MSC Magnifica

3 Night Key West & Bahamas Cruise - December 8, 2023

We’ve been wanting to try out MSC Cruises and I found a great deal on a 3-night cruise to Key West, FL and Ocean Cay, Bahamas (MSC’s private island) that we just couldn’t pass up!

Itinerary

Friday - Dec 8 - Miami, FL

Saturday - Dec 9 - Key West, FL

Sunday - Dec 10 - Ocean Cay, Bahamas

Monday - Dec 11 - Miami, FL

Embarkation Day

Embarkation was so quick and easy! We went straight up to the Sahara Buffet for lunch then started exploring the ship.

When staterooms were ready, we headed up to our Junior Balcony to check it out. Our luggage soon arrived, so we unpacked quickly and then went back to exploring.

At 4:30pm we watched the safety video in our stateroom then checked in at our muster station in L’Amestista Lounge.

We preordered the Romantic Sunset Package for sail away, it includes a bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne, keepsake MSC champagne glasses, and chocolate covered strawberries!

We decided to pop our champagne before going to dinner at 6:00pm in the Quattro Venti Restaurant (one of two Main Dining Rooms). We watched sail away from the windows while in the MDR, it was pretty seeing the Miami skyline all lit up.

For dinner we ordered the Gardener’s Minestrone Soup, Mixed Grilled Seafood, New York Strip Steak, Warm Apple Crumble, and New York Cheesecake. We paired that with a bottle of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.

After dinner we went to the Musical Showtime with Danilo Gomes (vocalist) in the Royal Theatre. Then we attended Rock & Pop: Name That Song Trivia in the Tiger Bar. We stayed there for the Majority Rules Game Show. Then we ended the night with Be a Karaoke Superstar in L’Ametista Lounge.

We had a great first night on board the MSC Magnifica! Tomorrow we’re in Key West, FL for the first port stop of the cruise.

Key West

Today the MSC Magnifica is in Key West, FL for the first port stop of the cruise. We decided to do something we’ve never done on a cruise and stay on board today. Since this is such a short cruise, we wanted more time to explore the ship.

We slept in a bit, then went up to the Sahara Buffet for a quick breakfast. We spent the rest of the morning wandering around the upper decks of the ship.

For lunch, we went back to the Sahara Buffet. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon meandering around the lower decks. It was nice experiencing a somewhat empty ship.

We atttended General Knowledge Trivia in L’Amestista Lounge and we won! It only took 17 cruises!

Our prize was a MSC blanket made out of recycled plastic bottles. It’s surprisingly soft!

We watched the sun set in Key West from our balcony, then went to dinner in the Quattro Venti Restaurant. Tonight’s Caribbean Night!

We ordered baby shrimp cocktail, creole seafood & chicken gumbo, blackened grouper, carne asada, Florida key lime pie, and grandma’s chocolate cake.

After dinner we went to Be a Karaoke Superstar in L’Ametista Lounge. There are some really good singers on this cruise! Then we went to Name that Song: ABBA & Beatles Trivia in Tiger Bar. We barely knew the names of the songs, but it was fun to try to guess.

On the way to the theater, we spent some time perusing the shops on Deck 6. Tonight’s show was Songbook Elvis, where singers and dancers performed a medley of Elvis’ greatest hits.

After the show, we headed up to the White Party on the pool deck. On our way back to our room we swung by the buffet for a midnight snack of pizza. MSC’s pizza is really good, which makes sense considering it’s an Italian line!

We had a fun second night on board the MSC Magnifica! Tomorrow we’re in Ocean Cay, Bahamas for the last port stop of the cruise.

Ocean Cay, Bahamas

For the last port stop of our cruise, MSC Magnifica was in Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Bahamas.

We woke up early and caught the sunrise, a first for us on a cruise. We like to sleep in, so we always miss them.

We had preordered the Romantic Sunrise Package to enjoy before heading out to the island. This includes two MSC souvenir flutes, freshly squeezed orange juice (which we paired with the house brand sparkling wine we ordered), fresh fruit, and assorted croissanteries delivered to your cabin.

We disembarked the ship and browsed some of the shops at the entrance. Then we walked over to the island’s longest beach, Sunset Beach. (Tip: bring water shoes, the beach is rocky). First impression: this island is gorgeous!

After spending time in and out of the water, we walked by the Ocean Cay Lagoon on our way over to Bimini Beach. The sand here is soft, with no rocks. It was easy to walk right into the water.

We decided to head back to the ship to visit the spa. We status-matched into MSC’s Voyagers Club before the cruise and we earned a complimentary one-hour thermal area session that we wanted to use before the cruise is over. We spent most of our hour in the whirlpool baths.

After relaxing in the spa, we got ready for dinner. Then we went to the Quattro Venti restaurant for our final dinner of the cruise. Tonight’s Italian Night!

We ordered Italian antipasto, Caesar salad, Chianti-braised short ribs, bucatini all carbonara, tiramisu, and limoncello cake.

After dinner, we went up to our stateroom to pack (didn’t we just unpack?). Our disembarkation information was waiting for us on our bed. We quickly packed everything up, attached the new luggage tags, and put our suitcases in the hallway to be collected. Then we went to enjoy the rest of our last night on board!

We watched the first half of the Eagles vs Cowboys football game in the L’Olimpiade Sporting Bar. The bartenders passed out free bar snacks of salted peanuts and potato chips for us to enjoy.

At halftime, we went over to L’Ametista Lounge for Be a Karaoke Superstar. After that we went to The Royal Theatre for the last show: A Circus Story. This ended up being our favorite one, it was fun and high-energy. A great way to end the cruise!

Miami

We woke up back home in South Florida. We really enjoyed our 3-night cruise on MSC Magnifica, it was just too short. We hope to go on a longer MSC cruise in the future, hopefully on one of the newer ships (we’re thinking the Seascape).

We went down to the L’Edera Restaurant for breakfast then got in line to disembark the ship.

The line off the ship was really slow, but once we made it to the gangway we breezed through. Our bags were waiting for us in the terminal and we quickly made it through Customs. We got in our car and drove back home.

Our next cruise is just a month away, our first Celebrity cruise on the Silhouette! Until then, happy cruising!