I have been cruising for 42 years. I am now middle aged, middle class and I love to travel and experience different places and people. I only take $10-$20 in the casino and I usually have about 5 drinks on the entire cruise. We left Tampa very early. We were able to book a direct flight, avoiding luggage problems and time loss. We arrived in San Juan at about 10:00am day of sailing, Oct. 1st. No problems at airport. We had arranged for Victor of Countryside Tours to meet us at the airport. He was just outside the luggage area, professionally dressed with a sign, waiting for us. He has a new white van for the eight of us and all our luggage fit with no problem. He speaks very good english and spent years in New York. He is very NICE, knowledgeable and accommodating. We toured Old San Juan and went to the Pier at 1:30 pm. This guy was a true gentleman and I would highly recommend asking for him ASAP for your sailing. Timing was great. Luggage gets turned in just before entering the terminal, up the escalator to our check in line. This took about 35 minutes. We arranged for different credit cards for people sharing cabins at check in with no problem and were on the ship by 2:30. We went straight to our cabins to drop off carry ons and up to the Lido deck for lunch. We then walked around the ship, checked on our dining room and table, etc. Our table was just as requested thru our travel agent...6:15 seating, table for us 8 on the bottom floor, center section. We returned to our cabin at about 5:00pm and our luggage was there. We were on the Verandah deck, aft balcony cabins with extended balconies. Our cabin steward was Maliwan and she was EXCELLENT. She made a point to learn all 8 names the first night. We had open the dividers between our balconies with no problems. She brought a cooler to one of our cabins as we had one person with insulin. The first dinner is open seating in the aft Universal Dining Room, the food was good, the service was great and everything was timely. We were awoken our first morning to hot coffee and bagels delivered to our cabin as requested. Service was friendly and timely. I tipped $2.00 cash. One couple had booked a Carnival Kayaking Tour, which ended up cancelled due to lack of interest. Six of us had booked Rumaba Sailing Charters. We got off right away and took a taxi to their dock for $10.00 each. The boat is wonderful and the couple who run this charter are fabulous. They customized the day around us. We only wanted one snorkel spot and we wanted to be done by 3:00pm. They grilled Mahi Mahi and Ahi tuna on the boat grill while we swam. Excellent sauces, sides, everything! We sailed about St. John and the other islands. They were like long lost friends to us and I would strongly recommend them. The "cancelled" couple rented a driver and went on a private tour of the island. They had a good time also. We shopped a little before getting back aboard. Showered and went to our first regular dinner. We were seated at table 164 and assigned to the Blue group. Our main server was Milena...the best I have ever had on a cruise and our first female! Her assistant was a young man named Joseph. She explained each entree every night and told us what the favorites were. She was honest and a great help. By the 2nd night she had our after dinner coffees memorized and brought them automatically. Welcome Aboard Show....four went to it and said it was good. Other 4 did Karaoke and had a great time. Ana is the host and she is very "excellent" (her accent is fun). There was 3/4 english singers and 1/4 spanish. The same four show goers also enjoyed the Duke Daniel's Show (from the Platter's)at 10:30pm.

Dominica Day! None of our 8 had ever been here before so we booked BENO in advance. We woke up again to room service coffee and then also went to our main breakfast. We feasted on Eggs Benedict, french toast and lots of yummy breakfast meats and sides. Everything was good and so was service. This tour was also wonderful, a great value and lots of fun. Very informative. The falls and pool were very pretty and the hike down and back up wasn't very bad. Our oldest group member is just recovering from prostrate cancer and made the hike okay. We returned in time for some shopping. It was hot and "not as good" shopping. We all had dinner with Milena at 6:15pm. This was the main formal night with the captain's cocktail party and fancy pictures etc. The guys had prime rib and the lobster...of course! Two of us girls had a pedicure. It was nice to be pampered. The shows were good and the dancers did a great job. I don't know how they do it on a moving ship! Karaoke tonight was fun. Two of our group were asked to compete for the Idol show coming up on Friday night. BARBADOS We dock pretty far down the pier dock so there is a free shuttle service to the tourist center. This is our second time to Barbados so I "allowed" my husband to book the Carnival Golf excursion. We went to Shady Lane resort, which is where Tiger got married. It is a beautiful course! It is also a pretty hard course. Caddies are mandatory here and that will cost you another $20.00. It is very upper class! The carts have GPS of course and it is a wide open course. There were golfers of all levels, men and women, statesider's and PR's. The pros from Carnival are top-shelf and it was enjoyed by all. Afterwards we shared "a" sandwich with a cool punch drink and one beer, which was quite costly! A embroidered cap cost $37.50!

We shopped in the pier side shopping when we returned. Met up with our other 6. Two paid $100.00 for a private tour which was thru the tourism counter with driver "Tarzan" they said is was great! The other 4 went shopping. The shopping area is clean but kinda warm. We didn't find too many "deals" in Barbados. We got back on board and went to the Lido deck. The Deli was very good! The buffet was good too! The youngest couple went to the BathRobe/Beer Party on Deck and to the Mexican Buffet. They said it was okay. Read more