Although an older ship due for dry dock, the Miracle was still a lovely, clean, and inviting ship to be on. (I do hope that they replace the mattresses in the cabins, though, during the dry dock. They weren't very comfortable). The crew was amazing--helpful to elderly and disabled and very friendly and accommodating. The activities and entertainment was varied and enjoyable. Some of the comedians were just so-so, but others were great, so evened out. I would not rave about the food. It was just okay in both the Lido and the Dining Room. The best meals were at the Sea Day Brunch. Hawaii ports offered plenty to do, although several of them were not the most scenic - we docked in industrial terminals. I will definitely consider sailing on this ship again after it is refreshed. It was so easy to figure out the layout and get to all the venues with very little crowding and few lines. Read Less

We wanted to do something special for birthdays in the family, two of them in December during the cruise. We headed to Hawaii but might as well have flown. 4 sea days there and back were horrible. The second we stepped on deck, we smelled cigarette smoke, as smoking is permitted on Deck 2, indoors. There is really no way around it if you want to go to the casino, trivia events, or get on or off the ship. When we went to our stateroom, we found the toilet smelled disgusting, as it had not been cleaned because of the short turnover time between the last cruise and ours. They scrubbed it the next day and it was okay. The housekeepers are over worked, so they also get into such a routine they don’t check for when you run low on toilet paper or shampoo. We learned the Carnival Fun Hub app was also disappointing. We paid $5 per person for a chat feature that rarely worked. The app crashes more often than it works. Most importantly, we were told we would reach Oahu, Maui, Kona, and Hilo at given times. However, the organization was horrible. We left the ship 2 hours late each day, except for the last. We needed to leave the ship using tenders at Kona, but no one announced that we needed to obtain tickets to get off the ship or where to get them. A couple had their excursions cancelled because they couldn’t get off the ship on time even when prioritized. They weren’t allowed off the ship early, but had to take a ticket and wait, but they were not told this; they heard it from a fellow passenger. The Bacchus dining room is poorly lit and garish, it is filled with a theme of round purple lights and grape leaves everywhere. The gym is located in the front of the ship on Deck 9, one of the bumpiest places on the ship. Everyone on the treadmills was walking slowly or running while holding on. Being on a stationary bike was like biking while drunk. The entertainment on board was over much yet not enough. Every sea day, there were “wellness seminars,” trivia, games, lectures about Hawaii, or bands playing. There were different shows at night. They paid attention to the fun aspect much more than other aspects. The Carnival Miracle also has Park West Gallery on board, advertising marked up prices for so-so artists and their “hand embellished” art. These are printed paintings with dabs of paint added to them. Read Less

14 days to Hawaii- Lots of sea days, but they had activities. If no activity you slept, ate, read, gambled, drank, swam, sunbathed, or people watched. Ports---Hilo, Honolulu, and Maui were fine and we got to see what we wanted in our rental car. Hilo and Maui were industrial ports so nothing was near by the port. The shore excursions were more expensive over the Caribbean and Mexican Rivera ports Carnival goes too. We had found it cheaper to rent a car at each port and explore on our own. As for Kona it was a joke to get off and on. We only saw got to see what was near the Kona pier/port. The staff was unorganized and they couldn't get people on and off the lifeboats (that they used as tenders). Thankfully there was no real emergency and the life boats weren't needed, because they could not load us all properly that day. We will have to go back to Kona by flight, so we can actually visit the places we wanted to see. Staff--Our dining room staff was amazing (Christopher, Jeffery and Ni Made) as were the room stewards (Arnold and Tosa).The Hawaiian ambassadors (Temehani and Kalehua) were so kind, helpful and had tons of patience to teach Hula, ukulele, crafts, the songs, and the sayings. The Naturalist (Linda) was full of information and great! She was always on deck looking for wildlife, the stars, etc. Academy of Fun (Steven) was okay. He had some interesting information, but was so scripted and had same jokes time after time. Miracle----Ship needs some upgrades, but overall a nice size and layout. Ship was kept clean. They were always swiping the handrails, casino machines, tables, or moping the floors. Our cabin was clean and accommodated 4 adults. One day our phone was strange at 2:45 AM - 911 called and asked if we needed help?! Ummm, no we are sleeping since we go into port tomorrow!? After that call the phone quit working all together. I couldn't call guest services, so I just unplugged the phone and walked it to the desk. They sure were quick to replace/fix it! Entertainment---The shows were okay; we have seen them before, so nothing new. Fun Staff was okay. We didn't connect with any like previous cruises. Food---Who doesn't like 24 hour ice cream/yogurt?!?! The food was good. I didn't have any problems with flavors,etc. If you do not see anything on the dining room menu- order from kids menu, we did! Company---The cruise line states they are trying to be green. They have a sign to recycle your towels, ok we can do that! Yet they sent so many papers to remind you to purchase this and that- we got at least 2-3 papers a day plus the Fun Times! Also we took photos- we trashed a lot and never found some, so that was more trash. They need to find a better way to track your photos to your sail and sign card. Disembarkation in Long Beach ----was unorganized once off ship and in the terminal. We got our zone number called, walked off the ramp into the terminal to get luggage in the zone and that is where it went down hill. First we got in the wrong line for the porter because the sign was in wrong place. Once in correct place, we waited a while for a porter to come. Overall I enjoyed the cruise. I would go on a cruise again, but not to Hawaii. Need to explore other ports- maybe the Southern Caribbean, Panama Canal, Alaska or Europe. Read Less

