We have sailed with Carnival and also other cruise lines, so we are not new to cruising. We also knew that we would not be getting the same experience on a 5 night, over Thanksgiving, that we would get on a 7 day cruise. We decided to purchase the FTTF as our flight was arriving early and we could use the tender service and disembarkation features of the FTTF.

Checking in we got into the FTTF line and there was no one ahead of us, however the check in agents completely ignored us until I spoke up. We boarded the ship around 11:45 and went directly to our cabin. One of the stewards was there and was a little upset as the cabin was not ready (which is a benefit of FTTF) so we dropped our bags and went to the LIDO for lunch. The food was OK but the service was terrible. No one was picking up any dirty plates from tables and they were piled high everywhere. We dismissed that as first day confusion.

We had an outside cabin on the upper deck and it was clean. Very basic room with bed and on single chair, so not to comfortable to spend any extended time in but we knew that when we booked. Cabin had good storage space and a good size bathroom. Read more