To start off with a bit of background, we are experienced cruisers having taken almost 40 cruises already (mostly in the Caribbean). We are platinum on Carnival and this was our 17th cruise with the line. To say that we were disappointed was an understatement. Our bad experience actually caused us to get a cruise critic account and write a bad review. This is my first review so bear with me.

To start, embarkation was relatively uneventful. We were running late and arrived at the terminal at around 2:45. The new terminal Carnival uses is nice and functional. Check-in was smooth and we were on the ship in a matter of 15 minutes. Our first bad experience came from lunch. Naturally, we expected the lido to be closed due to our late arrival, but this was such a violent shut down. The crew uses some shades they lower in front of the dishes. The crew was literally pushing people away and yelling for them to stop getting in line. I understand crowd control but this was ridiculous. We managed to grab some small selections right before they closed. The food was greasy and cold but it held us to dinner. Dinner was alright. We were in the Sapphire, with your time dining. We went nice and early and had nice seats. The restaurant is nice, not too audacious and gives a relaxing vibe. The food was below average. Every course was cold, and the food was cheap. Redfish and fried chicken on a cruise line, in the dining room? Wow.

The second day was relaxing with the majority of the day spent in the cabin. The ship was full so many of the public areas were packed. There wasn't much to do on the ship, most of the activities were shopping based or by the pool but the ship was so full that being by the pool really didn't feel fun. Breakfast was standard cruise ship (but toned down a lot) breakfast throughout the entire week I noticed they were missing usual staples such as hash browns or even ham. Not too impressed. We ate lunch from the Blue Iguana and I must say it is pretty good, it's just annoying have to tell the crew to put extra chicken in your burrito because two small pieces isn't enough (the attitude they had wasn't very fun either, the food was tasty though). I don't eat burgers but everyone else in the family said that the burgers were very good, just a bit too greasy. Tonight was elegant night, which leads me to a whole other topic. People really don't respect elegant night anymore do they? For the first time I saw shorts in a dining room on elegant night. Plenty of people without ties, jackets, even button-down shirts (normal days were even worse but I am guilty of not going too dressy once or twice). Dinner was again mediocre, the lobster tasted old. The waiter we got this time forgot two courses and finally the lady at the front forgot to give us a pager and said it was our fault for not asking for one. Not the best night. Read more