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2709491-review-miracle-journeys-cruise-to-hawaii-oct-19-nov-2-with-pics/ Howdy all! My wife and I just recently returned from a two week journeys cruise on the Carnival Miracle to Hawaii out of Long Beach, Ca. This was a bucket list cruise for my wife and I, and a new experience for us as we have cruised exclusively to Caribbean destinations prior to this. A note on pre-trip prep (and this will be a common theme for the first week of Vacation), I live on EST. My body does not care what day it is, or if I am on vacation, it just knows that I need to be up at 5:30 am, and by 9 PM I am rapidly running out of steam. Seriously, I am the type that goes to Vegas for conferences, and I am usually in bed at 7PM local time, and up, dressed, and at the poker table around 3 am. This became a running joke around my house in the weeks leading up to the vacation. If my wife and I were watching TV and falling asleep around 9:30 PM, I would look at her and casually mention that “In Hawaii, it’s 3:30 PM. That Luau you booked doesn’t start for another two hours, or end for another five…” As such, the Monday before departure, I stayed up to watch Monday night football (Lions/Packers) and got to bed around midnight. This didn’t work as I had hoped for, as I was still up at 5:30 am, and proceeded to drag butt through a day of work, frantic last minute travel stuff, and crashing around 9 on Tuesday…. Pre-Cruise Hotel: While a lot of people in our cruise critic group were staying at the Queen Mary, it just wasn’t for me personally. We decided to splurge a little bit and stayed at the Hotel Maya. It can get a little pricey when you start loading up on the upgrades (balcony, top floor, harbor view), but I do not regret it. The grounds themselves are simply fantastic. If you have the means, I highly recommend staying here for your pre-cruise night. We arrived at 1 PM and were a tad early for a room check-in. They stored our bags for us and let us use the free shuttle to head into town. My wife wanted to grab a few things (sunscreen, tide pods) and I was looking for 12 packs of soda. The driver dropped us off at a local super market where my wife quickly found what she was after, but alas they did not have my soda of choice. After walking a few miles up and down the main drag and stopping to grab a late lunch, I finally had to concede that finding a 12 pack of cans of diet mt dew was just not in the cards and I settled instead for regular dew (screw it, I’m on vacation!). Rather than call for the shuttle and wait for him to arrive, we decided to call an Uber back to the hotel (16 min/$12.37). We were pretty tired when we got back to our room, so we showered and relaxed on the balcony to read and communicate with people back home. From our room, we had a view of the current carnival ship in port (Imagination? Fascination?), and were able to watch it leave port. I think we passed out around 8 PM local time. Here’s the funny part. I got up later, convinced it was the morning of the cruise. I grabbed something to drink and went to the balcony to see if the Miracle was in port yet. It wasn’t, so I went back in the room, which was when I glanced at the clock. The time? 11:30 PM…. Departure Day (YEAH!!!) Wife and I woke up early (surprise surprise!), showered and got repacked. We ordered breakfast from room service (which was fabulous!), and relaxed and waited for checkout. Our check-in time for the boat was 12:30. We did have priority status, but I was not sure how far that would get us on a journeys cruise. We were initially set for an 11:00 shuttle, but instead of getting there early and risk standing in line for 90 minutes, I asked to be on the noon shuttle. We checked our baggage at the hotel, and walked the grounds, eventually coming to rest at one of the many outdoor patio areas, where my wife got in one last phone/internet fix while I read a few chapters. We eventually made our way back to the lobby, where I noticed several people with baggage and carnival luggage tags boarding a shuttle. Thinking it was our shuttle (turned out to be the 11:30 but they let us on anyway), we grabbed our bags and got on. I made a crack about “So, is everyone going to the aquarium?” which garnered several laughs, but confused the heck out of the one group that happened to actually be going to the Long Beach Aquarium. I got to chatting with a couple from Houston, and before we knew it, we were at port! (YEAH!!) Apparently they DO have priority boarding on journeys cruises. Upon handing our luggage off to the porters, a woman greeted us at the terminal, took a look at our tickets, and ushered us to a line with nobody in it. We breezed through security (though my travel luggage scale of all things, gave them pause), and we were on board inside of 10 minutes of being dropped off. We made our way to Lido to grab a bite and wait for the 1:30 room call. I found a new (to me) item that I really enjoyed – popcorn chicken! We grabbed a couch/table on the serenity deck and relaxed (carryon with two 12 packs was getting heavy!). At 1:30, we got the announcement that the cabins were open. We made our way to our room to drop off our bags and did a little exploring of the ship. Coming back to our room, we found my wife’s luggage waiting. My bag arrived shortly after, so we got unpacked and relaxed on the balcony for a bit to await the muster drill. I have to say, the corner vista suites on the spirit class ships are my new favorite rooms! It has a long entry way, into a living room, with a dressing room, a large bathroom, and a separate bedroom. Then there is my favorite part: the LARGE balcony! We had two loungers, two normal chairs, and a table, and there was room for double that! I spent a lot of time out there, both during the day and at night. Soon it was time for the muster drill. A muster drill on a smaller boat in October is a lot nicer than a large boat in June. It went quick, I wasn’t herded in like cattle, and I wasn’t slowly cooking in the sun. We were down, through the drill, and back to our room in no time. After watching the sail away from our balcony, we decided to explore the boat some more. We ended up in the skybox sports bar, where we watched some college football (Michigan/Penn State was the big game on). The sports bar is actually rather nice, but they do not utilize it properly (more on that later in the week). We then made our way to the MDR (we had YTD). We do not usually do the MDR, but decided to give it another try. Our experience this time did not change our minds. The service was not very good. It took a long time to get menus and a long time to get our order in. We never got the bread or water refills (we did not have a pitcher like on other tables), and the service was generally slow. I will say that the food was great! My wife tried a strawberry bisque, which was excellent (though I was sad to not see it again), and my roast was great. After dinner, we walked the deck, toured the boat some more, and then the “Time Zone Effect” started to kick in, so we headed back to the room and eventually passed out. The first leg of our cruise was four consecutive sea days. Before I begin, let me back up a tad. The day before departure I was reading the LA Times. They were reporting how the power companies would be shutting off power to some towns north of LA due to expected high winds over the weekend possibly knocking over power polls and starting fires. (Fast forward to the first full sea day). I slept like a log through the night, but when I got up in the morning, I didn’t feel right. I went out to the balcony, and my large balcony seemed awfully small. I felt like I was bouncing around pretty good, and could suddenly imagine, with clarity, exactly how it is that some people accidentally go overboard. I went back inside to take a shower, which proved to be very difficult as I had to cling to the safety rail with one arm and wash up with the other. I got dressed and tuned to the ship channel where I saw the ship reading 70 mph winds coming from our starboard-aft corner. We decided to try the sea-day brunch and headed down to the MDR, meanwhile I was feeling worse and worse. I ordered a standard breakfast (eggs, toast, hash, and bacon) which looked delicious. However, I took one bite of bacon, one bite of hash, and I was done. This was probably a smart move, since as my wife stated multiple times (while doing a poor job of hiding evil glee) that I was looking “green around the gills”. Her astute diagnosis was confirmed as we left the dining room and I saw faces that were sympathetic (and probably concerned for their own clothing) as I walked by. We decided it was probably best if we head to the carnival shop and pick up some Dramamine (They actually had Bonine instead). We took the “long” way to get there, by way of lido deck. On the walk, I noticed that all the pools were drained with netting over them. My sickness addled brain actually thought this was because it was mid 70s and too cold to swim. After obtaining the meds (there was a line of people buying the same thing), we headed back to the room, took the meds and had a seat. Now, I had never been seasick. I grew up boating on lakes in MI, and have taken several Caribbean cruises with no ill effects. This was completely new to me. I’ll explain it like this: it was almost identical to a bad migraine, with the very notable exception of having no light sensitivity problems (which was the only reason I was sure that it wasn’t a migraine). If you are reading this, you do not know me, but I can tell you unequivocally that what happened next was so NOT in line with my personality: I became miserable and despondent. I was bereft of reason. Ignoring the fact that rather large winds were buffeting the ship, I began to wonder if this was because we were at the back of the boat (had never booked there before), or if the Pacific was always like this (had never sailed it before). At one point, I actually had the thought (that I only later shared with my wife) that there was no way I was going to sail back from HI to CA for 4 days, and that as soon as we got to HI, I was going to look into booking flights back to LA. Yeah, it was bad. I eventually retired to the bedroom and lay down. This of course is when I began to worry that I was going to ruin the cruise for my wife, before I looked over to see her sleeping as well. This is when I finally gave in (note: not “up” but “in”) and I SLEPT! I now look at the whole sea sickness shenanigans as a blessing. For the first time in a few years, I actually felt rested when I awoke. The “time zone effect” was over for the duration of the vacation. The seas were once again calm and I truly began to enjoy my vacation. When speaking of this later with fellow passengers, the rumor was that we had over 20 foot swells, which sounds like a lot to my untrained ear, but the rest of the cruise was smooth sailing. The other three sea days were great! We did do some trivia. Saw some shows. Walked around the boat and just generally relaxed (and of course ate too much!). I discovered that the popcorn chicken that I loved so much, was actually full sized chicken tenders when you got them fresh, so that was my NEW new favorite. I tried a couple of times to get a Texas Holdem game going, but as usual on these cruises (with the computerized tables and the LARGE rake), there was very little interest. It just could not have been a more relaxing time. We had no internet, no TV, no Phone, work, email, kids, Facebook, etc. We just had each other. I know some couples that would dread this. For us, it rejuvenated, re-energized, and reinvigorated us to realize that we had nothing anymore to take our focus away from just being “us”. Anyway, on to Maui! I personally call the three islands we are visiting, the “Goldilocks Islands”. By that, I mean that Oahu has the bigger city, is slightly faster paced, and more touristy. Kona/Hilo seems slower paced, almost rural. Maui, on the other hand, to me, falls somewhere in between and is “juuust right!” There are some larger towns, and some wide open spaces. Large green mountains shoot through the clouds and into the sky to paint a beautiful backdrop. If I were to ever pull up stakes and move to Hawaii, the island of Maui would be my choice to plant my flag. Getting off the boat was quick, easy, and painless. The port is more industrial than it is touristy, and it showed. The “terminal” that you walk through is all gray metal and concrete. There is an area right outside the “terminal” where it looked like tours were meeting and cabs were waiting. If you are walking to the street to hit the stores (or in our case, the car rental agency), you have to continue on walking between fenced off areas to get to the main road and it is a bit of a hike. Our plans today were to rent a car and drive around. We had pre-purchased tickets to the Maui Ocean Center and had tickets to the old Lahaina luau for dinner. There are two rental car agencies right outside the port. The distance from the port entrance is about half of the distance from the cruise ship itself to the port entrance. I had booked a car rental through Enterprise months in advance. I would highly recommend this, as the price that I heard some paying in the lobby were 50-100% higher than what I paid. The process to get the car went pretty quick and smooth, especially considering the crush of cruise passengers flooding the agency. We made a quick stop at a gas station for a beverage, took a minute to get the top down on the car, hooked up the android auto app on my phone to the car for GPS directions, and we were underway! Which reminds me, if you are renting a car, be sure to bring a charging cord for your phone! Aside from the obvious benefit of charging, a lot of these cars need the direct connection so that they can integrate and display the turn by turn directions. First stop was the Maui Ocean Center. This is not a long drive from the port (maybe 15 minutes). Carnival had an excursion for this, but once it was decided that we were renting a car, we simply booked the tickets ourselves online. The Maui Ocean Center is an aquarium complex. If you are an aquarium junkie as my wife is, it has everything most aquarium complexes have, just a little bit more and a little bit better. There are loads of exhibits, both inside and out, with tons of colorful and interesting fish, as well as sharks, turtles, and everything else. They also have plenty of real live people around that were eager to answer questions and tell stories about what they do there. We also caught a 3-D humpback whale experience, which was better than I thought it would be. After the aquarium, we decided to head up the coast to Lahaina. The drive was awesome! I know a lot of people will talk about taking the northern route. This is not for me! That route is very curvy, with single lane roads. I have heard the views are great, but I would never know as I am sure my knuckles would be white and I would be too focused on driving to actually see any of it. I’ve seen the pictures, they look great, and that’s good enough for me! The southern route is a very wide, two lane road, taken at a leisurely 50 MPH. The views there are breath taking as well! As an added bonus, they have a couple of scenic overlooks where you can park and take pictures at leisure. Here’s another tip. If you decide to drive with the top down, and your hair is a little thin up top, either wear a hat or use some sunscreen! It was a tad painful brushing my hair for a couple days after…. We were a few hours early, so we parked in the downtown shopping district and did some walking. First we headed to the public beach. We did not do any swimming, but the walk was nice and the beach was relatively quiet. I had never seen sand crabs before, but they were in abundance here. I was simply mesmerized by how fast those suckers can move! We then proceeded to the shopping district. It looks like any touristy type shopping district you would find in the Caribbean, but there was one important difference. My wife found a shop that had a lot of flowery dresses. You know the type as they are all over every shop in the Caribbean (and my Wife’s closet), and usually go for $20 - $50. The first one she found, that to me looked no different than others, had a price tag of $1,300. Overall, I did enjoy the walk. The weather was nice and the town was hopping with tourists. Next up, was the luau we had booked. What Hawaiian vacation is complete without attending at least one luau? We did some research into this, as the official offerings from the boat seemed a little sparse, and we settled on the “Old Lahaina Luau”. It is a more traditional luau, with a classic show, and does not have the fire twirlers like you see on TV, so if that is a must have, this is not for you. However, I can tell you that it was fantastic! Book your tickets online as far out as you can, as they do tend to sell out. The luau was scheduled for 5:15 and we arrived a tad early. Upon check-in, they give you a traditional ley and escort you to your assigned table. There are around 70 tables, each holding about 8 guests, set in a semi-circle around the central stage. Before dinner begins, you are free to roam around the grounds, take in the various areas that show how coconut is prepared, poi is made, a talk on Hawaiian history, all while walking along the shore watching the sun set. Oh, and I should probably mention that they have an open bar with a rum punch that was great! In a bit of a statistical anomaly, seated at our table were 3 other couples all from the Miracle, 2 of which had vista rooms like ours. They were from LA, TX, and MI and were all very nice and the lively conversation made the dinner even better. Our assigned server had a long Hawaiian name, but we were told to call him “Tim”. He was extremely friendly and a great server. The dinner itself is served buffet style. It contained a bunch of different foods including fish, steak, chicken and poi, with rice and veggies, (all of which I made sure to try) but the main attraction was the pork! Definitely get the pork, it was so delicious! After dinner, they serve a tray with assorted desserts. The highlight for me was the banana bread with an in-house butter that was to die for. They give you a bag of bread when you leave to take with you, which became my breakfast the next morning. Near the end of the meal, and during desert, they start the show on the center stage. As stated, it is a traditional show, with dozens of talented dancers and was very captivating. I only grabbed one bad picture, but between the food, the show, and the lively conversation with my table mates (not to mention the rum punch!), I did not think to grab more pictures. When booking this luau, that is not Carnival official, you will get some naysayers telling you that you are cutting it close and you may miss the boat, etc. Allow me to give you an official timeline to help allay some fears and stress. The boat was set to leave port at 11:00 with a back on board time of 10:30. We left the luau at 8:12, calmly drove back to the port area, stopped at a Costco to fill up the tank, returned the car, walked to a Long’s drug store to buy another 12 pack (side note: Long’s is EVERYWHERE on the islands, like Starbucks in Seattle), walked back to the boat, took a quick shower and changed, and were sitting on our balcony by 9:32. Oahu Today, our plan was to visit Pearl Harbor, then do some shopping and hit up Waikiki beach for some swimming. We looked at doing the Carnival Excursion, but opted to get to PH ourselves. Tickets are purchased online for only $1 and you have to schedule a time to be there (we had an 11 AM time-slot). Our cruise Facebook group was most helpful in alerting us when the tickets for our date became available. Originally, before I became addicted to Uber, I was thinking of taking the city bus (“The Bus” as they call it on Oahu), however the ship had some kind of delay getting us released and everyone was late getting off of the ship. To complicate matters further, the line to get off was long and winding. We got in line in the atrium (which was where you got off and didn’t seem too bad), but then the line wound down the hall, through the casino (which caused a lot of non-smokers to complain and I understand), through the coffee bar lobby, into the theater, to the stage, back out to the lobby and all the way back to where you started, just