Overall we had a fabulous cruise. We loved the ship and look forward to cruising on a sister ship at some point. There were plenty of activities and were unable to do everything unfortunately. I do wish we had a better experience with our stateroom that first night and with the cleanliness, it made us question if even the bedding had been changed.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We arrived during our check in window and there was very little waiting for each step of the process. It felt like we basically arrived and walked right onboard.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
There were only a few minor issues involving asking for something that never ended up being brought but it didn't soil our experience enough to rate lower than a 5. The food was very good and the servers were all very friendly and helpful. We did express our concern about not receiving items that we requested and the manager followed up with us to ensure things were going well afterwards.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We did Trivia, the pools/hot tubs, kids club, karaoke and games on the upper deck.
Entertainment
We did not attend any of the shows or enough of any of the live music to form an opinion.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
Our kids were always asking to return to the kids club because they had a great time. I especially loved the hours they were open compared to other cruise lines. It was also helpful to my 5 year old that they were not super strict with the ages. Although my 5 year old would technically be in the 3-5 group, he is a bigger kid who is used to playing with his older brother and fits in much more with the 6-8 year olds. Carnival allowed him to be in the group with his older brother allowing him to enjoy the club better.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Most of the service was wonderful on the ship. Unfortunately I need to dock a star. Upon embarkation, it appeared our room had not been thoroughly cleaned. There was a long curly dark hair on the sink (we had not even been in the bathroom yet), There were two stemless wine glasses that were used that they sell in the fun shops on board so clearly left behind by prior guests. Although our Steward asked us twice when would be good for them to turn down our room and we were not in our room for all of the evening, when we returned after 10pm after picking up the kids from the kids club, the kids beds had not been made..... the couch was still a couch and the pullman bed was still in the ceiling. We called and asked for housekeeping to come turn down the kids beds and it was at least an hour before anyone arrived to do this. As you can imagine, dealing with 2 overtired kids that just want to go to bed at that time was not pleasant. Additionally, when they did pull the pullman down, there was a dirty tissue stuck in the side of it.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
We loved the layout of the ship and all of the activities. It was easy to navigate and not too large to feel like you couldn't easily go from one side to the other. The ship was over all clean. I would recommend that the instructions for the elevator be placed in more spots or made more obvious because it seemed people on the last day still didn't have it figured out.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Unfortunately I need to dock a star. Upon embarkation, it appeared our room had not been thoroughly cleaned. There was a long curly dark hair on the sink (we had not even been in the bathroom yet), There were two stemless wine glasses that were used that they sell in the fun shops on board so clearly left behind by prior guests. Although our Steward asked us twice when would be good for them to turn down our room and we were not in our room for all of the evening, when we returned after 10pm after picking up the kids from the kids club, the kids beds had not been made..... the couch was still a couch and the pullman bed was still in the ceiling. We called and asked for housekeeping to come turn down the kids beds and it was at least an hour before anyone arrived to do this. As you can imagine, dealing with 2 overtired kids that just want to go to bed at that time was not pleasant. Additionally, when they did pull the pullman down, there was a dirty tissue stuck in the side of it. Once this was all taken care of, the room was very comfortable and the steward did a great job each day making the beds and the towel animals.
The location of the room however was irritating at times due to the teenager clubs and the arcade being so close. There was always lots of teens hanging around in the elevator area between the two in the afternoon and evenings. At night there was constantly people running up and down the halls which I assume were also teens. Our door decorations were messed with multiple times, again likely due to teens.
Ship tip
It seemed that staying in rooms in near the mid or aft elevators will put you closer to most of the popular areas and activites.
We loved our visit to Cabo. It was beautiful with lots to choose from. I loved seeing the landmark rock. I was not a fan however of the time of day that we were docked there. We arrived very early and had to get up super early for our excursion and then we had to be onboard very early as well.
The video about disembarkation made it sound like this would be very organized but in reality it was a disorganized disaster. We chose the option to carry our luggage off due to the promise that this would be fast and we had a flight to catch. It seemed that much of the ship choose this option. We were told to be out of our rooms by 9 and wait on either deck 5 or 10. We took the elevator to deck 5 at about 9:15 and when the doors opened there was basically no where to go. We had just enough room to step off the elevator but then was stuck with all of our luggage in tow due to the massive amount of people waiting in the elevator lobby. I heard a rumor that there was plenty of space if you could make it out of the crowd but there was no way to get though, no one had room to budge to allow you to pass by them. I would recommend having staff moving people out of the elevator areas to wait. Additionally, we were told to wait till our muster station was called. One station was called and then after a very long wait some crew came by and told everyone that if they can walk their bags down the stair they could walk right off the ship and a massive amount of people then flooded the stairs. It seemed that due to that, when our muster was called (because we could not do the stairs) the line was massively long to exit the ship. There must be a better way to keep people comfortable while they wait to exit.
Glad you had fun. Embarkation day is crazy hectic for the stewards. Sometimes, guests enter the room before the steward can clean it. So if it’s dirty, find the steward and ask when you can occupy it after they clean. It’s also difficult for them to clean if your room is occupied in the evening. If they keep asking to clean your room but can’t find a time it is vacant then it can’t be cleaned. They have to get to bed because they start early in the morning. We just need to give stewards a break and understand they can’t clean all 25 cabins around everyone’s schedule all they time.
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