Any vacation is as fun as you make it. Rooms and many venues are too small and we felt done this way to help them make more money. Many pluses to the mega ship layout including great food options. Roller coaster and ropes course definitely entertained the kids along with golf and slides. Personally, we will continue with carnival on the smaller, older style boats. Hopefully they will continue to get updates for those of us that prefer that style.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
As platinum guests we were created to a platinum area and allowed to board following suites and diamond guests. 10:00 checkin time and on the boat by 11:15. Parking garage was crazy busy by 9:30 am.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Quality and options were very good but with 6000+ guests we waiting a minimum of 1.5 hours for any venue. Shaq’s chicken and Street Eats are a nice edition. I appreciate the smaller portion options to decrease food waste. I also appreciate the attempt to offer multiple restaurants to choose from each night.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Greatly enjoyed Bolt but it is $15 per person per ride. I think they would make more money if it were a little cheaper because we would have done it more than twice. My daughter enjoyed the ropes course. Fitness center was sufficient.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
We loved the Sunny Girls Trio (violinists) and Celestial Strings which featured the violinists. The other shows were not enjoyable. Comedy was good on this boat and done in multiple venues. We had Jeff Shaw, Spike Lee, and Manny Acosta. I personally think the music is too loud in the bar areas. The size of all venues on this boat is very small compared to the number of guests. Therefore, you were always very close to entertainers making it difficult to even yell to converse.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
As always the staff work very hard to take care of the guests. Room stewards are cleaning too many rooms but still always greet you with a smile. Photographers were very talented and much more helpful than in the past. They seem to really enjoyed their jobs. The direct assistants to the cruise director were very good and personable. We found them more entertaining than Kyndall Fire.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
Cleanliness is top notch. Absolutely no complaints there. Overall the ship, including the rooms and public areas, are too small. My husband and I are not big people but we had a difficult time walking past each other in the room. The bathroom has only room for one person, period. We had an extended balcony room. I can’t imagine how small interior rooms were made. I wish they would have not made the rooms smaller to accommodate more people on the boat. The rest of the ship has size issues as well. Often our photos seemed cramped because the photographers were forced into a corner. Comedy show lounge was even smaller than other ships.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Very small. Appreciated the glass shower door but overall just so tiny. This cabin had a sound that occurred every 5-10 minutes. It sounded like a toilet flushing so we think it must have been plumbing in the walls. We were able to ignore it. Extended balcony was nice but it needs a lounger.
Ship tip
Make sure you eat a breakfast sandwich by Java Blue. They are included and easily missed. Also, check your hair straightener/curler. If it is more than 50 Watts it will not work.
Appreciate your feedback. It’s disappointing to me, that the cabins are smaller. At one time a bigger cabin was what Carnival used as an advertisement. Glad you still enjoyed your in spite of the hiccups.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
