 11th floor smoking area, for the rest of the cruise because I was constantly out there. Poor Betty had to find somewhere else to smoke. 

Leave it to me to buy a ring for a woman I don't even know!!!!!

And now, back to the last day of the cruise:

SEADAY 3

I was up at 6:00AM. I had hoped I would sleep in a little later since it was a sea day, but I couldn't get get back to sleep.

I slipped out of the cabin quietly and went out to see what the morning looked like. 

I ended up sitting out on deck 11 for quite a while that morning. 

My roommate had come in really late and I wanted to let her sleep. 

I saw Phyllis and we went to get some breakfast at the buffet together. I liked having someone to eat with. Thank you SO MUCH Phyllis and Myron for being such awesome people! I had a really good time with you guys and I am so glad I met you. Thank you for letting me hang out with you, I hope we can cruise together again someday! 

After Phyllis and I ate breakfast, I walked around the ship a little bit and took some pictures. 

After about an hour of taking pictures, I realized that the last 250 or so pictures were gone. They were just gone. Each one had an ERROR! message instead of the picture. 

I had been checking every 20 pictures or so to make sure my pictures were there on my camera. I don't know exactly when my pictures disappeared, but when I went to show Phyllis  some of my pics I had taken of the ship, they were gone. 

OH!.........................I was sooooooooooo sad.....................

I could walk around and replace the pics of the ship (although I didn't want to)

but I couldn't ever replace the pics of Cozumel or the Mexican party from the day before. 

I was really really sad..........................

I went back to my cabin to start packing my suitcases and sulk about my lost pictures. 

My roommate wasn't there.

I ordered a room service sandwich so I could eat while I packed. 

While I was packing (and eating), I made my plan for the rest of my seaday. Since it seemed likely that I was going to be spending my day alone, I wanted a plan. 

It was around 2:00 when I finished packing and I still hadn't seen my roommate. 

I decided that I would spend a few hours walking around the ship to re take all of the pictures I had lost. I wasn't happy about doing that, but I had plenty of time on my hands, so I might as well spend the time re taking them. (Later, I was very glad I spent the time retaking the ship pictures)

After ship pictures, I would get some dinner, most likely at the buffet and take it back to the cabin to eat. 

After dinner, I wanted to go to the spa one last time. 

And that's pretty much how my day went. I ran into Phyllis and Myron, and Jen and Bobby several times throughout the day. There was an older couple that I had become friendly with in the past week, and I sat outside and talked to them for a while that day. 

I went to the kiosk on Deck 3 and got a printout of my Sail & Sign card. I could see my account on the TV anytime I wanted to, but I wanted a hard copy to take home with me in case I wanted to review it later.

I stayed at the spa that night until they closed at 10:00PM. The ladies at the front desk had told me it would be empty on the last night after 8:30 or so, and they were right.

I had the place almost to myself that last night and I stayed in the green and red rooms for an extra long time. 

I stayed in the Thalassotherapy pool for an extra long time too. I was actually sad that my cruise would be over in the morning. I really loved this ship, and this spa!!

On the other hand, this wasn't really the cruise I had been expecting and I was ready to get home to the comfort of my family. 

I made sure to leave myself enough time to take one last long hot shower in the women's locker room before the spa closed for the night. 

I felt so refreshed when I left the spa that night.

Back in the cabin, I made sure I put my luggage out in the hallway so they could pick it up and take it off the ship for me in the morning. 

My roommate was in the cabin packing her suitcases. 

I went out to the smoking area for one last time that night. Everyone was out there, it was like a big party! I was having so much fun, I ended up staying out there longer than I had planned. I really liked these new friends! They were all a lot of fun to be around. 

Here are some pics from that night:

Jen and Bobby

Jen took this blurry one of Bobby and I:

And then Bobby took these blurry ones of Jen and I:

Jen was definitely the life of the party that night:

Phyllis with Myron behind her:

The 3 of us gals:

I really miss those girls!!

