Carnival Magic NYC August 3-11, 2022. The Last of Joe Farcus’ Designs

[nybumpkin]

Our last (Milestone!) cruise with Carnival was August 2019, a 4-day NYC-Bermuda cruise on Carnival Sunrise. At that time, we had two future Carnival cruises booked: a 2020 Journeys cruise from NYC on Carnival Radiance and a 2021 British Isles cruise on Carnival Pride. Then 2020 arrived – and the cruises departed. Radiance never even got to sail from NYC. We replaced Radiance with this 8-day cruise on Magic, and the British Isles will be replaced next year with Norway.

 

Sailing was DH and me, 60-somethings. When we first started cruising 18 years ago, we were with our three sons – then 13, 8 and 4 – and spent many cruises with them afterward, right up to 2018. We booked an Ocean Suite; we hoped that the two younger sons would be able to sail with us this year, but they’re off on their own now. I’m about at retirement (come on, December!), but DH is a college professor who wants to work a few more years, so we’re still limited on sailing times. Next year is a summer schedule again. (I have teased DH that once I’m retired, I can sail anytime; maybe I can find a new sailing partner in the off season.)

 

As with my other reviews, I will do a “what we did” review with photos followed by my “What I thought” section.  As always, your mileage may vary.

 

We had to do pre-cruise Covid testing. Signed up for $15 pp proctored tests that we completed two days before sailing; got results via e-mail and uploaded them to Verifly. It was fairly easy.

[nybumpkin]

Day 0 – NYC

 

For NYC cruises, our preference is to drive to the pier. Yes, parking is pricey – but for convenience you can’t beat it. We drove down the Taconic to the Saw Mill to the Henry Hudson Parkways to the West Side Drive. We were parked by 11:15 and, while check-in is a madhouse, we were aboard the ship by noon. (Priority boarding because we had a suite.) We left all our bags with the porter so I can’t tell you about going to the cabin early. Instead, we went right to Lido, got Guy’s Burgers, and ordered Funship Specials – after three years, they were good.

 

Our cabin was 7365, a starboard Ocean Suite. A very comfortable cabin, midships with very little movement (which doesn’t bother me anyway). I would say the one downside of this cabin is the balcony – while nice itself, with two chairs, a lounge, and a table, it is directly above one of the deck 5 whirlpools – which tended to get loud on sea days.

 

Sailaway was scheduled for 4:00 but didn’t happen until 4:45. Over the years I’ve seen that NYC sailaways are usually late. It generally takes about 30 minutes to the Statue of Liberty and another 20-30 minutes to the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. We made it under the bridge with about 15 minutes to spare before dinner.

 

Dinner was early dining in the Southern Lights dining room. We were seated at a 10-top in the center of the room with four other couples. I don’t think we ever had all 10 people at the table, but overall it was a good group.

 

Our evening entertainment usually was music in one of the lounges. We didn’t make it to any of the productions or comedy shows.

[nybumpkin]

Day 1 – Day at sea

 

We have a fairly set routine: breakfast on Lido followed by coffee and cards on Promenade. This morning was no different; however, DH thought he’d get an omelet on Lido, and that wasn’t happening. Mobbed. It was the only morning that omelets were a problem, though – after the first day, they seemed to figure out the passenger flow. After cards, lunch on Lido.

 

At 4 in the afternoons there was a “Name That Tune” trivia contest. Today’s was Elton John and Billy Joel to match the “88 Keys” production show after dinner. Now, I’m a huge fan of EJ and slightly less of BJ – and it showed. At the end I had 17 of 20 right. All of my EJ answers were right, but I missed 3 BJ answers. I guess I should have gone to more BJ concerts (8 for EJ, only 2 for BJ – and Elton was on the bill for those as well).

 

Dinner was “elegant night.” No tablecloths on the tables, if that matters to you – it doesn’t matter to me. What did bother me was the number of people who didn’t seem to realize that 6:00 dining was a set time and didn’t mean 6:45. While it doesn’t create a problem for diners, it is a real problem for the wait staff. Some years ago when we had all three sons in tow with us, the oldest showed up for dinner 45 minutes late – we had been in Cozumel that day and he was using his cell phone to tell time, and it had switched to Central time. Our server took pity on him, handed him a menu, and said “entrée and dessert only.”

 

After dinner was music again. We’ve seen “88 Keys” before. It’s a good show but we didn’t see the need to go again.

