This was our 3rd cruise as we've sailed with NCL twice previously and this was our first time on Carnival. We were excited to try the Carnival Magic but were a little disappointed. DR E was amazing, but the food, shows and staff were just eh, overall. A lot of the restaurants had weird hours. The buffet would close around 11pm and for late night eats, the only thing available at that time was pizza or the red frog pub (extra$$). After midnight, they had another small buffet of sandwiches and some sweets open. Blue Iguana was open for breakfast and lunch, but then would close early evening. The mongolian Wok consistently had a line that took about an hour to get through, when it was open, it too had weird hours.

Service was touch and go. In the show theater, I ordered a hurricane and the waiter brought me a pina colada. When I told him it was the wrong drink, he looked enraged and then yelled at me, "What do you want!?" I laughed it off and repeated my order at which point he still wanted me to sign for the incorrect drink, even after I told him I did not care for coconut, lol. We dined in the steakhouse and cucina del capitano the first 2 nights and though the meals were excellent, we had much better service when we finally got to the main dining room and our assigned table. The staff was 10 times better there. Ferrenc, Edi and Antolin made our dining experience so good that we actually cancelled our reservations to return to the steakhouse so that we could enjoy more time with them. They TRULY were the highlight of our cruise. Dining overall was a bummer and there ended to be better availability. Did I mention we could not order traditional breakfast items or get bacon from room service? We ordered 5 BLT sandwiches one morning and told them to hold the lettuce, tomato and bread and then we finally did get a plate of bacon, but we had asked 3 previous days already and were told NO. Once again, we felt the restrictions and limits of travelling with Carnival.

Our room attendants were sub=par to say the least. We stayed in the CLoud 9 spa, Room 12030 and we would have to beg for the spa products they advertise on the Carnival Website. We thought we were supposed to have special shampoos, conditioners and other spa products, but we would have to beg for them. We had 4 people in our room and after we would request these products, we would be given 2 small bottles, lol. Clearly not enough for 4 people! Read more