Day 1: Carnival Magic 7-night Western Caribbean Cruise

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Embarkation

I’ll start off by saying that this was the seventh cruise that my husband and I had been on. Our first cruise was in 2001 with Royal Caribbean on an older, smaller ship, and we absolutely hated it and were sure we would never cruise again. But friends of ours kept telling us to try Disney Cruise Line, convinced we would like a Disney cruise, and they were right. We liked Disney so much that we went on 5 Disney cruises in all. Unfortunately our last cruise with Disney had a number of issues that made the cruise unenjoyable for the most part, and Disney did nothing to correct the issues. So we decided to try another cruise line, and after seeing Carnival Magic’s prices were good, and after reading several good reviews, we decided to give the Carnival Magic a try, and we are very glad we did. I would say for the price and considering everything about our cruise experience, we would give them 4.25 stars out of 5. Now if the price was more, they would get less stars, but we feel that for what we paid, we are very happy with what we received.

This review is lengthy because when I’m planning a cruise, or any vacation, I’m the type of person who likes to read and read about my upcoming trip. I like to know what other people did, what they liked and didn’t like, and what recommendations they have, so that way I have an idea of what to expect, and also so that I’ll have an idea of what to possibly do or not do. Reading other people’s reviews also gets me excited about my upcoming trips! I hope that my review of the Carnival Magic is helpful for you.

The main focus of my review is the food, because I’ve noticed many people are inquiring about the food on cruises, so I hope this review will be helpful for you if you’re curious about the food choices on the Carnival Magic.

(This is the first vacation I decided to write about, and looking back we realize we should have taken more photos of things on and off the ship. I promise that for my future vacation stories I will have more photos.)

Getting To The Ship

The parking service we used at the time of our cruise is no longer there, or has changed names. However, there are places to park that provide a shuttle service that drops you off at your cruise ship’s terminal that cost less than parking at the the cruise terminal parking lot. Here are links to three that I found: Park Port Canaveral Go Port Port Canaveral Parking (Here is a link to the pricing for parking at the cruise terminal at Port Canaveral: Cruise Terminal Parking pricing and info.)

The parking service we used was called Go Port Canaveral, and they claimed they had shuttles running every hour on the hour, but that wasn’t the case. We got to the parking lot before noon and we had to wait until after 1 p.m. to be shuttled to the port, and the traffic going into the port and at the port was soooooo slooooooow. We would rather pay slightly more and not have to wait over an hour for the shuttle to pick us up.

We didn’t arrive in the terminal until about 2:15, and there were two long lines at the check-in counters. They had lots of employees checking people in, so the line moved at a decent pace. The good news is that once we were checked in, the ship was cleared for general boarding, so we could walk right onto the ship. After going up the terminal escalator, my husband took some photos looking down at the terminal, and the lines had gone down considerably. That’s because we were some of the last people to board the ship! (Those photos are time stamped 2:41, so it was getting late, and we hadn’t eaten anything all day, except for a few almonds, because we thought we would be on the ship before 1:00. Things don’t always go as planned, even with the best planning.)

Finally On The Ship!

Once on board, we headed straight for our cabin – #1352. This cabin is Category 4B Interior. This room is located on deck one, midship, and is an inside cabin. (Here is a link to Carnival Magic’s deck plan: Deck Plan.)

After putting our backpacks in the cabin, we headed for the elevators to go to the Lido deck for food. Yay! We were almost about to get some lunch! But the elevators were taking forever, and there were lots of people waiting to use them, plus they had some elevators dedicated to only employee use for delivering luggage to the cabins, so we decided to take the stairs from deck one to deck 10 on empty stomachs. We were running on empty, and we could tell – that’s not an easy climb if you’re low on energy. But we did it! And we had taken the Aft stairs, so we arrived right next to the entrance to the Lido Marketplace, which offers several different all you care to eat food stations. Yes! Food was finally in sight!

(If you are concerned about motion sickness, and you’ve never cruised before, I recommend bringing along with you different things to alleviate motion sickness. For my husband and me, we used to use ginger pills, which you can get in the vitamin section at stores, along with motion sickness bracelets which have a couple of smooth round things that push on a certain part of your wrist that helps alleviate motion sickness. For some people those don’t work. They also sell patches for motion sickness, and we saw a number of people wearing patches on our last cruise. You can also use motion sickness pills, or any other thing(s) out there that might help you. Also, if you’re prone to motion sickness, but want to try a cruise ship vacation, I suggest sailing on a shorter duration cruise on a large cruise ship, like three nights or so, just to test it out.)

