February 2018
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| Sunrise from Carnival Magic cabin 7455 |
This is a long post, which covers our experience on the Carnival Magic. You can find additional photos in the Carnival Magic
album on my Facebook travel page. I will have separate posts for the ports of call, and information about John Heald's For Fun Sake (FFS, formerly called bloggers cruise) activities. Being on this cruise to join the FFS group was an exciting coincidence for us, as we had this cruise booked long before it became designated as a FFS cruise.
Pre-cruise
We checked in online and printed our boarding passes, as usual. This was the first time we experienced "setting an appointment" for our arrival time. We have Platinum status, so I am not sure if we actually needed to schedule our arrival; I chose the first time slot available when I checked us in.
We purchased the Cheers package, and one Carnival shore excursion beforehand. A better shore excursion price was offered through a different company, so after booking the excursion through Carnival, we filled out their "Best Price Guarantee" form. You can find details for their price guarantee in one of my previous
blog posts. There was not much price difference; we received an onboard credit of $5.49 per person. The Cheers package cost including the 15% gratuity was $57.44 per day. Carnival raised the daily price to $59.74 (with the 15% gratuity) at the end of 2017, and it is 10% higher, if you purchase it onboard.
Arrival and check-in ~ Port Canaveral
Our appointment time was scheduled for 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM, and we arrived around 11:15 AM. Everything was well marked for Priority Boarding, and we were on board in less than 20 minutes. Priority guests had already boarded when we arrived, so we were ushered into the priority lounge, where we had no wait to check-in, and then we boarded the ship. Our son was not able to board with us this time, even though we had our reservations linked together, so were not able to get our boarding photo taken together.
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| View from Carnival Magic cabin 7455 at Port Canaveral |
Balcony Cabin 7455, category 8B
I did not take as many photos of our cabin as I usually do. We had this same cabin on the Carnival Breeze, and the layout is exactly the same. The furnishings in the Breeze cabin were a bit more deluxe than this one. For example, the in-room chair on Carnival Magic was a straight-backed chair with cushioned back and seat only, rather than the soft cozy seat and footstool on the Breeze. You can see the room layout and balcony photos for the Breeze cabin in that
blog post.
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| Carnival Magic cabin 7455; balcony door open, bathroom door on right |
This cabin has floor space at the entrance by the hanging hooks to place luggage, if you do not want to place it under the bed. There are two closets with hangers, a third closet with shelves, and storage drawers and shelves under the bedroom vanity. There is a small sitting stool and safe in this area, as well. The nightstands next to the bed also open for storage.
The bathroom is the same as other stateroom bathrooms we have had. Shower gel and shampoo were supplied in shower dispensers. We did not receive a basket of samples (toothpaste, disposable shaver, etc), like is often provided. I think the availability of these samples has to do with the companies providing them, rather than Carnival.
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View from Carnival Magic cabin 7455 looking forward toward
side hot tub and Guy's Pig and Anchor seating on Lanai deck |
We like this room type because we like the large balcony, which contained two chairs, one lounger, and a small table. This cabin does not have an inside sofa, so be aware that you will be giving that up for the balcony. Again, please see the Breeze post for balcony photos. The balcony size and furnishings are exactly the same for both ships.
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| TV in Carnival Magic cabin 7455 |
The information on the TV screen in the cabin was not properly aligned, so we were unable to view the dinner menu and other information. Sail & Sign information was not available on the TV in the cabin. This could be viewed on the app, and at the kiosk by Guest Services. The Carnival Hub app is great for activities, although the Sail & Sign info on it was not 100% accurate. I suggest downloading the Carnival app before your cruise. You can tag activities your are interested in, and then receive a subtle reminder beforehand. There is no charge for the app, or to connect to it while on the cruise.
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| Dining room breakfast menu; click photo to enlarge |
Food and Beverages
Breakfast
- Dining room breakfast: I liked the new breakfast menu so well, we ate in the dining room every morning. I hope this menu is on all Carnival ships, and not just some of them. I tried Breakfast Board, Broken Egg Sandwich, Breakfast Bowl, Egg White Frittata, and Corned Beef Hash and Egg. The only item I would not order again is the Egg White Frittata. The other items were all amazing!
