We’re back, as mentioned in my article just last week where I shared our 5 favorite things from our first Carnival Magic family cruise, now I’m sharing more about the Carnival Magic ports of call. This was a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Magic that we were on for a week last month (July) and was supposed to have stops in the ports of Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Mahogany Bay Roatan (Honduras). Now I say “had to” because we didn’t make it to Mahogany Bay due to a passenger’s medical emergency that we had to reroute.
The good news is that we hit Key West, somewhere my family and I have never been before and it was a really nice stop. We took so many photos that I couldn’t fit them all into this article, so I’m creating an online photo album for each port along with more information. Just look for each album after the description of each port of call below, we will add them as they are created. Now to the fun! These are in no particular order.
We have been to Cozumel twice before, but never as part of a cruise. We love Cozumel, the water is clear and a beautiful blue as it is the Caribbean sea and it has a small town feel. The port is of course designed for cruise ships, so there is a lot of touristy stuff, but if you have the time and inclination, you can get a taxi into town for $8-10 USD,
Club Cozumel Carnival Magic
We decided to go with other families from our group to the beach to enjoy some sand and sea and of course some snorkeling. As we were a large group they split us into two vans but the cost was very reasonable and included transport and entry to this beach area. It was less than $25 for the three of us.
The water did not disappoint, we went to this family area that had a beach, pool, food and other amenities. If you didn’t have life jackets, snorkel or flip flops you can borrow them for free, you just have to give them your boat pass so they know you return them. It was a hot day so the water felt great and oh was it ever so clean and beautiful. Oh, this was a ton of fun for my husband, daughter and I, the water was so clear and if you can keep yourself under water, lots of fish to see.
We spent the day at the beach snorkeling and it took about an hour to walk around the port of Cozumel. We got a bottle or two of vanilla, something I always get when we go to Mexico. It was a fun day for all the family to spend it at the beach.
Another photo we took while underwater in Cozumel. Look how clear that water is and no, we didn’t use flash or anything.
Belize
I have to admit I didn’t know Belize was a country before, I don’t know what I thought before, but this was news to me. It is a wonderful port and of all the ones we went to it is the only one called a tender port. Carnival Magic and other ships don’t dock at a wharf, we had to disembark while we were a little off the land and be brought in by tender boats. That in itself was a bit of an adventure, a new experience for us.
GO HERE to see all our Belize photos and more about our Altun Ha Maya and Wallace River excursion.
In Belize we had signed up for our first excursion. You may check in before boarding the Carnival Magic or any ship or while on board. Now I will warn you that for the most part you have to decide in advance whether you are going to take an excursion or explore Belize. The most popular tours can fill up quickly and from our experience you can’t do both. We opted for the Altun Ha Mayan site and the Wallace River tour excursion, which took up pretty much our entire time in Belize. It was the most family-friendly option of excursions, especially for those with younger children.
Panoramic photo of our river tour boat. Everyone on this boat was part of our same group. Lots of kids as you can see.
We knew everyone on this boat as they are all part of the group of travel writers who were invited on this cruise with me. It’s definitely a lot of fun going with the ones you know, but even if you don’t, it’s interesting. Our tour guide Simone had a great sense of humor and we learned about Belize as we went along. It was very jungle along the river with a few houses in certain parts. They had hoped we might see some of the monkeys, but that day we had no luck.
We saw a few different birds like this one and bats (not in this photo). Check out our Belize photo album for more photos along the river.
We had a stop after the river boat tour and hand lunch before heading off in an air-conditioned bus to the Altun-Ha site. Just a warning that the boat tour is several hours and small children may need to use the bathroom. I would suggest not drinking a bunch of water as technically there isn’t a bathroom stop for a few hours, but we had to make an unplanned one as we had a lot of younger kids on our boat.
Here we are in Altun-Ha and our group is at the top there behind us.
It’s hot and humid in Belize, but it’s beautiful. We rested in the shade and I’ll admit we didn’t go to the top as I’ve been to Chichen-Itza which is much longer and that’s enough for me. Even though I was told this was easy enough and didn’t look bad, I just didn’t feel the need to go to the top.
The boat ride was fun and we got to different parts of Belize, learned some history and saw the Altun-Ha site, but I definitely would have liked more time to explore.
Magical Carnival’s surprise stop in Key West brought us to an area that had more to offer than we realized. There’s a tour of Hemingway’s house with all the cats, a small aquarium, markets, and of course the birthplace of Key Lime Pie, one of our favorite desserts ever. We went to the aquarium, explored the market, got a key lime pie, and then spent some time on the ship. It’s a nice harbor with lots of shopping, but it’s a bit expensive.
It was gray and overcast when we first arrived at the port and it rained a little.
There are thousands of shops, a market area, many restaurants and tours to do in Key West. It’s a beautiful area, I loved the charm of the town, the older feel of it if you will.
We didn’t go to the museum, there was too much to see just by walking around.
We went to the aquarium, which is small, but my daughter enjoyed it. I like that they had touch pools and that you could see the sea creatures that were there well. They do a lot of rescue and rehabilitation at the Key West Aquarium.
Costa Maya, Mexico
Look for our post coming soon on our full Costa Maya experience along with more photos.
Costa Maya was our last port of call and also where we had our second excursion to the Lost Maya Kingdom Adventure Park. This is perfect for families with children who just want to relax by a pool and let the kids swim, enjoy a lazy river or a variety of water slides.
We got there around 9am so it wasn’t busy yet, however even when we left in the early afternoon it never felt crowded. There were different areas with couches and because there was so much to do, people were spread out and not crowded into one area. The only thing I have to say is that the ladies bathroom I went to the toilet was tricky, it eventually got red but it took forever. Things parents need to know.
Just one of the many water slides. My whole family enjoyed it and as far as I could see everyone who went had a great time. There never seemed to be long lines no matter what lap they went on.
We enjoyed this excursion because it was relaxing mixed with travel whenever we wanted. We spent half a day there and then went around the harbor to see what they had to offer. There were dolphin rides we saw there but they were in a small pool and I have seen much better facilities in other areas. The water was beautiful though and there was a rocky beach area that was beautiful once you walked over the rocks and into the water.
My daughter said the Lost Maya Kingdom Adventure Park was her favorite excursion and her favorite stop of the entire cruise. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and we did some souvenir shopping for my daughter there. Overall a great place and I would consider going there again to see more of the area.
There you have it all the Carnival Magic harbor visits we saw and enjoyed on our first family cruise. It was a fabulous family vacation that we will never forget.
A big thank you to SJ Consulting and Carnival Cruise Lines for inviting us to be a part of the #LetsGoCarnival retreat. We enjoyed our first cruise and can’t wait to go on another. We are cruise converts.
This article was originally published on powered-by-mom.com
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