Carnival's reputation made us avoid them for 35 years, but heard a positive report recently and gave in so we could drive vs. fly.

FOOD: I have always said I'm not particular about my food; that I like almost everything. Give me a cold piece of fried chicken and I'm happy. I like vegetables crisp or soggy, ditto salad lettuce. I'm the ultimate easy guy to cook for. Carnival's dining room and buffet food failed to reach even my standards. This took a few days to recognize, but in the entire cruise I never saw one piece of beef, pork or chicken that was a recognizable cut, either in the dining room or on the buffet. A supposed 6 oz filet Mignon was no more than 3 oz and had membranes running through it, separating it into sections. A real filet has no such membranes. In a moment of candor, pieces of pork the size of pork chops on the buffet were not labelled pork chops, just pork. They looked like they had been sawn by an untrained new hire. It is as if Carnival buys plastic bags of pieces that are not sent to our grocery stores. Lobster, however was quite good, as were custom cooked omelets in the mornings. Guy's Burger Joint also puts out terrific hamburgers, so I found myself living on hamburgers and omelets. One evening after I was really tired of all this, I rejected everything except a little lettuce and a piece of broccoli. This and vomiting are excellent ways to lose weight and I lost four pounds on the cruise, the first time in 25 cruises I have not gained weight. Dining room service was not equal to that on other cruise lines. There is only one waiter to serve you; no bus boy. As a result, the traditional duties of a bus boy - empty plate clearing, coffee pouring, water refilling, condiment delivery, etc. were all neglected. The waiters are overworked. I am not being picky here. I would never go back to any restaurant with service like we had. It's not like we only go to hoity toity places. Among our places are Outback, barbeque joints, On The Border and no name Mexican restaurants, neighborhood home cooking places, etc. All have better service.

FOOD POISONING: The third night, I awoke sick at 3:45 and vomited. I did that three more times by 5:00 am. Once I was empty I felt perfectly fine, strong evidence of unsafe food. Read more