We chose this cruise because it was a brand new ship and thought it would be exciting. It was not, and was a rather bland experience compared to other cruise ships we have been on. I don't think there is anything exciting about this ship. The ambience was very lacking. Lots of advertising for this ship about many things to do on the ship, yet many are just a small area stuck in a corner somewhere. We travel as handicapped and don't believe the Long Beach port is very handicap friendly. They offer scooter rentals for pickup at the port terminal whereas other cruise lines offer scooter delivery to the room and pick up there. The pick up in the terminal was fine for boarding as you didn't have to wait for a wheelchair. But if you wanted to debark and take your own luggage, it became too much baggage to handle along with scooter. Won't do that again. Our accessible room was very nice with a nice layout, nice bathroom layout EXCEPT there were no chairs at all in the room. We had to sit on either the scooter or the bed. We had room service and had to put the tray on the bed. Not a comfortable scenario and there was plenty of room to put a chair. My curling iron quit two days after sailing in a plug where as other things worked fine in. After much frustration and paying for one hairstyle for $ 80; found out there was nothing wrong with my curling iron, but rather something wrong with it working properly in their plug. They brought up a box they called a transformer and I had to plug into that which took up most of the only desk space we had. Not a good experience on a brand new ship. The food on board was mediocre at best. Many things missing that would be readily available on another cruise line. Very little fruit and always the same fruit, mainly melon. Couldn't find a banana or orange to save your life. Many strange dishes everyday. Cutting board items so, so and were sliced to the bare minimum. There were two sides to the buffet and at 10:30 AM, one was shut down, including the orange juice machine!!! One day we couldn't get lunch if we wanted it. Was told we could have pizza or a sandwich, REALLY!! Never been on a ship where the included meals were not available. Very bad. Every tomato we had the whole trip was either green to pink and the center so hard you couldn't eat it. Portions served were small, glasses were small, cups were small necessitating many trips for refill. I really felt the cruise line was trying to pinch pennies with all these type of tactics and push people to go to the pay restaurants. One other note, one of the public rest rooms we stopped at near one of the lounges smelled so bad, it would gag you. There was a cleaning person in there scrubbing the toilets, but THAT WAS IT and she left after brushing all 3 and left the smell to remain. Not good. I will most likely cruise with anyone but Carnival in the future. We have cruised on 12+ cruises on all various cruise lines so lots to compare to. Read Less

Carnival panorama is a beautiful new ship. Everything is new, carpeting, furniture, drink ware, flatware, etc. with over 4,000 passengers public spaces are very crowded though. The beach pool area midship and tides pool area aft fill up by 9am every morning with people reserving loungers and chairs with towels, caps, and backpacks. For adults only, the serenity area isn’t quite as crowded but there is limited spaces and people reserve spaces up there like the other pool areas. There is one pool area that is not crowded, the Havana pool area. Here there are two hot tubs and a infinity pool. If you don’t like dealing with a crowd and would rather relax on your cruise you MUST cruise in a Havana cabin. The Havana pool area has the best aft view of any public spaces onboard. It’s very laid back and service is outstanding. The area has ample loungers and several day beds for relaxing. There are even call buttons for service. You don’t need to get up from your lounger or daybed or pool or hot tub to order a drink. Just press the call button and a waiter will be there in seconds. This is also the best place for viewing whales in the Cabo area. It was NEVER crowded here. Of course you must cruise in a Havana cabin or a Grand Suite cabin to have access to this area and they monitor this very strictly. It is well worth it for these cabins. We will definitely do this cruise again in a Havana cabin. Dining: Main dining rooms were ok. Lido marketplace was ok and the omelette bar here is great. The steakhouse was great and the table art desert is a must if you eat at the steakhouse. Bonsai teppanyaki was good food with a great show by the chefs. Seafood shack was ok, pizzeria was ok, and Cucina Del Capitano was ok. We also did the Elegant Affair cooking class. This was a lot of fun and the chefs were very accommodating and helpful. We prepared an entire meal at our individual workstations lead by a chef. Then afterwards we were served the meal prepared by the galley, which was much better than what we prepared. Our best dining experience was the Chefs Table. It was the most interesting dining experience ever, you must do the chefs table. It’s like no other meal you’ve ever experienced. It is well worth the price. Bars: All were very friendly and no matter where I went in the mornings, bloody Mary’s were delicious. Never much of a crowd at any bar. Casino: Had lots of slots and live table games. However it was always very Smokey in the casino with cigarettes. Unbearable at times. Slots seemed very loose the first couple nights then very tight, alt least for me. Shopping: Loved Cherry on top, especially sour candy selection. Not much in way of sundry items and the shops seemed small. Not a very large selection of tee shirts or shorts. Excursions: We did not purchase shore excursions. We hired taxis in port and went where we wanted on our time. We usually do excursions through the ship, but not this time. Read Less

Easily the worst vacation either myself or my girlfriend had been on. For the most part we were treated pretty poorly. Room service never came the first morning with breakfast even though they called us with a question about our order then just never delivered it. We didn't get a card for the 2nd morning room service. 3rd morning after I made a complaint, we did get a card and got the room service for breakfast but when it was delivered, it was already cold. Not even lukewarm... Just plain cold. After failed with room service the first morning (and also the 2nd and 3rd and each morning after that we just gave up), we went for breakfast at the Sunshine Restaurant. One of either mine or my girlfriend's orders would be messed up. She would order, for example, French Toast and then I would order French Toast as well AFTER her. When they brought over our meals, they would bring me french toast and nothing for her. This happened with different foods each morning and by the end, just accepted whatever we got and stopped correcting the wait staff - absolutely ridiculous. This was in addition to the fact that my girlfriend was basically invisible to anybody who worked on the ship. Our stateroom steward, as ONE example, would quite literally scream my name from down the hall to say "Hi" but rarely ever even acknowledge her even though she was right next to me every time. Similarly in the Sunrise restaurant for breakfast and other places as well. In Grand Turk, our ATV excursion got cancelled and nobody told us until after we showed up for it. Apparently we were supposed to receive a letter when we got on board saying it was cancelled and were never supposed to receive our tickets for the excursion. Well, we received the tickets and when we were told that the excursion was cancelled after we showed up for it, we were also told that all other excursions had already been booked and there was nothing they could do. That was an entire vacation day wasted because even on the ship during the day there weren't many activities going on as it was a port day. The port days and excursions are the main reason we love cruising so much. The one and ONLY consistent and good experience we had was dinner. The food was OK, but what really made dinner was our waiter, Wijaya. He treated us very well, recommended dishes, got to know us and what we like/don't like and adjusted food and drink recommendations based on that. He was literally the best part of our cruise. Even the entertainment was at best OK, but variety was lacking in the evening and as much as I love trivia, having a host that has absolutely no interest or knowledge in the themed trivia that they are hosting is just plain disappointing and frustrating (Harry Potter trivia and Game of Thrones trivia as two major examples). Whereas The Office trivia was hosted by two people who clearly LOVE the TV show "The Office". I'm not saying every host needs to love everything, but it would be better to cancel or not have a themed trivia when the host is very obviously not interested in what they are doing and are clearly there just because it's their job and want to move on to whatever is next. Read Less

