Carnival Magic 2-29-20 mini review

[keywest1]

Just back from Carnival Magic Leap Day cruise.  All in all, a great cruise.

Cabin 9256 balcony--great location.  Quiet for the most part.  A little noise from neighboring cabins using their outdoor voices in the hallway, particularly the last night.

Embarkation was a breeze.  We bought FTTF due to early flight out of MIA, so needed to be off ship in Port Everglades quickly.  We were onboard by 10:45.  Cabin wasn't quite ready, but that's understandable due to being onboard so early.  

We didn't meet our cabin steward until midway through cruise.  We were only given morning service--no choice given.  We were fine with that, but wish we had at least met steward and been given a choice.  Cabin was kept very clean--no complaints about that at all.  Toilet wouldn't flush on second day, but that was due to plumbing problems on deck above.  It was quickly fixed.  On the third day we came back to a terrible sewer smell, but that disappeared in about five minutes.  That was the extent of our issues.  We heard cruisers on deck 10 complaining about plumbing problems lasting for most of cruise.

We ate most of our evening meals in MDR, and we thought food was really good.  Lido buffet seemed to have fewer choices than on previous cruises, but there was plenty of food to keep us happy. Guy's Burgers was, as usual, heaven on earth for DH.  Pig and Anchor BBQ was delicious.  We were disappointed with the Seaday Brunch menu changes, but the Aft deck BBQ

sandwich was absolutely delicious.  Coffee bar was inconsistent this time compared to our other cruises.  When Florin made the drinks, they were spot on, but otherwise it was hit and miss and the misses were sometimes pretty bad.  Room service coffee is usually great, but not this time.

Playlist performers were somewhat disappointing.  "Flick" was probably our least favorite show of all we have seen.  America Rocks was entertaining, but the vocals weren't that great.  We

only caught one comedy show.  The first female comedienne was really funny, but she left in St Maarten.

Weather was very windy and chilly until we got to St Maarten.  Our port days were all very nice weather.  Tortola was one of our favorite ports of all time, and we enjoyed St Maarten.  We have been to San Juan several times, and can see the progress made since we sailed on the second cruise out after the hurricanes.

Skipping Grand Turk was a disappointment, but totally beyond control of Carnival.  Glad to hear the two passengers in need of evacuation were gotten off the ship, however that was accomplished.  We were given $100 per person refundable OBC, which was incredibly generous IMO since Carnival had no control over the situation.  Crew worked very hard to keep everyone happy and entertained.  I know that updates were not as timely as we would have liked, but after learning that they were fighting to even get the pax in need of medical services off the ship, that is totally understandable.  We were all safe and sound, so the captain/crew were handling things as they should have.  I was disappointed in the behavior of several of our fellow cruisers over the situation , but most handled things with a good attitude.

Simon London is now one of our favorite CDs.  Always out and about and full of energy, and didn't feel the need to be on the intercom any more than necessary.  

We sailed with friends we "met" on the old Funville forum.  We have emailed daily for 7 years, and finally met in person.  We had the best time ever, and this cruise will be remembered as the best ever!!!!

We did the early FTTF disembarkation carrying off our own luggage.  It went smoothly.  We had Carnival transfers to MIA, and arrived in plenty of time for our 12:25 flight.

Edited March 9, 2020 by keywest1