.....That said, this was certainly not our finest cruise experience. This was our 7th cruise, the 6th on Carnival. We had a small group of 10 adults to celebrate a family milestone, and the group included some first time cruisers. Although everyone had fun, we were disappointed on several levels, including the cabin, the service and the dining experience. The biggest detractor was the terrible embarkation melee and being delayed 8 hours. If this had been my first Carnival cruise I'm not sure I would be all that excited to re-book with Carnival.

Embarkation Nightmare

Ship was significantly delayed getting into Tampa from the previous sailing due to fog, and did not arrive in port until 6:00 PM. Meanwhile we were sitting in the cruise terminal for 8 hours with very little information forthcoming. We were not able to board until 9:30 PM, and the ship did not sail until 12:30 AM. This certainly put a damper on festivities! Carnival issued each person a $40 credit, which seems a little stingy, considering we missed out on half a day. Read more