We sailed on April 29, 2012 and Magic turned one year old on May 1st. Carnival had a very nice celebration.
The night before our cruise we stayed at Gaido's Seaside Inn in Galveston. It was a nice, clean room with a wonderful staff. Many of our fellow cruisers were also guests at Gaido's, so we got to meet some people early.
Getting onboard was easier than ever. We parked in Lot B, first dropped off the luggage, parked the car, went through embarkation and was on the ship in less than an hour. We could have left our car for free at Gaido's, but we opted not to.
Great location, close to the elevators and right across the hall from the service closet - which made finding our steward so easy. We always had a full ice chest, extra room service tickets, whatever we needed. The location was also very quiet and the views from the balcony were perfect.