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We have just completed a 9 night Carnival Magic cruise in the Med and had a fantastic time. As we are new to cruising as a family I found the Cruise Critic Reviews helpful in my own planning for the trip - and so wanted to share some feedback for fellow travellers to aid your own planning in the future.
We embarked from Barcelona and we found the boarding process to be smooth and effortless. Compared to some other Ports we visited I would suggest that Barcelona is well organised and a good place to use for departing on a cruise. Debarkation is of course the time none of us want or like but that worked well too-the cab line was long but the wait was maybe only 30 minutes and cabs were plentiful.
Our biggest concern going into the Cruise was that we opted for the Outside "5 berth" family Cabin. Would that work? Well - it did! Yes - we had some "moments" when all of us were in there together but overall it was fine and it allowed us to spend our money in far better ways. It really is a good sized cabin for 5. Our kids are 9, 11 and 15 and it still worked for us - so for younger kids you will be fine. I was also amazed by the cabin sound proofing - for 9 days you would never have known we had people either side of us. Very good! We were at the back of the ship and very low level (deck 1) so we did get some engine noise and also some noise when docking but it was not too bad. Further mid ships may be better though.
The ship itself is magnificent and really does have something for everyone. The crew really do look after the ship and there seemed to be almost constant cleaning and touching up - especially in the early mornings you can see the Team hard at work to keep her gleaming.
The Sports Square was great for all the family. Much golf was played as a family and the kids got to see both of their parents on the Rope Runners course!
Food and beverage choices were plentiful. The "Sweet Spot" in the Lido Marketplace was my only real disappointment as deserts were quite bland -looked good and sounded good but taste was bland. Other than that we enjoyed all our meals and also treated ourselves to the Steak House one night and that was well worth the extra fee. A truly memorable meal. We also very much enjoyed the atmosphere in the Red Frog -a great place for pre dinner drinks. Highly recommended!!
The Day at Sea was busy!! We learned over the 9 days that most folks do get off in Port each day and so you have much of the ship only half full or less until maybe 3pm. Then it fills up again. But for the day at sea extra sun beds were laid on but most were taken (or reserved with a towel) before 8 in the morning !!
We didn't use the Kids Clubs and the shows were not really to our taste. We did though enjoy the Seaside Theatre and the movies shown under the starlit sky. As I have said - something for all tastes and for everyone to enjoy.
Enjoy the Magic - we certainly did!!
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