We sailed Feb 22-26/2020. We had been on this ship when it was the Triumph a few years ago.This was somewhat of a compromise vacation. My husband wanted to do an all inclusive and be on the beach and I wanted to cruise. So we chose a 5 day cruise and then stayed on the beach in Florida afterwards for a week. We chose this cruise because Grand Turk is one island we had not seen (been on all the rest of the islands over the years) and it was only 5 days. (note: these islands really are all the same) We did have a really good time and I'm not the time of person to complain and I hate reading bad reviews, however I thought maybe listing this information would be helpful to future sailors! Embarkation: smooth, fast and easy. We were on the ship in record time! Day 1 was a little chaotic for us due to an issue with the drink package I purchased on line the day before we sailed. I followed all the prompts and thought I did it properly and all was set but got to a bar where they said no you don't have the pkg on your card. I had to go wait in line at the courtesy desk to find out that no it didn't go through. So I said I would like to purchase it however I feel I should have the 10% discount as I did do it on line. No, cannot do that (?) really?...ok fine I'll sort it out later....go to bar and wait in line again to find out....Gee the card didn't process....I must go back to courtesy desk. Ugh...in line again.......she says Yes it did go through.....back to bar.. (extremely thirsty at this point)....finally got our drinks. Next issue was our luggage didn't arrive till around 4:30pm ( everyone on our floor was in the same boat (no pun intended), everyone was peaking out their cabin doors looking for luggage. This was no biggy, we always pack in the carry on's whatever we may need right away- make sure to do this, or keep your big luggage yourself. The cabins were available at 1:30pm Next issue- THIS IS A BIG ONE FOLKS! Save yourself some grief and DOWNLOAD the carnival HUB APP prior to getting on the ship!!! "free wifi" to Carnival means free wifi ONLY for their APP.I assumed free wifi meant free wifi but alas.....it doesn't. You can only get free wifi whilst on Carnival's APP. I didn't download the app because I don't want to be on my phone on vacation and figured I would never use it. We got anytime dining and this process has changed dramatically since last we cruised a couple of years ago. Anytime dining used to be great- you came anytime between the time frame. NOW....you must make a reservation FIRST! the easiest way to make the reservation is on the APP which I didn't have, and of course could not get wifi to obtain said APP. We wasted SO much time going from employee to employee to help us figure this out. The staff at the dining room were helpful and tried to get it on my phone for me and ended up saying go get free wifi at next port. First day there was a HUGE line up at a desk opposite the suishi bar that you wait in, to make your reservation for dinner!. UGH....not going to happen. Everyone kept saying to go there to make your reservation. I was so confused.....anytime dining? meant you pop in anytime? ....not anymore. We finally got the APP loaded and the next day made the reservation for our dinner only to find out, you have 10 minutes to get to your table once making the reservation. ??? too much stress while on vacation. I feel that once you choose your dining option, they should really stress to obtain this APP BEFORE you get on board. The internet fees on board are expensive and then I have to pay roaming charges and on top of that I'm paying in Canadian funds so add another 34%. I didn't want to pay 30 bucks or more to get an app. DINING ROOM: We went 2 nights in a row and were so very disappointed both nights. The quality of the food really has gone downhill. Every other cruise we have done on Carnival (and 2 on other lines) the food has been fantastic everywhere the whole trip. We were really surprised. My husband ordered a steak which was tough and chewy. The baked potato was 1/2 cooked and cold. My shrimp cocktail was 4 mushy wet small shrimp (the kind you get from the frozen ailse in the grocery store....literally ) Then my grilled chicken was literally that. A piece of chicken that was cooked- no spices, no flavour, no sauces...and it was tough as well....the vegetables were undercooked and all was cold. We were blown away and yet didn't complain to each other or to the staff as we didn't want to ruin the evening. (again we aren't the type to complain and whine) everyone is human....the cook had a bad night etc.....no point in being difficult..... Night # 2....same thing....steak tough, vegetables undercooked....baked potatoes 1/2 cooked and all cold. I ordered prime rib medium -asked for a little pink....it arrived 50% white marble fat with 4 bites of meat and the meat was red dripping in blood. I wasn't feeling well that day because the seas were very rough night before and all day, so I didn't eat it....again we didn't complain as the staff were very good and they were trying very hard to be good servers and they were. (on a positive note...the wine and the buns were good lol) Day 3 and on we decided to eat at buffet or other spots as we couldn't be bothered to make those reservations and the food was disappointing in the dining room. GUYS BURGERS!!! - To die for!!!!!! we ate one every day. The Taco and burrito bar......SAME!! EXCELLENT!...loved it Sandwich place......again really really good! Pizza- we grabbed a slice once and it was undercooked and mushy. the pepparoni was almost raw....not good. ice cream- 5 stars lol Buffet: ugh, here I complain again and I really hate to be that person....but the food has gone downhill....fish was mushy and more like soup....eggplant mushy, not much flavour.....spagetti one night was mush and tasted like store bought sauce....caesar dressing tasted like Kraft dressing from grocery store...I forget what else we got, but nothing was amazing like we remember on other cruises. Breakfast was good however, eggs/bacon/ everything very good. It seems they have issues with mass producing good food for lunch and dinner. on the last day my husband got a meatball sandwich and there were pieces of spagetti in it....omg did they re-use last nights leftover spagetti dinner from someones plate? no....lets' not think about it.. He didn't finish it and I have to say my husband came from a big family where "YOU EAT everything on your plate !" to this day he has a really hard time not finishing his plate....and he left ALOT of food this trip!! (I grew up in an atmosphere where "when you're full...you're full...don't stuff yourself,")...so I have no trouble leaving food lol (huge issue between us for the last 35 years lol) It's taken me years to make him realize this is abusive....and only eat till your full!!! our kids as well- note: my husband is the ONLY one in his family who is not overweight with health problems....60 years old and never been on any medication!... Crowds of people: I know ships are full of people and you wait in line etc....but I had read a review before sailing where someone said "THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE ON THIS SHIP!!" and Yes I agree now....holy cow....I've never really had too much trouble getting a chair at the pool on a cruise...but there are too many people on this ship lol, very hard to get a chair on fun days at sea..and....I love children.....but OMG I've never seen SO many infants, toddlers, buggies, babies.....I can't see how mom's can have a good time travelling this way. The kids were all good and well behaved we didn't have any issues, and again we love children but WOW there were LOTS of babies and buggies on board. ERIN the cruise director was AMAZING! a bundle of energy and so funny.She did a great job! Don't miss the mardi gras party on 3rd floor, it was so much fun, and we all marched to the pool area for dancing. The Hasbro game show was really good too. We missed the shows for some reason, not sure what we were doing. the comedian was really good. NOTE: if you go to the last show on last night of cruise- GET THERE early! it filled up fast with standing room only. Excursions: we only did one on Grand Turk as we had never seen this island and so we did the "Junaroo" party bus tour. As we were driving around on the bus we looked at each other and said "Omg...this could be Barbados...or jamaica...or Dominican...." These caribbean islands really are all the same. Lots of poverty....rubble....skinny dogs....The DJ on the bus was fun and funny and played great music....the rum punch was never ending......the tour was comical as there is nothing to see! "to your left is the post office"......"to your right is the police station"....whoop te do!! LOL thats about it lol. we did go to a private beach which was really nice, the water and beach were good. There is a lighthouse self guided tour area where there are plaques to read about history..not much there....really a whole lot of mediocre stops....However we did have fun, and met some fun people on the ship we hung out with later. NOTE: if you are a POS (Person of size)...to be polite.....this bus tour is NOT for you. The bus is an old school bus for 9 year olds....everyone's knees were up to their shoulders, cramped, tight tight seating and aisles...no room for your knapsack or your legs lol -Also, the windows are thick and dirty and i'm short so I could hardly see anything. In retrospect I would have done the open bus tour, you see more. However that tour looked like no rum punch and no music...not sure how it was....we wanted to have fun so we picked the junkaroo, or junaroo, whatever it was called. PORTS: OMG BOTH ports are absoultely gorgeous....there really is no need to do an excursion and go inland to see poverty and rubble...these islands are all the same. Both ports have beautiful HUGE pools and areas....shopping...beaches.... Grand Turk: take your towel and go straight to Margaritaville! By 10 am everyone is dancing...tunes are cranked....swim up bar....great pool, gorgeous landscapes.... Amber cove- same thing...get off ship right away and head to the pool area where the zip lining is and grab a chair....music....dancing....pools are clean....FUN!- thats what we did at Amber Cove, just stayed at pool all day. It was great. Both ports have piers ( I hate to be tethered in by those little boats) that was really great. I forget which one but they had free bicycle carriers to take you from ship to entry of port for a tip. Room was clean, ship was clean....nicely re-furbished. One more wee little complaint....we found that not 100% of the staff were smiling, happy friendly. Some were, but there was quite a few who didn't seem to happy to be at work. This is the first time we have encountered this as well. in the past EVERYONE was great! but there were quite a few bartenders who hardly looked at you, no smile, no bantering...talking...our cabin stewart was good but first day I felt like we were being treated like a custom officer does..."hello, what would you like- morning, or nightime cleaning or both....".(this is new as well) in the past they automatically came into the room 2ce a day. but thats ok we only need it once a day.....he didn't smile or anything, hardly looked up from his paper..... we found this a few times around the ship which kind of affected the whole overall experience. In the past as I said we've left the ship feeling exhilerated, and we just didn't get that this time. oh well....we still had fun and would cruise again. Have fun everyone- life is short :) Disembarkation Read Less