to get off. Honestly, I thought the line moved along pretty well, but there was a lot of grumbling and a lot of people were nervous that they were going to miss their activities. I did hear that many did not make their appointment time at PH. Once we got off the boat and through the terminal (which is just as nice as Long Beach), we were able to grab an Uber just outside the doors. (25 minutes / $24.09) We arrived at PH with 15 minutes to spare. They do not allow you to bring anything in with you except your phone and a very small purse. They do have lockers available there if you do need them, but I would recommend that you leave everything on the ship. My wife just tucked her ID and S&S card in her phone case and we were set. At your appointment time, you are ushered into a theater where they show you a movie on the history of PH with a focus on the attack. I found this both interesting and moving. After the movie, you are then ushered to a small ferry boat that takes you out to the Arizona memorial. Your group gets dropped off, and the group that was there, gets on the boat to head back. You get about 20 minutes to walk around and read about the Arizona, before the next group comes and you are taken back to shore. Back on land, you can see the USS Missouri, the Bowfin submarine museum, and an aviation museum. When we were done, we grabbed an Uber and headed back to the ship. (26 minutes / $24.45) We had a late lunch on the ship, after which we put on our beach clothes and disembarked again. We grabbed another Uber and had him drop us off at the HRC (18 minutes/$13.20) so that we could grab the shot glass. From there, it was a short walk to the Beach. The beach area itself is nice (but definitely NOT Aruba!) and they have public facilities where you can change and wash the sand off your feet if you need to, and the beach itself was clean and was not awfully busy. My only real complaint about the beach is that in the water, there is a tide line of sharp rocks and shells which wrought havoc on my poor feet! It was fine once you crossed either going out or coming in, but I would definitely get a pair of beach shoes to go swimming. There is also a 3 foot drop off and a decent undertow to be aware of if you bring the kids. After swimming, we walked around town a bit and did some more shopping before calling an Uber to get back to the ship. (35 minutes/$15.59) That night, we had reservations at the steakhouse on board. I want to say that I very much enjoyed dinner. The food was excellent. The service was great. The Chef came out and talked to us for a bit (his wife worked on board as well). The environment in the actual room was great. The carnival funnel is tainted red and is translucent which paints the room in a warm red glow. My minor gripes were with outside influences. The first is that the steakhouse is on deck 10 and there is a walking deck just outside. Not a big deal, but it’s a little unnerving to look out at the scenery and have a passenger staring back at you. The second gripe I have is that the steakhouse is over the atrium and is open all the way down. This means that in the middle of dinner, you could be treated to sounds of pop songs being played by the band 10 floors below you. The music was not bad; it just was not in keeping with the atmosphere in the restaurant. Don’t read too much into my complaints as I had a wonderful time and would most definitely go back. Kona This may be helpful for those of you wondering about canceling Carnival excursions and what happens when you do. We originally had booked an excursion to the Kona Coffee factory. My wife is a bit of a coffee nut and thought it would be cool, and I was just along for the ride. Around two weeks before leaving, my wife had a change of heart, and decided that Kona would be a good shopping day and decided to cancel. She simply went online to our booking and cancelled. It could not have been too difficult, as I didn’t hear any complaining. Within 2-3 days, we received a FedEx envelope with a Carnival gift card loaded up with the amount we had paid for the excursion. Kona itself is a tender port. I had never done a tender port before, so this was an all-new experience for me. It got off to a bit of a rough start as first the ship was late, and then they determined that the sea was too rough (though it appeared calm to me)and needed to turn the ship 180 degrees. They also had a sort of lottery system to get off the ship. You had to get a number from a designated spot up on lido in the morning, and that would determine your time slot to get on a tender. When it was your time, you met down at deck 2, where they put you on one of the 5 or 6 lifeboats that they had running back and forth, and it took you to shore. When you were ready to come back, you just met one of the boats at the dock, and it took you back to the ship. Since the wife and I had no place to be, we didn’t bother to grab a number and just decided to hang out on the boat until the madness died down and we could get off at leisure. We finally went down just after lunch, and found that they were still calling the last of the numbers. It was not a big deal for us, we just had to wait in line for about twenty minutes and we got on the boat. I asked the pilot if he minded if I drove, to which he responded with a laugh but never actually answered the question. The majority of the people on the ship complained about it being “the worst tender process ever”, and that they really "botched it", and that may be true. Personally, my only issue was that it was hot and stuffy with very little air flow in the boat, but I was not in a hurry like others were. The ride only took about 10 minutes and we were dropped off at a dock near a shopping district. We spent about three hours walking up and down the street doing some shopping for souvenirs and such. I was told by fellow passengers that there was some very good food to be had there, but we did not personally eat anything. Again, the weather was great, and the views were good. There was a lot of interesting foliage to see up and down the street That night, we decided to go back to the MDR for the first time since the first night. This time, we were seated in a different section and it was a night and day difference. The service this time was awesome! The food was great, and everything was pretty close to perfect. The server gave us her card, so that we could ask to be seated in her section for the rest of the cruise. We did end up going back almost every night thereafter. I know some people did not like the decor of the dining room, but I enjoyed it and dubbed it the “grape hall”. Those of you that have been there know why, and those of you going will get it quickly. After dinner, we walked the deck for a bit. They had brought a “Mentalist” on board to do a show that night only. It was held in the main theater and was definitely worth the time. I had never seen a “Mentalist” show before, but he was very funny and had a pretty amazing routine. After dinner, we went back to our balcony to relax for a bit before falling into bed for the night. Hilo Hilo is actually the other side of the island from Kona, but it is another climate altogether. Where it hardly ever rains in Kona, it rains very frequently in Hilo. There is nothing to do what so ever in the immediate port area. There are two general stores (not even a Long's!) within a quarter mile and that is it. They do have a shuttle bus that took several passengers back and forth to the Walmart shopping area in town. If you are only going to take one excursion on the cruise, this is probably the best place to do it. This was the case for us, as we had booked a 5-hour tour of the area called "Land of Frozen Fire". I started my day by heading down to the sports bar after an early breakfast. We were not in port yet, and it was Sunday, and with the 6-hour time difference, that meant the 1 EST NFL games were starting at 7 am local, and I was hoping to catch some football. I knew from the start that the game I wanted to watch (Lions/Giants) would not be on, and it wasn't. They did however, have several games going on the TVs, so I took a seat to watch. After a while, I noticed that the Lions/Giants game was being shown on one of the smaller TVs, so I excitedly switched seats to get a good view. After about 10 minutes of that, the TV suddenly switched to the game that was playing on several of the other big TVs. I got the bartender's attention and asked if he could switch it back. He stated that he had no control over the TVs and they were controlled "somewhere else" (There was no word on if this "somewhere else" was on the boat, at Carnival HQ in Miami, or my wife with the clicker at the coffee bar messing with me). After he walked away, I glanced back at the TV and saw that it was now playing women's college volleyball. I left in a mix of frustration and disgust. Seriously Carnival, you have a somewhat decent sports bar area, do better. My wife collected me when we docked, and we headed out to meet the tour. The tour itself was on a 25 person mini bus, and was led by a 20-something local woman who had only left the island twice (to go to Oahu) and nowhere else. She was very personable and knowledgeable about the area, and an overall fun tour guide. I did get a kick out of her whenever she would say stuff like "back in the States" or "do you have these in the States?" She drove us through town, where she told us the history that was very much shaped by a couple of Tsunamis, before heading out of town and on to Rainbow Falls, where we stopped for some pictures and a bathroom break. There was no sun at the time, so we did not get a rainbow, but the area was still nice. We next ventured off towards the lava flows. On the way, she told us about 2018. Her tale included three earthquakes, mudslides, the lava flow, two tsunami warnings, and a false incoming ballistic missile warning (She definitely did NOT moonlight as a local realtor). We briefly stopped at a road that had been closed due to lava flow damage. It was raining, but the tour provided plastic rain ponchos for our use. It was a short five-minute stop and then we were off to a park nearby that was set up around the lava flows. We were able to get out there (there were bathroom facilities) and take the half mile hiking trail through the woods to look around and take some pictures. Next stop was one of the two “painted churches” on the islands. It is a small church that had been completely moved at some point (the reason currently escapes me), and was beautifully painted on the inside with beautifully maintained grounds on the outside. She next drove us down to the water’s edge, where the lava flows had met the ocean and had formed a sea arch. Along the way, we passed an area where steam was still coming up from the ground. At the sea arch, we parked and again were able to get out and walk around to take pictures. Next stop was a lava field which had a sort of pop-up shopping area next to it. I do not know how best to describe it other than that. We were given 30 minutes to look around. Some people went to walk the fields to the ocean’s edge, we went shopping. We bought a hand carved turtle from a woman selling out of a VW bus, walked by the general store and “restaurant” and entered a glassware store. I got to talking to the proprietor, which was a 50-something woman that was born in Wyoming, had lived in Florida, Texas, and California, and had somehow ended up on this very remote part of Hawaii. I would have loved to have sat down and heard her life story. Her and her daughter made most of the glass and ceramic pieces, and there were several local artists that had wood pieces, pictures and paintings that she put up for sale. My wife bought a couple of pretty (surprise surprise) coffee mugs, and paid to have them shipped to us via USPS. Our next (and last) stop on the tour was the Mauhna Loa macadamia nut factory. They had a café with hotdogs, drinks, ice cream and other things, as well as a store that sold MANY variations of nuts, chocolates, nick-knacks, etc. We bought a few too many bags of various forms of chocolate covered nuts, a bag of Kona coffee, and a few souvenirs, before getting back on the bus to head back to the ship. Once we were dropped off at the port, I briefly left the area to grab one last 12 pack before getting back on the ship. This was the smallest of the three ports we were at, but had the most security check points. We were stopped at the gate, stopped again at the terminal, run through a metal detector/x-ray combo inside the terminal, checked again before getting on the boat, then run through the Carnival metal detector/x-ray combo on the boat. It was not a big deal at all, I just found all the extra security at this port a bit odd. Once back on board, we took a quick shower and watched the sail away from our balcony. From a distance, you could see the many bands of rain hitting different parts of the island. We had dinner in the MDR that night, before doing our nightly routine, and enjoying the balcony for a bit before falling into bed. Sea days! I like sea days, especially sans children. I know some people do not want to be in the room and prefer being on deck, or out and about, but I actually enjoy relaxing on the balcony with a good book. I was actually able to finish off five books on this cruise. We actually slept part of one night under the stars on the balcony. That’s not to say that we spent the entire time in the room, as we did spend a good deal of time out experiencing the ship. We caught several sessions of various trivia. Caught the lecturer's shows on star navigation and camera usage. We played Clue. We caught the morning show with our cruise director Chloe (who was great by the way). My wife got more familiar with her barista, and I tried unsuccessfully a few more times to catch a poker game. They had a “throwback” day with eighties dress and a midnight buffet. My wife experienced a little melancholy on the first day as we were beginning our journey home, but got over it quickly after I pointed out that we still had seven days before boarding a plane and heading home. The most notable of the sea days was the fourth one, as it was Halloween. Passengers really went all out with their costumes. I really had to wonder how some people managed to get their elaborate costumes on board with a restriction of luggage space. For our part (and I SWEAR this was my wife’s idea), she was dressed in a pumpkin sweater with black shorts, and I wore a t-shirt that said “PETER! PETER! (I’m with pumpkin)”. Many got the joke and it garnered both laughter and a few disapproving stares, each reaction equally satisfying to me. I unfortunately did not get a picture of us in costume, but several of our fellow passengers did stop us to take our picture. If any of them happen to read this and can post, I would be thankful. Ensenada After the sea days, it was time for a day in Ensenada. My mindset, one that I am sure is shared with many, is that Ensenada is just a port added to fulfill the requirement of a foreign port, and not all that special. That aside, I was pleasantly surprised by our experience here. The day began with a little bit of excitement as it was announced that we were being met by the Mexican Navy who were delivering medical supplies for a passenger with a bit of a medical emergency. After a late breakfast, we went to the theater to catch the end of Clue and Chloe’s talk on the disembarkation process in Long Beach. Chloe mentioned that the shops on board would close once in Ensenda and would not reopen. Due largely to my wife’s shopping, we were in need of additional luggage, so we hit the shops to buy a wheeled Carnival duffel bag. While in the shop, I happened to look out the window and catch the sight of 20 to 30 dolphins that were jumping out of the water alongside the ship. We rushed out of the shop, and outside on to deck 3 to watch. After buying the bag, we headed back to the room to pack a little, and relaxed on the balcony to watch the ship pull into port. This is where we were treated to the second sea life event of the day: sea lions. You could hear them before you could see them. We first caught sightings of them lounging on the buoys in the bay, and then once at the port, there was a large group of them on the rocks. It was really neat to see –at first. By the end of the day, a group of about 50 had gathered near where the ship was tied, and had to be chased off. The sea lions constantly “barked” their disapproval at our presence. Seriously, it was constant and loud. Even as we left port that night, you could hear their barks echoing from miles away. You know how when you leave Vegas, you can still hear the sound of slot machines a day later? I swear I woke up the next morning in CA and could still hear their bark echoing. Getting on land was quick and easy. There is a little shopping area that you walk through when you come into port. If you are going no further, feel free to shop. Otherwise, I would recommend waiting to buy anything as I found prices to be slightly higher than you could find in town, and you will always have a second chance on your way back on board. For a nominal fee (I *think* it was $4 for both of us), we had round trip bus tickets into town. The bus brings you right into the heart of town where there is plenty of shopping to be had. One store had a vendor in it that was intent on proving everything was “real leather” by taking a lighter to it. There was a part of me that was morbidly curious if he would start a fire in the store. After leaving the store with some nick-knacks, a small leather clutch, and a hand-made bag with the “Patriot” logo on it (my wife isn’t perfect and was born in Maine so I am just happy that she now uses the letter “R” properly and we no longer have to go to the “bah” for a drink), we stopped at a McDonald's for some bottled water and to use the free Wi-Fi. We then walked down the street passed a park where they were having a day of the dead celebration, then back to our bus pickup. There were a couple of street vendors there that were a tad pushy. One saw my wife’s new Patriot bag and tried to sell her a bracelet with the logo. The price started at $5, then kept going down to $1. I finally found a dollar and handed it to my wife. She tracked the vendor down for the bracelet, and all of a sudden it was $5 again. We left with naked wrists. Once back on the boat, it was time to start the sad process of packing. We grabbed a late, light dinner up on lido (double bacon BLT!), watched from the balcony for a bit, then headed for bed. Debarkation Originally, we had flights for 12:30 PM out of John Wayne airport (Santa Ana). We received an email several months prior from American saying that our flight had changed to a 7:45 AM departure. Doing some quick math in my head, I was able to determine that would not work. We called American and had our flight switched to Sunday. I usually prefer a “buffer” day before going back to work, but it did give us an extra day of vacation. I see questions asked a lot on this board regarding if they can make X flight at Y airport. I will not answer this for you. What I will do is give you the timeline that we experienced. We decided to carry our luggage off ourselves, and had priority since we were in a suite. We left our cabin at 7:42 AM and headed for the designated meeting place (the main theater) on deck 2. We had to wait a little bit for an elevator that wasn’t already full, but we eventually made it to the theater entrance where disembarkation had already started. We kind of snuck in the line that was already leaving the theater and waiting for the elevator to take them up to deck 3. I kind of felt bad about cutting the line a bit, but I just didn’t want to haul the luggage up the steps, into the theater, then back down more steps on the other side. Apologies to fellow passengers. The line moved rather quickly and we were off the ship in no time. Customs may have been as easy as I have ever seen it. No declaration forms or anything. The Official just looked at our passports, asked us our birthdays, and waved us on through. Once outside, we called an Uber that quickly met us just inside the parking garage and headed off to our hotel in Santa Ana. By 8:25 we were passing the exit for the Long Beach airport. By 8:45, we were being dropped off at our hotel which was right next to the John Wayne airport. (34 mins/$38.12) Read Less

