A cruise so fun... we've already booked it again next year! And the amazing Memorial Day Weekend airshow over South Beach as the ship was sailing away made it even better!
Carnival Magic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 11
Helpful Votes: 320
6 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: May 26, 2024
Ship: Carnival Magic
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 6243
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 4 months ago
Review summary
**** The ship? The Magic is a nice ship, but a little too big for my taste. Lots of food options & places to hang out like Ocean Plaza & Red Frog Pub. Would like to have a sports bar option. **** The staff? We loved CD Frankie. We loved Georg our shopping insider. And we loved our MDR server team Jerome, Chandra, & Jay. GG & Stephanie were also super helpful in the Effy store. And really enjoyed interacting with Jayla the server while on Half Moon Cay. **** The room? The cabin wasn’t clean when we boarded, but by the next day everything was cleaned up thanks to our cabin steward. **** The destinations? Fantastic destinations of Amber Cove, Grand Turk, & Half Moon Cay. I will gladly go back to all these ports of call. **** The port? Man, I wish Miami was closer… Such a great cruise port, 3 great stops on a 6 night cruise, perfect weather and the absolute smoothest Atlantic seas I have ever experienced, a fantastic early summer cruise!Embarkation
**** Easy getting on the ship with priority boarding! Also boarding after 11am helps since the crush to board has died down. **** Our luggage was delivered to the room at 2:30p, that was fast! We were unpacked pretty quickly. **** Amazing Memorial Day Weekend airshow over South Beach as the ship was sailing away! Epic!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
**** First night at the steakhouse was nice. The steaks & sides were good, & the desserts were great! Love that free bottle of wine on the 1st night.
**** Embarkation lunch at the Blue Iguana is always tasty & fast. Really love those fish soft tacos & salsa. However, there is no place to sit down & eat lunch once we boarded @ noon because everyone was looking for someplace to set their carry-ons down & wait to get into their rooms. I don’t think we will ever board a ship before the rooms are ready again.
**** 1st sea day brunch service was slow service & not very good. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our 1st nice breakfast on the cruise.
**** Dinner in the MDR on the 1st elegant night wasn’t great. The not-so-wonderful MDR menu now appears to be fleetwide for all ships except Excel class.
**** Breakfast was better in the MDR at our 1st stop at Amber Cove! We were able to get in quick & order the fast port day express breakfast. We walked off the ship as soon as passengers were released to leave.
**** The 2nd sea day brunch was better than the 1st. Enjoyed some eggs benedict with a shared side of skillet cake. The servers were attentive & helpful.
**** Had a great 2nd sea day lunch at the Pig & Anchor. The meats were tasty as well as the sauces. Well worth the wait in a long line. Thanks to the staff for directing guests that there were two serving lines. However, lunch in the Cucina Del Capitano pick your own pasta was not a good experience at all. It takes a long time between being seated & finishing your pasta. We won’t make this mistake again.
**** Always a nice experience at sea day teatime. We always meet fun cruisers while pigging out on scones with cream.
**** Dinner in the MDR on the final night is always nice but sad as we bid a fond farewell to our server team. The food was great, and baked Alaska for dessert was the crescendo.
Onboard Activities
**** So glad that the Stanley Cup playoffs were available to watch on this ship. Not very comfortable sitting at the casino bar, but at least we get to see some sports.
**** Glad that the fitness center was open @ 6a to get in an early morning workout. Also really nice to have a running track on the Magic. Enjoyed a morning run with a gorgeous sunrise.
**** Played mobile trivia and won 1st place! And they had Carnival related trivia as part of the questions! Mobile trivia is a great addition to showroom games. Not sure the younger crowd can answer most of those movie related trivia questions.
Entertainment
**** The Welcome Aboard show is a complete waste of time since it’s obviously the same across the CCL fleet other than Excel class ships. Normally Rock the Promenade thru the ship is entertaining, but even that was cut short on this particular cruise. That will be the last time we watch this show.
