We booked this cruise for our honeymoon which wasn't even acknowledged. We were very disappointed. I got food poisoning on my third day on the ship. I only ate on board so it was definitely from the ship and I had also seen people prior to me getting sick walking around with bandages covering where drips had to be inserted for people who had food poisoning. The ship did not enforce the use of the hand santizers. People just walked past the staff spraying them. I had to remain in my room for 24 hours and was given 45€ credit as I was cabin bound. I therefore missed a hole day of my honeymoon and wasn't right for a good few days after. When we approached reception at the end of our stay we produced the letter stating we has 45€ credit due to me being sick which we received from the doctors surgery on board. We had so much hassle to get it honoured with the reception staff stating they had never seen it before. This wasn't our first time dealing with reception staff we had to deal with them on our second day on board as our card had ran out of money. We had a total of €80 gratitudes by day two which can be paid at your own discretion ...we dread to think what our bill would of been by the end of the week. We also had to deal with them as our Wi-Fi package wasn't working. The female staff at reception were so rude and so unhelpful. Our cabin attendant on floor nine was an absolute pain. He thought nothing of knocking on our door at 10-11 pm at night. The entertainment was awful. The acrobats were good but that was about it. The excursions on board were very expensive too. We would not recommend this ship. Read Less

In my new Cruise I decided to try MSC and we wanted to have at least one stop in Cuba. The desapointment started when I bought the Ticket. A mispelling in my email and it was impossible for me to change anything in my reservation. Arriving in the cruise the check in, the informations are poor. The only thing the want is to sell you the drink package. The security instructions failed because nobody was there to give us the information. At least the security information about any emergency event should be taken seriously. Not even... The Cabin is actually ok. The shower is terrible, but most of the ships have terrible showers. During the fisrt dinner we figure out how desorganized this ship crew is. The restaurante is not big enough for all passengers, It took us more than 2 hours to have dinner. It was hard to find somebody that could talk english. In the first morning we went to see the excursions and the sound system didnt work. The lady that was there said it was her first day....so, we didnt get any information about any excursion. In the following morning, as usual, the people that have excursions leave early. The problem is the crew is desorganized. It took us 1 hour and half to leave the ship. Comming back, we asked to change the dinner hour to have a chance to eat properly. It was better, but the food is terrible. The drinks are not good. In the second day, again, another delay in leaving the ship. It cost us again another hour. In a stop that wasnt that long. In the last day, the ship left the dock 3 housr later and of course arriving late in next stop...it made us loose our ground transporation. Not even the shop ladies are in a good mood. In some days they didnt have towels forthe rooms and our toilet flush broke. We had to use a restroom in a Friends cabin. The enterteiament team is surprisely good. It was the only good aspect in the ship. The plays are good for such a small ship. The Entertainment team is very nice and creative. Read Less

This was my 1st cruise, approx Jan 25 or 26, 2018 for a late birthday present and a friends wedding. Carnival Triumph will be the Carnival Sunrise starting later this year. As my review title states, I hated it!!!! I was sick from the time I got on until I left, even though I was taking dramamine since I got sick. Actually 5 / 8 of us were sick. We stood outside in the cold for longer than necessary while they tried to get everyone there so they can go over the safety equipment. The ship rocked uncontrollably the whole enter time. So bad that during the the rest of the trip, everyone was walking around trying to keep our balance, holding their plates because they were sliding during our meals and some of us couldn't eat because we got sick while in the dining area. They confiscated drinks on the 1st day, from 2 of my friends checked bag and one was my roommate. However they didn't take it out of mine. I complained to front desk as soon as we noticed my roommate didn't have hers and they 1st returned her 6 pack of soda. it. So I complained again about the wine not being returned and I guess after the security guard realized that he couldn't intimidated me, we got it back, My other friend wasn't so lucky during her stay, but upon her leaving they gave her a bottle of wine from their collection. Our ocean view cabin was partially obstructed and the picked bedding wasn't what was picked. They told us that they didn't have any other rooms available and gave us chocolate covered strawberries to make