New review for 12/16 -12/19 Magica Cruise

[www]

Hi, Just got back from this cruise. Reviews are harsh, but I guess I will just post my own view on my own experience.

 

Boarding was a breeze. No problems at all. We both are US citizens, I have a passport, my hubby had drivers license and birth certificate. Got a nice Rose!

 

Crew was very friendly and very helpful through out the whole cruise. Although they had strong accents, they all spoke English to me.

 

My cabin was beautiful, (as was the whole ship). Big bathroom! lol. I was on the 9th floor, inside cabin. Lots of closet & drawer space. Cabin service was great. Room service was good and timely. I didn't care for the room service coffee, but this is just personal preference.

 

I thought that the buffets were great. The food choices were excellent, all food was fresh hot and delicious. They had many buffets open, most people were up front near the main pool, but the dining room was very deep and there was a second "adult" pool in back, and more and more buffet stations. I never waited in a line. I would agree however, that they are lacking in desserts, not many choices at all. I did get great omlets at the breakfast buffet, and did not wait long in line for it.

 

We ate in the dining room all evenings. Food was good. I would not say it was the best I've ever had on a cruise, but it was good food, and the service was good, not quite as elegent as some service on other ships, but it was fine. All of my food was hot and delicious to taste. I did not like having to order dessert at the beginning of the meal. The desserts, especially the ice cream was totally soupy when served, bummer!

 

The activities were good, although, we didn't really participate, the crew got a lot of people up dancing and having fun. We did see all three shows. They were good, we enjoyed each one. The Tenor was excellent. Not everyone likes Vegas style shows & Italian singers, but not everyone goes to the shows. Everyone doesn't like to gamble either, so they don't go to the casinos.

 

Casino was very, very smokey! Too crowded, and couldn't get a seat at a table unfortuately. Overall, I think the casino was too small for the size ship. Just getting through was very tight.

 

Lots of entertainment all over ship in the evening. Personal choice will lead the way there.

 

Never overly bothered by photographers, but photos were plenty. We didn't buy any. Plenty of shops, again not really my thing.

 

Dress code never enforced. I truely saw more jeans in the dining room than I have ever seen on any other cruise. Doesn't matter to me, I could care less what other people wear. We wore resort casual 2 nights, and a dress & suit for formal night.

 

Kids didn't bother me. I avoid being near them around the pool or in the buffets as much as possible. I love kids, and enjoy watching them, but I had my own who are grown now, and like to cruise with the adults, so I stay mostly in adult areas. But I don't let kids bother me, they are just being kids. Parents should watch them and teach them right from wrong and how to behave, but some parents don't know how to behave, so the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

 

Disembarkation was as discribe a nightmere. Costa really is to blame. They did not handle it well. I have never experience a mess like that getting off of a ship. There was a time where I was really nervous that a roit was going to breakout, and I was stuck in a very tight crowd. I cannot imagine why they would let this happen, they are not new to cruising and they should have this organized like other ships.

 

Overall, I had a wonderful time. I did hear tons, and tons of negative comments, but my own personal experience did not agree.

 

Don't bash me, just wanted to let you know about my trip!

 

Happy cruising! Yes, I would go again, especially if it was FREE!:D

[sugarbabe61]

Thank you for your review and how nice it is to read that some people can actually enjoy their cruise and not complain about trivial little things.

 

We are going on the Fortuna in March and are really looking forward to it.

 

Thanks for sharing :)

[WeBeGone]

Thank you for your review and how nice it is to read that some people can actually enjoy their cruise and not complain about trivial little things.

 

We are going on the Fortuna in March and are really looking forward to it.

 

Thanks for sharing :)

 

Bad food, bad service, and a 4 hr near riot at disembarkcation are not trivial little things.

[New2cruzng]

Thanks for the review.

 

Quick questions, I am concerened about the size of the casino :)

 

I am going in January and I like to play blackjack, from what I am hearing there aren't too many table games. Is that correct?

 

Dont' know if you are a gambler or not, so you may or may not have noticed.

 

Just tell me what you can. Oh, I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, you saying I should bring a mask when I play, LOL?

[Mr PG]

I think since most ships have banned smoking, this cruise attracted that type clientele! The casino is small, and smokey, even on deck the breezes did not help much. There were people wlking out of the dining room just to have a smoke outside the door where you are supposed to extinguish, and mulling around. The worst dress code I have ever seen, and very little enforcement of rules.

The decor is nice, the food ,which we heard was bad (reading forums) was relatively good to excellent, and we were off the ship by 9:30, there were people taking the elevators directly to the gang way, and not staging.

[www]

Thanks for the review.

