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Carnival Magic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 36
8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 08, 2019
Ship: Carnival Magic
Cabin type: Inside
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
Overall, it was a good experience. However, it was definitely the first cruise I lost weight. I also feel like it needs an adjustment to the order the ports are visited. 4 ports in 4 days is hard!Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Service was sub-par in the main dining room. The food was nothing to brag about. A steak that I was not even able to eat it was so tough. I was not fond of the buffet either bc there was not enough choices of just plain food. Most choices were really bizarre. I guess I’m saying not enough kid choices. Very hard to feed a picky eater. The bbq place was terrible, not to mention the hair in the potato salad. Ice cream machines broken constantly. I would also like to mention the several times that crew would come through with mops and leave the floor wet and I slipped on it. One particular time was in the Italian place and it really hurt my hip and back. One foot slipped straight out in front of me on the wet floor. Italian food was just ok. The ONLY reason I’m giving two stars is bc the steak house was awesome and the service there was great! It was what I would expect of the main dining room and it used to be that way. Anything for additional money!
Cucina Del Capitano
Highly overrated!
Onboard Activities
At times, I struggled to find deck chairs available while there were stacked up chairs tied together. Service at or around the pools was hit or miss. We did not use the fitness center. We did not do any of the sports activities on the upper decks. They looked fun, but according to the adult conversations I heard around the boat there were a lot of issues going on around the basketball court.
Entertainment
In my opinion, there should be a lot more Caribbean/tropical music played around all pools. I felt like the DJ was good, but not enough time doing it. The violin players were amazing, but after the 2nd night of it I had grown tired of it. The shows I saw were a little bit cheesy, but enjoyable! Being a teen from the 80’s that was the best night for me. The 80’s dance party on the Lido deck was great as a pre-party. However, when it became an organized event with trying to teach dances and stuff you could see the adults leaving until it was just a bunch of kids running around. Most music was 80’s, but there was a lot that was not. The white party looked great. Simon was awesome. The most visible and approachable cruise director I’ve ever had. I remember from earlier cruises that there was always some type of glamorous show each night and you just don’t see that anymore. I think that needs to come back.
Children's Programs
No children.
Service and Staff
There are not enough workers on the ship. On my three cruises I could have sworn our steward spies on us bc every time we walked out of our room they would jump in and tidy the room. On this cruise we had to choose a time to clean. Many other things we had to call for or ask for and a lot of those times it never happened. Our room steward was very nice and personable, but I felt she was stretched very thin. I don’t know if what I heard is true or not, but I was told that the better service people were pulled to go to newer ships. Overall, I just felt we had a very inexperienced crew that was stretched too thin.
Ship Quality
Needs to be updated and not enough staff to keep things clean. This is the first time I have witnessed any uncleanliness on the ship. Plates, etc all in the halls, cups piled in corners everywhere. I personally reported a broken glass on one deck and it was still there two days later. The dining areas had food on the floor under the tables.
The layout is good. I think things are in great order!
Cabin / Stateroom
Very small-needed new carpet-steward did a good job keeping it clean. It needed more air conditioning. It seemed as if Carnival had control of that and would only let it get just so cool. A menopausal woman needs control of the air!🤣 The size was small, but we knew the size when we booked. From what I understand the mini-fridge is ambient controlled, which means it’s controlled by the temp of the room. Well, when it’s not very cool in the room the fridge is not going to be cool. Plus, if you are going to issue that style then it does not need to be in a cabinet.
Ship tip
Bring a fan!
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
First, I want to suggest that you review the excursion we took. We did the Jeep excursion. We were met at the port and loaded into buses. We were told we were going to meet the jeeps. We were hauled around one side of the island at an aggressive fast pace (when we were not caught in traffic or taking detours). We stopped at photo op stops, but I’m really not sure why we stopped there when we passed much more beautiful places. After about an hour or more we were taken to a beach that was a nude/topless beach and we had kids on the excursion. Which I found totally unacceptable. Not to mention that we were not even at a pretty beach. We were told if we wanted to eat to order as soon as we got there to have enough time. After our time was up, we all loaded up to leave and the jeeps were not there. We ended up waiting almost an hour for a jeeps. We were told that we would have to drive very aggressively and not to let cars between us. We were then led across the island at a high rate of speed and hardly got to see anything. We made a stop at a questionable area of town. That time could be better spent somewhere else. The trip ended up at Maho beach. Which for me, I got to check off something on my bucket list. The only thing I felt very rushed. I forgot to mention that the burger at the beach was $25. So, we basically spent the day with no food. This is a trip I honestly feel like Carnival needs to re-evaluate! I feel that for the most-part, Carnival should refund anybody who went on that trip. With the exception of Maho Beach, it was a really bad experience.
We chose to venture off on our own. We walked around the city, but stayed close to the dock. We saw some very neat things.
This port was wonderful!!!!! I really have to say that this is one port that needs to be from 7:00 to 5:00. I felt extremely rushed trying to see as much as I could. So much history on the island, but not enough time to enjoy! Favorite port!
Disembarkation
Actually, it was just what I expected. I took a seat on deck 10 and waited. I realize they were trying to call people by decks or tag numbers, but I do know there were people just leaving whenever they wanted to. This has been an area that has needed improvement going back to my first cruise. Not sure what the answer is to this!
4 Comments
katiej512 5 years ago
Maybe Cruising is not the best option as vacation for you. I am sorry to hear that you couldn’t find anything to eat that you liked I don’t think that the food in the mdr or the buffet is the best ever, but there is always something that’s decent. The specialty restaurants are good and worth what they charge. I do agree that sometimes they cram in too many port days. So we just stay on the ship and enjoy the lack of people on the ship! Happy Cruising
sarad58 5 years ago
I agree JT 1962 about itinerary...there are other cruise leaving from same port with more sea days...i pay attention to that when booking since ive done the cruise on the magic with the same itinerary before..it can be overwhelming. If ur mission is to see a lot then its for you..if u want to relax more and spend more time on the ship then more sea days...its all a personal choice. Happy cruising!
CruzeFan 5 years ago
It’s interesting how people can experience the same exact cruise so differently. There are 4 other reviews for the same dates that rate it excellent on food and entertainment. Food is very subjective, but I’ve always found a good variety of choices and have never had anything inedible on any cruise in 30+ years. I look forward to trying foods I may not have eaten before and unless something has changed, there is always a chicken, fish, beef and vegetarian / pasta choice on each dinner menu. As far as 4 ports in 4 days, there aren’t too many options with the distance the ship has to travel. They could replace one of the ports with Nassau or a private island and go there the first or last day and have a Sea day in between, but many complain they hate Nassau, so it wouldn’t be a popular option.