Carnival Magic Review
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We sailed on the Carnival Magic and had a wonderful time. At 1,004 feet in length, the Magic is probably the largest ship we've cruised on and was packed with plenty to keep us entertained. Although Carnival is not responsible for the weather, we were in the best of luck as it rained only when it didn't matter and the sun shone when it did matter! :-)
We drove to Galveston the day before our cruise and stayed overnight at the Hilton Galveston Island Resort. Although it was a little pricey, Hilton points brought down the price somewhat and by sharing the room with friends, we were able to split the cost. In addition, the Hilton offers free shuttle to and from the cruise terminal and free parking for your car during the duration of the cruise. Once at the terminal, it probably took about 1-1.5 hours to get checked in and aboard the ship... not bad, really. However, we've booked our next cruise for 2015 and purchased Faster to the Fun for quicker boarding plus perks!
Service was mostly great on the ship. Our room steward was great! He learned our preferences and was great with follow-up, like my my husband needing ice for his Dr Pepper and making sure to keep our ice bucket full. Our main dining room service was not what we've become accustomed too, though. We did have a large table consisting of 5 couples so I imagine we might have been higher maintenance than a table of 4, but we frequently had to ask for tea and water refills and bread. The first night, we missed the show because our service was so slow. The second night, 5 minutes after our desert and coffee was served, an announcement was made that the dining room needed to be cleared to get ready for the late seating. We were pretty unhappy about the first 2 nights so asked to be moved to a different section but moving 10 people to a new location on a ship booked to the brim was impossible. Instead, additional (and some new) help was added to our section and the service on the remaining 5 nights improved. As for the food? We enjoyed every bite of food in the main dining room and the Marketplace Buffet was as expected, pretty much like any other buffet.
Cabin Review
Balcony
This was our 5th cruise but our first time to book a balcony and we weren't disappointed. In fact, we were thrilled with our room! I was a little nervous because I booked the rate that lets Carnival select the room in order to get a cheaper price but my nerves were all for nothing! Room 9235 is spacious and has a nice layout with a king-size bed, 2 small nightstands, couch, coffee table, a vanity table with storage, 3 closets and a standard bathroom. The room is located in the forward of the ship and I've read that you can feel more ship movement in the front and back of the ship but it didn't bother us at all. We were always so exhausted come bed time that we slept like babies every night! :-) The only negative I could say about the room is that it is an adjoining room and you can easily hear your neighbors on the adjoining side. Other than that, the room was very quiet as there are staterooms above and below you. The best part of the room was the balcony where I loved drinking my morning coffee! They say, once you go balcony, you never go back! LOL. So we've booked an aft-balcony on our next cruise!!!