Every year, 2.5 million people take a Carnival cruise and for years I’ve wanted to try it for myself.
Most of the news on Carnival cruises sounds something like: ‘Carnival cruise fight’ ‘Carnival cruise brawl’ ‘Violent outbreak’ but we all know how one-sided the news can be.
I’ve heard lots of good experiences about Carnival cruises too. I knew it was a gamble, but I hoped that it would pay off.
Carnival describes themselves as being the ‘fun ships’ and I like fun. When I saw a very cheap cruise sailing out of New York City, I knew that I had to give it a go.
Why Did I Book This Cruise?
I visited Canada on the seven-night cruise. I booked the cheapest cabin on the entire ship.
I didn’t know how I’d find cruising out of New York, and I didn’t know how it would be being an English person on a very American cruise.
I’d heard bad things about Carnival’s food in the past and heard that the ships were outdated. Not all of that was wrong – but I’d learn more about that later.
I booked my cruise on the Carnival Magic, a ship built in 2011 with a maximum passenger capacity of just over 4500.
As far as Carnival ships go, she’s not one of the oldest, but not one of the newest either, so I hoped that this would give me the best overview of Carnival.
How Was Embarkation?
Once we arrived at the Manhattan cruise terminal, embarkation was incredibly easy.
We had entered most of our information into the Carnival Hub app before the cruise and so all we had to do at the terminal was show this barcode and go through security.
We also had to show our “ArriveCan” apps, which we needed to enter Canada, and we needed to show Covid tests, but these aren’t required anymore.
Your travel agent and cruise line will let you know anything you need to know before the cruise. Just make sure that you check your emails and your spam folder!
As soon as we checked in, we had our first photo taken in front of the backdrops they had set up.
There were quite a few things on this cruise that I was used to on other cruise lines, but Carnival took them much further. They definitely don’t do anything by halves – it’s all or nothing, and photography was one of those things.
The Ship Was SO Colourful
Walking into the Carnival Magic, we were instantly in the middle of the atrium. I saw a comment saying that I looked like I was in a pinball machine – and I couldn’t agree more, especially with the lampshades on the ceiling.
The atrium was so bright and so colourful. It’s definitely not to everybody’s taste, and it isn’t really to mine, but it absolutely set the scene for our Carnival cruise.
I Took a Similar Cruise With Costa in 2018
A few years ago, I took a cruise with Costa, an Italian cruise line owned by Carnival. Costa’s ships are very similar.
In fact, the Costa cruise ship that I sailed on, the Costa Luminosa, has now been transferred to Carnival and now sails for them.
They kept the big statue that the Costa Luminosa had in the atrium. So many people had touched the bum and the nose of the statue that the colour had changed. I did it too, of course…
I did wonder if this cruise would be like my Costa cruise, but with Americans instead of Italian guests.
I enjoyed my Costa cruise but there were definitely some disappointments – like the buffet food was by far the worst food I’ve ever had on a cruise before. I hoped this Carnival cruise would be better than that.
Find out more about that Costa Luminosa cruise here:
We Had to do a Safety Drill
We embarked around 12.30pm and were sent to our muster stations to complete a short safety drill. It’s the law that a safety drill must be done before the ship sails away, or shortly after.
It took 10 minutes at most, and they just explained to us how to put on a lifejacket and where to go in an emergency.
It was much better than the muster drill I had on my Costa cruise way back in 2018, where we all had to stand on the promenade deck in lines.
In the past, most cruise lines required you to do something like this, but luckily, the Covid pandemic has changed things.
Find out more about Muster Drills here:
I hope cruise lines never go back to the big ‘everybody-at-once’ safety drills.
Our cabins weren’t available until 1.30 so we went out onto the top deck. I was instantly impressed by how much outside space there was.
I find that many of the newer cruise ships have lost a lot of outside space in favour of “stuff”—and stuff that usually costs extra. Really, all I want on a cruise is enough space to sit, a clean ship, and good service.
