Our Carnival Magic Cruise - 3/25 - The real deal this time :)

[donoiv]

Quick review of our trip on the Magic. We were on the 3/25 sailing out of Galveston. First time Carnival passengers… long time cruisers. First trip wit our six year old son.

 

Embarkation - This was one of the smoothest embarkations I have ever experienced. We have cruised out of Galveston a few times, but always from the other terminal. This was our first trip with Carnival and we had heard some nightmare stories about the embarkation process. Not this time. We got into Galveston around 11:30 and parked the car with Lighthouse Parking. The shuttle was ready and waiting and we were in the terminal 10 minutes later. We waited in the security line for all of about 3 minutes. Once through security, it was up the escalator and right up to the counter to sign in. The whole process from the time we entered the terminal to the time we stepped foot on the ship was only about 12-15 minutes. Fantastic way to start a vacation. Once on the ship, we went right up to the Lido deck for a bite to eat and began to relax. The rooms were ready right at 1:30. Our son loved the sail away party… and ended up building up a little bit of a fan club:

 

 

We had an inside cabin on the 6th deck. We don’t spend any time in the room, so we choose to spend the extra cash elsewhere… plus, it’s nice to take a nap in the middle of the day and have the room be pitch black. The cabin was nice. Just enough room for the three of us. It had a king bed (two twins pushed together) and a drop-down. The pulled it down at night and put it back up in the morning. Worked out really well. The room steward did a fantastic job all week.

 

Again, this was our first trip on Carnival. We have sailed Princess, RCL and NCL in the past. I had always heard that Carnival wasn’t as nice… I do a lot of research on my own too… spend too much time here on CC… I was never impressed by the Carnival Ships. They just didn’t seem to have the same draw as the competition. But, when I started researching Magic, it seemed to be different. It caught my eye… and I’m glad it did. We loved it. We had gone in with the thought that our 6 year old would want to spend a lot of time at the kids club… but that didn’t happen. Yes, he went a couple times and liked it, but he loved the water park… and the pool… an after meeting some friends, it was nice to let him play in the pool and in the water park while we relaxed by the pool. The ship was laid out well. Easy to get around and easy to find everything. I am partial to the RCL promenade concept, but I liked the Magic’s layout as well. The Lanai on the 5th deck was great. The grill – open on sea days – was a fantastic alternative to the long lines at the burger place by the pool. . The theatre was nice… shows were pretty good. We went to a few of them and enjoyed them. The only “show” we didn’t like was a magician on the last night… in the Spotligt lounge. There were a ton of kids and he didn’t leave any doubt that he wasn’t a fan of kids. He just seemed annoyed… Not sure he even did any magic…. Spend about 15 minutes making a balloon animal… waste of time.

 

The food in the dining room was decent… but nothing to write home about. Based on what I have read, it sounds like this is one area that Carnival is on the decline. My wife had “shrimp” a few nights… the breaded/fried kind (with a different sauce, etc. every time). Big disappointment… not sure that it was even shrimp. They were as straight as arrows.. no curl to them at all… I know, it’s a strange thing to mention, but it just didn’t look like shrimp… not like any shrimp I have ever eaten. The rest was ok, but like I said, nothing to get excited about. I usually love the food on cruises… this time I just kinda made do. Choc. Melting Cake was fantastic… nuff said.

 

Pizza was good… burgers were ok… food from the “Oceanside Grill” on sea days was great… the food at Tandoor was fantastic. I ate there most days. Never have been a real fan of Indian food… but they did a great job!

 

Some of the other pluses-

Pools were nice.

Ropes course was fun… but closed a lot because of the wind.

Mini Golf was fun.

Water park was great…. My son loved it. I tried both of the slides… and they were fun… but they killed my back… the seams between each of the pieces of the slide hurt my back… something they should look at.

Karaoke – Our son loved it. He did the regular karaoke and “superstar live”… same thing, but with a live band. The next American Idol???

