Carnival is a good deal for the price. The ship employees are always nice, fun and interactive. Cruising in general is a great way to vacation and relax. But don’t expect a “wow” factor at all. And if they can over charge you for something on the ship, they will. Be prepared to pay for “extras” on the ship.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Organized and Fast
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Guys burgers is the best! Buffet was quick and easy but the choices are very limited. There is a deli within the buffet that had really good, freshly made sandwiches. Dining room food is good not great. The staff is always fantastic and friendly. Specialty restaurant was a nice chance of pace but again not great for the added cost.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The sky coaster and the ropes course were fun but scary. There is a lot of activities on the deck for the kids to enjoy like putt-putt and ping pong but also large scale games like chess, checkers and twister. The water slide was fast and fun too. I wish there had been more chairs in the Serenity Adult area.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Comedy shows and main musical show was great. The performers did a fantastic job.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Carnival staff is always friendly and helpful. Special shout out to Felix our room steward who went above as often as he could w/o ever being asked.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Very clean. Since the ship is less than 2 months old it should be.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The room was good. Just as we expected. We had 4 adults in the cabin and did just fine. All we did was sleep and shower. The rest of the time we were out enjoying our vacation. We really liked being right off of the Lido deck.
Other than the Queen Mary or the Aquarium there is nothing to do near the port of Long Beach. If you stay in a hotel near the port, plan to pay a ton to eat. Not much is open on the weekend so you get stuck eating at the hotel for 5x’s what it would cost elsewhere.
The beach that we went to right outside of the port was dirty and the water was so murky we didn’t get in. But we rented chairs & umbrellas and had beer & lunch that was so cheap! I almost felt guilty. The employees of the beach rentals was super attentive. If only the beach venders trying to sell us crap would have left us alone for 5 minutes the day would have been better. How many times can you say “no thank you” to the same person? 500 times apparently.
Very clean, very beautiful area. We did an all day extreme zip lining excursion. On the boat ride to and from the excursion we got an added bonus of seeing whales and dolphin swimming very near the boat. Kudos to the tour group for allowing and taking the extra time to make our excursion special by stopping to see these beautiful creatures.
If I could give this a zero, I would. We purchased transportation from the ship to LAX for the price of $30 per person thinking that this would be easier than walking off the ship and calling an Uber. We were wrong! Our bags were taken off of the ship and taken to customs just like everyone else. We had to carry our bags thru customs, drag them across the port to a bus area where we waited standing in the cold for an hour! Do not pay for this service. I even called Carnival to ask about cancelling and taking an Uber but they refused to give me a credit.
We have used cruise transportation once, and only once. It was through Celebrity in Ft Lauderdale and we had same experience waiting for bus in the heat before and after the cruise, to the point where we took a taxi afterward... if you ask here many would have shared this kind of info. I recommend car service, car rental, or Uber to/from LAX. The other cruiser who recommends the Pike is correct and there’s a water taxi from the Queen Mary/cruise side, which would also be convenient from Hotel Maya or the Marriott Residence Inn that’s right there.
In Long Beach there is a whole big beautiful restaurant district and shopping mall with roller coaster and everything. You missed it! Pike at Long Beach I think. Anyway, look it up and dont miss it.
Thanks for the information, and we agree on the food, good to very good on our last Carnival, but not up to great (although the clam linguine I had in the Cucina was great!). Looking forward to boarding in May.
Glad you enjoyed most of it. As far as debarkation, the standard shuttle does not include any special handling for luggage. We do self-debarkation and take our own luggage off and use Uber or Lyft. We are usually in the first group off, have little, if any, wait at customs and are on our way before most are even off the ship looking for luggage.
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