Carnival Magic Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,506 reviews

Great ports, newer ship, cheesy cruise director, average food

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Magic
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TropicalBeachGirl
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Apr 2017

In my opinion Carnival is an "entry level" cruise line. If you have never sailed before you might love it (nothing to compare it to) but if you have sailed other lines you will notice the difference. This ship is fairly new so nothing was in disarray. The cabin steward was nice, and in general all of the employees were nice. The ports were great. Embarkation and disembarkation was a breeze compared to years ago so that was excellent - very well run.

The food was just average and in fact has gone downhill over the years. If you are a foodie looking for amazing food I don't recommend this cruise line. I mean, the food was prepared ok, nothing was stale or bad, but it was just not impressive at all in the main dining rooms and we saw some of the same things on the menu each night. We did not try the steakhouse, their specialty restaurant. There was an outdoor burger and mexican food eatery by the pool - always had a long line. The bar drinks were decent. We did try the bbq place outside which only operates on days at sea - not bad but again nothing amazing. There was a coffee bar with really good bakery items (like a Starbucks) that we enjoyed. We did purchase the drink package and although we may not have totally gotten our money's worth in drinks, it was nice to not have to worry about it and just walk up to any bar and order what we wanted.

The spa services were good as was the spa. Its a Steiner operated Spa. Be aware they will try to upsell you on products after your services.

Cabin Review

Port Reviews

Belize City

Another Caribbean shopping port if you just take the tender and wander around this port. The frozen rum bar was good and the people were nice. Good port if you want to shop.

Costa Maya

We did not do an excursion and instead wandered around the port. Lots of shopping huts set up in a village-like atmosphere. Good place for souvenirs. They had a Fish Spa where they scrub your feet and you soak your feet in a large glass bowl full of tiny fish that eat the dead skin cells off your feet...very strange but interesting experience! Gotta try it once!

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