We always have a good time on Carnival.

As always, the best part of the cruise is meeting wonderfully dedicated crew members who work hard to make us happy and seem to enjoy doing it.  Let's start with our stateroom attendant Supinya and her partner Putra.  Our room was always clean and ready for our use, and they never intruded on our privacy.  Whenever we saw them in the hallway, they always greeted us by name and showed us the best way to get where we were going.

At dinner we were served and entertained by Alimuddin, I Made, and Bogryan (from Ohio, or so he always said with a wink.)

One of the most heartwarming encounters was with Alit in the Mediterranean Dining Room on the Lido deck.  It was soon after we boarded the ship, and we still had our carry-ons with us.  The restaurant was crowded, and finding a table where we could maneuver and park our bags was problematic.  Soon after we were seated, even before we went to obtain our food, Alit showed up and offered us beverages.  It was such a relief not to have to find and navigate the beverage station.  Throughout the meal she was attentive without "hovering".  Later on she introduced us to Andrew, who was also friendly, witty, and helpful.

I must also give high marks to Viktoriyah and Luanna, who delivered our room service orders.  Also, Mrythe in the spa use a bamboo "rolling pin" to give me one of the most effective deep tissue massages I've ever had.

     I know it's fashionable to complain about the food, but there's not much bad to say about it.  A couple of mornings the scrambled eggs were not to my wife's liking, but maybe she's just spoiled by the way I make them.  But then at the brunch in the Atlantic dining room on Wednesday morning, I had the best eggs Benedict I've ever had on a cruise.

At dinner there may have been the occasional disappointment, but more often things were better than expected, and there was one dinner that blew us away!  We ordered the lobster tail from the specialty menu.  We expected a substantial serving of one tail that would be reasonably good.  What was served to each of us was a plate of not one but three good-sized lobster tails that were fresh, perfectly prepared, and the best lobster we have ever eaten on any of our previous 20+ cruises!  And they were even served with real melted butter.  It was spectacular!

      As I said, we have been on 20+ cruises, and on several we have gotten room service.  The room service on this cruise was prompt and accurate, and the food was served hot.  My wife enjoyed the best Teriyaki wings she's ever had, and my pizza was the best I've ever had on a cruise, comparing favorably to some I've enjoyed frequently at home.  It was way beyond my expectation.

       When we boarded, we were wishing that there had been a steak house restaurant, or some other up-scale specialty restaurant, but the orders we had from the specialty menu more than compensated for this perceived shortcoming.

       You may have read previous reviews with complaints about the cleanliness of the ship.  We found no problems.  The ship was kept very clean.  The one exception was the windows, with constant sea spray streaks.  But we're on the ocean, for heaven's sake!  How can you keep windows streak-free in the middle of the ocean???

        Bottom line, there will always be people who seem determined to have a horrible experience no matter what they do, and then look for someone to blame for it.  We aren't those people, and we think they would really have to work at it to make themselves miserable on this cruise.