Overall, this was something I promised my wife I would do, but probably not again; unless I get out voted by my family. I may have enjoyed it more if my 3 late twenties daughters were with us and my son. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy myself and we got a lot of bang for our buck, but its just too crowded with an easily amused "Game Show" type crowd. I understand many people just throw themselves into the "Fun" regardless, but I guess I'm just not built that way. I think if I go on a cruise again, it may be one of the European River type cruises with a smaller ship and where I can get into the culture of the places I visit. Not feel like I'm in a tourist trap cow herd. Maybe even an Alaskan cruise on a small ship. I hope my review did not offend anyone, as it wasn't meant to be derogatory in any way. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
If one of you drinks, and the other does not(My wife doesn't), I would definitely suggest buying some rum runners on Amazon before you go, rather than pay $750+ for the alcohol package. I set up my own bar in my room. I brought some high end Bourbon, Scotch, and Rum. Perfect and way better than what is offered on the ship. Just buy a couple drinks every few days. Get the carnival thermal cup and tell your room guy to keep the ice flowing. Don't forget to tip him nicely when you leave.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
I can only compare to my 1st cruise on Norwegian(@ years ago just before Covid started), but OMG, what a difference! I was expecting a 90 minute line, and brisked right through. we had an 1130 appt. Or cab dropped us off, left our bags right there, we walked up a ramp, waited on a 5 min line, had our vaccination records checked(make sure you do all that ahead time), waited on another 5 min line, took our ship card pics, walked up anther long ramp, and entered ship. It was such a difference over Norwegian, we thought we missed something. Literally 20 minutes from cab to ship's bar having our first drink. Crazy efficient; especially considering covid proof of vaccination time lag.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food was way above expectations; especially since we heard it would be lower than Norwegian's standards. Some say that's because they(Carnival) save the best chefs for their biggest ships, but I can only compare to Norwegian, and I would have to say overall, it was slightly better. I am a bit of a food snob, especially with seafood, and not even on the buffet was the fish ever overcooked. Remarkable. The reason they don't get 5 stars is the length of time it takes to get your food once seated. In any of their restaurants Palms, Chi Bang, Italian(Forgot name), it seems Carnival was far more concerned with getting you seated, than getting you served. I'm pretty sure this is their business model, as I observe this over and over again, at every sit down restaurant. We waited well over an hour at the Palms, and Italian restaurant, and 90 min after order at Chi Bang after being seated and before we got our food. They have people running everywhere, and someone quarterbacking the table clearing with no less than 4 others clearing and resetting a table as soon as the prior diners left; but not much on the food service end. We heard horror stories from others while there. One from a family with a 7 year old autistic child, who waited 3 hours after being seated. needless to say, the child had reached "Critical Mass" at that point. Unbelievable. Carnival needs to fix this quick. The food they brought out(Once you got it) was excellent, above expectations, and inexplicably not dried out.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
This is where my "Non-Cruiser" status may bias this review. I promised my wife one cruise before I died, and she got sick(cold) on the Norwegian; so this was a rain check to that promise. She loves Bingo, so we did that, Family Feud, so we did that, Deal or No Deal, so we did that, and the Love and Marriage, so we did that. All I am going to say is this was a game show type crowd, easily amused and entertained. The pools I thought were far too inadequate for the amount of people on the ship. They were always crowded as were all the good seats around them. I found the best time to go was in the mid to late afternoon. I did not use the other activities on the ship and must've been just a pound or 2 too heavy for the Roller coaster. They mentioned there was a sports bar, but there is not. There is a restaurant at the end of the ship(Pig something?) that will only play what ever is on ESPN or ESPN 2. Forget about any other station. The crew there even said there is no sports bar. I thought I would be able to watch the NHL Playoffs and could not, as my team was on TNT. The top WiFi package was useless as I explain at the end.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Stage shows were impressive if you're into that sort of thing. As I mentioned, I'm not easily entertained as most of the people on this ship. The Comedians were pretty good, especially Billy Dee. Go to the later shows that are not PG. If the above referenced game shows are considered stage shows, you have my review up there. The main stage band was really good, and I enjoyed the head DJ Cue, as he played our wedding song from 1988 on the Lido deck to celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary. Thanx again Cue!!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our Room Service guy Ramone, was excellent and exceeded my expectations. The restaurant service was reviewed above. Everyone else was helpful and better than expected; all the way down to the casino crew; who were helpful in my brief refresher course on playing the Don't Pass line in Craps(Yes I was that guy!)
