Great itinerary if you want to do a two day stay in Puerto Vallarta instead of doing your normal 3 port cruise to the Mexican Riviera. In all we had a great time, met new people and came home exhausted. Now it's onto the Bahamas on our next cruise...
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Since the new upgrades to the cruise terminal, the embarkation process is a real snap. We really like the fact that the room keys are already waiting for us in our stateroom mailbox. Besides the speed and ease, the upgrades to the embarkation terminal are out of sight.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
When it came time to eat, everything we have come to enjoy on a Carnival Cruise was at or above or our expectations. From the Breakfast and Brunch in the MDR, Tea Time on Sea days and lunch and snacks on the Lido were always plenty and great. We loved our wait staff of Wayan, Alfred and Murphee. They really took great care of our dining group and were a pleasure to be around. Sorry but we skipped the Pinnacle Steak House this time around?
The Gold Pearl Restaurant
5 out of 5
Excellent service and menu items. Plus the entertainment is marvelous.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The activities are great for those who would like to participate. We enjoyed this cruise with many first timers and spent most of the time enjoying the day on the ship chatting with friends and walking around as much as possible.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
All the entertainment was excellent. From the shows in the Spectacular Lounge, the Comedy, DJ's and Bands, there was no shortage of fun things to do on each day or night. You cant go wrong on a Carnival Cruise for entertainment. There is something for everyone.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
Although this was the first time we cruised without our kids, we still took some time to join friends who did have kids and speak to staff members of the kids club in Camp Ocean. Staff was excellent and provided the best service for our friends children.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service was excellent both in our room and in the MDR. Could't say enough for the dining staff, but it would've been nice to see our cabin steward more often? Maybe we just were not around when he was, but none the less our room was always in great shape.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
For the most part all the common areas were clean and well maintained. We were always running into staff maintaining the cleansiness of the ship. The layout was good and was simple to get around from place to place. It's one of the easier to get around ships that we've been on.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our inside cabin was perfect for two people. Spacious enough with lots of closet space, plus had a fridge to keep our drinks cool. I will say that the TV was a bit small, but for the most part it was comfy and cozy.
Ship tip
The ideal place to stay for me, would be on deck 7. nothing but rooms above and below. Also if your doing your time dining and have a large group, you might find yourself waiting a long time to be seated together. Lastly, the laundry rooms are small and very few, in case you need to press clothes or wash.
One of my favorite ports to visit on a cruise ship. Has so much to offer and this time around we were in port for two days. Day one consisted of doing some tequila sampling and canopy zip lining with friends (private tour) then visiting the Malecon (Boardwalk) afterwards to have dinner and stroll around. Had an excellent day with our driver and spent about 10 hours from pick up to drop off. Day two we ventured out on our own and visited the old town district for some shopping and lunch. Had a great time but had to cut it short as we needed to be back early for departure.
We planned on doing some shopping and walking around, but ran into some friends and did a water taxi excursion around the tip of Baja for a real good deal. Although it was a spectacular day, most of our time was consumed at one of the beach clubs where the food and drinks were fabulous. Definitely going back to do a three or four day stay to take in all the other things that it has to offer.
To start, the ship was a little late coming into port. Had some windy conditions the night before that caused a slight delay. In a way it was kinda of good. It gave us time to enjoy breakfast in the MDR and pack our last few items. Overall it wasn't to bad. We did self assist and were off the ship and on our way home around 10:30 AM. I did notice if we used the glass elevators it was going to take longer, so we sneaked into the Black Pearl restaurant from the backside and made our way off in no time.
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