For people who wold like a room with minimal motion, then a lower deck, midship, inside cabin is the best you can get. By being closer to the water line, and the middle of the ship both by being midship and an inside cabin, you feel the minimum amount of motion that you can on a cruise ship. Plus, this is a larger ship, which helps reduce the motion, and of course stabilizers help to reduce the roll of the ship. However, I’ve read that some people don’t like inside cabins due to the lack of windows, and they feel that being able to look outside, or have a balcony to get fresh air, helps them with motion sickness. Inside cabins are usually smaller than ocean view and balcony cabins, so that’s something to consider as well. With an inside cabin the sun won’t wake you up, which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you like.

Food!

We had planned on going to Cucina Del Capitano for their free lunch – The Captain’s Pasta Bar – which I had read lots of good reviews on. We couldn’t find it, so we asked an employee where it was. He told us where it was, then said, “But it closed at 2:30, so you can’t eat there now.”

“Noooooo!” I thought to myself. With all my review reading and cruise planning, I somehow didn’t know that lunch ended there at 2:30 each day. Bummer! Oh well, it’s not like there aren’t other food choices.

“Fine, let’s try the buffet,” we decided.

Lido Buffet

They were offering Italian food that day at the food station that rotates each day between different International cuisines; it’s called Chef’s Choice. We each filled up our plates and searched for a table. And searched. And searched. Finally we found a free table – a not entirely cleared table, but a free table with dirty dishes on it is better than no table at all.

My first bite was of the Melanzana Caponata. I love eggplant, so I was expecting a real treat for my taste buds; instead I bit into a lukewarm, bland eggplant. The other items I tried were all so so. My husband felt the same about his choices – nothing disgusting, but nothing really tasty either.

Guy’s Burger Joint

We wanted good food, and I had read tons of great reviews about Guy’s Burger Joint, so we decided to try Guy’s Burgers. We were both hoping those burgers lived up to their reputation, but we remained skeptical, realizing that not everyone’s tastes are the same.

I ordered the Pig Patty, and my husband ordered the Pig Patty with no cheese and a Plain Jane with no cheese. We found out that ordering a burger with no cheese at Guy’s Burger Joint is not a simple task for the employees. It slowed down the line, the employees kept trying to hand my husband burgers with cheese on them, their English wasn’t very good, and I think they kept forgetting “no cheese,” so it took a few extra minutes, but he finally got his burgers with no cheese.

We went to the toppings bar and put our toppings on our burgers. I chose lots and lots of grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, a decent amount of crispy bacon pieces, tomato slices, chipotle mayo, and salted the onions and tomatoes.

We quickly found a table outside in the Guy’s Burger Joint table area, and bit into our burgers. They were delicious! We were so happy with our burgers. Yummy! Just thinking of them now, I’m wanting one of those delicious burgers. They lived up to the reviews and more. Wow! The buns are made fresh daily, so I’ve read, and they were fresh. They grill the buns just right. The meat is tasty and moist and perfectly cooked. The super melty cheese is oh so good! And they put just the right amount of cheese on each burger. It isn’t simply cheese – it’s a cheesy concoction, and, from what I understand, they make it on the ship. The grilled onions were thick and grilled long enough to be perfectly grilled, the mushrooms were grilled just right, but I wasn’t a fan of them, even though my husband enjoyed the mushrooms, the bacon was cooked until it was nice and crispy and then broken up into smaller pieces, and the bacon added yumminess to an already super yummy cheese burger. The tomato slices were the right thickness, and the tomatoes were always good tomatoes.

We enjoyed our burgers so much that we forgot to take photos of them! Oopsies! But my husband quickly remedied that by taking photos of  the Guy’s Burger Joint grilling area and toppings bar. So while we have no photo of our burgers, you can use your imagination of your perfect burger by viewing the burgers at the grilling area, and the toppings and condiments area. Now that you’ve imagined your perfect burger, and your mouth is watering for one of those tasty burgers, I apologize. That was so cruel of me to dangle those tasty burgers in front of you like that. I wish I could provide you with one, but I can’t. I’m so very sorry.

