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Sailed on the Carnival Magic on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise in September 2011
Ship was lovely as was expected being new; staff were very friendly and helpful.
Our one large complaint was the lack of transportation provided by Carnival at our ports of call. If you were on a tour off the ship then it was okay but if you wanted to do your own thing and get into town fees ranged from 5.pp to $10.00pp in Dubrovnik. This ended up getting a bit pricey by the end of the cruise. A fee was charged at every port to get off the docks, except Monte Carlo where we were right in town and Venice. You were unable to walk at some of the other ports as you were in an industrial area. We can only surmise that due to the size of the Magic we were moored in container shipyards instead of nearer the town centres.
One other smaller complaint was the lack of visibility of the senior officers and captain. They were never seen even at the formal nights which had no sense of purpose, not quite sure why we were dressed up, there seemed to be nothing happening to warrant the occasion. Lots of photographers to take your photo but there was no captains greet and meet or champagne fountain. No midnight buffet with carvings. A behind the scenes tour of the ship which included the bridge and engine room was $95.00.
So many places to eat that you were spoilt for choice. At meal times you had plenty of choices. Tandoori, bbq, grill, pizza, deli sandwiches. In the buffet you had a choice of Mongolian wok or carvery, piazza bites for fresh coffee and the most amazing looking cakes and in the evening sushi and nibbles were available.
The Italian restaurant charges a surcharge in the evening but you can eat there for free at lunchtimes. Meal was very good. Did not try the steakhouse.
It was pleasant to have a drink in The Red Frog bar. Drinks were the usual ridiculous prices but you are a captive audience. Shops were okay with everything in US dollars.
Unable to get in to see the shows in the evening as the Showtime lounge was too small for the amount of passengers. Spoke to one person late one evening who asked if we had seen the show. I said no we could not get in, which show did they see the early or late show to which she replied, both shows. Explains why we could not get seat if people are watching both shows.
One other complaint was the lack of enforcing of the rules on saving sun beds with towels. This was in the fun days magazine, I complained at 8am in the morning that I could not sit by the pool as 85% of the chairs were empty but had towels on them, I was told it was in the funtimes magazine that saving beds was not allowed. Even though I and other cruisers complained, nothing was done. This happened every sea day. I do not sit in the sun all day long but even the chance to have a couple of hours by the pool was negated by the people who were absent most of the day but had saved themselves a chair. The ship seemed too small for the amount of people sailing on sea days as sun beds seemed to be put out every where around the ship. We were glad we had a balcony to sit on.
Our itinerary was changed due to industrial action in Italy, not Carnivals fault in any way but this seriously detracted from the tour for us as we had to visit Marseilles instead of Naples, absolutely no comparison.
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