good on the inconvenience. While on the cruise, it was rumors that a lady went overboard in Mexico a cruise or 2 before ours and they still hadn't found her, a rumor that another lady feel off her balcony and died, and another rumor stating the boat was rocking so bad because the stabilizer was broke. When it was time to check out, I questioned the rumor about the stabilizer and complained about my stay, I was told that it was fine, it was just windy. NOT only did I complain to carnival, but also to my agent and I wasn't offered anything for all of the inconveniences even though I requested it and advised that I am a travel agent that books cruises for Carnival. Needless to say, I will never go on another Carnival Cruise and won't book for them anymore unless client request.. Read Less

First time on a cruise. We had a great time. Food service was great. The cabin service was super. We get our room serviced at least twice a day. We were alway greeted with smiling faces and everyone was willing to help. At the Windjammer I asked for some saltine crackers and the guy got me 20. Now that's service. The food service personal also told us if didn't see anything we want "that's really not possible, But!" we can ask and they will try to make the food the way we wanted. Overall experience great and the level of service is phenomenal compared to the "Wally World" style of service we get daily. Only complaint I have is the internet connection was very slow. I send a email about my experience and got a nice reply and a refund. So, you took care of me. I appreciate the customer service. I surely will go on another cruise with Royal Caribbean again soon. Read Less

We did this cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary. We picked this cruise because 2 of our kids, not actually but we adopted them anyway, were working on this ship. We are not fans of the Western Caribbean and haven't been there in several years but since our friends were on this ship the itinerary was not important. Embarkation went smoothly as usual but that may be because we are platinum level and Port Canaveral has a great system for that.. We went from check in to walking right on to the ship at around 1030 A.M. We tried our first cove balcony on this trip, cabin 2273. The cabin was amazing and if you like to see and hear the ship going through the ocean then this is the cabin for you. The life boats overhead provides shade on the balcony. We did your time dining and only had to wait one night for a table for about 15 minutes. Food was very good but as a fan of ice cream, on 6 of the nights the ice cream had a freezer burn taste to it. On our anniversary we ate at the steak house. A truly great experience, if you have never tried it believe me it is well worth the extra cost. It also has a nice and quiet bar to enjoy a relaxing drink at. You have to try Guy's pig and anchor lunch on deck 5. The best lunch we had, well worth the wait which was about 20 minutes. As I said our "kids" work at the Alchemy Bar and that's where we spent much of our evenings. The only bad thing I can say about the Alchemy bar is the location. It is next to the live music stage and if you want to carry on a conversation be ready to yell because you cannot hear the person next to you when the band is playing. The band is very good but should not be next to the Alchemy bar. For the ports our kids treated us to lunch in a Croatian style restaurant somewhere downtown but cannot remember the name or the location. Belize, we did the Starfish island excursion through Carnival. Great excursion. Picks you up on the ship and the island is like a private island except without the crowds. I think there were about 50 of us that had the island to ourselves. Mahogany Bay, did the flying chairs over to the beach and spent the day at the beach. Without the chairs this would have just been another beach day but the chairs made it different. Costa Maya, nice port, you can sit by the ocean but you cannot swim there. The coast line is too rocky but it does have a pool similar to the one at Grand Turk and there are plenty of chairs and loungers for everybody. The bad side is the vendors, way too aggressive, I was walking slightly ahead of my wife trying to find something to drink. I turned around and she was gone and when I found her she told me one of the vendors actually grabbed her arm and guided her into his shack to show her some ear rings. Overall a great cruise and this was our first time on the Magic and besides the Alchemy bar's location the Magic is a great ship. Disembarkation did not go as smoothly since we were never told when to leave even though we were in the Platinum members area as instructed. Read Less

