First and foremost, let me say that we had a great time. We had a nice room with a balcony (Verandah floor). If you can afford it, it will really be worth it and here is why. If you smoke, you cannot do it in your room. You will need to go up one or more floors to a designated smoking place. If you have a balcony room, you always have a place to smoke. My friend took full advantage of that. Even if you take the "partially obstructed view" rooms, it is no big deal. Our room was barely an obstructed view. It is also great to have the balcony to wind down at the end of the night. My friend and I had a great view of Nassau, even at 2am, and sat on our balcony winding down a great day on the island. You can also take some neat pictures from the balcony, too. (By the way, if you want or need to plug in more than one thing at a time, take one of those plug expanders with you..the rooms come with one plug only) We had a some great Carnival employees that made the trip extra special. Our shuttle driver, Tammy, did a great job getting us there and making it memorable. Our room steward, Mackenzie, did a good job keeping up with us. Our dining room server, Nelson, was Fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed his service. Finally, our server on the Lido deck, I Komang, was fantastic. He was serving a large variety of people but would introduce himself, shake your hand and great you by name every time he brought you a drink or asked if you wanted one. THAT was great service! Getting on the boat, initially, and off the boat at the end of the cruise was a PIECE OF CAKE. I have read nightmares about the process but if you have all of your paperwork completed on line and have all the forms you can fill out done in advance of arrival (there will be one or two you can't do but no big deal), this process is a piece of cake. In fact, for newbies to cruising, like me, here is the process. If you take the shuttle from Port Canaveral, the shuttle people will bring your suitcases, so you only have to haul your carryon luggage or purse, that is nice. If you get to the boat early and want to swim or change, have a swimsuit or change of clothes in your carryon. You can change in the bathroom (if your room is not available and often is not before 2pm). Further, you can get there early and hit the Lido deck for an early and free lunch, so get there early. Our luggage didn't get from the shuttle people to our room until like 6pm, so you won't always get it right away and this is normal. Do all your paperwork available on Carnival's website for the funpass, etc. You will have to do one form at the boat at check in and you will be given your sign and sail card, room key and that is that. By the way, hit the casino when you arrive and find the info desk. They will give you this lanyard that you can put your sign/sail card on and attach to belts or around the neck. It is a lifesaver, esp as the sign and sail card is your lifeline on the boat to everything and access to your credit card, so guard it with your life. The evening before you get back, you will need to have your main luggage packed, locked and in the hallway between 8-11. Have your clothes/toiletries for the next day in your carryon again. They will be hustling you to get off the boat early. We were supposed to get in at 7am and at 645, we were already docked back in Port Canaveral. Eat breakfast soon because they will be hustling you to get out. They knocked on our door like 3 times to gently move us along, so don't dawdle. When you leave the boat, they deactivate the sign/sail card and has assigned you a place where your main luggage will be at...once you pick that up, you are done. The whole process is seamless, if only they could have done this in Nassau.

However, there was a high degree of misinformation at every turn. On the carnival website, they list the shore excursions. I was interested in the kayak excursion but when we arrived, the shore excursion desk list of available adventures did not list this one. In fact, it listed excursions that the website did not. That was disappointing. On several occasions, we asked Carnival employees for assistance in finding places (the maps are very confusing and lead one to believe that they cross any floor from front to back of the ship--this is not true. Learning to get around in the normal glass elevator and understanding how to manipulate the other Willie Wonka elevator in the boat is crucial as finding stairs is not always easy or the answer either. Speaking of Willie Wonka, the boat is designed in precisely the same shade of purple as is Willie Wonka's suit. On several occasions, we asked if clubs or karaoke bars were open and were given the standard Carnival issue answer "I don't know" which would follow with a "go find out yourself" type attitude. Even getting information on how to get off the boat to get to Nassau once we docked was an adventure in misinformation. As it turns out, you get off on the Empress floor. The lines to get off the boat went up two floors. When we finally got down there, we found out why. There were two people checking identification for the thousands of people getting off the ship. Moreover, once you cleared those folks, which was quick, Carnival had 4 separate photo ops set up to get by before you could get to the island. They would grab you and take your picture so it was not as if you could opt out politely. What happens is that Carnival will have all of those shots developed and available on a deck that night for you to buy for $9 each, at cheapest. So, it is another shot at them getting more money, so don't look for them to change this procedure to expedite you getting off the boat, anytime soon. Another bit of misinformation was in that they make it sound as if the photos are free. My friend actually went to get her shot, was walking away and was told that it had a price for it. Now, the word complimentary says free to me, too, so I don't know what happened here but to throw it under the misinformation rug with all the rest. But, for all the misinformation out there, if you were ok with finding things out on your own (directions, availability of activities, etc) and flexible in changing plans (excursions), Carnival was fine.

Nassau was fine. As my shore excursion was not among what was listed, we opted with walking around on our own. Nassau is easy enough to get around at either on foot or by getting a taxi. The drivers are always available and you can negotiate price then and there. The straw market was one designer knock off purse piled on another but that was what I wanted. I found they had decent knockoffs and the prices were good. You will have to barter, though, so be prepared to play the game. They had Coach, Louis Vuitton, Dolce&Gabanna, Prada, Kate Spade, Fendi..you name it. If you want to relax, have a drink and have fun, on the back side of the straw market is Senor Frog's. That place was such a blast!!! Do the conga line of shots!! Not only are they free shots but the line is a blast and brings you into the fun. If you want a quiet drink, this place is not for you....but, we had a great time in there before going back to the boat, which is a short 1-2 block walk back. Read more