Overall this cruise was very good but there were a few issues. The biggest issue was debarkation in Kona. The ship used their lifeboats as tenders. They were disorganized and many passengers were unable to get off the ship due to the short time in this port. I will recommend that if anyone is going to both Kilo and Kona that they just stay on the island overnight as the two ports are less than 2 hours drive from each other. Dining was good at dinner but breakfast and seaday brunch service was slow and many of the entrees were not hot and sent back to the kitchen. Seaday brunch menu was also recently changed and no longer includes pancakes and waffles. Cabin was good except for the fact that the balcony glass was filthy and you could not look see through it. That said, our cabin steward (Ida) was awesome! They played Hawaiian music for the entire 14 days so be prepared. After a few days most of the passengers were begging for some good old elevator music. Out of the two shore excursions that we booked in advance one was canceled and the other was modified. The modification made it impossible for us to complete our tour, which was a huge disappointment since we probably never get back to Hawaii. Embarkation and debarkation were both fairly smooth. Read Less

I chose this cruise because I got a very good price for a solo inside cabin. I had had Jen Baxter as a cruise director before. She still is a great cruise director. 10 sea days,but lots of activities planned for each sea day(lots of trivia). As this was a Hawaii cruise I did go to Hula lessons. Cabin was ok. Nita,cabin stewardess was great! Food overall was good,but I did have a few main entrees that were not good(for example-lamb that was too tough to cut),and some appetizers that were not good. Poor selection of teas-only Lipton and green tea bags offered. Desserts were mostly very good but for one night grand marnier souffle that was more of a cake than souffle. All musicians were very good! I especially liked rock band Hot Shots in Red Frog Pub! They were fantastic! Danced a lot to their music! This was one of the best cruises I have taken(over 27 cruises)! Read Less