5 day cruise to Cozemel and Key West on the Celebrity Constellation on March 14. Embarkation was relatively quick. Only delay was after checking in, had to get in second line to have picture taken for ship card. Why this could not be done all at once at check in as most do slowed the process. Had an Aqua Class cabin on Deck 9. Cabin was well organized, very clean and well maintained. Jaime, the Cabin Steward was excellent. Overall, ship staff was friendly but not up to the level of Silhouette. Constellation is older and smaller than Soltice ships but was well maintained and laid out. Ate in both Blu and San Marco Dining Rooms. Food in Blu was excellent and service was outstanding. Staff would even arrange for special dish the next day if you asked. San Marco food and service was very good. Tried room service several times with mixed results. One morning coffee was stone cold. Ocean Cafe offered many choices and most were good. The Martini Bar was outstanding. Great drinks, super bartenders who were very entertaining. Only thing that could be improved is a few more servers to take drink orders particularly around the pool. They certainly are no longer pushing drinks since selling so many beverage packages. Pool was crowded but usually able to find a lounge chair. One huge negative was smoking was allowed on port side of pool. On sea days lots of second hand smoke annoyed others. Celebrity should ban all smoking around the pool as many non smokers end up in lounge chairs nearby. Entertainment was varied and mixed. Enjoyed the comedian the best. Took Tequila tasting shore excursion. Great tour. Learned about the different types of tequila, learned best ways to drink it and tasted different types. Also enjoyed learning about history of Mexico and their art and enjoyed excellent taco lunch with drinks and wrapped up with aerial flyer performance. Well worth the money. Key West was nice change of pace with many excursion options. Disembarkation could have been much better. Walked off after short wait. However, we left from Pier 25 and parked there. Ship came in at Pier 4 clear across the port. Had to lug luggage onto bus for 10 minute trip to where we parked and surprise, no other ship was at Pier 25. No idea why this was done but ended a very good trip on sour note. Overall, this was a very good cruise and Celebrity remains in my opinion a cut above the rest Read Less

We sailed on the Carnival Fantasy in March 2016 for our honeymoon. It was a 4 day Caribbean cruise with ports of call in Key West and Cozumel. Ocean view cabin was roomy and decent. It was spring break season so there were tons of spring breakers. As for the ship, it felt quite small and outdated. The entertainment and activities were great! The comedy club is always our favorite. The service was spot on, from the room steward to our waiters. In Cozumel, we did the Atlantis submarine excursion and its a MUST do. We booked through carnival excursion and it cost $99 per person but was worth every penny. I am not a water person and this was such an amazing way (that didn't require swimming/diving) to see the ocean floor and wildlife. In Key West, we did the conch train tour which we also purchased from Carnival. It was a nice tour on a train open air vehicle. DO NOT sit in the front! There is no shade to protect you from the FL sun. Read Less

Our central and south America “small ship” cruise on Voyager was a highly enjoyable experience – so too apparently for many fellow passengers who were on repeat cruises. If you want Las Vegas on the waves, Voyager is not for you – but it has all the fundamentals for a wonderful on board experience. The décor is top class, nicely contrasting from facility to facility and the ship is very clean. Dining is also top class, whether formal or semi self-service (always someone on hand in the Veranda restaurant to get you something) and drinks prices are reasonable. A variety of entertainment is put on ranging from poolside at lunchtime (the talented Rene) to slightly more sophisticated in Scott’s Lounge (The Ship’s Band were excellent and so talented) and other venues. In the main theatre the entertainment group were talented and energetic in their presentations – mainly musicals). There were also some good lectures which could also be accessed from our cabin tv. Up on deck a small pool is sufficient for a relatively elderly clientele with saunas on the corners. It did have to be closed a few days because it swilled around too much at sea. There were plenty of beds available up on the sun deck. Our cabin attended by the delightful Randy was on deck six and was a balcony type though the balcony was rather limited in width and had no roof. The cabin itself was spacious and well-appointed and the lady was happy to see a proper bath. There was also a complimentary drinks cabinet (only pay for replacements) which kept us nicely supplied for the pre-dinner drink while the lady was finalising her preparations. But it is the crew who supply to final touch - friendly, helpful and humorous. Our Golden Wedding was a classic example. First we received a specific invite to the smaller Explorer restaurant (we tended to favour the larger one) with a complimentary bottle of fizz to go with our pre ordered champagne and cake. Then as we were dining along came an ensemble of the crew with guitar accompaniment to serenade us at the table. Really made the night, and was greatly enjoyed by fellow diners. The excursions were well organised though not cheap and in most ports there were