[nybumpkin]

Day 2 – Another Day at Sea

 

This morning we went to the Sea Day Brunch in the MDR. I had salmon eggs benedict; very filling and very good. The eggs benedict on the Lido Deck can’t compare. DH went for an omelet. The rest of the day was spent with time on Lido and our balcony watching the sea go by.

 

Our dinner was at the Steakhouse, booked before we sailed. I had the spinach salad, filet mignon chocolate sphere; DH had the lobster bisque, surf and turf and cheesecake. All well worth the upcharge.

[nybumpkin]

Day 3 - Amber Cove

 

We visited Amber Cove in 2018. That time, we opted for an independent tour of Puerto Plata and a ride on the teleferico, the cable car to Mount Isabel. The hardest part of doing an independent tour is that the operators are not allowed to drive into the port and you have to walk to the outside road to join your tour. It’s a long walk, and its hot. If you opt for this (and our tour was well worth it), bring a bottle of water.

 

This time we booked a Carnival excursion – “La Casa en la Playa.” Beach house. The description had us going to a private beach with open bar (not a full bar, just certain drinks) and lunch included. Debarkation was a bit chaotic – they called you down to the gangway based on your muster station or whether you had a shore excursion – and the pier is a long walk. There are guys with bicycle shuttles available if needed.

 

There were about 20-25 people on this excursion; we had a 20-minute bus ride to the house. The house had a sitting area, dressing rooms, a large porch with picnic tables for lunch, a bar, and a very nice beach with chairs and umbrellas. Our time at the beach was about four hours. I had been concerned that being on the north shore of Hispaniola the swimming wouldn’t be great; I shouldn’t have worried. We enjoyed both the beach and the water, and the staff came around with drinks on a regular basis. Lunch was chicken, rice and beans, and fruit, all very  good. In all, an enjoyable day.

[nybumpkin]

Day 4 – Grand Turk

 

We’ve been here a number of times. The first year we stayed on the beach near Margaritaville and didn’t care for it – too crowded and the water wasn’t great. The next time we went to Jack’s Shack and then became repeat visitors. Not crowded and the water’s great. Our sons loved seeing Topher, Jack and Janet’s Goldendoodle.

 

As those who follow Jack’s Shack know, Jack has sold his share of the business to his partner and he will be returning to Canada at the end of the year. We figured we had to wish him well, so we made another trip down the beach. Janet has already returned to Canada (her granddaughter is starting school) and Kraken the Labradoodle went as well. Jack has Calypso with him, though. I think Jack’s ready to go – he mentioned how many of his friends have left Grand Turk.

 

As much as we will miss Jack, though, I think he’s leaving the Shack in good hands. I ordered a rum punch – my favorite drink there – and it was well made. And while we didn’t have any food there, it looked and smelled wonderful.

 

My one disappointment with our visit to Grand Turk was the duty-free shop. I used to come home with two bottled of Bambarra Rum – a product of the Turks and Caicos. Sad to say, the duty-free shop no longer seems to carry it. In its place was a different rum made in Turks and Caicos.

 

After returning to the ship, I indulged in a pedicure – my first visit to the spa in 26 cruises. It was worth it. We also had a Diamond and Platinum party before dinner, with the string trio providing music. The drinks were plentiful. (I watched one guy line up six drinks in front of him. After dinner I saw him in Ocean Plaza, looking for someone to talk to. I made sure not to make eye contact.)

[nybumpkin]

Day 5 – Half Moon Cay

 

Half Moon Cay, the private island used by many Carnival ships, is gorgeous. Soft white sand, clear, calm water, nature walks….

 

And we stayed on the ship.

 

This was a decision we made before sailing. DH and I burn easily, so we need shade. All of the cabanas were booked ages ago, and when I checked for clamshells the week before sailing they were sold out. The main drawback of HMC is limited shade. The other drawback is that they use tenders – er, “water shuttles” – to get passengers to the beach. With limited chances for shade and having to tender, we decided our day could be better spent on the ship, where we could use the whirlpools and pools without crowds. Another plus: since we had the Cheers package, which can’t be used on HMC, we could enjoy or regular drinks without extra charge.

 

It turned out to be a good decision. Early in the tendering process one of the tenders had an engine problem, which resulted in Carnival having to disembark all the people and board them on another tender. From what I heard, some passengers got ugly about it. The end result was that the tendering process was interrupted for a time and the passengers with the later tender tickets didn’t get ashore until 1:45 – and back aboard was 5:15. People I talked to who did make it ashore weren’t impressed with their day. The downside for us what that more people stayed on the ship than I think the crew anticipated, so we didn’t quite have the ship to ourselves as we had hoped.