Our Cabin Was on Deck 7
When the announcement was made that our cabin was ready we headed to our room on deck 7. Our Cruise Director was called Ryan, and he started every announcement by calling us his Carnival Magic Family.
I had no idea at this point just how big a part of a Carnival cruise the Cruise Director would be. I also had no idea how much of a big part the casino, bingo, and cookies would be on the cruise – but it was fun to find out.
Our cabin was comfortable and clean. If you compare this cabin to newer cabins on cruise lines like MSC or P&O, I definitely think the style is outdated. It was very similar to my Costa cruise cabin, so I was prepared for that.
Sailing Out of New York Was Fantastic
As we sailed away from New York, I had my first taste of a Carnival deck party. These happened often during our cruise, more than on any other cruise line I’ve cruised with.
It wasn’t necessarily that the parties were bigger or crazier than other cruise lines, but there seemed to be some sort of big-themed party every day.
If you haven’t sailed out of New York, you’ve got to put it on your bucket list! I couldn’t believe I was there, seeing the views, all in glorious sunshine, too. It was a dream come true.
In lots of destinations around the world, like Norway, there are regulations that say that cruise ships can’t play loud music when sailing away. That didn’t seem to be a problem on this cruise.
I suppose New York is so loud anyway, what harm can one more noise source make?
I thought that the ship’s entertainment would be reserved for the deck parties and the theatre, but I couldn’t have been more wrong – as I found out when we went to our first dinner onboard.
We Selected My Time Dining – It Worked Well!
We had selected “My Time Dining” which meant that we could eat in the main dining room whenever we wanted to, rather than just at fixed times like you’ll find on some more traditional cruise lines.
The My Time Dining worked amazingly, we just had to press a button in the app, and then we would get a notification when our table was ready. This never took more than ten minutes, and we were seated straight away on the top level.
I Had Low Expectations
I didn’t come on this cruise expecting the food quality to be particularly good.
For the price I paid for the cruise, it was amazing that any food was included at all, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the food quality in the main dining room.
I had a vegetarian Indian selection that definitely rivalled speciality vegetarian Indian meals I’ve had on other cruise lines.
However, as the cruise went on, I did find being a vegetarian onboard trickier than other cruise lines.
During this first dinner, I discovered the always-available chocolate cake. It was amazing, warm, and gooey, and I had it multiple times during our cruise.
Every Dinner, There’s a Show
Just as we were finishing our main course, a voice came over the overhead speakers (or the Tannoy, as we say in the UK) and said, “Showtime.”
At this point, some of the waiters disappeared and returned wearing colourful jackets and started dancing between the tables.
The voice on the speaker said that they put on a show for us every night and that it was just about to begin. With this, a song started playing, and a few of the waiters downstairs jumped onto the tables.
This happened every night of our cruise. I imagine being a waiter on a cruise ship is an incredibly hard job as it is, and adding a dance into the middle of dinner must make it more difficult. But it was good fun and the waiters went all in with the dancing.
I hope they are able to pick who dances and who doesn’t. Imagine being given your job assignment for the day and being told you’ll have to dance on that table midway through dinner.
In fact, I’m pretty sure they did it more than once per evening – once for the people that had picked fixed seating and early dining, and once for the later diners.
What Was Tipping Like Onboard?
I did see quite a few guests tipping their waiters in cash during this cruise, which isn’t something I’m used to.
We do tip here in the UK if the service is particularly good, but it’s never expected and is just an extra for good service.
Carnival has ‘automatic gratuities’, which means that you pay an amount per person per night to go towards the tips. I always recommend leaving these on so that you don’t have to think about tips again.
Most British cruise lines include tips in the cruise fare because we don’t have the same tipping culture here in the UK.
To learn more about what auto gratuities are, check out this post:
Cruise Gratuities: A Simple Step by Step Guide For First Time Cruisers
We Started With a Sea Day
Our first full day onboard was a sea day. I always like a sea day at the start of a cruise because it gives you the chance to explore and start to learn your way around properly.
