JimR24

We are closing in on our 9 day Caribbean Round Trip. 89 days to go. Celebrating my son's HS graduation and daughters' college graduation. There may even be a proposal on the trip. I know the family trips we have together are winding down so this makes this one even more special. I love the ability to disconnect from the world and unwind. Our rule with the kids always has been they have to try one new food at dinner. Things they usually turn their noses up to at home. It's amazing what they like to eat now. We are booked on some private tours on St Thomas and St Maarten. We have some first timers in the Caribbean and on a cruise with us so it should be an entertaining trip.

Our first cruise was over Spring Break a few years back. We were on the Epic and knew it was going to be crowded but were kind of concerned about it being a "booze cruise" because of it being Spring Break. We were totally wrong. Yes, there was a large Spring Break crowd but they were well behaved and we had no issues. The ship was large enough where we could find seats on the deck. I want to say we ran into students from Clemson, Texas A&M and a few other large schools. Since my kids were in school at the time, we had to be selective on when we cruised and booked another one the same time the year after. No issues then either.

We are normally NCL people. In the past year we have taken 2 3 days cruises on MSC and had no issues at all. We are really low maintenance and kind of just go with the flow. Yes, we expect good customer service but are realists. Our vacations are our time to get away and destress. We are not going to go and look for things to complain about. I would never cancel a trip based on someone's online opinion. Everyone is different and you need to see things for yourself.

I wore shorts and a button down shirt each night at dinner. Nothing fancy. Others had jeans and t-shirts. Super chill is a great description. We did not go to Nassau on this one. We did the Keys and Ocean Cay. Very relaxing overall.

Yes. White night was thrown on the 2nd night. We didn't attend but did see plenty of cruiser dressed in white. We would definitely cruise the Magnifica again. Would prefer to go out of Caneveral so we don't have to deal with Miami.

Overall - no major issues or complaints. We’re pretty easy going and I just can’t see going on a short vacation and look for things to complain about. Embarkation - had an 11:30am time. We arrived at the port at 11:00am, parked across the street and was standing with a beer in my hand waiting for the buffet to open at 11:30am. Food - Other than a small amount of choices, the food was good. We had breakfast and dinner in L’Edera each day and night. Waiters were attentive and friendly. We did notice a surcharge of $5 for a 2nd entree. I usually don’t order 2 but I have seen others do it in the past. Not sure if other lines are doing this but we sailed MSC earlier this year and this case. Bar service - never really waited for a drink at any bar and there always seemed to be a waiter available at any lounge we were in. A couple waiters got to know us and we didn’t need to order our first drink and they were brought to us. Ports - First time in Key West and walked to the Southern Most point and shopped our way back. Since I’m a Parrot Head, stopped at Capt. Tony’s to “get out of the heat” to quote the Last Mango in Paris. Cool place to see. Ocean Cay was really nice. Spent the day at Bimini Beach. Water was a little chilly but crystal clear. No problem finding chairs. Had a burger from the food truck and a few drinks from the bar. Ship - yes it is on the smaller size and we read all the negative reviews but went with an open mind. I mean, we’re headed on a cruise, why look for negatives? We would definitely sail the Magnifica again. Overall service was really good. The only problem we had were the pool deck chairs. To put it mildly, they suck. The option to have shade attached to the chair was nice but they just weren’t comfortable. We booked an inside room and picked deck 10. Typical small room and the cabin steward was good. Disembarkation - decided to do the express walkoff. Was in line at 7:10am and in our vehicle at 7:30am. We are Floridians and are used to traffic but the Miami traffic is a different animal all together. Bumper to bumper no matter where we went the day before. Went and did the Friends exhibit at the Aventura mall and it took us 25 minutes to go 2 1/2 miles. All in all and good cruise and can’t wait for our next one in June on NCL.

Cruised MSC once on a 3 day out of Canaveral and had issue. Yes, lines to get a drink were long at times but I knew that going in. We're going to be on the Magnifica next week for another 3 dayer. Every cruise line isn't for everyone but I can't say I've had a terrible cruise, ever. I've heard complaints about the Wifi on just about every lines ships. Me, I don't want anything to do with my phone or communication once I step foot on the ship. I cruise to get away from everything. I am jealous of the 14 day in Feb though. We'll have to wait for our 9 day in June with NCL.

We were on the same cruise. This was the first trip with MSC and we would cruise them again. I agree about the private island. It's beautiful with lots of seating. We would head to the North Island next time. We walked the island the morning we were leaving and found it really peaceful. We did head to the island for the party. It was total chaos at the bar on the beach. There is little to no respect for other people when it comes to the bar. The bartenders do the best they can but it's like herding cats. One bar for the party didn't seem to be enough. The lines to get a drink were long but the bartenders did allow you to get more then 2. Food was ok in the dining room. Service was hit and miss. It felt like they were breaking in a new staff and our waiter seemed to be a little off. 2nd night was better then the first but still slow. We had an inside cabin on deck 10. Exactly what we expected it to be. Small and just a place to shower, change and sleep. Longer cruise we would need a balcony but this was fine for us.