Carnival Cruises Reviews
Thursday 24th May 2012
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Disney Magic - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly!
Disney Magic - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly! |
4 of 5 people found this review informative
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Reviewed By: Powell, Gloucestershire on 2nd Mar 2011
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| Cruise Line: Disney Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Carnival Magic |
Sailed:
May,
2010 |
| Destination:
Mediterranean
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Age: 36-45 |
| Cabin: Inside |
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We sailed the Med aboard Disney Magic (May 10) with my Husband and 20month old daughter. We booked fairly late so had a good price (by Disney standards). The welcome aboard was great and immediately put you in the Disney spirit and we knew that this line had something more to offer as a family holiday.
The Good
One of the best aspects for parents of younger children was that the access to the Disney characters was really frequent and easy. Characters would come into the dining rooms on some nights, you get a character breakfast one morning and their are lots of photo opportunities - the princess gathering is on not to miss for little girls. On one occasion our daughter had Minnie to herself for about 15mins.
The three formal restaurants work on a rotation so every night your restaurant changes; this was good fun and certainly kept our daughter amused. Food again OK, but not the standard of RC or Celebrity more in line with Carnival.
The shows were fantastic, certainly better than anything I've seen on another cruise ship, and typical Disney style. We took our daughter every night we could and all three of us thoroughly enjoyed them. The Pirate Party was not to be missed too, lots of adults as well as children dress in pirate costume and it really was a fun evening. The sail away party was the best I've ever been too and we were really excited about our holiday after this party.
We really liked the small bath in the cabin bathroom (for our toddler) and the curtain so we could still watch TV while she slept.
There were some nice small surprises - maybe a little Disney magic that really added to the trip!
The Bad
The ship is much older than those we had been on recently (Celebrity Solstice, RC Mariner of the Seas) and it was obvious how ship design has improved over the years. The Disney Magic is a very beautiful ship from the outside (one of the best) but the internal layout shows it's age, everything was immaculate, in good state of repair and clean, but the ships layout is older. Our cabin was smaller than those on other ships, but clean, tidy and fine.
The under 3year children's area was small and disappointing and you had to pay for childcare sessions, which we did on one occasion by our daughter did not like it. The over 3's area was really good and we were allowed to take her inside as long as we stayed. The child area staff were mixed, some very good, others looked like they couldn't be bothered.
The under 3's pool area was also very disappointing, even the older children's pool was smaller and less fun than other ships we have been on.
The Ugly
Probably the worst aspect of the ship was the buffet food area, it was very small, hot, cramped and quite dull. The Food was OK, but nothing more; it certainly is not a Windjammer like on RC. After a few days we realised that most people went to the formal restaurants for breakfast and lunch too, this was better, but I missed the atmosphere and choice of the large buffets.
And for us certainly the worst thing was that our daughter got ill and we were confined to our cabin for 4 days, the toddler pool was also drained and cleaned at this time (Mid cruise, hum??) The staff were good, brought her a toy and provided a DVD player and DVDs for the cabin (I must have watched Nemo 30 times and now can’t watch it without getting upset!) but for such a small child to be so ill was very worrying and as one of us always stayed with her, eating alone on what was supposed to be a family holiday was very sad. For the last 2 days she was better, but I could smell the bug (it had a very distinctive smell) on other children around the ship – so hence why it spread, not every parent was as thoughtful to others as we were.
In summary:
Brilliant if you have children aged 3 – 10 and want a fun family holiday, it certainly is the best cruise line of the six lines I’ve sailed on (RC, Celebrity, Princess, Carnival Disney, Norwegian) for family entertainment and I would go back when my daughter is 3. If you are taking children take a pirate outfit and maybe a Disney costume (princess dress) too - the kids do dress up. I’m very keen to try one of the newer ships as I feel these may have sorted the buffet, pool and layout issues so could be a fantastic family cruise.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Lots of burger and chips, buffet area disappointing, The evening meals were better. Loved the 3 restaurant rotation. | | Entertainment |  |
| Fantastic - all the character shows were great. A couple of nights they had other entertainers which were OK, but no where near as good as the character shows. | | Shore Excursions | |
| Didn't even get off the boat in Tunisia, the staff were very subtle but certainly suggesting that we may have a better time on the ship! The Monaco trip was fantastic especially as it was the day before the Grand prix and so we got a fab behind the scenes tour.
The Popeye Village was terrible, so bad it was funny and we actually had a good time for all the wrong reasons! Certainly not a theme park! The same 3 staff do everything! | | Staff | |
| I don't remember a name the the guy who made hundreds of napkin hats at the Character breakfast was great. | | Children's Facilities |  |
| The children's facilities for 3 and over were fantastic, for under 3's was disappointing. | | Onboard Activities | |
| Lots of family fun. | | Cabins |  |
| Clean, but certainly smaller than other lines and older style. The bath tub was great for families. | | Overall Rating | |
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