Day 5: Carnival Magic 7-night Western Caribbean

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Roatan, Honduras

For Roatan, Honduras we had booked a shore excursion ahead of time through Carnival’s website. The shore excursion we chose was one of the lowest priced shore excursions we could find. We chose this excursion because it looked like something we both would enjoy, it had several very good reviews, and it was reasonably priced. The excursion was called “Pirates, Birds & Monkeys of the Caribbean.” The price was $49.99/person, and the length of the tour was estimated to be about 4 hours, which includes the drive to and from the destination.

Breakfast at BlueIguana Cantina

Our shore excursion was scheduled for around noon, so we had plenty of time to eat breakfast on the Lido deck first. I had read many good reviews for the BlueIguana Cantina’s breakfast food, so we both decided to try their breakfast burritos. (Click here for breakfast menu.)You choose your tortilla, either wheat or jalapeño, then choose your fillings, which are: chicken sausage, ham, mexican style scrambled eggs, and scrambled eggs. Then tell them your other fillings, which are: skillet hash brown potatoes, monterey jack cheese, onion, iceberg lettuce, and tomato. And finally you let them know what toppings you want in it, which are: roasted tomato salsa, pico de gallo, creme fresco, and tomatillo salsa.

There is a salsa bar near where you get your burrito, so you can add extra items on your own, like salsas, cheese, and creme fresco, if you want more.

As for the breakfast burritos, we had differing opinions. My husband really liked his, but I thought mine was just OK. However, the skillet hash brown potatoes that I had them put in my burrito were, as I had read, delicious! So I picked apart my burrito and ate all the hash brown potatoes. You can ask for just those hash brown potatoes, so if you really like them, I recommend you get a side order of those. They’re crunchy, and have a great flavor.

Then we ate from the Lido breakfast buffet. Knowing that we probably wouldn’t be eating lunch, we filed up for our tummies while we had the opportunity.

We had some time to walk around and explore the port of Mahogany Bay before our shore excursion. We did some shopping, and then headed to our excursion meeting area.

Honduras Shore Excursion – Pirates Birds & Monkeys of the Caribbean

The ride to the park was very interesting. You get to see what Isla Roatan looks like as you drive through the areas where the locals live, and as you drive through the jungle terrain. The roads are very third-world country, with many, many, large pot-holes, so it’s a bumpy ride. It’s also a windy ride through the island as you drive higher and lower in elevation, and at one point you get a fantastic view from high on the island looking down over the jungle landscape below that abuts to the Caribbean Sea.

On the way we drove by another port, which is where other cruise lines dock. We learned while we were at Isla Roatan that Mahogany Bay is the cruise port owned by Carnival Corporation, and it’s a much nicer port than the other port on Isla Roatan. I’ll talk more about Mahogany Bay later, as we learned later on how much that port offers. It’s good to know about it ahead of time, so that way you can plan for it.

When you arrive at the park, they require you to put your back pack and certain other items in a locker, which you must pay for. It’s just a couple of dollars, but make sure you have some cash with you for the locker if you go to this park. They also have a food area, where you can get food and drink before the tour of the park.

As for the park, it doesn’t really feel like a park, it feels more like a nature area. Various animals are roaming freely around the park, including large iguanas, parrots, other large birds, and monkeys.

You walk over a suspension bridge to get to the area where the monkeys and parrots are, but if you don’t want to use the bridge, they have a walk way you can use to get there.

A woman kindly warned me that the hair clips in my hair would be stolen by the monkeys if I left them in my hair, so I removed them. We learned quickly that those monkeys are cute little thieves. One of the monkeys two times stole items from someone’s stroller when the people weren’t watching, and he or she took off and ran with the items in hand when he or she was caught taking the items! So if you go to this park, be warned – the monkeys are thieves!

They let us spend enough time with the monkeys and parrots so that we could have our pictures taken with them on our shoulders. They let you use your own cameras to photograph them.

The next part of the tour was so boring, but there were a couple of people, OK maybe one person, who seemed interested in it, and we had to keep waiting over and over again for her as she took photos of EVERY single thing in the cave, and the things in the cave are NOT interesting. You go into a man-made cave, and if your’e claustrophobic, you might want to skip that part of the tour. You won’t be missing much at all if you don’t enter the cave, other than missing that horrible feeling of claustrophobia; a couple of the walkways are quite narrow, and at one point we had to stand in that narrow walkway for a few minutes as we waited for another tour to go through another part of the cave. Another man and myself walked back out of the walkway because we didn’t enjoy being stuck in that narrow walkway.

