Carnival Magic: 11/20-11/28 Just Back

[bigrednole]

This was our very first cruise and it was an amazing trip...even with all the ups, downs, ports, and starboards. The first 2 days was extremely wavy. We even had to divert back to FL so someone could be airlifted from the ship the first night. The biggest affect the motion had was on my knees. It wasn't the dizziness or anything, but the constant bracing and extra exertion on my knees. 

 

Having 3 sea days to start made for a good time to learn the ship, where to hang out, where to get good drinks, and just have a good time. Arrival, boarding, and muster were so simple. Only minor issue with Security is my wife's insulin pump. After quick questions about it, showing, and wanding, it was over. Only scare was that she had the passports and they weren't at the conveyer after going through the screen. We quickly found them. Someone inadvertently picked up our bowl and apologized. We were in the waiting area by about 10:15AM and first drink in hand after Muster at 11:05AM. Insanely fast IMO, especially after it arrived in port about an hour or two late.

 

As with anything, you have the good, not-so-good, and the this needs to be fixed. The good news is the latter part is an EXTREMELY short list. 

 

The Good:

• We did not run into a single bad crew member. Most were extremely friendly, engaging, and willing to assist in anyway they could. Our cabin steward apologized because the sharps container we were provided was too small and had a new one brought. I told him it was not his fault and thanked him for offering to get a larger one.
• Entertainment, no matter what it was, was great. Comedy club, theater, piano bar, violinists, etc, all are excellent. They did not disappoint. Some people may have expected more and there may have been more in the past, but I have nothing to compare it to. The shows in the theater would be on par with anything say Disney puts on at their parks for shows. 
• Alchemy Bar Drinks: This was absolutely amazing. Inga worked her tail off at this bar. It was my go-to bar not only for the good people and crew, but the insanely tasty cocktails. This was the only bar you could get a drink at where you didn't feel the enamel being eaten away from your teeth because of the sugar. More on that later.
• Food: The food was excellent. We ate the MDR 2x and it was good. I would not say spectacular, but good. Buffet was usually excellent especially with the quick sandwich machine. There was always something to like here. Cucina for lunch was great and easy. The Steakhouse was amazing. There are not too many places I can order a steak from that doesn't need more salt, pepper, or A1. I did not at this place. That Cowboy Ribeye was on point. But, there is more to come on this as well.

The Not-So-Good

• Drinks in general: Holy moly a dentist can make a fortune off Carnival. The mixed drinks at pretty much every bar and the juice stations have about 5x more sugar than necessary. It is crazy to have to cut down every drink with water to make it right. I could almost feel the enamel being eaten away from my teeth taking a drink. This is such a simple adjustment. Increase water, decrease the concentration, and voila!! I filled my glasses with half water half juice and it was perfect. I should not have to do that. Alas, I had a solution that worked for me.
• Food: For the sake of the cruisers, have better hours for the buffet in the morning. Having the only option of pizza after say 9PM until 7AM is crazy. The buffet could easily have one section opened by 6AM. Being left with such limited choices is a bit crazy. The food I thought was great, but just not available when I and many others wanted to eat. The other minor thing was the chicken wings at Red Frog Pub. It was only something like $3.50. But when they got to me, it was only $3.50 worth of wings. It was like 4 bites and gone. Not knocking the price or anything, but I had to order a second just to get my munch on.

This needs to be fixed

• The only thing that fell into this category really is the Hub App. The chat feature was useless. As the "Hub" of the ship for the passengers, it should work. Having to search the ship for a child or a spouse is an absolute waste of anyone's time. Get the App and network working on the ship. It was only $5 for the week. But, as bad as it was, it should be $50 paid to the passengers to try using it.

[Cruise, J.D.]

Thank you for the review! I loved the Carnival Magic and yes, the crew make or break the cruise.

[Bostwick girl]

We’ve been on Magic 3 times since August and totally agree with you about the crew, they are awesome! I don’t agree with you about the Hub app, we had absolutely no problems with the chat feature. I’ve used it since they started up with it and it has drastically improved over the years! I have learned if you have any problem with it, you have to log out and log back in and that’s usually after you’ve been off the ship.  
 

glad you enjoyed your first cruise and will keep on cruising when you can. Getting excited for our Magic cruise in January since we will finally be Diamond!

 

[ninjacat123]

DH and I sailed on Magic over Labor Day weekend.  We felt the MDR food quality had diminished, but thought "it's our first cruise in over two years, maybe we are remembering past MDR meals through rose colored glasses".  Then my mom and I sailed on Mardi Gras a few weeks later and the MDR food wasn't very good.

