After our first cruise on the Carnival Conquest, we could hardly wait to see how the this cruise compared. The embarkation process was a breeze--thanks to all for the advice on arrival times. We arrived at 1130 am and were in group one waiting to board in under 45 minutes.

The cabin was good, the usual Carnival stuff, nothing too spectacular but well appointed. The beds are very hard, but the linens are a nice quality. We specifically chose a balcony cabin on the back of the ship to enjoy the views as we sailed from the ports we had spent the day in. This was a great choice for us, but there is some dining room noise; if you go to bed early you might not consider this cabin.

The food was well below expectations across the board. The dining room service and quality were well below that on the Conquest. The buffets, sandwiches and burgers were also all very disappointing. The menus were never published, and after seeing what they had prepared we understood why! I expected something special for Christmas, but it was a tough steak or something that looked to be turkey, but with some much gravy it was hard to tell. The ice cream machines were always empty too -- nothing major, but it seemed to be a theme on this trip. The pool side and other bars all seemed to be very understaffed. It was hard to find an open bar anywhere and when you could, the wait was pretty long. Read more