Carnival Magic 12/26/2011-1/1/12 Review

[scottcruises]

Overall a 9 or so out of 10. Mostly very positive, a few negatives that had more to do with parents that don't watch their kids than anything to do with the ship.

 

Galveston was fine. They need more signage at the port to direct people along the concourse. Check in and out was very fast. We didn't wait 5 minutes in either line either way. We parked across the street booking through the City website, that was easy. We spent time at Moody Gardens on the way out which was awesome, highly recommend. Flew into George Bush airport, again easy. The ride was flat and straight with about 10,000 places to eat along the 1 hour trip into Galveston from Houston.

 

Anyway, we stayed on the Lido in a balcony. Loved it as it was great for our kids. The room was clean and the steward was great, Peter. The dining room seated service was a C+. We tried the first two nights and it was fairly disorganized. We did not go back the other 4 nights. The buffet or as you order food was great. I can eat at a restaraunt while at home. I'd rather eat a sandwich on the decks of a cruise ship in shorts than get dressed up to eat. I can do that the other 358 days of the year. Plenty of options for food.

 

Pools and hot tubs were great aside of about 10 unruly kids we saw over and over. With 1498 kids on the boat if only 10 are bad then it is a good week, but these 10 were brutal. The waterpark was awesome and as a parent I spent a ton of time in there with the kids. The waterslides are fun. The mini golf course is okay, the skycourse a ton of fun. They should dump the outdoor exercise equipment. It was almost never used and just takes up space that they can use for additional pool tables, knock hockey or ping pong.

 

Camp Carnival was a bust for us. Our kids did not like it, too crowded and no real activities they liked. Video games on a cruise ship....that's fine but they can do that at home. They stayed two hours and then spent the trip with us which was fine anyway. Our kids met plenty of other great kids and they kept themselves busy most of the time. There is a ton for kids to do on this boat from age 2-12. Our kids absolutely loved it.

 

We didn't do the shows. Too crowded but with a caveat. If my kids were older we'd have gone 20 minutes early to get a seat. At 3 and 8 the younger would have been bored and rather than be a parent that has a screaming kid in a theatre we just did other things. I'm sure it's fine if you are setup to sit. We enjoyed the bands throughout the Promenade and the karoake in the back lounge more than anything.

 

Kudos to the crew for putting on the football games on the big tv. That was fun. I did not feel crowded, nothing ever ran out and I had no problems with this ship totally full. Wait times for everything was none to low including the waterslides and rope course.

 

The Lido does rock a bit in big seas. I know there are some reports of a mismatch in the stabilizers after the repairs causing some issues. I'll say it was a weird sway the ship had in moderate seas. Didn't bother us one bit but if you're prone to sea sickness book lower in the ship.

 

Costa Maya we enjoyed but never left the port area. Spent the day in the pool and bars. My kids loved the pool so mom and dad were happy. Cozumel we grabbed a cab and went to Paradise Beach - again an A+ experience. We loved it here. Perfectly clean on the beach and in the facilities, a gorgeous and massive pool and great wait staff. Took a chance and ate here and it was some of the best food we had all week. $13 cab ride each way for 4. Cab stands on both ends that made it so easy it was awesome. I was tentative about venturing out, this was simple. Great stuff and I'd highly recommend. I'd read the reviews online of Paradise Beach and can tell you first hand it was great. $2 per person to use the "better" portion of the beach which means chairs in the sun and the pool. $12 for the kids to use the waterslides and things like that in the ocean. Fair price in my eyes for what you get, especially the $2. I'd have paid $20 for that pool and been happy.

 

Progreso we never left the boat. Experiences were mostly negative that we heard from friends. Flat tires, no service, dirty and broken chairs at the beaches. Fix or dump this port because I'd rather spend an extra day drifting in 80 degree weather off Costa Maya than sitting at a meager port at best.

 

One note, dump the debarkation on 1/1. The people getting on the boat are miserable and the people getting off a miserable. End cruises on 1/2, better for everyone especially the staff.

