I had a great time on my first cruise and definitely learned a lot. I can't wait for the next one.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
It's a madhouse and if I didn't have experienced travelers with me, I would have been lost. The porters were awesome and helpful.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Being my first cruise, I heard wonderful stories about how the food was excellent and I would gain about 20 pounds. However, I was disappointed with most of the food on the menus. In our main dining room, Horizons Restaurant, some of the meals were served somewhat warm, not hot. It really felt more like the staff were just microwaving the meals and hoping they'd stay warm enough when they got to the table. Not as tasty as I expected either. Drink service was slow. During one meal, my friend ordered a coke and the wait staff (2 of them) approached the table at least 5 times before they brought the coke. Guy's Burger Joint was the only standout in the restaurants. My son, the sushi snob, even tried Bonsai Sushi and was disappointed.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Bingo and the trivia games were fun. The Imax theater was great and we had the place almost to ourselves. The comedians were just okay and I wish they'd have left it up to me to decide whether or not my 17 year old could watch. My 15 year old son enjoyed the arcarde and he kept himself busy the entire time (we barely saw him!)
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We saw one stage show and enjoyed it. It was the 70s musical, Playlist, I think.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Our steward, Wayan, was amazing. He kept our room clean and was extremely polite and helpful. The entertainment staff was also pretty good: Amber, Boy Wonder, Retro Ritchy, Joey, Matt, etc etc. Entertaining while playing the games and whatnot. The waitstaff was just okay.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
For the most part, the ship was clean. We saw several staff members throughout the cruise cleaning. It's hard to do with that many kids on board though. It was Spring Break and the kids definitely took their breaks from manners too.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
I splurged for the balcony suite and was not disappointed. There was plenty of room for the three of us and we were comfortable. The balcony was amazing.
We did a catamaran sailing and snorkeling excursion. The rum punch was flowing freely and the sailing was fun, despite the engines being on the entire time ("sailing" was really "boating"). This was my first time snorkeling, so it took me a little while to get used to it. I didn't really see much, so it was a little disappointing, but not the excursion's fault. We stopped at Margaritaville, but we didn't have enough time to get lunch. Skip the hairbraiding, pretty sure I paid way too much for that.
This was by far my favorite part of the cruise. We did the Stingray City, Starfish Beach, and Snorkeling on the reef excursion. This was so much fun. The crew of the Captain Bob were fantastic and made sure that each guest had fun.
We did the Salsa, Salsa, and More Salsa excursion. We had a blast learning how to make salsa and guacamole as well as the salsa dance. The tequilla shots were flowing freely, but Lalo and Omar made sure to include the kids with non-alcoholic "shots" too. We were all pleasantly surprised by how much fun we had.
They gave us priority disembarkation and bags were picked up outside our room the night before. This made things quite easy and also included my friends with our priority. It was a little frustrating that they give you a time to be somewhere, but then it's hurry up and wait. Overall, it was easy and my experienced friends said it was the easiest they've ever gotten off a ship before.
Glad overall it was good. I really like cruising and I have no issues with Carnival, but I do agree the food is just mediocre. I never go hungry though! We cruise on the Vista in July and I can’t wait! By the way, I think your 17 year old is allowed to go in the rated R show, I think they just recommend it for 18 and up as a guideline.
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