One of the reasons we selected this ship was that it had recently been updated and we liked the itinerary. Have absolutely no complaints about any of the crew. The two reasons we gave it the average rating was the food in the main dining room and the space or lack there of on the Lido Deck and the Serenity Adult area. We ate at the specialty steak restaurant the first night, which was amazing and probably set our expectations for the rest of the cruise at an unreasonable level. The main dining room's menu was definitely a disappointment, featuring pretty much the same bland options every day. Each day we ate there, I ordered a baked potato as a side and each day it was under cooked and hard. Rather than saying anything or complain, we just chose to enjoy the options that were available 24 hours a day if dinner did not satisfy us. The pizza, barbecue, burger joint and sandwich shop were all great. The buffet was just ok - so fortunately you had the other options available for breakfast and lunch. In terms of space on the top decks, we noticed right away that every thing seemed tight and you would frequently blocked just walking because many of the passage ways were so narrow. The other problem was on space and chairs around the pool. They actually monitored the chairs if you were gone for over 45 minutes to keep people from hogging chairs which was a good thing. The issue was that there did not seem to be enough chairs for all the guests. It wasn't that you saw unused chairs being saved, it was just no chairs being available ever, especially at Serenity. We later found out that one of the main renovations that they did was to add 100 more cabins on those top decks. So what was previously some common space suddenly became cabins and you had more people now on board to share less common space. Other than that, we had a great time. Read Less

Second time on the Sunrise with a different itinerary. The CD was Erin and she cannot compete with the energy level Chris the Flying Scotsman had on our 1st cruise. The weather was bad the first two days, so some of the shows could only do the singing part of their performance. High winds & rough seas are no fault of the cruise line, so we took our Dramamine and enjoyed ourselves. There are so many things that are different on this ship, compared to others I have been on, from the deck layouts to the way they handle debarkation. The staff in the Cafe and MDR were fantastic. There were no lounge chairs in the pool decks after 9am on Sea Days. There was barely room to walk as chairs were all over the place. We enjoy all our cruises, but we probably wont be booking another cruise on the Sunrise. Read Less

