Great time!

What made this Cruise so great, was that we did it with good friends! So note to self, always cruise with good friends. The cruise itself was very good. We were impressed with our cabin Steward, Nanang. He did a great job taking care of our room and made really cool towel creations that the kids enjoyed. Speaking of which, this was a very family-friendly Cruise. Our kids were pre-teen ages. We were concerned about the Carnival party cruise reputation, but we're pleasantly surprised with all of the family oriented activities. We also really enjoyed the food, not only on the Lido level at the buffet, but also in the dining room. Our dining room waitress Ethel was amazing. She was friendly, attentive, had a great smile, and a beautiful singing voice to serenaded us. Our boys really took to the variety of food choices, and tried things outside their comfort level, because they knew they could always return to their favorite comfort foods off the kids menu. My athletic 13-yr old enjoyed gaining 10 lbs. Our favorites were Guy's Burger Joint burgers, the burrito bar, and then the flat iron steak and prime rib off the dining room menu. Of our three cruises, this food was at the top. We were disappointed with the lack of chocolate cookies and store-bought quality, but the chocolate lava cake and chocolate hazelnut cake in the dining room were awesome! There was also a delightful chocolate extravaganza during our ocean day. The after dinner shows and PG comedians were terrific. The Epic Rock show was spectacular. We took in a showing of "Rogue One", however the "movie theater" experience was sub-par compared to other cruise lines that have dedicated rooms... This movie was projected on a really small screen in the large comedy lounge, and was difficult to hear with the loud speaker announcements coming through the open doors... And no popcorn was no bueno. The Q&A session with cruise director Alex and GF dance capt. Eva was informative and entertaining. The 4 day length cruise was perfect for our family. With regards to the destinations, we enjoyed the self guided golf cart tour and snorkeling at Catalina island. The cart company even pro-rated our second hour when we brought the carts back early... $59.50 for 1 hr 25 min. Scuba Luv rented us quality snorkeling gear for $18/pers for the day. And the snorkelling by the casino was a great spot to see an amazing variety of fish right as you enter the water. We did the Dumas Tour right off the boat in Ensenada. It was $3/pers to take the bus into town. $58/adult and $55/kid for the amazing Las Canada's Zipline/hanging bridge and La Bufadora tour. One family on our bus added horseback riding but I don't think they had enough  time and didn't seem worth the extra $12/pers. By the way, bring cash since plastic isn't accepted.  Our tour guide Alejandro "Cookie Monster" had interesting tales to tell and had plenty of advice ranging from ordering alcohol at the Banana Habana restaurant located within the La Bufadora mercado to local real estate investing. The blow hole was neat for the family with a cool "Ensenada" letter display for photo ops. Many of the vendors sold the same items, and they're aggressive for your dollars. I wouldn't say we found or negotiated amazing deals since a few things like leather and silver goods could be found on Amazon for the same price. Nonetheless, we had a good experience and a fun time cruising with Carnival.