This was our third cruise for our family of 6 (4 boys, 4,9,10 & 12) with the DCL, but our first on the Magic. We have been on the Wonder and Fantasy in the past. We had adjoining veranda rooms on deck 6 which gave us plenty of space in and outdoors. We have only been on DCL and have always had a veranda as when we took our first cruise I was unsure of how I would deal with being locked inside a floating can! We choose a med cruise as a good way to see Europe with our kids (and for ourselves as well) in a comfortable and familiar way. Our cruise was the tail end of our 2.5 week vacation where we did London, Paris and Barcelona on our own (at a very hectic and break neck pace!). As this was our 3rd time on a DCL boat there was a familiarity and comfort in getting back on board.

Food was good as always - I only had one bad meal (chicken fettuccine was dry to my liking), and regret not going with another selection. The sit down meals are very good, with enough selection to fit your taste, but also limited enough to force you to try something different. My 10 year old was experimenting on this trip with new foods, and our waiter brought him a few chicken fingers on the side when he was nervous about his order (just in case he didn't like it). The shows, food, cleanliness (amazingly clean - thank goodness...) game shows and fun stuff for the kids are all well known and live up to the hype and expectations for us returning travelers. My kids spent very little time in the Oceaneer labs/club - it's not their thing - instead opting out for the pools and sports deck, and ice cream.

The stand out is always the service, in particular the wait staff, which follows you from dinner to dinner. Being from the Toronto area, we are exposed to great foods from other cultures - my 12 year old, who loves Indian food, mentioned this to our waiter and the next night he had curried chicken, rice and paneer waiting for him for dinner! He was thrilled. Read more