My wife and I have been on five cruises. This last cruise was with Carnival on their Elation Ship, nothing elating about it. We had heard some negative things about Carnival but this cruise sailed out of New Orleans and having never been in that beautiful city, we thought that we would give it a try. We did experience three days of bad weather but we’ve had those types of issues before. The rooms were not very clean. The stopper in the sink had black mold all over the top of it and when we told our Cabin Steward just smiled and shook his head but we finally had to clean this ourselves. The dressers and shelves were very old and wouldn’t close properly. The food was probably the worst that I have ever had and I’m a full time truck driver! The hours were limited at the buffet and the pizza and deli were mediocre at best. The formal dinning room staff was pleasant enough but again the food had not much flavor. We tried different dishes each evening, the chicken was very dry, pastas’ were over or under cooked, even some of the deserts were very bland. I will say that the oysters rockafeller and lobster were both tasty, it would have been nice to have more than a thimble full of butter though. I actually felt bad for the servers because people complained on several occasions, you could see by the expressions that they too weren’t to satisfied with the quality of the food they were serving.

We thoroughly enjoyed our excursions in Cozumel and Progresso, the entertainment on the ship was great, we had a lot of fun at the Comedy and Production Shows. The Staff did try and upsell you at just about every turn and that got very old quickly. Unlimited alcoholic beverages for $49.95 per day BUT you were limited to 15 drinks per day and if there were two adults in your room, both had to purchase the plans. We’re not big drinkers but we heard a lot of grumbling. We opted for the bottomless soda’s but you had to show your sail and sign card each time. Other cruise lines you buy a special glass and it’s filled or your can fill it at several locations during the voyage.

The Cruise itself wasn’t terribly expensive but then again maybe if they were to up their rates $50.00 bucks a day or so perhaps they purchase better quality of food. Thanksgiving Dinner had Pumpkin pie that was almost a light peach color, no flavor and was as rubbery as a toy, the whipped cream and fresh strawberry slice was the only edible part. The tips for your server’s, stewards, etc., were all automatically added to your bill, probably had to do that so they could get a couple of bucks. People were lined up at the Customer Service counter demanding reductions of these “tips.” We are very disappointed and probably won’t ever sail with Carnival again. Our experiences with two other Cruise Lines was better by far. We all work pretty darn hard for our money and get very little time to enjoy these special times. I hope that this review saves someone a lot of grief, just remember that there is a difference in Cruise Lines. Thanks.