private operators for those wanting the risk of being perhaps marooned in a far off land. They took us from steamy rain forests to beautiful colonial cities. Much of the early programme featured long rides to Mayan sites – unless you are a huge Mayan enthusiast think about your choices as by the 4th day you are tiring of hearing the same information and some sites are similar in nature. However, the journeys are interesting but be ready for a lower then European standard of infrastructure in some cases – old buses in Belize on one of which I sat under a dripping air conditioning. Ironically the only breakdown was a modern Honduran coach, just two miles from the ship but we were rescued quite quickly. Some guides too seem to have been parachuted in and were of only limited knowledge on these sites. Even so in general it was a rewarding kaleidoscope of experiences ending in the beautiful city of Cartagena. Embarkation and disembarkation were good as we were priority class cabins – be sure to let them know at the Gatwick end as we stood needlessly in a long queue not realising we could have gone straight through. The travel arrangements themselves were a little unsatisfactory. There was a late rescheduling of the plane both ways, particularly inconveniencing to some passengers. The outward flight was also diverted to Cancun and we needed a hectic rush across airport, seaport and onto a ferry to complete the journey. The Hi Fly experience was quite comfortable but an incorrect “time at destination” on the seat back screen again caused problems, one couple missing the next day’s excursion because of it. Also, if your sea legs are poor, be warned, Voyager does move about a bit, the higher the deck the more so, and we were high up). We had two nights where a big swell made her wallow and another when a choppy sea made for a noisy voyage. We commissioned the special day package at £55. However, it is cabin based – I had to contact reception mid-morning to see where it was. It arrived by the afternoon, but our cabin grade included canapé’s, also champagne on arrival, so perhaps a bit of over indulgence, though the truffles were nice. The cake was a picture – but again with so much rich dessert food on board ! – however the lady enjoyed the gesture so that’s OK! We redirected the champagne and cake to our evening table helped by Randy our very good steward. However, overall, full marks to Voyager and her crew for a great holiday. Read Less

The ship has held up very well. We feel that chops was not up to what we are use to. Johnny Rockets waited 1 hour only to get the wrong food. The show was Saturday night fever was just not great. The rooms look great. The dining room food was great. They took the crown books out and now you have to remember what deals you get. I guess that was smart on RCCL part save money. Weather was great. The island is the same great shopping. Read Less

I am extremely well traveled and sometimes hard to please and I just wanted to say that this cruise was absolutely amazing. We had sailed one other time in the past with Royal Caribbean on one of their newly refurbished boats and yes, that ship compared to the Paradise was a bit nicer, but we read online that was to be expected. We are from Tampa, so we were happy for the easy in and out convince as well as the great price! Spectacular customer service! Although this will not be the newest ship in the fleet to cruise on, it is seriously clean and well cared for and not to mention THE STAFF IS AMAZING!!!! Every single person who waited on us even in passing new our names (they must train them on remembering names and drinks because everyone who even waited on me once, remembered my name and preferences- it was truly awesome!). The customer service blew Royal Caribbean out of the water. I am sold on this company now just because of their effort and literally, I could feel how hard everyone was trying to make it a truly memorable experience and to which I am grateful. There were tons of things to do on the ship! The comedians (2 guys) were just hilarious. We were there for 4 nights and I didn't get bored once. We went to multiple shows a night, every night and came out laughing and happy! There was ping pong, mini golf, a basketball hoop, big chess, bean bags and tons more. During the day they have big bingo tourneys, activities in the casino, trivia, sales in the ships stores. They kept us busy to the very best of their ability and it worked! We had a blast around the ship. I would also like to say the FOOD WAS AWESOME! I feel like i gained 5 pounds from how good the food was on the ship. I guess they have 100 people that work in the kitchen and every one of them has a culinary degree and 3 years at a high end restaurant and it showed in the food! We did the Chef's table event for $75.00 per person and I highly recommend it! It was worth every penny. We were served Kobe beef, which the chef said alone cost them $75.00, so everything else was just icing on the cake. 7 courses of awesomeness. The Chef was such a great man and he even used to work for the King of Dubai, which is really