We also got off the Carnival Magic this Sunday morning, December 18, 2011. Our sail date was 12-11-11, for the Bahamas. We were very glad we went, and wanted to briefly share with you our experiences. The Magic was our 12th Carnival cruise and 24th cruise overall. While we are not demanding of our cruise experience, we know what we like and how the competition delivers the cruise vacation experience. We give CCL good reviews on service, accommodations, and ports of call. And we give CCL "needs improvement" for higher quality good, or at least a more memorable food experience. Here's the details:

SATURDAY NIGHT: Stayed at the TraveLodge on Galveston. The rate was competitive, the room clean, and very comfortable for the short stay. We missed our cruise critic friends at Fish Tales restaurant by one hour Saturday night, but did find them at the Meet and Greet on board.

SUNDAY: We ran our usual approach before the cruise: 1. Drop off luggage at the pier at 10:00 am; 2. Park the car at the nearby EZ Cruise parking; and 3. Walk the 2 blocks to the Cruise ship terminal. The line to get into the terminal took a few minutes. Having hit the Platinum level saved us a few minutes in line. We waited for our friends from Illinois, who were only 3-4 minutes behind, in the usual line. So Platinum saved some time, and is certainly another nice benefit of cruising with Carnival. Once on board we had our ID card punched at the customer service desk, so we could attach our lanyard to the them, thus freeing our hands. Then it's off to the Northern Lights dining room for 1:30 pm check-in, and confirming our table location (the matre'd slightly moved our table to a better location in the Southern Lights -- thank you!). The Matre'd in our Southern Lights Dining Room, Ken Byrne, was quite the singer and story teller, and a major attraction for our dinners. Read more