We enjoyed our time, however the ship was just too crowded. Carnival is definately better suited for families with small children. We spent a lot of time in our cabin and chose not to attend the nightly dinners.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
A majority of the kids, some as young as 5 occupied the very small pool and hot tubs for most of the time. It seems as if the crew have become babysitters. Parents would leave their kids at these locations and wouldn't return for hours. They would constantly jump in the already crowded hot tubs and eat ice cream and cheeseburgers in the pool. On our 8 day cruise, we swam once and got in the hot tub once. Our daughter was not allowed in the serenity area so I can't rate that location. The arcade at times was completely unsupervised. Kids were actually climbing on top of the machines and knocking off beverages that people had left sitting. We saw underage drinking and shop lifting in the shops on board. The shoplifters were caught and the crew took the alcohol and sent them on their way.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The shows were great, however with 3800 passengers aboard, seating was limited. It wasn't always clear where to form the line to wait for the shows. Not knowing, we were in line in the back of one of the venues with several others. We waited 30 minutes, just to have staff tell us we waited in the wrong spot and needed to move to the front. Needless to say, the line was very long and we did not get seating. Our daughter attended circle c and was excited that they would be attending the rock show. Once they arrived, there was no seating left for them.
Children's Programs
3 out of 5
Our 14 year old daughter was able to check in and out on her own We set limits and times to meet up, as the ship is large and it can get tricky checking in with each other. There wasn't a lot of teen activites . It was more of just a spot to meet up and then go hang out outside of the club. Hannah, the circle c director, seemed less than thrilled with her job.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I wish the crew would enforce the rules. No swimsuits are allowed in the lido buffet but I was constantly standing in line with adults in bikinis who were dripping wet. No photos are allowed of the photography carnival takes, but families would just stand with their phones and do it anyway, the staff would say nothing. You are not supposed to hold chairs with towels but they would be there early morning. The staff did nothing.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
Our king stateroom was very small and the mattress hurt our backs. On previous cruises we had the pull out bed on the ceiling for our daughter. This time , there was pretty much a twin sized mattress on the floor. On the plus side, our daughter cleaned the trash that was left under our bed by previous guests. Yuck. Word of advice, the bottles of water in the room are not free. We had limited counter space so we stuck them in the closet. Our housekeeper replaced them and we were charged $9. We didnt get a new towel animal each day and I'm guessing the turn down service at night (mints on the pillow) is no longer offered.
Ship tip
Arrive early to shows and be sure you are waiting at the right entrance.
This was a terrible experience. There were homeless dogs that were starving right on the beach. I spent my money buying pizza to feed them and bottles of water for the horses that seemed exhausted. Several people, including myself were very saddened by this. I didnt expect to cry on vacation. It seems carnival would step up and help out in the situation. I contacted the SPCA in Grand Turk and I'm hoping they will help .
This ship is a smaller ship with added rooms when it was upgraded. We did not like it for this very reason. Too many people for the size ship. Choose a larger ship next time. Yes, crowds but more space to spread out. We also travel on off peak seasons. Less kids. There are enough for them to have fun but not overcrowded. Keep cruising - best bang for your buck 😃
No, not this crowded. This was our third cruise with carnival and we had never encountered this before, maybe because our previous sailings were in fall months. But you are right, cruising is no longer for us.
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