First Carnival Cruise Which One?

[tonyfall1]

Hello,

 

I am looking at booking my first Carnival Cruise for February 2025. I have done 1 NCL last year and an MSC the year before. Both of those were Western Caribbean. They were both pretty good. I am trying to decide between the Easter Caribbean cruises below. 8 days on the Magic or 7 days on the Celebration. The prices are the same. We are a couple in our late 50's, prefer to not have a ton of kids but understand that may not be avoidable. We went to Nassau last year and have been to St. Thomas and St. Maarten but that was more than 20 years ago.

 

8-Day Eastern Caribbean from Miami, FL

 

Carnival Magic

 

Start: Miami > Amber Cove > San Juan > St. Maarten > St. Thomas > End: Miami

 

 

7-Day Eastern Caribbean from Miami, FL

 

Carnival Celebration

 

Start: Miami > Grand Turk > Amber Cove > Nassau > End: Miami

 

 

Edited March 18 by tonyfall1
change

[Frank12]

Excel class ship  (Celebration)will have a lot more bells and whistles than the Magic, but with the choice of those 2 itineraries I would take the Magic hands down! 

If your destination is the ship....Celebration would win out for me.

[ninjacat123]

I concur with @Frank12! Magic's itinerary is magical (had to say it😉 )and DH and I did that cruise on Magic last January.  Awesome!!

[caribsun]

Magic, 8 days and ports are further south and warmer.  

[jsglow]

So this is a good chance OP to decide if you are really a RCCL cruiser at heart meaning that if the ship is the destination and you could care less about the ports then Celebration is for you. Frankly, in that case, maybe Icon of the Seas (or some other mega) is even a better fit for you.

 

My personal choice would be Magic by a very wide margin. She's a wonderful ship with plenty of features. I personally don't want 'Disney theme park' at sea. And the St. Maarten itinerary wins hands down. What you're looking at is perhaps Carnival's very best 8 night itinerary. Enjoy.

[mz-s]

Carnival would need to refresh the Magic before I'd go on it again personally. While I loved the smoke-free casino and have heard the food has gotten better, when I was on her in September there was not a single section of carpet or chair that wasn't stained or worn. It was really disgusting.

[LatinaInTexas]

If food, drinks, and entertainment are important to you then the Celebration. I loved that ship, so many really good extra free food options and the plus the pay options other ships don't have.

It was great having unique and new bars and not having to rely on just crowded Alchemy for special drinks.

Entertainment was amazing, not your usual loud music and dance numbers.

 

[Drazil65]

I agree, the Magic itinerary wins for destination/ports as these are some of our favorites for sure.  If you are more interested in sailing a bigger, newer ship with all the bells and whistles then probably go with Celebration.  We love the excel class of ships so this might be a hard decision for us but ultimately it would probably be the bigger, newer ship at his point in a Havana balcony cabin (especially being the Magic is an older ship in need of updating).  

 

 

Edited March 18 by Drazil65

[StephPS79]

I second what most others have said.  Celebration is a new, bigger, brighter ship.  If that appeals to you more than ports, Celebration.  If you don't mind an older, smaller ship, and ports are important, I would hands-down take the itinerary on the Magic over that Celebration itinerary.  

 

Just to note, we'll all have different expectations and opinions.  I've sailed both ships and found the food quality to be similar between the two where they overlap, with no complaints on either.  The Celebration definitely has more food options, which was nice.  But overall quality, in my opinion, was the same.  I don't feel the food on the Magic "has gotten better," I don't think it was that bad to begin with, and is very comparable to the food on the Celebration.

 

While the Magic does show signs of age and wear, I can't say that impacts my experience in the least.  To be fair, the couch in our cabin on the Celebration showed quite a bit of...usage...and that is relatively young ship.

 

My own personal opinion, I wouldn't hesitate to go on either ship again, but the bells and whistles on the Celebration aren't enough to sell me on that itinerary and given the option, I'd choose the Magic sailing. 

[ninjacat123]

If you decide on Magic’s itinerary, check out the America’s Cup excursion out of St Maarten. My DH got to steer for a bit!

[scottasp]

It is a matter of itinerary, I would probably take Magic and the extra day, but I haven't been on Magic since 2016 but I do like the Dream class. I would add there shouldn't be a ton of kids in February.

[ninjacat123]

St Thomas we did the Catamaran to St John!

[Rollin Tide]

1 hour ago, Frank12 said:

Excel class ship  (Celebration)will have a lot more bells and whistles than the Magic, but with the choice of those 2 itineraries I would take the Magic hands down! 

If your destination is the ship....Celebration would win out for me.

Stole the words out of my mouth.....or off my keyboard.

[ninjacat123]

Had a salsa lesson in San Juan!

[ninjacat123]

Departure from San Juan at night!

 

[ninjacat123]

56 minutes ago, caribsun said:

Magic, 8 days and ports are further south and warmer.  

Yes!  We had that cruise in January and being further south made a big difference!

[mikayla73]

As most mentioned by others, it depends on how much more bells and whistles matter to you. For me, I'd choose the Magic. It's the one Dream class ship I haven't been on and so far the Dream class has been my favorite. It's big enough, but not too big.

 

Though to be fair, I haven't been on an Excel class ship yet. But if I were booking an Excel ship, it would be because I cared less about the ports and more about checking out the ship, at least for the first time sailing it. 

[jsglow]

Yeah, we'll eventually try out one of the Excels. But we're in no rush and will be watching prices.

[IntrepidFromDC]

I agree with everyone - Celebration for the ship, on-board activities and much better food.  Magic for the ports plus one extra day.  Magen's Bay Beach is a great excursion on St. Thomas, especially the excursion that also gives you the mountaintop view.  Caribbean water temp will be better in February on the Magic trip, but if you appreciate "better" food for both quality and variety, Celebration.  Tough choice, good luck... have fun!

[JMAE]

I would pick the Magic. I think it would be the warmer (air & water) cruise of the two.  But either one would be great! 

[ledges1]

I did the Magic itinerary last year and doing it again in November. I am not a fan of Nassau.

[pe4all]

Magic.  Been on that itinerary 2x on Magic (again just a few weeks ago) and it is great.  Even though Celebration is newer (and larger, which is not a plus in my book) I wouldn't want to go to Nassau if you have been there.  There is plenty to do on Magic, enough places to eat that you won't get bored. And 8 days v 7 is always a winner in my book.

[cynt]

I co-sign what everyone else has said.  Ship - Celebration. Itinerary - Magic. 

 

Magic will be like going to your great aunts home. Nice and worn, clean, comfy and good bones.

 

Whereas the Celebration will be like visiting your single, affluent uncle's high rise condo on the top floor. 

Edited March 19 by cynt