Instead of dealing with the Christmas crowds, shopping, stress, etc, we try to spend the holidays on a cruise. This year we chose the Carnival Magic and a 7-day Western Caribbean itinerary. We recently (March 2017) sailed on the Magic for the first time and were happy with the ship so selecting it again was not a problem. First, the positives:
1) Embarkation and debarkation at Port Canaveral were quite orderly and efficient.
2) While being a large ship, we were always able to find uncrowded areas, food venues, and seating at shows and activities.
We had two adjacent balcony cabins on Deck 9 (9236 and 9240). Both cabins were nice and having the balcony divider opened really makes things feel much more spacious. We occasionally had noise from loud people in the corridors at night, but not too much. Even at our age (late 50s), finding the towel animals in the cabin is still fun. One night there was water gurgling from the shower drain for a while.