 

The full review is going up in the review sections but I wanted to throw some of it out here and invite anyone to ask questions.

[Madason]

thank you for taking the time to share this review

[scottcruises]

thank you for taking the time to share this review

 

Not a problem at all, feel free to ask any questions as we covered the boat pretty well.

[scottcruises]

Forgot to add, if you book one of the staterooms for 4 people on the Lido what you end up with is one larger bed which is about the size of a king and two other twin sized beds. One pulls down from the ceiling and is not pictured in the documents I saw. We loved that, was really cool as they folded it back up each night.

[LBumb]

nice job

[salcruizer]

Agree with the comments on Camp Carnival. My youngest, who usually begs to go/stay in Camp Carnival was bored. Mostly free-play on Wii or Nitendo, which is not what they like. She made friends and spent most of her time out of Camp, with the exception of scav. hunts which they loved. That said, we all think the Magic is towards the top of our best cruise list, with the horrible debarkation notching it down some.

 

Also agree with Progreso. We got off, and waited 45 minutes in the hot sun for the free shuttle (the Conquest docked at the same time as the Magic and I dont think the port can handle two big ships). I would have opted to take a cab, but that line was just as long. Once onto the mainland, it was as you describe...dirty beaches, unappealing streets/ally ways, etc. Stuck in urban traffic jam on the shuttle for 20 minutes with no a/c. There is some construction going on so maybe they are making it better. Did the beach in Cozumel as well and its very easy to cab there and back and save a ton of $$ versus shore ex. In Costa Maya we did the Jeep Rhino jungle tour and that was awesome. I too will post an official review but wanted to echo the OP's comments on Camp Carnival and Progreso.

[sealy street]

Scotcruises, Thanks for the review! We will be on Magic for 1/15 sailing. Could you tell me if there is an infant splash pool? Or an area our 11 month old granddaughter can play in water, since not allowed in pool with diaper? Thank you

[scottcruises]

Scotcruises, Thanks for the review! We will be on Magic for 1/15 sailing. Could you tell me if there is an infant splash pool? Or an area our 11 month old granddaughter can play in water, since not allowed in pool with diaper? Thank you

Sadly I don't know of any areas where you'd be able to swim. You'll probably have to do the inflatable but I'm not sure how that'll work either.

 

We had a lot of fun on the cruise, hope you enjoy it too.

[scottcruises]

Agree with the comments on Camp Carnival. My youngest, who usually begs to go/stay in Camp Carnival was bored. Mostly free-play on Wii or Nitendo, which is not what they like. She made friends and spent most of her time out of Camp, with the exception of scav. hunts which they loved. That said, we all think the Magic is towards the top of our best cruise list, with the horrible debarkation notching it down some.

 

Also agree with Progreso. We got off, and waited 45 minutes in the hot sun for the free shuttle (the Conquest docked at the same time as the Magic and I dont think the port can handle two big ships). I would have opted to take a cab, but that line was just as long. Once onto the mainland, it was as you describe...dirty beaches, unappealing streets/ally ways, etc. Stuck in urban traffic jam on the shuttle for 20 minutes with no a/c. There is some construction going on so maybe they are making it better. Did the beach in Cozumel as well and its very easy to cab there and back and save a ton of $$ versus shore ex. In Costa Maya we did the Jeep Rhino jungle tour and that was awesome. I too will post an official review but wanted to echo the OP's comments on Camp Carnival and Progreso.

 

Ditto the video games. My kids aren't game players they're outdoor play kids. I felt like I was putting them in Alcatraz. They just weren't equipped to deal with that many kids/and/or if that is what they usually do I don't understand the positive reviews.

 

I wouldn't take a cruise with Progreso as a port unless I read they've vastly improved the area. It's funny you mentioned the lack of AC because our neighbors on the boat mentioned a fan spinning about twice a minute on a bus and a beach with ripped chairs, not enough chairs and not much else.