Fun time for the kids, but.........
Carnival Magic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 07, 2015
Ship: Carnival Magic
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 7279
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
Our kids had a great time, but my husband and I were less excited. We've cruised with other cruise lines prior to this cruise. Our cabin attendant, Molly, was awesome, as were most of the bartenders. However, the ship's officers were cold and uninviting. On previous cruises, the officers were warm and welcoming....like they actually liked having you as a guest on their ship. Not so with Carnival. Also, I was served fried chicken that was not fully cooked. Then, on our last night in the main dining room, all four of my children and my husband ordered the bacon mac & cheese which also came with a chicken breast. All five were raw! We flagged down a server to let him know, but he did nothing about it. I finally got the attention of our main server who said he would let the kitchen know. He did offer to bring another dish, but at that point, everyone was nauseous just at the thought.
If you like a packed ship with lots of partying, then Carnival might be for you; however the clientele aboard the Magic was unpleasant. I can't blame the kids per se, but parents shouldn't let their children run amuck. It amazed me how many disrespectful children there were. Examples: a group of boys were running from floor to floor by jumping from the top of the stairs to the landing......for at least 7 floors. A family was walking back to their cabin on the last night of the cruise. Luggage was being taken for the next morning's departure, so the elevator bays were packed with luggage carts. The girl in the family had a plate of pizza. She bumped into the cart and the pizza hit the floor. She (and her parents) just walked away, leaving pizza sitting on the floor.
The excursions were, however, great. But, now we know we would rather just fly to those locations and vacation there. We will cruise again, just not with Carnival.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Don't go on this ship if you like parents who let their children run amuck. :)
Ports of call
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
9 Comments
JusMe 9 years ago
So sorry that your cruise was not good. I call Carnival the floating Walmart. Carnival is great for what it is, but you have to go on your cruise knowing what to expect.
I agree cruising Celebrity in Europe is much more Civilized then Carnival here in the states. I use Carnival for the short local 3 and 4 night cruises for quick get away. I'm surprised that food was an issue, while it is not Celebrity level of food I have never had anything bad other then cold. It sounds like you got a cook that was in a hurry.
Kids on Carnival are an issue, bad behaved, running in the hall way at all hours. I joked on my last Carnival cruise that I forgot to bring wire to string across the hall way about 6" of the ground to pull taunt when kids were running.
Best wishes that your next cruise is to your licking.
BDRebel 9 years ago
Since I usually sail outside of school holidays, I haven't seen an overabundance of kids. Those that have been sailing at the same time were (mostly) well behaved.
As far as the food, I hope that is just a one-off. I have sailed the Magic and was quite pleased with the food, as well as the crew. Although they were not overly friendly, I would not have counted them as cold.
I hope you are able to reconcile the bad parts and give Carnival another try. Then again, as a couple with no kids, perhaps another line might be a better fit.
Johngold 9 years ago
I guess I have been very lucky on cruises so far. On the first two, which were really long cruises 21+ days there were very few children. I have a great travel agent who researched the demographics well beforehand. On NCL Dawn to Bermuda, there were a few families on board. but so well behaved that they were not a distraction. That being said, at this point in my life, I try to avoid anywhere there is a lot of kids reasoning that I have been there and done that. I found that the 20 some-things I have encountered were more rambunctious that the kids I've seen. But I do remember being that age as well, so I cut them a bit of slack.
Wolfpartyof6 9 years ago
We have been on Azamara in the Mediterranean and Celebrity for an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Loved them both! Just let down with Carnival since I heard great things about the Magic.
Same here with my children. If they are doing something disrespectful, then I don't care who reprimands them. However, we constantly received praise for how well behaved our teenagers were during the cruise.
charmonar 9 years ago
CrusinTim 9 years ago
"Don't go on this ship if you like parents who let their children run amuck.". Unfortunately, this has happened on many of the past 12 cruises I have been on. Parents that just let their kids have run of the entire ship as though it was a playground from the moment they board. Sitting on the steps. Pressing all the buttons on the lifts. Not giving way (moving to one side) when walking down the halls. I have purposely bumped into kids that refused to move as though they expected me to move to the side as so they could pass! More than enough room to pass if the person approaching moves to one side and you move to the other. They would just walk down the middle of the hallway. I had a 15 year old kid tell me to go "F" myself when I asked him to move so I could go down the stairs he was sitting on. So, I stepped on him to pass. I wasn't raised with such disrespect but I guess today's parents WERE!! Better luck on your next cruise! :)