This was our fourth family cruise on Carnival, first on the Magic. 7 day w/ Honduras, Belize and Cozumel out of Galveston. Honduras was stormy so we spent that day at sea. Embarkation was fast. Getting settled in was also quick - it was basically the identical floor plan of all the other Carnival ships we had sailed on.

Food was a major disappointment. Started out good enough but quickly declined in quality and by the 5th night all of our entree's were inedible. Specialty restaurants were good but expensive. Breakfast and lunch in the regular restaurant was a test of patience and your hunger level. Waiters appeared to be more concerned about keeping things tidy than anything else and at times they disappeared for 15 minutes or so. That wouldn't have been so bad if there were more wait staff to fill up tea and coffee as we ran out. A PA announcement (!) that the wait staff were expected to keep the "pantry clean" was a surprise as they all seemed to be obsessed with cleaning up... Close to an hour after ordering, our food showed up. I guess this was one way of "nudging" cruisers to eat at their buffet instead.

Dinner seating in the regular restaurant also started out weird. The three of us were to be seated at a large table except there was only two seats left. The waiter tried to cram another chair in but that wasn't working so they seated the three of us at a table meant for two. And I thought being a "VIFP Gold" member actually meant something... Read more