AmberTeka

No.

cabins on 3rd& fifth deck have them.

+ some spa balconies

Just be aware that Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years and Spring Break are the highest priced cruises. You'll pay substantially more during those times.

Disagree politely. SUMMER is the most expensive time for family cruises. Spring Break varies in many states. You can catch a break if it is not the Easter Week or after. But Summer.........................the prices go insane. But we at are stuck with them if we want the grandchild along, and we do.

YES!!!!!!!

We were on Princess for a New Years Cruise. We were on the Crown.

Best time ever.

Yes. crowds.

Children were limited to 600...included the little ones and teens. All well behaved.

We won the Jepardize Trivia Contest on New Year's Eve. I will remember it and the group we played with forever.

We also took a Christmas Cruise on Carnival Sunshine. Great cruise Great staff. but kept thinking we should be at home for Christmas. NY EVE...........just party time. And we are basically non drinkers. But we were up blowing our horns.

DO IT if you afford it. at least once.

Thanks for the review, but one cruise on Freedom of the Seas cured me of RCI forever.

First.........staff. Waiters. All were excellent. It was not a people problem outside of activities.

Food was bad. Ship had confusing layout. Beds were not comfortable. Carnival, to me. has the best beds at sea.

Hordes of people. NO place to sit at Trivia. Activities Guy was bored. Asked silly, stupid questions. had to make reservations to see Ice Show and Theater. So we did not. Lines were HUMONGOUS.

We are Platinum on Princess. And Carnival. Sailed a bit on HAL. Once on Celebrity which we liked. 3 times on NCL. only one we really were glad to get off of...............RCI.

Excellent posts. I learned a lot about sea sickness. I suffered on the Eurodam. Up at night. Sitting by the potty. The Upchucking. I had recently had tubes put in my ears, and I think it was connected to that. We were upgraded to a balcony on the Navigation Deck. Very high.

Pills did help. After reading these posts, I will ask Doctor about the patch.

we are booked in an Ocean View for next cruise.

We did hit some rough seas. At one point Ship had to make up miles, so ship went fast. Found out here that speed was connected to sea sickness. Honestly, I was as sick as a dog for two nights of the cruise. Never again, I hope.

Who ever starts these interesting and funny threads......

Cappuccino Pie? I still mourn it not being there.............

One about the great desserts on Carnival that seem to have vanished?

I loved this thread. I read every post.

Since Neapolitan pizza pre-dates NY pizza, and is where pizza originated, it is the Carnival pizza that is traditional and original, not the Princess pizza. There is nothing trendy about Neapolitan pizza - it has stood the test of time much longer than NY style.

 

I think we're just seeing an increased appreciation for original, traditional Italian pizza - and while Carnival food is generally substandard, they get the Steakhouse and pizza right.

Agree on both. Carnival Steakhouse is worth every penny. Wish they had an age limit of at least six years old, and I know I will get flamed. One evening with wild toddlers, which no one makes an attempt to corral, or crying baby ruins a special moment for old and young romantics and good friends. Pizza on Carnival is the best. And I have been on Princess enough to be Platinum. I love Princess. But their Pizza, imho, is NOT number one. I do like their hard taco shells and goodies to make them on their lunch buffet.

NO ONE has mentioned the melt in your mouth chocolate cookies which fly away from the LIDO buffet. Best cookies ever. Carnival. MY husband and I always sneak up there and eat them. Often they are lunch. With a plate of the cubed fruit and cheese that I love too. Who is getting Hungary? ME.

I loved this thread. It was funny and cute. Who does not relate to PIZZA? Who does not know the BEST Pizza maker ever?

NOT HIJACKING............along the same mysteries of favorite foods on Carnival. I hope.

I Wish someone would do one for the spring roll appetizers Carnival serves or did serve. I love them. But why can they not have duck sauce? Sweet and Sour sauce.? Why the Peanut sauce? Can one request Sweet and Sour sauce?

YES. I have wondered about it. Never did ask. . EVEN at JiJi's on Sunshine, there was no sweet and sour sauce. Or none that I recognized. And I loved their Sweet and Sour Shrimp.

Carnival has the best Pizza at sea for me. RCI-------too much sauce. Princess.......too much sauce. HAL--------just plain not good.

