The Carnival Magic
8 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise
I’ll start this by saying, as an
avid cruiser, I believe cruising is one of the most relaxing vacation options
available and I look forward to each one immensely. However, something I was
disappointed in this time was the Carnival Magic just happened to be a ship
chosen for a random safety inspection by the coast guard and therefore, we were
delayed a couple hours in boarding the ship which seemed to push everything
back for the rest of the first day. I know that it was not Carnival’s fault but
it did make the start of this trip a little more stressful than I had hoped.
For those who have never cruised
before here are some of the basics that happened on day one: When we finally
did get to board the ship we headed into the lobby of the Magic on deck 3 where
the amazing atrium went all the way up to the top of the ship on deck 12. We
could see the glass elevators moving up and down and stopped to take a picture
because it was a beautiful site. We made our way up to the Lido deck (deck 10)
and headed to the buffet for lunch where much to my surprise, there were no
lines to get our food. Once we finished our lunch we decided to go check out
our stateroom; we had chosen an inside cabin. While there we met Nicola, our
room steward, who would take care of us for the entire trip and she seemed very
nice. We chose to have our room serviced in the morning because we knew that we
would be out of the room, either on shore or about the ship, by 9 o’clock when
she would start cleaning. Nicola did a very good job over the next 8 days and
provided us with everything we asked for. My wife developed a stiff neck and
requested different pillows which Nicola provided for her. We wanted ice in the
room each day and she provided us with that. And, as it turns out, Nicola
serviced the room twice daily without us even asking as we always seemed to
need more ice and towels. After talking with Nicola it was off to the safety
briefing which was running late as well and then back to our room to unpack.
The closet and cabinet space were what we had expected and is common on most
ships and they provided us with enough room to store everything we brought on
board.
Our next stop was the “sail away party” on the Lido deck, it
was okay but not much of a party. Then we cleaned up and were off to dinner
where we met our wait staff, Roderick, Ernesto and Fon. I must say that while
Roderick exceeded my expectations, his assistants did not. It wasn’t that they
did anything wrong, they just did not provide the extra or special services
like I have grown accustom to during some of my previous cruises. Over the
remainder of the cruise, Roderick danced and sang for us and provided very good
service. Later that evening we went to a comedy show and the comedian was very
funny, as were two other comedians that we watched over the next several
nights. I would say this is one area where Carnival stands out from other
cruise lines as the comedians seem to be a better caliber.
Over the next several days we visited
Aruba, Curacao, Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk. All of these stops offer
something different and are nice in their own way. Aruba had a great sunken
ship snorkel, Curacao had the best reef snorkeling, Half Moon is one of the
most beautiful beaches in the world and Grand Turk is relaxing and entertaining
all at the same time.
In the evenings after dinner we would
go to the main theater where we enjoyed the shows very much and would highly
recommend seeing them. This is another area where Carnival stands above most
other cruise lines (the only exception being Disney Cruise line). The first show
was a major production called “Flick” and the special effects in this show were
amazing and turned out to be one of my favorite shows from any ship I have been
on. Later in the week we saw “America Rocks” another major production show and,
if you like 80s rock and roll music, which I do, this also was a really amazing
show. We were traveling with another couple who said they wanted to go back to
the second showing because they loved it so much. There were two other
production shows, “88 keys” and “Country Roads” and both were good but nothing
like the previous two. We also watched the “Love and Marriage” show, Carnival’s
version of the newlywed game. This was hilarious, and although we had seen this
before on several other ships, this one was our favorites thanks to our Cruise Director
Leigh’s quick wit. The “Hasbro game show” was entertaining and the “Lip Sync
Battle” was very funny to watch as two fellow passengers get on stage and
perform. We also attended the Carnival Quest show, which is an adult only show
and is a sort of adult scavenger hunt for items that, let’s say, could not be
attained without several people removing various articles of clothing. This
show is not for everybody but it was very funny to watch.
And what review would be complete
without talking about our cruise director (Leigh), he was very energetic and
always seemed to be having fun. It is his job to provide the passengers with
all sorts of activities and he did a good job of that. My only complaint was he
did not have much dancing compared to some of the other cruise directors we’ve
encountered on past trips. Usually on the lido deck you will get several
chances to do the “wobble, electric slide” and other line dances and Leigh did
not seem to put as much of a priority on dancing as I have been use to on other
cruises. On most cruises, there are usually several dance classes, followed by
theme night at the club or on the Lido deck so you can practice what you
learned. On this cruise there was
supposed to be theme nights but it was basically the same music over and over. All
in all, Leigh did a great job and what he had for us to do was very fun and
entertaining but I was hoping for more of an opportunity to show what my wife
and I had learned from our dance lessons prior to our cruise.
Carnival now celebrates holidays all month long and since
this was an October cruise there was a Halloween costume contest where kids and
adults alike, dressed up and strutted through the lido deck for our applause.
Kids even got to trick or treat in the club earlier that day. Carnival (which
is famous for offering a lot of photo opportunities) had Halloween backdrops
that evening which was a very nice touch. I can’t leave out DJ Que who, I think
was the energizer bunny in disguise, and he not only played great music but
also was on the dance floor while the songs were playing showing off his dance
moves and all I can say is WOW.
Lastly, I want to talk about the
food and what a great job Chef Alapati did. The food at Guy’s Burgers and the Guy’s
Pig & Anchor BBQ was very, very good. Carnival claims that Guys’ burgers
are the best burgers at sea, and of that I have no doubt, I think they may be
best on land too. The Blue Iguana Cantina served some great Mexican style meals
and had a breakfast burrito where you get to choose the individual ingredients you
want and it was very tasty. The Lido Marketplace offers a good variety of food
and there is something for everyone. They even have a deli that makes fresh
sandwiches like grilled cheese, BLTs and turkey or chicken wraps. Let’s not
forget there is pizza and ice cream available 24 hours a day as well. The main
dining room is a full service restaurant where you get something different
every night and can try things you might not have ever tried before. On formal
night they even offered filet and lobster tails. And let’s not forget
Carnival’s signature desert, Warm
Chocolate Melting Cake, it’s amazing. I want to also touch on a hidden
gem we discovered on this cruise, the Seafood Shack. I don’t normally like to
talk about the pay restaurants because the food at all the free venues is very
good and I don’t feel the need to pay extra but, the Seafood Shack is a little
different. First of all, it’s on the lido deck at the back of the ship and, is
a takeout style meal. You can order al a cart items and the prices are very
reasonable with most items costing from $5-$10. We tried the steamed shrimp,
clam chowder and crab legs and I have to say that we have not had any better,
at any restaurant, we have ever been to. This food was amazing and if you like
seafood I highly recommend you try this secret weapon Carnival has introduced
on many of their ships.
Overall I think this cruise was very nice (what cruise isn’t).
Is any cruise ever perfect, no, but nothing ever is. If you look hard enough
you can find things that aren’t perfect almost anywhere you go but, if you just
want to take a trip to relax and enjoy letting others wait on you and try to
provide you with a very memorable experience, I would have to say that this
Carnival trip did just that. I would, without a doubt, rate my experience on
the Carnival Magic as very satisfying.
