My wife and I have cruised 12 times before,from Norwegian,Princess,Royal Caribbean,P.O and Carnival twice before.Embarkation was a breeze,on the ship in half an hour,the best ever,debarkation was the same,hats off to Carnival.The first thing we noticed was the atrium,it was the smallest and least impressive of any ship we have been on,very dissapointing.Our cabin was fine,larger than expected and spotless,as was the ship.One of the problems with cruising before is that you cant help but compare with other ships you have been on and Carnival fell short in several areas.On the down side was the food,the buffet was very poor,you could not get a hot meal for love nor money except for food cooked to order,ie omelletes or something from the wok.The service was also poor,there was roast beef on one night and it was rare,we asked for a piece off the joint which was well done and the server shrugged her shoulders and said it was all rare.We then asked to see a supervisor and she blanked us and gestured for us to move to move down the line,it was only when several other people complained that a fresh joint was brought in.The dining room was equally poor,the food was warm at best,often cold and the service was dreadful,it was not uncommon to wait 25 minutes to be served.I dont know the reasons for this,perhaps understaffing as the staff seemed to be under alot of pressure.As regards the public lounges and bars they were definitely smaller and less of them than any other ship we had been on,there was no cigar lounge,sports bar or jazz lounge.I got the impression alot of space had been sacrificed to pack more cabins in.With regard to the entertainment,some of it was spectacular,such as the main shows,several of the comedians were also very good.The lounge entertainers,in our opinion,ranged from good to dreadful,apart from Damien the pianist/singer who should be thrown overboard and Papa T who should be renamed Crapper T.One final point on the food should you think Im exagerrating---I was served undercooked cold turkey one night in the dining room,the Maitre D agreed and when I pointed out to her that uncooked poultry was dangerous she said that should I feel ill I would get free medical care-----FACT.All in all a mixed bag,fantastic itinerary,some great entertainment,some very good meals(in the steak house) and lots of nice staff,mainly of oriental background(thais,fillipinos etc).