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aheverly

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Posts posted by aheverly

    Who is your favorite cruise director past or present?

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    I felt the same way as you until two weeks ago when we sailed on the Vista. When we booked over a year ago I assumed it would be Matt Mitcham as the cruise director and I couldn’t wait to see what all the hype was about. Then closer to cruise Time I realized it would actually be Schwartz. I was dissapointed until that first announcement he ended with “I Love You”, which made me chuckle. Then throughout the cruise we actually looked forward to seeing him interact and perform. Hands down best cruise director ever!

     

     

     

    We were just on Breeze with Schwartz for Valentine’s Day he was giving hugs. That just made me smile. He was very good and we totally enjoyed him

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Review of the NEW Steakhouse Menu - Magic 1/13 Sailing

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    Greetings,

     

     

     

    Was on the Carnival Magic last week, and wanted to share my opinion of the steakhouse. Understand this is the opinion of my wife and I, and may not be your experience. We pick a night to do the steakhouse on every cruise, and it is something we always look forward to. This cruise we took my 12 year old daughter who was celebrating her milestone (25) cruise.

     

     

     

    Steakhouse Cooking Demo:

     

    We attended the demo (we enjoy it for a non crowded mini lunch on first sea day). Menu here has not changed. Mushroom Cappuccino, Mushroom Spinach Salad, Chicken w/ Potato Hash and Truffle Mac & Cheese, and Tiramisu. This was awesome as always, but expect we may see this menu change soon.

     

     

     

    Steakhouse Review:

     

    We had a 5:30pm reservation. We noticed they had a bunch of 5:30s and didn't stagger. Service seemed to suffer as a result. Magic has the smallest steakhouse of the fleet, so this may contribute. Not only did it take time to get started (its intended to be a relaxed experience), it was hard to get water glasses refilled.

     

     

     

    There was no meat presentation (knew this) nor was there the salt/seasoning presentation we have seen others mention. When asked they said that Magic doesn't do that.

     

     

     

    Bread:

     

    We have really liked the previous selection (Rosemary focaccia bread or Brioche served with a tomato confete, butter, or eggplant confete). The new selection is Sea Salt Pinwheel or some type of very thin cracker type bread served with butter and a spinich dust butter. We considered this to be an epic fail vs. the old. Had we not had the old, the review would be it was bland and not noteworthy.

     

     

     

    Compliments of the Chief:

     

    This evening was Parmesan Our Way. This included a parmesan crisp and a dab of creamy parmesan. The crisp was awesome, the dip was very strong. The compliments are always an adventure.

     

     

     

    Starters:

     

    We ordered the Stuffed Mushrooms Caps (Awesome!), Heritage Berkshire Pork Belly (Fatty and not very good), Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (Same as it has always been - very good), and a special request of the chief arranged for ahead of time: a bowl of mushroom cappuccino (amazing!). Due to the arrangement of tables, we were immediate next to another party of three, and chatted with them. The smoke presentation from the oysters was cool and fragrant (they said taste was awesome). Also heard good things about the Risotto. Noticed the Spinach/Mushroom salad is no longer the same as the cooking demo, but told was good.

     

     

     

    Entrees:

     

    At our table, we ordered the Spice-Rubbed Prime Rib Eye Steak (Great), a Spice-Rubbed Filet Mignon (Great), and the Broiled Lobster Tail.

     

     

     

    The lobster was over cooked and stuck to the shell. It also was VERY dark. I refused it and the chief came out. He told me they all would look like that since they were substituting warm water at the moment. He recommended we try the Wagyu. This came out a short time later. Presentation is a steak cut into strips (5) in my case. This was honestly tasteless and not remarkable. It really wasn't as flavorful as the flat iron steak from the dining room. Compared to the wagyu beef I had at a dimond lunch, it was aweful. When the chief came by he found it pushed to the side, and I was helping my wife with her ribeye. He took it back.

     

     

     

    Sauces & Side Dishes:

     

    The bernaise sauce was different and had a strong flavor to it. The Chimichurri was new to the menu and was AWESOME!

     

     

     

    The baked potato, medley of mushrooms, and wasabi mashed potatos were good as always. The garlic rapini had a very strong flavor to it that we didn't care for. The mac n' cheese was a normal (unremarkable) yellow cheese sauce (nothing like the amazing truffle mac n' cheese we normally special order from the cooking demo). This day they were out of Onion Rings.

     

     

     

    Desserts:

     

    We learned that if one person at the table orders "Art at your table" everyone must. Fortunately the table beside us ordered it and saved us that mistake. The chief comes out and creates a design with 3 sauces on a cutting board. He then carefully places two cookies per person and several wrapped & unwrapped pieces of candy. In the middle is a larger which sphere that contains some type of cake and icecream. The table beside us found the cookies unedible, and candy unremarkable. The contents of the sphere was ok, but they said they wouldn't do it again.

     

     

     

    So then we ordered dessert: Chocolate Sphere (nothing exciting), Apple Tarte (Ok), and my daughter ordered an old favorite of hers from the children's menu: Nuetella Pizza w/ the flavor of the day icecream (Peaches & Creme). Did we not have memories of the Cheesecake and Chocolate sampler these new desserts would have just been mediocre, but when you have the perspective of comparision - its a huge disappointment.

     

     

     

    I will share that when the bill came, the Steakhouse manager came and appologized once again about the entree issues. She indicated that she had changed my daughters cover to a child in compensation. (Kids menu is under 12, and is limited). Basically she dropped the cost $20. She said it was easier to do that than to discount my meal. I thanked her and paid the bill.

     

     

     

    Final Thoughts:

     

    After it was over, my wife and I thought back and decided we may think twice about a steakhouse dinner. Hopefully Carnival here's about the areas of disappointment from those that dine, and make changes (they did this well with American Table). If they pivot and make some changes, we'll take a second look. We had eaten in the same steakhouse with most of the same staff just months before under the old menu. Different as day and night.

     

     

     

    Others will have different opinons. I think some might have been one night issues, but others were not. I look forward to your thoughts below.

     

     

     

    We ordered the art at your table and it was delish (Breeze)

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    New! OFFICIAL Meet & Mingles on Your Next 7-day or Longer Carnival Cruise!

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    Somewhere there seems to be a disconnect in the communication between the ship personnel and the Cruise Critic members. What a shame for those in CC who want to attend but the timing is off and for those who did attend and Carnival was no where to be found. We go on the 4-day in the summer and we sometimes create the M&G thread in the hope someone will respond. True these short time cruises are not the draw the longer ones are in my experience. Our NCL ones are always well attended and fun and I will continue to go to those. Perhaps should my DD and I ever take a longer cruise with Carnival this will be ironed out.

     

     

     

    Aren’t they only 7 day or longer?

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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