First off this was my first cruise with Carnival. Being a travel agent my wife and I try and do two cruises a year. We go on a different cruise line everytime. I was told by a couple that had been on Carnival before that everything was great. So we booked this one for Halloween. I also should mention myself and our traveling companions read the reviews on this website before going and were a little worried about what we read. Day 1 San Juan - We arrived about 3:00pm and the lines were the worst we had ever seen. It took forever to get on the ship....Thank God for the free booze samples while you waited! It took about 2 hours for us to get up to our room. Finally we were off to shop but everything was closed because it was sunday. Also, you can get on the ship with a bottle. Just make sure its in your carry on. Day 2 St.Thomas - This is the best place to shop if your looking for jewelry. The best place we found is Emperial Jewelers just down the street from Diamond International. Its not a recommended store from the ship but we never shop at those anyway. By the way guys they will give you a beer while you shop. All we do is shop in St. Thomas and take the ride up to Paradise Point. That is a great place for pictures and the foods not bad either. You can walk back to the ship from there its about 2 blocks away. Day 2 Dominica - This place is right up there with St. Thomas. Here we took the Arial rain forest tram ride. The ride up there was about a 1/2 hour and it was one heck of a ride! Very narrow roads and only about 6 times did I feel like I was going to die! LOL The drive up there was worth the price alone! When we got there it was very relaxing and well worth it. I highly recommend this excursion if your not afraid of heights. When we finished that we went to town to check out the shopping. Right across from the ship is a local market. I have shopped at alot of places and normally there right in your face wanting you to buy something. That never happened here at all everyone was really nice. Don't miss shopping there FORGET what everyone else tells ya. The ship even said not to shop here..............FOR SHAME! Day 3 Barbados - On this stop we took the Atlantis Sub ride and the girls went shopping (again). This is a fun excursion if you have not done it before. After the ride we headed to town to check out the shopping to. Got some really good cigars about 4 blocks from the ship. It was in a brightly colored shopping area on the left side. The cool thing was you can watch how they make cigars. It was really interesting but hot as heck in there! Now were back on board getting ready for the Halloween Contest. Judging was from 7 to 10 pm and I had alot to do for my stupid costume. Long story short I WON!!!!!!! Statue Guy!!!! LOL Day 4 St. Lucia - No plans here just more shopping. They have a local market just across the water from where we were docked. It is about a 15 minute walk from the ship. You will be asked about 47 times if you want a taxi (they just don't give up). There is a guy and his brother who make these really cool baskets out of coconut or banana palms if your interested. Day 5 Antigua - Here we went on the Stingray sensation. That was really cool and a little freaky. This is another excursion we would recommend. A short bus ride and then a boat ride to the rays. Alot of stingrays in the area so you can get alot of great pictures! Day 6 Day at sea - Not alot of things for people to do. They had a few things going on but nothing to exciting. So all I did was eat more. Day 7 San Juan - Our flight was not until 3:30 and we were off the ship around 10:00am. We decided to take a tour of New San Juan and they drop you off at the airport. It was a nice tour and we got to see alot of the area for 25.00 . Ok,now for the ship part.......... It was in need of serious help. Our bathroom shower had mold in it and so did the cabins next to us. The lights outside on the balcony never worked. Same goes for the people next door to us. I am not into the late dinner stuff so I had buffet every night. Every night the guests next to us came back and told us the food was not good at all and had to go to the buffet. Also, our safe never worked from day one. The people working on the ship did a good job for what they have to put up with. We won't be using Carnival anymore.