Booking

I wanted to book this itinerary back in 2019 for December of that year. I was only booking about six months out and the room selection was limited. Prices were through the roof. I booked a six-day Magic cruise instead.

I then booked this itinerary on Breeze for late August of 2020 with a better room and a lower price. That cruise was of course canceled due to COVID. I booked the same cruise on Breeze for the spring of 2021. A few months later that was canceled as well. Finally, I booked this one on Magic two years out.

At the time I booked this cruise it was purposely scheduled to be the week after the Super Bowl. As you may know the NFL has since added a week to the season. They tacked that week onto the back end of the season, pushing the Super Bowl back a week.

I went back and forth on whether or not to keep this cruise or change it. I dithered too long, pushing my decision past the deadline to change the booking and keep the $600 onboard credit I got from Carnival for my COVID canceled cruise. In case you haven’t figured out yet, I decided to keep it.

When I was first interested in this itinerary I had not been to San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, or Grand Turk. I have since been to Grand Turk on Magic in 2019 and San Juan on Mardi Gras in 2021. I still have not been to St. Maarten or St. Kitts so that part of the cruise is most exciting for me.

At the time I booked this I was very intrigued by the 4J cabins. Those are the cabins in the front of the ship with a window overlooking the “secret deck.” At that point in time I was trying to book those for all cruises even though I hadn’t been in one yet.

Now that I have stayed in a couple of them, they are no longer important to me. I found I didn’t use the window very much because the curtains have to be closed at night. And ideally you want them closed anytime you’re changing clothes. Mine were basically closed anytime I was in the room other than maybe a few minutes in the morning.

Now my preference is an interior room close to the secret deck. If it’s just a small price difference, I’ll take the 4J. But more often than not it’s not going to be worth it for me. I do have a 4J on lido deck that I booked two years ago on this cruise.

Port Canaveral

Having now cruised from 9 different home ports with Carnival, I can say Port Canaveral is my least favorite. I didn’t really think it was anything special the last time I was there.

It would’ve been cool if I could’ve caught a launch. But I ended up getting up at 2am and walking a mile for a scrub. And I’m not talking about bathing. Apart from that there’s not really anything I want to do there. There’s certainly nothing I want to do that’s worth paying $400-600 for a hotel.

The Radisson Resort at the Port I stayed at last time was starting at $370 before taxes and fees. That’s more than double what I paid in 2021. Even hotels by the airport were starting at $300 for not so great hotels. I’m talking hotels with numbers in their names. I’m not interested in paying Disney prices just for a hotel the night before a cruise. After months of watching hotel prices, I decided to fly in on embarkation morning. This may be the last time I cruise out of Port Canaveral. 

Flight

I was looking at my Spirit flight options and I could leave at 6am the day before the cruise, 1pm the day before the cruise, or 6am the day of the cruise.

I have had no problem taking those 5am flights when I’m going some place like New York or Miami or Seattle. But there is really nothing I want to do around Port Canaveral that warrants me getting to the airport at 4am the day before the cruise. I started looking at the afternoon flight. This would just leave enough time to get dinner and drinks. After being unable to find a hotel a price I liked, I ended up booking the 6am flight on embarkation day. I paid about $300 with a checked bag and the exit row aisle seat upgrade. A month later I went ahead and added another $100 to upgrade to the big front seats I like so much. 

Parking

I strayed from The Parking Spot Thanksgiving weekend because they were up to $25 per day. This time they’re down to $12. I usually book them at $8-10. I went ahead and booked the DFW Remote South Lot again. I got 9 days for just $40.50. Not bad at all. 

Transportation

Since I’m flying in on embarkation day and I have a lot of onboard credit to spend, I went ahead and booked the Carnival Transfer from MCO to Port Canaveral. My flight is scheduled to arrive at 9:28. I’m hoping I can make the 10am shuttle. Otherwise I’ll have to wait until 11am. If it’s anything like Miami, the 10am shuttle won’t leave until 11am.

On the return trip I have a late flight. I was hoping Carnival would have an excursion that takes you to the airport at the end. They had several of those in Miami. All they have available at the moment is a regular transfer to the airport. If they don’t come up with something better I’ll either find something to do on my own or just use more onboard credit for the transfer. Each of these MCO airport transfers cost $35.99. 

The last time I cruised out of Port Canaveral I spent $62 on a Lyft to my hotel. Uber would’ve been $133. On the return trip I spent $30 on an 888 shuttle to the airport. They had a stand outside of the port. I remember it being a long wait for a shuttle. Uber and Lyft were running $80-90. GoPort is a popular option at $30 each way or $60 round trip. I remember last time one of their shuttles broke down on the side of the highway and a bunch of people ended up ordering an Uber/Lyft to take them the rest of the way.

I figure I have the onboard credit, spend it on something I need.

Onboard Purchases

I loaded this cruise up pretty good during the various sales Carnival had since the COVID shutdown.

I purchased the discounted Cheers package during the shutdown, transferring it to this cruise after the first two were canceled.

Last spring when Carnival had a 20% off spa code that worked for everything, I added premium internet for 20% off.

Just before they raised the prices of the specialty restaurants, I booked the Steakhouse and Cucina Del Capitano at the old prices. I of course used my Carnival gift cards for everything so knock another 10% off the top.

I am going to have $825 onboard credit this cruise with almost everything paid for. The automatic gratuities and write-in tips will take up some of that. If they bring back the “Behind The Fun” tour in time for my cruise, I will book it. I booked The Chef’s Table to eat up some of it (pun intended). I also used up about $250 onboard credit booking a couple of excursions. 

Ports

St. Maarten

This will be my first time in St. Maarten. I’ve always wanted to spend a day a Maho Beach where the planes take off right in front of you and land over your head. That’s the plan. I may book transportation through Carnival since I have onboard credit.

St. Kitts

This will also be my first time in St. Kitts. What I’ve been wanting to do there is the St. Kitts Scenic Railway. This is not something that needs to be booked through Carnival, but I wanted to book with them just to use some of my onboard credit.

I couldn’t decide between St. Kitts by Rail & Scenic Drive or St. Kitts by Rail & Sail. I wanted to check into it further to make sure I wasn’t missing out on part of the train ride to book the catamaran. By the time I got around to looking at it, both were sold out. This was a month before sailing.

I decided to continue checking back and two days later the St. Kitts by Rail & Scenic Drive opened up so I booked it.

San Juan

The last time I was in San Juan I did The Forts of San Juan. This time I just want to spend a little more time checking out the town. Maybe get some food and drinks.

Grand Turk

The last time in Grand Turk I did the Hop on Hop off tour that took me to the lighthouse. Then in the afternoon I took a dip in the ocean. This time I was going to just treat it as a beach day. But with the onboard credit I decided to book the Whale Watching Adventure. It’s an afternoon excursion and only a three hour tour. A three hour tour.  That will leave me the morning to hit the beach.

Next time we’re heading to Orlando.

 

• Carnival Magic
• Magic