Honestly i did not have a great experience which really saddens me because it was our first cruise and we were very excited for my boyfriends birthday. I paid a good bit of money to have the room decorated for his birthday the day we got on and have cookies and beer in the room. When we got there it was decorated but no cookies or beer, i then had to ruin the surprise of those items by calling guest services in front of him and asked where they were. They brought the cookies a little bit later. An hour later still no beer so i called again, the worker on the phone was very rude to me and said it was on the way. Then a worker showed up asking to remove the beer from the room? Obviously some confusion, eventually he went and found the beer, it was delivered to a wrong room, we went to put it in the fridge and our fridge didn't work. We then called and let them know the fridge didn't work so they brought us a small bucket of ice. For his birthday I also had it set up for them to sing happy birthday and bring out a piece of cake in the dining room on saturday night and they never did that either. It smelled very bad of sewage right in and outside of our room so that kind of was a bummer too. When i checked in online it asked if i wanted two twins or a king bed i said king but when we got there it was just two twins pushed together so every night one of us fell in between the beds onto a wooden plank and needed to push them back together. Not carnivals fault at all but the excursion we had scheduled in the bahamas got cancelled as well so it kind of just continued to feel like a downward slope of events. If it wasn't for our room steward Luis and director MarQ i would say i didn't like the entire cruise but they were awesome and really made everything else enjoyable. But i will say me and my boyfriend both are very reluctant to ever cruise again sadly. Read Less

We chose this cruise for our Anniversary since it left out of Port Canaveral. This is my third Carvnival cruise and have cruised on most other lines. We have been to the Bahamas but not overnight. The Liberty is a very nice ship. It was well decorated and did not appear to need updates as other reviews have noted. There was plenty of places to sit and relax. The pool area was laid out very nice with tiers and held lots of chairs. The only time it was overcrowded was during the sea day. We could not find a chair to sit, but found at least 100 empty chairs with blue towels with at least one person guarding entire empty rows. Although there was a sign not to reserve chairs, it was not enforced. They had a large movie screen over the pool with a good list of movies. The cruise is very nice for families with children. They have a Dr Seuss theme and it seemed like lots of activities for the kids. We did notice though the children tended to fill up the spas by the pool. But they have a very nice adults only section with two jacuzzis in the Aft of the ship. The food overall was better than most ships I have been on. We ate at Guys burgers and they had a Mongolian Wok that was open the first day and last day (it is not open all the time so go there when you see it open). The overall best meal went to Diamonds SteakHouse. We had Australian Wagyu and Surf and turf for only $38.00 each. This 5 course meal was better than most prime steakhouses I have been to. The service was excellent. Read Less

I have taken this cruise before, both as a 3 night and a 4 night. The 4 night fare is usually cheaper since it runs mid-week while the 3 night runs over the weekend. It tends to attract groups of bachelor and bachelorette parties, which liven the trip up and provide excellent people watching opportunities. Not for the Cunard crowd, thankfully. Unfortunately we didn't have great weather - cool, windy, some rain, which killed most pool deck activity, other than the overcrowded hot tubs. The cruise director Benjamin was very energetic and helped make the best of the trip. The gym is small and was not crowded. Good to see that Ensenada is still the same dump it was five years ago when I went on this itinerary. Friendly merchants on the streets trying to suck you in to buy their cheap junk, or visit any of the upstanding massage parlors, where one guy invited me in for a "rub and *** from one of his pretty cousins". My cabin (porthole, upper deck, very much up front) was clean and functional. Pushing the beds together resulted in an obvious divide and I would probably been more comfortable sleeping on a twin. TV channel... movies are good including TCM, CBS News network (extremely repetitive) and some kid channels. If you're up front, you will be awakened at 5am when returning to Long Beach by the ships engines, extremely loud and lots of vibration. I survived, the trip was cheap. Food in the MDR was at least okay, no complaints but not very exciting. The lido buffet was fine, the pizza was actually good, the deli counter is great, and the Guy's burgers were much better than typical cruise buffet burgers, actually very good for any burger. Stand-up comics were excellent, even when they did their family friendly shows they engaged the kids in attendance. Musical shows in the theater literally put me to sleep. The cruise activity staff was small, Benjamin and the person who did bingo (Jax?) plus a couple of people who did games. The cruise has been livelier in the past, but the cool weather kind of put a damper on it. I arrived around 2:30 pm and was in my cabin within 15 minutes. I carried on a 12 pack of coke and a bottle of wine, no hassles. Disembarkation is the dreaded long line snaking around deck 7. Read Less

We had a group of 31 and the intent was for a party atmosphere and fun at sea, this was achieved. You will find this is a very very casual ship. If your your looking for opulence and serenity you may want to consider another ship or cruise line. I’m not a big complainer especially at this price point however these are a few experiences that I found disappointing. The main dining room food was poor and the service was equally poor. I had mixed reviews within our group between great and bad. I highly recommend the burger bar and buffet for hot fresh food. Our cabin was clean but ur dude went awol the day before the cruise was over. Lower your expectations and have a great time, bring more money and less clothes. Party Hats not Top Hats. Not for everyone. Overall it is worth the money but the ship is dated, the staff a bit uninspired and a majority of the food was JV. Bon Voyage. Read Less

Tacky decor, way too much pink. The ship was meant to have been recently refurbed but I don't know what they refurbed because things in the rooms were broken (lamps, bedside tables). The mirror in the bathroom had been moved however the old holes werent patched. The staff were not friendly, apart from the cabin staff and the 3 staff we had in the dining room. The food was absolutely awful. Only 4 options of salad and mains in the bistro and a lot of the food was tasteless and cold. The bistro had 4 sections but they all had the same food. However the chocolate soft serve was amazing and tasted just like a chocolate paddlepop. The dining room had almost the same menu as the bistro. The ship is not easy to navigate and we often got lost, especially trying to get to the dining room as you have to take multiple lifts and walk to the other end of the ship. We cruised to tasmania and it was incredibly rough on the way there, so bad so that they had to cancel our port in Port Arthur. Stayed docked overnight in Hobart. Tasmania was beautiful. We asked about getting off to fly home but were told we werent allowed to, even though we were still in Australia it was an international cruise line. Thankfully it was much smoother on the way back so we were able to enjoy it more. Would not recommend this cruiseline to anyone and will not be sailing with them again. Read Less

I did not enjoy this experience. Over crowded, badly organised from the beginning. Our first thing was the master. We had to stand around waiting for so long some of the elderly were starting to get ill. Then our first meal in the Gold Pearl, was a disaster, giving us food we didn’t order. A storm meant we missed out on Port Arthur so we were in Hobart for two days. I thought they could have given us a free trip, via bus to Port Arthur, but know it was very costly. They is so much waste, food is left everywhere, I saw pizza crusts in the lift a couple of days. So many bogans on board. They should refuse service. Too cold to swim, activities lame, bingo, trivia? Beds so uncomfortable, soft foam. Piano bar only good entertainment, but be early limited seats. Steward, Guntur was the only good thing Read Less

