A Winter Escape: Was there any Magic?

[Indytraveler83]

Final Thoughts:

 

In no particular order:

 

The service level of the Carnival Magic was fantastic, and more than anything that makes or breaks a cruise. For me, it’s not the cruise director, the design of the ship or the ports per say. It’s the people you interact with on a regular basis. And on this point, the Magic excelled.

 

The biggest letdown was the condition of the ship. Between the worn carpet, rust everywhere and the unusual banging, buzzing and clanging we heard every night, I felt like I was on an aging Fantasy Class ship, not the 3rd newest ship in the fleet. This is also the only time I’ve never seen crews at work painting in the ports. I just didn’t get a very good feeling about the repair level of the ship.

 

The photo improvements were massive. I didn’t miss the paper photos or searching for them one bit. The tagging system the photographers use is great, and I’m actually far more likely to buy pictures (and I did buy more).

 

I don’t understand food on this cruise line. For the most part, I like it, and I certainly never go hungry. But it is so terribly odd how two dishes can come from the same kitchen and be of such massively different quality. Are some fresh made, and some made from frozen? Are some “new” dishes while others “old?” I seriously don’t know. While I think the overall food experience is improving, I’ll have to say I had both the best and the worst food on this cruise that I ever have.

 

The entertainment improvements were great. I loved that each day and each venue was more varied than last year, and it seems like they really tried to re-invest in the Playlist productions. There was always a ton of music on the ship, and they all were very good.

 

The new tablets and guest systems were unacceptably bad. Its utterly not ok to “upgrade” to all of this new equipment and devices, only for them to work much worse than what they replaced. I probably spent several hours on this cruise waiting in line, due to those new tablets. That’s just not okay.

 

I enjoyed my ports, but I don’t understand why people pay more for the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. San Juan was amazing, but the other ports were simply on par to what I’ve seen on the Western itinerary.

 

And finally: Alcohol

 

Who the world gets Cheers and doesn’t die? Seriously?? If you’ve followed my review, you can see that I was tipsy, drunk and often so drunk I couldn’t walk. I drank more in that week than I’ve ever drank in my life. Margaritas flowed like water and the bar staff actively pushed more and more and more on us. We rarely said “no” and asked for more far more often than we should have.

 

And yet, each of us had a bar tab of around $315, short of the break even point of Cheers. Late at night we’d hear people arguing with bartenders to let them exceed the 15th drink, and we just couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be that drunk for the whole week. Kudos to you guys who can do it, but we couldn’t if we tried.

 

Well that’s all folks. Thanks for following along, and I hope you enjoyed recapping my journey as much as I enjoyed telling it. If you have any thoughts or questions drop me a comment and I’ll answer the best I can.

 

Just remember, each cruise is what you make of it, and good or bad, it makes for an epic story!

Happy cruising!

-Shaun and Jake

[E@syPe@zy]

Bravo! Great Cruise Report! It sounds like you had a lot of fun even if the family dynamics got a little strained from time to time. You're a real trooper for making the best of it. Of course the pitchers of margaritas surely helped to keep you relaxed.

Thanks so much for your time and talent....really enjoyed your story telling.

I was thinking....maybe your Mom and Dad missing their connection going home was just a little karma for your Mom always dilly dallying around while on the cruise?!?

[beshears]

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review. We are to do the Magic for the first time, the end of March, so I like to read "anyone's" reviews, as I know this is their opinion, but I always keep an "open mind" when reading them.:)

[beshears]

You mentioned in St. Thomas that you had a driver that took, I believe 6 of you for $100.00. Makes me wonder if that was our driver?:) I took my 3 sons/3 d-i-l's and best friend last year, and we visited St. Thomas as well. I had been there 2 or 3 times before, always enjoying what I seen. When I told the Taxi man what beach/s, etc. (I had been to several before) I wanted my family to check out, he took us there, along with showing us even more than what I had seen in the past. As you mentioned Secret Harbor, it came back to me. That was where we wound up for my sons to snorkel, and we so enjoyed it, and that was one beach I had never been to before.:)

[Indytraveler83]

I was thinking....maybe your Mom and Dad missing their connection going home was just a little karma for your Mom always dilly dallying around while on the cruise?!?

 

I didn’t think of it that way till now, oddly enough! That’s hilarious!

 

The worst part, is I had a flight from Orlando to O Hare picked out for them, with then jut a short connecting flight home. But Mom kept delaying thinking the price would go down, and then the flight sold out.

 

So instead she picked this flight, for nearly double the price and a whole lot more hassle. Guess she got her karma in more ways than one!

[Hogladyrider]

Pretty much agree with your overall comments regarding Magic condition. Guess that's what happens when these ships sail week after week full and the toll the sea takes on the metal.

 

We also did not see the painting and cleaning like we have in the past, guessing its just more cutbacks.

 

What a mess with debarkation and customs. We did platinum self-debarkation and noticed only 2 customs agents, but since we were off the ship so early we sailed right thru, sure feel for those who waited to leave the ship later, I would not have been a happy person having to wait in those long lines.

 

It will be interesting to compare our upcoming cruise on the Vista in March to this cruise on Magic.

 

Sorry about your issues with your house sitter, we can relate, in our working life and homeownership we had the same concerns when we cruised. Not so much now that we are retired and have no pets and don't own a home anymore.

 

Wishing you many fun future cruises!

[Cruisin4fun_vacationtime]

I loved reading your review! Thank you so much for sharing.

[citizenfrank]

On the Magic 7th April with the same schedule/route. Concerned about the 'state' of the ship though maybe some painting & repairs may have been completed in the few weeks time difference! Sailed her two sisters in the last three years & it seems all three are great ships within the fleet ...very much loved overall.

Your review was creative in terms of the writing style & very beneficial for us ...both regarding the ship & the shore.

THANK YOU

 

Happy cruising ;p

[van buren girl]

My mom and I will be on the magic April 7th also. Thank you for your review. It is very nice and helpful to read others thoughts beforehand

 

Sent from my SM-S907VL using Forums mobile app

[citizenfrank]

My mom and I will be on the magic April 7th also. Thank you for your review. It is very nice and helpful to read others thoughts beforehand

 

Sent from my SM-S907VL using Forums mobile app

 

Very true ...We are all free spirits within travel & a big part of any trip is the finding things out, good & bad sometimes.

However these boards create an opportunity to maximize your own experience ...albeit through the eyes of others.

Interesting to find a fellow cruiser through this thread ...I hope you have as much fun as we are planning!

I'm from the UK (Manchester) ...visited the United States for the first time in style back in 1999, fell in love with the nation to the point I actually believe in my heart I'm American & proud of it! We visit whenever we can, usually once a year though & have experienced many, many states, towns & cities ...a really diverse range.

 

About four years ago we discovered adding a week's cruising within a visit & my Lord it is perfect!

We leave on 31st March & are counting the days down!

God Bless America

[VaTech8912]

Citizenfrank - I have yet to be on a cruise where they were not painting or doing some type of "repair" somewhere. I consider this basic, on-going maintenance as the sea salt does havoc to paint and metal surfaces. Carpet continually gets worn and needs to have areas fixed, etc. Therefore, I would not worry about this personally.... Have a great cruise.

[Indytraveler83]

My comments on the state of repairs don’t reflect any feeling of being unsafe (except that moment I heard something break loose during a storm).

 

These are more directed to the expectation that one of the newer ships would be in stellar condition, but it has more of the feel of one of the older worn down ships.

 

Don’t take this as a directive to not sail on the ship, just to lower your expectations, she isn’t in the same shape as the Vista or Breeze.