Sailing the Southern Caribbean

We don't normally sail Carnival as we are NCL lovers, but friends we have been trying to cruise with had already picked the ship and at the last minute we decided to make this our Christmas gift. First boarding they had sent an e-mail and asked us to arrive later than noon, we did not listen and had no trouble boarding by 1230. Normally we have a balcony cabin, but because of $$ we booked an inside cabin on deck 9 and were very pleased with the layout and our cabin guy, Javier was awesome. First the positives, the food was very good, the Blush dining room was where we ate and from the lobster to prime rib night to the fish, which my wife says was the freshest she's had, the meals were very good. We did book 2 specialty restaurants, the Steak house, which was good, but I would avoid since they served prime rib and offered a steak dinner on their everyday menu. The Italian was very good and well worth the $12. The stops, Grand Turks, small island, beach is right off the ship, Curacao, we did a tour with one of the bus company's right off the ship, well worth the $20 per person, about 3 hours took you to all the main spots including where the make the licquer. La Romana, in my opinion the cruiseline should skip this stop, very poorous, unless you book a ship tour, stay on board. Aruba, our favorite stop, beautiful beach, sand was soft, water was cool. Only negative was when breeze picked up you felt like you were in a sand storm.

Daytime activities seemed to be focused on bingo and numerous triva contests, of which we attended 2 and both were very lame. Not as many pools on this ship, not sure why, but the main pool did have a giant screen, which during the day showed some old VH1 Concerts, which were good and night time they would show 2 movies. Now the not so good, which was the entertainment, there was not 1 show that we enjoyed, and part of what I like about cruising is the shows at night. As the nights went on anytime I was in the elevator I would say. so what do you think of the ship? Everyone liked the ship but said the entertainment was lacking. They did have a new cruise director, not sure if this was his first ship, but he was lousy. The casino, where I spent a lot of time, was smaller than other ones at sea, but they took your money just as fast. Bar service was very slow in the casino, you were better getting the drink yourself. Finally the 2 best spots for dining were Guy's burger joint which always had a line, but don't be discouraged they move very quickly. And the pizza on 10 was awesome, thin crust, open 24 hours, but they were very SLOW, always had to wait. All in all we had a good time with friends but can't wait to get back to NCL.