Special needs son request mocked by employee and corporate not making it right If you have a child with a disability do not cruise carnival. The ship itself was average, the same you will find on all cruise lines for its age/class. The splash pad is in a horrible location where it is super loud (ship engine,thrusters,smoke stacks)and windy. Most other cruise lines have the splash area on the main lido deck where it is not as loud and more accessible. The kids club would did not have an igloo slide like pictured and will combine all age groups when not a lot of kids were there, which is tough on a child with special needs. They would be in one room one time then the other the next and then not being allowed over at other times which for kids can be frustrating “why can’t I go over there and play the video games?” “Why can’t my sister be in my room now, she was yesterday?” Just be consistent, either keep them separated the whole cruise or keep them combined. Consistency is key. Other cruise lines offer the same/or better kids areas and accommodations for special needs kids specifically Royal and Norwegian. Food is average with cruise line industry, but if you have dietary needs consider another line. We put in our concerns when booking and then after paid in full checking to make sure my son would be accommodated. On the ship, they had no note of it and then took 4 days to be correct and multiple trips to maitre d, chef, & guest service. Other cruise lines it takes 1 meal and then everything is usually correct by the next one. Here is a specific incident where an employee did not take my child’s disability seriously & corporates response as well... On 9/30 I went to the unicorn cafe to get a straw for my disabled son, who can’t drink without one.(I had brought 2 reusable cups for him to use on the trip, but unfortunately one was lost and the other broke right before this incident) The employee told me they didn’t have one, but I could go to the Serenity Bar to get one. I went to the bar and asked for a straw. Another guest said “turtle killer” and laughed. The bar server laughed and called me a “murder”. I told my mom what happened and she immediately went to guest services. While talking to guest services she was overwhelmed and had to lay on the stairs. She text me and told me I had to come down there, because whenever she spoke about the incident her head hurt and felt like it would explode. I walked my mom over and talked to the bar manager who apologized for taking so long, but he was speaking with the server who said he did not say anything to me. He told the bar manager the guest called me that and he said nothing. I told him to check the tapes because you will see he said it to me after the guest. He said he would have a meeting with all the staff and make sure no one says anything to guests. My mom then bought medicine and laid in her room. I contacted guest care when we were in port and told them what happened and that my mom was not getting better and I felt unsafe on the ship. The lady apologized and asked if I and all my party had our passports and belongings and if we were ready to leave now. I said yes and she then said she just had to verify for protocol that I informed guest services on the ship and then she would refund our money and send us home from Hawaii. She put me on hold to verify with guest services, when she got back she said guest service on the ship had no record of the incident and said I did not come down so unfortunately she could not help me until I went to the ship. If they do not resolve it I could then contact them once I was off the ship to help, which I assumed would honor the refund. On 10/11 I went to guest services to get a copy of incident-in case when I called they said there was no record like on 10/6 and was told they could not share it with me. I asked to see a security officer and was denied saying my safety was not a concern. I told them I had to return my “serenity pool towel” to guest services because I did not feel safe going in that area or any area that employee could be. I was then told that the employee was reprimanded and only told me to “save planet earth” when I said that was incorrect and sounds nothing like “murder” they changed it to “save Mother Earth”. I then felt like they were trying to cover up the issue instead of taking responsibility and insisted on seeing security who took a full statement, but would not allow my mother who had medical issues from the incident to give a statement. The officer told me he would investigate. I was then contacted and the officer said the bar manager told him it was carnival policy to tell all guests who request a straw to “save the environment” I asked why this was not mentioned 11days earlier and why the server lied saying he said nothing when initially asked. I also said it sounds nothing like “murder” so then after talking with the manager again I was told I just didn’t understand the servers accent. Then the manager tried to convince security by saying "save Mother Earth" as fast as he could to show it sounded similar, but it did not and I stated this was insulting and not what the server said. Also, no other servers the entire cruise mentioned “saving the environment or planet or Mother Earth” I also said that telling me that would be inappropriate since it is for my disabled son who can’t drink without a straw, but the server crossed the line and made me feel unsafe by calling me a “murder”. The servers put straws without any request into alcoholic drinks continuously without mentioning the environment. When I got home I contacted customer care again. I shared the information and was told by Ingrid that I misunderstood the employee and they would give me $50 credit to a future cruise. I said I don’t feel safe especially since everyone is covering up for the employee and that $50 didn’t even cover the cups I had to buy in port because I felt unsafe asking for straws and guest service on the ship lied to her colleague. My mom then contacted Sergio and was told it would go under manager review and we would be contacted. Three weeks later I called again since no one contacted us. I spoke to Ariadne who first said my booking was cancelled and then found it. She insisted I misunderstood and that the case was closed. She also denied my request to speak to a supervisor and said I could contact BBB or whoever else I felt since they never give refunds. I contacted BBB and corporate insisted I misunderstood the server, even though the employee's story changed and was documented in my statement to security that they said one thing and changed to another and the bar manager admitted this in front of the security officer. I pleaded with corporate to just view the videos and deal accordingly with its employees so this would not happen to anyone else, but they maintain that I misunderstood. The video would show the server laughing at me and if someone could read lips he stated one word “murder” in no scenario is that appropriate wether for myself or my disabled child-either would telling me to save the Earth especially after acknowledging another guest just called me a “turtle killer” why an employee would laugh and say anything is beyond comprehension, but for a company to cover it up is unimaginable. I have cruised carnival in the past and recommended them over Norwegian, Royal, Holland, Princess, and Disney, but not anymore. I do not feel safe and at the end of the day no one deserves to be treated like that with or without a disability. Please consider carefully on your next cruise to choose a company with integrity and find the truth not just what suits there bottom dollar. Read Less

