We were invited to go on this cruise with another couple. Our most recent cruises have been on Celebrity (Baltic Sea), Holland America (Eastern Med/Black Sea & Caribbean) and Princess (Alaska), and I had a vision of Carnival cruises as college kids on Spring Break, and lots and lots of kids. While there was some of that, I was very pleasantly surprised. The ship was nicer than expected, and the staff did a great job of entertaining the children in separate areas of the ship most of the time. It certainly was a younger clientele than other cruises, but that was not all bad! Nice sports bar, too!
The food was good - not great, but good - and the service was also. We did eat at the up-charge restaurant one night and it was quite good; very much worth the $30/pp extra. The service, food and presentation was equivalent to a very nice restaurant on land, at least the night we were there.
Unfortunately, like all the other lines, they are always trying to increase their bottom line by gouging on drinks and even soft drinks. This is the only ship we have been on that actually will not allow you to buy a bottle of liquor and consume it on the balcony that you pay them quite a bit extra for.
We had an "Ocean Suite" at the stern of the ship (5264). Double balcony, about 300 sf of cabin space, dressing area, whirlpool tub, etc. The relatively inexpensive rates on this ship make this accommodation quite affordable and well worth the few extra dollars. Shop around!