We are married couple, without children. We have cruised various cruises lines over the last 10 years. We choose our cruises primarily based on the itinerary. We had read the cautionary tales of Carnival and the Glory before booking. But we wanted to escape the heat of the south and wanted to visit the Candian Maritimes.

Embarkation: we were surprised by the lack of attentiveness from the porters-none of whom wanted to take our bags-to the womam who checked us in who couldn't even talk to us. That is not Carnival's fault; but will make us think twice about leaving from Boston. The cabby from the airport even gave us a little attitude when I told him where we needed to go. We didn't let this bother us. We were on the ship and in our room within 15 minutes of arriving at the pier.

Dining: 8:15 assigned seating which is what we had wanted. We had fabulous table mates; Thank goodness. If we hadn't, it would have felt like an eternity before we got our food. The head team waiter was great-his staff was terrible. This was the first time that all of our appetizers or entrees were delivered at the same time. The table was very crowded. Water was not always filled. The assistant waiter didn't always understand what was ordered and brought the wrong food. Carnival used to excel at their dining service. Read more