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| Breakfast Board |
- Seaday brunch: I liked the dining room breakfast menu better than the brunch menu. The brunch menu had not changed much from our last cruise. It still included menu items like Steak and Eggs, Racheros, and light lunch and dessert items.
Between the three of us, we tried the following for lunch and/or snacks
- Guy's Pig & Anchor BBQ: This was open the day we boarded, and there was not a line this day, like other days. I did not think this was as good as I had remembered, although I only tried it the one time, the day we boarded. My husband and our son liked it.
- BlueIguana Cantina: The shrimp wrap was excellent.
- Guy's Burger: I did not try this. My husband thought the burger was greasy, and our son said it was good. They tried it different days.
- Deli: We all liked the Deli. I recommend the turkey breast on pretzel bun. The salted chocolate cookies were not to my liking, as they are cake-like, and I prefer crisp cookies.
- Pizzeria: Located at the back of the ship by Tides Pool and bar. Fabulous, as always!
- Tandoor: Located at the back of the ship by Tides Pool and bar. Excellent Indian food. My favorite was the fish.
- Cucina Del Capitano: No charge during lunch. I am not usually much of a lasagna person when dining out. My husband got the meat lasagna, which we all tasted and agreed it was amazing!
- Salad Bar: This is located on deck 5 by the Coffee Bar, and it was only open the two sea days. Freshly prepared salads and soups. I liked the offerings and wished I had seen it our first sea day before I had eaten.
- Coffee Bar: The beverages were good, although the cappuccinos and lattes were pretty sweet. Also, a guest cut in line in front of me one time, and the person working served him! Usually Carnival workers are excellent about knowing who is next. I would not have gotten any beverages from the Coffee Bar, if we had not had the Cheers program. The coffee in the dining room was excellent.
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| View from dinner table 533, SouthernLights lower |
Dinner
- Taste Bar: The sign on the wall behind the Salad Bar on deck 5 said "Taste Bar;" however, I did not see the Taste Bar open at any time, and this was never listed in the Fun Times.
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| Lobster dinner |
- Dining room: We had all our dinner meals in the dining room, and liked them all. There were themed food and beverage items each day to coincide with the different ports. Lobster and prime rib were on the menu the first elegant night, and prime rib was on the menu the second time. The asparagus gazpacho was amazing, if you like cold soup (I do not recall which night). The cheese plate, and all of the different salads were also excellent. Others said the mashed potatoes, and mac 'n cheese sides were excellent. I liked all of the grilled fish entrees. The seafood dishes with shrimp and scallops sounded good; however, they were too rich, and not as fresh-tasting as the fish dishes.
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| Moscow Mule with fresh ginger by Kat ~ delicious! |
Alchemy Bar was our favorite bar with the best bartenders; Alex and Kat. They both made unbelievable drinks with fresh toppings. We were fortunate we got to meet Kat, because she told us she is moving to a different ship (I do not recall which one). I do not like whatever margarita mix Carnival uses (Margaritaville, I think), and the bartenders at Alchemy made a good "like a margarita" beverage without the mix. The margarita I had at BlueIguana was not good, even though it had been prepared with good tequila.
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| Sea Cow at Red Frog |
My husband and our son really liked the Red Frog Pub because they are bigger rum and beer drinkers than I am. Because we had all purchased the Cheers package, they both tried each of the rums on the menu throughout the week. This was a great tasting experience they would not have had, if we had not purchased Cheers. I was glad to see there were a couple of craft beer choices in addition to Red Frog, because I prefer dark beers and IPAs.
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| Lobby Bar |
We had a few beverages on the open decks, and at the Lobby Bar in the atrium. The atrium is beautiful! There is a piano above the bar, and there are seats on the levels above deck 3 looking down.
