Nice, but not Magical

very efficient embarkation at Port Canaveral. Took only a few minutes from getting in line to being on the ship.

We usually had dinner in the Northern Lights dining room on 'Your Time' dining, breakfast either at brunch in Southern Lights (sea days) or at the Lido Buffet. During many of our dining room experiences, food was slow to be delivered (sometimes sitting on the service table for extended times and then delivered cool/cold) and sometimes parts of our orders were not delivered at all. Normally, you could ask your server about missing food items, but they were usually so busy that they couldn't stop by and check on you until after you ate. Another effect of wait staff being too busy is that we almost NEVER were asked about drink refills - we would get one drink (whether from the bar or the included tea/lemonade), and no chance for refill. And usually, when you asked for non-bar drinks, we felt as though we were bothering many of the servers, when on other ships/cruise lines, this is never an issue. Having sailed with Carnival on many cruises, we know that their food is usually very good. However, on our sailing main entrees were often very over cooked and in one instance we were even served very undercooked pasta (not 'al-dente' mind you, but almost crunchy). This was not up to the level of quality we've come to expect from Carnival dining. Carnival touts the multiple dining options on the Magic. However, we were usually greeted with very long lines at the Lido Buffet, the Pizzeria, Guy's Burgers and the Pig and Anchor. These venues all seem to be designed for a smaller crowd than we experienced, as they all struggled to keep up with demand. And if you wanted to experience Guy's Burgers or the Pig and Anchor, you only had limited times to do so, with Guy's burgers only available a few hours each day and Pig and Anchor only for a couple of hours, and only on sea days. This lack of availability of the alternative dining venues only puts more pressure on the buffet and over-worked dining room staff.

Usual mix of Carnival activities including Bingo, Love and Marriage, musicians, and comedians. While there's a lot to do, it didn't seem that the number of choices was adequate for a ship this large (>3500 passengers, but usually only one event going on at any given time).

the nightly theater shows, when offered, were underwhelming, even compared to other Carnival productions that we've seen in the past. First was '88 Keys', Carnival Playlist Production cast's attempt at a tribute show to modern musical classics. Unfortunately, the vocals of some of the cast were just ok, but nothing special. Most annoying was that some of the performers were pretending to play musical instruments throughout the performance, when the Magic has VERY talented musicians onboard with Whisky Business and Tower of Brass (having real musicians perform these classics would have been much more enjoyable than watching people pretend to play instruments). There was also 'Country Road', Playlist Productions' attempt at a Country Music 'journey'. Unfortunately, again some of the singing was not great, so we left after just a couple of numbers. Next up was Flick, which bills itself as a journey that will stir up the imagination while infiltrating our musical memories. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to that hype, and was on par with a high school musical performance with some adequate vocals but confusing choreography. We witnessed many other guests leaving during the performance, many sharing our sentiments based on their comments as they left. Finally, there was 'America Rocks', another music tribute show, this time to rock and roll classics and legends. Fortunately, Whisky Business band members were prominently featured in this production, and their guitar skills made this a show worth listening to.

Cabin steward was nice, friendly and attentive. Most dining staff were not too helpful and seemed to be too busy. Cookie was a great Cruise Director - keeping things fun without being too over the top. Cheeky Charlie (Director of the Comedy Club) and Lucky Lindsey (ran the Bingo games) were also great at their jobs! The musicians (Martin, Whiskey Business/Tower of Brass) were all super-talented and very enjoyable to listen to.

The ship was well maintained, with clean public areas. Pools were also well maintained and usually not overly crowded when we were there. There were ample loungers and places to watch the world float by, if you ventured around the ship. Notable problems were deck 5 mid-ship was very smoky from the casino (ventilation seemed to not be working), temperature in the Spotlight lounge was always way too cold, and paid WiFi was almost useless as the WiFi signal only seemed strong around midship.

The cabin was comfortable enough for 3 of us (our daughter slept on the couch that converted into a small bed (twin bed size?). It's a good location because there are no major attractions above or below. Only problem we noted was the balcony door on the cabin in front of ours slammed when they used it (not sure if it was the door, or the guests, though).