Nov 14 Magic 6-Nighter Review

[cruiseracer]

Us: Platinum/Red

 

Cruise companions in next door cabin: Gold/Gold

 

Pre-Cruise: Balcony Cabin Deck-8 w/free Cheers Promotion. Emed BinaxNow home tests. Bought 4, 1 was bad. 10-10:30 Arrival Time.

 

Embarkation and muster drill was seamless. Onboard by 11:15am. Ship is beautiful and in excellent condition. Lunch at La Cucina was great. Luggage was at our door at 1:30. The cabin was clean and our room steward (Sujana) stopped by soon after. Sujana was clearly overwhelmed but took great care of us from beginning to the last morning.

 

We opted for YTD, agreed the staff did a great job and the food was above average. Service at YTD is a bit rushed, but not offensive or complaining. Just an observation. (Out in about 45 minutes after seating.) btw: For those looking for a dessert other than the molten cake - the banana split from the kids menu is perfect!

 

Guys burgers was good, sushi was good, lido-buffet was better than anticipated, breakfasts in MDR was always good. Seafood shack (lobster rolls) was a big letdown.

 

Steakhouse was good, not great. Tables are positioned very close together, which seems odd, given the current situation. Also a little rushed. The magician (sorry, do not recall his name, but a friendly guy) stopped at our table and performed a few excellent card tricks. He has a show on the last night, but regrettably we missed it. Heard it was good though!  

 

Missed every scheduled show, but heard excellent reviews from fellow passengers. Enjoyed the violinists, trivia(s), Serenity, aft-decks, ship-exploring and private time on balcony. Spent time in both casinos. The smoking casino on deck-5 was always busy & loud ala typical casino. The deck-4 non-smoking casino was less hectic, more laid back, but enjoyable in an almost elegant way. Both were fun. Frigate birds showed up on the last sea-day and entertained for several hours. Most of the flying fish survived, but a few became meals.  

 

Scheduled to stop in Bimini & HMC. Captain gave it a good couple of tries @ Bimini, but wind/current were stronger than thrusters, so didn't stop. HMC was also blown out, so Carnival made arrangements to stop in Nassau. The effort was appreciated, but 5 ships in Nassau is a bit much. We stayed onboard, our friends went ashore and said it was overcrowded and not pleasurable. On to Amber Cove where the wind was still BLOWING and it rained often. Can't do much about the weather, but props to Carnival for trying.

 

The Hub-app needs work. Wifi was frequently lost, which affects dining room bookings and other situations. Had a few frustrating circumstances due to this.

 

Not going to comment much about mask-wearing. Everyone in our group (except for me) works in health care and agreed that the onboard policies make zero-sense. Be that as it may, to each their own...    

 

Overall, 8 out of 10. Overall, the ship is in excellent shape. Clean, looks great! Has a certain appeal... Service was good everywhere.

 

Any questions? Fire away...

[fsuali]

Last time I cruised the Magic they had a ‘Sushi Bar’.  Have they converted anything to more of a Bonsai Sushi set up?  Thanks!!

[cruiseracer]

6 minutes ago, fsuali said:

Last time I cruised the Magic they had a ‘Sushi Bar’.  Have they converted anything to more of a Bonsai Sushi set up?  Thanks!!

Still a sushi bar. They also serve sashimi... Both were very good!

[dbkruzr]

Thanks for your thoughts sailing Magic in 10 days

[noblewoman]

enjoyed Magic as well electric violins were great

Food was good did dining room late no problems

Steak house was bad to close tables bad service and so long waiting for food no usually like this

Lots and lots of trivia but I was on spa floor after 6 cancellations ! had a great time