After our delicious burgers, and waiting for my husband to take photos of the Guy’s Burgers area, we went back into the Lido buffet area, only to see that every food station was closed because of the upcoming muster drill. So no more food for us until after the drill. What?! I have to wait maybe an hour or longer before I can eat again?! I guess I can make it. After all, I was full and very satisfied after that delicious cheese burger. But I really wanted to try some of the desserts that I saw at Sweet Spot! On the bright side, there would be plenty more desserts to try during the next few days, so I got over it pretty quickly.

Pause The Fun For The Mandatory Drill

They were now announcing where the muster stations were, but there was so much noise I could hardly hear what was being said. But even though there were things to see – a whole new ship to explore – the ropes course, the mini golf course, the water slides, the water fun area for kids and kids at heart, the basket ball court, and so much more – we were being directed to go to our muster stations, and we never want to delay the muster drill and make other people wait, and wait, and wait until everyone shows up so the drill can begin and end. Thankfully we don’t have to stand outside in the hot sun with smelly life jackets on anymore. The drills are much easier than they used to be.

After the drill, we went to our cabin (#1352, category 4B Interior) and our luggage was waiting in front of our door. We brought our luggage in, and my husband photographed the cabin. It was a cozy cabin. Although not big, it never felt too small. The cabin is 185 sq. ft., and it has two twin beds that convert to a King. Our suit cases all fit underneath our bed, and there was ample closet space. The bathroom is too small for two people getting ready at the same time, but it was sufficient for us. The decor was fine, though we did think it was so odd that there were two prints on the walls, one on each side of the bed, and they were the exact same prints! I guess they got a really great deal on those prints that they couldn’t pass up, so instead of two different prints in the small cabin, you get two of the exact same print. It didn’t matter to us, in fact it made us laugh.

Sail Away Party

Then we went up to the Lido Deck for the Sail Away Party, which was such a let down. On Disney they throw a super fun, exciting deck party. The Cruise Director and a number of staff gets involved with fun, loud music and dancing, and lots of Disney characters. They have different things going on to entertain the guests. Guests of all ages enthusiastically get involved, with most of the guests taking part, or at least watching the party. But on Carnival not even the Cruise Director was in sight. Just a D.J. playing loud music with a few people dancing. It was so awkward looking, like Carnival just doesn’t know how to throw a fun party. But that was no big deal, we went to the railing to watch us sail away, and then to explore the ship.

SportSquare is located on Deck 12, between midship and aft. It has a Basket Ball court enclosed in a high net. The court has two rims, so you can play full court games, although the width is less than standard width, but the length was good. My husband and the fellow passengers he played basket ball with played the width beyond the painted lines so that it made the width wide enough to play nearly a standard full court size game. This area is also used for dodge ball games, which are scheduled in the Fun Times, and I believe also volley ball. There is an area adjacent to the basketball court, outside of the net, for people to sit or stand and watch the games being played.

The SportSquare also has gym equipment outdoors for working out. There is a miniature golf course, which I really wanted to play at least once, but we never got around to it. There were sometimes a number of people playing miniature golf at a time, while other times there would be just one or two groups, or even no one playing. Above the miniature golf course is a ropes course, which we did do later during the cruise, and it was fun to try, but not really that exciting.

There is a walking/jogging track that goes all around SportSquare; it isn’t made of that soft jogging material; I think it’s wood decking painted blue, but it wasn’t too hard to jog on. I think the jogging track is a little less than 1/8 of a mile. Placed along the jogging track are different agility or exercise things to do if you desire, the same as ones that are placed around many jogging areas you’ll find on land. The jogging track was never very congested, but occasionally there would be two or three people walking along side by side very slowly completely unaware of the fact that they were on a jogging track, and oblivious to the fact that people were having to go around them, and sometimes couldn’t hear me saying, “excuse me, passing on your left” or “passing on your right.”  But I didn’t let that bother me, I simply jogged around them when I had the opportunity to do so. It’s not a dedicated jogging track in that it’s also the walkway for getting to one are of SportSquare to another, so it’s not really the passengers’ faults for being a little in the way.

