Carnival Magic Review- 7/22-7/29

Wow. What a great ship. We had such a great cruise on this ship. Background- we're 45 & 51- seasoned cruisers who have built our loyalty up on Carnival. Aware of the cutbacks over the past few years- but this cruise aboard the Carnival Magic reaffirmed our committment to Carnival. Great ship, great crew, great week!

We are definitely fans of the newer ships. Having sailed on all classes of Carnival, we prefer the newer ships with newer and more ammenities. The ship itself is beautiful. Still Carnival but certainly toned down from previous ships. We had a spa balcony on Deck 12. Love this location. Close to the spa/gym and outside decks. It's open above too and we had no problems with folks from the Serenity Deck looking down on us at all the whole week. They also equip these spa cabins with the samples from the spa line of products. They are definitely better than the soap/body wash provided in the typical cabins.

So many fun things to do on this ship here's just a few of the un things we did during the week:

1) Brunch at the Punchliner comedy club

2) ropes course up on the sports deck

3) fishbowl drink at the Red Frog pub

4) BBQ on sea days on the lanai deck

5) hot dog from the sea dog cart up on the sports deck

6) Bloody Mary's & mimosa's from the drink cart on lido deck

7) free bottle of wine from the steakhouse for dining there 1st night

8) Awesome Magic show/production show

9) putt-putt golf up on sports deck

10) taking a nap up in a hammock up in the serenity area

11) watching the opening ceremonies of the olympics on the big screen

12) searching for my pictures with my sail & sign card

13) waterslides are incredible- toilet bowl and the twister- not to be missed

14) listening to karoake on the promenade- great singers this cruise

15) singing along in the piano bar-

16) dinner in the italian restaurant- very nice! great addition

17) new and improved past guest party- better food and better drinks

18) hanging out in the hottub on the lanai- so cool to be that close to the ocean

19) more serious approach to muster drill-head count included

20) eating pizza late night

Will add more later and will be glad to answer any questions you may have on the Carnival Magic. It's a great ship. No smells, no motion. Very comfortable cruise. The ship was unbelievably crowded. Were there lines? If you went to lunch at 12:05 yes of course. But if you're an early riser like us- no lines at breakfast and no issue getting chairs on the lido, which we did every sea day.

Port of Galveston was easy and hassle-free to get in and out of. We've had a goal of trying to sail all the current Carnival ships, but I'm of the mind to definitely sail the Carnival Magic again. It was an awesome week.

Sounds like a very good cruise

Glad you had a great cruise:)

Glad you had such a good time, sounds like you tried just about everything to do! I agree with you, the Magic is a terrific ship. Sailed on her Feb 2012 and have another cruise scheduled for Feb 2013.

It did feel like we did alot more on this cruise. Been meaning to write the review for a week and unfortunately it's already becoming a bit of a blur. Will add more as I think of it. I don't read alot about the Carnival Magic on these boards, so wanted to share our positive experience.

Nice review and to the point. Thanks

Thanks for taking the time to write a review and share your experiences with us! Glad you had a good cruise!:)

Hello, fellow Okie. :)

I agree the Magic is a great ship! You did way more than I did in April, but I'm going to print out your list and work on that when I go again in December.

Thanks for the great ideas!

Thanks for your report.

Glad you had an awesome cruise.

Thank you for writing this great review!

It is so helpful to have previews of coming attractions...we sail 11/4/12.

Did it take you very long to figure out where everything was?

We had been on the Carnival Magic's sister ship, the Carnival Dream, so we already had a good feel for the layout. Just remember deck 5 promenade and deck 10 lido are the only public decks you can go the length of the ship on. It's really easy, always use the whale tail to orient yourself also when outside.

You're going to love the Carnival Magic! Have a great cruise!

Tell more about the ropes course. I hardly ever see it mentioned in reviews.

When is it open? Lines? Difficulty? How long does it take? Just what is it like?

Ropes course; Loved it, you have to wear closed toed shoes. They put a harness on you. You get to go around twice. You can choose the easy side or the hard side at any time. Opened during daylight hours if the wind is not strong. If it is not crowded, they will let you go around more than twice... :D

I have a Room booked on the Spa deck (12th), was the noise from the spa any trouble.

Ropes course; Loved it, you have to wear closed toed shoes. They put a harness on you. You get to go around twice. You can choose the easy side or the hard side at any time. Opened during daylight hours if the wind is not strong. If it is not crowded, they will let you go around more than twice... :D

since we have visited all the ports a few times, we will definitely look forward to doing the ropes.

Thank you for your wonderful review of Carnival Magic. We know, first hand, what a great time you had. We took our whole family in December and they are still talking about what a great cruise it was. Now, just the two of us will be on Magic all next week.

Reg Frog Pub is wonderful. Gotta get the 101 oz dispenser again...

The ropes course is great. We plan to do that again, too!...

Here's hoping your next Magic cruise is as great as this one was. Bon Voyage!

Great pics. The ropes course wasnt open alot it seemed. Took advantage of early on during a sea day definitely alot of fun. Not very crowded. A little humbling watching kids just zoom from platform to platform with no fear while I was a little more deliberate in each step. Wish we could have done it again- but everytime we checked it wasn't open. So hit it early in the week. Same thing with the waterslides- go early in the morning- no lines and you can go several times pretty easily. In the afternoon's line were 2-3 staircases long. Twister was the scarier of the two- portions you could see out and other portions went dark. The toilet bowl was great fun, but just too short. Drinks at the Red Frog pub are not to be missed. Get the fishbowl during happy hour- definitely worth the price. Great music in there as well. Also alot of fun the way they take your pictures then put them in the slideshow of pictures for the week. Very nice addition to the activities offered onboard.

I have a Room booked on the Spa deck (12th), was the noise from the spa any trouble.

We stayed on 12 in march was quiet as can be. Trying the cove balcony on christmas.

We have a spa balcony booked for the week of Halloween! I can't wait.

I was on this cruise :) I have started my review as well but still adding pictures & such...who knows when I'll actually get around to posting it. It was our 1st cruise and I was AMAZED at how calm the sea was!! I seriously never felt the boat move at all!

We had been on the Carnival Magic's sister ship, the Carnival Dream, so we already had a good feel for the layout. Just remember deck 5 promenade and deck 10 lido are the only public decks you can go the length of the ship on. It's really easy, always use the whale tail to orient yourself also when outside.

 

You're going to love the Carnival Magic! Have a great cruise!

Add Deck 4 that travels the length of the ship. We used this quite often when going to the aft dining room during dinner time.