We had fun in spite of all the issues we had. I still wouldn't recommend this ship. This wasn't a very good experience but there was still fun to be had.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Fine except that we were told 2 conflicting things about where to get lunch once onboard.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
The food was average on the whole. Dining room had some good items some not so good. We had terrible time with Gluten Free/Dairy options. They couldn't seem to keep that straight or find the GF orders half the time, and many staff (buffet) didn't even know what GF was or gave wrong information!
Guy's Burger Joint
3 out of 5
One day the burger was good and flavorful the next day it tasted very poor. Was disappointing. My wife who is Gluten Free asked if she could get anything there and one staff said yes and said the fries were fine for GF people. So she had some and ended up with a stomach ache. The next day when she ordered a burger they gave her fries w/out the seasoning so we know this is what caused her issue. This type of thing seemed common all over Carnival... staff weren't well training to answer questions. They could perform the specific task they were told to do but don't ask them for information or to do something outside of that normal task (not just the food areas either).
Emile's Lido Restaurant
2 out of 5
The buffet here was average at best, many staff didn't know answers to food questions (is something Gluten Free or not, hours open etc). We were told there was NO GF food in the chocolate extravaganza by one staff and others said they were shown several items. The floors were VERY Slippery even with rubber deck shoes. Wood floors would be much better or add some tracktion somehow.
BlueIguana Cantina
4 out of 5
The tacos here were very good, too bad they weren't open all the time it was some of the best food we had onboard.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
We enjoyed one of the Tech/Music/Dance shows. It was really good actually. Many others were a bit risque for a family cruise and we walked out. They really need to improve the ventilation system, the smoke from the casino went up and down one deck and carried over the entire deck 5 area of which the only coffee bar (with milkshakes) was right next to. Hot tubs were anything BUT hot, luke warm at best. We did have fun watching some of the dance classes and the piano bar (just the smoke was an issue). We liked the Big Screen movies at night above the pools but wished they started a little earlier!
Mini Golf
2 out of 5
This would have been really fun but the balls were about as heavy as a pingpong ball and the wind blew them all over the place. The course was decent (for what it was) and clubs were fine but the balls were pathetic. It was also not open except during the day (closed after 5pm I believe) so it wasn't available most of the time except the sea day.
Serenity
3 out of 5
This was quiet but quite windy often. The hammocks and cabana's were kind of dingy and seemed quite old and not super attractive. Maybe it was the color of the material or the type of material but it wasn't very appealing. Seemed like there was a decent amount of space, and plenty of chairs. It was closed a couple times due to the high winds.
Hot Tubs
2 out of 5
These were warm water tubs NOT hot tubs... I'm not exaggerating either, they were barely warmer than the pools! I'd expect them not to be really hot since kids could enter too but you couldn't sit in one to get warm at night for sure. Even the ones in the Serenity area (adults only) weren't warm but that may be because they didn't want issues with the drunks :)
Entertainment
3 out of 5
One show was great the others were not. Music DJs and performers were very good. Of course not everything was my taste but they had a good mix and it was fun listening to different music, generally.
Children's Programs
Everyone was over 15 years.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
This was a mixed bag. We had 2 servers who were great and got our issues with the Gluten Free menu straightened out but MOST of the other servers we had (6 of them) were completely incompetent and couldn't understand what we were telling them. They wouldn't bring my son (who is gluten free) a bowl of butter pecan ice cream "because he was gluten free". Another pair didn't even show up to take our order of give us the menu for brunch for over 1/2 hour and then they brought the wrong things for my wife and lost part of her order, and this after having preselected what she wanted the day before (part of the GF requirements). House keeping was good, nice clean rooms but maintenance was poor. End Table Light was never fixed (notified first day) and another overhead light was burnt out), the balcony was rusty and not very well kept (and they "cleaned" them one of our port days. That and the sewage smell on both of our balconies (we had two rooms next to each other) was very disappointing.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
This appears to be an old ship, said it was refreshed 3-4 years ago but I'm not sure what they updated as most everything looks old still, maybe the addition of some newer restaurants or updated some of the bars. It was difficult to find your way from one end of the ship to the other w/out having to walk through the cabin only floors, so that's what we resorted to.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Size was fine (we had 3 people in this one and 3 in 7339) It was initially setup incorrectly (we'd specified 2 twin beds and couch vs 1 king and couch which is how it was set initially). Then when they fixed it they left the couch back cushions stacked in the room instead of hiding them under the twin beds (we didn't realize there was space there until the last day so we had to maneuver around them the whole time). The rooms were clean though and so was the bathroom. As I said the balconies were worn and smelled like sewer. Must have been above a vent for the sewage storage tanks or something was wrong.
Ship tip
Find a different ship unless you're gonna be drunk the whole time and don't care about anything else.
We enjoyed Kennedy Space Center and getting to/from the port via the Comfort Inn and Suites shuttle was VERY easy (they also had free parking during the cruise).
We met some friends who lived there and wandered around the town and went to the beach for a bit. Loved the color of the buildings and the straw market was fun to shop at. Though we found better prices at one of the town shops for coffee mugs.
This was way better than I thought it would be. I like the beach but not for long durations. We left after breakfast and with the Faster to the Fun (Highly recommend this) we got on the next shuttle with no waiting. Lots to do at the beach for free (brought our own snorkel/masks) and there were decent amount of colorful fish. Beaches were clean and chairs-a-plenty. I recommend going to the right when you get off its much less crowded but looks initially like you're headed "behind the scenes" but keep going over the bridge and you'll be fine. Lots of natural shade, if you want, and volleyball, bar and shops too. Eating will be easier there too because there are a lot less people. There are still plenty of chairs and cabanas if you want to rent the cabanas. The only down side of this beach is its more rocky in the water unless you walk a ways more but just wear water shoes or diving socks and it should be fine.
with Faster to the fun we were the 2nd group off the ship (after Diamond/Platinum guests). We wanted off early so we could get to Kennedy Space Center. We were there before it opened and getting thru customs and catching the hotel shuttle was a snap.
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