Overall very good cruise with a few issues

My boyfriend and I loved this cruise overall with a few exceptions. We especially enjoyed the ports of call and the comedy shows. I loved that there was plenty of space on all the decks to find a spot to relax in the sun. We were also extremely happy with our balcony room and room steward, Heimer. He was great!

We were a little disappointed with the food most days and ended up with an bad stomach illness due to what we ate the last day on the cruise ship and are still suffering from it 4 days later! This makes me very cautious about the food on Carnival cruise ships moving forward. 

Also, I had a massage while on the ship. While the massage technique was good and enjoyable, the entire experience was not. it was 100% apparent that the main purpose of a massage with the Carnival spa is just to sell you more things. I did not appreciate that after the massage they sit you down in the same massage room and tell you emphatically that you "need" $200 worth of products and try to sell them to you. This was frustrating because i just had a nice massage and I'm not even allowed to leave the massage room and enjoy my relaxation before products are pushed very hard on me. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing any Carnival spa services in the future.

 Finally, I was very frustrated with how the boarding situation was handled. We arrived at 1:30pm to board and stood in lines outside for 2-3 hours in the sun and heat waiting to get on the ship. We heart through talk amongst guests that the extended wait was due to the ship arriving late from the last cruise. While this is understandable, it would have been nice for the captain or cruise director to have addressed this at some point while on the cruise. Instead, it was brushed over like it never happened while nearly all passengers stood in the heat for 2-3 hours to get on board, most people getting sunburned (like us) and with Carnival running out of water to provide to waiting guests.