This was our 25th cruise, 7th on Carnival. We are an active couple in our 60s that enjoys cruising but we still feel Royal Caribbean is better. We chose the Magic because our friends booked it first and the price was good for us to join them. Our balcony cabin #8280 was a good location, and had good storage for all our things. We only saw our steward once on the first day and request daily ice and wine glasses, but it took 3 days and notes to get the glasses for the bottle of wine we brought.

As for the ship, it was difficult to get a shady pool lounger since people are saving them by just tossing a towel on their way to breakfast and not showing up for an hour or more. We found the serenity deck for adults which was great if you could get there early for one of their chairs. It has a bar and hot tub and is quiet. Carnival should monitor their no saving of chairs policy better, as well as in showrooms. We didn't care for the main nightly theater shows, but loved the comedy shows. We saw about 6 of them and each comic was very funny, both R-rated and PG. The line to get in was very long for each show and guests are turned away since it's a smaller intimate room. The piano bar was what we most were looking forward to since all Carnival ships have a designated room. However, on the Magic, the line for the comedy club went right thru it and guests couldn't hear the music. Plus the sound system was not functioning well and at times you could hear music but no vocals. Perhaps it was the player "Roddy" that couldn't get the crowd going with his raspy voice.

The casino was so smokey it's the first cruise we did not even stop to gamble. And the smoke carried out to common areas and nearby shows. Read more