Great ship, great waiters, but cost-cutting shows too much!

we love this ship and have been on it twice in three months. The cabins are nice, the waiters are great (although overworked!), and the food is wonderful.  The entertainment took a big step backwards on this cruise when Elizabeth left the allay it Again piano bar to be replaced by Bob, who loves to hear himself talk, but sings very little.    

Very disappointed that our family cruise was marred by being seated at two tables with our back to each other.  Fixed that after first night, but should never have happened to linked reservations!

we miss the tablecloths and full service silverware setup.  It has become so casual, that it's a less great dining experience.  Our head waiter, I Mane, and assistants Kwasi and Itupu were wonderful!

at the lido buffet, we found Tandoor, pizza, and burgers to be excellent.  Still don't understand why there are no tortilla chips for the salsa bar.  An obvious slight to all Southerners onboard is discontinuing biscuits and sausage gravy at breakfast.  You should really bring that back.  Otherwise, the quality of the food was wonderful.  Desserts are pretty but fairly tasteless.  The ice cream machines were empty or shut down, a large percentage of the time we tried to make a cone.  Room service was outstanding!  With three days left in the cruise, the ship ran out of bananas!  Never has that happened to us before, and we had our cereal-eating grandchildren all with us!

love the band that had brass horns.  Loved the country singer/guitar player, Dave.

SERIOUS problem with rear elevators going to the Southern Lights dining room!  Do you realize this ship carries nearly 1,000 more passengers than the next largest Carnival ships, but has NOT ONE more elevator to the dining room!  It was a huge issue!