I just returned from an 8-day cruise to St. Maarten, Barbados, and Martinique. The cruise was my second and my husband's first and a late birthday gift for him. Before I go into anything else, I have to say that I did not like Martinique at all! The people act as if they do not want any part of Americans (except their money). This is definitely an island I can do without! They don't want me there and I don't need to go! Now, the rest of the cruise was absolutely great. It rained in Barbados and because it was Sunday the stores were closed, I saved some money. This put a little damper on the trip but it could be overlooked. St. Maarten was great! We had a balcony cabin on the main deck and that was fabulous! I don't know how Carnival selects their employees but they are just an absolute pleasure, especially our cabin stewardess Mihaela from Romania. The staff on my first cruise was just as wonderful. The food was great! Entertainment was good and fun. We are not that picky on food but I would have to say I was spoiled.

However, the public announcement system needs quite a bit of improvement. God forbid there was an emergency you would never hear anything. It was muffled and not heard in most areas. There was a great lack of communication between the staff and passengers. When we disembarked this morning it was absolutely horrendous. We had an early flight and were told last night that we would disembark according to colors provided by the ship staff. We were issued pink tags for our bags which denoted an early departure. We were instructed to assemble at 8:30 in the Firebird lounge which was small for the amount of people that were there and not easily accessible. (stairs, narrow corridors, no air). We arrived at this area early 8:15 and waited and waited and waited. None of the staff had the decency to let the passengers waiting for 1 1/2 hours know what was going on and when a staff member did come in after the hour and a half and found that we were not happy, said that she was going to explain but wouldn't bother because of our attitudes. Even the great Reynaldo poopooed us! AayAayAii! Someone attempted to ask him a question, he made a sound, turned and kept walking! Then we had to go up and down steps through the cabin corridor with bags of linen that you had to go around. It was like an obstacle course. Even though my husband does not have the greatest amount of patience I was determined that this was not going to ruin the experience. Now they probably had good intentions but they definitely need to work on this or they will lose some customers. I'm trying to stay positive, however, after being pampered, babied and fussed over for 8 days what a disappointment to end up being treated this way. I will not let this smear the attitudes of the other workers but someone has got to improve these conditions!Please enter your review.