Honolulu Blue

I can confirm the above. In addition, I did make it to the nonsmoking casino on 4 and while there were a couple of kiosks there that could break bills and cash in player banks, I did not see that they could take sports bets.

Have some photos of the interior, mostly the big public areas. I'll try to include some in my next post. I didn't eat at the Pig & Anchor because the lunch menu didn't appeal to me and they don't serve dinner anymore.

For me, the transpacific you were just on is one I have scheduled for next year. It touches many of the places I want to go to, but haven't been. There are other transpacific cruises that go other routes (to/from Japan or elsewhere in Asia) that don't interest me. I am not, at this time, interested in a transatlantic cruise. Sorry this doesn't answer your question. I do hope you get some answers.

No. Trough = buffet.

While I have a free couple of hours, let's continue what I started. 11. We had a lot of company on this cruise. In Mahogany Bay, we were joined by the Mardi Gras In Belize we anchored along with the Regal Princess and the Carnival Dream. 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. 12. There was lots of comedy onboard. The aft lounge was quite busy with them. But there was one brave comedian with a very early 2:30 show, and there was a late doubleheader in the main theater one night. 13. I saw our cruise director Mike a few times in various places, and I heard him all the time through his announcements throughout the cruise. I don't think he liked me very much, in part because I busted him for using a slide with the old grat rates. He dusmissed me and went to people who loved him more and would give him less trouble. I liked Mike's efficiency - he talked fast but I always understood him well enough. The debark presentation and morning shows were both done in record time. He's a young one (25) and from New Jersey. Still, I consider him the worst CD I've ever had on Carnival. Not by a lot; he's a B-minus student in a group of A's and B's. But still, I'm not going to sign up for his fan club. 14. Breakfast in the buffet was mostly a good experience. The powdered eggs didn't taste too artificial. The servers generously gave out the bacon when available (at least twice on this cruise). I could always find a seat, and often the same seat, without too much fuss. The crowds mostly fit the usual pattern - busier on port days, and busier later rather than earlier. 15. Dinner at the trough was a mixed bag. This seemed to be a group that liked dining right at 6, so the lines were rough at that time. The food was mostly good, when I got it, but the service and the other passengers... well, the less said the better. 16. I didn't like this version of the info channel. This version skipped the ship's speed and direction. 17. Disembarking was interesting. We got to Miami relatively early and I made it to the P&D space for self disembark about 6:30. We didn't get off the ship until about 7:30, so there was a lot of waiting. Once things started moving they moved relatively quickly. We were definitely one of the first ones in the terminal. And the CBP kiosk liked my face this time. 😃 All right, that's all for now. I'll try to finish this up tomorrow. Thanks for reading these random notes.

Thanks. I saw a sheet with several QR codes on the desk by the phone, but none of them led to the room service menus. I wish I had taken a snap of it.

My instinct is that the MD is under the "dining" pool and gets a very small portion of everyone's grats. But I don't know if I'm right on this. The bar drinks have service charges attached (including the drink packages), and I assume the wait staff share in that pool and not any other. But, again, I can't prove it.

I've got a little time before my flight, so let's try to make a little more progress. 5. There's another feature on the app that I don't remember. There are details about my casino play. I'll never be confused with a high roller: I think it's neat that they do.this, but I'm sure you true gamblers out there want (and get) much more info. 6. Speaking of casino, I visited both, but only played in the main smoking casino. I played on this machine; It has video versions of blackjack, craps, baccarat, and roulette. Roulette has three zeros, and both craps and baccarat pay off even money bets at around 90 cents and are similarly bad with other bets. Blackjack here is sort of fair. 6 to 5 on blackjack, but at least they pay even money on the rest of your wins. I won, played a little, won a little, and ran away. I picked up my free Platinum slot play (I also had the option to get table game chips) and played some pretty slots. I managed to keep some of what Christine & company gave me. 7. The nonsmoking casino on 4 was smaller than the main casino, didn't have a cashier, did have a couple of kiosks (they could cash out casino bank amounts - no change), and had these machines: i didn't realize that Carnival's relationship with this guy went quite this far. 8. I saw a show on this cruise called America Rocks. Like the other Playlist shows I've seen, this one had lots of singing and dancing. Unlike the other Playlist shows, this one had a live band as backing. I liked the songs and the theme (all American bands and singers), so it's no surprise that I liked this show a lot. One thing that I'll note here is that across the whole ship I estimate rather about a third of the passengers were of color. But at this show it was under 5%. 9. I started a thread here about the other show I thought about attending, The World Works Here. I'm too preoccupied to link it here, sorry. But it seemed to be a mash-up between a crew talent show, a celebration of diversity, and a typical Playlist show. It was marginally of interest, but I skipped it. It sounds like it's on many other Carnival ships at this time, so maybe I'll catch it later. 10. I had Guy's burgers three times on thus cruise. It just wasn't the same - especially the fries. Is the magic gone (no pun intended), or are they preparing them differently these days. I'll never know for sure. That's enough for now. I'll continue when I can.

That's a good point. I'll stress it was just me in a regular cabin. The more typical double occupancy pays double, and suites of course pay more (which I don't have the breakdown for). There's the "other side" to this too...