I quickly learnt which way I could go to avoid as many photographers as I could. I’ve never seen so many photography stations set up each night, and never have I been asked if I want a photo taken so many times on a cruise.
I did feel bad for the photographers who make a commission on the photos that they sell, but I didn’t want any photos taken. If I walked down deck 5 in the evenings, I’d have to decline having photos taken multiple times within a few metres.
I tried just politely to say “no thank you” and move on.
Were The Crew Nice?
The staff were always incredibly polite and friendly, there were plenty of crew members around and our cabin steward was really amazing.
The waiters in the restaurants knew our names somehow and the service was always quick.
Quite often you’ll find that on budget cruise lines they’ve cut costs by cutting staff. It didn’t feel like that. I think Carnival is cheap because they charge for things that other cruise lines don’t.
For example, if you’re on a Princess cruise and go to watch a movie under the stars, you just pick up a bag of popcorn whereas, on Carnival, it was something like $5 for popcorn.
It’s not a big difference, but just a different business model and it does add up.
Deck 5 had the pub on it, so it was an area I went by a lot. Classic British person I know – always hanging out in the pub…
I Bought a Soda Package
I had bought a soda package before the cruise for $8 a day and I definitely got my money’s worth out of it. I was so happy to see that soda was available in cans even on the drinks package.
On some cruise lines, there will be a soda package that lets you have fountain soda, but soda from cans still costs extra.
I did get my bill at the end of the cruise that listed every soda I had – I definitely got my money’s worth out of the soda package.
I did find it a bit strange that every time we ordered a drink, we had to sign for it. On most cruise lines, it’s all done electronically or through wearable tech like Princesses’ Ocean Medallion. I haven’t signed for a drink in years and years.
It wasn’t a problem at all, and I see why they do it – hoping that guests will add something to the tip line.
It did seem like an unnecessary complication, especially for the crew who had to press lots of buttons and print a receipt to get signed when, really, I could have just been handed a can.
Despite this, the bar service was always good and we never had any problems.
The Ship Has a Large Promenade Deck
Outside of the Pub was a lovely big promenade deck with lots of different types of seating and a BBQ joint.
Sadly there was nothing vegetarian on the BBQ menu so we didn’t eat here. I could have just eaten sides, but I didn’t come on a cruise just to eat sides.
There Were Less Vegetarian Options Than on Other Cruise Lines
There was usually one vegetarian main in the main dining room, and then the “always-available” vegetarian Indian dish. The vegetarian food that I had was always very good, I just wish that there was more of it.
I always say “oh well, it’s because it’s an American cruise line, they don’t have as many vegetarians in America” but some American cruise lines like Virgin do an amazing job at Veggie and Vegan dining, so I think I’ll stop saying that.
I never went hungry on the cruise, and the staff were always happy to make me something off the menu.
Carnival Has a Burger Restaurant Called Guy’s Burger Joint (Included in the Cruise Fare)
Guy’s Burger Joint is a poolside grill restaurant created by Guy Fieri. Interestingly here it says established in 1968 so I assumed the restaurant was created then – but it wasn’t.
Guy’s Burger Joint was created in collaboration with Carnival in 2011 and 1968 is actually the year that Guy was born.
I loved the big promenade deck on the ship it felt as though almost nobody realised that the promenade deck was here, it was like having our own big private balcony where we could sit and enjoy a can of Pepsi, it was awesome.
It’s important to remember that regardless of the cabin type you book, you still have access to the same ship.
Some cruise lines have private areas for suites or other things but, generally speaking, if you book an inside or an ocean view or a balcony, you still have the same places.
When I have an inside cabin I just spend more time out and about on the ship, rather than in my cabin.
On our cruise, the promenade deck was closed off at one end, so we couldn’t walk all the way around, but it was still a nice space.
Find out more about promenade decks on cruise ships here:
Cruise Ship Promenade Decks – Photos, Uses, and History
Guests Danced to Win Trivia
We did have a go at trivia but didn’t do particularly well, I’m honestly glad that we didn’t do very well because one day when there was a tiebreaker the two guests were invited on the stage to do a dance-off for the prize!