This January 13 we will be the first to sail on Sunshine after Covid's hiatus.  Not taking any chances, we have specialty restaurants booked for the four nights we are onboard.

Thanks for your review!!

[bigrednole]

6 hours ago, Bostwick girl said:

We’ve been on Magic 3 times since August and totally agree with you about the crew, they are awesome! I don’t agree with you about the Hub app, we had absolutely no problems with the chat feature. I’ve used it since they started up with it and it has drastically improved over the years! I have learned if you have any problem with it, you have to log out and log back in and that’s usually after you’ve been off the ship.  
 

glad you enjoyed your first cruise and will keep on cruising when you can. Getting excited for our Magic cruise in January since we will finally be Diamond!

 

Everyone and I mean everyone on our cruise had issues. We even tested it in front of Guest Services with their IT guy. He said right there that there were no problems. 3 of us, on 3 different phones, sent each other messages standing next to each other when he confirmed we were all online with good signal. None of us received the messages. He said since it wasn't an IT issue he couldn't do anything. Well, um, it is an IT issue and it was ignored. If it was a one off issue or happened here or there, fine. But everyone in our cruise group had the same issue and everyone was talking about how bad it was.

[MichaelJess]

What was the dress code like at dinner?  We're thinking a couple of small carry-ons for eight-night and not bother with dressy clothes.  We were just on MSC and we were almost the only ones who dressed for dinner.  

[mz-s]

Yes the sugar drinks in the Lido drink machines are VERY sweet. If I'm not just drinking water I usually do the iced tea (which is not sweetened) and shoot a very small amount of lemonade in there.

[bigrednole]

7 hours ago, MichaelJess said:

What was the dress code like at dinner?  We're thinking a couple of small carry-ons for eight-night and not bother with dressy clothes.  We were just on MSC and we were almost the only ones who dressed for dinner.  

We saw everything from jeans and a t-shirt to tuxes. We dressed up for it but not Black Tie or evening gown dressed up. The best I can describe it is...you do you. Whatever makes you comfortable. On the non-formal nights, I don't even think they stopped people from being in shorts and a t-shirt. We did only eat in the MDR 2 times though. Not that it was bad, it was that we tried food other places that were just as good. The MDR was nothing really to write home about.

[Gabruska]

On 11/29/2021 at 10:14 AM, bigrednole said:

Entertainment, no matter what it was, was great. Comedy club, theater, piano bar, violinists, etc, all are excellent. They did not disappoint. Some people may have expected more and there may have been more in the past, but I have nothing to compare it to. The shows in the theater would be on par with anything say Disney puts on at their parks for shows. 

Can you tell us what shows they had in the theater? Wonder if it will be the same as on the other ships.... Thank you

[bigrednole]

2 minutes ago, Gabruska said:

Can you tell us what shows they had in the theater? Wonder if it will be the same as on the other ships.... Thank you

I can only speak for the shows I saw. There was a piano show that was very good and a magic show that was pretty good. That is my one regret missing more of the shows. I thought they did 2 shows and just repeat them. 

[rondl1]

We are on the December 26 departure for a wonderful New Year’s cruise.

 

Do you know what the capacity is right now? When you call carnival they tell you they don’t know even though I think they do.

[peteandpris]

Great review, thank you.

[MichaelJess]

Just off the "Southern" eight night.  Our cruise seemed pretty full but we heard different percentages so I'm really not sure how full.  The cruise felt packed to me!

 

Shows: we saw the juggling,  the piano,  one with country,  and one with rock. All were so much better than the cruise line we were with a few weeks earlier.  The smaller music venues were good also. 

 

We had two formal nights.  We saw the full range of clothing on these nights. The other nights included everything from shorts and tees to casual resort.  

 

VIFP perks are only minimally recognized.  Port Canaveral maybe didn't have priority line.  I say maybe because even the employees didn't know either.  Go pick up your own water,  gift.  The party still happened but much shorter and no appetizers.  Drinks were still there.  We kept forgetting to order our strawberries.  No problems with laundry! No slot tournament but if you know to ask,  they give you a credit for the tables maybe.  

 

Shows and food were excellent. Our room steward was great.   Dining service was horrible.  We had anytime seating.  Most nights we were seated for 10-15 minutes before anyone provided water or bread.  Overall, this cruise felt wrong but nothing we could pinpoint. We are both platinum with cruises on several other lines.  We have FCC and OBC for a cruise canceled next February and just can't get excited about rebooking. We're thinking a short cruise to use our money but not waste too much time?? Kinda bad attitude!