Husband's retirement cruise. It was a wonderful and relaxing 16 days. The weather was good except the 1st day out was a little rough. Didn't meet our cabin stewart until day 10 but we were always out and about . There was always something going on. Our room was always clean and ice in our room every day. Ate most dinners in the MDR and went to Seaday Brunch a couple of times. Food was always good and service was never slow. Lunch was usually the buffet or Guys burgers,Went to the main show every night and most were enjoyable as were the comedians. The Hot Shots in the Red Frog Pub were great and we tried to catch the Emerald Trio whenever they played. The casino was fun but not profitable. This was the best cruise we have ever taken and we would love to do it again someday. Read Less

We booked this cruise 18 months ago as a celebration of our 20th anniversary. Overall, we were satisfied with the ship and crew but were disappointed with the weather. This is obviously not something that Carnival could do anything about and can happen anytime you go on a vacation. Most of our disappointments were due to this and had nothing to do with the ship or crew. Our stateroom was nice with lots of room for storage. Our balcony was not very deep however and it was difficult for a second person to get out onto the balcony when someone was already out there since the doors open outwards and don't slide. However, it was great to have the great big window since the cool, rainy weather kept us indoors. We could still see outside and enjoy what view there was. Only complaint with the stateroom was a lack of cold water. Water eventually became so scalding (even at lowest setting) that we had to have a plumber come. after that, the water would swing from cold as ice to scalding hot without touching the dial. We did report it so hoping they were able to get fixed before the next people moved in. Absolutely loved the deli and grill on Lido. Was nice to have options other than the buffet. Never tried the mongolian or tandoor. BBQ was good. Main dining was great. 10 of the 14 nights we were alone at a table for 10 so received awesome service. Staff was attentive without hovering. Lido staff was great. We only saw a few of the shows since our times were the 10:15 shows. Many nights we went to the comedians instead who were hysterical. Loved all of them. Gorgeous George does a great job bringing in talented comedians. The cruise director Lee and his staff were really great. There were a lot of activities available for the days that we were stuck inside. Although we did not catch any of them, there was a speaker there talking about Polynesia, animals, sea life etc. and she seemed to get a pretty good crowd for her informational talks. The ship was clean. Staff was friendly. Our shore excursions were good. We did a private one at Honolulu since the ship sanctioned ones sold out so fast. Wish we could have had more time in Kona and less in Maui due to the weather but obviously they have no way to know that in advance. Read Less

This was our first time on a Carnival cruise ship. We had the opportunity of a great fare that was too hard to turn down. Despite the initial shock of the dowdy dark mixed themes interior, we thoroughly enjoyed this cruise mostly due to the happy staff and crew. We additionally loved the fact that Carnival generously provides FREE FRESH bean coffee which none of the other cruise lines we've travelled on have done. There was a happy vibe from all staff and crew. We particularly loved the crew being involved in the fun dancing during our dining. The Carnival Legend band - CIA were a knock-out highly talented band that were very interactive with the audience and provided a lineup of great songs. They were very down to earth and blew us all away with their professional talent. This band could fill venues outside of a Carnival ship. The buffet had lots of variety. The icecream and pizza was available 24 hours and we were very thankful at times when we had been dancing for hours and wanted something late after the buffet had closed. We loved our Carnival cruise. Read Less

The dining room was amazing we had wonderful service and great waiters the stuff were amazing very kind and caring they always encourage others. The waiter were the best people on the ship they were ning, kadek and edgardo I would totally do it again and the 18 days seem long but it went very quick. There is so much things to do on the ship. Definitely go/go again. I got a bit windy but you can’t help that. The entertainment was astonishing they were amazing the shows were the best I have seen and great people to talk to the senses in the shows were great you just can’t describe how good it was to watch with the dancers and singers all the other shows were great for kids although the comedy could be a little better I beginning comedy people for kids were good but it got worst from then on they have great food on the ship. Read Less

Embarkation went well, ship looks spectacular from the outside, and owing to it advertising it had had a recent refurb, our expectations were high. Assisted boarding was easy and pleasant. Cabin 8218 was lovely apart from the fact you need 2 arms to open the door and also the door leading to balcony. My bed was very uncomfortable, pillows were good. Bathroom was well set out and the shower great. As we're our cabin staff. Disappointed in the lack of amenities for disabled passengers. The only electric operated doors I found was on deck 2. And then you had to hobble back to the door to lock. We saw many people at least in the over 70's age bracket. No grab rail in the bathroom, doors extremely heavy to open, grab rail in most toilets around the ship, low chairs everywhere. We spoke to senior passengers who had fallen, in their bathroom, in lounges, allegedly slipping on something. The decor was oppressive. So glitzy and dark, obviously dated. Maybe the refurb was eluding to the near new carpets in some areas. Entertainment was generally of a good standard. It was pleading to see that they had meet up groups for differing categories of people, including people from LGBTIQ groups. Good to know. I could not comment on the shore excursions but I can say I was very disappointed with the use of tender boats on Moorea. If we had been able to stay one more day in port at Papeete people with a disability could easily have used the ferry from Papeete. That would have been awesome. The distance between islands is miniscule! On the last 5 days at sea we were advised that sav blanc was running out and passengers had to now buy by the bottle and carry that around with you. When lodging a complaint with Guest Services we were informed there was no complaints forms. We would receive a survey to fill in and complain there. Over these last 5 days we also found out they had run out of red wine, apple cider and coke zero. Crazy! On board purchases were hugely expensive. 5 photos cost over $100, WiFi social media only, 208, if you wanted unlimited it was another 100 plus! If you wanted higher speeds it was another 200. We heard from entertainers they paid 5! Service was hit and miss with the dining experience the worst. We had dine at anytime allocated to us, deck 3, Truffles Restaurant. There were long lines to wait in, then you were given a pager and waited a minimum of 30 mins, then allocated a table, waited a further 20 mins to be served. Food was generally nice, but not hot. Often no drinks were offered so they lost money there. Yes all drinks except ordinary tea, cost you! Drinks packages were very expensive, except for bottomless bubbles, which was out of a tap, never a can. Laundries were on most floors but all machines except x1 were out of order. Laundering of clothes through the ship was well priced at around $25 per bag. The buffet dining, generally was OK. Many of the staff were not efficient however, instead ignoring customers and chatting among themselves behind the baine Marie's. Food generally was hot. Similar to washing machines, there were many breakdowns causing very long lines at tea and coffee machines. Toast was not ready, and then there was no butter. If there was butter there was no little jars to put it in! Wait wait wait, making the lines longer. Fine dining at their Nouveau Restaurant was fantastic and I can highly recommend, as was the high tea we attended. Beautiful. Any business in this day and age, who does not want customers feedback, in my mind, says they disrespect and discount legitimate concerns. Surely any business wants to know and respond to concerns. Not so Carnival Legend apparently. That is really sad. The running out of sakes of wine by the glass is a good case in point. If it was that popular they would know that opening a bottle and selling by the glass, would recoup more money for their trouble and satisfy customers. Crazy stuff. I for one will never sail with Carnival again. Sick of the lines, sick of warm dinners, sick of tea obviously made from water from a hot water service rather than heated cold water - tasted terrible. And no quality system in place to handle complaints in this day and age is ludicrous. Lifts were speedy and reliable, tv service was OK, WiFi depended on access to satellite so if cloudy it was super slow, an outbreak of the cold hit the ship and first there were around 400 passengers affected, then 1000, then at least 1500. Many visited the ships doctor. Some contracted pneumonia, collapsed lung etc. It was an epidemic. I do not know what they were advised but it would have been ideal if they had all been advised to stay in their cabins! It spread like wildfire. I might add that one of our wait staff the second night dining in Truffles, had a heavy cold and was sniffing and coughing while serving dinner! Why isn't this sort of thing supervised? In summary no more Carnival. Read Less