Later that night, this was my view as we sat and watched some of the movie on the big screen with Phyllis and Myron:

I stayed out there until about midnight and I just had to go to bed. I knew I had a very long drive ahead of me the next day. This was one night when I really needed my sleep.

I said good night to everyone. I knew I would see them all in the morning.

Back in the cabin, my roommate was getting ready for bed.
We ordered room service and sat up watching TV for awhile.

Jen knocked on the door, and before we knew it, we were having a pajama party in our cabin!
Jen was a lot of fun, she had my roommate and I cracking up that night.
Bobby came to the cabin looking for Jen and the 4 of us sat there in the cabin talking for quite a while.

Jen and I decided to venture out and go to the secret deck. To my surprise, my roommate decided to join us. All of us were in our pajamas, out on the front deck, and boy was it dark and windy out there.

We could see the lights of Galveston way off in the distance in front of us, and we were heading right for it.
There were A LOT of ships and boats out there with us. We could see at least 10 or so just from where we stood. The other ships and boats were beautiful when they were all lit up in the night.

We stayed out on the secret deck for a good 20-30 minutes, and I was FREEZING with the wind blowing so strong on that deck. I hated to be the party pooper, but I had to drive the next day.

I said goodnight, but they both followed me back in.

I have no idea what time I went to bed that night. It was late.


DAY 10 is HERE!!

Carnival Magic Cruise - DAY 8 - Friday, Dec 5, 2014 - Cozumel, Mexico

You can find the beginning of this review here, DAY 1

MEXICO DAY

I woke up around 7:00AM and my roommate was still asleep. I snuck out of the cabin and went out on deck to see if I could see Mexico. 

Good thing I brought my camera with me, the Lido deck was full of towel animals!

It was really cute to see them all. It made me smile first thing in the morning. 

There must have been 100 towel animals out there:

And on the bench in front of the pool was the biggest towel animal I had ever seen! 

It was a big elephant with a baseball hat on.

During the night we had traveled from Belize to Cozumel Mexico.
Cozumel is a little island just off the coast of Mexico, below the Yucatan Peninsula.

I have never been to Mexico, and I was so curious and excited about it. I wasn't sure what to expect.


I noticed we were just pulling into the port. Looking off the side of the ship, I could see a couple of ships already docked:

I noticed the water was really blue! It hadn't been very blue in Honduras or Belize, so I was happy to see the beautiful blue Caribbean water here in Mexico:

I decided to go up to the secret deck and see if I could get some good pictures as we pulled into the port.

From the secret deck,  I had a great view of the dock we were heading towards, and the port area was coming into view:

As we got closer, I noticed the 2 ships were both Royal Caribbean. I definitely want to sail on RC one day, I was glad I would get to see 2 of their huge ships up close.

As we pulled up to the dock, I thought I had better go to the cabin and get ready for the day. My roommate and the neighbors wanted to leave at 8:30

Back in the cabin, my roommate was just waking up as I came in. It was 7:30AM.

Since I had exactly an hour until we were supposed to be ready to go, I decided I had enough time to go up to the spa. I grabbed my things and went upstairs:

I spent a few minutes laying on the warm tile beds in the green room and the red room:

I soaked in the Thalassotherapy pool:

And I showered in my favorite shower. As usual, I had the locker room to myself that morning:

Back in the cabin, it was now 8:30 and my roommate wasn't even close to being ready to get off the ship.
I got dressed and went out to the smoking area to wait for her.

I sat and waited and waited.
I went down to the breakfast buffet and made myself a plate and took it back up to the smoking area to wait for my roommate and the neighbors.

The neighbors showed up first, and we all waited for my roommate.
By this time, I was considering just getting off the ship on my own after all. I was getting tired of waiting around.

My roommate was finally ready to get off the ship at 11:00AM.

I wasn't very happy, but as I had been doing all week, I pushed it aside and concentrated on the positive things.
I was going to Mexico today!
I wasn't going to have to go into Mexico alone!
It was a beautiful day out!


The 4 of us went down to deck 0, and got off the ship.