 

 

The crew… all were fantastic. No complaints at all.

 

Some drawbacks:

The food in the dining room… come on Carnival, you can do better.

The outside stars leading up from the pool (deck 10) to Deck 11. HOLY COW! They burned my feet… and it hurt… really hurt. They need to be non-slip… I get that, I really do. But they use the equivalent of black roofing shingles on the stairs… they sit all day and bake in the sun… and end up burning your feet. There has got to be another way to make the stairs non-slip… maybe start with changing the color of the material from black to ANY other color… that should help.

 

I won’t spend much time on the ports… except to say that the Dolphin experience (Dolphinaris) in Cozumel was a once in a lifetime thing… or said differently, I’ve been there, done that… no need to do it again. The 5 seconds with the dolphin pulling me cross the pool were exhilarating… but It’s a money grab… everything is set up as a photo op… they take the pics and then try to sell a picture package at the end.. anyone for a $200 picture package? No? They may give you the super-secret… one time only price of 50 bucks if you begin to walk out.

 

Montego Bay… I heard a lot of negatives… had never been… Loved it. Used the hop-on hop-off shuttle… went to Rose Hall Shops and then to Dr. Cave Beach… it was fantastic and much better than many have mentioned.

 

Grand Cayman… did stingray city… it was a lot of fun.

 

Debarkation – pretty smooth… no complaints. We were in group 21… so it took a little while, but that’s to be expected.

 

Will I do Carnival again? Yes… if it’s on the Magic or one of her sister ships. It blew away my expectations. But… I forget which ship it was, but we were alongside another Carnival ship in Cozumel… I vividly remember standing on the 11th deck after we had gotten back on the ship… looking over at the other ship and finding it hard to imagine that their passengers didn’t have ship envy. The other ship just didn’t do it for me… looked very “Blah” and outdated. Magic? In a heartbeat.

[steph7021]

We were on the same sailing...great ship! We actually loved the food in the MDR..but our waiter told us what to order. Someone would try and order something and he might make a face...and suggest something else. I agreed with him all but once. That tactic might make some mad though. My hubby just told him every night to bring what was good!

[vivavegas]

Great review! Thanks for sharing your travels:)

[YB Nrml]

Thanks for the review. Your son is adorable! Great videos, made my day. :D

[hartskys]

Great review - thanks!

 

Do you happen to remember approximately what time you got off the ship being in group 21? We will be on the Magic the end of this month! Can't wait!!!:):):)

[donoiv]

Great review - thanks!

 

Do you happen to remember approximately what time you got off the ship being in group 21? We will be on the Magic the end of this month! Can't wait!!!:):):)

 

We were back in our car at 11:00

[breenw]

Glad to gave Carnival a try. We recently sailed on the Magic and for some reason, I do think their food is not as good as other Carnival ships. I'm not sure why that is. I've always thought the Carnival's food in the MDR was much better than RCCL - just our opinion. If you liked the Magic then you should love the Dream and the new Breeze. I don't think you can beat the prices that Carnival offers vs. RCCL. I also think Carnival has better customer service and overall a friendlier crew.

[cruzegurl104]

So, the bedbug picture didn't have anything to do with your cruise:confused:

 

That's good news! I was wondering. Glad you had fun!

[Loveland2Disney]

Great review- thanks for sharing!! We will be on Magic 5/27 for the Memorial Day week!! Lol- we were on the Freedom in 09, in the Bahamas and one of the older CC ships docked right next to us- we were saying we were so grateful to be on ours and not that one!! It was way old and outdated compared to ours!! Shipenvy- great term!!! :D

[donoiv]

We were on the same sailing...great ship! We actually loved the food in the MDR..but our waiter told us what to order. Someone would try and order something and he might make a face...and suggest something else. I agreed with him all but once. That tactic might make some mad though. My hubby just told him every night to bring what was good!

 

Yeah... I may have picked some of the "wrong" items.. but overall, it was just OK.

