Carnival Magic Review
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The Carnival Magic is a beautiful ship with a lot of things to see and do on it. I am not a first time cruiser, but my last cruise vacation was 7 years ago, so I did feel a bit like a newbie. I really had a great time on this cruise, however there were a few things that I did not like.
#1, the food. It's not terrible, but it isn't great either. Not even up to Chili's or Applebee's standards. My thought about the food is that it's people from all over the world trying to make american or continental food the way they think Americans want it taste. So, it comes out tasting weird, or off. For example, I'm from Texas, and I like steak. I rarely put any kind of sauce, such as A1 or ketchup, on steak since I feel that it's taking away from the delicious flavor of pure Beef. I think a little salt and pepper, maybe some olive oil, and that's all it needs. On the Magic, you get steak covered in Gravy, with all kinds of sweet type seasonings on it. Blech! The Buffet rarely changes, so it's all the same for 7 days, lunch and dinner. The breakfast buffet was delicious, and that was probably the best meal I had on the ship. The Seaday Brunch in the dining room was good, but very small portions. Hash browns are like McDonald's style fried tater tot like things, but in the Buffet you can get roasted potatoes for hash browns.
#2) The itinerary was great, however we had scheduled an excursion for Belize that was canceled the day before due to flooding from previous weeks rain. I felt that this could have been done a bit earlier in the trip and given us more time to figure out what type of excursion we wanted to try, instead we were left with three options, as most available excursions were booked up by the time ours was cancelled. I was happy with the excursion we were able to pick, a trip to Altun Ha via bus ride around the city, so it worked out for me, but it could have been a bust.
Cabin Review
The cabin was a bit tight, especially with our suitcases (2 large, 2 small, 1 carry on duffel bag) and the forward location made it a bit rockier, especially in rough seas, than in any other part of the ship. You could hear banging and clanging at night as the ship hit the waves. Sometimes it sounded as if someone was falling down in their room, or constantly slamming the door! However, the small deck that extends right outside this small group of cabins was very private, almost like having your own balcony. The only other people I saw on this deck were our next door neighbors. It doesn't extend all the way around due to there being balcony cabins on either side of the ship, so it's just a small forward deck right under the navigation. And at night, no lights on the deck (due to the navigation) and you can see all the stars so clearly! it was beautiful to be out there at night. Be aware, however, that you will also be the first to know you are at port, as we felt every vibration of the ship pulling in at 6:15am. This was nice for us, because we would jump up and go outside and watch as the ship docked, but for those interested in sleeping in, this might be a problem!