Carnival Magic – Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, and The Dominican Republic

The trip begins
The trip is paid for and we are all excited to head out on our cruise ship, Carnival Magic to see Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, and The Dominican Republic. First, I have to get to West Palm Beach, FL to meet my friends. Ben lives in West Palm Beach and my friend, Chris went down early to hang out. I had to work up until the day before we left. I should mention, however, that we are to leave on March 8th, 2020. COVID-19 is a thing but not really a thing in The United States yet. There are some cases but nothing to really be scared about. We felt that it was good to take this cruise.
After work on the 7th, I take a short nap for a couple of hours before getting in the car for a long, early morning 7-hour drive from Charleston, SC to West Palm Beach, FL. Between 8 am and 9 am, I arrive at Ben’s condo. I was tired and when I was pulling in, I hit the gate to the complex with my driver’s side mirror. We spent the next couple of hours hanging out and driving through Lynn University where Chris won an NCAA Women’s National Championship while coaching.
Arrival at the port
As we drive up, there is our ship, Carnival Magic! This is our home for the next week. Before we even get inside the terminal, they make us fill out a health inspection form. Once inside, we did the normal check-in, though since Chris is Platinum level, we bypassed the lines. During this process, they took our temperature. The way Carnival was handling the COVID-19 concerns was very impressive.
Finally, we got on the ship. I always love that first step. Seeing the ship inside at that moment just takes you away. It is so grand! We head to our rooms to drop everything off only to realize they are not ready and we can’t go in. At this point, we decided to go and get some lunch since we had to wait. This really impressed me, Carnival had hand sanitizer stations set up all over. They also had crew members handing out plates to the guests. It was very well organized and just felt really safe. I love getting food at the buffet on these ships. So many choices. Once we were done eating, it was finally time for us to get in our staterooms.
Our itinerary changed
Chris and I got to our room while Ben had his own room. It was a standard room with 2 beds, a tv, and a bathroom. I have to say, I love the beds on these ships. They are so comfortable. As we both are unpacking, I notice our itinerary on the desk. This seems different. I freak out a little bit and ask Chris if we are on the right cruise. He tells me he heard that it got changed. Somehow I missed this.
Looking over it, it now seems that we are not going to Grand Turk. The country shut down all international visitors because of COVID-19. We are now going to Nassau, the Bahamas the next day before Half Moon Cay. Now, I am really excited about this, I have never been to Nassau. I told him that I had to see something about Pirates! Plus this works out because we were just at Grand Turk the year before. I am happy to see that Carnival was able to find another destination.
The rest of the day and night was pretty fun on Carnival Magic. We all had a great dinner, walked around, had some drinks, and played a lot of poker. We had a great night playing poker and Chris and I made some great money. Unfortunately, this would be the only good poker night.
Nassau, the Bahamas

Carnival Magic docked in Nassau. We decided to not do any of the adventures offered by Carnival and chose to walk around on our own. We walked around the city sightseeing. I kept saying, “We are in Nassau, I need something about pirates!” We walked around for about an hour and turned the corner and there it was, Pirates of Nassau. A pirate museum!

I thought this would be a sideshow type of museum. I was wrong! This place was an awesome pirate museum with a ton of facts! They have 7 great exhibits here. If you are a novice pirate fan or a hardcore one, I highly recommend this museum.





After my high at Pirates of Nassau, we decided to walk around more and check out the city. I have to say, I fell in love with it here. It was so beautiful. It is one of those things that was more of a feeling than words can describe. I am looking to travel here again without being on a cruise so I can spend a lot of time exploring.





