Carnival provides us with the vacation we need once a year, hopefully! Food, ship, service, entertainment are all perfect for us at a reasonable price….13 cruises and counting!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Very good food quality, decent variety. Enjoyed our favorites at Guy’s Bugers, Pig and Anchor BBQ, and Blue Iguana Cantina. Steakhouse was top notch per usual, main dining room had the best service of the 13 cruises I’ve been on ( not that others were subpar, this crew was just better). Breakfast buffet seemed like there were changes made and it wasn’t laid out as logically as could be, but good food. My least favorite was Cucina del Capitano, the menu choices aren’t as good as they were years ago, and coming from an Italian family and a region known for an excellent Italian food and pizza scene, it wasn’t wonderful for me…but still good for less fussy people
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
January cruising is mellower and has a more sedate vibe than summer and school break seasons. We relaxed by the pool, played, trivia, listened to some talented musicians, saw great comics every night, and watched a few theater shows….and lost a bit at the casino
Entertainment
5 out of 5
I honestly don’t know how Carnival recruits such great musicians! Whether it’s a solo acoustic guitar player, strings, stage performers, or rock bands, they are always talented. The rock band was awesome! The members were very personable and visited with audience members, and played amazingly. To see a group of musicians (from Canada, India, Brazil , and the US) who just recently met and performed as brilliantly as they did was a treat…
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Everyone was awesome as usual. Housekeepers and wait staff could not have been friendlier or more professional. And, it’s always cool when staff just passing by in the hallways would smile and greet you.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything was neat and clean as per Carnivals usual standards. You could see some signs of this being an older ship, like a bit of rust on the exterior, but everything inside was clean and polished constantly. The ship layout is in line with most of the older ships which makes it easy to navigate because it’s familiar. I didn’t notice any traffic flow issues except for one occasion, elevators seemed to be fairly easy to get to, but we got lots of steps in using the stairs
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Regular interior cabin, everything as expected, no complaints. Carnival ships prior to the new Excel class (Mardi Gras, Celebration) are 185 square feet, so a bit bigger than most other cruise lines…the new ships cabins are narrower and compare to the others now. The bathroom is small but adequate. Our steward was amazing
Ship tip
Enjoy! It’s a bit older than the new monster ships, but has everything you need to have a great time. Having 1000 or so less passengers than bigger ships makes it easy to navigate and not have long waits or huge crowds….that being said, arrive 20 minutes before comedy shows for a good seat, and Serenity loungers fill up fast
No excursion, done a few on prior visits and we were content to wander the port market. Nice if you like shopping, prices are pretty good. We found a small courtyard market place directly across the street from the cruise port , nice safe relaxing spot with a guitar player, a few shops, cantina serving inexpensive food and beer ($3!) and a friendly cigar vendor who chatted with us…visited on two cruises so far
Visited multiple times before so we’d already did excursions we liked. Just wandered through the port shopping zone and picked up a few souvenirs. Nothing exciting, not as nice as Cozumel, good for an hour browsing after an excursion. Had to take a tender, 15 minutes back to the ship, hot day but enjoyed it.
No excursions, my husband is afraid of the water and heights (boring!) so not too much to choose from. Nice little port for shopping and walking, beautiful landscaping
Quick! No issues once they called our zone, got off ship at time I expected, luggage was immediately available and customs was a breeze. Only glitch was my sister-in-law forgot a suitcase so we had to wait for security to be freed up to retrieve it but that was our fault
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
