I was thoroughly impressed with our first cruise. The ship was beautiful, the staff were immensely professional, and the ports of call were beautiful. As far as I'm concerned, cruising will be my only mode of vacation from now on.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Virtually painless
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Your Time Dining was very convenient, especially being able to check in using the HubApp. There was always something to eat on the ship, and the variety during "normal" hours was great.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We spent a lot of time in the Serenity whirlpools and Havana pool, they were all fantastic. The ropes course was a lot of fun, especially while the ship was at top speed in open water.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
There was no shortage of live music throughout the ship, and all performers were very talented. The comedy shows were great, my favorite event on the ship.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our MDR waitstaff (Rex, Margaret, Rinaldi) was top-notch, as were our cabin steward, I Made.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
I never fully got used to the layout of the ship, but I blame that on my own lack of navigational skills. There did seem to be some plumbing issues throughout the week near the aft. I saw a lot of maintenance being done, and there was a definite sewage smell from time to time.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin 7371 was fantastic. We had storage on one side and a suite on the other. I didn't hear any hallway noise or noise from Deck 8 at all other than the last night when luggage was being collected. Best week of sleep I've ever had as an adult. The cabin was had plenty of space for two adults, especially for as little time as we ended up spending in the cabin. Conveniently located in between two elevator banks, and the launderette was only a few doors away. Our cabin was always immaculate thanks to our cabin steward, I Made. 10/10 would book this cabin again.
Ship tip
Take a large insulated drinking cup. We could have saved a considerable amount of money (and calories) by drinking the lemonade, tea, and ice water that are always available.
Galveston has really cleaned up in the past several years since I was there last. I will definitely go a couple days before sailing and explore the city next time.
The port was beautiful, I couldn't have asked for a better "first foreign country" experience. We rented a private cabana on the beach, which was fantastic. Well worth the money to have so many fewer people to share the beach and swim area with, and the shaded hammock and deck chair and air conditioned cabana added to the value even more.
We did the Mini Power Boat Adventure through Carnival, operated by Chukka. The people were great, and the excursion was fun, but the boats were fairly underpowered and not maintained the best. I look forward to visiting Belize again, and I am excited to see how the country continues to grow with the tourism dollars coming in.
Cozumel was our no excursion, just explore day. We spent all day walking through the different terminals, and out into the city. In the future, we will probably rent a Jeep and explore more of the island, as we barely scratched the surface of what Cozumel has to offer.
Disembarkation went as well as could be expected for getting 4000 people out of one door. Carnival certainly knows what they're doing, and it went very smoothly once passengers went with the program and stopped trying to beat the system. We carried our luggage off the ship and then paid a porter, so we were able to bypass the long customs line.
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