The pier was long and the neighbors opted to take a bicycle taxi to the other end.
My roommate and I walked and met them down there.

The neighbors decided they weren't going to spend much time off the ship after all. They said they were going to get a few things and go back to the ship.

This left my roommate and I on our own. Since she was in a good mood that day, I went ahead and walked around with her.

We ended up having a nice and enjoyable day.

The sad part is, I took a ton of pictures but somehow I lost them all!
YIKES!
My camera has done this before, and I thought we had solved the problem. I had been taking care the entire cruise to check to make sure my pictures were fine and that the camera was working properly.

Well, my camera did malfunction but it wasn't until the next day that I realized I didn't have any pictures since the morning in Mexico. UGH.

But at the time, I thought my camera was working fine and I kept clicking away all day.


We walked out of the port area and down the block about a half mile. As we walked we stopped and bargained with different vendors for souvenirs to bring home.



With Google Eatheview, I was able to get a couple of pictures showing where we were that day:
Thanks Google, you saved my review!!


This was an area of the street we walked down. I actually remember seeing the walking bridge over the road ahead:

 (Google  image)






We stopped for lunch at this place with the thatched hut roof. They had a nice balcony overlooking the beautiful ocean.

We both had a Margarita and I ate the first REAL Mexican food I have ever eaten in my life. I had 3 beef soft tacos. They were actually more like steak fajitas, and they were SO GOOD!!

(Google image)


After lunch, we walked back toward the ship, stopping to haggle and shop along the way.

Back in the port area, we continued to browse and shop. My backpack was stuffed full and by that time I was also carrying a large (very full) shopping bag. I think I bought one of everything they had in Mexico. When I didn't have any more room to carry anything, it was time to go back to the ship.

I had a heavy load to carry back to the ship. I had a hammock, a large Mexican blanket, a Mexican sweatshirt, a  large hand painted wooden bowl, a hand carved wooden sun and moon, souvenirs for my kids and some friends back home, and 2 Harley Davidson shirts for my Sweetie.

When I got back on the ship, I went straight to the cabin to drop off my load. I had had a great time in Mexico, and I was exhausted.

It was mid-afternoon, and my roommate was off somewhere.
 I went out on deck to watch sailaway.

I saw Phyllis and Myron and we traded stories about our day in Mexico. I had no idea where my roommate was at the time, and since it was Phyllis's birthday, I invited them to join me at the Past Guest Party that afternoon.

I called down to Guest Services and asked if I could bring 2 guests to the party, and they said it would be fine.

So at 4:30 Phyllis, Myron, and I  went down to the theater to attend the Past Guest Party. It lasted about 45 minutes and they served drinks and some hors d'oeuvres. <<<------  I had to look up the spelling on Google!


We actually sat down on the lower level, but this is the only picture I have of the theater.

After the party, Phyllis and Myron were off to eat dinner in the MDR. It may have been Elegant night that night.
Since I had no dinner companions, I went to the buffet and took my plate back to my cabin.

I watched TV while I ate and thought it was going to be another long night if I had to spend it by myself again. I was glad to be on the cruise and I was loving the ship life, but I wasn't prepared for the amount of time I was alone. I had been on 4 other cruises and hadn't had this happen. My past cruise mates all wanted to do things together whether we were on the ship or on the islands.


After I ate, I decided to go to the spa. I had already been there once that day, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. I was pretty tired that night, I think the lack of sleep was catching up with me.


I got ready and went up and relaxed for an hour in the hot tile beds and the Thalassotherapy pool.
After I was good and relaxed, I took a long hot shower in the women's locker room.

Around 10:00 I went out to watch some of the Mexican Fiesta Party. They were having a dance party on the Lido deck and after that was going to be a Mexican buffet.
I watched the party from Deck 11. I had a great view and the Latin music was very good. Phyllis and Myron, and Jen and Bobby were all out there and I had a good time.

I took a lot of pictures of the party, and even some video, but these were in the batch of pictures I lost.

