I love the Carnival product. The food is great and service is good. Only thing I don't appreciate is some of the guests. Many of them just don't know how to act in public unfortunately. For example, I was in a jacuzzi where people were just chilling. There was a man and his about 14-year-old son. The son saw his brother a couple decks above and started yelling loud for him but couldn't get his attention. The father, instead of educating his son that you shouldn't disturb everyone around by yelling in a setting like this, starts yelling at the top of his lungs to get the attention of the brother. All that just to say hello. Another time a woman was cussing out her husband very loudly with lots of f-bombs while waiting for an elevator. There were lots of people including several kids standing there being subjected to her berating. But we still had a great time overall and met plenty of good people.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
We chose a 10 am arrival time and got their about 9:30. There were about 100 people ahead of us in the 10 am line. We heard the cruise before was late getting in. They checked us in right away but waited in the dome cruise terminal till almost noon before they called our group. We went to the "secret" embarkation day buffet in the Michael Angelo MDR. There were only a few people there, so it was quiet and relaxing but only limited choices. Since we were on pretty early, we should have just went to the Lido buffet.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Carnival has the best casual food places of any cruise line. Guy's Burger was great although no bacon on the Italian style ships. Tomodora (Blue Iguana) had all the regular items plus some good Italian extras, the Chicken Shack was great, The only thing I didn't care for was the La Strada Grill which took the place of Guy's Barbeque. Not a good substitute. The buffet was small but not bad and had some MDR dinner items. But with so many other good choices, who eats in the buffet? The soft serve ice cream was McDonalds quality! The MDR had some really great meals except for the desserts. Carnival is really lacking there. They had the Melting Cake or Ice Cream available every night but only two other new desserts. One was sugar free and the other often was some coffee flavored dessert. The buffet had OK desserts but it was usually closed by the time our dinner was over. Don't worry, I didn't lose any weight on this cruise.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We didn't participate in much but there was always something going on. They had some unique trivia contests, and the entertainment staff was fun.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We had our two grandsons with us who don't like going to the shows, so I often hung out with them while my wife went to the show. She said they were pretty good.
The Warehouse Arcade
1 out of 5
Not a lot of games and some were broken. Lost money in one machine. The claw machine is rigged so your prize falls out every time. You can get lots of tickets from the machine where you just pull a handle and get tickets. After spending well over $100 dollars and getting 1,500 tickets (since they hit some big jackpots) my grandsons were able to redeem them for a matchbox car. I think this cured them of gambling.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
My grandsons are not very outgoing and usually didn't want to go to the kid's club. I think they do a fair job in there though.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff really seemed to be happy and wanting to help although our room steward was not really. For example, our status allows for free 1.5 liter water bottles and the website says you can get those from your room steward. When I asked him about them, he said go to a bar to get them and bring them back to the cabin. There were already two of these bottles in the cabin but he wouldn't let us take those because "It is easier to go get them from a bar". Easier for him only!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
I have been on the Panorama a few times so it is the same basic layout but totally different decor and feel. For example the Lido area is enclosed to look like an Italian village square. It looks nice but also is cramped. Overall, I would probably prefer the non-Italian Style ship but the Ferenze was not bad and a nice change.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
It was adequate and roomy enough for two adults and two kids. This cabin was on deck 10 at the front of the ship. There is a "secret" deck on many of the floors at the front so a few steps from my inside cabin put me on a huge balcony that was empty most of the time.
Ship tip
Deck five outside promenade deck is amazing on this class of ship. Most of the time it is empty.
Walked and took the $3 panga boat to Stone Island. My grandsons call it Dog Beach because there are several friendly dogs hanging around. Water temp was perfect.
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