[donoiv]

So, the bedbug picture didn't have anything to do with your cruise:confused:

 

That's good news! I was wondering. Glad you had fun!

 

No, nothing at all... just a joke from a past member review... some people need a laugh now and then :)

[donoiv]

Glad to gave Carnival a try. We recently sailed on the Magic and for some reason, I do think their food is not as good as other Carnival ships. I'm not sure why that is. I've always thought the Carnival's food in the MDR was much better than RCCL - just our opinion. If you liked the Magic then you should love the Dream and the new Breeze. I don't think you can beat the prices that Carnival offers vs. RCCL. I also think Carnival has better customer service and overall a friendlier crew.

 

I'll definitly try the Breeze... Dream does essentially the same trip just out of a different port... I need to switch it up a bit now.

[jburk]

How much was the shuttle in MB? Was drs cave crowded? Did you happen to save the kids schedule of activities (i dont remember what its called). Loved the bed bug pic....made me laugh bc i remember the original review.

[donoiv]

How much was the shuttle in MB? Was drs cave crowded? Did you happen to save the kids schedule of activities (i dont remember what its called). Loved the bed bug pic....made me laugh bc i remember the original review.

 

Pretty sure the shuttle was 15 per adult and bucks for kids.

I didn't save the schedule, sorry.

Dr Cave beach was somewhat busy, but didn't seem crowded... there were a lot of people, but it never felt like there were too many.

[jakeHOU97]

The only “show” we didn’t like was a magician on the last night… in the Spotligt lounge. There were a ton of kids and he didn’t leave any doubt that he wasn’t a fan of kids. He just seemed annoyed… Not sure he even did any magic…. Spend about 15 minutes making a balloon animal… waste of time.

 

Was the guy Mark Miller? Saw him on our cruise. He was also the "host" for the comedy shows.

[donoiv]

Was the guy Mark Miller? Saw him on our cruise. He was also the "host" for the comedy shows.

 

Yeah... That rings a bell... He was god awful.

[BobbyD]

Glad you liked the Magic and thanks for the review! We sailed on her last summer in the Med. Perhaps the food was better back then but we really enjoyed the food, perhaps better (or at least the same) as RCI.

[donoiv]

How do I make this post "sticky" so everyone will have a chance at partaking in my wisdom?

[jakeHOU97]

Yeah... That rings a bell... He was god awful.

 

I agree! Carnival needs better magicans. They got good comedians, just not magicans. Marcus Monore, The Juggling guy (was he on your cruise, we enjoyed him) did a little magic, but not alot

[donoiv]

I agree! Carnival needs better magicans. They got good comedians, just not magicans. Marcus Monore, The Juggling guy (was he on your cruise, we enjoyed him) did a little magic, but not alot

 

Yeah... Marcus was there. Funny dude.

[CruizeCast]

Great review! We felt the same way about the Magic. I think it is a great introduction to Carnival for people who may be tentative.

[okwriter]

Thank you for the great review! I leave April 22 on the Magic and to be perfectly honest, I was hesitant to book such a big ship. I have liked all of the other Carnival ships so far, especially the Legend, which had a very intimate "feel" to it. But my cruise partners wanted a longer trip, so we will give the Magic a whirl!

[donoiv]

Thank you for the great review! I leave April 22 on the Magic and to be perfectly honest, I was hesitant to book such a big ship. I have liked all of the other Carnival ships so far, especially the Legend, which had a very intimate "feel" to it. But my cruise partners wanted a longer trip, so we will give the Magic a whirl!

 

Has a much smaller feel than other large ships I have been on. You should have a great time.

[donoiv]

Anyone?

[Texarribean Chick]

Anyone?

 

if you are asking about making it a "sticky" - I believe that can only be done by one of the hosts and I've never seen them make a review a sticky.

 

Your son is absolutely PRECIOUS with a lot of brass, he does have! Thanks for the review - we will be on the Magic for the first time July 15th.