 

I did have a funny experience later in the afternoon. At 4:00 they had a trivia contest: “Name That Tune – the 70s.” Twenty songs, you had to give the song name and the artist for a total of 40 points. Now, DH and I are 70’s kids – this is our game. At the end of the songs, the entertainment host asked the players to shout out their answers. This one woman, who looked barely older than our 31 year-old son, kept shouting out wrong answers. When it was over, DH and I had 33 correct, and the woman sitting next to us also had 33. Then the younger woman swooped in, exclaiming “I have 38!” The woman next to us looked at us in amazement, but none of us was interested in making a deal of it – it just wasn’t worth getting “bling on a string.” (No ships on a stick, BTW – as I understand, they have issues with their supplier. So just funnel-shaped medals.)

[nybumpkin]

Some photos from our made-up sea day. I did find the ship's coin. If you've found it on other Fincantieri-built ships, it won't be hard to find.

[nybumpkin]

Day 6 – Day at Sea

 

On the way back to NYC, another lazy sea day. I wanted to try the Seafood Shack for lunch, and you can order using the Hub App. The app will let you know when lunch is ready. I had the clams and DH had fish and chips – both very good. At 3:00 there was tea time in the aft dining room. (Apparently it was also scheduled the first two sea days and I missed it. It was listed on the App under food, not “Things to do.”) As always, a nice experience – although I’m not fond of the Art of Tea selection they offered. I found them too weak.

 

This was the second elegant night, Again, I thought most people dressed well, and the dinner selections were fine.

[nybumpkin]

Day 7 – Last Day at Sea

 

I felt movement during the night as we sailed off North Carolina, and the morning was overcast with storms in the distance. Not a surprise, as we’ve often had heavier seas off Cape Hatteras – and our oldest son, who lives in Virginia Beach, later told us that the weather had been lousy for a week. For us, it cleared up fairly early.

 

We didn’t have to do much to disembark, since we decided to do self-assist. Having a suite gave us priority. More time playing cards, lunch on Lido, and afternoon tea again. A last dinner in the dining room, complete with “Leaving on a Fun Ship.”

[nybumpkin]

Day 8 – Debarkation

 

It was pouring rain when we reached NYC around 6 a.m. Debarkation began around 7:00 for people with early flights, and we debarked shortly after at 7:15. We were through Customs, in our car and driving up the West Side Highway by 7:30 – and home by 9:45.

 

This ends my “What we did” section of the review. Next up” What I thought.”

[nybumpkin]

Carnival Magic

 

Magic is the last of Carnival’s Joe-Farcus-designed ships. Having sailed on many of the older ships, I thought Magic was pretty tame, design-wise. Lots of aqua. I found lots of nice places to hang out, primarily around Ocean Plaza (our hangout for cards) and the aft Lido deck. The Lanai is very nice, a great area for walking or sitting outside to enjoy a drink. (The Lanai isn’t quite as great if you have a deck 6 or 7 balcony – you will have company on your balcony. Overall I thought the ship was well cared-for.

 

Food

 

Food is very subjective, and we didn’t sample everything. Here is what we did try.

 

Main Dining Room: We had early seating in the aft dining room. Our preference is set dining, and early works well for us. We were usually done in about an hour. For the most part I thought the food was good. While I have never felt the need to order multiple appetizers or entrees, other at our table did. I will note that the lobster on the first elegant night was disappointing – I had a small tail, a small helping of the mushroom risotto, and one – count it, one – broccoli floret. The waitstaff brought a second plate without our asking for it. My other observation was that many of the beef cuts were tough. The seafood was good, though.

 

We had breakfast/brunch in the MDR twice; the food is much better than the breakfast at the buffet, but it does take longer. And if you really need your bacon fix every day, this is your place.

 

Lido: I thought the buffet lines were “meh,” although I certainly never lacked for anything. For breakfast I usually went with grapefruit, a croissant, and bacon if it was a bacon day. DH pronounced the scrambled eggs in the line to be inedible, but he had the cook do scrambled eggs for him at the omelet station (once the lines for omelets settled down) and they were good.

