The spa was over priced for my taste. It was a lovely experience but not for the price. I felt in a constant state of being overwhelmed bc everything was so loud and flashy. My oldest pointed out for a company who has sensory awareness certifications that they had NOWHERE to go for people in sensory overload except your own cabin but if the speakers work in the room even then you don’t truly get a quiet space. Yes the headphones are nice but the library was even loud.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Good. My husband asked where the cattle prods were with how they herded us through the way they did.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Main dining room was SLOW and frequently messed up orders. We laminated with the table next to us who had a gluten allergy as well. Night one we were both served baked chicken with no seasoning, steamed broccoli and cauliflower with no seasoning and potato wedges baked in the oven with no seasoning. They didn’t even put salt on the food. The table beside us got croutons on their salad so her food was contaminated. Our meal took over 2 hours (which is hard to deal with when you have little kids at the table) and we were typically the last table to leave. My husband usually got two appetizers and two entrees bc one of them wouldn’t be worth eating. Half of the time they got entrees mixed up with appetizers or he got something he didn’t order. One night they fixed a mistake and actually brought him the correct appetizer while he was eating his dessert. The last night we fed the kids early then sent them to camp. We did a steak menu order and I ordered sushi. I kid you not he got his appetizers and his main course then about ten minutes later they brought out my main course and after I was finished with my main course they brought out the sushi. After 3 bites of sushi our desserts came. It was half melted before we finished our sushi. There was no cohesiveness about it.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The activities that were family friendly (pg comedy, karaoke, kids movies, games and such were all around the 5-8 time frame. (You know when most families feed their children.) so if we wanted to participate in those we had to eat off the buffet. If parents wanted to do 18+ entertainment…we would have to pay for extra time in the kids camps.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We quite enjoyed most of the shows we went to. The timing just sucked on a lot of them.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
The kids camps were awesome!!!!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
We had amazing service from 99% of the staff. They tried their best to help us have a wonderful time. We only had one staff member who was not a joy to work with. For lunch and breakfast we frequently ate at the Buffet but due to allergies we worked with a staff member. The main one we worked with was amazing. One kiddo got a gluten free burger, one got gluten free pizza and I would pick from the buffet or get a gf burger. Waiting in lines then waiting for special allergy orders could take 30-60 min for each station. She would hop behind and order the meals so we only had to wait 20-30 min and could eat as a family. The other employee who took over the last time we ate at the buffet told us to get our own food and that she only took special requests we could get ourselves. That mealtime was miserable. So my husband got his food and helped the 13 yo get her allergy food while I got the 6 yo’s allergy food and set her down to eat with dad and sister once they arrived. After everyone else was done eating for a bit…I arrived with my food while they watched me eat. However she’s a one off employee.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
It was very clean and for the most part well maintained. Staff worked hard to make sure everything was taken care of.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The comfort and size was pretty good. I was impressed with how much space we actually had. However…the speaker in our room was broken so when the captain came on to tell us port had been canceled due to weather…we didn’t get the message. In fact we got zero messages in our room. Also the deadbolt didn’t work which made for a few awkward moments. The room Stewart got an eye full once and such. We started leaving the bathroom door fully open so if someone did open the door with a keycard they would be blocked from accidental viewing.
It felt extremely chaotic. I don’t know if some of the software recognition went down but they refused to let people in lines to be scanned off the ship for awhile with no explanation. Then you were funneled into two different lines (one for passports and one for birth certificates) but neither line was checked and then shortly after…they merged right back together into one line.
So glad you enjoyed some of your cruise. It's too bad about the food allergies, it must be alot to deal with constantly, I was lucky with four kids and no allergies. Good luck with any future travels.
Carnival has a podium in every buffet area for special food requests and once on board go speak to the MDR about special food requests. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately, with a food allergy involved, eating in a restaurant on land is hard enough. To try to do 12+ meals on a 5 day cruise with young children, both with allergies, is pushing it as far as expectations. Were special needs requests made in advance?
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