The trip was great because of the ports. It seems the ship is still dealing with staffing issues that were noticeable at the buffet where it took forever to have tables cleared. The dining venues were a disappointment to us. I'm sure if we had a great waiter our experience would have been better. The Magic didn't give us any wow factor and the crew was the same. A few really good bartenders salvaged some of this. A lot of blue cards on this trip.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Used VeriFly at Port Canaveral and it was the easiest embarkation from security to the waiting area we've ever had. We did have to sit and wait until our B4 zone was called. Once started, it moved quickly to get in the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
This is where this trip just did not stand up. The service in the YTD MDR was so bad for us this trip. Twice in the MDR it took more than 15 minutes for us to even be acknowledged. The second time we made eye contact with the wait staff who was actively serving and clearing the tables on either side of us and we still didn't have water. We got up to leave and the waiter turned and walked away. Unbelievable. The food wasn't anything to write home about so it wasn't worth going back to the MDR. The one good meal in the MDR was the filet on Grand Turk day. We ate at the steakhouse and Cucina as well. My medium steak at the steakhouse was way overdone and gray and dry. After dropping the steak off we never saw our wait staff until dessert so there was no way to remedy that steak. Very disappointing. If there are little things overall you can overlook them if you are being well taken care of in the restaurants. This unfortunately wasn't the case.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
There were a lot of trivia and bingo seemingly every day. We met the lady who won the free cruise. You could always find something to do if you wanted. The ship seemed very crowded on the sea days. This was a sea day heavy itinerary and finding a chair anywhere in and around any of the pools or a deck above was a challenge. We ended up heading out on promenade to find chairs in the sun. Serenity was closed on the first two sea days due to the wind. We did Serenity on the last sea day.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The main lounge shows were ok. Typical Carnival shows. 88 keys etc. The magician was fun, the piano player was really good.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Ron in the Red Frog Bar in Lido was a lot of fun as was Eric at the Blue Iguana. We stayed away from Alchemy due to the crowds. The Red Frog Pub was ok. The waiters in the MDR and specialty dining were not good for us. Our stateroom steward Putra was good.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was fine. We like the look of the last Farcus designed ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Due to wind and waves, and then cleaning above us for the first 5 days our cove balcony was always wet and not useful. It was finally dry for the last few days. We liked being close to the water. Probably won't get one again.
Ship tip
If you have YTD MDR and find a good wait staff stay with them. We didn't and it made the experience less than enjoyable.
We loved the Magic pre-covid…it’s a weird time to cruise for sure. We have only been on one post Covid cruise and it was definitely different. Not bad, but not the same.
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