 

We used the specialty lines for most lunches. Had Guy’s twice – while the burger was good, I was disappointed that they cut back the available toppings. My “go to” burger use to be a Plain Jane with cheese, topped with bacon and mushrooms and one of Guy’s sauces. The sauces are there, but the bacon and mushrooms were no more. Also did Guy’s Barbeque once – it was okay. Had the Seafood Shack once, and the fried clams and fries were very good. Both they and DH’s fish and chips were $7 extra. We went to Mongolian Barbeque once; most days the line was way too long. When we went the line wasn’t terribly long – but a number of people in front of us were placing orders for multiple people, which slowed everything down. It was a very good lunch, though. Beware of the Szechuan sauce – it’s hot. On the last sea day we tried he deli, since the line didn’t look long. Unfortunately, looks were deceiving; again, many people were ordering for multiple people. I was disappointed in my sandwich; I ordered the turkey and avocado sandwich from the menu and the cook didn’t tell me until after he prepared the sandwich that there was no avocado. If he had told me when I ordered, I would have ordered something different.

 

Steakhouse: As has always been our experience, it did not disappoint.

 

Tea time: There was tea time on all four of our sea days, although we only went to the last two. They had two sandwiches – cucumber and smoked salmon – and a variety of sweet offerings, including scones with cream – my favorite. I don’t care for the “Art of Tea” selections they offer for a charge – I thought they were too weak. Next time I’ll bring my own Twinings.

 

Beverages

 

Coffee Bar: The only place we’d have coffee. Since we bought the Cheers package coffee (as well as soda) was included. Most mornings DH would get mochaccinos and I would get lattes, then find a table at Ocean Plaza to play cards and drink coffee. The line can get long, especially when you have people who – you guessed it – are ordering for multiple people.

 

Regular Bars: Very good to excellent service at all venues we visited. The Red Frog on Deck 5 was never crowded and we enjoyed talking with the crew there. We also loved the outside seating area. I’m very partial to the Chipotle Martinis from Alchemy, and I enjoyed three on this cruise. Then there was the bar service on the aft Lido – loved them. We had a server who knew that DH liked Bloody Marys and Diet Pepsis and that I liked gin and tonics and made sure we were not without until we said “enough.”  As for the value of Cheers – Neither of us would ever have 15 alcoholic drinks in a day, but when you combined what we did drink with coffee and soda it did pay for itself.

 

Entertainment

 

We started out the cruise with Ryan Rose as CD. He handled embarkation and the muster drill, and did the welcome aboard show. The next morning he did the morning show and said “hi” to us as we played cards in Ocean Plaza. Then he disappeared, and entertainment staff member Cheeky Charlie took over for the rest of the cruise. I figured he had become ill. Cheeky Charlie isn’t quite at a CD level yet, but she was nice enough.

 

We didn’t go to the production shows or comedy shows. We already saw two of the production shows and DH just isn’t into the comedy. Most of our entertainment was music, and we enjoyed it.

 

During the day, we went to some of the trivia games, which were enjoyable as long as you’re there just to challenge yourself and have fun – not to win. There were cheaters in the mix, as I noted on HMC day. We didn’t spend much time on the Lido deck other than to play a game of miniature golf and do some people-watching. They had Dive-in Movies going, which were way too loud and didn’t interest us.

 

Cabin 7365

 

The OBC we had from the canceled cruises allowed us to upgrade from a regular balcony to an Ocean Suite. The extra room and the tub in the bathroom are very nice to have, and this cabin had more than enough storage space. I Made, our steward, took great care of the cabin. No, they don’t offer you twice a day service (we opted for morning), but I Made would always ask us in the evening if there was anything we needed. We sent laundry out once (greatest Platinum perk there is), and I Made made sure to ask that everything was returned okay. The one drawback of this cabin is that it’s directly above one of the Lanai whirlpools. Twice we had groups take it over for long, loud parties, which cut into our enjoyment of the balcony.

 

The Hub App

 

I’m a Luddite. As DH says, technology flinches in terror when I approach. I was perfectly happy with the paper Fun Times and menus. I don’t like QR codes and I don’t like walking around with my phone. Having said that, I developed a love/hate relationship with the Hub App. On the plus side, you had everything in one place – menus, activity schedules, etc. You can order things like room service and Seafood Shack with it. You can request a table for breakfast or brunch with it. Even I found it relatively easy to use. On the minus side, I found myself looking at it in the cabin and deciding what I wanted to do and eat before putting my phone in the safe so I didn’t have to carry it around. And in writing reviews like this, it would have been nice to refer back to a printed Fun Times to give the names of the bands we saw. However, if you’re a diehard paper fan there are printed daily schedules available at the coffee bar and they will give you menus in the dining room.

