This was our first (and last) cruise with Carnival. Embarkation went smoothly-got there about 11:30 am, and sailed right through.
Ship: Our balcony cabin was fine, although a prior passenger had left items under the bed which were still there. We did not like the layout of this ship. It was very difficult to go from forward to aft on floors 3 & 4 because of the Renoir dining room. We never did learn to navigate this ship very well. We heard this complaint from many others as well. We had a hard time finding public restrooms on several floors. When we did find them, they were quite small, the urinals were too high and close together. There were no tissues in the public bathrooms, nor paper towels. It was also hard to get in and out of these bathrooms if they had double doors.
Food: We were very disappointed in the food. It was very bland-almost cafeteria quality. The steaks were over-cooked, regardless of how ordered. My husband spent the entire week in search of salsa for his omelet. He was told either "It's over there", "we don't have any", or "I don't know" all week. As it turned out, there was apparently none on board. It was also very difficult to find any margarine on board--the staff guarded it like they were guarding bars of gold! I can't count the number of times I heard myself and others ask "where is the butter/margarine". The only place it was readily available was in the main dining room. The breakfast buffet was essentially the same thing everyday, although they sometimes changed from pancakes to French toast. Of course, with NO BUTTER, these weren't very good either. Overall, the food was lousy!