First cruise with Carnival for us, and our 5th total. We flew down from Ottawa Canada the day before and stayed at the Days Inn Bahia Cabana hotel. This hotel was right across the street from the beach, which we enjoyed. The next day we grabbed a cab to the port, which is a ten minute drive for about $14.00 including tip. We arrived very early and started going through the boarding procedures about 10:15. After the embarkation photo, we went to another room to have a seat and wait. We were then escorted to the ship by 12:15, had our picture put on the S&S card and then on board. Everything went very smooth. We went to the Lido deck for lunch and a DOD.

The Ship, What a beautiful ship. Nothing outlandish everything was very tastefully decorated. This ship celebrates the arts, which is evident in all of the public rooms. On one of the tv channels there was an interview with the designer Joe Farcus. It was quite interesting. Our cabin was great and never seemed cramped. Being able to put the luggage under the bed helped with this. There was enough storage for all of our clothes and purchases. We were in a balcony cabin which we love and used quite a bit. I rated the overall food a four. It was good but not fantastic. Nothing was bad, well except for the fish & chips. They must have had an off day, because it was inedible. The breakfast & lunch buffets were all quite good. Breakfast was usually the same each day but the lunch ones changed each day. We had one breakfast and one lunch in the dining room and they were both good.

We only saw one singing & dance number in the Venetian Lounge and the voices and lady dancers were good. The male dancers however weren't that good. Yes you take into account the rough seas, but they just weren't good. We did frequent the piano bar each night for a lot of fun. Robert was very good. We ended up with a core group of people there and had a blast every night. As far as the service goes, what can I say? I rated it a 5+. Read more