New Year's Cruise with family

Carnival Magic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 12

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Magic

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 31, 2016

Ship: Carnival Magic

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6311

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

We seven departed on 12/31/2016 and returned 1/7/2017.   The ship was larger (passenger capacity) then I had thought when I booked, but that was okay.

Service was good, and food both in buffets and main dining rooms was very good.  We were pleased as we had been concerned after cruising on Holland America, Royal Caribbean, and NCL with their excellent food service. on past cruses.   We also enjoyed the An Time Dining for dinner.   Only issue was the main dining room were not open for lunch, thus always had lunch on the Lido deck buffets.

We all liked the entertainment on board, especially the comedians, and the production numbers in the main theater.   We really liked the ports of call.

My favorite was St. Thomas but all were nice to visit.   Was a little disappointed in Grand Turk as our shore excursion was canceled by Carnival, and they really didn't offer anything comparable.

Only complaint was to get to the comedy club one had to go up and down a deck or run the gauntlet of the smokers in the casino, very poor ship layout!!  They should have had the smokers area either a the very front or rear of a deck so non-smokers would not have to run the gauntlet of a smoke filled room to get to another entertainment spot on the ship or go up and down decks to get around the pollution caused by smokers.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Would be nice if the main dining rooms would be open for lunch so one could sit down and be served and not have to stand in lines and carry their food around trying to find a table.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
Did not like having to go up and down decks or traverse the smoke filled casino to get to different venues on deck five. The smokers area should have been either far front or aft not mid-ship so non-smokers would not have to go through the smoke or be inconvenienced by having to change decks to avoid the toxic smoke

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Our cabin was fine, however we had to request the twin beds be placed together as a queen bed after getting to our cabin and that had been on our pre-cruise information shared with Carnival. Our cabin stewards were great.

Ship tip

If you don't take a shore excursion in Grand Turk you are captive either on the ship or on an artificial small shopping area for Carnival Cruise Line with expensive shops.

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

3 out of 5

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

5 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Grand Turk Island

3 out of 5
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3 Comments

askeegan    7 years ago

Grand Turk is a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the sun and the beach and a frosty something...  I totally agree about the layout on the ship with respect to smoking.  My wife and I being reformed smokers do not care for it, but endure it though to get to where we need to.  Happy Cruising!

glomarrone    7 years ago

The beach and the pool are great places to relax on Grand Turk.  This is one of my favorite ports.  The lounges are complimentary, too. 

 

.I agreed that it is annoying that many cruise lines force you to walk through the smoky casino to get to the theater.  This is not accidental.  If enough passengers complain perhaps they will  stop using this deck plan. 

cucruizin    7 years ago

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. I've been looking at the Magic for birthday cruise this year. Great review, thanks for posting.

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