Had it not been for the 19 people in our party, I do not think I would have had the good time that we did. I have heard it said that once you do a Disney or Royal cruise, all else is downhill....well, it is certainly true in this case.

Embarkation was really no problem, although Miami isn't my top choice to leave from. We were able to get to our rooms early and our luggage was delivered quite early. Trash, hangers, tags, etc. littered the hallways (by the elevators) for a few hours after all the luggage was delivered. Our room was comfortable and our steward, Randy, was GREAT. He was the most polite person I encountered from the Carnival staff and extremely helpful.

We traveled with 10 adults, 9 children ages 5 through 13 and all had cruised before. Our first night at dinner was a warning as to the rest of the week. When one of our party asked for more bread (nicely, by the way), we were told by Anil, our waiter, that he can only do one thing at a time! They seemed really frazzled. A simple, "one moment sir" would have sufficed. These type of comments went on all week. We did not go to the last night's dinner - we went to the buffet where we knew we would have a relaxing dinner. Anil and Freddy also did not seem to like children and had a very hard time relating to them on any level. As for drinks, we had to go to the bar ourselves if we wanted drinks other than wine, as the bar staff was stretched waaaaaay too thin. Uilia thought she could handle it, as she told Pablo, the maitre d'. She had a wonderful rapport with the kids, taught them the new macarena and seemed to really enjoy her job. We just needed 3 of her!! The Paris dining room also looks like it has wood grain contact paper on the walls. Read more