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Ships layout was fine(Except for the size of the pools), and was always clean. never a problem there. a little confusing at first, but there are plenty of maps throughout the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
This state room cabin was noticeably much smaller than Norwegian same type cabin; by at least 25% if not more. The bathroom, toilet, and shower were cramped for a guy my size(6' 300lbs, semi-muscular build). I am certainly not the largest on the ship, and I cannot imagine how they could fit. The balcony on this cabin is larger than the others of comparable price, because it is on the angle. So you can actually set one seat looking forward as I did a few times. However, the main reason this did not get more stars, and I contemplated giving only 2, was the amount of outlets. There are only two outlets for the entire cabin; including the bathroom! They do have some usb hubs, but the one by my bed did not work for my Samsung S10 and one other phone. There are NO outlets near the bed, so they had to give me this 50' yellow thick extension cord to run from the desk area to my side of the bed for my CPAP. My VA issued sound machine had to use the only other outlet, far away from my bed, so no charging of anything over night, unless you can use the USB. They do not allow, and will confiscate, any power strips. So all I can suggest is try to smuggle in a couple of triple plug adapters. I do not know what the engineers were thinking in this design, but two outlets is a huge oversight; and thinking USB will charge everything else is just negligent. It was a constant battle of trying to figure out what to charge when. My wife had to use one of the two outlets to blow dry her hair, because there were none in the bathroom. We also had to charge our tooth brushes, lap tops, tablets, and any phones the USB could not charge.
Ship tip
WiFi Sucks! Even the top package! We have a child with Down Syndrome we left with one of his sisters and opted for the full WiFi package at $30(Had to sign both of us at $15/day). There was no way I could talk Momma out of this. I also am an avid Avalanche fan(NHL) and wanted to watch them in the playoffs. We could barely Facetime with my wife's i12, plenty of freezing and lost video, and forget about streaming anything. it was an absolute joke. I know other reviews said it was upgraded on this ship, but they probably were not on a FULL Mardi Gras ship. It was so bad, even my Denver Post took 5 minutes to load every morning. You can only use one device/person at a time. to make matters even worse, someone with just their "Social Package" was able to stream the hockey game live. WTF?! We will be asking for our money back on this wasted expensive POS service.
Heavily suggest staying overnight the night before you leave. We stayed at a retro type hotel/motel 10-15 min from the port. it even had a lazy river and 300' from Cocoa Beach(Forgot name). included breakfast and made the transition easy.
@CAcruisers: I literally saw the couple in front of me have their power strip confiscated. Another couple told us theirs was taken out of their suitcase. I don't know how you did it, but it may have been luck, since these would seemingly be far easier to spot with an Xray. This is why I suggested a smaller, less obvious, tri-plug.
@Harmany999- I think you're logic may be a bit confused. To charge me $750 to drink for 7 days is ridiculous. The reason they charge that is not because of Rum runners, the reason for Rum runners is because they charge that.
Sounds great! Perhaps with a little research you would have known about most of the things you complained about. I know all about everything you complained about the cabin before I am even on board. Have a better time down the road.
What a truly comprehensive review. Thank you. In my opinion you have just summed up cruising on a large party ship.
Before you pack in cruising completely, I highly recommend you do go on a European river cruise as you kind of implied. IMO wonderful. Close to the centre of towns & cities. Bit of history and culture. Most have included excursions. Sorry, but you won't get US sport on TV.
Think about it for a future anniversary. (PS we hit 50 this year; ouch!)
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