Pros: The embarkation in Miami was a breeze. Carnival is usually a lower price than other lines. Carnival has good itineraries for the Caribbean. The Magic is definitely a large ship with many places to grab a drink or sit on the deck. Carnival does a good job moving people off the ship and to their excursion or other transportation. The lines to get back on the ship after excursions were also efficient. Our family enjoyed playing the games that were out on the tables at the Red Frog Bar on 5. I did have a fish, pescado asada, which was good one night. We enjoyed some of the showcase theater entertainment and movie on the deck. We had awesome weather.

Cons: Not enough bartenders because we always waited long for drinks. I just had the soft drink package and waited over 20 minutes to get a diet coke to have with lunch. The buffet lines were long, long, long, at breakfast and lunch. I called 3 different times to get a second pillow for one of the kid's beds. The beds were not really comfortable. I knew Carnival's food quality is mediocre at best, but some of the items were inedible. I had a chicken wrap that was filled with skin and gristle. I ate a lot of salad. Coming back to the ship after being gone most of the day left you with only a burger or pizza since everything else closes at 2:30. Dinner every night was cold. On night 3 before dinner, I asked the waiter to please make sure food was hot. Nope, not even close. Don't dare ask for the veggie served with another entree. No changes. Long waits for appetizers and the entree each night. They have a system and you better be ready to abide. Missing some activities due to almost 2 hours for dinner each night was not fun for the 9 and 11 year old. (I have found Royal and Princess to have much better food and be more accommodating.) I really hate the additional charges for everything such as the chat feature on carnival hub. Just price it in the cruise. The lines at guest services were too long at most times.

I took my grandson to the arcade. One game worked by swiping my ship card We then swiped the ship card 5 more times on 2 different games. Nothing worked. We went directly to guest services. The woman at guest services was told about our arcade experience. She pulled up my bill and said no arcade charges are present and even gave me a paper copy at that point. I asked if the charges would show up later and insisted that all charges were up to date. So, i took my grandson back to the arcade. The next day I looked at my account on carnival hub and saw the charges were on the bill from our first and second arcade visit. I called guest services and spoke to Imen. She said she would pass the information on to someone and they would call. Guess what, no call, and charges remained. If carnival needs to cheat a retired grandma out of $13, then where else are they cutting corners. I will never choose Carnival for a cruise, life is too short.