Carnival Magic Day 8 at Sea and returning home - 2025/03/15-16

It's the last day of our Carnival Cruise! Our very first Carnival Cruise together as a family! It's a day at sea so we'll be busying ourselves with activities on the ship, but we'll have a good time. 

The inside cabin has been great for us. Since we let the kids hang out with their friends until 11pm, we stay up pretty late. With no window to the outside world, it gets dark and stays dark, which helps us sleep in. Our only intrusions are the announcements by Cruise Director Vanessa telling us about the things going on that day. Well, we needed to move our wake-up time earlier anyway since tomorrow we have to disembark early. 

With the kids sleeping in bunks above us, sometimes during the night we get a sneaky addition to our bed. 

It's a day at sea which means another Brunch day! These meals are delicious! 

While walking the stairways down to the restaurant, we see all the elevator bays along the way. Which means we get lots of opportunities to look for hidden ducks! 

Delicious as always. Eggs Benedict with runny eggs, plus a perfectly cooked steak to go with it. 

Alli with her double portion of Fiery Tomato Soup, and Ian the Adventurous eating chicken nuggets. 

But their question is always "when can we go to Camp Ocean?"

Go on! Get outta here and have fun with your friends! Theresa and I are going to find a spot on the deck to read our books. 

Yesterday they painted their volcanos. Today they get to watch them erupt! 

There's one more thing the kids have been working on in Camp Ocean and that's a song that they all sing together. And then on the last day of the cruise, they get to go up on stage with all the other performers and sing it! 

For other shows we might roll in a few minutes before the performance starts, but for this one we were lined up outside the doors before they opened! And it paid off too! We were as close to the stage as you can get, front and center! 

Here come the kids! 

The theme of the show as "The World Works Here" and had a togetherness and love vibe. 

The older group of kids came on stage first and did a sign language piece they learned this week. 

And the younger kids in Camp Ocean sat in front of them. There's Alli and Ian together. 

But the stage was a little too crowded and Ian got moved to the edge where it was harder to see him. Doh. 

Regardless, good job kids! It was fun seeing you perform! 

Next it was time for the Carnival Cruise ship workers to take the stage. When they say "The World Works Here" they mean it literally! Dozens and dozens of different workers were invited up to the stage, each bearing the flags of their home countries. And I learned that I need a bit of a refresher on recognizing flags from different countries! 

Back at our room, a towel peacock greeted us. 

Min has done a great job cleaning up our room and leaving us fun towel animals. And anytime he sees us in the hallways, he always calls us by name! I'm impressed! 

We left him and all the other workers we interacted with tips, of course, but we wanted to do something extra special too. Those suitcases we brought on the ship? One of them was filled with bags of chips, crackers, cookies, popcorn, chocolate, fruity candy, and more. Snacks on the ship are pretty expensive, so we brought lots of extra treats to give away, along with a big stack of Thank You cards to go along with them.  

Min left a Thank You note for us too, but on the mirror! 

The kids disappeared again to be with all their friends. They're a little sad because it's the last day together, but they did end up swapping a few phone numbers and emails to keep in touch after the cruise is over and people leave back home to Canada, Texas, Ohio, Florida, and more. 

It's dinner-time and it's our last dinner on the cruise. 

I give Ian a hard time for being picky, but I also did not choose to try the Frog Legs. "All I can see are millions of frogs with tiny crutches."

I thought the Parched Pig and Cheddar Soup would be pretty good, considering the ingredients, but our server Arnawa said it wasn't his favorite. And trying it anyway, I agree with him. It didn't taste like ham, bacon, ale, or cheddar. How odd. 

For the baked alaska I was hoping for something at the table, but I suppose they do that in the back. Oh well. 

We really enjoyed our servers, and even though we did Any Time Dining, we were lucky enough to be paired with Arnawa and I Kadek on 5 different nights! They were both super friendly, remembering our names, and even saying hi when we saw them working in different areas of the ship. They both got Thank You cards, snacks, and excellent ratings when we took the survey at the end of the cruise. 

One of the only times we took the elevator. It was glass and gave us a good look at the atrium on board the ship. Ian might have a jaw breaker tucked away in him mouth as an after dinner treat. 

After dinner, it was straight back to Camp Ocean for the kids. They want as much playing time with their friends as they can. 

We thought all the teachers there were great. 

And all of them got Thank You cards and snacks as well. 

Alli and Ian got trophies as well. 

Plus one of the workers took the time to write Theresa and I a personal note. We loved that they loved hanging out with the kids. 

For Theresa and I, we've been able to relax and have the cruise experience that we wanted to have. No cooking, cleaning, moving the RV, etc. With hours and hours of time with no distractions, both of us were able to finish 3 good sized books, and re-remember how much we enjoy reading for fun. And the kids have been having a blast being entertained with friends and activities, so we haven't needed to worry about them. 

Let's end our night with a pizza snack. 

When the kids walked up, they were greeted with "Hi Alli! Hi Ian!"

Oh my. They've been here so often that the workers know their names! 

But Ian said that's because he asked their names early on so he could say Thank You to them personally each time they came here. They got the coveted Butterfinger candy pack, along with a thank you note. When other guests saw us pulling out the Butterfingers, they said "Chocolate! Where did you find that!" 

We told them we brought it with us, and they were even more impressed when we gave it away as a gift. 

For the next cruise, I think we're going to need to bring even more! 

Earlier in the day, through the Carnival App, I was able to set up our debark schedule. With no airplanes to catch in the morning, or places we had to be, I picked the latest we could get off the ship. Even then, it'll be an early morning for us, considering our late nights. 

We hauled all our luggage out of the room, a little lighter than when we boarded, and headed to the top deck buffet for breakfast. The kids ran into a few others from their friend group and hung out until everyone had to leave. 

I know Alli, it's too early. 

But here we go! It's been a fun time! The kids are already asking when we can go on our next cruise! 

It was a long, but uneventful 4+ hour drive back to Orlando from Miami. 

No, the real excitement was after we had gotten back home and were unpacking. 

An Emergency Alert came through on the phone for a Tornado Warning! Not just a Tornado Watch (where conditions are conducive for tornado formation), but a Tornado Watch (where one has been sighted or indicated by radar). 

And yes, we fit that "mobile home" category, and need to seek shelter. 

We left the RV and all the stuff, and headed out in the car, outside the projected path. We met up with Jacob and waited until after the major wind pushed though then headed back to the RV. And everything was basically how we had left it. Just a little bit of excitement on top of an otherwise fun week! 

We loved our stay on the Carnival Magic and can't wait to go cruising again!