They also have a hot dog stand called SeaDogs open some times on SportSquare. We didn’t try it. (They don’t have this anymore.)

After exploring SportSquare on Deck 12, we headed over to Deck 15 which is located Forward on the ship; the entire deck is an adult only area called Serenity. Actually, there is a small part of Deck 15 that does allow children, and that’s at the back side of it where the slide entrance is, but that area is mostly not in view of the rest of Serenity, which is a quiet area that has many different comfortable items to rest on, like hammocks, big cabana chairs for two, and so on that all have comfy cushions and pillows. There are two large spas on this deck, one on each side of the ship overlooking the ocean, or port, depending on if you’re at sea or not.

The Secret Room?

Next we headed downstairs to an area that was possibly part of Cloud 9 Spa. We can’t find it on any of the ship maps, but we know it exists, because we were in this secret room, and we have photos to prove it. When we wandered into this room, six other people were there, but they left shortly after we arrived. It had floor to ceiling windows around the entire front of the room that overlooked the ocean. As you can see from the photos, it had sitting areas to relax in, and there was self-serve drinks – water with lemon, water with orange, and I think coffee or hot tea. An employee walked in then out of the room, so I’m assuming we were allowed in that room. Another couple popped in and explored, then left. We ended up going there a couple of other times during our cruise, to find the same situation – an empty room, or nearly empty room, then another couple walking in, somewhat confused, glancing around curiously, then leaving. So odd. It was like a secret room, and we discovered it! Yay! And the prize for finding the secret room was absolute quietness, all you can drink water, and a somewhat awkward view of the ocean – I say that because the windows were slanted in such a way that you really couldn’t stand next to them and look down at the ocean, but you could look out over the ocean, however it felt strange and made me feel somewhat claustrophobic.

After spending a few minutes in the secret room that’s located on I have no idea what deck, but somewhere near deck 15, we decided it was about time for a cocktail. Am I right or am I right? Yes, I’m right, and we knew of the perfect place for a pre-dinner cocktail – Alchemy Bar! Plus, we wanted to explore Deck 5 – the Promenade Deck – where Alchemy Bar is located.

Promenade Deck

Alchemy Bar is on Deck 5, near midship. Carnival describes Alchemy Bar on their website as a “unique vintage-themed cocktail ‘pharmacy.’ ” They say they have elixirs to remedy what ails you. Nothing was ailing me, but I was excited to try their martini flight, and if you go there after 6:00 p.m., you get $1.00 off of a martini flight. The martini flight was $19.95 without the discount. The normal size martinis were about $15 each, if I remember correctly. We decided to explore some of Deck 5 before getting our martini flight. More on Alchemy Bar in just a bit.

Located next to Alchemy Bar is Red Frog Pub which offers pub grub for an additional fee, and of course alcoholic beverages, which includes its own private label beer called Thirstyfrog Red. Plenty of seating is available, along with a couple of games to play, including a foosball table.

The Taste Bar

From Red Frog Pub we walked around back to near Alchemy Bar, where we came upon The Taste Bar, which offered complimentary appetizer size samples of different foods from restaurants on Carnival ships. (They no longer have The Taste Bar.) For our cruise it was open from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday, Thursday, and Friday. The sample offerings from Prime Steakhouse were Short Ribs Croquettes with chipotle aioli, guava & tomato relish, and Pumpkin Bisque with sour cream. The Short Ribs Croquettes were decent, and I was surprised that I liked the Pumpkin Bisque. I’m not a fan of pumpkin, but this had a curry flavor, and it had a very good flavor to it – it was so good that we went back for seconds. There was never a long line at The Taste Bar, and usually there was no line.

Then we walked outside on deck 5 (Promenade deck) where a lanai wraps around the entire deck. There are 4 spas on the Promenade Deck, two on each side, and they were usually not crowded, and often they were empty. It was about 6:00 p.m. The sun was setting, and there was hardly anyone else outside. As we walked around the lanai, we began to smell a wonderful aroma – the smell of Guy’s Pig & Anchor bar-b-que smokehouse. The next day’s bar-b-que was already cooking! My husband took photos of the menu as we breathed in the delightful smell of bar-b-que.

From there we walked to deck 5 Aft. We were the only people there. We watched the beautiful sunset, and got a few photos of it as the sun went down.

