We sailed on the 4 day trip from New Orleans to Cozumel and back on 08/30/2007. We are from New Orleans and we like several hotels downtown but won't give a preference. Do try Dragos for dinner it just opened at the Hilton riverside and is a local favorite for charbroiled oysters. We arrived at the terminal around 1:30 and had more of a line than we expected. It took about 45 minutes to get on board and we went up to the Lido deck for lunch. We went out on the outside deck and waited for the Muster drill while watching a terrific (if not scary) lightening storm pass over us. The ship set sail around 4:45 and I love cruising from New Orleans for the ride down the river. It takes about 7 hours to get to the gulf. Our day at sea was the best ever. We don't do the pool much but the gulf was as calm as I've ever seen it and we sat on the outer deck and caught 3 schools of 15 - 20 dolphin. One group were jumping like crazy but all three could be seen playing under the clear water as the ship passed by them. My GF saw a pod of whales while I went inside for a sandwich. It was the best day for spotting we've ever had in the open Gulf. Cozumel was great as always but we just did some shopping in town this trip. We've been to Chakanaab Park several times and always enjoyed that as well. The trip back had the same calm seas but no Dolphins. The Majestic Bar was a nice change of pace and the Casino got some money. If you like the machines learn how to upload and download money from your sail and sign card. If you put money in a machine you can upload to your card and move with no charge. You can also debit your account at a 3% fee but I don't recommend that. SERVICE. Service was great all over. Our steward was very friendly and always around. We brought a small roll on ice chest that he kept full of ice the whole trip. Our Dinning room service was equally good. FOOD. A bit disappointing sums up the food. The buffet was good for breakfast but lunch was only so so. They do have a deli that is good if you like sandwiches and I had a couple of burgers from the poolside that were good. GF did love the sushi option other than the first night when they had Mackerel. Limited hours but she thought it was very good. Breakfast in the main dining room was nothing special. Several table mates had omelettes that looked good but our eggs benedict were over cooked and the Hollandaise sauce was hardened not creamy. We ate in the main dinning room days 1, 2 and 4. Day 1 we had Fillets ordered medium but cooked well done. Day 2 was formal night and I ordered both the lobster and the prime rib. They were both good although the lobster was probably 3/4 lb. Night 4 we had the Chateau Briand (sp everywhere sorry) it was good but nothing to write home about. We missed beef wellington on day 3. Service was very good and we never spent more than an hour to hour and a half which I liked. ENTERTAINMENT. We went to the welcome aboard show and enjoyed Big Tex and the comedian. We also went to the Beatles tribute and other than being loud it was fabulous. Gotta go see if the Saints can beat the Colts!! All in all it was a very good cruise. This is the first 4 day cruise we've tried and it is a little short but 4 days is better than none. We will sail with Carnival again.