The ship was very clean and had many amenities, including mini golf and water slides. There is an adults only deck with 2 hot tubs and they do monitor it for kids under 21. There are nice hot tubs on deck 5 too, which were pretty empty most of the cruise. The pools on the ship are way too small. They need to be at least 10-20 feet longer. We never used them as they were super crowded at any time of the day. The food was average - some good, some bad. The staff was friendly, especially in the dining room.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Quality of food was good to above average. The dining room food was the best and had great selection. I really enjoyed the Tandoori food in the back of The Gathering. Never had a chance to eat at the make your own pasta since the line was always too long. We booked 3 cabins, but none of them were cross-referenced in the database, so our dining times and tables were wrong. The maitre' d, Drago, was very accommodating and we did get to eat together at the late seating. Dining entertainment was cute.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Much better entertainment than some other cruise lines, except for country night (too country for me). The comedians were great and so were the hip-hop dancers. Carnival is definitely trying to make the shows more exciting and relevant to popular songs and dancers of today.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Most people were friendly, but we did have a few waiters at breakfast and lunch who were not as personable as our dinner waiters. We hardly saw our stateroom steward, but the other 2 cabins we booked saw theirs all the time. Photo staff was not helpful. When we had an issue, we had to elevate it to the manager and guest services to have it resolved.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Ship can hold 3,600 passengers, but it only felt crowded on the pool deck. Very clean and nice decor. Some floors are hard to navigate because you can't walk from the front to the back without going up or down a floor.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Had an inside cabin, but it was pretty spacious. We had a room on deck 9, which was perfect for running up to the pool or buffet on deck 10. Only issue with the room was the shower drainage. It was slow to drain, so the water would leak all over the floor. Found out later the lower level floors were having a drainage problem, which caused the issues on our floor too. The 2 other cabins we booked also had the problem.
The port was like spring break for middle age adults. There was a pool with a swim up bar and a lot of drunks. Fun to watch - LOL! We went ATV'ing and it was fun. This was my first time on an ATV and I would do it again. Rough ride for some of it, but the ride along the ocean was awesome. Not much to see in "town" - costs $2/person for a taxi ride from port to town. You can get a 60 min massage on the beach for $20 - good deal! I think this port is going to become the next "Cancun" of Mexico.
Went cave tubing, which would have been awesome if 1,000 people weren't going at the same time. Also, the water was very low, so it made it difficult to navigate through the cave. Would be a better excursion if only 20 people were in the cave at one time. Guides were OK, but not as talkative as other excursion guides. The ride was about an hour away from the port.
My favorite port of the trip. Snorkeling here was the BEST I've seen in all of the Caribbean. Beautiful coral and tons of fish. It was AMAZING! Our guide was awesome too - took time to point out all the great things in the water.
We did the beach buggy and snorkel combo. The beach buggy is a stick shift and you have to share the car with others if you don't have a party of 3 or 4. It's a rough ride, but fun. Snorkeling was good - lots of fish. I would recommend this excursion if you want to see something other than the port.
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