Alchemy Bar

It was now time for our martini flight! By the time we got back to Alchemy Bar it was nearly 6:30, and it was much busier than it was earlier. We had to wait for a few minutes to get our order in, but we had found a spot at the end of the bar and we were fine with the wait. After all, we were on vacation on a cruise ship, and we weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere.

The Martini Flight gives you a choice of four small martinis from a selection of seven martinis. The selections were:

1) Martini Seduction – Grey Goose L’Orange Vodka, Red Passion Fruit Nectar, Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice, and Hint of Orange.

2) Fiery Tropical Passion Martini – Patròn Silver Tequila, Patròn Citrònage, Spicy Mango Purèe, and Fresh Citrus.

3) Curative Peach Cosmopolitan – Absolut Citron Vodka, Peach Schnapps, Cranberry Juice, and Fresh Citrus.

4) Mixologist’s Elixir – Let your Master Mixologist hand-craft a unique cure just for you.

5) Caribbean Manhattan – Templeton Rye Whiskey, Angostura Bitters, Spiced Brown Sugar Syrup, and Sweet Vermouth.

6) Forty is the New Twenty – Grey Goose Vodka, Pama Pomegranate Liqueur, Cranberry Juice, and Fresh Citrus.

7) Spicy Chipotle Pineapple Martini – Belvedere Vodka, Chipotle Pineapple Syrup, Pineapple Juice, and Fresh Mint.

We decided on Martini Seduction, Fiery Tropical Passion Martini, Mixologist’s Elixir, and Spicy Chipotle Pineapple Martini. The Mixologist doesn’t let you know what the Mixologist’s Elixir is, only that it is a pre-made drink that he has made, and then after we tried it he asked us what we thought was in it.

He poured the martinis at the same time, as you can see in the photo. He didn’t put each drink in order, instead he told us to try each of them and then arrange them in order according to which drink we thought each one was. My husband and I agreed on the order of each drink, and because each drink had a unique flavor, it was easy to figure out the order. When he came back he gave us an A++++ for placing all the drinks in the correct order, and gave us a cool drink marker gift to put on a martini glass! I like it and I would love some more in other colors!

Now I’ll give you our impression of the martinis we tried from that flight. We ordered the Spicy Chipotle Pineapple Martini because I had read good reviews on it. I thought it was way too sweet and had way too much pineapple juice in it, but my husband thought it was really good. The Martini Seduction was liked by both of us, but it too was a bit too sweet for my liking, but not so sweet that I couldn’t handle the sweetness. The Fiery Tropical Passion Martini was not that great, but it wasn’t bad. The Mixologist’s Elixir was the winner, my husband and I both thought it was the best of the four. It was made from a vodka that they had personally infused with a pineapple flavor, and it had strawberry juice in it, as well as something spicy – I think the something spicy was likely Chipotle Pineapple Syrup in it, but I didn’t ask.

Day One Lido Buffet Dinner

From there we went to the Lido Restaurant, on deck 10, to see what was being offered at the dinner buffet. There were a number of choices; the featured options were Maple Glazed Pork with Au Jus; Smoked Chicken Quesadilla; Vegetable Lasagna; Corn Chowder Maryland; Fried Shrimp; Grilled Mahi Mahi/Fresh Pineapple & Red Pepper Salsa; Roasted Chicken; Sauteed Green Beans; White Rice; and Baked Potato, Sour Cream, Cheddar, and Bacon Bits. There were also some salads, including Tomato n’ Arugula, and also Apple Honey Ginger, as well as cold cuts, cubed cheeses, and bread.

Sweet Spot

Dessert is also offered at the buffet, with a few selections every day for lunch and dinner. I didn’t note what the options for dessert were for dinner that night, but we did get photos of the desserts. We found that the desserts at the buffet, which are at their own stand called Sweet Spot, are pretty good. I was surprised at how good they were. We are used to the desserts on Disney Cruise Line’s buffet being not good, and these were tasty and fresh, and there was a great variety. Each day there were new choices, and almost all of the ones we tried, if not all of the ones we tried, were good to very good. They even have different choices at lunch than they do at dinner each day, so it’s worth checking out for lunch and for dinner. Also, each day they offer some sort of bread pudding type of dessert with a sauce to pour over it, and those were pretty good too.