Carnival..........good crust. not so much sauce . Lots of cheese. Really good cheese. Ingredients good

Their 'Margareta" Pizza.........Umm.

This sounds weird, but our local Sam's Club has a pizza that is almost as good. Made the same way. My Husband, a Pizza Hut Guy, admitted it was a better pizza. A "slice" covers a plate.

CARNVIAL.................wins the Pizza at Sea............Big Time for me.

Just pleased The Breeze is coming to P.C. We sailed on it in Sept. of 2013. Hope we get to do so again. Sorry for mis -speaking. It will replace the Magic. As everyone knows. We have never been on the Magic. So.....................I tthought it was a great ship. Delighted to have it at P.C. Which is three hours from my home.

Sunshine is home ported in P.C. TWO very nice ships. Hoo Ray

To me............RCI had the nicest people in the world. There was a lot of laughing and a few tears at our Table in the MDR and with our cabin Attendant . Extra tips for perfect service.

But then Carnival does too. We ALWAYS get the Above average people when we cruise.

But on RCI, and my husband says we have more sea days than most sailors and he was in the Coast Guard Reserve for years.................I felt like I was on an assembly line. The food was not as good as Carnival.

There is a vibe.............a feeling on Carnival of having a good time. I am not talking snot slinging drunk. Just having fun in the sun. People are open about it. The Musicals were much better on Carnival. Never waited in line. Got there early........about 15 mins early. Did not sit on front row. BUT on edge of closer rows. Fine Seats.

Like their casinos. NEVER win. Like the Music. A lot. Like the machines............the slots.

Maybe I am just Carnival. If I had sailed all of our cruises on Carnival, which I wish we had, we would be closing on 50, God Willing, soon.

The ICE CREAM on RCI .....the best is not free. It is Ben and Jerry's. Discovering that was a happy night.

Activities Director on RCI had ONE Trivia. IN small Area. We had to stand to play. Played with Aussies. We called ourselves the STANDING Team..........WE WON. Huge fun though we were chapped at first about not getting seats. Aussies are outspoken. I LOVE them.

RCI ....Bored Activities Guy.they had Music Trivia when early dining was going on. Forget that one. The Crown and Anchor was adult stuff. Some racy. Not my stuff. Don't know much . World has changed since I was young thought I consider myself enlightened. Just not enough......felt stupid.

From Morning to Night ...RCI Trivia was one goofball..TRIVIA. not researched. Felt like Fellow asked stupid questions.. Too arrogant to put together a Proper one. Mocking people who showed up to play. They were on vacation. then mostly unheard of songs. Stupid stuff. How many angels dance on the head of a pin. Or you Mom is a doctor but she was in the fields farming when your Father died so what was she doing?

NEVER again.

After Carnival. Then Princess. Then HAL if we are lucky enough to cruise more.

BUT---with athletic vigor.........I see the lure in the Oasis. And RCI ships are lovely. People.....again.........could not be nicer.

I bet you could flip a dime and have a great time.

Cost. Ports. would guide me. Then Food. Activities.

MAKE up a POINT system. See which one has the most points when tallied up.

I have no idea what you're looking at. The Sunshine will 100% be in Port Canaveral next summer. The only Carnival ship leaving from New York summer 2018 is the brand new Horizon. And while the prices are crazy high, I haven't seen anything with a starting price that steep.

The BREEZE is coming to Port Canaveral In September of 2018.

Out of Port Canaveral June 29.2018. FOR 8 days. Carnival SUNSHINE.

Over Fourth of July.

2 Seniors, FL Residents, Early Saver. Platinum

Cat OV C,,,,,,,,,midship.2nd deck....................Aprox..........$2400. total for 2. Summertime prices. School is out. Parents can sail. It happens. We are going with family who has child in school. Have to suck it up. Supply and demand. Going to Aruba, God Willing. Excited

Been on Sunshine 2 times

Probably my favorite Carnival Ship

AWESOME activities staff

Food is good

Ship is lovely

Any reason you don't like RCI? Did something happen on your RCI cruise 17 years ago?