cool. We do not have kids, but the kids I saw were entertained and having a blast. To lay out and hang out, we stayed on the Serenity deck for adults 21 and older and it was amazing! The excursions were awesome. We did a snorkeling package with a little company we saw at a stand as we walked into the port called El Dorado Snorkeling Tours and it was a blast. It was $40.00 per person and they dropped you off and let you swim to your hearts content. Compared to the other boats out there with people from our cruise, ours was the way to go- it was much more relaxed and they guides were so awesome. Plus, included in the price they had all you can drink beer, sodas and water. We also took a taxi for $8.00 into the downtown and just walked around the shops for a bit. We found this little hole in the wall bar behind the Hotel Barracuda and it was so fun with a swim up bar and right on the water with great drink prices. I think the ship crews hang out there when they are in town. I highly recommend stopping in while passing by. In short, this will not be the most luxurious cruise you will ever take, but it will be the most fun. I would do the same cruise over and over if I had room in the budget. I highly recommend!!! Read Less

We were so excited to be going on our FIRST cruise together and what better time than our Honeymoon!! I immediately jumped on Carnival's site and Pinterest, I just knew this trip would be EPIC! Then I made the mistake of reading some reviews, fortunately that was a good thing because then my disappointment was as bad as it would have been if I didn't ... First of all each cruise is different and I don't want to discourage you. Ours was unique in that there was a dance competition going on, so there were a lot of kids on board!!! Not the worse thing in the world but the last thing you want on your honeymoon is to be bombarded by a group of RUDE TEENAGE BOYS! You will have to set up your Sail and Sign card - this can be done with a credit card (make sure you have at least $400- $500 on it because that's the hold that gets put on your card at first swipe) this card is used to purchase items on the ship. Don't fret, only the ACTUAL amount get's charged to your card on the last day. For your convenience, there are Sail & Sign ATM's on the ship where you can check your account to see how much you've spent and keep up with it. You can also opt for loading cash on your S&S instead of using a credit card. You can also change options, and add money to it as you go along. If you go over, you will have to pay the balance before leaving the ship. Make sure you have cash on you for the ports, they take credit cards at the shops but not for cabs, beaches etc. PROS: - It was really easy to board the ship. Just get there early. oh and I read somewhere to Tip the porters like $1 per bag when they help you unload. We had two suitcases and a carry-on each. - The comedy show was our favorite thing to do on the ship, comedians (there were 2 of them) were really funny! The comedy shows are really crowded, get there early or you will not be able to attend! - There are other entertainment shows that are pretty good, make sure to check them out, it gives you something to do! - You are allowed to bring a bottle of wine per person that's going. - We didn't know, but you are also allowed to bring your own bottled drinks (soda, water, juice) but I believe it has to fit in your carry-on. I'm also not sure about any limits they may have per person or anything like that. I suggest either looking it up or calling them. - The weather was great and the water was beautiful! - Find the Serenity Deck!!! It's behind the comedy club and a little hard to get to but it's ADULTS only and really peaceful! - They will leave a flier in your room each day, look over it for times of shows and other activities to do on board. Some of the games cost, so watch for those (like Bingo was $25 to play) - The little casino is nice if you like to gamble. - The room was bigger than we expected. We had a stateroom with a window and two twins that converted into a king ... that was really nice! - Our housekeeper was super sweet! - The overall staff was really friendly. - The TV selections are LIMITED - There are mostly kiddie channels, and standard CBS, ABC that plays older recordings, oh! and they have one channel that plays 1 movie a day ... the same movie every 3 hours! I watched "The Help" and "Grown Ups" a few times on this trip! CONS: - It's one of Carnival's smaller ship (or so I've read) so once you've gone around a couple of times it's the same thing over and over. - There isn't a mini fridge in the room so if you do bring drinks, wine etc. request an ice bucket. (Oh and if you bring your wine, don't forget your cork!! .. their corking fee is $15!!!!!! just to open your bottle, we found this out the hard way. I mean we knew there was a fee but $15??? Really?) - Drinks are ridiculous!!! $8/alcoholic drinks PLUS gratuity .. you pay like $10 per drink. Sodas are like $5 .. you can get the all day soda pass but we just opted to just bring our own MIO ... It was a suggestion I found on Pinterest