Swirls Frozen Yogurt And Soft-Serve

Another dessert option is self-serve frozen yogurt and soft-serve ice cream called Swirls. There are two stations that each offer frozen yogurt and soft-serve ice cream, and they are located on each side of the Lido Buffet, near the doors that lead out to the mid-ship pool. The flavors on the first day were vanilla and chocolate for both the frozen yogurt and the soft-serve, and the flavors change sometimes. We didn’t check it out every day, but I did notice that one day they offered strawberry as one of the flavors. These stations were open 24/7. (They are no longer open 24/7, buy they are open early in the day until late at night.) Later on in the cruise we tried the frozen yogurt and the soft-serve on a day when they were offering vanilla and chocolate, and I thought the soft-serve was better than the frozen yogurt, but I did notice that both options were popular. You can put it in a plastic dessert cup, or in an ice cream cone. Carnival Cruise Line’s soft-serve is way better than Disney Cruise Line’s soft serve, in my opinion, and my husband felt the same way.

Day One Main Dining Room Dinner

We didn’t try any of the dinner buffet food because we decided to eat in the main dining room. We had walked by the Northern Lights dining room earlier and noticed that nearly everyone was dressed casual, with a high percentage of people wearing shorts. We were surprised at how casual it was in the main dining room compared with how people dress for the main dining rooms on Disney’s ships, but it didn’t bother us at all. We had planned on dressing nicer for dinner, but changed our minds and decided to not dress up for dinner since pretty much no one else dressed up. I’m not one who cares how other people dress in the main dining room. If the majority of people are dressed up, then my husband and I will dress up, but I realize that people are on vacation and they probably just feel like relaxing and they don’t want to have to get changed just to eat dinner. And if people next to me are dressed extremely casual, which, to my surprise, there were a handful of people dressed extremely casual, well that’s fine with me. My husband  and I are focused on each other, and our conversation, we’re enjoying each other’s company, and the way other people are dressed at their table doesn’t affect the good time we’re having.

The Appetizer choices for dinner that night were Fried Calamari with zesty tomato sauce and lemon aioli; Shrimp Cocktail with traditional cocktail sauce; Chilled Vietnamese Roll, which is Shrimp, vegetables, and vermicelli rice noodles rolled in rice paper, with peanut dipping sauce; Smoked Chicken Quesadilla with guacamole and tomato cilantro salsa; Cream of Ripened Tomatoes with herb croutons; Corn Chowder Maryland, which includes potatoes, oregano, and cream; Strawberry Bisque, which is chilled strawberry soup and fresh mint; Heart of Lettuce with tomato vinaigrette and cheese croutons; and Kale or Romaine Caesar Salad with house made dressing and shaved parmesan. The Rare Finds appetizer was Cured Salmon and Candied Tomato with dill cream, grapes, and lemon dressing.

The Main Entree choices were Sweet & Sour Shrimp – tangy sweet and sour sauce, scallion, garlic and fried rice; Roast Chicken – herbed sausage stuffing, broccoli and carrots; Honey Glazed Pork Loin – green asparagus, braised cabbage, cinnamon carrot puree; Braised Beef Brisket – corn pudding, roasted root vegetables; Vegetable Lasagna – spinach, mushroom, basil, mozzaralla; Featured Indian Vegetarian – lentils, basmati rice, papadam and raita.

Each night they have a section on the menu called From the Grill. The choices were Salmon Fillet – Citrus and pepper rub, broccoli, carrots, red potato; Flat Iron Steak – pepper, herbs, broccoli, baked potato; Chicken Breast – roast garlic and herbs, peas and carrots, red potato; Pork Chop – Caramelized onions, stewed apple, mash. You can choose from the following sauces: Chimichurri, BBQ sauce, Béarnaise, Peppercorn, Roasted Garlic, and Tomato Tapenade.

The Side Dishes were: Broccoli, Carrots, Onions; Baked Potato – sour cream, bacon, chives; Ratatouille; Mac N Cheese, Bacon; French Fries – herb garlic butter; Creamed Spinach.

