A cruise is all what you make it. If you are just looking for a short, casual, relaxing cruise to get away from the hustle and bustle of life, this can be a great cruise. If you have higher expectations of your cruise, then you might want to consider another line. We typically gravitate to other lines because we prefer a better experience but occasionally come back to Carnival because we are looking for a cheap cruise or because of convenience (the ports within driving distance to us almost all just have Carnival out of them).
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was efficient and we were quickly on the ship ready to enjoy our vacation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Main dining room food was excellent and our servers were excellent. The buffet on the lido deck was very limited and the desserts (on the buffet) all tasted exactly the same and the cakes were very dry. Guy's Burger Joint and Blue Iguana Catina were excellent as always. The bar menus were a little limited. I missed not having a bar on the ship that had an extensive martini menu like many Carnival (and other cruise line) ships have.
Windows on the Sea Bar and Grill
3 out of 5
The area itself is really nice with lots of seating and great views. It's a nice place just to relax between meals. But the food is terrible and the variety is even worse.
21st Century Bar
1 out of 5
This bar is actually the bar that allows smoking even though it is in the middle of the public area and where many musicians sing. The smoke then affects all the surrounding areas and makes it not a very pleasant area to listen to your favorite musicians.
Jubilee Dining Room
5 out of 5
The food was excellent and the service was excellent. My only complaint is that I wish they wouldn't make the servers sing and dance for the passengers.
Cleopatra's Piano Bar
3 out of 5
This was the coldest place on the ship and so we didn't spend much time here but looked like a really cool lounge. Additionally, they rarely had musicians in this lounge. I really wish they made better use of this area.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Activities were typical of Carnival and matched much of the clientele that Carnival attracts. There were plenty of lounge chairs on deck (although the pool was very crowded). There were also plenty of great lounges around the ship to sit in and just relax. We really enjoyed the towel folding seminar and enjoyed watching a staff member carve a swan out of a block of ice. We have never been ones to get into many of Carnival's activities (i.e. hairy chest contest, mixology contest, belly flop contest, etc.).
Entertainment
2 out of 5
The evening shows were terrible; we walked out of one but they did have some musicians playing in the bars that we really enjoyed. The comedians were not as good as we have experienced on other Carnival ships (which is one of Carnival's biggest strengths).
Grand Spectrum
4 out of 5
This is a neat venue to listen to music and is really beautiful. My only complaint is that I wish there were more chairs, especially on the level directly above the music. We often couldn't find a place to listen to music.
Children's Programs
We do not have children.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Our waitstaff was very good. Our room steward was not very great at all. One day, after cleaning in the morning he failed to leave us towels which I didn't discover until I was ready to shower after using the pool. It took housekeeping a long time to get me any towels. He also always seemed to leave our room to last even though we were early risers and used the do not disturb sign consistently to let him know when we were in and out of the room. He also really tried to persuade us to only have service once a day (which we are seeing more and more on cruises). Other ship personnel were average. We have had much better service on other cruises lines (such as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity)
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
The ship seemed clean. It is clearly an older ship and although it was in dry dock in January and so many things were updated, there was still evidence it was an old ship, especially in things like faucets in bathrooms which didn't always work perfectly. Due to the lack of balconies, it is imperative that there be lots of public spaces for the passengers and this ship didn't disappoint in that way. My biggest complaint is that the casino is on the deck with almost all of the lounges and the casino bar is actually outside of the casino in the main walkway and so the smoke from smokers permeated that entire floor and even some of the stairwells. This sometimes made it hard to find a lounge that wasn't a bit smoky and if you wanted to listen to musicians, it was often in a smoky area.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Our cabin was exactly what we expected for an inside cabin. It is small but the space is used very efficiently. The valve to adjust the temperature is on the ceiling which is a little awkward but once we figured it out, it wasn't a problem. The bathroom was reasonably clean but other areas of the room were not as clean such as drawers that were sticky. Word of warning, there is only one outlet in the entire stateroom, so bring a power cord or other adapter.
We did not do an excursion but spent a few days in Orange Beach, AL ahead of time and also spent some time exploring downtown Mobile. There is a ton to do in the area and was a great port to go out of.
This was very seamless. My only suggestion is that a line to the elevators in the parking garage got way too long. It would have been nice to leave room for those willing to take the stairs.
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