Our first cruise, and if I do another, it won't be for long time to come.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
The embarkation was excellent. If you can, buy the Fast to the Fun extra. It is totally worth it.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The dining rooms and buffets had great food and great wait staff. I wish I had known there were elegant days in the dining room. I would have brought specific clothes although my husband and I don't dress up. The buffets were good. It was great having the Carvery open late and pizza open 24 hrs, but I still felt pushed into an eating schedule because the main food serving was done at specific times.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Activities were fine, I guess. We didn't participate in much simply because we are king of anti-social in that aspect. Most of what they had available, we weren't interested in doing. The comedy acts were pretty good.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The comedy was pretty good, but we didn't do the stage shows. Music was good, but we didn't listen to the DJ's.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The service and staff were excellent. I had no complaints at all about how they took care of us on this cruise. We probably related more to the staff than the other passengers. I hated to see some of the others on the ship treat the staff as if they were their personal servants.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship was clean for the most part, but it was one of Carnival's older ships. It needed some repairs and from what I understand, it is going in for a face lift in February 2020.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The size, comfort, and cleanliness was excellent. I would definitely book this room again. We loved having the balcony off the back of the boat. The view was spectacular!
Ship tip
Buy the Fast to the Fun ticket. It is totally worth it. Be yourself and don't try to outdo the others on the boat.
The port was fine and it was easy on and off the ship. The only suggestion I have is for parking. Instructions on getting out of the lot were not clear and I ended up paying 105.00 extra dollars for parking when I had prepaid for this.
My only complaint was that we were not told far enough in advance of a cancellation on our excursion so we couldn't book something else. I would have liked to have that opportunity.
Great excursion! We did the shipwreck/starfish snorkeling and enjoyed it very much. It was totally worth it. The excursions were well done and the port shops were clean and helpful.
We did an excursion to one of the Mayan ruins. We enjoyed it very much although the ship had to dock very far out and it was a 2 hr bus ride to and from the excursion site. Lunch was to be provided which was a disappointment. The food wasn't bad, but the portions were very small. We had a piece of chicken (yes 1 piece and mine was a leg), some rice/beans dish, and a small bit of coleslaw. Everything tasted good, but not enough to satisfy the hunger. Even though this port says Belize City, we were not in Belize City. It was sad to see the way most of the people lived. Buildings were very run down, some held together with a piece of tin and some wood.
Cozumel was good although very commercialized. We did a dolphin swim excursion that was fun, but a bit of a disappointment as it was very commercialized as well. It is definitely not "let's go swim with the dolphins in the ocean." The animals were great, but I do hope they have more area to roam other than the 4 or 5 small tank areas in which they perform.
Disembarkation was interesting. They sent all of those that had suites, fast to the fun people, and premium people to one area and the diamond elite members to another area if you wanted to take your bags off the boat yourself. We all gathered in one of the dining rooms. When it came time to leave the boat, you couldn't hear the woman who was directing people, so everyone got up and then she tried to separate us after we were already out in the hall waiting to get off. Leaving the boat was kind of a mess because it was walk off, take this escalator down, take that escalator down, take another escalator down, and then you are free to leave the building after they check your passport. If we were flying out, you could send your bags to the airport via their massive movement of bags the night before. No, you wouldn't have access in the morning to get dressed, shower or anything else because your main bags were gone. I have no idea how that would work with bags at the airport or how they made it home without misrouting.
Ship Mate is a great venue to ask questions, and there is never a shortage of answers. Look at what ship has to offer, some have better eating establishment. We are going to our 4 th Carnival ship, and I know what I like. Sea Days, Seaside theater, Guys Burger, Blue iguana. Seafood Shack. And you learn something each time the process gets easier. You already know about the FTTF. The best thing about Cruises-vs- all inclusive resorts you have a floating hotel and wake up in another place. You see as much as you want. Jump back on the horse and give it another try.
Just so you know for the next time you cruise... The bags collected the night before are NOT sent to the airport. Bags placed outside of the cabin is an option for any passenger, it is called Relaxed Debarkation. Passengers opting for this keep a small carry-on bag for their night clothes and morning toiletries. It allows people time to enjoy one last breakfast on board without rushing to do Self-Assist Debarkation. Those with priority still meet in a separate area, but will now be dismissed by their zone #. The zone # correlates to the order Customs inspects the bag. Once off the ship passengers collect their bags and can opt for porter service to get through the CBP lines.
Don't give up on Cruising. I said the same thing following my first Cruise. I waited 20 years to do my second. Now I'm on #10. You try new ships, and you learn new things each trip. I use to hate Sea days, now I love them. Hopefully you'll try again and have an amazing time, next time.
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