that worked wonders! - If you do purchase liquor from the shops (they have really cheap prices for large bottles of alcohol, but you don't get your bottle until the last day) - They are constantly trying to sell you "deals" ... alcohol, jewelry, clothes etc. - You spend A LOT of time ON the ship. You only have a few hours at the ports. By the time you dock at 9am - eat breakfast and get off the ship it's 10am. Find your way through the shops to a taxi, take the taxi 20-30min to the beach it's 11am. Spend a couple of hours on the beach, find lunch, get a taxi back to port by around 3:30 because the ship will leave you at 4! I felt so rushed, no time to really relax. - The food is not that great, If I would have know better I would have packed some Tony's or something with me .... SERIOUSLY! - The pool is really small ... you'll see ... so if you want to swim, I suggest going late at night when most people are off trying to find "activities" to do. - They take your photo all day everyday - Boarding the ship, eating dinner etc. ... then it's displayed on the wall in the Pixus area -- Be forewarned they are like $8.00-$12.00 each to purchase them. Just bring your money, you'll wan to purchase at least one memory! - Make sure you have a copy of your booking receipts. We were hit with gratuity on our final bill that we thought we had already paid for when we booked. But we booked through a timeshare/travel agent so I don't have a record of it. I think we got hit twice ... :/ "Carnival Elation Gratuity - Carnival recommends $11.50 per person, per day. The guidelines allocate $5.80 to dining room services, $3.70 to cabin services and $2 per day for alternative services, which include kitchen, entertainment, guest services and other hotel staff members. The amount is automatically added to your shipboard account, but can be adjusted in either direction at the guest services desk. A 15 percent gratuity is automatically added to bar bills. Tipping for room service at delivery is expected (and appreciated) by the service staff." Biggest advice is to just enjoy each other and the time away! oh and read the reviews!! http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=5 Read Less

We've cruised quite a bit on many popular cruise lines depending on ports, timing and cost. Sailed Princess for the first time since price was too good to pass up and wanted to get away. We will sail Princess again based on other criteria. Drove to Ft. Lauderdale night before and roomed at a wonderful stay and park free hotel with free shuttles to and from the airport, nice pool, modern, clean rooms. THE POSITIVES: Embarkation was fast and efficient. At terminal 11:15am, on ship w/room ready at noon, luggage came shortly thereafter. We had to settle for a guarantee Oceanview Room on low, Plaza deck due to last minute availability. Was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a decent size with large window viewing sea, lots of storage, close to Piazza with entertainment, International Cafe, Vines Bar, etc. No odors in cabin. Only noise we encountered was during embarkation and morning of debarkation from floor underneath. Bathroom was small although plenty of space for storage. Shower was SO TINY...Can't imagine how an "over the average" size person could shower there. Don't drop the soap...hard to shave legs also! MIssed a balcony since we enjoy relaxing on our own inbetween activities. Just not the same in Oceanview Room. Food and Service was the best we've ever had on any cruise. We chose Anytime Dining and just showed up to eat around 6 or so at a "shared" table. Got right in and met some very nice people. Waiters were superb. No problem with last minute requests such as horseradish, red pepper flakes, extra shrimp cocktail, etc. Requested prime rib or other main course instead of menu items one night, but could not be done. Also asked for escargot...Could not get. Was on menu one night though. Buffet was excellent with lots of choices. Plenty of seating in back section (Cafe Caribe). As soon as we put our food on table, waiters were right there with water, ice tea, lemonade, coffee, etc. Our room steward, Ronaldo, kept our ice bucket full, wine glasses available, gave us a top sheet since we don't like heavy covers, got robes for us and in general, was always there for us when needed. Crooners was nice though very small, and the bar near the Piazza and International Cafe was fun...Thanks Mikey and Frankie! Disappointed at no formal martini bar or martini tastings. Two of the four nights in theater featured comedians...One night a duo and the other a single...both were great! Good piano players, steel drum player, Passion Band, acrobat demo...Trio was pretty boring. Night Deck party, ice sculpture demo, different games poolside - fun. Line dance lessons during the day also. Loved the 7' deep pool with poolside entertainment. Didn't do the large screen movie thing, but looked like fun! Received balloons and a nice sign on door wishing me a Happy Birthday...cute touch! No smoking night in casino was a good idea. Smoking only apparent on back of Deck 15, one side. The