Nice cruise, staff could use a lesson in service

Embarkation, easy and efficient with very little "standing around" time. Our stateroon was clean, for the most part, but one of the bathrobes had waded up tissues shoved in the pocket which means they were either washed with the robe and the pockets were never checked prior OR the robe was never washed. We were on deck one and sometimes the sewer smell was unbearable. 

The food at the buffet and the dining room was good. Some people complain about it, I think they are being picky. The ship needs new ice cream machines and definitely more than just two stations. I have been on smaller ships with probably 10 stations. One is always available. These? Always long lines and the machines are literally dying.

Decks are crowded (to be expected) and food lines are long but this is mostly because of slow, stupid people in line and not the fault of Carnival staffers. 

The worst part, the dining room. Some nights we sat for over an hour waiting for our dinner. Appetizers would come and then we wouldn't see anything for an hour. Our water glasses were filled occasionally and when the waiter remembered.  I think this is due to the size of the ship and the lack of staff. Our first night, my husband got up and got menus from the waiter station because they were never brought to us. We were seated at a table for six but they insisted on squeezing a 7th person on the end. This made dinner at an already crowded table even more uncomfortable. Kids meals showed up almost immediately after they were ordered but our meals didn't arrive for an hour or more. Once the kids were done eating, it was over for us. It became an hour of us trying to entertain them and then eat our meal as fast as we could because our toddlers timer was up. 

Aside from that misery, overall the cruise was fun. All the ports were great except La Romana. The port is literally in the middle of the ghetto and the place is a dump. Don't bother leaving the ship that day.