Embarkation: This was rather chaotic, as others have pointed out. First of all, although our travel agent had arranged airport transfers, we were not on the list when we arrived at the airport, so that caused a minor hassle. No big deal though as we got on the bus as scheduled. When we arrived though, the line-up to board the ship was way out the door and up the outside wall of the cruise ship terminal. We gradually bottlenecked inside only to discover a second looong line-up for check-in. The check-in staff themselves were very friendly, but one thing I noticed: My party hadn't completed a fun pass and we fully expected to be held up as a result. What actually happened was that we were processed through the same line-up as everyone else, so we actually held everyone else up (sorry to the people behind us). I would strongly suggest that, if the Fun Pass really does speed up that check-in process for those who get one ahead of time, that Fun Pass holders and non holders be processed through separate line-ups.
Cabins: This was my first cruise, so I really didn't know what to expect from a cabin, but I was pleasantly surprised with ours. We had a balcony cabin and it was clean and comfortable...I felt ok about walking around in bare feet. And the beds were very comfortable. The bathroom could've used a paint job as the white walls were looking a little yellowy in places, and the toilet could be a tad stinky. ...but these concerns were minor. Overall, it was comparable to what you might expect from a 3 star chain hotel on land. Our housekeeper was extremely friendly (had I not been with family, I actually might've found his attentions to be a bit much - he asked me for a goodbye hug - but it was also nice having a housekeeper who knew my family so well that if I showed up to my cabin looking for them he could say "oh, they left 10 minutes ago, they went that way.") And we really enjoyed the towel animals in the rooms.
Dining Room: This was where the cruise really excelled for me. Perhaps Carnival has responded to some of the negative comments from past cruises because we certainly felt well-attended to by our dining staff. Our head waiter traded bar tricks with us and was very sociable and fun, as was the other team waiter. The nightly novelty performances from the dining staff were also loads of fun. The conga line through the restaurant was particularly memorable. And the food itself ranged from ok to really really good. Mostly, it was good.