First time cruisers. We won't be cruising with carnival again. The islands were nice and being with my family was great but next time we'll be booking elsewhere.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Everything went smooth getting on the boat. There wasn't enough information about what to do that first day. For first time cruisers we were left wandering around not sure what to do or when we could get into our cabin. My friends luggage showed up soaked because they dropped it off the dock into the water while loading it into the ship. We ended up just going back and forth to the room to check if it was open. We were never given any information on when or where to go for anything. I'd have liked more information on how everything worked on the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
We wouldn't go on a carnival ship again. The food was terrible. Everything was bland and seemed of low quality, with the exception of guys burgers and the taco place.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
The comedy show was good but they guy used the same material every time so it was poitless to go more than once. The pools were nice and not very crowded. The dr suess breakfast was terrible. All the food that was supposed to be hot was cold and we had to ask more than five times for drinks. The 80s show was entertaining. The casino wasn't very fun because unlike at regular casinos nobody seemed like they were having much fun or winning at all. Most activities seemed to be based around how much money they could get out of you. It was really nice that they had lifesize chess, basketball court, and putt putt golf. My husband liked the water slide and sauna.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The music on board was good. The shows all fill up very fast so if your with a kid and have to drop them off it's difficult to plan to see or do many things.
Children's Programs
2 out of 5
My son didn't like being in the camp carnival. He kept saying he didn't want to go back. The dr suess parade was very cute and he enjoyed that. There was a small jungle gym on the boat that be played at too. But it was hard for him to use it the boat was swaying so much the whole time. There really wasn't much for three year olds to do. The dr suess breakfast was terrible.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Our room steward Melvin was very nice and always left our room tidy and clean. The wait staff in the dinning room were nice but stretched thin. The towel people by the pool were always kind of rude. The bar tenders were friendly but they had trouble making drinks that weren't on the menu.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
We saw, multiple times, workers take dirty trays off carts and serve people on them. We were disgusted
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The cabin was clean and it was nice to have a balcony. The bed was very uncomfortable especially because we had them make the two twins into a king and the middle sunk in, so we had to lay on either side of the bed anyway.
Ship tip
Bring every kind of stomach medicine you can find. And Clorox wipes
The island was beautiful and there were a lot of fun things to do if you want to book excursions. If you want to just go relax on the beach and go in the water this isn't the place. There was literally a woman every 1-2 minutes coming over and pushing their goods or services on you and don't take no for an answer. It was pretty stressful. we were understanding because we know they were ravaged in the hurricane. We bought what we could but it was too much.
This island is beautiful. I recommend the tour that takes you around the island. There are great views and on a clear day you can see the volcano. There are also monkeys all over the island as well as people who have them as pets that will let you hold one. The beaches were beautiful, watch out for seas urchins! You also have to check out the black sand beach! It's beautiful and the sand is softer there than on any other beach.
San Juan is beautiful and there is so much to do and see here that you could spend weeks here and not get to do everything. The worst thing I can say about this port is we weren't here long enough.
The most beautiful beach we've ever been to! We'd come back here again and again. The water was crystal clean aqua marine color. The snorkeling was amazing. We saw sunken ship pieces and so many different tropical fish. Delicious food and music playing. Very fun time
This was the worst. We had to be out of our room at 8:30 but they wouldn't let us come down to disembark because they were backed up. We booked a shuttle through them to leave at 9:15 and missed it. So by the time we did get out of there we had to wait for over an hour for another one. We had people with us who were handicapped and small children. Having them stand around for that long was horrible. There was miscommunication between the service desk and the attendants at the gate because when we were told to go down they wouldn't let us off the elevator. Very stressful
Wow, you wanted someone to tell you what to do the first day of the cruise? because you were new cruisers?? Um, how about you go exploring and check out the ship? Um, how about going to any number of places and sit down and eat lunch? Um, how about asking someone for advice or help? Um, how about sitting down at the pool and putting your feet in the water? Um, gosh I could go on and on here.
Two things are constant when cruising major cruise lines: 1. Debarkation is usually a bit chaotic and slow. 2. Your cabin will not be ready until 1-2pm on embarkation.
Sorry it didn't work our we have tried several lines, debarkation is a mess on all of them and is awful. The only one that went smooth we had a stop in the keys the day before so we all have to clear custims the day before so that day was a mess but went better. As far as food the buffet is always hit or miss but out of 4 cruise lines we tried carnivals MDR food is much better. It stinks about the luggage but at least you got it back. The rooms are never ready until after 2 and that's why you have to be out at 8:30 in last day since they do a deep cleaning between cruises. I remember my first cruise I was clueless on how everything worked but went with others who had been before, but I can imagine that being frustrating at times. Just knowing how it works helps.
The tray thing is gross... never saw that. I'd make a fuss! Sorry you didn't have the best time. We didn't think the Dr Seuss food was the best, but enjoyed the experience. We find the other food fine. Some, from other lines, say Carnival food is better. I do not know. I can understand the confusion with embarkation and debarkation, but that is how it goes. My first cruise, I was clueless and followed the experienced cruiser who knew the ropes. We took our luggage to breakfast and chilled there until we could leave. When we boarded, we just grabbed food, a drink and chilled on deck until muster. I can assure you I had no idea of what I would have done if not for someone else knowing. We didn't have ship mate then, but it really helps. Sorry you didn't know to ask. We cruise and learn! Oh! The luggage falling in water 😱... things happen... sorry that did!! It could happen to any of us. I never heard that before, but have heard of missing luggage. Maybe that's what happened! 🙄
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