I love cruising and this time was no different. In spite of not paying attention to what our room was below, and a few misses, like the buffet and cruise director...I would get back on her tomorrow.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
I chose a later embarkation time, in hopes of avoiding the massive onset. However, it was crazy. Even the employee said, it hasn't been crowded all morning and now there's people everywhere. This leads me to believe people weren't following their boarding times and Carnival wasn't enforcing them. Made for a very long, hot wait.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food wasn't quite as good as I remember it, but I'm giving them a little grace with everything going on. My main complaint would be the temp of the buffet food. We didn't eat at the buffet much, but the couple of times we did, the food was only warm, at best. Guys, pizza, and tacos, all delish as usual. Buffet and dining room, missed the mark, especially for breakfast.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
This is a hard one to explain. I don't know if there wasn't as much to do, or if it was because the cruise director was lacking, or maybe there weren't as many activities because of Covid...but there wasn't as much to do as there usually is. This was my son's(13) first cruise and he was a little disappointed the sports square and basketball closed so early. Pools are still of course small and crowded. But hey, you're on a cruise ship, with an amazing view, what more do you need.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
I though the shows in the theater were tremendous. Again, I was a little disappointed with the cruise director and fun squad in general. But, the theater cast and piano bar players, more than made up for it.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff was amazing, as always. PLEASE for their sake, wear your mask properly and don't find ways to get around it. Everyone I spoke to said the masks are super important, to keep them healthy and sailing. Regardless of your feelings, it matters to them. I made ziplock bags with mini candy bars and $5 to hand out. I found the guys doing the cleaning on the outside decks to be the most appreciative and almost shocked. They were working so hard doing the extra cleaning and I'm sure are often overlooked when it comes to tipping. On my next cruise, they will get the biggest portion of my tip money.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
I'm a fan of dream class layouts, so no complaints from me, other than I wish there were either bigger or more pools. Might be trying MSC out for this very reason. Ship was noticeably being cleaned constantly. She is showing her age in places, but she also isn't a spring chicken, so no biggie. I did notice that it looked like some of the rooms had been renovated. Ours had not been, maybe explaining the awful bed.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cove balcony, which I love, and will always book if I can. However, this time I made the mistake of being under the galley. Never again! Carnival needs to do a better job sound proofing the rooms under places like the galley. Also, this particular room had an extremely old, hard, uncomfortable bed. Honestly, had this been my first cruise, it might have been my last. Thankfully, I know better.
From a view standpoint, the water and sand were beautiful, especially the flowers on the island. We just took the free tram, to the free beach. Unfortunately between seaweed and jellyfish, we didn't get in the water. Also, there was quite a bit of trash. I'm not sure why the Radisson doesn't do a better job keeping it clean. Next time we'll take a taxi to radio beach. We were layer told by a couple that it was much nicer there.
Beautiful water and sand. It's great to be able to just get off the ship, head to the beach, and have free chairs. No need to worry about an excursion, unless of course you want to.
They call you by muster station now, which made for a long wait. Next time, I won't self assist. There were two lines, one for passports, and one for birth certificates. They had about 10 people working the passport line, and 3 customs guys working the birth certificate line. Didn't make much sense, since there were noticeably a lot more certificate folks, again making for long lines, and congestion. I think it probably makes a difference as to when you are able to board and when you're able to get off. I'm sure the first muster stations called went smoother. Overall, I didn't think port canaveral flowed like it could have and I found some of the workers to be less than friendly.
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