Overall a needed, great cruise. Carnival should plan a little better for the unexpected crowds that can pop up anywhere on the ship it seems. I really appreciate their acknowledgement of our military and veterans. We will cruise again one day.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Slow, crowded, not much communication by employees.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
MDR was average. Our last few cruises were over 10 years ago and we were accustomed to the round, 10 person tables. This MDR is set up like a cafe. Square tables that are put together to accommodate a larger group. The food was only ok just because I can't pick out any one thing that was great. Except the molten cake dessert. Specialty dining we made it to were Bonsai Sushi, Ji Ji Asian cuisine, 555 steak house. All were excellent for the extra cost. I personally enjoyed the buffet, minus the long lines at time so plan around peak eating times. The burrito bar and Guys burger joint were great. Guys bbq was good, but we only had it the first day and needed to try it again.
Alchemy Bar
5 out of 5
Try all the martinis
Redfrog Pub and Brewery
5 out of 5
Ronald is the best brewmaster!
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Havana bar area. Worth the cost. Private, quiet and one of, if the only place not crowded all the time.
Skytrack
5 out of 5
If you walk, run, or just like the out doors, I found this not crowded and refreshing.
Havana Pool
5 out of 5
Best part, and saving grace of our trip.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
IMAX theater is wonderful. Matt Mitchum does a fantastic job as Cruise Director. Their tribute to the military and veterans was an awesome and unexpected surprise and much appreciated. Matt seemed very sincere in its presentation.
IMAX Theater
5 out of 5
The only form of entertainment we participated in. Saw Star Wars. Cool first time IMAX experience.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Only have one less than stellar experience with a lady at the Red Frog pub on a few separate occasions. We just made it a point to avoid her and all was well! Our room steward was great, friendly fella. Also we requested the same server, Elaina at the MDR. She was wonderful.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Always clean, but not the fanciest of ships. Some of the decks we perused had extremely long hallways unlike the deck we were on.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Bed and pillows were comfortable. Inside rooms were small, very small but that's all that was available with Havana privilege on our last minute booking.
Ship tip
We didn't see the advantage or justification of the "faster to the fun" that the couple we traveled with had. Since we booked last minute it wasn't an option, but they seemed to still wait in link on embarkation, made it on the ship about 30 minutes before us and did NOT receiver their luggage any faster than we did. Carnival's solution was a bottle of wine, so they ended up with a $72 bottle of wine, which I don't think was worth it. Also on disembarkation we took our luggage with us which was easy. Our friends checked them the night before then had to wait at the dock to go pick them up.
We were only interested in Grand Cayman. Brewery tour at CIB. Highly suggested if you like craft beer. It was only average on the beer scale but the people and brewery are cool and we walked away with some cool swag.
We went to Margaritaville. Had a crappy drink and were swindled into buying a photo of our foursome and a pirated cd of Bob Marley for $20. Also the pandora in the shopping district was more expensive that it was on the ship. Experience, meh.
Only one gangway was operating. The whole process was two to three hours behind. The port building seems to small to accommodate ships of this size. This was also relevant on embarkation.
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