First time was a charm!

I read the reviews  before we left on our cruise, and while many of them were good a few were rather harsh.  The whole time we were away I thought about what I would write here to counteract some of the negative reviews....so here I go.  The ship is HUGE, it rarely felt crowded the rooms were super quiet, I couldn't hear anything through the walls adjoining our rooms and while the decor is not going to be for everyone, it grows on you  and after a while you actually notice the neat graphics on the walls between the cabin doors, pictures of men and women from another era perhaps the 1940's.  Very neat stuff.  The food.....was beyond compare.  We had the 6pm seating at the Gold Pearl dining room every night, it was fun, delicious and fabulous.  The staff there, Dani,Ivanyn and Ivan were so friendly they remembered our names...our food preferences. My children (15 and 19) were treated like royality and they really enjoyed their meals.  We did eat at the steak house one night and it was delicious, but at $35 per person I can honestly say the Gold Pearl was a better meal and a better dining experience.  The steak house is a little "stuffy". Breakfast on the Lido deck was great an omlet made to order was what I had every morning except on sea days I had the brunch in the Gold Pearl. Fresh fruit was everywhere..everyday!  I could go on and on about the food, the ship was clean the staff was respectful, friendly, hard working and provided good customer service at all times.  I would like to point out that these men and women work very long hours, 6 months in a row without a day off doing things most of us would rather not do all to make our vacation experience a better one.  Most of us go home to our families at the end of the day to our own home, these folks don't have that to balance their lives.  To greet us with a smile everyday and to literally care for our every need when there is really nothing in return for them~we will leave and others will replace us their job will repeat and repeat and repeat, just the faces will change. These folks are what the cruise industry depend upon, without them the cruising experience would not be what it is.  Please treat them kindly, make sure your children respect them and at the end of your cruise tip them they deserve it. Entertainment was incredible, tv will never be the same after seeing a show every night!  Half Moon Cay was the best excursion, if the ship had anchored there for 3 days I would have been thrilled take advantage of the time speant there get on the beach early you will be sad to leave. We did do that very expensive Atlantis excursion you will read about in other post...I am not sorry we did it, I would not do it again and my suggestion would be if you want to see Atlantis.. go to Atlantis, see it the way it should be seen.  It is over the top beautiful and to rush it doesn't do it justice its like seing the end of a really good movie but you didn't get to see the beginning you can go back and watch the whole thing all over but something is taken away from it...see Atlantis when you can really see it...all of it.  Also while our excursion went off without a hitch, let me just point out the ship has little if anything to do with your excursion to Atlantis from what I could tell they merely provide the third party ( a service that will transport you there and back and give tours) they have their own way of doing things and this can't be blammed on Carnival. To wrap this up, we never had a better vacation we will definatley do his again and we will go on Carnival!