OK cruise nothing special

One thing is Carnival is using the terminal abandoned by RCI. We sailed the Freedom last November it was terrible. One changed Carnival did was cut the distance to board the ship by more than half. We got on in about 1/4 the time. Getting off still was bad but it again was much better than RCI. The terminal used airport baggage handler system. Great for 2-300 people not 3-4000. Carnival did improve it immensely and we got past immigration in less than 1/3 the time it took us  the last time.

Check in was easy and went up to the Lido deck. We were early and found a table by the Blue Iguana Cantina. I went over and had a very good burrito. My wife went to Guys burgers. She said her fries were to die for but the burger was good too. We stayed there until we could go to our room. We booked a balcony guarantee and got a room on deck 8 just below the Lido deck. We were under the pool area.

All we heard was chairs scrapping the deck all night, people whooping it up and loud voices in the hall way. I'm half deaf and it bothered me. The noise started up again about 6 AM. There must be no sound proofing even we did not really hear the cabins on either side of us.

The dining room was good food but toward the end of the week the selections got slimmer because of the remix to use up the leftovers. They only did entertainment one night. We had excellent waiters and ABNER we really liked. The tables for 2 were tables for 4 with a slight separation between them. We ate the Sea Day Brunches and some breakfasts in the dining rooms.

Cutbacks were evident. No more chocolate on your pillow. No Sea Day brunch free drink for past guests. I'd rather they quit the dumb party and VIFP pins and keep the drinks. At least you still get a basket of bread with your meal.

We don't go for much onboard entertainment. We find a quiet spot and watch the people Our main disappointment was not going to Mahogany Bay, it appears this is common. No refund except the port fees. We never left the ship at all. It looks like all of the cruise lines have a contest who can dock a the worst area. I don't want to walk a 1/2 mile or more just to get ashore. I am 66 with asthma. They have ways to ride to the dock if you want to wait and spend money. It doesn't seem to matter who you cruise with there will be areas you don't like.

The ship wasn't in too bad of shape. The windows everywhere were filthy. They washed them mid cruise and they were just a bad afterwards. They needed a good scrubbing not just wet down. Carnival never pushed using the hand cleaner and most dispensers never worked any ways. Everywhere you touched was sticky, they think a quick once over with a wet rag was good. We did end up getting sick. I got sick the second days after we got off the boat and my wife a couple of days behind me. Almost 2 weeks later and I still have a nasty cough. First time sick in 24 cruises.

There are lots more foreigners from South America etc. and they are totally ignorant and do not wash their hands. The college kids were better behaved.

Our biggest complaint is the TV. Only 2 movies a day and one was for children. The first 2 movies weren't too old but all of the rest were so old they had been on standard TV for years. We wanted to see "The Fault in our Stars" one night on the big screen but the weather was horrible. They should have showed it in the rooms. This is another trend in cruise entertainment. Poor TV and little or no good music around the ship. Most of the singers were American Idol rejects

This wasn't a favorite cruise but not enough to chase me away as long as the price is right..