Carnival Magic Cruise
Carnival Magic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 03, 2013
Ship: Carnival Magic
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 11 years ago
Review summary
The ship was pretty, clean, and smelled nice. The cabins were small but comfortable and the shower/rest room was very nice. The food was excellent in the dining room (Southern Lights); the wait staff were great and so very entertaining! The buffet was good but the availability was less than desirable; it was closed at odd hours. It would have been nice if they were open til late, say 10 p.m. as not everyone can eat hot dogs or pizza. The wait staff in the dining room provided me with gluten free bread twice--but not every evening like they do on Royal Caribbean. They don't close off the buffet area with gates or tape when it is closing/closed and you get your tray and silverware and start down the line to find the staff pulling in the food trays while you are trying to serve yourself.... They should rope it off so people know it is closed or closing. It is a big ship, 3000+ customers and 1000+ staff, but they have no dedicated movie theater--only a big screen outside above the pool. There are no big name live shows; they do have smaller shows with comics, etc. There is no ice skating rink, climbing wall, or shuffleboard. The room steward kept the room nice and provided us with cute towel sculpture, however, we only saw him twice the whole cruise--at the beginning and on the last day; they don't make much effort to know you or greet you during the 7-day trip. We asked the steward on the first day if it was possible to get a third chair on our balcony, as there were three of us in the room; he said he would check on it, but never got back to us and of course, provided no third chair. Of the three cruise lines we have sailed on (Carnival twice, Royal Caribbean several times, and Norwegian once), Carnival would be our lowest rated line (Royal Caribbean is our number 1). The excursions were fine; we went on two of them. They have gotten a little pricey though, for what you get.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Be sure to check on the available hours for the buffet on the Lido Deck, as they are not open long hours like you might think. Bring your own bottled water for the 7 days. Bring all the toiletries and sundries that you might need as there is not a store providing things like that on the ship. There is an easy to use (free) safe in each cabin to keep your extra cash and valuables.