Mid winter 50 TH birthday cruise on the Carnival Elation, Some good, some bad and some real ugly. For the record this was my families 8 TH Carnival Cruise since 2013 and our 12 TH cruise overall. This ship is in desperate need of the dry dock scheduled for next month. I was surprised on how much rust was on the exterior of this ship but not all was bad. We had two rooms E-52 & E-56 and also we were with of group of 38 people in 14 different room, all of which I helped to book, all good friends on mid winter recess from New York State.This was the third cruise in three years that I've help book over 10 + rooms for our Mid Winter recess in February. We will start with the Good: The food, from the MDR (breakfast, dinner & sea day brunch) to Guy's Burgers as well as the Blue Iguana you can't go wrong. The Cruise Director Alex, outstanding job, He is full of energy. The Cowboy Comedian at Punchlines Comedy Club, one of the best I've seen !! Book him long term on all your ships !! The Cabin Stewards, absolute great job once they realized we were upgraded to there block of rooms that they were taken care of. The Itinerary, 5 night with port of calls to Amber Cove & Grand Turks. The Bad: The smaller size boat with less bells & whistles. Not having any additional for charge restaurant options on the cruise. (no steakhouse) Guest Services, no real managers, just a bunch of folks reading what the last representative wrote on the computer screen from previous visits to the guest service desk. Much smaller shopping area. Terribly small Serenity deck that had black soot from the smoke stake dropping on guest utilizing this area. The smell of sewer in hallways on all different decks during the 5 night cruise. The Ugly: The super strong smell of sewer that kept backing up into our stateroom cabin bath room vent and drains. This started right after the mustard drill and got progressively worse. We called and they sent a guest service representative to see for herself, she almost got sick. They said they would send someone to sanitize the bathroom and a plummer to hopefully fix the problem. Day number two this smell got even worse, Went to the guest service desk to complain and they said they will try to fix the problem again and I said that I would like there rooms manger to please come and see for him or herself. Then then admitted that this has been an ongoing problem with this room E-52 and wouldn't be able to fix this until it was in dry dock. They would need to move us to a lower floor, only room available was on the Riviera deck and give us a $200 we are sorry for the bad experience in on board nonrefundable credit. Which we were OK with but it meant leaving our 17 year old son and 18 year old nephew alone three floors up. We trust them so we accepted the move to the Riviera deck R-195 and to be away from that horrid smell. Next comes the ugly, the next day a different customer service representative called to ask if we were satisfied with the way things were handled, We told them that we are still upset and that we do not see the on board credit to our account.The women who was speaking to my wife on the cabin phone stated that it wasn't Carnival's policy to move rooms and give on board money credit, she told my wife that she must be making this all up. My wife was livid being basically called a lair by this representative. We have now wasted over 4 hours dealing with this situation and moving rooms. When it was all said and done we were given the on board credit because the manger who was helping us failed to write this up correctly on there guest services computer. No apologies were offered by the representative for her bad choice of not being a not so good guest relations employee by saying my wife was wrong. If they would've communicated correctly they could've avoided making a bad situation even worse. I felt we were very reasonable and just wanted to be dealt with professionally. I hope someone from cooperate Carnival reaches out to us, I would like them to explain why my family should be loyal to the Brand and someday Cruise a 9 Th time on one of there ships. With so many cruise lines, I'm not sure I will be back without a proper apology from someone from the corporate staff. Read Less

A smaller ship has its benefits: It was easier to get on, get off, find a deck chair, and find a chair at the shows. But this is an older ship, it is worn on the edges, had some bed smells, and had a funky cabin layout (The 4 of us were layered like a Jenga game). The bands play in odd places that don't have chairs to watch them from. Even being an older ship, it is Carnival, and the staff is excellent. Our steward was awesome. The comedians were good. The staff we interacted with around the ship was great. The food was good, not great, not bad. The breakfast in the dining room was not the best, we had the same menu items on the Vista last spring and they were far better then. Catalina is a great stop, but the cruise passengers and their rental golf carts disturb the peace as they race around on their gas powered vehicles. We hiked up into the hills around town, that was really fun. Ensenada is nice along the waterfront and the fish market, but the the main shopping street was too much; very high pressure people on the street trying to get you in their store. I was exhausted from saying, "Gracias No". We bought souvenirs from an older couple that owned a store and did not hassle us. The Love and Marraige show, Hairy Chest Competition, and one of the comedians were fun. This was our first cruise, out of five, that loud passengers woke us up at bar closing time. They woke us up every night as they stumbled back to their cabins. Perhaps because this was a 4 night cruise, not to sound snobby but we had only been on 7 night cruises before this. Our kids liked being in their clubs as usual. We did not do any shore excursions. We booked this cruise 4 days before sailing and paid $1,000 for four people including tax and gratuities. Read Less

We chose this as a last minute cruise. We booked an interior guarantee and got upgraded to a balcony (8201). A terrific financial deal. The crew was nice and it was a shorter cruise (4 days) but the food and activities were not good. I think this ship is going in to be restored but they seem to have given up a bit. The ship is a really good layout and I hope it will be restored to this original glory. Embarkation was very easy but disembarkation was a nightmare. No explanation of disembark zones so everyone self disembarked with their luggage. I'm accustomed to luggage tags but that didn't happen. So with everyone trying to get off the ship, it was quite a mess. But once we got off to our transport, it was quick and easy. First time we ever used room service and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We did not go to the main dining room, we mainly ate at Guys and Deli, since buffet was pretty bland and blah. Read Less

This was our second cruise with Carnival on the same ship, Liberty the first cruise itself was better this one overall just left a bad taste in my mouth the alcohol package is outrageous and everyone 21 and over in your cabin has to order one even if they don't drink we weren't going to spend over $500 on alcohol for four days and each drink was almost $12, at the very end of the cruise we were going to purchase pictures we were told $500 for the stack, no way! We then asked to buy just the portion we wanted and they were all pretty rude and aggressive just kept repeating $500, $500. So we walked away and they just shredded your unwanted pictures anyway, pure greed! One nice thing was our stateroom attendant named Pedro from Nicaragua was absolutely wonderful, some other employees no so nice, probably because upper management slaves them 10 hour days, seven days a week with no real benefits, for the most part the employees are hard working people just probably trying to make a better life,they are from all different countries. Wasn't impressed with Nassau, Princess Cays was pretty but overall won't go back and most likely won't be using Carnival again That type of greed is unnecessary. Read Less

