Carnival Magic 5 Night 8/30 - 9/4

[Solo1959]

I just returned from my 5 night cruise. I had a very nice time, it was a great vacation. But the experience was ... mixed. There were good and bad things, but over all it was a very nice cruise.

 

The good was that the ship was beautiful, spotlessly clean, and looked wonderful with the new paint. The staff were even friendlier than before.

Our waiter at dinner told us that the ship was at 45% capacity.

 

The bad included:

 

1. The lunch buffet. Yes, Guys, Pig and Anchor, Mongolian Wok, Pizza, Deli, Burritos, etc., they were all open and good. But the regular buffet items were poor. Selections were limited, meat was dry, this was not typical of the quality formerly on Carnival. I hope it comes back to the quality Carnival used to offer.

 

2. VIFP was a problem. VIFP gifts were not available. Guest Services said I needed to send an email to Carnival and they would mail one to me. No pins, no gifts.

 

3. Platinum past guest party was held at 5:45pm, right at dinner time. People at my table popped in on their way to dinner. My fear is that they'll continue to schedule at an inopportune time, then claim that because the party is poorly attended they will stop holding it. The time needs to change back to where it was, around 5pm.

 

4. There was a huge problem getting off the ship in Amber Cove. A number of staff had covid, they were in isolation, and their contacts were held in quarantine. As such we couldn't go on any excursions and were allowed off the ship late in the afternoon only to stay in the port area, no leaving the port.

 

5. During covid the ship had gone a long time without staff, and therefore without full maintenance.  As such, they were fixing problems on board during the trip. My cabin had nothing wrong with it, but they moved me, from an outside room to a balcony, because they had to do major maintenance in that part of the ship. I was happy to move, but lucky there were so many empty rooms to choose from.

 

All-in-All it was a very nice cruise. I had a great time. It was not my best cruise on Carnival. And not my best of my 4 Magic cruises. But I had a great vacation.

I expect and hope that once the cruises start coming back and they begin to fill the ships once again that things will get back to normal.

[firefly333]

Derek a blogger put out a video on magic and amber cove. He said he would have been upset.  Mardi gras in port np but held magic for hours without a explanation, though yes I saw a copy of the letter later on.

 

No access until 2 pm he said, all excursions cancelled and finally only vaccinated could get off and shop or use the pool and drink, not the beach. He said it sounded rigged to get your money but you couldnt go to the beach. If the beach is dangerous  ... why let you shop lol. 

 

You seem to have taken it pretty well. Did they compensate you at all? That's crazy. 

[Solo1959]

Of course there was no compensation, lol. They DID allow people to wander around the port - so technically they DID let us go to Amber Cove.

 

One of the biggest problems was that I was waiting, along with a LOT of other people, in the Atrium Lobby for over an hour and a half waiting to get off the ship. This was a technicality that the ship could and should have either anticipated or cleared with the port prior to our arrival and prior to having people wait on line wasting time.

 

My excursion was cancelled so I just stayed on the ship. I've been to Amber Cove several times so I know I didn't miss anything by not wandering the port area.

[jetsfan58]

Sometimes you have to swallow up the mishaps and just enjoy the Ride!! Hopefully you were glad and grateful to be on the water again!

[Solo1959]

6 minutes ago, jetsfan58 said:

Sometimes you have to swallow up the mishaps and just enjoy the Ride!! Hopefully you were glad and grateful to be on the water again!

Yes!!! What a relief to be back on a ship. Four of my cruises this past year were cancelled so this was so welcome, too short, but so nice to be back. I had a tough year, things got rough for me healthwise (not covid) and I didn't know if I would get this chance again. So it was particularly wonderful to be back at sea. And the balcony they gave me -- wonderful! I loved it.

 

I did have a very nice vacation and I am VERY thankful that I was able to go.

[firefly333]

Actually I'm glad you didnt have a screaming title but I was watching for a thread about magic. Look how carried away they got about positive crew cases on vista. 

 

I leave in a week and toning down my buffet expectations.. sigh. Too bad.

[Solo1959]

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Actually I'm glad you didnt have a screaming title but I was watching for a thread about magic. Look how carried away they got about positive crew cases on vista. 

 

I leave in a week and toning down my buffet expectations.. sigh. Too bad.

Lunch buffet aside, I think you'll have a very nice trip. Have fun!

[hurricane0226]

We enjoyed our Aug 7th startup cruise on the Magic, several hiccups, but still cruising, as long as I had a drink in my hand and the sun shinning , it was a great cruise. 

[JaniceB]

Thanks for your review

[BoozinCroozin]

Ports are always a question mark. Unfortunately they played games for the entire day instead of just bypassing it. What is the point of getting off at 2PM and back on by like what 4PM? 

[Bostwick girl]

On 9/7/2021 at 4:27 AM, BoozinCroozin said:

Ports are always a question mark. Unfortunately they played games for the entire day instead of just bypassing it. What is the point of getting off at 2PM and back on by like what 4PM? 

I was on that cruise. Once final approval was given to get off the ship, the time was extended from 6:00 departure to 7:00 pm. If I had an excursion planned, I would have been ticked off!  In my opinion, they should have just said ok, see ya next time and left for a nice sea day. Probably weren’t allowed to do that tho. Still was a nice cruise and happy to be back!