Fre port has a few cruise shops near the ship. Then you need to take a tour or taxi to see what is available. We chose a taxi. He was a native and very informative. BUT.... there is nothing to see. Much much poverty. Storm damage from hurricanes that were many years ago. Millionaire row that is mutely advertised is a gate community and no one drives thru there. They drive next to a canal that is across from the houses. You see a castle of a millionaire but you have to park at the end of the driveway and stare at a house which is in the extreme distance. Beaches are close or private. Once famous hotels vacant and in foreclosure. Due to weather problems this is a port that Carnival substituted. Sooooo disappointing. Beach excursions.... water is cold and wind takes away much of the sunshine. The cruise ship itself is so cold. I am not talking about the weather. Rooms for entertainment and such were so cold, people wore sweaters and sweatshirts to dinner and entertainment. Entertainment is almost lacking.... PG comedy is far better than late night. And comedy acts only last 30 minutes total. . Couple trivia but you are basically on your own to entertain yourself on days at sea and sometimes in the evenings. Read Less

I was completely impressed with all aspects of this cruise. Embarkation was the easiest I have ever seen. We arrived at the port at 11:30 and were sitting down to eat at 12:30. Our bags were in the room at 2:15. All employees were cheerful, friendly and helpful. The food was delicious and served at the right temperature. The dining room service was outstanding. We had My Time Dining in the Fantasy Dining Room and never had to wait to be seated. We had a different server every evening and sat at a 7 place round table. The server called us each by name as they placed our plates down. Our tea glasses and water glassses were kept full. The night we had prime rib, we had lobster tail first, then my husband decided he wanted prime rib and asked for it, and it was cheerfully provided although the others at the table had finished and I'm sure it was an inconvenience. The waiters performed a song and dance each evening and it was fun and entertaining. The magician in the dining room was wonderful. Please note that NCL does not serve lobster without an upcharge. The standard steak was tender and flavorful without an upcharge. It was the first time I had eaten escargo and it was delicious. The Buffet had a great variety and really good food. The tables were always cleared. Best managed food service I have ever seen on any ship. The French toast was really good and on alternate days if the scrambled eggs weren't done enough for me, I got an ommelete which was really well prepared. Guest Services went beyond expectations. I had a situation with an excursion unrelated to Carnival and the guest services made a phone call from sea for no charge to help me resolve it. They were so nice, patient and helpful. There was a live for the shows and the dancers, singers and constumes were nice. The comedians were funny. The piano bar was in a nice room and the player/singer was very good. The margarita wasn't but the daiqeries were. The items in the gift shops were good quality and well priced. The attendant on the serenity deck was eager to do anything he could to make everyone comfortable. The lounge chairs had thick pads that were very comfortable. This was my favorite area of the ship to hang out in.   Read Less

Hi, my husband, son and I went on this cruise, first cruise for them, second cruise for me. This cruise came at the end of a 8 day Orlando family vacation. We rented a car both to and from Orlando to cocoa beach. It was very easy to drive there. (even with the tolls) We went to board the ship around noon and it did take awhile to get everything set up for the 3 of us. We then boarded and went to our room to unpack. We had a couple drinks, (they were expensive), and looked around. The cruise was very comfortable, but after 4 days there wasn't a lot to do on the ship. We went to the comedy show, and another dancing, singing show. We played mini golf, went to the adult hot tubs, did a little shopping. They have great deals on liquor and cigarettes on the ship that you can take home with you. We paid for a junior suite and I'm so glad we did. I wouldn't want to stay in a room any smaller. My husband smokes and it was very convenient for him to have the balcony. I should have paid more attention to the direction the boat was going in order to take advantage of the sunrises and sunsets. The bed was fantastic and I've never slept better. The room was in a great location in regards to the rest of the ship, everything was easy to get to. Our room steward was amazing and he took extra time to make our room even more wonderful, We enjoyed this room.  Our cabin steward was fantastic and we tipped him extra(we paid all our tips ahead of time) The elegant night was okay, the lobster was good. We tended to eat on the lido deck because we wanted to stay in shorts and sandals and relax. We met some really great people on the ship, both cruisers and those that were working on the ship. The cruisers were varied. There were families, couples, singles, young people and elderly. My husband and son both liked cruising enough to go on another one, and that was the whole idea of going on this one. Read Less

My husband and I only did a two day cruise because he wasn't to sure about it. He has never flown it been on a cruise before. He is very nerves about about things like that. The Embarkation process was a breeze. The guest services at embarkation were wonderful. When we got our room it was very clean. The bed was comfortable. The bathroom was small but I can understand that. The water in the shower would only stay hot for like 5 mins. The rooms a/c didn't work very good but was manageable. The cleaning services were very rude. We in our room on the first night and with out knocking they just opened up the door. They didn't apologize ever about the incident. So we just left the snoozing sign out side our door and of course they didn't listen to it. They came in anyways and cleaned but didn't even clean good. I had a few clothes on the floor and they were all on the bed even my WET bathing suit! When we asked for new bedding because ours was wet they completely ignored us. Guest services were rude also. They had a major attitude problem. I don't feel the need to tip the cleaning services because of what happened well guest services was rude about us not tipping. They didn't even apologize for what happened! I simple sorry would of been fine. We didn't eat in the dining room so I didn't feel the need to tip the service when I wasn't using it. They were rude about that to. They gave me the most eat shit look ever!! The food was alright. The buffet on the lido deck didn't have many options. They salad bar was pretty sad. The pizza tasted like cardboard. It was cold and hard. Guys burger joint was great though! Best hamburger I have ever ate. The drinks were alright. The drinks I had I couldn't hardly taste the alcohol and if I'm paying 9.00 a drink I want to be able to taste the liquor . My husband drank Budlight and they were hardly even cold. The bar tenders were not nice. I tried getting advice on which drink would be good and they were no help at all. The Serenity had a bar but it was never opened. It got aggravating having to walk down every time you wanted a drink. The stairs were also very slippery. I fell twice down them. I asked if they could be tried off. I would hate for a child or older adult to slip and fall. All they said was is can see what I can do. I don't think they ever got dried off. I always saw water on them . The water slides were never opened that we saw. My husband really wanted to try that. Every time we asked they would say I'm not sure. Like really? Come on! The demarkation was a night mare . So in organized. It took us 3 hours to get out! Overall we made it a good time. Didn't let the rude service get in the way! Will not be going on another carnival cruise though.   Read Less