 

Quick questions, I am concerened about the size of the casino :)

 

I am going in January and I like to play blackjack, from what I am hearing there aren't too many table games. Is that correct?

 

Dont' know if you are a gambler or not, so you may or may not have noticed.

 

Just tell me what you can. Oh, I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, you saying I should bring a mask when I play, LOL?[/quote.]

 

I do like blackjack, and I never did get a seat at a table. You couldn't bearly move, not much room to stand behind and watch, though I was able to do this. The tables were full, so some people did get seats, maybe I just had bad timing! I was a little disappointed.

 

The casino was VERY smokey, more so than I've experience on my other cruises. I think this is because the casino is small. It was hard to just to walk through the casino it was so crowded, especially around the tables. It was less crowded at the slots. I did see a couple of people win some decent money on the slots.

[www]

Oh, one more thing. I think I noticed that you were going on a 7 day cruise. In my own experience, I find that the casino is less crowded on 7 day cruises, and very crowded on 3 day weekend cruises, so maybe you will have better luck.

[Bramcruiser]

Sounds like a balanced review. Some bad but mostly good and you learned to go with the flow and not expected the world to revolve around you. Too bad about the desserts - never had the experience of ordering it first. Can we eat it first and leave the salad last? HA HA!

 

Not a fan of casinos so couldn't care less personally if it was smokey or small or big. However, I realize this is something that will affect the enjoyment of it by others. I guess Costa is the last bastion of smokers on the high seas and they plan to take advantage of it.

 

Too bad about the disembarkation but to be fair I had a 4 hour wait out in the sun with seniors about to suffer sun stroke in 80 + temperatures on Carnival so it can happen on any line. But yeah the mess of disembarking would destroy the experience for me.

 

Glad to hear you survived and are able to give us the good and bad in your own words. Thanks.

[itsmlf]

The ships I have been on....which is a lot....have not banned smoking in the casinos...altho voyager had a small no smoking area in the casino....but it was still smoky.

[rocktheboat]

Mr PG

 

What cruise line has banned smoking. Carnival once had a smoke free ship but they couldn't sell it and sent it packing.

[Canacruiser]

Hi everyone! This is my first time writing on these boards....just wanted to say a few things after reading so many reviews...It seems like people really aren't interested or almost don't believe people who have terrible vacation experiences! Isn't that what these message boards are for, to tell people about your cruise, good or bad..? I think this is informative for everyone...it's certainly not going to make me cancel my plans or anything (I am booked on the Majica on Jan.2)

I do admit that I am a little bit freaked out after hearing so many negative things about this ship, but it is still my vacation, I paid for it, and I will do my best to enjoy myself! I admit that if the food is not as good as we are used to on previous cruises, that would be a disappointment, but at the same time, I won't be eating as much, which could also be a good thing! As for disembarkation, we aren't flying out until the next day, so we are not in a hurry to get off the ship! (However I certainly hope they have things running smoother but the time we are sailing.)

I do want to say again, remember everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so maybe for some people this was the worst experience ever, whereas other people enjoyed themselves..that doesn't necessarily mean they are the kind of people that just like to complain about everything, maybe they just had one of those vacations where everything went wrong! Anyway, I guess I won't be finding out for myself until Jan.2 2006!!:)

[Cruise4Andy]

Canacruiser:

Thanks for your review... seems like you had a good time! Welcome back, and thank you again for your review!

 

No reason to bash anybody here.... ;-) LOL

 

 

Andy ;-)

[Cruise4Andy]

Sorry... I meant you... www

[macd2]

Thanks for the review.

 

Quick questions, I am concerened about the size of the casino :)

 

I am going in January and I like to play blackjack, from what I am hearing there aren't too many table games. Is that correct?

 

Dont' know if you are a gambler or not, so you may or may not have noticed.

 

Just tell me what you can. Oh, I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, you saying I should bring a mask when I play, LOL?

They had three tables of black jack. The night I checked, the limits were $15, $25, and $30. The $15 table had a line to sit down, the $30 table had a couple open seats. There was a blackjack tournament one afternoon. First place got $500 (based on number of entries), second through seven place got T-shirts. I came in 2nd. :-(

They also had craps, roulette, island poker, and maybe some other table games.

Our cruise to Freeport was weekend cruise and half the ship seemed to be from Florida. I suspect many passenger took the trip as a gambling cruise. Perhaps it won't be as crowded for you. For us, the table area was especially crowded and smokey.

[DAMIFIKNOW]

Negative reviews,Most people who complain have picked the wrong vacation or complain about everything in a normal day,therefor I read them and laugh because of the amount of money and time they spent, and all they recieved was heart burn.This is my 29th cruise and I am sure I will enjoy it.