MrsJones02

We were on the magic in March.  You can read my review.  
Some changes have been made in the food probably since you have been.   Not sure if you had all of the different lunch options that are available.   carnival has the regular buffet.  But they also have Guys burgers (greasy but good if you like five guys sort of).  A burrito place that is made to order.  They also have taco salads and tacos.   (They also make breakfast burritos and huevos rancheros in the morning.   They have the deli.  Some of the specials of the day are pretty good.  We have enjoyed the pizza also.  Much better than pizza on other lines.   The Mongolian wok is good but the line is long.  Don't miss the pasta bar upstairs.  Its free for lunch.   
 
The different lunch options are what we like most about carnival.  I am not a buffet person.  
 
Dinner has been pretty good our last few cruises.  Most of our meals have been good.  There is the occasional bust but overall we have been satisfied.  
 
If you search under my profile I have a review our cruise from March.  

I’m a picky eater but loved the food on the Magic when we sailed last May. If you’re a meat eater you’ll love the steaks in the MDR. Buffet was excellent as well. 
 
For children, they’ll love the water slides and the sky course. 

We just got back from the Magic and loved it. The first day is obviously a nightmare re: the lido deck with everyone in the same place at the same time. We just found a spot to hang out and areas where it wasnt super crowded (head towards the back). The sports deck is great for kids. It has foosball, ropes course (I think your 4 yr old is too young though), putt putt, etc. The Magic when I checked was exactly half the price of a comparable RCI cruise so keep that in mind.....

Food is very subjective, so you have to keep that in mind when reading any comments related to food. Over the last several years I think the quality of the food in the MDR has gone down on Carnival. I still like the food in the MDR, but both my wife and I agree food used to be better in the MDR in the past. 
 
On the other hand I think the food in the speciality restaurants is outstanding. Magic has a steakhouse and Cucina Del Capitano. 
 
My kids are adults now so I can’t really address how Magic is for a 4 year old. 

Magic has a nice "splash area" that would be perfect for a 4 year old.  Has small slides, sprayers, dump bucket, etc.  There is mini-golf, kids club, Dr. Suess activities.  Food is subjective, but Cucina del Capitano is open and free for lunch.  Most kids love pasta, so that might be a good spot to eat. (I liked it also!!)

I think it is very much a preference thing.  I would take Carnival’s food and entertainment any day over NCL.  I found dinner in NCL’s dining room to be lacking and left thinking that if I sailed NCL again I would opt to pay for the additional restaurants each night.  But to each their own.
 
Kids have always loved Carnival cruises but they didn’t sail with me on NCL so I can’t compare from that perspective.

I’ve browsed some reviews but most don’t have the info I’m looking for. My husband and I sailed carnival once 7 years ago on the Freedom. We didn’t love it. Food and entertainment were not as good as we’re used to with NCL. We are looking to cruise the Carnival Magic in August with our 4 year old. Is the Magic a good ship for kids? Has the food gotten any better in 7 years? [emoji23]

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Hi all. Thanks for any help in advance. My husband and I are looking into booking a 6 day cruise on carnival horizon next spring for us and our daughter. We are both 31 and love NCLs freestyle type of cruising. We have only sailed Carnival once and that was 6 years ago on the Freedom. I remember us thinking that the food and entertainment weren’t as good as we experienced on NCL. Can anyone who cruises both Carnival and NCL let me know if you found the food and entertainment better than it used to be? 

We were on the Sun June 25-29 and have to agree with your opinions on the food and the staff. We found the dining room entrees to be so bland. The appetizers were actually better (vegetable spring roll and beef slider were yummy). Also, the staff didn’t seem as friendly as other times I have cruised. The only exception was Mohammed who was a server in the sports bar late at night. We wrote him a hero card and tipped him extra on the last night because he was the only person who actually made conversation with us!

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Love your reviews! Always excited to dig in!

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Have you looked at SFB as an alternative airport?

Yes, no flights from my area to that airport on the 25th

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i see flights nyc to mco as low as 50.00 each way for the whole month of june dont know when your dates are but just looked it up on a web site i use all the time.:):):)

I’m leaving the 25-29. With the specific times we need the lowest flights I’ve found are around $250-$300. I’ve used google and kayak.

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If you flying into Fll and flying out. You’ll need the rental for two directions doubling the cost. Also add a hotel in Fort Lauderdale because you can’t disembark in PCO and get get to FLL easly for a flight the same day.

Really? If we are one of the first to disembark in the morning and have a late afternoon flight (3-4pm) you don’t think we could make it?

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Rent a car most of the larger Florida rental car companies will either allow drop of anywhere in state or some have like 100 dollar drop charge. So 100 drop fee and $50 dollar rental day is is way cheaper try going to the rental car company websites and do a mock booking

I actually found a car for $63 total that I can take from FLL and drop at the cruise port so that both ways is significantly cheaper than the flight to Orlando.

