Great music on this cruise - Music and Magic a standout.

We cruise for the food, the music and the relaxation, in that order.  The food was great.  Especially enjoy the soups and appetizers in the dining room, the at sea brunches, the Tandoor food, and Guys Burgers.  There are a couple of glaring omissions in the food that make this a four star instead of 5 star experience.  First, in an obvious slight to Southerners, there is no longer and sausage grave and no biscuits on the morning buffet!!!!!  There is something for every other taste, but only grits are offered to please the Southerners!.  And then, and we have written about this before, What is with the salsa bar not serving any tortilla chips? The poor staff is overwhelmed by requests for tortilla chips!. Made my excellent burrito into less of a delightful meal.  Pig and Anchor was good also, but so poorly situated and crowded that we only ate there the one day it was raining ( so not crowded since the tiny serving line is in the rain!). Liked the Tastings bar and the fifth floor coffee shop also.  Their layer cakes were divine!. Selections in dining room still impressive though soup is still the best dish at most meals.  Wait staff was fabulous!. Truly the best on any cruise line!

Music on this cruise was delightful! The Music and Magic duo was our favorite and we chased them all over the ship.  We were not happy when one of their scheduled appearances in the lobby bar was interrupted by an advertisement for Flick, the new production show.  Elizabeth, in the Play It Again piano lounge is wonderful and really draws the crowds into her shows.  We went every evening that she was there (unfortunately, she was sick a couple of nights.). There was a band that appeared several times that was really good.  They even had horns, which were really on point and made for great listening or dancing music.  This is what We expect from Carnival music to bee able to walk through the 5th floor and hear great music.  We do not like carnivals big room shows and walked out on these like most of the others we have tried.  Clearly this is an area where Carnival thinks they excel, but they actually lag other cruise lines in quality.

The relaxation was not so good on the Magic. The serenity deck isn't good.  Poor location, too crowded, and party of it overlooks the mid ship lido deck frivolity, so not very serene!.  Towels "saving" deck chairs was horrific on this ship!. No staff was removing the offense, there were never any deck chairs open during daylight hours, while fewer than 50% of them were actually occupied for hours at a time!

Now just a word about partners with disabilities..  Why can't rented equipment like mobility scooters be delivered to one spot in the terminal and not left in the rooms?. This is a real mess since its too far for disabled passengers, and the wheelchair assist is hopelessly over run.  Also VIP passenger service is so far from the special assistance area in this terminal that it is like you are being punished.  Doesn't seem very VIP!!.  Also, this terminal had one puny elevator for folks with disabilities getting on and off.  Not well designed at all!

Bringing our kids and grandkids on the Magic in January as their Christmas gift.  I sure hope some of these issues are addressed by then.  Art least, please cook up some sausage gravy and biscuits???