Overall it was a good vacation. I feel the ship was very nice and had a lot to offer. The negative aspects of the trip had nothing to do with the ship itself.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Through no fault of Carnival the port of Miami was closed due to a boating accident. However, once it was reopened, and we were told to head to the port, it was total chaos. We stood in line, not moving for 2 hours. We were given a $20 on board credit for our lunch (that we had to buy in Miami, ours was $100 for four of us). We didn't get on the ship until almost 11pm and was told the buffet and Festivale dining room would be open for dinner...at 11pm! Obviously we had already eaten elsewhere.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Overall food was good, however, service was very slow in Festivale dining room.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Pools way too crowded to enjoy. Fitness center was great. My daughter loved her mani/pedi in the salon, although was quite pricey.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Saw a couple of game shows and comedians. Enjoyed them.
Children's Programs
Our 14 year old son did not participate in any activities
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Room steward Ryan was great! Very friendly and how he remembers all the guests names is beyond me. Trying to get a drink at any of the bars took forever.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
First cruise. Impressed with the design and layout of the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Room was clean. As you know cruise ship cabins are small, but I felt this was spacious and had a good layout. Really enjoyed having a balcony.
We did not do an excursion. I was not that impressed with Amber Cove itself. Food and drinks were costly, had to pay to rent an umbrella. DJ was catering to one group of people (I was not one of them). We didn't stay long and went back to the ship.
We did not do an excursion, instead just walked around on our own. Enjoyed the sights, although it would have been better without the rain. Had a nice lunch at a local restaurant.
I am giving it 4 stars because I did enjoy our excursion although we did not see much of St. Maarten. From the catamaran we took to go snorkeling, the shore line looked beautiful. However we were taken to a very small unimpressive beach area for about 30 minutes to swim. The excursion was not as expected. It was booked through BJ's and I will be following up on that.
Much better than getting on the ship. Overall it was a smooth process. We were off pretty quickly but there was poor communication from cruise staff during the process.
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