After the “cave” tour, they point out where the beach is, where you can go snorkeling or hang out on the beach. The beach is extremely small, but there were hardly any people on the beach, so the size wasn’t a problem. There are some people offering to give 30 minute massages for about $25, so if you want a massage on the beach, you can get one there. We then went back to the waiting area for the next tour bus to take us back to Mahogany Bay.

Mahogany Beach

When we got back to Mahogany Bay, we decided to see where a little walkway through the trees would lead us. There is a sign that reads, “Nature Trail, 700 ft uneven terrain,” so we walked the nature trail. It’s somewhat hidden, and if we hadn’t seen that sign and walked the trail, we never would have known there is a really nice beach area, called Mahogany Beach, to enjoy. You can also take a chair lift to the beach if you don’t want to walk. Click here for a link to info on the chair lift fees.

I’m including photos of where the trail to the beach is, along with directions on how to find it, because we both thought it was in an inconspicuous place. When you get off the ship you must walk the pier to to the Dufry shop, which you are, unfortunately, forced to walk through. My husband and I had to hold our breaths and rush, practically run, through the store because the fragrance is overwhelming in there. So if you are adversely affected by fragrances, and I know more and more people are starting to realize they are adversely affected by the harmful chemicals in fragrances, then you’ve been warned ahead of time. After you exit the Dufry shop, turn right and walk behind the shop and then walk straight toward the brown sign with yellow words, which is the entrance to the nature trail that leads to the beach. The trail is not a very long trail, and there are a couple of nice overlooks on the trail that give you good photo ops of the ship at the dock. After the nature trail there are some shops and then another walk over a somewat long bridge to the beach. The entire walk from the Dufry store to the beach took a few minutes, and for some people the chair lift might be a better option than walking, especially when it’s hot and humid outside.

Once you’re on the beach, you’ll find a place where you can rent equipment. I’m listing what the fees were the day we were there in December 2016.

Mahogany Beach Equipment Rental Fees:

Snorkel Set (all day) $20.00

Stand Up Paddle (half hour) $18.00

Beach Float (all day) $9.00

Magical Flying Chair (all day pass) $14.00 Adult, $8.00 Child

Clam Shell (all day) $26.00

Sea Clam (all day) $60.00

Kayaks

Single person (half hour) $19.00

Two person (half hour) $26.00

Paddle Boat

Two person (half hour) $26.00

Four person (half hour) $39.00

It Bikes

Single person (half hour) $40.00

Double person (half hour) $55.00

Aqua Cycles

Aqua cycle two person (half hour) $26.00

Aqua boat cycle four person (half hour) $60.00

Funcat (Electric motored device)

Funcat (half hour) $30.00

Funcat (one hour) $50.00

Day Five Lido Buffet Dinner

We ate dinner that night in the main dining room, but first my husband took photos of the Lido dinner buffet. That night the Lido dinner buffet’s featured items were: Lamb leg; Penne Mariscos; Roasted pumpkin soup; Fried shrimp; Chicken Milanese; Grilled bass with roasted tomato broth; Beef and Broccoli’ Corn Chili Quinoa Baked Tomato; White Rice; and Baked Potato, Sour Cream, Cheddar, Bacon Bits. There were also other items, such as Orzo Pasta with Peas and Corn; Potatoes ‘n’ spinach with Basil; Caesar Salad, and more.

The Sweet Spot that night offered: Chocolate Pannacotta; Chocolate Cookie Cake; Cheese Cake; and other items.

Day Five Main Dining Room Dinner

The Main Dining Room Appetizers were: Marinated Chicken Tenders – Sweet chili relish; Shrimp Cocktail – Traditional cocktail sauce; Fried Shrimp – Roasted red pepper remoulade; Roasted Pumpkin Soup – Crouton, cream; Asparagus Vichyssoise – chilled asparagus and potato soup; Beef and Barley Soup – Root vegetables; money Roasted Ham – Pineapple chutney, ginger bread, mustard mayo; Mixed Greens – Tomato, cumber and carrots; Kale or Romaine Caesar Salad – House made dressing, shaved parmesan. The Rare Finds appetizer was Escargots Bourguignonne – Burgundy snails, garlic butter.