Overall, 14 day Hawaii from Long Beach was a great time. We thought the 8 full days would be too long at sea, but it was nice to see the full ship and experience things that we hadn't before due to time restrictions. The ship's design is not very good. The decor is very garish and worn down. There was what looked like mold on the roof of one deck. The main pool was closed more days than it was open. This is due to all the activities on the Lido deck. Why would ballroom dance lessons be conducted beside the pool? There were quite a few other areas that were never used at all. The food was blah. Not a great selection. If you didn't like the dish offered, there was only pizza as an alternative, as all the dining areas offered the same menu for that night. The burger/hotdogs stand was only open a few hours a day, so that wasn't an option either. Overall a good vacation. Read Less

We picked this cruise for its itinerary. We wanted to go to Hawaii and had never tried a longer cruise. However, the Splendor is old and tired. Since this was a Pacific cruise it was cold and windy. There were no nice public areas. Sit in the smoke filled casino and the crowded lobby. We got a spa balcony cabin and were glad we got a balcony- spa part was not worth it. Spa old and tired looking - could not use the Thallasotherapy pool on most sea days because it was rough at sea and like a tidal wave in the pool. Around the pool on,y one small bench for robe and belongings- not enough if more than two people using. Food we found fine. We didn’t use the buffet much. Had room service breakfast. Enjoyed nice sea views for lunch in dining room. Enjoyed tea. Our regular dining room staff was great for dinner. Seemed more problematic at lunch. All staff very friendly and welcoming. Ample storage in our room. Read Less

We experienced very rough seas. We’ve never gotten seasick before but certainly experienced it on this cruise. Not enough to do with 8 sea days. The marine biologist was very informative and funny. They needed to find additional things to fill the sea days since people couldn’t go outside to sun bath. Comedians could have done afternoon shows. Also movies could have been shown during the day especially since we didn’t have any tv service. Why doesn’t Carnivyonvest in better satellite service. We were entirely cut off from any news or current events. Way too smoky. Service in the restaurants was mediocre at best. The young hostesses were very helpful and engaging. Food overall was good and we especially liked the Captain’s Gala cocktail party and the midnight buffet that was a throwback to cruising years ago. Being a loyalty cruiser with Carnival, we enjoyed many extra perks such as cocktail parties and laundry services. Read Less

We are going to be on the Carnival Splendor for 24 days on a Transpacific cruise from Long Beach, California, to Singapore starting October 5, 2019. We wanted to check out this ship before committing to be on this ship for 24 days, plus we expected to enjoy our 14 day Hawaiian cruise. The ship and the cruise were great, except for the very poor access to the internet. We were extremely surprised and very happy with the live music on the cruise. All of the live performers were very talented. Live music is a big aspect of our cruises. Eden Parker was the Piano Man on this cruise. Eden is extremely talented both in singing, playing the piano, and comic entertainment. We had him on our Transatlantic cruise and were pleasantly surprised to find him on this cruise. We like the size of the ship. Though not as big as the new mega ships, it was big enough to offer many live music lounges, bars and other venues. At no time did any area of the ship feel crowded despite the large number of passengers. We loved our balcony cabin. There was plenty of closet space. We were happy with the main dining room service, food quality and food quantity as well as the number of offerings. We were also happy with the number and types of food offerings at the Lido Buffet. However, the dinner options at the Lido Buffet were the most limited that I have ever found on any cruise. Usually only the Carvery was open as well as the 24 Pizza Pirate. But all the other Buffet Food Stations that were open for lunch were closed for dinner. This ship only has one specialty dining option, the Steakhouse. It is not like the brand new mega ships that have a multitude of specialty dining options. The service was excellent but I don't think we've ever been on any cruise where the service was less than excellent. We did purchase a port excursion from Carnival for every port and were very happy with all of them. The tour guides were fluent in English and many of them were quite entertaining as well as informative. It was just my wife and I on this cruise. We did not travel with children. We would definitely do this cruise again. As mentioned above, we will be going on this exact same Carnival Splendor cruise ship for a 24 Day Transpacific Cruise in October 2019 and will be making 2 port stops in Hawaii again. The biggest disappointment was the internet. I've taken many cruises over the past 3 years and the internet was fine. But the internet on this cruise was next to useless. They say they are going to upgrade it when the ship goes into dry dock on October 2019 but I hope they fix it before that as I'll be on a 24 day Transpacific cruise on this ship before it goes into dry dock. I did like this cruise and this ship enough to keep with my future 24 day cruise on it from Long Beach, California, to Singapore, in October 2019. However, I really do hope they fix the internet before that cruise. Read Less

The ship is "old" but don't let that stop you. We didn't mind the pink decor. The crew was great. The people that served food in the MDR were great and once they got to know you, they would make suggestions on what they think you would like. The hostess who seated you in most part were very nice. There was plenty to eat; as this was a "journey" cruise. On sea days they either served breakfast, lunch and dinner in MDR or brunch and dinner in the MDR. The food on the lido was pretty good and there was a larger selection including Mongolian Wok and Indian everyday for lunch. The cruise had a mid-night buffet and a chocolate buffet bot at night and during lunch. They were special. The entertainment was hit and miss. The ports were fine except we didn't go to Kona as "the waves" were too strong. Read Less

Overall everything was as expected. Long Beach terminal does a really good job at embarkation, so that is a good way to start out. There were storms coming into California, so the first few days at sea were a little bit rocky, but I just took my Ginger Root and never had any problems with getting sick. My husband never has to take anything and never got sick either. I loved the sea days as it was a chance for me to just relax. There was plenty to do from Trivia, games, shows, comedy or just watching some movies in your room or on deck at night. I loved the amount of movies they had available in the rooms now. It was a little cool some of the days up on deck, so those who like to lay out in the sun were probably disappointed. There are plenty of food choices as with any Carnival ship and the service is always fantastic. It doesn't have some of the newer upgrades yet, but that doesn't matter to me. Even with the little bit of rocky seas the Captain got us into the ports early. The Islands were beautiful and nice and warm with just a little bit of light rain here and there. We missed out on Kona because there was a storm heading that way that was going to make it unsafe to tender over so we stayed in Honolulu for the night and the next day. Things can happen and it wasn't a big deal to me. It was a fantastic vacation and I would recommend it to anyone who loves sea days. Our 27 year old daughter was with us also and she loved the cruise also, but there wasn't very many people around her age Read Less

We had been to Los Angeles before but did go to the Reagan Library. Embarkation was pretty quick but cabins were not ready ( for anyone) until 1:30pm. No worries, go to Lido for buffet. WOW, so crowded , no table available, long lines! Cabin was great! Plenty of room, two windows, sofa, two tables, two chairs and a stool. Plenty of closet space for ALL the clothes we brought for our 14 day cruise. This was our third time to be on the Splendor. We enjoy this ship but it usually cruises a little different. Not always rough but different. We always get a cabin on the main level and aft. Because it’s aft , which is over the engine (maybe), anchor (most likely) and anything else that could cause vibrations or noise while docking and departing a port. The waters were very rough during the 4 sea days before arriving in the Hawaiian waters. We missed the port of Kona because of rough water which made it unsafe to tender to the port. As a result, we stayed the night in Honolulu. Then on to Hilo, our last port before 4 more sea days to reach Ensenada, Mexico. Ensenada was a surprise. It was clean and an interesting port. We didn’t have much time there, arrived at 3pm, back on ship by 7:30pm. We went to the main dinning room every night we could. Choices were good but of monotonous night after night. The last night there so many great choices which could have been spread out on other nights. We enjoyed the food in the dinning room and especially enjoyed TEA TIME on sea days. There was a assortment of entertainment. Cruise Director Lee was fantastic. He didn’t give any announcements until about 10am. This was great, especially if you decided to sleep in one morning. He emceed the newlywed game with class. Since this was not a usual cruise, we thought we’d be unusual and participate in some activities but volunteering. The guys participated in the VIP show, while I volunteered to help the illusionist ( magician). But I have to say the VIP party was bust. Nothing but a gathering of those who participated in the VIP show sitting around waiting for cast members to come around. Which they never did come around to us. We sought them out for a picture. Thank you Marc. The variety of entertainment was refreshing. We also enjoyed the Dive in movies. Our room stewards, Belle and John Michael, were very good. We always had clean towels, a towel animal and a bucket of fresh ice in our room daily. We could not have asked for more. From day one, anything we needed they provide with a smile. Disembarkation was a little different. We needed to self assist to be sure we would make our 12:35pm flight to San Francisco. It was hectic and the staff tried to get it organized as much as they could but there is always somebody who will disembark whenever they want to, whether their Zone has been called or not. Anyway, we were able to debarked and make our flight without a hitch. This Journey Cruise was very enjoyable. But as I always say, “ A DAY CRUISING, EVEN WITH A FEW GLITCHES, IS BETTER THAN BEING AT WORK”. Or sitting at home if your retired. So cruise as often as you can and have a blessed cruise! Read Less

