The ship was nice even though it had not been upgraded recently. Pretty much looked like all the other Carnival ships I've been on.
I heard a lot of comments from others that echoed what I was feeling; that the ship/crew just weren't performing at 100%. The first few nights (anytime dinning) dinner took forever. It didn't seem like an issue with the servers so may there were issues in the kitchen. The latter half of the cruise they seemed to have worked out the issues.
There were 2 optional formal nights on our cruise. They were on Sunday (2nd night) and Friday (2nd to last night). I saw very few tuxedos. Probably about half worry suits/sport coats and dresses. The others were just in the normal cruise casual attire. It does look like Carnival has loosened up the dinning room dress code, at least for men. The "no shorts" policy seems to have been replaced by "no swimsuits or athletic shorts".
This aft cabin is the same size as the regular balcony cabins in the same layout. The balcony contained 2 lounge chairs, 2 standard chairs and a small table. This pretty much filled up the balcony. It was about 8' deep but the sloping glass wall cut it to about 6' when standing at the railing. There was no smoking on any balconies which was great; you didn't have to smell your neighbor’s cigarettes. This cabins balcony can open up to the cabin to the left as you face the front of the ship.
If I get an AFT cabin again I think I'd opt for the 7th floor. There was noise from the deck above as they moved chairs and tables. Wasn't a huge deal but you wouldn't have it one floor down.
There was more vibration and rocking than I expected, especially being on the highest floor. If the ship is moving expect a constant rumbling. It's not loud and it's more of a vibration than anything else.
The location was great, unless you wanted to go to the spa, serenity deck or gym which are all the way at the other end of the ship. But it was very conveinent (1 level up) to the buffets, drink stations, pools and bars. Otherwise go down to 5 for the comedy club, bars and other common areas.
We had three people in the cabin so the couch was converted into a bed. I was a little worried about this but actually the back and arms are removed and it is pretty much just like the other two beds.
You can certainly get sun on the balcony you just have to time it right. When heading south from Port Canaveral the balcony was comfortable and shaded in the morning hours. By the afternoon the sun is hitting it and even though there was a strong breeze up top there was no breeze on the balcony. It got very hot very fast. One the way back to Canaveral the opposite was true.
Marty was our cabin steward for the week and he and his team were great. He always had ice in our cabin for us, always greeted us by name and was very attentive and friendly. We couldn't have asked for a better team to take care of us.
We went to the margaretville just off the dock. we were the first ship to arrive but a second carnival ship pulled in right after us. so by 9:30 you could not find a chair or table by the pool or on the beach.
I grabbed a small bar table and 3 chairs and hung out there why the 2 high school seniors wandered around having a great time. they were 18 so they were able to drink. they had a lot of fun trying the different drinks and hanging with the friends they had made on the ship.
The biggest disappointment was the wi-fi. when cruising you do not have access to the internet so when you get to ports the first thing the kids want to do is get online. they want to see what’s going on back home or other spring break getaways, send photos on snap chat, check email etc. i don't think i ever got connected and i was sitting right at the bar. i hear there was no service by the pool or the beach. most complained that when they did get connected it was so slow they couldn't use it. please fix your wi-fi. you know you are going to have thousands of cruise passangers expecting it.
Prices were about what you'd expect. drinks were about $8-10. you could buy the first one in a souvenir cup and get different refills for about $10. be aware there is an automatic 10% consumption tax and a 15% gratuity added automatically to your bill.