I would 10000% give up my prize if I had to dance for it, even if it was a huge amount of money you wouldn’t get me on the stage dancing.
This is one of the differences I noticed on this cruise compared to cruising with British cruise lines or cruising on American cruise lines in Europe – the guests on this Carnival cruise were just so much more enthusiastic about audience participation.
If you went on a British cruise and asked the guests to dance off to win trivia, you’d probably hear some not-very-nice words, but it was so much fun to watch, and everybody’s excitement was infectious.
We Hadn’t Seen Any Fights…Yet
Carnival call themselves the fun ships and they definitely were living up to that at this point. I hadn’t seen any bad guest behaviour or any fights yet but I knew that there was still lots of potential time.
At this point, I hadn’t stayed up particularly late because I was knackered from walking around New York. We walked over 64km in two days. Knackered is a word we say in Britain for tired.
The drama and the fights always seem to happen around 5am though, so I knew I’d have to stay awake at some point.
To be honest, if you went to any club at 5 a.m., you might find some people fighting. It’s just that more people are there on a Carnival cruise than a cruise line like Princess, where the nightclub is dead at 9 p.m.
Visiting Saint John and The Pulp Mill
Our first stop was Saint John in New Brunswick and we went to see a fort and then onto what is called the “Reversing Falls”. It’s basically an area where every day the water changes direction, or that’s what I’ve been told.
Walking up to the viewpoint I honestly was quite confused why everybody was taking a photo with this big scary building which I have since learnt is a pulp mill.
It was around now that we started to hear mention of a hurricane that could affect our cruise, hurricane Fiona.
Carnival added a hurricane update channel to the TV so that we could track the hurricane’s route and speed.
It was lovely to be in such a big open green place after spending time in New York, we walked around the residential streets and I could quite happily live somewhere like this. I love Canada and Canadians are just the best.
We Had Lots of Rain in Halifax and Sydney
We were incredibly lucky with the weather in Saint John but the same cannot be said for our next stops of Halifax and Sydney.
We did our best to see as much of the ports as possible but it was very much from under our hoods and through the rain.
Some people did buy Carnival cruise line ponchos which I loved, they looked like ghosts floating around.
The Theatre Entertainment Wasn’t my Favourite (But May Not Have Been Typical)
Heading back to the ship we went to see the evening entertainment in the theatre. Every night of our cruise there was a different theatre show which was great. The type of shows weren’t my favourite but I’ve found out since that this might not be normal for a Carnival cruise.
On our cruise the shows were basically like compilations of songs sung by a group, they were great singers and great performers but I usually prefer more to be going on in theatre shows.
I have quite a short attention span and people standing and singing doesn’t really do it for me. I personally like costume changes and choreographed dancing and changing sets.
Entertainment like this is very subjective, though, and a lot of the audience seemed to really enjoy the shows. They did have lasers, so that was cool.
Since returning from the cruise, I’ve been told that the backdrop and set on our cruise were damaged, so nobody could dance.
Whether that’s true or not I have no idea but I thought it was worth a mention, my entertainment experience might not have been a normal Carnival experience.
I Loved The Theatre Design
The theatre was split over two levels and I loved the way that there were little tables on the lower level, being able to get out without making everybody else stand up is something I value very highly in a theatre.
There were quite a few seats with obstructed views, definitely up on the top level, but we were always able to get a good seat if we arrived 15 or so minutes before the show.
We saw more than just the regular theatre shows here. We also watched Deal or No Deal and the Mr. and Mrs. game show.
Both were great fun, and again, as I mentioned earlier, the audience was very happy to participate, which was great. Everybody they had on stage was so funny, and this was what I had expected from Carnival.
The Lack of Hand Sanitising Did Make me Nervous
Usually, when you go on a cruise there are hand sanitisers and sinks everywhere.