I recently went on the 5 day cruise with 19 people and we had a blast ! The crew workers work non stop to make the people happy! The Food was good but it did mess with my stomach I'm guessing where I'm not use to eating that food! The Staff was awesome but I did have one at the pizza place that gave me a hard time. I had a beer in my hand sliding it on the table when I moved it their was a groove in the table that i didn't see and my beer spilled. TOTAL accident but he got the meanest look on his face and took him over thirty mins to clean it which I know they have to clean it good but he was being VERY sarcastic about it and then help other people while I was their still waiting for him to take my order. I never went back their again because that was VERY rude to me. Then we had a very loud DRUNK woman at the dinner table behind us that was getting lippy and talking about everyone at our table and no one did anything to her ( it was infront of her childern that was between 8 to 13 yrs old ) . Well we finally had to stand up and then came security and took out a person from our table instead on the woman that caused all the problems . You come on a ship to Have fun and enjoy not to be mean and destructive. Our waiters at the table where awesome and our outside waiter was great also. All and all a great trip but had allot of us felt sick the last day. I was on deck 4 Rivera at the very back of the ship and the room was great, but it seemed ever time I went down their their was a very strong feces smell coming for either the rooms or where the sewage is on the back of the ship, And it is very nosey back their when the boat ports it sounds like the whole thing is about to cave in. I'm not hard to please but I will never get a room on the back of the ship.s the boat swaying so much or food ? But I wouldn't do the 5 day again I would rather go to a resort and get everything FREE instead of pay a outrageous price on the alcohol their .       Read Less

First, let me say, that other than the food, the cruise was a 9.5 out of 10. We were pleasantly surprised with both the size of our room and the furnishings. Down comforters on the beds, two pillows per bed...and nice ones to boot. Shower was not only spotless clean, but had good water pressure. Things to do on the ship were nice, too. Although, you had to pay $10 per Bingo card or 3 for $20. There were lots of other seminars you could attend for free. The shore excursion lecture was a good one. Also, there was a free liquor tasting one night. WONDERFUL. I didn't know there was that much difference between Banana Rum from St. Thomas and Smirnoff. Glad I tasted the difference. Took the Blue lagoon shore excursion with the snorkeling. Best deal since sliced bread. Boat was an hour over there, then only an extra $10 to rent the equipment for all day. Wished we'd have been in Nassau for an extra 24 hours to shop, as we spent the day at the Blue Lagoon. Came back on the 4 P.M. boat instead of the 2 P.M. boat. Would have done it differently next time (taken the 2 P.M. one so could have had more shopping time.) Be careful of the taxi drivers in Freeport. We were with a group of 3. $5 per person into town and the guy handed the taxi driver a $20 expecting $5 change. The taxi driver put it into his pocket and said, "Thanks for the tip." Don't forget that you can take the gratuities off your cruise bill and tip individuals. No questions asked. Next time, we won't take beach towels, as nice ones are provided by the cruise lines. Food was OK, but nothing to write home about. We had a late seating...8:30 P.M. and the first 3 nights, until we complained, didn't get out of there until after 10:30 P.M.! We did have lobster, salmon, Chateau Bria (however you spell it), Prime Rib, and other lavish desserts. Evening meals were good, but daytime meals were just OK. Only thing that was 24 hours was pizza. We called for room service (free service) and the wait was over an hour so we canceled it. Email me with other questions. Overall, it was a great cruise. People were nice. Read Less

This was a great ship, the embarkation took 1 hour, and we had our picture taken on the way onto the ship. The service was wonderful, the rooms are exceptionally clean. We had cool windy weather, but there was enough to entertain yourself. The entertainment was super. They had an american idol contest on board, and we were hooked. We followed 3 nights in a row, and the passengers were really, really talented. We had a balcony, and had our breakfast delivered every morning on time. They gave us plush bathrobes to wear while we were aboard, they had blowdryers, and lovely welcome aboard baskets, with razors and rolaids, shampoo, and bath gel. The food was excellent, and so were the waiters. The decor was done in a crazy carnivale theme, a little overdone, but, our money was well spent. They had great deli sandwiches at the pool, and the grilled rubens were the best ever. They also had sushi bars. It was a wonderful trip. This was our first cruise on carnival, and we usually use the Royal Caribbean line. This was our 5th cruise and it was everything we could have asked for. The ship was a little rocky, but with all the fun we had we hardly felt the rocking. The ports of call were great too. Cozumel, Costa Maya, Freeport. Get your pool chairs early because they go fast, and plan to have the time of your life. On the way out, you could use the express method, if you could carry all your own bags, and you can get off the ship right away. This saves much time for the disembarkation process, which can be timely. I rate this ship a definite 10. If I could go again tomorrow, it would be on the Carnivla Miracle. We loved everything about it. Read Less