 

We did not get an internet package. Since we made the move to a triple-authentication login process, I can’t log into my work e-mail when out of the country. (I’m sure there’s a way to do it – but I’m retiring at the end of the year, so it’s moot at this point.) It was nice to just detach for a week. When we were in the Dominican Republic DH used our AT&T international plan to call our son and make sure all was well.

[nybumpkin]

So What’s Next?

 

We’re still working through everything from 2020 and 2021 that had to be rescheduled. As I mentioned at the outset, this cruise replaced a 2020 Carnival Radiance cruise. Next up is a 2023 Norway cruise on Carnival Pride that replaces a 2021 British Isles cruise. And after the cruise on Pride ends, we’ll be spending a few days in England before going to Southampton for a TA on QM2, that replaces a TA we had scheduled with the 2021 Pride cruise.

 

Although our kids are grown and not vacationing with us, we’re not done with Carnival – although I expect that we will start looking at more off-season cruises that are a bit quieter. And I’m not about to say “never,” but other than dining venues I don’t see us using the bells and whistles of the newer, larger ships. We’ll keep an eye on the new(er) Costa ship that is supposed to be sailing out of NYC. Or we might look at sailing out of California – haven’t done that yet.

 

We’re also branching out. Before the pandemic, we spent three weeks on the QM2, which had always been a bucket list trip for me. (If you’re interested in my take on QM2 as a dyed-in-the-wool Carnivore, my post is here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2684218-a-platinum-carnivore-sails-on-cunard/#comment-58023215). In 2021, with no mainstream cruises available, we took an American Cruise Lines voyage out of Seattle, around the Puget Sound. It’s an older crowd and you really just use the ship as your hotel from one port to another. We enjoyed it enough to book another for 2023 – a Grand New England cruise out of Boston. And another postponed trip we took this year was a Viking River cruise on the Danube. (Timed that one right, as we went before the water levels dropped.) We’ll probably look at another in the future – DH would like to visit the Iberian Peninsula. Bottom line is, Carnival will probably remain our “go to” mainstream line, but there are lots of other places we want to visit.

 

Thanks for reading, if you’ve made it to the end. Happy to answer any questions!

[Joe817]

Loved your review! Thanks for sharing! 👍

[bdever]

Please someone correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t Art of Tea complimentary with Cheers package?!?!?! I’m wanting to get this tea on my cheers package as I normally do.

[nybumpkin]

12 minutes ago, bdever said:

Please someone correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t Art of Tea complimentary with Cheers package?!?!?! I’m wanting to get this tea on my cheers package as I normally do.

They charged us for it. Wasn't worth it.

[jerseyjjs]

Did you spend any time in the casino, and in particular, the casino bar (Hat Trick bar).   Were they showing anything besides European soccer and cricket?

[Jamman54]

GREAT review and pictures Kathy! Patti  and I really enjoyed it. We'll be back on the Magic for a B2B from NYC next September. 😀

[DanvilleCruiser]

Thanks for the review.  Very informative and entertaining.

[bdever]

38 minutes ago, nybumpkin said:

They charged us for it. Wasn't worth it.

Wow 😮 I’ve never been charged. I’ll give carnival a call. 

[nybumpkin]

29 minutes ago, jerseyjjs said:

Did you spend any time in the casino, and in particular, the casino bar (Hat Trick bar).   Were they showing anything besides European soccer and cricket?

We don't spend time in the casino, but I did get some drinks at the bar. I think it was mostly soccer. I do have a funny story about sports in Red Frog - they were showing Cornhole. Doug Flutie (hi, Buffalo!) was on one team, paired with someone who plays regularly; not sure who was on the other team. Flutie's team won.😃

[nybumpkin]

32 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

GREAT review and pictures Kathy! Patti  and I really enjoyed it. We'll be back on the Magic for a B2B from NYC next September. 😀

Hope you and Patti enjoy your trip on Legend, Jeff! Bermuda and Canada, correct?

[Jamman54]

42 minutes ago, nybumpkin said:

Hope you and Patti enjoy your trip on Legend, Jeff! Bermuda and Canada, correct?

Correct! 

[michelle028]

What time was tea time on Sea days?

Ps. Thanks for taking the time to review!

[nybumpkin]

1 minute ago, michelle028 said:

What time was tea time on Sea days?

Ps. Thanks for taking the time to review!

Teatime was 3:00-4:00. We arrived at 3 and found the service to be good.