This ain't no Disney cruise, part 1: My adventures on the CARNIVAL Magic, November 12-18

[ninjacat123]

DH and I were on Magic Sept 2021 (ghost ship, so quiet) and January 2023 (packed to the gills) but we enjoyed both cruises a lot.  Only thing that annoyed us (on both Magic cruises) was how people would sit at Alchemy Bar and not buying drinks, just there to listen to trivia, etc.  Getting a seat was near impossible most of the time.

 

Thank you for your informative and entertaining review!!

[Honolulu Blue]

38 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

DH and I were on Magic Sept 2021 (ghost ship, so quiet) and January 2023 (packed to the gills) but we enjoyed both cruises a lot.  Only thing that annoyed us (on both Magic cruises) was how people would sit at Alchemy Bar and not buying drinks, just there to listen to trivia, etc.  Getting a seat was near impossible most of the time.

 

Thank you for your informative and entertaining review!!

You're welcome!

 

I should note that I didn't spend any time at the Alchemy Bar on my cruise.

[Jamman54]

10 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

You're welcome!

 

I should note that I didn't spend any time at the Alchemy Bar on my cruise.

Blasphemy!!! 😀

[Honolulu Blue]

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words.

 

Small note... I not only got my usual general cruise survey, I got a survey from the casino about items specifically related to gambling.  I've never received a survey from them before and I'm surprised my tiny amount of play interested them enough to spit out a survey, but I was happy to fill it out.

Edited November 23, 2023 by Honolulu Blue

[Crimsonglory13]

On 11/18/2023 at 5:40 PM, Honolulu Blue said:

And in Cozumel, we got the Mardi Gras (again), the Dream (again), the Celebrity Summit and Voyager of the Seas off in their port, and a ship I couldn't identify docked near downtown. 

That mystery ship was the Norwegian Joy. I only know this because I was on that ship the same day in Cozumel. We saw all the other ships also when we went on our excursion. You had almost the same itinerary as us, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel, but we had Costa Maya as well.

 

Great review! If you have to go back, I highly recommend ziplining in Roatan and Playa Mia in Cozumel. Is there anything you would recommend about Disney? This may need to be our next cruise (due to it being a family trip and their insistence on only this cruise line). 

[Honolulu Blue]

8 hours ago, Crimsonglory13 said:

That mystery ship was the Norwegian Joy. I only know this because I was on that ship the same day in Cozumel. We saw all the other ships also when we went on our excursion. You had almost the same itinerary as us, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel, but we had Costa Maya as well.

 

Great review! If you have to go back, I highly recommend ziplining in Roatan and Playa Mia in Cozumel. Is there anything you would recommend about Disney? This may need to be our next cruise (due to it being a family trip and their insistence on only this cruise line). 

Thanks for sharing these details.  I thought that ship in the background looked big.  With a near duplicate itinerary, I'm surprised I didn't see you more often.

 

I'm not a zipliner or a beach bummer, but thanks for the recommendations.  I hope they'll help others.

 

I'm not a particular Disney fan and I've never been on one of their cruises.  Disney is only in the title because they also have a ship called the Magic.

[mz-s]

I was on Magic over Labor Day and the food was not good at all. It sounds like they've improved - that is good to hear. Frankly the fact that your philly cheesesteak was warm is an improvement - mine was still frozen when they gave it to me and it smelled like dog food.

 

I was on Sunshine last year on deck 1 far aft (actually I think the next to last room on the hall if I'm remembering correctly). Right above the aft thrusters and screws. Vibration when underway was not an issue that I recall, but the vibrations and noise when docking were wicked.

 

That said, for the right price I'd stay in that exact same room again tomorrow. The hall was a dead-end so it was very quiet except during docking.

Edited November 28, 2023 by mz-s

[angelsfort]

On 11/20/2023 at 6:15 PM, maxydu said:

Thank you for the review as I haven't seen one as informative since the COVID days. My wife and I

are booked on the Magic Jan. 13, 2024 southern cruise. I've been writing on the Roll Call site for several months now and was surprised to see very few others involved. There seems to be very little excitement. We were beginning to get concerned about "current cruises" as we haven't been on a ship

in 4 years after 16 previous CCL trips. The Magic is getting older now and was glad it appears to be in

good condition.......to the left, to the left, to the right, to the right, - can't wait!

 

I think that most of the roll calls are on Facebook now - I didn't see any on here for my last cruise but there was a group page on FB that had well over 500 members.   

I did a quick search for your cruise date (just typed in "Carnival Magic January" and found your group...  they have over 700 members already)

[red lobster]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this post!