I have been on 4 other cruise lines but chose Carnival for this particular cruise because I was travelling with my 20 year old daughter. Having heard Carnival's reputation as "one big party" I thought it would really appeal to her. That was a mistake! The trip started out perfect, we left Toronto at 11:30am Sunday and arrived in Tampa, collected our luggage and the Carnival Rep at the airport had us on the bus and to the Port in less than half an hour. It was 3:00PM, no line up and we were on the ship and in our stateroom in less than 10 minutes, our luggage arrived a few minutes later. In all the cruises I've been on I have never gotten my luggage that quickly.
I had requested early seating but soon found out that that was a request only, I booked this cruise a year ago so I don't understand why it was a request only, it should be first request first serve. Spoke to the Maitre D, he did manage to arrange first seating. We only went to the dining room twice. In my opinion there was not much of a selection, perhaps I'm spoiled by RCL and Celebrity, but Carnival only had 2 kinds of salads, garden and Caesar, one soup and a choice of 3 entrees, none of which I enjoyed (other than the lobster). We went to the Brasserie for 5 nights, again, not much of a selection for a buffet, a quarter of the selection that other lines have. 2 things carnival does do well, cinnamon buns, absolutely delicious and hamburgers, served at both lunch and supper in the Brasserie they must have had a 1/4 pound of hamburger in them, excellent.
Room service was ok if you wanted a light sandwich or continental breakfast again, not even close to the selection of other lines. The ship itself is 7 years old and really showing its age, the carpets were stained and tattered and just showing its age in general.