We had a great time, Our ship definitely needed some improvement here and there

Item: Carnival Magic
Rating: 4.3
Author: jbmustang97

Carnival Magic Cruise Review

jbmustang97

Contributor Level: Second Mate

128 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 20

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5

4 Night Bermuda (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 14, 2022

Ship: Carnival Magic

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 2387

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Great short cruise with great food and entertainment! The water park was amazing and the top deck was laid out great however carnival needs to step up their cleanliness! Most carpets on the ship were stained and gross, way beyond what I would consider acceptable for a ship that’s only 11 years old. I wouldn’t consider this acceptable for a ship 30 years old and as a seasoned cruiser with another cruise line I can assure you this is not normal, anywhere there is a carpet besides the brand new non smoking casino and the barely used piano bar it is stained and dirty. All 34 elevator waiting areas, the main atrium on deck 3, main dining rooms etc. the deck could use a scrubbing as well many patches of black something, staining, mildew or whatever, either way I haven’t seen it that bad on other ships significantly older.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Leaving from Manhattan was wonderful! We took the train in, walked to the cruise port and boarded when they called our muster zone. It was very smooth, the views coming out of New York Harbor were amazing!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Dining was a highlight of this trip, I had just gotten off Adventure of the Seas a month ago and they are still dealing with staffing shortages, it was much less evident here. I would highly recommend to anyone cruising in the couple years post COVID to do the traditional dining option. We walked in and we’re seated immediately, my time is a mess right now on all cruise lines. We got a wonderful seat looking right out the back of the ship which we enjoyed so much! The buffet apart from some decent lines at breakfast and lunch was wonderful although I didn’t like that you have to pour your own drinks and the machines take forever which causes lines and the cups are so small… Guys burger joint was definitely a highlight of the trip. As a Royal Caribbean loyalist I was delighted with the dedicated burger station! Dining was a highlight of this trip!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Another highlight of this trip was the Activities, the water park was top notch and on par with the best from any other cruise line! If you have kids they will love the size of the kids splash area although the bucket was never working on our trip… The sports square in my opinion was lacking but certainly checked all the boxes which was great! The highlight of it was definitely the ropes course! That was so much fun! And once your strapped in you can do it for as long and as many times as you like! Mini golf was okay but lacking compared to RCCL, we still had a lot of fun with it! The 9th hole sometimes worked sometimes didn’t on our cruise… but it was still enjoyable. There we’re plenty other things too like giant chess, billiards, foosball, ping pong, and bean bag toss. What the ship was lacking the entertainment staff sure knew how to make the best of, the entertainment was top notch, the shows were great and we were pleasantly surprised with what they could do without some of the more impressive venues on RCCL. The comedy was absolutely a highlight! It was so funny! RC please take notes on that one!!

Entertainment

5 out of 5

I was very impressed that despite having more traditional entertainment venues that would be more at home on a vision class ship then a voyager class (size) ship, the entertainment coordinators were able to put on some great shows. Nothing was out of this world innovative but it was top notch and great utilization of the ship’s amenities! The entertainment was absolutely a strong point! The comedy club is absolutely a Carnival signature venue and something I really wish Royal did as well as Carnival does! The comedians were absolutely hilarious! It was in your face, ridiculous and absolutely uncensored! Definitely in my opinion the biggest stand out part of our Carnival cruise vacation! Only negative I can think of is the comedy is so good that people pack into that venue, it is unbelievably crowded in there. I really wish they could move they could move the comedy club to the main theatre or build a larger venue on new ships. It’s that good

