Fair disclosure: I've been on 20 previous cruises, mostly with Royal Caribbean but also with Celebrity, Azamara, Princess, and two with Carnival prior to this. My first Carnival cruise was on a floating dumpster, their oldest ship that was put out to pasture not too long after we disembarked. That was enough for me. I was done. But when my family decided to go on a cruise together the best option for us was a Carnival cruise on the Conquest that really turned out well. Great ship, great itinerary, great overall experience. Ah, the good old days.
First, embarkation in Galveston was a breeze. We parked, went through the line, and were on board in 15 minutes. The Magic is brand new and beautiful. It was not decorated like a Holiday Inn tiki bar -- the colors were muted and classy. We were really excited when we were assigned an aft cabin. They are normally larger than most with a triangle shape, not the usual box. Well... It was clean. That is the best I can say. There was no storage. We are light packers and we were flipping a coin for drawers and resorted to storing things in the bathroom.
But the piece de resistance was the ship was suffering from a thruster problem, which caused our cabin to vibrate like a 25 cent cheap Motel 6 bed ride. Everything in the area rattled all day and more importantly ALL NIGHT LONG. We stuffed paper and wash cloths into every nook and cranny to stop the god forsaken noise. I did not sleep for 3 nights straight. In our first port of Key West we stopped off at Sloppy Joe's for a drink, then headed straight to the drug store for Nyquil, Advil PM, and ear plugs. Soooo NOT KIDDING!