We usually do two back to back cruises in February to get a break from our long upstate NY winters. We had booked the first one to go out of New Orleans on NCL. We hadn’t been there before so we thought we’d combine some sightseeing with a cruise. Then I needed to find a second cruise on a different ship with a departure date that would work. Carnival had this cruise the day after, going out of Galveston. We hadn’t been on carnival in over 6 years. We primarily do NCL or Celebrity (about 28 previous cruises). The Dream is about 10 years old. And the decor is very dated and like the other 5 carnival ships we’ve been on, it has lots of smoked glass, mirrors, and other decor that frankly makes the ship look like an old nightclub. And there was a noticeable amount of rust on our balcony. We usually eat in the main dining room. But after two dinners there we decided that the food in their buffet was far better. And I don’t know why Carnival doesn’t put tablecloths on the dining room tables. Unlike the other cruise lines that we use, our Carnival room steward asked us if we wanted him to clean the room in the morning or the evening. On the other lines it’s done twice a day...no need to choose. Our steward said he could do it twice daily, but just the fact that he asked made me think that maybe he was overloaded with cabins, and I didn’t want to add to his workload. So we only had him do it once a day. Our balcony cabin was actually a bit larger than we’ve gotten recently on other lines. And it was always very clean and comfortable. The casino allows smoking all over and there were times when we couldn’t avoid having to walk through there. We went to one of the shows...an energetic cast, but they need a larger entertainment budget...playing memorable movie themes and having lots of lights doesn’t make up for a rather dull, lifeless show. Every crew member we came across was always very friendly and helpful...as we’ve always found on any other cruise line....they all deserve our thanks. All in all, it’s still a budget cruise line. Read Less

We chose this itinerary because we wanted to see the ruins at Uxmal. I was disappointed that Carnival no longer had this as a ship excursion. I was able to find it through Viator. The ship is a typical Carnival ship without the Cucina del Capitano, which was disappointing. The food was typical cruise food. Good but not great. We had an interior walkway cabin which was extremely comfortable. It has easy access to the outside front of the ship. The crew, like all our other Carnival cruise experiences were amazing. Cruise director Janaee is high energy and fun. We had the Cheers package and thoroughly enjoyed it. We embarked in Galveston which has a fog problem. This delayed embarkation. I understand that this is common in winter, but this is the first time this has happened to us. The embarkation was a mess. Once we checked in it was easy going. The ship was delayed departure. We got to Cozumel late, but were able to stay late. This time we left the children home, looking at the ship, I feel that it would not be the best for young kids compared to the Magic and Breeze. This being our second time on the Dream I guess we would be back. Read Less

This ship can NOT. Handle rough seas. Very frightening. Loud banging ceiling falling down. Scary and unpleasant. Mild seas were fine but we hit a significant storm with winds hitting between 43 and 66 kts. And a very roiling sea. This ship felt as though it was going to break apart. Heat and air stopped working. We had ambulatory assessable room. Plenty of room for ecv. But has step to very small balcony. Room has no chair to sit in. Just two step stool type blocks to sit on. Great for ambulatory handicapped but not for completely wheel chair dependent. Many hallway and corridors too narrow for wheelchairs. Very few handicapped bathrooms. Better to go back to your cabin bathroom. The layout of the ship is odd. Having to go through Lounges or smoky casino to get to restaurants is weird Quality of food awful. Even the pay restaurants were sub par. Buffet meh and always crowded. Or cabin was 6017. Not a bad size but a wheelchair would be very tight. Sturdy pull down shower seat. This is most definitely a party cruise. You do not walk into a beautiful atrium you step right into a tacky huge loud bar with tons of drunk people even though they had only just boarded a few hours earlier Entertainment was very subpar. In every way I loved having this being a younger crowd and lots of families and children. But the amount of drunkenness was disappointing. Also unsupervised kids in the 13-14 range were loud roaming and running in the hallways and running into people and small children Their are many reasons for not cruising with carnival sunshine but for me the mist disturbing thing was the very poor way the ship handled a serious storm. I must say though that EVERY crew member I encountered was pleasant and very helpful. Some went way out of their way to help me. And since I am handicapped and was traveling alone this trip that was was greatly appreciated. Lol I wish I could have many of the crew members on a better ship. Read Less

We just arrived back in Charleston yesterday, the 22nd. We definitely were very excited for the trip and to some extent, it lived up to our expectations. This was my 4th or 5th cruise and the first for my fiancée. I have previously been on Carnival and Royal Caribbean. We had a relatively smooth check-in process. The new building that was added in May was nice, but the newly upgraded computers or software made it a headache. The scanners worked about every third time they would scan your information when taking guest pictures. We made it to our room (1547) and it was bigger than what I had remembered on previous carnival ships. There was a light sewage smell but nothing too bad. We enjoyed a great dinner and relaxed that evening, with my fiancee heading to the casino. The next morning we didn't notice the sewage smell as we had adjusted to it but when leaving and entering again it was obvious something was up. We called guest services. Once we got through they said they would send someone up. They poured some type of blue chemical in it and the smell was converted to a bleach smell, but it helped. My time line may be a little off on this stuff but it's close. Anyways, the next day, we had a great day at Nassau. We came back and needed showed. My fiancee laid her bag in the bathroom floor and hopped in. Within a few minutes she beckoned me into the bathroom where there was an inch of blue water covered her bag in the floor. We had to trash the bag and a couple clothing items as we did not know what was in the chemical mix. Housekeeping was called again and we were told they would be right up. We waited two hours for them and got fed up and called again. They apologized and had someone up within 15 more minutes. Rakesh (I believe was his name) did some work in the bathroom for about 10 minutes and just said it was fixed. Then they sent housekeeping up, after I called, and they brought towels to replace all the ones I had to use to contain the water. My fiancee and I did dinner and casino (where she spent enough to get free drinks). The next day, in Half Moon Cay, the smell returned. More chemicals were added. Guest services called and offered us a complimentary bottle of wine. My fiancee requested mascato as she can not drink red wine without migraines. They brought red wine but it was when I was the only one in the room and didn't realize. When she returned to the room I showed her and she said they were going to send Moscato. I called and explained the issue and they said they would correct. Shortly after, a bottle of Moscato was delivered in exchange for the red wine. It was actually the same type that we brought, which is $8.98 at Walmart. The girl took the other bottle and swapped with us. She then handed me a bill for $47. I told her the situation and she said OK and as I shut the door she said asked me if I wanted to sign the bill. I said no, this was supposed to be complimentary because we have had issues since day 1. I finally was able to convey the information to her and she left. The people were all very polite it just took forever to get the issue at least patched up. It never was fixed. Forgot to mention that on the day at see, I returned to the room to find the door and floor in front of it and the ceiling dripping with honey mustard (I have pictures of it running down the door sign showing our room number and dripping from door frame) I went to the guest services after waiting 20 minutes trying to get through. After about 35 minutes, housekeeping came and asked where the vomit was they needed to clean. I said there isn't any but you are standing right in the middle of the honey mustard someone spilt. Then I showed him the other places it was on wall and ceiling. He got it cleaned up and was very appreciative for the help. The only other complaint we had was that the "free" drinks while in casino were so slow to get there. I understand you can not give a bunch away but our minimum wait time was 20 minutes and one time it took 2 waiters a total of an hour and 10 minutes to get one drink, and then half was dumped on my finacees leg and not even offered to be replaced. She was handed a napkin to wife herself and the slot machine off. Ridiculous. Enough with the complaints. The ship, for what we paid, was close to what we expected. I was say 90% of the crew was always smiling and friendly. The cruise director, Christian was phenomenal. Elle was so funny and exceptionally customer service oriented. Most of the food was good. We did not do the Buffett much as it never quiet seemed fresh but the Sunrise was an excellent dinner choice. We also loved the breakfast wraps and enjoyed the pizza delivery service. Nassau and Half moon cay were but very nice with half moon being our favorite stop. We did the stingray adventure through carnival which was great and bought the pictures.... Definitely not $117 worth but we liked how they looked. You only live once. We definitely had a good time and will consider sailing with carnival again in the future, just in at least a different room. My fiancee was already sent a half price offer where she gambled heavily. Happy sailing to you all!!! Ciao..... Read Less