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| Atrium |
Servers were not as prevalent by the pools, nor in the atrium or Ocean Plaza, as on past cruises. Most times, we had to watch for servers, or go the bar. Service was good in the night club, although be aware that smoking is allowed in this bar.
Pool and outside areas
There is plenty of outside seating on this ship: Serenity Deck, around the two pools on Lido deck, and on decks 5 and 11. We had difficulty finding a table to eat once during lunch time. One area of Lido Marketplace seating was sectioned off as reserved this day, which may have contributed to this.
There are two hot tubs at Tides Pool, two on Serenity Deck, and one on each side of the Lanai, deck 5.
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| Sports Deck |
Mini-golf, fuse ball, a pool table, and ropes course are located in SportsSquare on deck 12, along with a bar, and Sea Dogs (hot dog stand). There are plenty of seats in this area; however, there is not nearly enough shade. We tried to enjoy this area a couple of different times, and it was HOT!
Spa
I did not book any spa services, although I attended the complimentary Ladies Pamper Party on Sunday. I suggest attending if you are interested in spa services, as they offer deep discounts to attendees. And, if you do not want to book anything, the complimentary mini-facial is nice!
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| Weekly entertainment schedule |
Entertainment and activities
I have shared most of the Fun Times in the Facebook album. We did not get to see any of the movies on the outside screen, as the ones we were interested in conflicted with other shows. We had a similar problem with the shows in Showtime Theater, and the Comedy Shows. It was easy to get a seat for both shows at the beginning of the week; however, it was too crowded for us to get a seat as the week went on. Our cruise was during Super Bowl, so it may have been easier for us to get into shows earlier in the week because guests were busy at those events. We liked all of the Comedy Shows (we only went to one adult show), and we thought America Rocks and Country Roads were the best shows in the showroom.
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| Giant Jenga in Lobby Bar |
There were several trivia and game events during the week. Carnival Tower listed in the Fun Times is giant Jenga. There is shuffleboard and fuse ball in Red Frog Pug, along with many table games. The Library has additional table games, books, and puzzles.
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| Platinum gift |
Platinum perks and past guest party
As Platinum guests we each received a fleece blanket, a ship pin, chocolates, a beverage coupon, and invitation to the past guest party.
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| Platinum invitation |
The past guest party was on our last sea day at 11:45 AM. Some guests complained about the time of day for this event. I did not mind the event being held during the day, except that attending meant we missed the Abracadabra show at 11:30 AM that day. I thought the invitation we received was one of the nicest looking invitations we have ever received.
Debarkation
The debarkation process was chaos compared to how smoothly everything else had gone on this cruise. Platinum guests had already started debarkation when we tried to make our way to Northern Lights dining room (we mistakenly walked too far forward and passed the area before walking down the steps to deck 4). The staff member on the steps by the elevator and stairwell told us we could not go down the stairs, and she said we would not be able to get back to the dining room. After we waited several minutes, we ventured down the hallway, as the hallway looked empty. We walked into the dining room with no problem, or crowds. Everyone was crowded by the stairwell and lower floors; not on deck 4 near the dining room. After we entered, we were immediately routed down the stairs and out to the exit line, which was now filled with guests needing assistance, and self-debarkation guests with luggage. It took us about 20 minutes to get off the ship, as the two lines with wheelchairs and suitcases that we found ourselves in was not moving very smoothly. This was partly our fault for not arriving in the dining room sooner. We had taken our time, after we heard announcements about debarkation being stopped because Customs had asked them to slow down. And then, we waited 5 to 10 minutes by the stairwell before deciding to head back to the dining room.
After we got off, we had a bit of difficulty finding our luggage. Once we found our luggage, the line through Customs went smoothly. We were off the ship and through Customs at about 8:45 AM. After exiting, the taxi line is pretty much straight ahead, just slightly to the left. The Carnival transfer busses are to the right, and the rental car shuttle pick up is farther down on the right.
I will have transportation information in my next post: Hertz, transportation to the port, and transportation from the airport.
Let me know if you have any questions!
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