We were on the October 9th sailing, which was the second sailing out of drydock. I can clearly see why the first sailing should never have happened. While our second sailing (while still not ready in many places) was MUCH improved over the first one, I can attest that the first group of cruisers are not exaggerating. We have sailed on the Fantasy 4 times prior to this cruise and out of the New Orleans port many times over the years. EMBARKATION: We also had computer problems, but that is not the area that needs the greatest improvement. The past 4 times we have sailed out of New Orleans (since they opened Erato Terminal)...it has been an uncontrolled mess. And this was the worse. You constantly have 2 or 3 Carnival Reps who are standing around talking to each other rather than doing their job. We are VIP and the Security Line gets top marks for their set up. When you enter the room, you are directed to the VIP Security section and that has always been handled perfectly. Once you leave Security, it is easy to follow the signs to the VIP Check In room....again, no problems with this set up. It is at this point that the entire experience is a crap shoot. There were 35 Platinum folks on board this trip and I realize that is a greater number than in the past. But more and more people are becoming Platinum, so Carnival needs to recognize that and be prepared. And of course, CVC members and Cat 11 and 12 cruisers also use this room. When we entered the room, we were able to find a couch to sit on, but we took the next to the last available seating. When it was our turn to check in, they did not have any cards for us. We had to wear a sticker on our shirts onto the ship and stand in ANOTHER line at the Purser's desk to get our cards. Just in the past 10 years, as a family, we have cruised 20+ times with Carnival and these are the people you inconvenience? Doesn't make sense to me. Once we had our "stickers", we were told to (and I quote) "go that way" as she pointed into this mass crowd of unorganized mess. So we walked to the next set of Carnival Reps....who continued their PERSONAL conversation as we stood there. Finally, she asked "VIP? Red chairs" and pointed towards the window and then went back to her PERSONAL conversation. There were people sitting in the "red chairs" that were not VIP. They were joking about "sneaking into the VIP section" ...which was no section at all...it was just a row of chairs facing the window. I can understand computer problems....it happens....but this lack of attentiveness by the Carnival Reps is a repetitive problem and getting worse. It was like a cattle call. When they finally did announce we would be boarding....it was a mad rush. They "told" people over the intercom to sit down...but no one listened. They announced VIP first...and the lady did walk past the crowd headed to what I call the "ding" box (the machine that imprints your picture on your Sail and Sign) saying "VIP only"...but she wasn't checking anything. Those that were not VIP were simply ignoring her. Of course, there was no "ding" for us because we did not have our Sail and Sign cards...all we had was a sticker. And when we got on the ship, they handed us a plain Platinum instead of the one with the Milestone Rewards insignia and we said we would "come back" for that later as they were swamped at the Purser's Desk. Carnival did give us $5 each ($15 total) OBC for our inconvenience of getting on a little late...which I thought was nice. So, we are finally on board. We dropped the luggage off at the cabin. CABIN: Our cabin had not been updated yet, except for the TV (which was nice). There was a huge ripped hole in the carpet in the center of the room, dust bunnies in the fake window and sand from the previous cruise still in our shower. And while this is disappointing to see, it did not have an affect on our cruise experience. Hopefully, all the cabins will be ready in the next few weeks. Our Cabin Steward turned out to be excellent. I think the dirt was left over from all the construction.....and I understand it takes a while to get it all. (we are remodeling at home ourselves...so I understand) He was very friendly and attentive to anything that we needed. There was a horrific smell of glue the first day. (I am assuming they were still replacing carpet). But thankfully only on the first day. We were BLESSED with excellent surrounding cabin mates who were respectful of their neighbors by being quiet in the hallways after midnight and not smoking in the hallways. No children running all hours of the day or night up and down the hallways in our area. FOOD: Stan the Man was a wonderful Maitre D'. He took care of our son's special needs in the dining room. We only got to eat in there a couple of nights but the food was fine. We are lunch in the formal dining room twice and it was very good both times. I am usually not a buffet person, but I trying to learn to be. The buffet had several items on it every night that the formal dining room offered. I liked that. Deli was great. Pizza was good. We only used Room Service a few times and they missed us once...never showed up. But that is unusual, it could have been that someone accidently knocked the door hanger off the door.