Carnival Magic departs Dubrovnik, Croatia on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 as part of her maiden voyage. Photo courtesy of Carnival
In the beginning, the line really lived up to its “Fun Ship” reputation, full of hard-partying young people and older folks alike. Things have matured a lot since then, but you’ll still find beer by the bucket, hairy-chest contests by the pool, and lots of happy folks in the hot tubs at all hours (especially on short weekend cruises) — along with families using the waterslides and couples dining in the specialty restaurants. Carnival truly attracts all ages, with couples and families making up the majority of guests.
The Carnival ships are uniformly big, but as with most lines, the newer the ship, the larger. Those launched in the last few years can carry almost twice as many people than the line’s oldest 2,000-passenger vessels.