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Service was what you would expect on a cruise ship, the only knock I’ll give it is that the servers did not interact with us as much as I am used to but honestly with the servers wearing masks It’s very hard to anyway so perhaps it was just a response to that reality.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Okay here we go.. the fun part, as I mentioned I am a Royal loyalist trying Carnival for the first time so take that as you will. But It’s a good opportunity to get a perspective from someone who knows the competition and isn’t a fanboy. Deck 10 - 12 is great definitely on par with other ships, the problem starts down below, the promenade Deck 5 is sparse and mostly taken up by a casino… nothing like the Royal promenade. Ocean plaza is cute but small, piano bar was only used one night on our sailing otherwise it was empty. Only other venue is vibe nightclub and spotlight lounge besides main theater. Lanai was nice but underutilized, hot tubs were a strong point. Here is the big negative, cleanliness was absolutely unacceptable… main thoroughfares and common areas for the most part were very clean however every carpet in all 34 of the ships elevator bays 3 per deck, were absolutely stained and gross.. would it kill them to clean the carpet? I know some people might think I’m crazy but they had an obsession with using grey or tan carpet on our ship and it was stained everywhere it was used… not just small stains, enormous dirty looking stains. This carpet is everywhere I will provide pics to demonstrate. Carnival if your listening, if you would replace this carpet with a teal carpet that matched your little green touches throughout the hallways this ship would be SO MUCH NICER!!! I’ll provide pictures to show you what I mean. We also noticed a lot of staining on the deck but It’s not a huge deal just looks to be more than I’ve seen on other ships.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

This cabin was surprisingly nice! I have never been in an inside cabin before and was pleasantly surprised with the space and amenities on magic. The bathroom didn’t look as nice as on Royal but I give them a lot of credit because it was super clean and very user friendly! Only wish it had a shower door instead of curtain for a ship this new. Only knock is that the carpet could’ve definitely been cleaner… there was even a spot near our nightstand where someone had spilled maple syrup all over the carpet… that was fun to step in on the first day with my socks…. Fortunately it was in the corner…. Moral of the story carnival corporation if you wanna see me back on a ship of yours in the future clean your carpets!! I was disappointed to see a ship 11 years old in this kind of shape when a ship that’s 21 years old was so much cleaner.

Ship tip

I would recommend a short trip… this ship is really only big enough for 4 days or so unless you really like being lazy or the casino… this cruise was to give my friend a taste of cruising. He is very much a I’ve seen it let’s move on type of person and we ended up doing everything more than once by the end of our 4 day trip with plenty of time to spare. I left Magic feeling like I did everything I could’ve wanted to do more than I wanted to. After my 5 day cruise on Adventure of the Seas I left feeling like I wanted more time to do the activities more than once and I even missed out on a few activities I wish I could’ve done. RCCL is really for a cruise over 5 days. I feel like most carnival ships certainly dream class and anything smaller are meant for 3-5 day sailings.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

New York, New York

5 out of 5

King's Wharf, Bermuda

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

Leaving the ship was a hassle, on Royal it is much smoother, they basically heard you like cattle down one staircase in one enormous line. Was not pleasant

Traveler Photos

14 Comments

lesplas 2 years ago

Thx for sharing

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florida2 2 years ago

Thanks for review! I will be on Magic in 2 weeks Also only a 4 day!

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nautigirl78 2 years ago

My favorite ship! 😍

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sycamoregrill 2 years ago

Really appreciate the opinions of a Royal Loyal lol. Have played around with giving them a try but truly love the carnival vibe of fun! We enjoyed the Magic last year and booked again this summer. Sad to hear Brad’s piano bar was empty as we often close the place on our cruises every night. Comedy is always good and the club on the Magic seems small but I feel is bigger than the ones on the Vista class ships. We’ll see how the venues are on the Celebration in January and compare. Thanks for your detailed review🌴

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CruisedudeNY65 2 years ago

Thanks for your review. I'm glad the magic was much better for you than it was for me

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1Spursfan 2 years ago

Thank you for the detailed review. I missed Royals Promenade when I cruised on the Magic too.

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byhisgrace 2 years ago

Appreciate your feedback

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PDnJ 2 years ago

Appreciate the comparison with RCL. Despite the carpet issues I'm glad you still had a good time

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Ramsey1986 2 years ago

I am glad you had a great time on your cruise. Thank you for taking the time to share your review. 😎🚢☀️🩴🏝☀️🐠🌺

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise

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javawoody 2 years ago

Thanks for the review

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AuntPinkie 2 years ago

Appreciate your feedback. Glad you enjoyed your cruise in spite of the dirty carpets!

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GabeNSteph 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing

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cruising2004 2 years ago

Thank you for sharing your cruising experience.

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