I loved the new venues for dining and the fact that the casino was divided into smoking and non-smoking and the non-smoking areas did not smell at all like smoke. It never felt too crowded except on rare occasions. I wish some of the food options, particularly street eats out by the pool, would be offered on other ships. It did not take up much room and seemed to be very popular. I know it was with us! I will definitely go back to catch all the venues we didn’t get a chance to get around to this time.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
We had the earliest embarkation time and the port was already crowded when we got there. Checking in was easy but the waiting area to get on the ship was like a cattle stockyard.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We tried to eat at places that were not available on other ships. We ate at the steakhouse, Rudy’s Grill, Teppanyaki, Chi-bang, Shaqs big chicken, Street eats, pig and anchor barbecue and the main dining room once. We only ate on Lido for breakfast a couple of times and once for dinner and once for lunch. We really enjoyed everything with Chi-bang being my favorite and Rudy’s being my daughters.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We thoroughly enjoyed the back Lido pool and the pool on deck eight. The only other activity we really did was the sushi making class which was very good. We also did the brewery tour and I highly recommend it! We attended a few sessions of trivia which were fun.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
My only complaint about the ship’s centerstage shows was that it was next to impossible to get a seat unless you planned on camping out a couple of hours before hand. We got there 45 minutes early for the Voodoo Moon show and the only seats we could get were by pulling some stools over and sitting along the rail on the third deck up. Even with that, we could only see half the stage. The show was fantastic and I highly recommend it. Another time we went to the love and marriage show and ended up on the second deck out of sight of the stage watching it on the television they had there. Sight lines were pretty crappy in all the seats we got.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I did not really notice any personnel shortages other than our room steward seem to be working alone and they usually have a couple of helpers. Service in some restaurants was a little slow but not horrible. Everyone seem to be really nice.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
I love the layout with the exception of the venues not being large enough for the shows. Only when shows got out did there become mobs around the elevators and in the hallways in that area, but that’s to be expected.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cabin was larger than I expected. We had the two beds apart and gave us plenty of legroom. In photographs it look like he would not be able to sit on the bed without banging knees with a person on the other bed. Bathroom was tight but the shower seem to be larger to me than any cabin I’ve had on carnival other than a suite. Plenty of shelf space in the closets for stacking clothing and hanging space was good. Room steward kept our room very neat and clean.
Ship tip
Relax and enjoy! Take advantage of all of the different food opportunities that you won’t get on any of the other current ships.
We did not get off the ship in Nassau as we had just been there two months earlier. We took advantage to a lot of people being off the ship to enjoy the pools and hot tubs.
The pool area in port was crowded. It was much nicer when there was just one ship in instead of two. We spent an hour or so there and then walked around the shops and got back on the ship.
Debarking went smoothly, although it was mobbed. Very few porters available to take your luggage out to the parking garage so we had to haul all our luggage ourselves. My daughter took the stairs up in the parking garage to get the car while I waited with all the luggage in the pick up/drop off area as the line for the elevator was very long.
I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed review. We have not been on any of the “Mega” ships yet and reviews like yours help a lot. We were on the Carnival Magic 5/1/22 and enjoyed the shows but didn’t have the Mega ship crowds. I guess there are + & - with everything. Thank you for the details.
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