A MAGICal Adventure WBTA / Day 3 Marvellous Malaga - 08/09/2014

[NatsyNoo]

Today the ship would be docked in Malaga, and it was great to be docking so early to enjoy a full day at the port...or so we thought. We woke up to what felt and sounded like an earthquake happening in our stateroom. It was so noisy! It didn't take me long to work out that our stateroom (2138) was positioned directly on/next to the ship's sternthruster, which was causing the vibrations. A uick search of reviews of our staterooms before the cruise confimed that it was nice and quiet considering the galley of Animator's Palate on the deck above, but a further 'dig' around when we got home revealed that other passengers had experienced the vibrations in our stateroom and neighbouring ones too. The ship was fully booked so I didn't think it worth asking Guest Services to move so we just had to deal with it at the other 4 ports we'd be docking at early in the morning later in the cruise, but we made a note to check we wouldn't be staying in this location again on future cruises!

So that was us, awake, at 6am. I can normally get back to sleep again pretty quickly, but it was going on for a good 15 minutes so I couldn't. We did however just rest in bed until 9am. We didn't really have anything to rush up for, as our plan for today was have a little wander in Malaga but then get back on board and enjoy a quiet ship!

We headed up to Cabanas for some breakfast, and at 9.45am, headed off the ship to look around Malaga. I specifically wanted to see the Alcazaba (Teatro Romano).

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We caught the free shuttle bus out of the port (would have been about a 20 minute walk) and followed the very clear sign posts over to the Alcazaba.

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After taking some photos, we followed our noses in the direction to the port down some of the backstreets, so that Matt could get a taste of the real Spain, and we tried to find a supermarket so I could get some cream for my eyes as they were a bit sore, I think because of wearing so much makeup for a long time each day. It was, however, a holy day, so our search was unsuccessful.

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Very Spanish...except for the Costa coffee. Lol.

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We were back on board by midday, and after a quick change into our swimmers, we headed out to the Quiet Cove pool for a couple of hours in the sun before grabbing some lunch.

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We went for 'pool side snacks' today. Matt had pizza and chips, and I had pizza and some melon.

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After lunch, we found that we lost the sun where we were, so we moved over to the Goofy pool instead. Funnelvision was playing Pinocchio and Bolt which kept us entertained. Matt grabbed us some ice cream, and since seeing someone eating them at lunchtime, I had a real craving for some chicken tenders so I had some of those as a cheeky snack.

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We lost the sun again at about 4pm so we moved up to deck 10 (we mastered this eventually!) for the last half an hour before heading back to the room for a bit.

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Tonight's show was 'Los Locos Ole'. The Navigator describes this group of crazy Spanish (well, 2 Spanish and 1 English) men as comedy and music, and I suppose that's what it was, but it was so random, yet hilarious! We really enjoyed it!

After the show, we went to Keys which had been another 'plan' of mine for this cruise – pre-dinner cocktails with sophisticated music. Tonight's rerpertoire was Rat Pack which was very enjoyable. We ordered two strawberry daiquiris, thinking this would be a safe option for Matt, but he didn't like it (they were quite strong!). These came to around $15, and I supped them both down before dinner!

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Dinner tonight was at Lumiere's, and we were treated to a mini show from Beauty and the Beast, which was a lovely surprise. However, we were tucked at the back of the restaurant so couldn't get any decent piccies.

Food this evening was from the Lumiere's rotational menu:

Escargot Gratinee

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Breaded and Deep Fried Brie (I had both of these, Matt ordered the serrano ham from the Animator's menu as he didn't fancy tonight's options)

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Potage Parmentier (leek & potato soup)

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Onion Soup Gratinee

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Roasted rack of lamb

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Peanut butter mousse

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Tahitian vanilla crème brulee

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After dinner, the Captain made an announcement that we would be passing the Rock of Gibraltar at 10pm so we wandered up to deck 10 to get some piccies. Not so easy in the dark, but we got a couple of ok ones!

