My wife, 3-year old daughter and I (part of a final group of 15!) flew out of Newark, New Jersey early in the morning and arrived in San Juan around noon. A Carnival employee was at the baggage claim area and directed us to the bus. We were at the dock, through the embarkation process and on the boat by 2 pm. This being our first cruise, I thought this was pretty quick. We got to talk with people from different countries while waiting in line. Very interesting. Once on the boat we went to our room, left our bags and headed out to explore the ship.
The ship's decor is a bit dated but we thought it looked very nice. Our interior cabin was lovely and we had more than enough room for the 3 of us and all of our "stuff." (Loved the cushy bedding!) As we walked around we could see that the ship is kept in good condition by the crew constantly cleaning throughout the day. Once you learn the basic layout of the ship it is pretty easy to navigate.
Our cabin steward, Gerardo, was excellent. If we needed anything, he was there in a flash. He always made our daughter feel extra special, as did the other employees she came into contact with anywhere on the ship. It was great! Our waiter, Duro, was exceptional. He remembered our names (there were 15 people in our group), and made sure that we received anything we needed. He especially went out of his way to accommodate our daughter and 14 month-old nephew...specially preparing their "noodles with butter" for each dinner!