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February 07, 2016 - 11:58 p.m.
"carnival magic: day 1 - embarkation day"

February 07, 2016 11:58 p.m. CST
February 08, 2016 12:58 a.m. EST

Hey Journal!

We are onboard the Carnival Magic and we have set sail for an amazing seven day cruise! I'm so excited for the trip to begin and so exhausted at the same time!

This morning Dan and I got up at about 7:45 and, although I could have slept a lot longer, I felt refreshed and got up, dressed, and ready! We went downstairs at the hotel for the Continental Breakfast at about 8:00.

As always, my eyes were scanning the room for the famous hotel waffle maker! I found it, and there was a woman waiting for her waffle to be finished. When it beeped, she pulled it out and it looked like she hadn't used enough batter. It was a weird shape, but I didn't realize that it was actually something special.

When my turn came, I opened the waffle maker and realized that the waffle was THE SHAPE OF TEXAS! It was wild and I loved it. I made my first waffle and the corner got a little messed up. It still tasted good but afterwards I was still hungry so I went back for a second. This one came out perfectly and I couldn't resist taking a photo for Instagram!

After breakfast we went back to the room, quickly finished packing up our belongings, and then headed to the car. We stopped at a Chevron station to fill up the gas in the car before returning it. I believe it was 1.67/gallon.

The airport was literally minutes from the hotel. 4 minutes, the be exact. We got to the rental car return and it was super quick. What took a little longer was taking the shuttle back to the main terminal. We got to the baggage claim area and the woman from Carnival was waiting for us. Literally. She was such a nice woman. We met her yesterday and she helped us book transfers to the pier and she was so friendly. Today, as soon as she walked up, she knew our names and had our paperwork ready to go!

We got there at 9:21 and we had to wait over by carousel 12 for our shuttle which arrived around 10:15. We boarded the shuttle and off we went to Galveston Island.

The approach to the cruise port isn't the most exciting.... You pass a TON of railroad tracks and, with how many there were, I'm surprised you can't take a train to the pier!

The ports in Florida are so much more pleasing to the eye, but this was alright. The operation here seems a little less organized, too... But at the same time, it all went smoothly.

We got off the bus and didn't see our luggage again until later on in the evening. We proceeded through the lines and about 5 different people checked to make sure we were checking in at the appropriate time that was printed on our boarding pass. These people were all in a line and not more than 100 feet apart from eachother. IT was a little excessive!

Anyway, we got in line and waited to have our passports scanned and go through security. That went pretty quickly although the line seemed long at first. Once inside, we had to get on another line to get our Sail and Sign cards. That line also went quickly.

After we were all checked in and ready to go, we had to take a seat in a giant waiting area for our boarding group to be called. We were number 13 and they hadn't started calling groups yet. They did that incredibly quickly, too. In no time, they had called group 13 and we were about to board the ship!!

So exciting! I love getting on a new cruise ship and exploring to find out all the cool rooms and little quirks that make each ship unique!

Surprisingly, the staterooms weren't closed off and we were able to come down to our room and put our carry-on luggage inside. That was great. It's always so annoying carrying around your stuff on the first day while trying to eat lunch!

Once we dropped our stuff off we went to get food. I had these great potato croquettes and some steak and chicken. Of course, throughout the day, I've had PLENTY of the lemonade and iced tea! One of my favorite things about cruises!

Dan tried to take a little nap after that but about 30 minutes after he went to sleep, they made the announcement for the muster drill. Our muster station was in the theater this time and I think it's a little sad that you don't have to put the life vest on anymore. I miss that part.

When that was over, we wandered around a little and then made our way back to the theater for the Super Bowl!

As if getting on a new ship isn't enough for one day, today was the biggest sporting event of the year. They were showing it out on the big screen on the Lido deck and in the theater.

We got a good seat and settled in to watch the game! We each ordered a drink to start the cruise. Dan got his favorite -- the Miami Vice, and I got the "Fun Ship Punch" which was a great fruity rum punch mix. Perfection.

It was weird not watching the Super Bowl at home... This was the first one in YEARS that we haven't hosted some sort of little get-together for it! I'm a little sad about it, but I'll get over it. I'm sure (insanely) before we know it, it'll be Super Bowl 51 and we'll have our gathering.

Anyway, we watched the first two quarters and then the halftime show! I thought the show was okay but I thought it was going to be a much bigger and more intense show for the 50th anniversary. I feel like it was good, but nothing that memorable.

Shortly after the game started back up for the second half, we had to go to dinner. We have late seating dinner... 8:15 in the Southern Lights Dining Room. We arrived a minute or two after 8:15.

Our table, 781, was located in the very back of the ship and off to the left a little. It's not a bad location. We are at a four-person table but we're by ourselves. We had a lot of discussion about if they would seat us with someone and if so, how would they pair us up, what is the pairing process like!? Do they put a lot of thought into it?

Alas, it didn't matter. Our waiters are pretty nice... I especially like one of them who was really friendly (I mean, they always are!) and the "helper" one who sang us a song.

For dinner I got the Corn Chowder Soup appetizer and then the Grilled Flat Iron Steak. It was all very good! It's amazing what a GREAT job they do with the food on cruise ships. You'd think that with the limitations of a kitchen on a ship there might be some quality sacrifice but this meal was better than most I have out at real restaurants at home.

For dessert, I got the famous Warm Chocolate Melting Cake which, in tonight's menu, was renamed the Carnival Melting Chocolate Cake. Interesting!

We finished dinner a little after 9:00 and we saw that there were about three minutes left of the football game. We headed out to the big TV on the deck and watched the remainder of the game! The Broncos won and it was a very interesting experience watching the game with all these other people on the ship. It was like one big party!

After dinner we walked around the ship some more, I gambled $10 in a slot machine and lost it all, and then we went back to our stateroom to use the bathroom.

At 10:00, we went to the theater to watch tonight's show. It started out with some music and dancing but then turned into a comedy routine from the Cruise Director. It was good, he was funny. About halfway through, I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore! It was really starting to hit me sitting in a dark room!

When the show was over we walked around the ship. I got popcorn on the lido deck and Dan got an ice cream cone. I filled up on more lemonade/iced tea combination and then at about 11:30 we came back to the room.

I took a shower and now we're off to bed! We have to fill out our breakfast order to hang on the doorknob and then I'm going to let the gentle rocking of the ship send me off to sleep! Love it!

Tomorrow is a day at sea and I'm hoping it will be a beautiful and warm day sitting on the deck and going in the HOT TUB! YES!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)