So, I review a lot... I like to be fair, and as someone who has taken quite a few cruises, I feel like I can be fair and give an honest review. I am giving it a "3" as a generous gesture... I battled between a 2 and a 3. Read on... you decide:

So, lets first start with the GOOD: I love the cruise director and her staff. Emma has a great deal of energy; she personifies a "fun ship". She is supported by Jax (as fun and energetic as Emma) and Deonne (don't ask if he is related to Eddie Murphy..he is not), and Tai. They all add to the fun that Carnival works on creating. As a seasoned cruiser, we had been on Carnival years ago, but still left it as a last resort cruise. After we went on The Magic however, it turned out attitude around and we have been on a couple more since. We found that we like Carnival better because they keep it youthful. Just because we are over 50 doesn't mean we do not like current music and activities. Carnival seems to be more likely to have a smattering of current music thrown in with their oldies... other cruise lines seem to have missed this. The other good things... I will always give props for having them adding in the 2.0 restaurants (Guy's Burger Joint, Blue Iguana), a self-serve soft serve machine available 24/7, and hot chocolate machine right next to the coffee.... these are all little food things that make the trip so nice. We went to JiJi's Asian Specialty restaurant -- it was so good we went back the next night. It's the best $15 you can spend anywhere on board. Breakfast is awesome at Blue Iguana, lunch at Guys Burger, pizza or the Italian Cantina. ALWAYS get the Chocolate Melting Cake for dinner... no need to look elsewhere. These are things Carnival excels at.

So on to the AVERAGE. Not good, not bad... just annoyingly expected -- the shows, the Lido, the pools. Shows: always 4 guys, 4 girls, usually with a costume extravaganza tripping through the 60's. 70's. 80's, etc... its all fine just as we expected. Very few things new and special. We usually do not feel worried if we miss a few... we know essentially how they are going to be. In the Rock show they did have a nice video screen display that kicked it up a notch. Other than that, you can go pretty see this on any ship. The Lido -- the food has the same fare, nothing that makes you feel upscale or special, but it feeds 3000 people several times a day... so meh.... We actually opted to stay away from the Lido Marketplace, and except for a drink or dessert, we ate elsewhere. The Pools -- there are only 2 -- one quite small at the base of the waterfall on the Serenity Deck (over 18yr) and the main pool - the Beach Pool which is slightly bigger, but always overrun by screaming kids. They need 1-2 more pools to even out the pool-to-sunbather ratio... the waterfall pool was pretty cold as well, so needless to say, there were not that many passengers in pools, just hot tubs. As expected, the beds in the cabins are flat and old (except the little mountainous ridge where they push them together) and the water didn't drain in the shower. Since I find this on almost every cruise, I chalked that up to average. Read more