That is right! We booked a 3 day cruise on the Carnival Magic for the end of April. The price was a little higher than our budget for Gatlinburg but still hard to pass up on such a lovely, newer ship.
The Carnival Magic had its maiden voyage in 2011 holding 4,675 passengers. Part of the Dream class, it usually only sails longer 7 day cruises (those on a budget can't afford). However, the ship is repositioning from Texas to Florida. Therefore to get back on desired days for cruises, the ship has one short 3 day cruise and we just booked it!
I promised this blog would talk about budget travel so this is how we decided it was the right time and price to book. We started looking the day Gatlinburg was cancelled. A few cruises were a possibility. Norwegian Sky ($345), Carnival Victory ($290) , Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Sea ($399) and this one, Carnival Magic ($310). However, all the prices were higher than we wanted to pay and much higher than our Gatlinburg budget.
We started to watch the ship's prices daily. Actually to be more accurate, I watched it hourly. Okay you got me, not every hour but close to it. Two of the ships prices stayed the same. One of the prices sky rocketed. I was beginning to loose hope when the Magic dropped to the Carnival Victory price. Should we book?
We debated and debated for a few days as the price held at $290 per person. It was more than we wanted to spend but as I stated above the Carnival Magic never has short affordable cruises. We were just about to pass and cancel our time off when I received this beauty in my email.
Could it be for the Magic? I logged on and found that the cruise was now at $269 for loyalty program members. My boyfriend and I discussed it over. It had dropped $41. We agreed we would skip the drink package and expensive shore excursions. We won't buy more than a few drinks and we wouldn't go money crazy. With a head node to each other, we booked.
The total per person with Taxes, Fees and Gratuities: $353.50. Not bad for a 3 day cruise on a new ship. I take that as a win for a budget vacation.
Can't not wait to set Sail again.
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