Had the issues we encountered been handled properly, this cruise review would be much different. Guest services were if very little help in resolving missing OBC, tv, elevators, etc... They offered us a meal in steak house yet we were billed for it and had to go back to guest service where they stated they "meant" a free steakhouse selection and bottle of wine in main dining room .. yet when they offered this I even went back to verify steakhouse prior to reservation and asked for soda vs wine... He sent an email with those changes yet steakhouse didn't get email.. crazy cruise. Not magical. So many issues it ruined what should have been an awesome vacation that we had been looking forward to all year! Considering cancelling our upcoming 4th carnival sailing in August and switching cruise lines.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
There was an accident on bridge causing us to be later than check in.. we arrived at roughly 2 pm vs 10:30 check in time.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Tasteless mostly, or loaded with salt.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
We saw Flick show, it was worse than a middle school talent show! Most activities we wanted to do were ruined due to anytime dining waits, even when reserving at 5:30 didn't get seated until 6 pm or later ruining any chance of seeing shows at 7:30.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Terrible.
Children's Programs
No children.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
It was okay. Staff were friendly mostly.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Seems outdated and in need of MANY repairs.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
The size of our cabin was great, layout was different than other interiors. It was down a strange hallway within a hall making the noise level reduced which was great. Our bathroom light was broken. Steward knew it was going out yet was broken on our first day. The TV was out for 2 days as well, after many calls by both us and the steward and multiple visits to guest service about the issue it finally was replaced. 2 out of 4 midship elevators were also broken. Spa elevator was broken. Tiles in soa pool area were missing, pool in soa smelled nasty.
Always wanted to go to San Juan... It is not the walkable port everyone claims it to be. To get up to fort and rum factory it is uphill. Restaurants were packed or closed.
Beautiful port. We did coral world with coki beach which unless you have children is not a good excursion. Coki beach is small and snorkeling there was very hard due to current. Beach was crowded.
Appreciate your detailed feedback. Sorry so many things went wrong. I know when all those little things start happening and don’t seem to quit, it’s hard to find the positive.
Thank you for the review. Not sure Carnival Magic deserves a 2 star because you experienced a accident on a bridge.
Our experience was a total opposite with Guest Services last August. They went above and beyond.
A shame things seem to all go wrong for you.
Like you said, with your other encounters. There was no way you were going to find anything to your standards. The accident was not Carnival's fault. Not finding chairs at the pool at Port is also not Carnival's fault. You have to plan to get there early. Understand the OBC problem, I would have been upset as well. Don't give up on Carnival. Some of the issues you had can also happen with other cruise lines.
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