negatives: Main complaint - It was freezing cold in 3 of the lounges...Actually felt like a cold breeze coming out of Explorers when we passed by. Looked like nice places to hang out in, but not many people, which I believe was due to the cold since many people commented on this. Way too much "selling" of wine packages, tastings, etc. No zumba - free or paid...Love zumba and was disappointed at this....Fitness Room was fine w/good equipment, but only yoga and a few other paid exercise activities. Also had quite a few seminars which were informative, but aimed at selling products afterward. The Caribbean Princess dancers in the main theater (2 nights - different themes) were pretty poor with only a few good dancers/singers. No big production numbers as on other ships. Perhaps this was due to it being only a Monday - Thursday night cruise. People told me things are better on a longer cruise. Pre-Galley Tour/American Idol Contest during the day featured some restaurant personnel who sang much better than the show performers. Thoroughly enjoyed these singers, but disappointed since it was more of a variety show than cooking demo. After the show the line to tour the Galley was extremely long so we passed on this. Regular coffee in restaurants and even at International Cafe was awful. Cappucino and espresso at Int'l Cafe were fine. (Charge for coffees there with assorted free pastries and "fancy" sandwiches. Had to get to theater no less than 15 minutes before show or no seats. Activities staff didn't mix with crowd as much as on other ships though. For example, at deck party, they danced by themselves and didn't encourage guests to dance as much as on other ships. We didn't do trivia so things may be different if you met the staff at such events. Signed up to walk off w/our bags at 8:10am. Got to restaurant and found a long line. Customs apparently was backed up. Delay not Princess' fault. We waited awhile and once the line moved, we got off pretty quickly. We decided that we would like to try a newer, larger, Princess ship in the future if the timing and ports were good for us, mainly due to their excellent food and service.   Read Less

Sorry for the length, just bare with me if you choose to keep reading haha. This was my first cruise with my fiancee and it was exciting....for the first day. Still had fun just was bored sometimes. We live in Fort Myers which is only 2.5 hours away depending on traffic so we decided to drive as it would be pointless to fly and there weren't any flights from here to Miami anyways so that would be pointless. The drive was fine until we hit Miami and the construction that was going on didn't help as I had never driven to Miami before, and neither did my iPhone with directions but we all now how helpful those things can be. After driving all that time my transmission temperature light came on and my car went into "limp mode" so I couldn't accelerate and pretty much slowed down on its own. GREAT!!! I did NOT need this in the middle of Miami traffic but I got lucky and pulled over by an exit and just waited for my car to cool down and then we were fine. That didn't happen on the way back from Miami luckily. It is definitely very stressful getting to the Port if you've never been there before, next time I think we will try to leave out of Ft. Lauderdale or Port Canaveral. Embarkation: getting onto the ship was really easy and fast. It took us maybe 15-20 minutes to board and then we just hung out waiting to go to our room. Cabin: We booked a balcony room, 1018, and it was very nice. We didn't receive our cabin number until the day before sailing because we chose to do the cheapest option for Florida residents and they will pick your cabin, but that's okay because we had a great room. The bathroom was clean, shower was kinda small (we are a little on the large size ;-) ). The tv wasn't a flat screen but to me the cabin is just a place to sleep so I didn't plan on spending a whole lot of time watching tv in there anyways. Our room steward, Louie, was great we didn't meet him until after the safety drill and he was very nice, and remembered our names and always said hi to us in the hallway. The bed was comfortable and the balcony was really nice. WE enjoyed being able to sit outside. Service: The service aboard this ship was great. I never had a rude crew member or heard anything bad from other passengers. Our head waitress Sanja was amazing and fast! Bartenders were courteous whether i was buying an alcoholic drink or using my "bottomless bubbles". (I had heard that sometimes waiters or bartenders would be a little less enthusiastic about serving people who have the bottomless bubbles because there is no tip, I did not have that problem) Food: The buffet food was something to be desired. There were some food that was okay and some that was just bad or bland. The 24 hour pizza was bland and tasteless but I ate it nonetheless because I am a pizza fanatic haha. The deli where you can order a hot or cold sandwich was OKAY. I would only order the corned beef and pastrami sandwich because it was the only one I actually liked. The