Overall, this was a really fun, family cruise over Christmas. There was lots to do, the ship was nice and the food options were great (particularly the burgers!). The staff were all delightful.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was super quick and efficient. We had faster to the fun, so there was very little waiting and we were on the ship within 20 minutes. The drop-off of area was rather chaotic though!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
All the food was great. There were always lots of good options in the main dining room and the lido buffet. And as usual on Carnival, we absolutely loved the Guy's burgers!
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
There was always lots of fun activities going on throughout the cruise. The mini-golf and water-slide was also fun.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We were very impressed with all the stage shows. The DJ was often on the lido deck playing music, which was enjoyable, however at times it was a little too loud.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
All the staff were absolutely delightful! They were always smiling, friendly, polite and happy to help. Particular mention must go to our stateroom steward Frank and waiter Adnyana, who were super friendly and went out of their way to make our cruise extra special! The cruise director Chris was also great.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Overall the ship is very well designed, well maintained and kept clean. However, the buffet could be designed better to reduce the time spent waiting in line. The main buffet is just two long lines meeting in the middle, picking up food along the way, it would be better if the buffet was made of lots more, smaller stations, like they have on the newer ships (eg. Carnival Horizon). I would not be surprised if they changed this when the ship becomes the Radiance in 2020.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
This cabin was a well appointed, comfortable and clean balcony cabin. There was plenty of storage space and it accommodated 3 of us comfortably. The balcony was also big enough and had a great view.
Miami was great. The proximity of the airport to the cruise port is good - it only took us around 20 minutes to get there. The night after the cruise we stayed on South Beach, the beach was nice and there were lots of eating options.
Half moon cay was beautiful! We just spent the day on the beach which was wonderful! The food from the buffet here wasn't quite as good as on the ship, but it was still fine. We also had to spend quite a while waiting in line to get on a tender back to the ship. But other than that, it was a brilliant day!
We had considered going to Atlantis here, but decided that it was too expensive and there wasn't enough time. As such, we didn't spend much time off the ship and just went on a walk to Junkanoo beach. Unfortunately, it was not a particularly pleasant walk and we decided to just return to the ship. As many reviewers say, there were lots of people trying to sell you things, but after a polite but firm 'no thank you' they would stop.
We were not in a hurry to get off the ship, so we stayed on-board until about 10am and avoided the rush to disembark. When we did leave we got off the ship quickly and got our bags in the terminal without any trouble. We had to wait quite a while for immigration, but this isn't Carnival's fault.
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