My wife and I decided to book a cruise for our birthdays which are on consecutive days. We have sailed Carnival twice before but the past 3 cruises we took were on RCL and NCL.We got a good deal and an upgrade to an obstructed view and anytime dining which we prefer.The cabin was nicer than we had expected and the room steward Panya,was great, always acknowledging any of our requests quickly and courteously and always greeting us by name and with a smile.That's about as good as this review is going to get because the rest of our experience was less than acceptable.
Try the buffet? Not so much. There is not enough hand sanitizing stations available and always long lines for hamburgers and hot dogs at The Horizon bar and grill. I can eat that at home. The pizza was average for a cruise line and the sandwich station was down sized in portion sizes from my last trip on the Glory. Almost anytime we went to the Seaview Bistro, it was in transition or closed. Not a big deal because when we did eat there it wasn't very good anyway. On our first night we went to dinner in the Pride dining room. The entire staff seemed uninterested in our dining experience. It took over two ours two hours from start to finish to be served an unmemorable meal.After dinner we went to guest services to complain and ask if we could be moved to the Spirit dining room but was told quite rudely that she couldn't do any thing about that and that we would have to track down the maitre de to see if he could change it. At breakfast the next morning I was told I couldn't wear a sleeveless t shirt in the dining room. This was understandable so I complied. We asked if we could sit by a window and were told we would have to share a table even though the dining room was empty.At dinner the next night,the staff allowed diners in t shirts, ripped jeans,booty shorts and tube tops.This was formal night. We saw a little change in the staff from the night before,possibly because it was formal night,but still not up to the service we have received on other cruises. The service did improve a little more on the next night. Could it be that before dinner we received our preliminary bill explaining the gratuity charges?
Enough about the dining pleasures. Let me tell you about the entertainment.The cruise director, Karl with a K, was annoying and as unfunny as I have ever seen.You really shouldn't laugh that hard at your own jokes.I'm not a person that goes on cruises for the shows, but I will watch one if it is well done and entertaining. I have been to high school productions that were better than these. We had a good time in the Xanadu lounge with the karaoke. The passengers on this cruise were very entertaining.The comedian who does his show for about 25 minutes was more vulgar than funny. Frat boy stuff. The piano bar felt like a dive bar and the rest of the clubs on the ship were kind of passe.Nothing to get excited about. Don't fall for the prizes they offer in the spa during sail away.After the sales pitch they give away the raffled off prizes which are discounts for spa services that they offer.You can get the same discounts when the ship is in port. The spa itself is kind of small.The rest of the public areas are nice but if you read,bring a book. The library has one cabinet with about 50 books and another with a set of encyclopedias.I really enjoyed the Serenity deck. No kids, two hot tubs and quiet.I wanted to try the water slide but the only day I found it open the line was extremely long. When we got home we wrote a letter to Carnival explaining our situation only to receive a stock reply,with a mild apology and saying they would inform the proper authorities. Needless to say its back to NCL for our next cruises in December 2009 and February and September 2010. Avoid the Imagination at all costs.It's not worth the savings.