Some days they offer a Port of Call menu. The first port of call was Cape Canaveral. The appetizer was Orange and Grapefruit Fillets – marinated with natural juices, and served on fresh mesclun lettuce, guava, honey and white balsamic vinaigrette. The entree was Grilled Mahi Mahi – lightly seasoned fillet served with a side of coconut rice, a fresh pineapple and red pepper sauce.

For a surcharge of $20.00 per entree, you can choose from the Steakhouse Selections. The options were: Broiled Maine Lobster Tail served with drawn butter; Surf & Turf – Maine lobster tail and grilled filet mignon; Broiled Filet Mignon – 9 oz. premium aged beef; New York Strip Loin Steak – 14 oz. of the favorite cut for steak lovers.

We both ordered the Fried Calamari for an appetizer. We liked it.  My husband also ordered the Cured Salmon appetizer, and he enjoyed it. I had read that Carnival Cruise Line makes good fruit bisques, so I decided to try the strawberry bisque; it tasted like melted strawberry ice cream to me, but I can see how some people would enjoy it.

For his entree, my husband ordered Flat Iron Steak with chimichurri sauce. He thought is was “all right” and he said it ended up being softer than he expected it to be, which is a good thing.

For my entree, I ordered the Grilled Mahi Mahi from the port of call menu. It was good, and it went well with the coconut rice. The red pepper sauce was not something I would want again, but I can see how people would enjoy it.

We forgot to note what all of the dessert choices were that night, but I ordered the chocolate melting cake. I had read mixed reviews of this, it seems people either love it or hate it, and so I had to try it for myself. I loved it. It’s dark chocolate, so it’s bitter and not too sweet. It’s served with a very small side of vanilla ice cream, which was nearly melted, but it was so good with the melting cake. You can order extra ice cream if you want, so no worries if that small serving isn’t enough – but I do recommend ordering the extra ice cream when you order your dessert, because sometimes it takes a long, long time for your waiter to return with your request, even if your request is extremely simple.

(Speaking of service in the main dining room, the servers we had the first night were so slow, and it was hard to get their attention. The assistant server who served the bread kept coming by and saying, “your bread will be here shortly,” but it took maybe 30 minutes or more until bread arrived. And when he did come to say the bread would be there shortly, or to bring the bread, or to pour our drinks, he would always hold his hand on my husband’s shoulder in a way that seemed affectionate – it was odd and very uncomfortable for both my husband and me. The service the first night was not good, but the second night we had a great server, and her team was great, and we requested her the other two nights we ate in the main dining room.)

Back to the first night’s dessert choices. My husband ordered some type of tiramisu dessert, I think it was caramel tiramisu, and we both loved it! He also ordered this odd strawberry dessert that was rubbery and just strange. Neither of us liked it.

Cheese Platter Brought to the Cabin

I had read that you can order the cheese platter from the dessert menu and tell them it’s to go so you can bring it to your room to enjoy later, so we ordered that. Here’s the thing about the cheese platter – I strongly disliked it, and I love different types of cheeses, but not one of these were to my liking. None of the cheeses were unusual cheeses, I simply didn’t enjoy them, and my husband couldn’t stand the smell of the cheeses, so we put the tray outside our cabin to be picked up by room service. However, if you like smelly cheeses, then the cheese platter might be the smell of delight for you.

Headache – Time To Recover

I got a really bad headache from the fragrances in the main dining room, so we returned to our room, and I lay down. My husband got changed and went to play basketball. On the television you have the main U.S. networks, along with some other channels, as well as two channels that show different movies each day. One channel is a family channel, with cartoon movies and other movies made for the entire family, and the other other channel is more like non-kid movies, but nothing bad for kids to see. The movies change each day on each channel, with the movie on each channel running over and over all day. The movies are probably on a schedule, but I couldn’t figure out what the schedule was.

My husband came back to the room disappointed because the basketball court is closed each evening from I think 5:30 until 11:00 p.m. It’s located directly above Cucina del Capitano, and the sound of basketballs thumping above them isn’t the sound people want to hear while eating their dinner. He wasn’t able to play basketball, so he went to the gym instead.

After the gym, my husband decided to go to one of the spas. He went, and it was extremely windy and pretty cold outside, so he was the only person to brave the spa that night. He said the wind was persistently blowing the water out from the spa creating a constant, cold mist blowing in his face. It wasn’t an enjoyable experience, so he came back to the room and watched t.v. with me.