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We went to 'suss out' O'Gills after this, before heading to the Walt Disney Theater to watch the adult show for tonight, Stringfever, which is a family (3 brothers and their cousin) string quartet. They played very well and it was very enjoyable.

We hit the sack at midnight...phew!

Tonight's towel animal...a dinosaur

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[M M]

I can sympathize with having a noisy cabin we had a room above the Buena Vista theater on the 2010 WBTA, mornings were o.k. but the bass from the speakers made the room vibrate until gone 1am, luckily they gave us a different room after a few days, after that we try and avoid GTY rooms.

Great pics again, all the food ones are making me hungry We stopped at Malaga on the EBTA this year we particularly liked the centre and the gardens and walled area near the government building. Leaving was fun too as it was the first time the Magic had been to Malaga and quite a lot of locals especially children had turned up to wave us off and Mickey and the gang were on deck waving back and we got a fire boat escort out of the Port

Looking forward to the next day

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by M M

I can sympathize with having a noisy cabin we had a room above the Buena Vista theater on the 2010 WBTA, mornings were o.k. but the bass from the speakers made the room vibrate until gone 1am, luckily they gave us a different room after a few days, after that we try and avoid GTY rooms.

Great pics again, all the food ones are making me hungry We stopped at Malaga on the EBTA this year we particularly liked the centre and the gardens and walled area near the government building. Leaving was fun too as it was the first time the Magic had been to Malaga and quite a lot of locals especially children had turned up to wave us off and Mickey and the gang were on deck waving back and we got a fire boat escort out of the Port

Looking forward to the next day

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Yes I think avoiding GTY in the future will be good! I am indifferent about the cabin we have been allocated this time but as people start to cancel, I'll have a look at what's available.

The food is just incredible isn't it?! And Malaga was indeed beautiful, I'd like to go back some day. Deck party sounds fun! We had one in Antigua when we arrived I think!

[Chilly80]

Being woken up early is not what you want on holiday.

[orlandosgr8]

Sounds like a great day with a mixture of exploring and relaxing.

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by Chilly80

Being woken up early is not what you want on holiday.

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Absolutely, so next time I will avoid GTY, be really sure of the location of the stateroom, and on the first port day, if it happened, say something. That being said, next year's WBTA has 2 ports - Madeira (1/2 day morning so we'd want to be up early anyway) and Castaway Cay (enough said) so probably not such a problem!

Originally Posted by orlandosgr8

Sounds like a great day with a mixture of exploring and relaxing.

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It was a lovely day, possibly one of my favourites of the whole cruise, as we had a lovely relaxing afternoon and still so much time ahead!

[sully301]

what does GTY mean?

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by sully301

what does GTY mean?

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It officially stands for 'Guarantee' - if you book a GTY for, for example, category 9A stateroom, you're guaranteed a room in that category but can't pick which stateroom you stay in. However, there is a chance that you may be upgraded to a higher category of cabin. That was the selling point for us, however, we haven't heard of a single upgrade from GTY on the WBTA. For us, it wouldn't be worth the risk in future, and we'd rather select our own stateroom.

[mrmoo123]

Originally Posted by NatsyNoo

It officially stands for 'Guarantee' - if you book a GTY for, for example, category 9A stateroom, you're guaranteed a room in that category but can't pick which stateroom you stay in. However, there is a chance that you may be upgraded to a higher category of cabin. That was the selling point for us, however, we haven't heard of a single upgrade from GTY on the WBTA. For us, it wouldn't be worth the risk in future, and we'd rather select our own stateroom.

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Interesting to know... so if we have selected our stateroom there is probably zilch chance of a cheeky free upgrade?

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by mrmoo123

Interesting to know... so if we have selected our stateroom there is probably zilch chance of a cheeky free upgrade?

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Unfortunately it's pretty uncommon unless they need to free up lower category staterooms but I have to admit I haven't heard of that happening in some time.