 

Bill

at age 70,,,,,,nothing to do on sea days. do not climb walls. do no zip line on ship. hard to find anything. discovered Studio B the day before we got off ship

. food was bad

staff great

service very good

had to make reservations to see a show. LINES are humongous

NOTHING TO DO IF NOT AN ATHLETE

Casino was better. Won a little

SUNSHINE one drawback---------they need another pool. but we don't get in sun much as live in FL and get too much sometimes. USE sunscreen . We have 2 fair skin relatives who developed Melanomia due to not using it. Both were survivors. Lots of new treatments but still.........................lather up.

Everyone is leery of the Sunshine because of some people , who are mad about a financial issue with Carnival, or a trivial matter, and NOT ALL are trivial, but most are,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,we have been on Sunshine twice. Booked for next summer.

Hope we make it.

The Sunshine is a grand ship. Very nice AFFORDABLE Chinese and Hispanic restaurant. Great Activity staff. ALWAYS something fun going on. ON RCI..........unless you are a world class athlete...........suck it up. One game of trivia a day. Not much to do. been there. done that. Not again.

Happy Sails which ever you cruse. And we are Platinum on Princess. Carnival... Sailed a bit. LOVE Sunshine. LOVE Port Canaveral

For muster drills and such........GO to the Main Desk Tell them. Ask them where you can gather with handicapped or other Passengers if you are going to have issues.

My husband is a little claustrophic. he has stayed in inside cabins. One which was in middle of ship. Never complained. One at far end of front of ship.......bothered him.

We get balconies if I can manage it or O.V.

Long wait. Ditto. I booked this cruise in early 2016. When the summer and fall ratings came out, so I guess it was about them the cost of a Cove Balcony on the Magic for an 8 day cruise to Aruba. etc was 789.00. I put down the reduced deposit. And have put a couple of payments on it, but now........it is within 7 weeks of cruising. That cove balcony would cost us about a thousand dollars more today.

SADLY the rates for 2019 do not seem to be all that much reduced.

Every review written about the Magic has been read by Me for the last four months. I appreciate them all.

I am going to try to keep a journal and post my impressions. I am a Carnival Cheerleader so probably not much bad.

I will post on:

Trivia

Shows

Casino

MDR. Lido. We do eat at the specialty restaurants

Don't drink so not that

Do drink coffee and buy cookies

Do shop on ship for gifts

Do take excursions. Always Carnival

Cabin

Storage

Movies and TV

Service is pretty much always excellent

Those are things I have checked on.

Thanks to EVERYONE who took the time to write a review. They are invaluable.

Keeping my fingers crossed that you post more about your great cruise on the Magic.

Thanks for taking the time to do this for Cruise critic readers and posters.

Why Carnival Activity Teams are the Best

They seem to be having a good time too!

Wish you the best!!

We are on the Magic in 8 weeks. Thanks for your review

On the Glory....years ago, I had an encounter with some teen agers. They were part of a Family Reunion Groups. Unsupervised. Total idiots. they were by the Sushi Bar. A private party for their family was being held in a Club right by it.

They.....Teenagers were Stopping people getting SUSHI particularly Oriental guests, kids. REFUSING to LEt them pass.

I did go get Security guards. Reported them. They came and set those young bullies in order. I watched my back for the rest of the Cruise. NEVER regretted doing it. I Too....Was a Teacher. Librarian. You have to confront them OR let AUTHORITY Confront them.

Advise HAL if cruising on Spring Break again.

Spring Break. Holidays.......Summer..................Carnival is going to have the kiddies. (95% OF guests stay on top of them. The FIVE percent who want to get rid of them.............can create chaos.

Demographics on Carnival.......in Fall. After Christmas until Spring break. Then until Public Schools are out for Summer.....................Few Children. Almost all perfectly behaved. Ditto for Princess even though they don't accept more than 600 non adults on any cruise. Still a lot.

HAL........................almost never see children on there. The ones you see ......perfectly behaved.

The little ones never bother me

Some of the TEENS can make my skin crawl .

Trivia-Yes, there were many, many trivias...to name a few- Big Bang Theory, Harry Potter, Friends, Sports, General Knowledge. Also a lot of other games in Ocean Plaza like Sorry, Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit etc. My granddaughter and I each won Solid gold ships on a stick during Pictionary. (which I believe was called "Draw It".) I love Trivia and attend as many as I can.