The Main Dining Room Entrees were: Beef Lasagna – Tomato basil sauce, mozzarella; Chicken Milanese – Charred lemon, sauteed green beans; Penne Mariscos – Shrimp, calamari, scallops, mussels, lobster cream; Braised Short Ribs – Potato and pea gratin, red wine sauce, sauteed green beans; Corn, Chili, Quinoa Baked Tomato – Potato jalapeño croqueta, cheese sauce, leek hash; Featured Vegetarian – Lentils, basmati rice, papadam and raita.

From the Grill: Salmon Fillet – Citrus and pepper rub, broccoli, carrots, red potato; Flat Iron Steak – Pepper, herbs, broccoli, baked potato; Chicken Breast – Roast garlic and herbs, peas and carrots, red potato; Pork Chop – Caramelized onions, stewed apple, mash. The sauces were, as usual: Chimichurri, BBQ Sauce, Béarnaise, Peppercorn, Roasted Garlic and Tomato Tapenade.

Side Dishes: Corn and Vegetable Succotash; Whipped Potatoes; Baked Potato – Sour cream, bacon, chives; Sauteed Green Beans – with bacon; Steamed Broccoli; Fragrant Basmati Pilaf.

The Port of Call Menu was: Appetizer: Chicken Pastelitos – Warm and flaky pockets of pastry, filled with traditionally seasoned shredded chicken breast. Main: Pescado Asado Cubierto con Tostones: Sweet and savory with a satisfying crunch, the fish fillet is covered in a house made mixture of plantains and breadcrumbs and lightly fried. Served alongside black bean and corn.

For appetizers, my husband had Fried Shrimp with Roasted red pepper remoulade, as well as Escargots Bourguignonne – Burgundy snails, garlic butter. He especially liked the fried shrimp, and he thought the escargot was decent. I had the Chicken Pastelitos from the Port of Call menu, and I thought they were yummy. We also ordered the Asparagus Vichyssoise, which was not great, but not bad, as well as the Beef and Barley Soup, which was OK.

For entrees, my husband had the Penne Mariscos, which was just OK, and I had the Braised Short Ribs, which were tender and absolutely delicious. My husband tried my short ribs, loved them, and then ordered some for himself.

We skipped dessert, and we forgot to note the dessert options that night.

80s Rock-n-Glow Party

At 11:15 there was an 80s Rock-n-Glow Party. We love 80s alternative music, so we decided to check it out. Before the party started, some of the staff, standing above the deck on a balcony, were enthusiastically throwing down glow sticks, glow necklaces, and foam light saber like things that flashed different colors. We caught a few things. Not many people showed up for that part, but those of us who were there were excitedly trying to catch what things we could, which was fun. The cruise director was no where to be seen during this part of the party.

Finally the cruise director appeared, and he confirmed what we already thought – that he is the least exciting cruise director we’ve ever had. I had read several reviews about how great the cruise director for the Carnival Magic is, but we didn’t get that cruise director. The cruise director we had was nothing like the one that’s usually on that ship. Just in case he reads this, I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want him to feel bad, but at the same time I want to give an honest review, and he’s in a profession where he knows his job will be critiqued publicly, so I assume he can handle negative feedback, and hopefully learn from it. It felt to us as though he was trying way too hard to be liked. It didn’t feel as though he was genuine, but we could have been wrong in our perception of him. In our experience, cruise directors have an energy and personality that positively affects the moods of the passengers, they are trying to make the cruise as enjoyable as they can for the passengers. It seemed to us that this cruise director’s focus was more on himself, like he was in the limelight and loving it, more than his focus was on the passengers. But again, that’s our impression; maybe other people really enjoyed this cruise director.

As for the 80s Rock-n-Glow Party, it was more fun before the cruise director arrived. The music they chose I’m sure many people totally love, but it wasn’t the music we enjoy. We were hoping for at least some 80s alternative music, like Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Psychedelic Furs, OMD, and so on, but nothing like that was played. We waited through a few songs, finished our cocktail, then left the not so exciting party.