We booked this cruise as a quick getaway for ourselves our friends. We had no expectations going into this as we knew it was inexpensive and the ship was old. We've also heard all of the stories about Carnival. We figured hey it is what you make it and it was so inexpensive we figured we couldn't go wrong. We previously have only sailed on Holland America and so only have them to compare it to.

Embarkation. Once you get to the terminal in Long Beach which for us was a little confusing embarkation was an absolute breeze. Our bags were checked at the curb, we went straight to the Queen Mary to get checked in (no one directed traffic but there were signs). Once checked in we walked to the staging area and got in line at our assigned number. The wait was very short and we were crossing the gangway to our ship in no time. Once on-board we were able to go directly to our rooms (nice) and offload our carry on bags. Then we grabbed a drink and headed up to the lunch buffet. All in all very efficient and worry free, as it should be! Great start.

Food. Ok as stated before I only have HAL to compare to but this was the single worst aspect of cruising Carnival. The food ranged from bland to undercooked and not a single item or meal was spectacular. The buffet was pretty bad and the only thing worth eating there was the pizza. Now I saw rave reviews about the pizza but I'm hear to tell you it too was just ok. Please don't think I'm a foodie, I'm not, in fact I'm your pizza, burgers and fries kind of guy and they did none of these justice either. We weren't really there for the food though and nothing was inedible, just not great. This is where HAL really shines. Read more