I have to let you know, Carnival is not my cruise line of choice, but when it is the only one leaving from San Juan on the dates that work, beggars can not be choosers. So with that said, my first priority is not to drink and party till dawn. Which a lot of people seem to do, as well as eat all hours of the day. But again this is just my ride down to see some beautiful places - or that's what I thought was all.

Let's put things to rest - yes, referb in 2011 - yes, I HATE the color of our room, that ugly orange - yes, the past cruises we have been on have been brand new - with all this being said, I tried my best not to compare apples to pineapples - you can not do that, and if you do, you end up complaining the whole cruise (and yes, we met some of those people). What I can tell you is from the moment we arrived in the cruise terminal the Carnival staff that I personally had contact with were kind, helpful, and attentive. Jose, our room steward, was awesome. We always had a clean room, always spoke, always smiled & gave us great ideas for some other trips. The safety drill was interesting. I have never been on a cruise ship so lax in making sure everyone (passengers) knows what they are doing. And yes, I know that I am probably the exception to the rule, but if any emergency should happen on a Cruise ship and you don't know where you are going and you bring your beer, drink and complain about standing - it was like how dare you interrupt my fun for this ... ugh, I digress. The ship was nice, things were easy to find, and getting to know the ship was easy as well. The shore excursions we took we enjoyed. There was a little bit of everything for everyone. The dining on board was nice, my husband thoroughly enjoyed the Guy's hamburgers. Dinners were nice, but the wait staff was delightful. We only had one evening with a head table waiter which you could tell - he was having a bad day and was over us and the table next to us. The buffet restaurant food was good as well - we usually ate there for breakfast & started our day from there. We have no kids so the children's club does not pertain to us. Entertainment - ok - this is one of those questions I want Carnival to answer - WHY? Why do your female dancers have to have their derrière showing! Yes, I know, kids see more on commercials but come on - what does showing off your backside allude to entertainment - oh yea, that would be stripping - and that is what I consider it to be. Just sad.

The 7 ports were great, embarking & disembarking always went smoothly. Read more