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Hi, so I’m looking into flights for my cruise in June that leaves from Port Canaveral. Flying into FLL instead of Orlando is about $450 less! Does anyone know of the best way to get from airport to the port? Shuttles, renting a car? I know the drive is about 3 hours.

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Following as I’ll be in Havana on the Sun in June.

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Thank you all for your opinions! Still deciding but we may decide to do a Bliss or Getaway cruise as they are longer and have better ports for a little bit less money. Will probably plan a land Disney vacation for when she’s a little bit older. It is hard for me to sway from NCL because we’ve had such incredible experiences on their ships!

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Hi! We put a deposit down on a Disney Cruise for January. We love NCL and have always really enjoyed our time on their ships but we figured our 3 year old may have more fun on a Disney Cruise. I started looking at some reviews and I’m just not sure if WE will enjoy it. I love NCL for its anytime dining, great entertainment and overall laid back attitude on cruising. I did a mock booking for the new Bliss in January and it’s only about $400 cheaper for 2 inside staterooms than Disney Magic. So here are a couple questions that may help me decide.

1) did you as an adult find that their were activities geared towards you on Magic?

2) did your kids enjoy the Disney ship more than NCL kids club (esp if they weren’t into Disney characters before the cruise)

Any other experiences would be greatly appreciated as well!

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Following. Looking into booking January 2019.

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Hi! We put a deposit down on a Disney Cruise for January. We love NCL and have always really enjoyed our time on their ships but we figured our 3 year old may have more fun on a Disney Cruise. I started looking at some reviews and I’m just not sure if WE will enjoy it. I love NCL for its anytime dining, great entertainment and overall laid back attitude on cruising. I did a mock booking for the new Bliss in January and it’s only about $400 cheaper for 2 inside staterooms than Disney Magic. So here are a couple questions that may help me decide.

1) did you as an adult find that their were activities geared towards you on Magic?

2) did your kids enjoy the Disney ship more than NCL kids club (esp if they weren’t into Disney characters before the cruise)

Any other experiences would be greatly appreciated as well!

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One thing to think about is how you'll do being away from her. Some people (maybe even most) do just fine with that knowing that their child is well taken care of by loving grandparents. For me, I couldn't be away from my girl for days at a time. We had regular date nights, and that was no problem, but days just weren't going to happen! It sounds like you're leaning toward an adults-only vacation, so just consider that. If you'd be fine with it, then I don't see a reason to not give the grandparents some time with their granddaughter. :D

 

 

 

Yes, DD and I travel well. She's a very well-traveled young woman--it's one of the benefits of being the only child (she has half-siblings who are all 10+ years older than she is) of a mother who loves to travel! When she graduated HS we spent five weeks traveling though 13 countries in Europe and had a fantastic time together. :p

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I'll be a grandmother later this year, I love that idea! I may just have to throw that out there when the time is right. I'd be very happy to go on a cruise with them and take care of my grandson so they can have some couple time together. Definitely something to think about for the future. :D

I would love to have our daughter with us but then I think of all the things we wouldn't get to do with her because she can't go in the pools or go to kids club while we see shows so maybe it would be better to start cruising with her when she is 3 and we can at least plan for a better cruise for all of us. I have awesome in laws who live 30 mins from us so I am comfortable leaving her with them while we go. I'm sure I will miss her like crazy but I also think it's important to get away with DH if we have the opportunity now before we have more kids! Congrats on becoming a grandmother! Wishing your daughter a wonderful and safe pregnancy.

Instead of leaving our toddler home with the grandparents, the grandparents come on the cruise with us so we can enjoy a family vacation and still have a little time on our own. They will watch him a couple of evenings so we can have adult dinners, and one port day so we can do something that wouldn't work if we had him with us. They live far away from us so if they are going to fly cross country and hang out with us they like to get a little vacation in too :)

 

 

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We tried this but none of the grandparents enjoy cruising! I think that's an awesome idea and I wish we could do that as well. I'd much rather have everyone vacation together!

I hope you don't get flamed! Your opinion is as valid as anyone else's. :p

 

 

 

 

 

OP, my DD was 21 months old the first time we cruised and we had a great vacation! She's now almost 21 and has been on about a dozen cruises. It's a great family vacation. As others have said, if you decide to take her then set your expectations accordingly. You won't be doing everything you'd do if you were child free. You just need to decide what you want your vacation to be.

 

 

 

I'm a parent who never vacationed without my child until she was 19. Now she and I take a vacation or two each year and I go on a solo vacation. I wouldn't have enjoyed a vacation without her--it would have been difficult for me to ever vacation without her. But others feel it's important to go without kids and have time with their spouse/partner. When DD's father and I were married, we didn't feel that way; we vacationed as a family. It's just a matter of personal preference. I would never demonize a parent who wants a child-free vacation. :)

 

 

 

As some have said, she won't remember it. Personally, I think that's irrelevant. Whether she remembers it or not, you will. She won't remember the actual vacation but the family bond builds regardless.