**** Really enjoyed music lobby trivia with CD Frankie on the 1st sea day. This gets people out of their shell & brings the energy level up. Don’t miss this fun event!
**** The 80s rock & glow party on the lido deck was epic! CD Frankie was dressed for the occasion, putting the crowd up on the big screen was super fun, & everyone was having a great time dancing & waving the LED glow sticks! Very entertaining.
Children's Programs
No kids! Everyone over 18
Service and Staff
**** Leo & Mike – Claroscuro, duet from Venezuela. Really enjoyed their chemistry on stage & their style of music. Very talented.
**** Georg – aka “twohead”, shopping insider from Cape Town. Georg was very helpful for us when purchasing expensive jewelry in Grand Turk & Amber Cove. We cannot say enough positive things about the Carnival Insiders!
**** Tessa – shopping insider on the Vista. Tessa is a very good friend of ours from past cruises on the Breeze & Glory. It was HUGE to reunite with her in Grand Turk at Diamonds Intl. She & Georg work great together, and they were very helpful when shopping for an engagement ring!
**** Jerome, Chandra, Jay – MDR waiters, table 640. These MDR servers are the best in the biz, they kept the glasses full & customers happy!
**** GG & Stephanie – Effy saleswomen. Very helpful ladies when shopping for expensive jewelry. Steffy from Effy!
**** Jayla – server on Half Moon Cay, boss Adidas hat. Enjoyed interacting with Jayla while on Half Moon Cay, kept the tables clean & the passengers happy.
Ship Quality
**** Terrible sea day #1 on the Lanai deck. Really rowdy crowd twerking in the nearby hot tub playing very loud music. We typically enjoy the serene quiet of the Lanai deck on the 1st sea day until this cruise.
Cabin / Stateroom
**** Love the cabins on Dream class ships, everything is designed with purpose.
**** The stateroom was not well cleaned when we arrived. The vanity & lamp stand surfaces were gross. There was a brown stain on our top sheet. We had to get the room steward to clean it again the next day.
**** Very noisy on the final night of the cruise. Lots of yelling in the hallway very late at night. Thank goodness for earplugs.
Ship tip
**** Mobile trivia needs to be promoted, magnified, & extended. However, we would like to play mobile trivia for more than 15 minutes! I think TimePlay trivia is an absolute winner & is a ton of fun.
Thumbs up
1
Ports of call
Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic
**** We enjoyed a really fun beach & pool day at Playabachata on Maimon Beach near the cruise port! Plenty of good drinks, fun in the pool, & decent food for lunch. Can’t wait to go back next year.
**** Got a great deal on an alexandrite ring at Diamonds Intl at Amber Cove! Last ones on the ship!
**** We had a really fun day snorkeling & swimming with the stingrays at Gibbs Cay with White Sands Adventures! Conch salad on the remote beach is a lasting memory for our family.
**** Epic meet-up at Diamonds Intl with Tessa our good Carnival Insider friend from past cruises, and Georg our Magic shopping insider. We really enjoyed having a chance to see Tessa again. We also got a great deal on an engagement ring from the Diamonds Intl store manager Hassam!
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)
**** CCL is now selling cold beer in soft coolers at Half Moon Cay. What a great idea! We bought one & kept the waterproof soft-sided beer bag.
**** We noticed a couple melting down on the beach having a very heated argument. In the middle of beach heaven, and this is the moment you choose to start a massive fight with your other half. Lay off the excessive alcohol, boys & girls.
Disembarkation
**** So nice to have breakfast refreshments for diamond & platinum debarkation! We really like this gesture. Really great to grab a quick cup of coffee & a pastry before leaving the ship early. I wish this was fleetwide. **** Kudos to the Magic team for using the mid dining room for diamond & platinum debarkation. There was plenty of room for guests & everyone’s luggage! No one got annoyed or irritated, really smooth. **** The WeParkInMiami shuttle was ready to pick us up @ 7:15a. We were on the road by 7:30a with no issues getting out of the parking deck. We will definitely use their service again.
Traveler Photos
