We took the 2/17 through 2/25 tour departing from Tampa. Our ports of call were Grand Caymans, Cozumel, Belize, and Costa Maya. This was the first cruise my boyfriend and I had ever taken.
Embarkation was well-run and very quick and efficient. My boyfriend walks with a cane and has bad knee problems. Seeing his cane, a lady working for Carnival took us to the front of the line so we do not know how long others waited before going through the short check-in procedure. We were thrilled to see such efficient and caring people checking us in.
Our stateroom was located on deck 6 aft. This was a prime location and not inconvenient to all services but especially convenient to dining, both in the main dining room and the buffets. Our stateroom was larger than we had anticipated. There was an opened soda in the mini bar. We wanted to make sure that we would not be charged for this and at this time, the room steward arrived introducing himself and told us if there was anything needed to please contact him. He told us not to worry that we would not be charged for the opened soda and upon receiving our bill, we were not charged. The room was beautiful and the layout of the room made it very spacious. The bed was extremely comfortable, Carnival not skimping on the sheets, pillows, or duvet. We had a balcony room and if we ever cruise again, will insist on getting a balcony. The room steward arrived at different times everyday, usually greeting us either when we came or left from the room. Seemed like everytime we needed something, he was there. Our room was cleaned twice daily. Usually after we left in the morning and again after we left for dinner. It was always spotless. We were always comfortable and relaxed. The only problem was that our neighbors insisted on leaving their balcony light on all night long, probably for a night light for their small child. We never heard talking or their child crying. Our neighbors on the other side were never seen or heard from. I did hear them once when they were on their balcony and I was on ours. The rooms were well soundproofed. Our neighbors with the child once stated that they thought we had left since they never heard anything. We always had the TV on and usually fairly loud and I'm surprised they never heard our TV. Can't say enough good about our room steward. We even gave him an extra tip when we left.