Loved Bermuda and the Carnival Magic
Carnival Magic Cruise Review to Bermuda
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 6
Helpful Votes: 208
8 Night Bermuda (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: September 28, 2019
Ship: Carnival Magic
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
The cruise was a very relaxing family vacation. We flew down from North Carolina the night before our cruise and stayed at the Hampton Inn Fort Lauderdale Airport North. It was a very nice and clean hotel to stay at. The staff was so sweet! We took the shuttle from the hotel to the cruise port. It was $10 per person. We were on the ship by 10:30. The Carnival staff was great. They always spoke and had a smile on their face when they walked by. For the most part, all the passengers we met were very nice!!! I enjoyed talking to some of them on the ship and off. A very nice young man bought one of my daughters a double chocolate frappe at the coffee shop when he found out what she liked. We had used our free drink coupons from Carnival earlier at brunch and instead of chocolate, it tasted like pineapple, so she didn't drink it. He surprised us and gave her the frappe. We were blessed with great weather on our cruise. It only rained on one sea day. We enjoyed the movies at night instead of going to the shows. Simon the Cruise Director was great!!! This was his last cruise before going on vacation. Bermuda was absolutely beautiful. The first day we went to Horseshoe Bay by mini van. It was $7 one way. The beach got crowded very quickly. Get there early to get a place in the shade. We took the ferry ride over to St. George after we ate lunch on the ship. It left at 2:45 and was about a 30 to 35 minute ride. We went to The Bermuda Perfumery while in St. George and I bought one of my daughters some perfume for her birthday. We didn't go in till 4:45 and it was closing at 5:00. We could have gone through a tour there if we had gotten there earlier. Before going there, we spent a lot of time in a pharmacy because they had great gifts and unique items. We took the last ferry back that day which was 5:45. Thankfully, they let every one on board do open dining that night since we were staying over night in Bermuda. I was glad since we had missed our early dining time. We went to the dining room at 7:00 and finished dessert by 7:45. I think this was the only time this year that the Magic went to Bermuda. The Captain had never been to Bermuda before and neither had our servers or steward. The Magic is a great ship with great staff and food! Hopefully, I didn't make mistakes typing. I would make this briefer but don't have time to go back and change now. Highly recommend the Magic!!!Embarkation
Best ever! We got to the port at 11:00 and were on the ship by 11:30.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We ate in the dining room at 6:00 every night. The food was very good! I ate the grilled salmon almost every night. We thought the food was better than some of our previous cruises. I got my daughter Mongolian 3 days at lunch and got there a little before 12:00 and never had to wait over 5 minutes. If you go past 12:00, there will be a long line. I ate the Lido buffet a few days and it was good. I only got vegetables on the Lido. Several days I had some delicious soup! We ate Italian one day for lunch but it was not by favorite. We also didn't think the barbecue was as good as our North Carolina barbecue.
Onboard Activities
Enjoyed the mini golf. Was not windy at all. My son and one daughter enjoyed the water slides a couple of days. We had spa balcony rooms and enjoyed the spa.
Entertainment
We did not attend the theater shows. Preferred watching the movies.
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
Asyis, Adi and Sendian were great servers. On some previous cruises, our service was slow but not this cruise. We were usually finished eating desserts by 7:00 or 7:15. They were very nice! Wirawan was a good steward. He always provided what we needed and kept our room very clean.
Ship Quality
The ship had a great layout. It was good being able to get to our dining room on deck 4 without having to go to a different deck to get there. The workers were constantly cleaning the ship. We never experienced any bad smell that some people have said in reviews.
Cabin / Stateroom
We were happy with our spa balcony cabin. The bed wasn't quite as comfortable as our last Carnival cruise. The room was always clean.
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Great port!
Thumbs Up
0
We had been there before. Most of my family went to Jack's Shack for a little while to swim and then back to the ship. One of my daughters and I went off for about 30 minutes to buy something.
We booked an Excursion with Mark Roberts at Under The Sea. I contacted Mark several weeks before the cruise and arranged for 8 of us to snorkel at the Blue Hole and go swim with turtles. He also stopped at a shipwreck. The reef was beautiful. The water was calm We were the only people there snorkeling. Mark can take up to 12. It was nice having a small group instead of the excursion with large groups. The price was about the same as snorkeling with the large groups. Mark's wife was able to go with us. Both Mark and his wife are very nice and will tell you a lot about the area. I highly recommend Mark Roberts and Under the Sea if you would like a small group snorkeling excursion going 5 miles off shore to snorkel in the Blue Hole. He is also available for private tours. Mark's boat was very nice and their is plenty of shade. It was about a 10 to 15 minute taxi ride from King's Wharf to get to the marina where his boat will pick you up. Taxi did not cost much.
Disembarkation
Fastest ever! We had a 10:50 flight out of Fort Lauderdale. We were off the ship and through customs in about 15 minutes. Carried our own luggage off at 8:00.