This was a a much-anticipated family cruise. We got a balcony stateroom which was big enough for two people, but not four! We were very happy to only have one “fun day at sea”! We enjoyed all of the islands we stopped at and mostly went to the beach. We couldn’t believe how expensive excursions have become. You can plan on $50-$150 pp/day added to your cruise to do anything on shore. The food and cleanliness of the cruise and vessel has deteriorated greatly since I last cruised and I will not be taking another carnival cruise any time soon, possibly ever, unless things change drastically.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
It was fine.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
The buffets were mostly inedible and gross. The main dining room was okay-I would compare the food to Furr’s or Ryan’s on a “prime rib” night, but it was the best option unless you want to pay additional money. The deli was decent, burger bar was good and Mexican bar was okay. Also the dining room is only open at lunch so you have fewer options.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
There wasn’t nearly enough (or as much as I expected there to be) onboard for kids or pre-teens to do. You could play table tennis and corn hole for free. Air hockey, arcade games (of course), were additional money. It was good to have a fitness center and the pools/slide were adequate. We explored the entire ship in about 30 minutes.
Entertainment
We didn’t go.
Children's Programs
We signed our kids up to do the kids’ clubs, but after we got on board, we weren’t comfortable leaving them out of our care.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
We were happy with the service provided by waiters in dining room and by our cabin steward. It’s nothing like it used to be, however, I think because of the pre-tip policy.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
It was hard to find places, the ship was not clean or kept clean. We had to walk through and over dirty dishes multiple times.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We were so excited to have a balcony stateroom because we’d never had one. The balcony was, by far, the best part. The room was much too small for two adults and two children. One bunk folded over the head of our bed and the other over the foot. There was no place to sit in the room except the main bed. We would sit in the hall or on the balcony while we took turns showering. It was way to small! It was also not very clean. The room hadn’t been dusted in a while, there we’re unidentifiable objects on our headboard and hair in the shower that wasn’t ours. Several times a day the smell of sewage would hang in the air.
I guess cruising might not be for you at least on tbe smaller ships. We have 2 kids and alwats get an oceanview and are fine room wise. Its not going to be like a hotel. The kids and teen clubs provide lots of activities including dances, parties movie nights and more so if they didnt atrend they missed out and therefore didnt hsve as many activities to choose from. I agree the Facination wasnt on the top of favorite ships but if you did research you might have found that out in tbe reviews. If you didnt like the facination dont try the Ecstasy we felt the same about the food on that ship and if anything it seemed older and more outdated then the facination.
Not sure how long it had been since you last cruised but $ 50 - $ 100 is the average excursion price now in the Caribbean, especially if You book through the cruise line. You can usually get cheaper options by booking independently. You can at least double those excursion prices if you plan on going to Alaska. Are usually spend 50 to 75% of the cost of the cruise on excursions in the Caribbean and 100 to 150% of the cost of the cruise on excursions in Alaska.
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