Embarkation: was a breeze. My boyfriend and I met a friend for champagne brunch at 11 a.m. next door at the Queen Mary ($50 a person but the food was good and they were quick to refill the champagne.) We finished brunch and boarded at 1:30 p.m. and literally walked right through, no waiting. This was a birthday cruise for both me and my sweetie; the steward delivered a cake sent by a friend before I could even close the cabin door! I personally ordered several things through Bon Voyage and everything was accurate and showed up on time.

Interior Spa Room: I would say YES to the spa cabins but NO to cabin 1051. It is the last of the interior rooms and closer to the middle of the ship so I chose thinking I'd feel less of the ship movement. However; this room is right next to the stewards galley for the deck and every morning at 6 a.m. I awoke to the banging of various carts being pulled out. The picture of the cabin on the Carnival website is it, I was wondering what the rest of the room looked like but the answer is there is no more, lol (besides a bathroom and closets.) There was TONS of closet space, and with our luggage stored under the bed we had plenty of storage room.

Spa: We spent at least 30 if not 120 minutes using the spa daily. The steam/sauna rooms and the Thalossotherapy pool that come with the spa rooms are all wonderful. Bring your own spa shoes/flip flops though because there was none in the room (despite advertisements to the contrary). Also, the spa rooms were supposed to come with a yoga OR pilates class and we found out at embarkation this had changed to just a yoga class. We took advantage of the spa cabins getting first dibs at spa appointments and booked a 2 for 1 Rasul at embarkation ($95 for two). The Rasul was fantastic and I would highly recommend. It was a fun couples thing and my skin felt softer for days after. The hour flew by though so if you can afford to book 2 hours do it! We didn't do any other spa treatments. Read more