Most cruise lines won’t let you into the buffet until you’ve washed your hands at the sink and they will stand there and watch you do it.
There was nothing like that on the Carnival cruise, I was never told to sanitise or wash my hands and the sanitising machines weren’t where I expected them to be (like at the doors to the buffet there weren’t any there.)
It wasn’t a big problem but because the buffet is back to self-serve, and everybody is sharing tongs again, I was just aware of it.
I would usually get my food, touch the tongs and everything, and then sanitise my hands before sitting down to eat. Sometimes, I’d have to go quite far out my way to find a dispenser that actually had sanitiser in it, but, in my opinion, it was well worth it.
I Loved The Deli Section of The Buffet
It might just have been because of the weird buffet layout that there weren’t many machines there. The buffet was split into two sections and one part by the deli has a Speciality Restaurant above it.
I ate from the deli quite often because it was here that you could order a sandwich or a wrap. They had a couple of vegetarian choices and it was nice to have something made to order.
They did the same with omelettes here in the morning, and they always had LOTS of cake.
They had multiple bowls of cookies in the buffet and I thought I was a person addicted to cookies but my goodness, I saw people empty the big cookie bowl right in front of me!
They would pile their bowls so high. I’ve never seen so many cookies consumed on a cruise, but I loved it, of course.
We would often take a plate of cookies back to our cabin in the evening and we would stop off at the pizza restaurant at the back and pick up a pizza. You could either order by the slice or the whole pizza, it was freshly made there and it was really close to my cabin.
Did Carnival Have Cookies?
They did have extra-big cookies available to buy in a cafe onboard, but I didn’t ever feel the need to buy any. Sure, the cookies in the buffet were kind of small, but they were really tasty, and I’d just take a couple each time.
I did buy a doughnut in the cafe at one point, which I think probably had my yearly recommended sugar intake in it, but it was good.
Apart from that, the only extra money I spent on the cruise was $20 that I spent in the casino in cash. I actually won $30 which was amazing. I took out the money and went on with my life, I’m not much of a gambler.
The Casino Was Busy Day and Night
As for the rest of the passengers onboard though, I’ve never seen such a popular casino on a cruise – ever! The casino was actually expanded in the last refit and is now split over two decks. Despite that though almost every machine and table was being used all of the time.
Guests could smoke in the casino, and because of the location, you do have to walk through it quite often to get to other places. That may have been why it seemed so much busier to me than on other cruises – if the casino is at the end of the ship I’ll rarely see or hear it, but here it was the most popular place on the ship. They even served breakfast here, which I think says a lot.
Whenever the ship was quiet I’d think ‘hmm, I wonder where everybody is?’ and they’d either be in the casino or they’d be playing bingo. They seemed like the two most popular pastimes on the sea day.
Thankfully we just missed the hurricane and got back to New York in time. We didn’t experience any bad weather, but a lot of the top deck areas were closed off because they were wet – but no more so than a normal rainy cruise.
How Much Did I Pay For This Cruise?
Including my tips and drinks package, I paid $532 for this cruise, based on two sharing the cheapest guaranteed inside cabin, which I think is an amazing price.
It would be hard to find a hotel on land for that even if you didn’t include the food, drinks and entertainment. I never felt unsafe on the cruise and never saw any bad behaviour, in fact I think I’ve seen worst behaviour on almost every other cruise line.
I’ve recently taken a second cruise with Costa, which is basically the Italian version of Carnival. It is also was the worst-rated cruise on Cruise Critic. Find out what I thought on their newer, mega-ship Costa Smeralda here:
Before You Go
Find out about the eleven things I look forward to when I cruise here:
11 Things I Look Forward To When I’m Going On A Cruise
Find out the pros and cons of booking a balcony cabin versus an inside cabin here:
The Pros and Cons of Booking a Balcony vs. An Inside Cabin
Free Insiders Cruise Line Guide
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Whenever I take a cruise I order a print of my trip. It uses the real satellite data from the cruise and is always a great conversation starter!
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