This was my 8th cruise, 6th with Carnival, and it was definitely the worst cruise I've been on. I booked it mostly for the itinerary and price. The boarding process was fairly straightforward and fast, although it felt like we had to walk through a maze during the process- lots of up and down and around,LOL. We got to our stateroom and noticed right away that even the hallway smelled strongly of mildew/sewage/something stinky. When we got inside we noticed that the counters appeared to be dusty and there was a smear of jam on the nightstand as well as a prior occupant's bobby pins. We got hand sanitizer and wiped those surfaces down. Little did we know that it was only the beginning! Later we found a razor head in the shower right next to the new bar of soap, as well as a contact lens on the bathroom floor. There was also a smear of jam or something in the mini fridge, socks under the bed and a condom beside the lounger on the balcony. We didn't see all of these things right away or I would have gone to guest services immediately. The floor had also not been vacuumed. We didn't see our cabin steward until day 3 but we left a note asking for ice and room service breakfast menus which we didn't get for another 2 days. We had to go find him on multiple occasions to request beach towels before we went ashore and also had to track him down one day when the washcloths weren't replenished. We stayed in stateroom 8462 which was aft and was tiny due to a crew staircase taking up part of the space but the balcony was twice as big as normal. There was no room for a sofa, and my friend's bed had to be pushed next to mine in order to open the bathroom door. There was plenty of storage.

The food was hit or miss in the dining room, but our team waiter Bambang was very good. The burgers at Guy's Burger Joint were amazing as always, although the lines can be long. We usually ordered room service pastries and coffee or ate at Blue Iguana Cantina (also very good, huevos rancheros, burritos or arepas). The shows weren't very good and then comedians were pretty terrible. The ports were great, we did beach escapes in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic through Shore Excursioneer, took the ferry to St John/Trunk Bay from St Thomas and took a taxi to Governors Beach in Grand Turk. Disembarkation was a breeze. We had a 10:13 am flight so did self assist and were in a taxi by 7:20 am and were at the airport in plenty of time even with the holiday rush (December 23rd). All things considered, I doubt that I would choose the Magic again.