We love carnival, however the sunshine leaves a bit to be desired. We took this cruise because the boat looked like of fun for our teenagers. There were definitely good times had. The entertainment guy Houston was awesome, so much fun and energy. Also our waitstaff and room attendant Raul was great. Disappointed with the bar service, we waited a long time for drinks, almost like the ship was understaffed. Also the pixel picture area is a joke. They threw our pictures out before we ordered them, then it took about 2 hours to go through the ipad to find them. ordered them, and they still came out wrong. We spent $200 on pictures and the order was not even correct. When trying to get the right order, after being in the room sick all day because of rough seas, the pixel guy said, we are only human. I then gave up and decided I didn’t need the correct pictures. Never, have iI had this issue on any other cruise we have been on. In conclusion, we had a good time, but there are issues with this boat/cruise that carnival needs to fix.. Read Less

Went on my first cruise, carnival pride and was not impressed at all, the food was subpar and some of the staff didn’t seem like they wanted to help and seemed bothered if I stopped them to ask a question. Our neighbors had there kids unattended running up and down halls all night and slamming doors and we reported it several times and finally the day before we got home the noise stopped. So many young kids running around without parents that we couldn’t play miniature golf because they were breaking the clubs then we docked home 6 hours late, the one positive thing was the guy that cleaned our room, he was fantastic and we even tipped him extra!!! I’m not sure I’ll ever take another cruise and if I do it will NOT be with carnival pride. We wanted to go to movie night and there were not enough chairs and the ones that were taken had sleeping kids on them so we never got to do movie night and the serenity pool was nice but people came up to save there chairs at 6am by putting towels there then went back to room so chairs stayed saved and empty for hours so it was hard to find a chair to lay out, people who couldn’t find chairs did let staff know that seats are saved and empty for hours and they didn’t seem to care so I went over and removed all the towels so the 6 women could sit and I gave towels to employee and told them and they just took towels and didn’t even I spoke to them. Never again!!! Read Less

Embarkation: Embarkation was a breeze we did not have any priority embarkation and from arrival to port till the time we got on the ship was only about 30 min at 1pm in the afternoon which I would presume to be one of the busiest times. App: The Carnival Hub app is the best cruise line app i've seen it's extremely user friendly and I loved being able to request a table from anywhere on the ship. Cabins: We had a Havana Premium Balcony as well as an interior room. The balcony room had a huge balcony but I would have liked more chairs the decor in the room was very nice. If you are staying in the Havana area I would reccomend a Havana Cabana instead. The interior room was quite basic but there weren't any problems although I would like USB ports beside the bed. The rooms were both very quiet. Staff: We didn't have any problems with the staff on board and for the most part they were quite friendly however none of them stood out to us and went above and beyond. Guys Burgers: Just as good as everyone says, one of the best burgers i've ever had. The only negatives of it would be the fries weren't anything special and lines were usually around 10-15 minutes. Sports Area: The sports area and clubhouse was very big but still quite crowded. The mini golf course was quite good but if your a serious golfer I would reccommend bringing along a ball as the balls provided are foam ones that aren't that great. Main Dining Room: We had our meals in the Meridian Dining Room which had pleasant decor. It was your classic main dining room food which was quite good. It took us about 1 hour and 15 minutes for meals. Comedy Club: The facility was very good with comfortable seating and good sightlines the comedians were good but will vary by sailing. Shows: The shows on the ship were terrible. We went to Soulbound and Celestial Strings and had to walk out of both of them. The performers weren't terrible but the coreography and story of the shows were horrendous. The theatre itself was very small with terrible sightlines as the seats aren't steep at all and there is big poles on the upper level. Bars: I am not a drinker but the decor in the bars were very nice I especially enjoyed the skybox sports bar. The virgin pina coladas on the ship were also very good and all cocktails came with candy straws. Shops: The shops were quite overpriced on the ship especially Cherry on Top if you do go there do not get the bulk candy it is stale and probably 5x the price you will pay on land. Ocean Plaza: The Ocean Plaza was a nice venue with a little breakfast buffet if your looking for a quiter spot. It doesn't have any pancakes or omelettes but if your looking for just a quick bacon and eggs or something it's a great option Buffet: I found the buffet on the ship to be quite better then other ships. Im not a huge buffet fan but the food was quite good although the options were limited. Expect 10 or so hot items at breakfast 12 or so hot items at lunch and even smaller selection at Supper. Pasta Bar: The pasta was good but nothing to great just your basic pasta dishes. Deck Chairs: If you are looking for a deck chair you probably want to get there before at least 10am and if you want one at one of the pools 8am. Main Pool: The main pool was very crowded but a nice area, we didn't spend too much time here. Waterslides: The body slide was very painful on the back and im not sure if you would be able to sit straight up on it. I preferred the tube slide although it was a fair bit slower. Pig and Anchor (supper) : The BBQ here is very unique in flavour usually a hickory flavour. We loved some of the stuff and hated some of the stuff. Havana Area: The Havana area is a very nice area to get away from the busy main pools with some really nice daybeds at the back. I would definitely reccomend if you can afford it. Arcade: The arcade was way bigger then any i've seen on a cruise ship with probably over 50 games and not a single one broken in comparison to Ovation of the Seas which only had about 15 games half of which were broken. They also have power hours which are half off games and it doesn't really get much busier at these times. Seaday brunch: The seaday brunch on the ship was very good. I would highly reccomend the french toast. Skyride: The skyride was very fun and you didn't really have to pedal if you don't want to it wont give you much more speed. Lines range from 20-50 minutes depending on when you go but will be shorter when it first opens and on port days despite the limited hours. Blue Iguana Cantina: Im not a big mexican fan but the burrito I had was quite good and they had lots of variety of salsas. Thrill theater: The thrill theater was the bets ive ever been on and I have been on over 10. It incorporated so many more elements then any other one ive been on im not going to spoil them but its well worth the $5.50 cost Imax: The Imax wasn't really an imax but just a large movie screen which played recently released movies as well as documentaries. I think the new releases were $11.50 while the documentaries were $5.50 Pizzeria Del Capitano: The pizza is very good thin italian style. The lines were long but moved very quickly. Our itinerary was the 6 day to Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel Ocho Rios: We did the blue hole, river tubing, and zipline which was about $125. The blue hole was absolutely beautiful. It is a tour with 4 jumps ranging from 5 feet to 25 feet and 1 rope swing its not on your own schedule at all and you cant do the same jump twice or just swim in the pool. It takes around 45 minutes. The river tubing was more of a river float that most of the time you had to paddle yourself to go anywhere it was very beautiful though. The ziplining was only 3 zips but 2 of them were very long it didn't feel like the safest zipline but it was still fun. I would reccomend this excursion Grand Cayman: We took a shuttle taxi to seven mile beach for $5 where we went to Royal Palms Beach Club which is $2 entry and has a pool as well as cabanas for rent that cost $100 to $300 and sell out over 2 months in advance lots of days. There are also lots of chairs and umbrellas for i think $10 a chair and $15 an umbrella. The beach is the best beach ive ever seen and you could snorkel right of the shore. At the beach club you can rent snorkel equipment, kayaks, paddleboards, and jet skis. There is also a snorkel excursion available for $45. Food and drinks are quite expensive but very good. I would highly highly reccomend the Royal Palms Beach Club and 7 mile beach. Cozumel: we did the adventure jeep snorkel and tequila which was about $110. The jeeps were closed tops with broken stereos and no AC in the back although I think we got the worst of the group. The drive was mostly just a 20 minute highway drive to Ponta Sur where you drive down the beach. The snorkelling was way better then most reviews say and I wouldn't skip out on it. The beach is also very nice but there is some seaweed. The food was not very good. The lighthouse had an amazing view from up top but there are some tight spaces to crawl through. The mayan ruin was very fascinating and our guide Danny was veyr informative. We did not see any crocodiles. Overall, I would reccomend this cruise but I wouldn't say its the best cruise ever. Read Less

