This was our first cruise. My wife and I recently turned 50 and usually travel frequently to Vegas and Hawaii. We decided on this cruise to find out if a Mediterranean cruise is in our future. We flew in the day of embarkation. Next time we will arrive a day early. Less stress when the plane arrives late. Boarded the ship at 3:00. No line at all. Went straight to lunch, then room (Riviera deck-ocean view). Called up on deck for life boat drill around 4:00. Set sail soon after. The ship appeared to be a little tired but was very clean. The ship only had 2 pools, one of which was closed throughout the cruise. One of the two elevators in the atrium was also out of service all week. The ship had 3 outdoor spas and 2 indoor. Children were in the outdoor spas even though two were designated adult only. First day at sea, second day Grand Cayman resulted in long lines for disembarkation with those on tours booked through the ship allowed to leave first. Short day as ship left port at 2:00PM. The next day's port, Cozumel was canceled due to high winds. Around noon the ship pulled anchor and headed back towards Tampa at a very slow pace. Carnival offered a $25 credit to all in lieu to make everyone feel better. When we reached Tampa we could not return to dock because of fog. Ended up docking 2 hours late. The night before we were told to be on the Lido deck by 6:15AM to declare customs. Nobody was there so we were told to return at 8:30. The lines were long and everyone was tired and fed up.

Positives: Showers had hot water and very good pressure. Room steward was OK-made the bed twice a day and made towel animals. Dining room service was very good. We had the 8:00 seating with George the Greek. The production shows at night seemed pretty good considering it was on a ship. 2 of the 3 comedians were good. Negatives: Lack of communications-although they had a newsletter under your cabin we still felt like information was hard to get. Food was OK. Most of the beef was under cooked or over cooked. Filet was tough and lacked flavor. Lobster was good. Hamburgers were OK. Deli was good. Pizza was OK. You could do buffet or sit down for all meals we opted for sit down. The teriyaki short ribs were very good as was the oriental beef and peppers for lunch. The spare ribs were very fatty with little taste. Room service was very prompt but 2 out of 3 times did bring what was requested. Casino was very smokey. Although this was our first cruise and therefore we have nothing to compare it with, two things come to mind: Hurry up and wait and being at a carnival. Photographers were everywhere to take our picture in hopes that we would buy them. DVD's of the ship was for sale. The bedding was for sale. Carnival cook books and how to make towel animals were for sale. What bothered me the most were the envelopes at the entrance of the dining room to put money in them for the Maitre de as he stood there with his hand out as you walked into the dining room. Our final thoughts are that we liked cruising and will try it again. We will try to find a cruise that docks at the ports instead of tendering as this ship/itinerary did.