We booked this as a last-minute get-away-from-everything vacation. It turned out better than I hoped for. Very enjoyable. Very relaxing. Of course, when we cruised into the Mississippi River around 5:30am, our cellphones went wild. I had 163 new emails and dozens of texts. Getting away from work is possible. I would certainly do this again - from New Orleans, and on Carnival Cruise Line.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Very quick, very easy. They don't call it the "Big Easy" for nothing, but I never knew it related to cruises until this trip. I have cruised from other cities, and this was by far the quickest and easiest.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Buffet was pretty nice, and the dining room was better (in my opinion). I was surprised to learn that the menu did not offer the surf and turf - even on the dress up night - without paying extra.
Guy's hamburgers are really pretty good, and the Blue Iguana Cantina was fresh and quite good.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We did exactly what we wanted - hot tub, walking (there is a fitness track), shows, behind the scene tour, and reading. We both unwind this way, and we were able to do exactly what we wanted.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The final night was their tribute to New Orleans, and the band performed and singers sang quite a few Motown songs, which was by far their best performance of the cruise.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was very friendly, very helpful, always smiling, etc.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The pools and most of the hot tubs are directly in the sun at (nearly) all times. We found the one, tucked away under the water slides, that did provide shade. But, everything was centrally located and getting lost was nearly impossible.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Size was very nice, and even the size of the shower was unexpectedly nice. But, this is not a new ship - IIRC it is about 19 years old and up for renovation soon. The panels inside the stateroom were scuffed and a little dingy, and the countertop in the bathroom had some surface cracks. No amount of cleaning would fix these, and the staff did, indeed, keep everything very clean. I had one problem - the safe did not work (batteries had died), but the cabin steward had that fixed within a few minutes. Everyone made a point to speak to us each and every time they saw us. But, overall, it is not a new ship. We did allow Carnival to pick our room for us, and we ended up under the main galley. Around 3:30 every morning we were reminded of that, but it really did not bother us very much and we did get back to sleep quickly.
Ship tip
I have already recommended to a few folks that they seriously need to consider a cruise. But, I would recommend the Behind the Fun tour. For technical folks, the Q&A inside the engine control room was very interesting, meeting with the captain on the bridge was pretty good, and the tour guide (Claire) was great. Very quick thinking, very pleasant. Seeing the stage, the galley, the recycling procedures, etc., was impressive.
This was our third time to Cozumel, so we walked a good bit, did a little shopping, ate lunch, etc. However, I would definitely recommend snorkeling, as this is some of the clearest water I have ever seen. I have snorkeled at Cozumel each of my other cruises.
We took an open-air bus tour of the city, which was interesting. The guide was knowledgeable and friendly and spoke English very well. After that we walked (two blocks) to the public beach and shopped in the local shops, not in the shops located on the pier.
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