For the most part the cruise as a whole was great. We had a few complaints about the buffet and beverages or lack there of but it was a nice vacation. Would cruise again (unsure if it will be Carnival) but will read ALL of the small print. I didn't like the $90.00 per person gratuity charge I would rather the choice be my own.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
well oiled machine!!!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Powered eggs were watery everyday and the bacon was under cooked most of the time at the buffet. Only horrible un-sweet tea, super tart lemonade and water was offered for no charge. A soda fountain would be great but Carnival couldn't sell the $2.25 cokes if they did that. The other restaurants on board were pretty good.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We mostly relaxed pool side and absolutely LOVED the serenity deck. There were tons of activities to do we just chose not to participate.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We saw movies and comedy shows every night and contest through out the week
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
with the exception of the blond female at the blue iguana (she never seemed to have a good day and had a very dry personality) everyone we came in contact with was excellent. The staff at the red frog were the most pleasant people you can find on board. Our cabin steward was a superstar, we loved him and his charming personality.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Beautiful ship and with that many people on board they kept it spic and span clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Great cabin we were not in the cabin too much mostly to sleep and it was very clean and comfortable.
Ship tip
Bring you own soda and water. They nickle and dime you and we all know a soda fountain would not cost them much to install and maintain but they can't charge the 2.25 per soda or $60.00 for the bottomless soda card.
We did not do an excursion but we did walk and spend the day at the beach and visited the shops. It seems like Diamond International and Carnival cruise line has a monopoly on the ports. We went to a seminar on what we thought was about the ports of call and it end up being mostly about the jewelry we could purchase
Getting off was a nightmare. We were given the option to get off Sunday night due to the hurricane instead of Monday morning. We thought they would call each deck but they didn't. Everyone was gathered around the elevators and stairways on deck 3 and it took hours of standing in this hot mob before the opened the encore room to get the crowd moving.
Yes always read the small print. It’s charged based on length of cruise per person. If they gave people the choice of how much to tip think about how much they would actually get from greedy people. You can always give extra. I think 13.75 pp is nothing compared to the work those workers do. I would pay that everyday all day to have my house cleaned food cooked and bed turned down every night. But you should try rc they both have their own ups and downs. I prefer carnival a bit more but to each it’s own. Happy sailings.
Paying the gratuities is optional. If you didn’t want to pay them that way then all you had to do is call guest services while on board. It is written in “the fine print”.
You have the choice on gratuities. For 7 days of service, $13 a day seems like a drop in the bucket for all the work they do. We gladly tip over and above the pre-paid gratuity.
Those grats are distributed to employees at every level of service to you: the people who cook, wipe the rails, wash your linens, the people who hall booze up to your favorite bar, etc. It is very little money for the service you receive. You are always free to tip more to those you deal with personally.
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