What's happened to Carnival?
Carnival Magic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 18, 2017
Ship: Carnival Magic
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9400
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
My wife and I are frequent cruisers since the kids have graduated taking one about every 9 months. We started with Carnival because of the kids and are nearing the sought after Platinum level and the perks that go with it. Must say that after the 7 days on the Magic last week we are doubting we will ever go on another Carnival cruise again. First the good things; The Alchemy Bar is a jewel and one of the best concepts for a bar on any ship that I have ever been on. We also enjoyed the piano bar and the comedy club. The buffet on the Lido deck is generally above average and usually never crowded. The ports of call were excellent and the only reason my rating was as high as it was because... it is a known fact that Carnival has cut way back on anything that costs them to do, the result is a sub par cruise. The dining room is just plain bad. We did your time dining and we always had a minimum 30 minute wait to get in and when you get there the dining room is half empty and the service is horrible because of the understaffing. Food ranges from excellent to dog food quality, halfway through the cruise we gave up on the dining room and ate at the specialty restaurant one night and the buffet. The shows were pathetic and sparse with no live bands anymore, a cost cutback. I have never been on a cruise ship in which the entertainment was so bad. The smoking on this ship, especially on the casino was also so bad that we got to the point that we could not go in or get near it or on the 12th deck. The layout of this class of ship is bad and getting from one place to another can be a maze and require you to go up one floor to get down to the same floor especially on the 3rd level. The service in general like dining or your stateroom is below par because of staff reductions which is the point of going on a luxury cruise liner, which Carnival has apparently decided to down grade themselves to a going out of business cruise liner.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Do not do the "your time dining"
Ports of call
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
15 Comments
JanK42663828 7 years ago
MJtraveler 7 years ago
We just got off the Magic last Saturday. The food in the MDR was excellent! I will agree that the dining room with "anytime" dining was sparsely populated every night, but assigned seating in ours was packed with outstanding service. We cruise Carnival often (working towards Diamond), and the Magic is our new favorite! We also cruise Celebrity, but love the fun on Carnival. More interesting ports than RCL, and many fewer items to pay extra for. Fabulous cruise director "Dr. E" kept everyone having fun. To each his own, I guess!
sopha 7 years ago
jims60 7 years ago
picalo 7 years ago
beach48bum 7 years ago