A good cruise on a budget!

This was our third cruise and second on Carnival.  We generally book cruises that are light on the budget.  On this cruise, we booked an interior room, which was comfortable and everything worked correctly, but we had to clean out the refrigerator and closet of the last guests' unwanted food, drinks, silverware, and New Year's Party favors.  Instead of having our cabin cleaned frequently, as it was on previous cruises, our cabin was only tended to once per day.  

My favorite part of cruising is the food, but my husband and I felt that the dinner menu options were not as appealing on this cruise as our previous ones, and we didn't feel there was a good variety of options at the buffet either.  We did enjoy the Deli and Guy's Burger joint and we were pleased with Pizza Pirate for a late night snack.  

The Tahiti Casino was a lot of fun and we were happy with the gaming options that were available.  We won.  We lost.  But, it was encouraging to see so many guests winning large jackpots throughout the trip.  The Casino was well visited during this trip, with bad weather causing us to miss our Grand Turk port completely, and we had a unexpected extra day at sea.  I was happy to have earned a card that entitled me to free drinks in the casino, but found that it took at least 15 minutes at any given time to receive your drink (forcing you to lose money at the machine you ordered your drink at) and sometimes your cocktail waitress never returned with your drink at all.  The bar/cocktail service in the casino was very slow and was frustrating.  

Most of the employees on the ship were exceptional and we liked that we saw a lot of friendly interaction, smiling and joking between members of the crew.  But, we also saw the occasional unhappy crew member who did nothing to make the cruise experience special.  Speaking with many other guests during the cruise, everyone talked about how service was lacking in the dining room, from the stewards and elsewhere on the ship.  Some people claimed it was because there were a lot fewer crew members than usual, but I don't know where they got that information.  We had long waits for ordering, food and drinks in the dining room.  We had "your time" dining on all of our cruises, but this was the first cruise where we were moved around the dining room and dining room staff with each meal, which resulted in a mediocre connection between guests staff and reduced greatly our inclination to tip extra for great, personalized service.  

Some shows were changed, canceled or rescheduled due to a rocky ship.  We missed one port completely and another port was unable to be scheduled.  Our embarkation and debarkation process went smoothly each day. The ship itself was kept clean, but we did experience some maintenance issues during our stay and heard about cabin maintenance issues from other guests that we befriended.  Many guests were without deck chairs when we learned that we could not dock at Grand Turk and many guests were heard complaining.

The very best part of this cruise was the entertainment.  The musical shows were outstanding!!!  The sets were amazing.  The comedians were entertaining.  We participated in Bingo, some of the parties (weather permitting) and we loved the violin band.  The photographers did an excellent job.  We were never bored on the ship.  

We did not dine at the seafood or fine dining restaurants that were available at an extra cost.  We did hear from other guests that their dining experiences were "amazing" and "worth every penny spent".    

Overall, I would give the ship a 3 of 5 because it needs updating and maintenance.  I would give the food a rating of 3 of 5 because the menu lacked variety and interest.  I would give the service a rating of 3 in general, but 2 if I compare it to the other cruises I have been on.  I give the entertainment a 5.  I give the cleanliness a 5.  I give the selection of ports and shore excursions a 4.