Maybe I'm too plain for cruising, but a buffet that never once served roast beef, turkey or ham, is a bit too pretentious for me. Carved leg of lamb every day? No thanks. Carnival Splendor managed to turn every buffet meal into a "Find something safely edible" adventure. Pancakes that are already on the buffet 15 minutes before it opens in the morning? Not a good sign.

This seemed to encompass our entire cruise. Strange foods and a overly-dingy atmosphere. The whole interior of the ship is decorated in Pepto-Bismo Pink.

The kids programs were a major disappointment. Sometimes they didn't open until late in the evening, sometimes they were locked up when they were supposed to be open, etc. It was so bad that kids were running up and down the hallways, knocking on cabin doors as a joke. The two tween-age boys who got into a fistfight by the Lido Pool really put the cherry on the disaster that was Carnival's kids program on this cruise. Read more