Overall - we really enjoyed our first cruise and will definitely do another!! Carnival truly is a “fun ship”! I can’t compare to other cruise lines but overall we were impressed and have no qualms in returning to a Carnival cruise!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We had registered early so had prereserved embarkation for between 11:30 am and noon - it was a very smooth process. Biggest tip here is register all of your information early so that you can pick an early embarkation.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food was good, not phenomenal but lots of it! The main dining room was nice and our assigned servers were really attentive and personable! The Guy Fieri burgers were very good! We didn’t get to try the BBQ speciality restaurant and would have liked to! The 24 hour pizza was quite good as well. Room service was basic but very prompt. :)
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We used the pools, slide, Harry Potter & sport trivia, and mini putt - all were quite enjoyable. My wife and two daughters also took advantage of the spa for manis and pedis - they really enjoyed this as well!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We went to the live show every night - all were quite enjoyable.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
All the staff we encountered were very friendly and seemed to really enjoy their work - kudos to Carnival!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything was well maintained and clean - some of the guests were the problem as they left messes for the staff to constantly clean up - however the staff always cleaned up after these idiots and never complained.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We were quite comfortable in our cabin, size was perfect - as let’s be honest - you are usually out enjoying the ship’s amenities! We loved having a balcony!!
Ship tip
We choose the late dining- while nice for a relax after your excursions - we would have changed to early dining or not having a set time. Only reason so that we could have enjoyed more of the entertainment and ship amenities at a more reasonable hour with our kids (age 14 and 12) - however this was completely our fault as we choose the late dinner time.
Port Everglades is fine - fairly busy but what you would expect. We did not do an excursion but did enjoy our time in Fort Lauderdale prior to our cruise and after.
The port was nice, friendly people. We paid $80 USD and had a dedicated taxi driver for the day (for a family of four - not bad!). He took us to the Cable Car, to lunch, Central Park, San Felipe Fort, some shopping and an ice cream cone on the way back! This was a great way to actually see Peurto Plata - which was only about a 20 minute drive from the port.
Beautiful place, never seen that many large conch shells on the beach - very cool! We had booked a private snorkeling excursion with Blue Water Divers - whom I would recommend in a heartbeat (Kristen was simply awesome to deal with). Unfortunately we had a beautiful day but the water was too choppy to do our tour properly- however having a day on the beach was spectacular anyways! The bluest water we have ever seen and very warm as well!
We didn’t do an excursion but a beautiful beach day - hands down the softest sand we have ever walked on! Make sure to rent a cabana - the best $20 to give you some shade on a very hot beach! Water was cooler than Grand Turks but still a great swim!
We did the Atlantis day adventure - what a great place - expensive but when in Rome! We really enjoyed our time here - wish we could have had more time but definitely on our list to return to enjoy more! What a great lazy river and some really cool water slides for the family!
No issues on our end - we grabbed our own luggage versus organizing through the ship for disembarkation so J can’t comment on that option. We also disembarked early. The only think I would say is that we had used Uber to get to the ship but getting off - take a taxi as it takes quite some time for the Uber drivers to get into the port. The additional 15 minute wait is not worth the $5 savings! Again a learning for us for the next cruise!!
Us to done 21 cruises with carnival been to great places and have amazing memories.. 4 more sleeps till our next cruise adventure Sydney to Honolulu.. then back two weeks cruise Sydney to Singapore then a return cruise to Sydney all with carnival every ship and port is different .. hope ur hooked 🎣like we are .. enjoy 😉
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
