Overall, Carnival just feels like they cheap out on things! No table clothes in the dining room - except on formal night. The internet - even the highest speed - is SUPER, SUPER SLOW!!!! Do not expect to stream any videos, movies, YouTube, nothing! Even downloading photos and opening some websites takes a long time. It's a total rip-off. So plan on being internet free for the week. (Royal Caribbean has far better internet!) The food isn't good and the entertainment is just okay. Instead of having high quality shows every night, they have a game show as their main entertainment. Generally, I LOVE the "Love & Marriage Game Show" but the way they did it on the Magic was just boring. The Cruise Director lost the crowd while he asked all of the questions. Carnival needs to send some employees on the other cruise lines to see how things are done - comparison shopping would help! Overall, we picked Carnival for New Year's because it was cheaper than the other options. So we shouldn't be surprised with the overall cheapness of the cruise. Next time, we'll pay more money and go for Royal, Celebrity or NCL (if they continue to offer the free meal plan!)
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Easy and quick!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The food isn't great on Carnival. Many of the choices listed on the menu in the main dining room turn out to be something slightly different when they appear in front of you. The food in the buffet is blah. The only really good thing is Guy's burgers/fries and the pizza (and the ice cream!). Oh, the desserts are good too! The rest is mediocre.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The fitness center was decent and never crowded. The Carnival crowd doesn't really go to the gym. But the buffet lines are CRAZY LONG!
Entertainment
2 out of 5
The stage shows were bad - and my expectations are LOW! I usually love all the shows. But these performers didn't harmonize well. Two in particular were awful. The comedians were great, which was the only entertainment we enjoyed. Al Romero was fantastic!
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The dining room staff was good - attentive and quick. The room stewards were nice, but slow at times. It feels as though they are overworked with too many cabins to cover in a short time.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
The ship is outdated and the balcony was dirty. There was dried paint splatter all over the floor and chairs. The floor (albeit washed during our cruise) was still dirty! And the painted our balcony during the cruise and got paint on the glass and never cleaned it. Sloppy and careless! Plus, the ledge in our cabin was filled with dust!
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
There is plenty of storage and space in the cabin. It's well-designed. But the balcony and some parts of the cabin were dirty. And one of us got sick at the end of the trip. They don't do the "washy-washy" thing (hand sanitizing in the dining room and buffet.)
This seems like a brand new port. Not much to do once you leave the port IF you don't do an excursion. We went to Ocean World for a dolphin encounter. Great facility and staff.
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