I have cruised on carnival 12 times (thus Platinum). Some of the benefits are that we get to priority board. I have cruised 2 times as Platinum and was able to take the people sailing with me on priority boarding. If I had 20 people..I would understand not being able to board early with everyone. But we had 5 in total including my cabin. I chose to wait with my traveling companions that I invited on cruise. Once we got to check in, we (the two that were priority) had to wait because our keys were in a different location. I am no better than anyone else...I am now a single mom of 4 and rarely cruise any more..it was a rare treat...BUT..when you get a benefit and are unable to use it, I do not feel great about that. When we docked in Belize, I was able to take 5 people off priority tendering..so I feel like we should have been able to board with my party.
Ok..so now for ship experience. I do not order too much from waiters on Lido deck..but every once in a while I do. I miss the tacky fun ship cups and the waiters being readily available. I would wait 30 minutes to an hour for someone to come take our drink order..they need to find a good middle of the road.
Loved the cabin...missed the chocolates. They said that they melt...in 20 years of cruising I have always had chocolates..so not sure what that was about. Usually on a cruise I get chocolates for being platinum as well as an appetizer tray...the appetizer tray was not good...so no loss there...but it just made me notice that they are taking away a lot of the extras.
We rented a jeep and went to the other side of the island with waves. It was beautiful. We had done all of the normal tours and decided to do something different.