This was mine and my husband's very first cruise. We embarked at New Orleans Port and were on the boat pretty quickly. We had a couple of delays getting out of the port, but weren't real concerned with that aspect. Once we got going, we sailed right into tropical depression lee and didn't get out of it until we were in Mexico. It was gorgeous in Cozumel and enjoyed the day mainly sticking to the boardwalk area. Once we left, we now sailed into tropical storm lee. The ship was up and down, back and forth. You didn't need to drink any alcohol to experience feeling drunk, but that is the chance you take when you sail in the middle of hurricane season. The staff was absolutely amazing. Our room steward "Molly" kept our room looking immaculate every day, twice a day. The rest of the staff was ALWAYS smiling and saying "good morning". Only one bartender had a scowl and a bad attitude (one of thousands of employees).
The food was pretty good, the service in the main dining halls was impeccable. We chose any time dining, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The warm melting chocolate cake was the best thing I have ever eaten, and my husband thought the same thing.
Our only problem was that when we were ready to disembark, we were late (4:45 p.m instead of 8 a.m.)getting into port due to weather conditions, and they closed the Mississippi river until Monday morning. This caused chaos with people shoving their way off the boat instead of waiting to be called by decks. This was my only problem with this cruise. The fact that they did nothing to correct the problem was more than irritating. We waited for over 4 hours before we could get off the boat and then had to drive 6 hours to get home. I felt sorry for those who missed their plane, or had to go to school or work the next morning. In the future, I may choose to go with a different cruise line to have something to compare Carnival against. I loved cruising and am looking forward to my next adventure.