I didn't feel like going down for the buffet, so when the music was over I said goodnight to everyone and went back to the cabin.

My roommate wasn't there.

I watched TV and probably ordered something from room service. I think I ordered room service almost every night on this cruise. Their BLT's were a perfect midnight snack! And its FREE, so why not??!!

I was aware that I was eating a lot (and shopping a lot) and I assumed I was going a little overboard because I was lonely.
I knew this was what I was doing and I gave myself permission to eat whenever and whatever I wanted. What the heck??! I'm on a cruise and I'm sitting here alone, the food is free (AND IT"S GOOD!!) so go ahead and order the BLT at midnight!

 And the shopping...........I had brought plenty of spending money and I was definitely spending it.
So far I hadn't gone over my limit I had set for myself before the cruise so I was fine with my depression spending at this point.

I don't remember what towel animal we had that night. I'm sure I took a picture of it, but it was lost.

I was so tired that night, I went to bed shortly after midnight.
My roommate came in after I fell asleep.

DAY 9 is HERE!!

Carnival Magic Cruise - DAY 7 - Thursday, Dec 4, 2014- Belize

You can find the beginning of this review here, DAY 1

BELIZE DAY

I woke up and it was 6:00 AM.

I wished I could have slept longer but as long as I was up I might as well go out and see if I could see land.

My roommate was still asleep, so I slipped out of the room quietly.

When I walked out to the open deck, the sun was peeking out of the clouds behind the whale tail:

During the night we had traveled from Roatan, Honduras to Belize. Here is a rough map of where we were:

I could see a lot of small islands all around us, and our ship was weaving through them for quite a while before we stopped and dropped the anchor. The water was very shallow so the ships could not pull up to the port/dock. We would have to take small boats called "Tenders" to get to Belize.

Another ship had also stopped near ours.

I saw Phyllis and Myron and we made a plan to meet around 8:30 to go into Belize.

I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day and my roommate was up and dressed.

I said good morning to her, and told her is was another beautiful day out.
Her mood seemed fine.

When I looked on my bed I saw my roommate had left me a note and $50.00
Her note thanked me for a nice time yesterday at the cabana.
I appreciated the note and the money. I had been feeling like she was taking advantage of my generosity on this cruise so far, and her note went a long way in helping me feel better.

I had no problem being generous, and I had been sharing everything I had with her on this cruise so far. I just couldn't understand how she could keep accepting the things I was offering, but then still treating me the way she was. There were a lot of things I had given to her/paid for her to do on this cruise (the most recent things I had shared with her were the Steakhouse dinner that I used my onboard credit to pay for, and the Cabana in Roatan that I told her was my treat) and there was much more..................

What I had said (ok, maybe I yelled) at her the night before must have gotten her to think about it, and I was happy she was trying to reconcile.

 I didn't need the $50 she had put on my bed but I put it in my pocket anyway. What the heck. Maybe I would use it to treat Phyllis and Myron to lunch that day in Belize.

 She said she was going to get off the ship and do some shopping. I told her I was going to do the same thing with Phyllis and Myron and she was welcome to join us if she wanted to.
I also reminded her that with my Special Platinum card, if there was a line to get off the ship, we would have priority and be able to go to the front of the line. She said she was fine on her own so I left it at that.

I ordered room service so I could eat while I was getting ready to go. I had a bagel and some fruit.

Before I left the cabin, I loaded up a bag of laundry and filled out the laundry service card. I put about 8 t-shirts and 3 pairs of shorts in the bag. Since it was one of the free perks with my special platinum status, I might as well use it. I found Ricardo out in the hall and let him know I left a bag of laundry and asked if he would take it for me. He said it would be back later that day.

At 8:30, I met with Phyllis and Myron and we headed downstairs. We were directed to go to the Lobby deck to wait for a tender. There were about 20 other people waiting in the lobby with us. We waited about 15 minutes and we followed the staff member down to the lower deck to get on the tender boat.

After a few minutes, we were loaded up and we were off to Belize!


