July 30 from Norfolk
Carnival Magic Cruise Review
6 Night The Bahamas (Norfolk Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 30, 2023
Ship: Carnival Magic
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 8315
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 9 months ago
Review summary
Choose this cruise for the convenience of going out of Norfolk. We all had a great time but it wasn’t the *best* trip we’ve had. The main issue was the terribly long lines at the buffets and getting off/on in BiminiEmbarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Northern Lights and Southern Lights Dining Rooms
Excellent service and fast - unlike other cruises we never felt like we needed to skip dessert in order to make it to a show. Good variety throughout the week.
Play it Again Piano Bar
Great bar staff. Piano player Josh is new and has a *very* limited repertoire but still managed to keep everyone engaged, signing along, and having a good time.
Pizzeria del Capitano
Long lines all the time but decent pizza. Needs more staff
Ocean Plaza
Drinks at Alchemy Bar were awesome but service was very slow and pretentious.
BlueIguana Cantina
Like all the food on the ship (except main dining room) the lines were long and slow. But I found the food worth the wait here and the friendliness of the staff here (Deky in particular) made it enjoyable
Coffee Bar
Pro tip: everything here is included in the drink package including gatorades to take on excursions and milkshakes. Just needed more staff to make lines go faster
Lido Marketplace
Lines were always incredibly long with not a ton of variety. Worst buffet of any cruise we’ve been on.
Onboard Activities
The Serenity
Being wrapped around the engine area kind of defeats the purpose of peace and quiet.
Ropes Course
Kids enjoyed this a lot
Sportsquare
This was a neat area with outdoor billiards and foosball along with the usual stuff
Slide Entrance
Kids said slide was painful on their backs and didn’t do it more than once
Entertainment
Seaside Theater
Good variety of recent movies. I had to go to guest services when they played a move different from the one that was scheduled which we wanted to see. It was quickly corrected.
Spotlight Lounge
We enjoyed all the comedy shows. The magician was meh.
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Plan to use the main dining room for most meals - it’s somehow actually faster than the buffet lines