Shops- I am not a shopper so I can't comment but I know there sure were a lot of the usual sales!

Photos-Since this was a family cruise we did all purchase photos which we think came out great. There are even photographers wandering around on the beach in Grand Turk to take pictures. I wish that the proofs were on the tv like some other ships instead of having to wander around looking for them.

Food- one should never run out of options esp for lunch on this ship. Guys burgers, Blue Iguana tacos/taco salad, Mongolian Grill, Deli Sandwiches, Pig and Anchor BBQ and Italian Restaurant are all available and free at lunch.

Casino-The casino on this ship is pretty smokey due to the fact that the sports bar is located inside of the casino. However, they do keep the airconditioning down low in there so it helps. Won a little and lost a little. We only play slots.

Shows- enjoyed them all. Best in my opinion are 88 Keys and America Rocks.

Ports-Amber Cove is a destination by itself without leaving the port-huge winding swimming pool,swim up bar, and water slide. The girls zip lined ($20 for the day) and rented a kayak. There are lots of water toys you can rent available.

St Thomas- we have been there many times. We decided to take the Kontiki Boat Tour with the whole family. It is a flat bottomed boat with a reggae band and free rum punch onboard(also a full bar). They give you a complete harbor tour and then take you to Honeymoon Beach. Was a great day and everyone (even the kids) enjoyed it. Lots of dancing, Limbo contest and even a glass window to see fish on the bottom).

San Juan- we all chose to go to El Moro Fort. We took a taxi. My son and his family walked. The little ones flew kites out front of the fort. There is a kite shop there too.

Grand Turk- We spend the day on the beach there (which we always do). Little ones learned how to snorkel and had a great time. Margaritaville is right behind the beach there. Chairs are free. Umbrellas are rented.

Hope this helps! Have a great cruise!

I ENJOY all of the things you listed. Again....Thank you for taking the time to do it for us!!

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. All of us........who are sailing soon on the Magic, as well as the rest of us who read for possible future bookings.............get a lot of helpful information from reviews like yours.

MY Question. Trivia? Did you play? What did you think? We love Trivia. And the casino. And the shows. And the food. And the ports. And the photos. And the shops. You get my drift............

Same here. The old search format is back. It isn't my favorite cruise search engine, but at least it is easier to use than that other monstrosity and doesn't hide better rates you are eligible for. I've been watching a particular cruise and it jumped up by $200 per person on the carnival site when they launched the new search format, while it stayed the same on other travel sites. ??? It is now back to the real rate. I can only guess it wasn't possible with the new format to get to VIFP rates. Man, whomever made the decision to change to new search format should be reprimanded by his/her higher ups. I'd already made up my mind I would never book directly through Carnival again, but would use another site which I will not name (I will give initials though...VTG).

I have to go to that site too to see Deck Plans. Carnival gives me a cabin suggestion, then I am going to another site to see where it is!!!! I Click back and Forth.

MY husband uses a different, older browser. We have AOL. It brings up the Old System. So.............I found that out by accident. I use the Newest Windows. He likes the old one. Odd. Old System. Worked just fine. Why they changed is a mystery to me. The MORE information a site gives me on available cabins, Prices, all rates, etc the more likely I am to book the cruise.

Oh and I found 4J cabins with just 2 person booking.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You give me hope. Thanks. Maybe if I ever start doing the right things to see what Other people are seeing on New Booking Engine for Carnival, it will get better.

Get a pvp. I do my research pick a ship and itinerary and date we want. Then look at the ships deck plans to see which cabin I want and call my pvp. She books it for me. Very easy with out the frustration of booking on line.

How do you see all of the for sale Cabins? How do you Decks? The Old system had several available cabins on different decks.

I have yet to even get to where I see an entire deck.

And on other ships........not an issue. I wish MAGIC and then the BREEZE when it comes to P.C. had the 8 day cruises. But they don't. The Sunshine seems to have them all.

The CEO of RCI was on Fox Business this morning. He said Cruising is geared to Young families. That it is not an "old People" Thing anything.

Others may flame me, but I thought that was an extraordinarily stupid thing to say.

I suspect if "old people" did really go away, find someone favorite vacation mode......Cruising would be in deep doo doo.