A little info about us, my husband & I are 61/59 respectively, we have cruised approx 9 times on Carnival, and an additional 9 on other cruise lines. Enjoyed this cruise very much, and we were pleased to see that Carnival has stopped using the neon lighting for deco on their newer ships. Also must note that the crew were very friendly, when you met any of them you were always greeted with a good morning, evening, or night from all of them, and with a smile.

Embarkation-- We spent the night before the cruise on Galveston in the Garden Isle B&B, great place to stay. We arrived at the port at about 1pm, long lines, but they moved along. On board by 2:15pm. Security was somewhat lax from the last time we cruised last year, usually before we were asked for our ticket and proof of identity before we came up the escalator right at the front door, but no one asked for our ticket or proof of identity till we were at the final desk for our sail & sign cards. On entering the ship, no one greeted you, and no ship maps were distributed. We had to go to the purser's desk to get one. Found our way to our cabin. Tried our sail & Sign cards to see if they worked in the cabin door, dropped off our carry-on and went to get something to eat and to explore the ship.

Cabin-- We had an ocean view cabin, nice decor,roomy,lots of closet space. Really liked the new duvet covers on the beds and the choice of pillows. The mattress was hard, we asked our room steward, Francisco, for additional mattress covering and he added a down covering on the mattress that evening, much more comfortable. Shower is smaller than on older Carnival ships, suggestion for putting clothespins on bottom shower curtain worked great. Read more