The seas were a bit rough but the Captain tried his best to navigate around really rough storms and he got us to our ports early so we got more time off of the ship which I really appreciated. The ship is a little outdated compared to the others but still a fairly nice ship. The cabins are nice but the showers are definitely pretty small. All of the waiters and waitresses were very kind and our Head Waiter Shailesh was absolutely amazing. The entertainment was pretty good though there were some days where the activities got a little sparse on the 14 day cruise. I missed Mar-Q but Lee was a great cruise director. The ports were all beautiful and the one excursion that we booked went really well. Unfortunately we missed Kona but we did get at least another day in Honolulu since Kona was having too bad of weather to be able to have been able to get on the shuttles if we had gone over there. I would like it if Carnival did update some things on their Hub app like the account summary that we had a bit of a hard time with. We do already have our next cruise booked with the newest and one of the most updated ships, the Panorama, so looking forward to that. Read Less

The ship is what i expected for a mid size ship. All areas of the ship i visited were all as clean as can be.We can start from the top down. the Mini Golf on deck 14 was always to windy to play when at sea. Serenity area was clean and normally with space available. Lido buffet was just average like any buffet at home area.the Pizza was ok. Non guys burger joint was also only average.The deli where there were huge long lines everyday. I thought was below average on the 2 things i tried. (falafel & hummus actually terrible). now in lido buffet they had linch one time "middle eastern" that was much better falafel and hummus. Tandoor grill was the best choice in the outter four choices. we had 8 comedians and 6 were really good. production shows were very entertaining. Room steward /staff excellent. MDR Staff very good, terrible decor. old and tired Read Less

I chose this cruise because I had an interest in cruising longer than a week, and it was an economical way to see Hawaii. I personally have come to expect the Carnival way of decorating so found nothing wrong with the decor. As always, the dinning staff was friendly and accommodating, as was the room steward. While I’ve enjoyed past cruises cuisine, the exact same choices day in and day out for breakfast and lunch became monotonous. While they never repeated the dinner menu, it became dull and boring, especially since this was my 5th cruise in 15 months span. The good news about this is that watching my weight was easier, lol. What could stand some improvements were schedules. With so many sea days, it would have been nice to have better day time entertainment than was provided. I partly lay the blame on the “Fun Squad” as they even made playing the daytime games and challenges no fun by going through the motions. One staffer gave the excuse that it would take too long to play scattagories with the players calling out the items, and chose to instead have the guests try to match her answers! It never occurred to the staffer to request the guests play in teams. It went from a game of vocabulary skill to a game of luck. I would have preferred the family friendly entertainment mid afternoon, allowing the adult entertainment a little earlier in the evening. Also, if the cruise line has the ability to record and play on loops on the closed circuit TV things like their shopping talks etc, why can’t they do the same with the live entertainment? Anyway, while the cruise did rock more than many folks liked, it really never got any worse than your typical Caribbean cruise. I saw several folks who claimed to be sea sick who may have possibly simply been nauseated by their over dose it of combined remedies - one person had on a Scopolamine patch, a wristband, and stated she’d been taking Dramamine! Scopolamine is so strong, it can make you nauseous when you are standing still on land. And finally, we were on deck 6 and had the water in the shower drain come shooting up about a foot high and flooding our bathroom at 1AM two different nights disturbing our sleep, and while it was reported to maintenance and the cabin steward cane and cleaned our bathroom in the middle of the night, nothing was done about it (as apparent by the second issue) and when we complained to customer service about the loss of sleep, we were told that the issue had never been reported! They did not have another room to move us to, but did give us 1 spa massage and a bottle of wine. My advice to anyone, don’t just call maintanence and housekeeping, complain to guest services in person and demand something be done, otherwise the issue is just swept under the rug. Read Less

We were celebrating our 30th wedding aniversary & my 60th birthday. I was completely frustrated & disgusted by the complete lack of a useable internet service on this ship and the horific cost of the Whale Watching Tour at Ma'alaea,compared with the price on-line from the same tour operator I run an internet based business & I need constant access to a wifi service so that I can answer my customers speedily. With this in mind,I investigated the internet service before we booked & based on the availability of the Carnival premium internet plan I went ahead with the booking for this vacation.I pre-paid for the premium internet plan,which is advertised on the Carnival website & around the ship to be capable of handling Skype & be 3 times faster than other Carnival wifi plans.This should be more than capable of handling my needs. On day 2 of our cruise,I spent over 7 hours trying to answer basic emails from my customers that should have taken no more than 30 minutes. On day 3,a similar amount of time was spent trying to use the wifi service. It was a major task to maintain the integrity of my business ,when I should be enjoying my cruise. The wifi either won't connect at all,saying "No internet". OR takes an unbelievably long time to load a site,up to 1 hour to load a simple email site. OR takes an unbelievably long time to load then drops out just when you go to use it. OR just won't load at all. Having spoken to the Carnival guest services agents & supervisor on the ship, it is especially annoying to hear them tell me that the wifi service on this ship doesn't work when at sea & there's nothing that can be done about it,although they did, at least refund my $208 pre-payment fee for the wifi premium plan.This didn't solve my problem in providing a usable wifi service that I relied on,as advertised. They told me that Carnival head office is well aware of the situation regarding the wifi on this vessel but has not corrected it. It was suggested that I could try between 4am and 5 am in the morning as it might work then,which is completely unbelivable. This matter caused me immense frustration,as I either cannot respond to my customers or am having to spend a ridiculous amount of time persevering with a wifi service that is not fit for purpose. Also,we wanted to see the whales during our special cruise.The Carnival price is $129 each for a 2 hour boat trip & transport for the 9 miles from the port to Ma'alaea harbour. I searched on line and found the same tour from the same tour operator priced at $39 each but excluding the transport.I tried making a claim via the Carnival price guarantee,but they refused to price match the tour as my option didn't include transport to Ma'alaea.Apparently,Carnival can justify charging an additional $90 per person for an 9 mile return journey! We cancelle our Carnival whale watch tour & booked direct with the tour operator on-line prior to sailing. There were loads of taxis at the port when we arrived,the cost of the taxi was $30 for the 2 of us each way.I'm sure we could have saved on that price had we used Uber. My total expense for the trip was $138 for the 2 of us,including the tour and transport compared with $258 if booked via Carnival. A saving of $120! When we got to the tour,all the rest of the guests on board the whale watch boat were on the Carnival shore excursion,priced at $129 each.What a nice earner! Read Less

We knew the weather on sea days in December was iffy, and it was. Rough seas, high winds and clouds don’t make for great days at sea. It’s nice that they have a retractable roof on the Lido pool area. The Splendor is ready for a rehab. She’s showing some wear and tear. The crew was great! Carnival provided lots of activities for sea days with a nice variety. The food was good- if you like fish, you will be very happy. The days of execellent food are days gone by, but it’s still good. The entertainment was good, but the shows are the same as on other Carnival ships so we had seen the main entertainment before. I was surprised at the number of kids, given that it was during school. We had great table mates at dinner and enjoyed meeting and making some new friends. The Hawaiian ports were great. We used Roberts Shore excursions for several ports and they were great- less expensive than Carnival and better. Going to Oahu on Pearl Harbor day wasn’t a good idea, but we made it work. Pearl Harbor doesn’t allow excursions on Dec 7. Ensanada is a nothing port and arriving so late in the afternoon (on schedule) made it difficult for some excursions. Read Less

This was a bucket list item to cruise to Hawaii. Had a fantastic time, Splendor is a great ship and although older, was very well maintained. Great variety of food options. MDR food was outstanding, yes, outstanding. Only had 1 bad experience, didn't like their lasagna, but staff was quick to provide another meal item. MDR service was great, with Leyton, Ping, and Adan doing a wonderful job of learning about us and our preferences. Room Steward Ana was fantastic, and always remembered my name when we passed in the hallway. Wasn't impressed by the Deli but there was usually a line, so others were. Grill was ok and quick. Lido Buffett was hard to figure out sometimes, couldn't tell what side was open and what was closing, but selection was good. Loved the omelet station, and the wait wasn't too bad each morning. Do try the Seaday Brunch. Lots of Karaoke, I didn't sing, but enjoyed those who did, very entertaining. Missed the comedy shows, usually timed poorly for my schedule, but did hear great things about the comedians. I caught the 88 Keys and Epic Rock shows, loved the 88 Keys, thought the Epic Rock was weak in singing. I enjoyed how the bartenders learned my name and preferences, I enjoyed the different atmosphers of each bar. Bartenders Sherwin, Yulia, Jai Sai were very friendly and attentive. Casino Servers Milan and Aleksandra were great, knew my drink choice and were always available to promptly fill my request. Shore excursion choices were varried, if a bit pricy. I highly recommend the Volcano Winery tasting tour in Hilo. I had an inside cabin and the room was very good, spacious enough with plenty of closet space. The shower actually felt larger than on previous cruises on another cruise line. Cruise Terminal in Long Beach is very well designed and the process of embarkation went very smoothly. I'm sure I am leaving things out, so much good to say about the cruise, the ship and Carnival in general. Overall, the service was Outstanding and polite and friendly. I would definitely take this cruise again, the sea days were very relaxing and fun. I will also be looking for my next cruise on Carnival. If I've missed anything, ask, I will gladly answer. Read Less