Yeah, I'm not too worried about her remembering it. It'd be a great memory for myself and DH! I definitely want to cruise with her every year - just debating starting at 2 or 3. At 3 she should be completely out of diapers and old enough for kids club so it may be a little easier then. Still undecided but thanks for your advice. I'm glad you and your daughter are still vacationing together!

I follow these boards frequently without posting often but with direct and recent experience, I thought I'd give my 2 cents. Have cruised 3 times all in the Caribbean:

 

1 - as a couple pre-kids in 2013

2 - with our then 8 month old and 5 other adult extended family members in 2014

3 - as a couple in 2015 and left our 22 month old at home with (amazing) grandparents

 

My short answer is NO to cruising with a 2 year old. The long answer follows...

 

Cruise #2 was great. At 8 months our daughter (E) wasn't too mobile yet, barely crawling. Was happy to be in her stroller often and would happily sit on a lounger for an extended period or in a high chair in in the dining room for the duration of long MDR dinners. Napped easily in a pack n play in our room, or in our arms or her stroller out and about. After dinners we put noise cancelling earmuffs on her, she fell asleep in her stroller, and we brought her around wherever we went, even to the late night shows and dance parties.

 

No diapers or swim diapers in the pools, or splash areas but she didn't know what she was missing. Too young for the kids club but she was happy to just "hang out" with us and didn't really need to be entertained at that age.

 

We were limited on the kinds of port activities we could do, for example, the rest of the family climbed Dunns river falls but the 3 of us just went to a beach. No snorkelling, speed boat tours, snuba, zip lining, hiking, catamarans etc etc. Still, overall, a great family trip! But I realized then, that I wouldn't cruise with a toddler.

 

We are not very strictly scheduled and she's very well behaved and pretty easy going, but at 2 years old she's much too aware of her surroundings to sleep anywhere but a fairly quiet, dark room. Spending 2+ hours mid day in a cabin doesn't seem like much of a fun vacation to me.

 

The need for naps would severely limit shore excursion options or else you skip nap time and end up with an over tired little one and then everyone is unhappy. Plus still can't do the "adventure" type activities.

 

Still in diapers so the pools and even splash pads are off limits (some on here will claim otherwise, but posted signage on the ship was very clear). I don't know how we could possibly hold her back at this age. She'd be so upset not to be able to join the fun.

 

Too young for kids club so other than playing in a small toy room supervised by us, what else is she going to DO all day on a ship all day?!

 

Doesn't like to stay in stroller as long as she used to, so sitting through shows not possible. Plus most would be too late anyway. Not because we are strict with her bedtime, but because toddlers get very tired and she WANTS to go bed by 7-8pm. We could pay for baby sitting I guess, but then why go on this trip "as a family"? She'd be better off at home with loved ones.

 

She'd be fine at meals. She would enjoy walking indoors in uncrowded venues. Too many people and obstacles on pool deck for her to explore safely. Again, not much for her to actually DO.

 

I certainly think cruising is a great family vacation with infants or when kids are older. We will definitely cruise as a family again when she's no longer napping, staying up later, out of diapers, old enough to enjoy the kids clubs and other activities (water slides etc) but for now I think a family trip with a toddler is much better as a land based vacation.

 

We stayed at a beach resort in Florida when she was 18 months. SO great to have the room ("home base") right at the beach so we could easily come and go as needed. No need to take a taxi, or bus just to get to the beach. She could use the pools and splash pad no problems. We did nice walks by the water. She played at the playground. They had a kids club for all ages where she could play with the toys if we needed a break from the heat. It was also less stressful planning as we didn't have to worry as much about running out of diapers, wipes, etc like we would on a ship.

 

As a bonus most land based vacations don't charge per person, or else don't charge for toddlers so no extra cost if it's 3 vs 2 of you. (Yes, cruises generally charge full price for all ages unless certain "kids sail free promotions" are on). Heck, even Disney World is free under 3!

 

I'm sure this makes me sound like I'm very strict with routines and schedules, but honestly, I'm not. Just go by what our daughter seems to do the best with. We want her to enjoy things as much as we do. We missed her greatly (more than we even thought we would) when we went by ourselves in 2015 but we made sure to do things we wouldn't have been able to do with a 2 years old (yay snorkelling with sea turtles and sting rays!). We hope to be fortunate enough to be able to take her to those places when she can experience them fully too!

Thanks for that info. I am not very strict with scheduling but I also know that most toddlers really need to live by one to thrive! I would be worried about keeping her awake too late or missing naps and encountering meltdowns! We are planning bigger trips to Disney when she is older so maybe we will let her stay home this time. Still undecided but thankful for the recent experience you gave!

Is it worth it? Will we still have fun?! We booked a cruise for 2017 from NYC (where we live) to Bermuda. My daughter will be 2 that same week. We do have the option of taking her with us or leaving her home with family. A huge part of me would love for this to be our first vacation with her as she'll be walking and talking by then. A small part of me wonders if we can enjoy a cruise with a 2 year old! Anyone have any advice?