Went on Carnival for my 14th cruise, it was a recovery cruise after losing a loved one earlier this year. I have heard lots of negative reviews about the noise and the ships attracting young, noisy co-eds. This cruise was awesome, no noise, (squeaky ceiling but they tried to fix it!) and clean. Food was very good and steak in the MDR was awesome. Mostly ate at the Buffets and loved Guy Fiere's burger joint, burrito bar and regular buffet. Was not impressed with the tasteless wok selections. There were always a variety of salads and a couple of soup selections, meat, starch and fish , rolls and a variety of desserts. Never a bad selection. Pools were nice, room was much larger than I expected and the window was very large so I had a great view upon entering ports! The comics were fantastic! The dessert bars changed daily and the desserts were very good!

The stops, Aruba and Curacao, are desert islands, and while they had very pretty beaches, if you didn't do an excursion your trip consisted of shopping. Lots of people handing out free coupons for jewelry. Did the 4-wheel excursion on Grand Turks and it was tons of fun. I heard those on the segways also had a blast. The free roaming donkeys were fun to play with and some were very entertaining!

The outdoor movie theater was a blast and fun until one night it started to rain, but they had quality movies - Monument Men, Frozen, and some other popular movies. Seas were a bit rough but the ship maintained a steady direction and we got to each port on time. The cabin stewards were very nice and reminded me every morning to bring this or that, etc. Only one thing I did not like, I cut my foot and when I found no doctor around, I went to guest services and they wanted me to pay several dollars for bandaids. Bring your own just in case. Also the shampoo was horrible so bring your own, no conditioner was made available, and the liquid soap was "eh" - each room had a hair dryer but there are limited outlets so don't expect to be plugging in too many things. Each room had a couple of very plush bathrobes, just a nice little gesture! Room service menu seemed very extensive. I enjoyed the cruise and would definitely head back, probably the same time when there were not a lot of kids, but those kids that were around were well behaved and the teen leaders seemed to have a lot of activities planned for them. Oh yea, the crafts were a bit lame....but the trivia was a challenge. we finally won. :)