This pic was taken when we were on the tender and had just pulled away from the ship. I had a good view of some other passengers that were boarding another tender boat.

Looking up at our ship:

We were far enough away that I could photograph the whole ship:

And farther:

There were actually 4 ships out there that day. Ours was the 2nd from the right:

It was a 15 minute ride to the small pier in Belize:

As I got off the tender, this is what I saw.
Shops and more shops:

We walked around and shopped. There were regular stores and also there were areas with booths (kind of like a craft fair):

It rained twice that morning, for about 10-20 minutes each time. It was a light rain and we were able to stay dry by walking under awnings and staying inside the stores and booths.

When we were hungry for lunch, we found a place called the Wet Lizzard. 

It had been really crowded on the lower floor, but there was plenty of room upstairs.

I ordered beef sliders, and they were SO good! I was actually surprised at how good they were, and I got Phyllis to try one of my little burgers. She agreed with me that they were pretty amazing.

On the way out of the Wet Lizard, I took this pic of Phyllis and Myron:

Heading slowly back toward the ship, sightseeing, people watching, and shopping as we walked.

Standing in line waiting for  tender boat back to the ship. The line behind us was getting long.

The skies had some dark clouds, but it didn't rain anymore while we were in Belize.It had been a nice warm day out.

We waited in line about 5-10 minutes and we were on a tender boat and heading back to our ship:

Back on the ship, Phyllis and I both wanted to try the waterslides. We went back to our cabins to change into swimsuits.

Back in the cabin, my laundry was already back!  It was folded nicely and left on my bed. I started putting it away and I noticed there were clothes in the pile that didn't belong to me. I was thinking the laundry people had mixed up the laundry, and then I recognized some of my roommates clothes.

She must have added some things to the bag after I had left the cabin that morning. I put her laundry on her bed and put mine away.

I saw that they had totally removed the ink pen stain I had gotten on one of my shirts a few days ago. I was very happy with the laundry service, especially since it was free on this particular cruise. I probably would not have tried it if it hadn't been free. I will definitely use the service again, even though I will have to pay for it until I actually become a Platinum.




I got changed and met Phyllis. We went over to the Water Works area and went up the stairs to the waterslides.
We rode both of the big slides (the orange one and the yellow one). They were both good!

Carnival has put together a fun little water park. We didn't stay up there long, but I was impressed with the area and the slides.


We found Myron and we decided we wanted to go sit in a hot tub for a while.
We went up to the Serenity deck and found a hot tub that had room for the three of us.

There were other people already in the hot tub and we all got to talking and laughing. We were having a pretty good time and we stayed in the hot tub a lot longer than we had intended.

We stayed in the hot tub so long we saw the sunset off the side of the ship. That was a beautiful experience. 

We were still in there at sailaway, and that was after the sun had set that night. I'm not sure what time sailaway was supposed to be that day, and I have no idea what time it was while we were in the hot tub.

I think that is one of the things I love about cruising. You don't have to be on any time schedule when you are on the ship. There are a lot of times when I am on the ship and I have absolutely no idea what time it is.

When we got out of the hot tub, we were all starving. We changed out of our swimsuits and met back up to go to the buffet. 

We ate our dinner together, and at some point we met up with Jen and Bobby. We told stories about our day, and we talked about plans for tomorrow. 

I had no plans for the next day, but I hoped to be able to get off the ship and see what Mexico looks like. 

I had already spent the entire day with Myron and Phyllis, and although we all had a wonderful day I didn't want to hang on them too much. I learned it was Phyllis's 50th birthday the next day so I especially wanted to give them their space.

Jen and Bobby invited me to join them on their excursion in Cozumel the next day. It sounded like fun, and I was grateful for the offer. I decided I would really like to join them. 

I went down to deck 3 (the Lobby deck) to see if I could book the excursion.
Oh darn, the Shore Excursion deck was already closed for the night. What time is it anyway?? HaHa!

I went to Guest Services to see if they could help me book the excursion. They were happy to help me at Guest Services, but the excursion was already full.
Awww, Darn. I wouldn't be able to join Jen and Bobby in Cozumel the next day (sad face).