Our itinerary changes yet again
That night Carnival Magic left the Bahamas with me wishing to stay longer. We set out for Half Moon Cay, which is a private island owned by Carnival. That night was a pretty normal night again of eating, drinking, playing poker, slot machines, and just walking around the ship. If you ever go on cruises, you will fully understand. There are so many activities to do.
It started to get very windy that night. It was definitely a night when the ship was teetering in the waves. We couldn’t tell if people just couldn’t walk or if they drank too much. It was one of the best nights of sleep I ever had. We woke up to an announcement telling us that we could not go to Half Moon Cay because it was still too windy and the waves were too choppy. To get there the ship has to drop anchor and we have to be ferried to the island. Everyone seems to love Half Moon Cay and was bummed that we could not make it. I have never been there, hopefully, I can catch it on another cruise. So we get an extra day at sea of laying out in the sun.
March 11th, 2020
This day started out as normal as could be. We got up, ate breakfast, laid out in the sun, and did the usual things before dinner. That night for dinner was the formal night. I also love the formal night, seeing everyone all dressed up. After dinner, we went up to play poker. Now on the ship, the real only TV that is on is the TVs showing sports in the bar areas. It was at this moment that everything changed.
While we are ordering our beers, ESPN announces that Rudy Gobert, who plays center for the Utah Jazz, tested positive for COVID-19. This news came while the players were warming up for their game. The game was canceled. Wow! One of the players in the NBA tested positive! Shortly after that, the NBA canceled the remainder of the season. What is happening at home? When we left on March 8th, there were only 550 total reported cases in The United States. What has happened while we have been out in the middle of the Caribbean Sea?
As we continue the night having fun, there is a lot of discussion going on with everyone. Are we going to be able to go to The Dominican Republic tomorrow? Are we going to be able to go back home? We are all in a wait-and-see situation. We all go to bed that night wondering everything. March 12th, 2020 brings a new day with some answers and more questions.
Amber Cove, The Dominican Republic
We woke up the next morning docked in The Dominican Republic. Everything for our excursion was still on. We purchased the All-Inclusive Coconut Beach Break. More on that in a moment. As we left the ship, everything seemed really normal. We all just put COVID-19 and the recent news behind us for the time being. We walk from the ship on the dock to the island. I love the view of turning the corner around Carnival Magic and seeing The Dominican Republic.

Now we start on our excursion. This starts out with a 45-minute ride through the Dominican countryside. You get to see some great views of the country and some sad, realistic views of poverty. It really hits you as you pass by and see this. Once you get there, you get a private beach with chairs and cabanas if you choose. As we walk down to the beach, we are given a great delight, there is a man with a monkey taking pictures! This is beyond awesome!

It was a little cloudy at this time but the clouds were starting to break up. At this time, they tell us that lunch is about to be served. It was an open buffet with authentic Dominican food. I had the traditional chicken and rice. This was probably one of the most flavorful chickens I have ever had. Once lunch was over, the sky opened up to nothing but sunshine! We spent the rest of our time here in the water and walking a hidden trail to an amazing cliff with a view.


Back to the ship and figuring out what comes next
By the time we get back to Carnival Magic, it is late afternoon, and time to get ready for dinner. We go about our business getting ready for dinner. We eat an incredible meal. After dinner, we make our way up to the casino to start the evening and see what is going on in the world. Again, at this point, we really only get to see ESPN on the TVs.
What a day! While we were in The Dominican Republic many things happened. The NBA G League, FIBA, ATP, MLS, and NHL all suspended their seasons. All of the college basketball tournaments got canceled. Then the NCAA cancels all remaining events, including March Madness. We get confirmed cases from Utah Jazz player, Donovan Mitchell and Arsenal Manager, Mikel Arteta. The XFL shuts down and dissolves.
We all go on with the night having fun. There is nothing that we can do at this point but just enjoy the rest of our vacation. We have one day left at sea before we dock at home.
Last day on the ship
We wake to find more things back at home and are shutting down. Now, the thought that goes through a lot of our heads is, “What is the country going to be like when we get back”? We enjoy the day the best we can with the activities on the ship. The big news that comes out in the afternoon is that President Trump declared a national emergency and that all cruise lines were being shut down by Monday, March 16, 2020. As long as we can dock and get off the ship, that is all we want at this point.
We had a great time the rest of the trip. It was a great last night playing poker. Unfortunately, a lot of Carnival Magic employees are scared because they fear they will not be able to go home to their countries and be stuck on the ship.
We get up the next morning and find that we are able to get off of the ship. Thank you sweet baby Jesus! It is weird though, it was like a movie. We left the country one way and came back to a different place. You could see people scared about the unknown. I get it, we all were at the time.
Once I got home my work was worried and I had to quarantine for 2 weeks. I had to get a COVID-19 test. Testing was just starting and I had to wait almost a week. It was all so new and people were just trying to figure out what to do. I came back negative and was able to return to work. The cruise ships were not so lucky, they had to stay docked with their employees on board for about 2 more months before they were allowed to go home.
Carnival Magic
I will say this, Carnival rocked it! It was really impressive how they handled the situation. I never felt at one time that we were in danger. Beyond happy with how they handled the whole thing. I highly recommend cruises with Carnival. You can visit their website here to book a cruise.
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