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This was our family’s 3rd cruise (all w/Carnival) and we had a great time. We arrived in New Orleans around 11:00am and went straight to the port. We have sailed out of Tampa and Mobile, but this was the quickest embarkation process that we have had…took less than 30 minutes from the time we parked until we were eating lunch on the Lido deck. We had an oceanview room (M58) and it was ready by 1:30. For some reason, the room seemed a bit smaller than our previous cruises, but I think it was just the layout of the furniture and the wall bunks. Anyway, it was perfectly sufficient and our room steward was great.
On our sea days, we lounged by the pool, played mini-golf, enjoyed the new waterpark, and spent a little time in the casino. We went to both of the big production shows and they were pretty good…I think I liked the Beatles tribute a bit more than the Nightclub show, but I enjoyed them both. We also went to karaoke a couple nights and had a great time.
Our children (ages 3 and 8) went to Camp Carnival several times and enjoyed the activities they had there. However, I didn’t like the fact that you have to walk through a bar with lots of people smoking & drinking to get to Camp Carnival…very bizarre place to put it.
When we docked in Progreso, we took the $2 double-decker bus around town and then went on a city tour of Merida with AutoProgreso. We went to Chankanaab park for the day when we docked in Cozumel.
I guess the biggest disappointment for us on this cruise was the dining room food and service. The food was mediocre at best (desserts were the exception)…and some nights the food was just bad (lobster bisque was inedible). The best things that I had were the ribs and the lobster…which I would give a 6 or 7 out of 10. The desserts were delicious though…loved the grand marnier soufflé, the bitter and blanc, and the chocolate melting cake. Our service was the worst we’ve ever had on Carnival…a couple people at the table would get their food and then it would be ten minutes before everyone else at the table was served. It took forever to get our drinks re-filled or to be served bread, etc. A couple nights our desserts sat on the waiter’s tray so long that the ice cream was melted before we were served. It was little things like that…but those little things added up to a disappointing dining experience.
The disembarkation process went smoothly…we didn’t do the self-disembark since we had lots of luggage. I think we were off the ship and in our car by 9:30 or so.
Overall, we had a great time. The ship was clean, there was plenty to do, the weather was nice, and we were able to relax & enjoy ourselves. I’m sure we will plan another cruise w/in the next year or two…not sure if we will stick with Carnival though – we may try out another line just to see how they compare. However, I do think that for the price, Carnival is a great value.
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