I decided I would be brave and get off the ship by myself in the morning and do some shopping in the port area. I shop by myself all the time at home, and I would be fine shopping by myself in Mexico.

It was about 8:30PM and I was back in my cabin with nothing to do. Well, there was plenty to do, but I'm not very adventurous when I'm alone. I wasn't going to go to the Comedy Club, the Night Club, or even any of the big shows in the theater by myself.

I wasn't ready to go to bed, it was still quite early. I hadn't seen my roommate or the neighbors all day. Jen and Bobby were at the Steakhouse that night. I don't remember what Phyllis and Myron were doing that night, but since we had all been together all day, I wanted to give them their space.

 I thought about going to the spa, but I had just spent about an hour and a half in the hot tub on serenity deck. I felt hydrated enough for one day!

I had an idea..............I decided to go up to the spa and see if they could redo my nail polish. My stripes and anchors were peeling off and it was beginning to look pretty bad.

I went up to the spa and they gave me an appointment right away. Wow! It was almost 9:00PM and I didn't think they took nail appointments that late.

The gal that did my nails was also named Andrea. We had that in common right off the bat and we had a nice conversation while she did my nails.

Andrea took off my red and blue nail polish and re-painted them a light purple. The appointment took about 30 minutes and I was very happy with the results. They looked much better than they looked when I went in there.

It was still early, so I walked down to the gift shops and browsed around:

I was avoiding the smoking area on deck 11 that night because there was a Dallas Cowboys game on the big screen. The Magic sails out of Texas and most of the people on the ship were from Texas. The football game was a pretty popular event.

While the game was on, there was nowhere to sit, and really nowhere to stand on deck 11 without blocking someone's view of the screen.

I went down to the casino bar, and ordered a coke. I could smoke in this area, so I sat there and sipped my coke.
The two ladies next to me struck up a conversation, so I spent about an hour talking with them.

On the way back to the cabin, I stopped to get an ice cream cone and ate it as I walked.

I saw the neighbors, and we talked for a few minutes. They hadn't gotten off the ship at all that day in Belize. I'm not sure why. They said it was raining that morning and they didn't want to get wet, but it really hadn't rained very long.

We talked about plans for the next day in Mexico and they told me they planned to get off the ship and do some shopping. Since that was my plan too, I asked them if I could join them. None of us had seen my roommate all day, so we didn't know what her plans were.
We decided to meet at 9:30AM to get off the ship. We thought that would be enough time for the first wave of people to be off the ship, and maybe less crowded for us when we got off.

I went back to the cabin and my roommate still wasn't there. I was just beginning to wonder if she had even made it back on the ship that day when I noticed her tender ticket on her bed. She must be on the ship somewhere.

I ordered room service, a BLT and some chocolate cake.

I was pretty lonely after spending most of my evening by myself. Well, I talked to people here and there all night, but I still felt very much alone.
I must admit, I had had a GREAT day with Phyllis and Myron (THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR BELIZE DAY WITH ME PHYLLIS AND MYRON! I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY!)
I had a good time going to get my nails done and then talking with the gals in the casino. Yes, I was having a good time and enjoying the ship, but I just wished I had someone to enjoy it with me.

My room service came, and my sandwich was very good.

My roommate showed up sometime after that.
She was in a good mood, and I was glad for some company. We shared what we did that day and she ordered herself a sandwich from room service too.

I told her I had seen the neighbors and we had made a plan to meet at 9:30AM to get off the ship to shop. My roommate wanted to join us, but she thought we should meet earlier than 9:30.

She got a hold of the neighbors and they changed the time to 8:30AM.
I was fine with the earlier time, but I was surprised my roommate wanted to go that early.
I knew I'd be up early anyway and I really was just glad I wasn't going to have to spend the day in Mexico alone.

That night we had another cute towel animal left for us by Ricardo:

We watched TV and fell asleep around midnight.


DAY 8 is HERE!