Alternate title: Uh Oh, It's Magic I was recently on the Magic and decided I wanted to write about a few of the things I found there. There will be some photos, because there are points where I don't want to write 1000 words. For perspective, this is my 15th Carnival cruise, but first since January 2020. I know a lot has changed since then, but what and how much? Let's get started, shall we? 1. I was in a porthole cabin far forward on deck 2. The cabin itself was nice and typical Carnival in most ways. I appreciated the extra room it provided over most OVs and interior rooms on other cruise lines. I'll note that they got rid of the glasses that used ti be in the cabin when I last sailed on Carnival. The only glasses I had were a couple of wine glasses on the desk. 2. There weren't many deliveries of paper - just the newsletter (every day but day 2 was placed in the mailbox) and some essential flyers. No paper ads at all. I almost missed them. 3. There also wasn't any paper room service menu in the cabin, not even a continental breakfast menu hanger. One could order room service in the app, which I don't remember from past cruises. The whole RS menu seemed cut down from my past memories of it, and I didn't see a way to order the continental breakfast on it. Everything came with a price, plus a service fee. I ordered room service to the cabin twice. Once was just a Philly cheesesteak. It came in a box. I'm not sure whether this is more eco friendly than the usual tray, plate, and cover setup. It was delivered in under 30 minutes and the contents were hot and delicious. The other time I got room service was with my Platinum tray of strawberries. I added another Philly to this. Both came in around 20 minutes and had the usual set of plates, covers, and a tray. The sandwich was equally good. The chocolate covered strawberries were ok, up to the usual standard. 4. The Internet was the fastest I've had at sea. I would say it was the best, but there were some hiccups where it would be slow or nonexistent for a minute or sometimes longer. Here's a typical speed test: I'm on the move. More to come later.

I recently disembarked from a cruise on the Carnival Magic. One of the most interesting things I discovered on this cruise was by accident. As I was looking at my account balance in the app, I noticed this item: This is standard so far; I've gotten variations of this across many cruise lines and many, many cruises. But I followed the arrow and this is what I saw: (Personal details redacted) In case your personal calculator is a little slow, that's $4.68 per day for my cabin steward and his assistant(s) (Aris was the lead this time around; he was pretty good), $7.56 per day for the dining team, and $3.76 for "alternative services ", whatever and whomever they are. Before the fanatics say their piece, let me make a three of comments. First, I remember Carnival sharing a breakdown like this several years ago somewhere (not the app - maybe one of their FAQs?), though the numbers are significantly higher now. Second, I don't remember any other cruise lines sharing anything like this, so I consider Carnival's honesty in this regard a point in their favor. And third, during one of our cruise director Mike's presentations, he made it clear that the CD and officers don't share in this pool. I'm sharing this because I thought it was interesting. I won't give my opinion on whether the amounts are enough, or how companies should pay their workers, or anything like that. Be nice, be respectful, and let's try to keep this thread up and unlocked. Thank you, and you're welcome. 👍

Sad news: George Brown, Kool and the Gang co-founder and drummer, recently passed away. I thought they were the best show on each of my UDCs, despite some stiff competition. I still hope they'll make it on UDC 2025.

I want to thank everyone fir their replies here. I made the executive decision to pass on this show at this time. Perhaps it will be on another cruise I'm on and I will catch it then.

I was just at the Platinum and Diamond party and can now answer your questions. The waiters had lots of premade drinks (including wine) available on their trays that they freely gave out. There was a bar nearby, so they took drink orders and delivered them happily. Enjoy your cruise on the Magic!

I'll see what I can do.

Noted. Thanks. BTW, I'm picky about the shows I choose to go to.

I have always assumed the performers at crew talent shows are volunteers, or at worst they receive some incentive for performing rather than working.

Thanks for the detail. I don't think I work the crew too hard, but doesn't everyone say that? 😁

I think Virgin Voyages kind of did this with their tiny pools. I'm not sure what they replaced it with - more loungers perhaps?

Are there any particular reasons why, if you care to share? TIA.

I don't generally do this for shows (I have a good ibstinct for what I'll like), but I have done this for comedians I'm unsure about. This has the bonus of avoiding being part of the show.

Thanks for the quick reply. This keeps me on the fence about seeing it.

I've been on the Summit 4 times. I like it. It's a good ship. The casual food is of good quality and the crew do a great job of keeping it clean. I don't know about the rest of your desires. Celebrity is a good cruise company. You should be happy with them no matter which ship you eventually end up choosing. Good luck and bon voyage!

I recall at least once the Platinum party was split into at least two parts because we had so many of high status. Mine is at 4:45 pm today on the Magic. It's in the aft lounge, which means there probably aren't too many of us.

Hi guys. I'm cruising on the Magic RIGHT NOW. This is our last sea day and this main theater show popped up in the Fun Times. Here's the description: The description makes is sound like a hybrid between a typical Playlist extravaganza; a crew talent show; and a squishy love-in featuring unicorns and rainbows. 🦄🌈 So, I'm asking you Carnival experts out there... what is this? Is it exclusive to the Magic? Is it worth wasting my time on? I didn't find anything about this when I did my research prior to the cruise. Thanks in advance for any information or advice.