main dining room food was excellent compared to the buffet. I tried something new every night since I made it a goal to try some foods I don't normally eat. Granted sometimes the food was a little on the cold side but eh I didn't complain the taste kinda made up for it. We sat next to an amazing couple, Craig and Laura, who were from New York and we enjoyed eating dinner with them, very nice people. Entertainment: The entertainment is where you can tell they cut some corners to give you a cheaper cruise. The first main show "Living in America", was not that interesting at all. I actually started to fall asleep in my chair I was so bored. The schedule had maybe 2 or 3 timing conflicts with other items on the schedule; i.e there may have been two activities that you wanted to go to but overlapped each other so you;d be missing some of one or the other. On our second Sea Day my fiancee was actually bored and honestly I was too. The activities that we did try to go to were lame and no one really participated. I did use the casino, (for the first time now that I'm over 21 I can play table games), I unfortunately spent maybe a little TOO much time in the casino, but it was vacation money to be spent however I wanted anyways so no harm no foul, I made $143 on slots anyways :-) Excursions: We took an ancient culture and mayan ruin tour excursion. It was a tour on a bus that took us around the island of Cozumel and then to some mayan ruins. The bus's A/C wasn't working properly so it was a little warm in the bus and after walking around the ruins was a little disheartening but we did get a free bottle of water though so that helped a little. The ruins themselves seemed a little....I don;t know how to say it, kinda "eh" I guess would be it. They were "reconstructed" by the archaeologists from different universities in America so to me they didn't really seem "authentic". They were still real ruins, but to me just not that exciting. Maybe if we went to Tulum we may have had a better time. People: I don;t know if there's a whole lot to say about the other passengers but I did want to point out that on this ship there were a good amount of kids. Not enough to be overwhelming but how some of the kids acted, it makes you wonder if their parents taught them any manners? I had maybe 1 or 2 issues with children but that was because they had cut me in a food line or were just being rude. During the elegant night we had our photos taken and at one station there were these obnoxious teenage boys who just made a mockery of the whole thing and weren't even dressed up appropriately. You could tell that the photographer was annoyed. They just made stupid faces and poses and I found it very rude. The point of the pictures was to have a nice professional photo done while you were all dressed up. And some other passengers were just rude in general and it makes you wonder. I'm only 23 and sometimes I think I have more class than the older passengers who just don't care and have no manners. Prices: The prices on the ship for things were to be expected, and by that I mean it's a cruise ship and you're on vacation so they are going to make everything more expensive, just like if you went to Disney or Seaworld. It's really easy to just hand over that Sail and Sign card without really thinking twice about how much you just spent. We spent over $700, correction, mostly IIII spent over $700! Things add up very quickly if you're not careful. My fiancee wanted to get a massage and since we were on vacation and she never had one I said sure why not. I told her try to keep the package she picked below 150 since we were already racking up charges like crazy she said okay and picked the $149 package.....yeah haha. After her massage she tells there that the price didn't include a 15% gratuity. Excuuuuse me? That wasn't written anywhere so the massage was actually $179 >. Debarkation: Getting off the ship was actually fairly simple. I was surprised. We did "zone luggage", that's where they take your luggage the night before and then they call you by zone to debark. Well that was definitely a dumb idea. We had to wait for our zone to be called and then we had to wait for our luggage to come around on the belt and our luggage belt had 5 other zones on it along with ours. WE will definitely do self assist next time, we could have been out of there way sooner! Going through customs was easy, as long as you filled out your paperwork and had your ID in hand and ready to go, no problems. Parking ended up being $80 for the 4 days. So for being our first cruise we still had some fun and got experience a new place, there were SOME drawbacks but we dealt with them. Your vacation is what you make of it and we wanted to have a good time so try not to let stuff bother us too much. I think we will try a different cruise line just because we feel that Carnival has the least amount of entertainment compared to other lines based on what other passengers told us. But we will go on it again if we happen to be part of a group or something, cruising is fun and hey it's a vacation where there's free food! Read Less