We booked the trip for a birthday cruise. We were scheduled to go to the eastern Caribbean but due to Hurricane Rina, the itinerary was changed at the last minute to the western Caribbean. Was pretty disappointed but knew Mexico would be a soggy mess. We ended up having beautiful weather. The food was good in certain areas, like the Pasta Bar and the Chef's Art Steakhouse (do NOT miss this), the Grill and though we didn't try it, the Bar-B-Q on the Lanai looked delicious. Our room steward was perfect. Really. The room was spotless and stayed spotless. He was always there. For the birthday, he made 3 towel animals. We were originally scheduled for the late dinner seating but that didn't work for us so we were immediately moved to the early seating. We also booked an excursion and we were able to cancel it the morning it was scheduled. I know Carnival has a strict policy on this but they were extremely gracious and we received a full refund. It may have been due to the change in itinerary that they were so flexible. There's a saying that it is much cheaper to keep an old customer than to court a new one. Because Carnival made our trip so pleasurable, we would definitely cruise with them again. We are not professional cruisers and learn something new each time. We bought insurance for the first time on this trip because of so much bad weather. Turns out, you may need it for a medical emergency which happened twice on our cruise. One was airlifted out by the Coast Guard and the second was dropped off in Nassau, Bahamas on an emergency stop. The Captain kept us informed which was appreciated. We didn't attend the shows but played in the arcade and volleyball on the 12th deck which was fun.