ROOM - We had Stateroom 2450 in the Family Harbor section. We traveled with 2 adults and 3 kids. We could all fit nicely in the room. While a little crowded, I was surprised at how well we managed. Two beds drop from the ceiling and the couch is turned into a twin bed. The couch takes up no more space as a bed than a couch. There is plenty of closed space and desk space for all the random crap we collected over the week. The room has 2 outlets and 2 USB ports. There are 2 more USB ports on the TV. We brought a 5 port charger and never had an issue. The half bath with a little tub was nice for our smallest one. Our Steward was great and everyone was super friendly. We LOVED the family harbor lounge a few doors down as it had snacks throughout the day and ice cream, coffee, water, and ice from 6:30a - 9:30p. The breakfast was a smaller version of what is served in the Lido buffet without the omelet station. SHIP - The ship is nice and new and easy to get around. Once you learn the elevators (you have to push the floor button for EVERY person that wants to go to that floor) they work well except during large people moving times. We chose to use the stairs a good but during the heavy periods. The upper promenade was easy to get around and if you are in a hurry to go from bow to aft, either do it a long stateroom deck or hit the outside on deck 5. On sea days it could get super crowded. My major complaint is that people reserve chairs at 6am that they don't plan to use until much later in the day. This was frustrating. My small kids loved the water park. On sea days I had to stand many times to keep an eye on her as the adjacent chairs were either occupied by a towel or people unaffiliated with a kid in the water park. FOOD - Decent. The Main Dining room was good. If the portions aren't enough for you order an extra. The selection was nice. The lido deck food seemed to be trying to be something no one wanted. The food was complicated. I just want a hamburger or hot dog without waiting at a station. Give my kids some chicken fingers or cheap pizza. All of those were options, but you had to stand in line at a special place to get it. I mean the Guy's Burgers, and Lido Pizza joint, and Sandwich station were really good - but the lines were 15-20 minutes on sea days. Certainly there is a hybrid from fancy to simple here. Once bright spot is the Gelato near the front of the Lido buffet - spot on! CAMP OCEAN - All I can say is that my youngest (4) LOVED that place. I don't know if they are feeding them heroin in there or what, but she wanted to be there all the time (There or the pool or the water park). The staff was so awesome. I can't add much more than that. Oh - they have dinner at 6pm (kid food) this really makes parental dining in the MDR so much better than a wiggling 4 year old,just sayin. We did the behind the scenes tour, it was cool and worth the $95. Make sure you go to the excursion deck as soon as you board and grab a spot. It's limited to about 30. OVERALL - It was a good value. Don't expect gourmet food and amazing service for value price. If you manage your expectations, you will have a great trip. If you' re looking for a Viking River Cruise, you'll be pretty upset. Read Less

What a piece of junk! Needs refurbished, or at least fixed. I never thought it possible for a cruise ships food to be so terrible. The biscuits resembled hardtack not actual biscuits. The crew is either complete novices, or imbeciles. Dining service was cold and had no feeling. Food was terrible. The breakfast buffet was yesterday's leftovers, and the breakfast brunch in Washington dining room was even worse if possible. Tried an egg benedict and it was a soft boiled egg still mostly in the shell on a piece of ham smothered in a yellow gravy that only resembled hollandaise. The cabin was nice. Had a deck 1 porthole. However, some exhaust fan on the crew deck had a broken blade or something that banged against the hull of the ship all night making it nearly impossible to sleep. Overall the service was not up to a typical cruise standard. Perhaps the saddest thing is that Carnival used to have a reputation of being a fun ship. Now it is a sad ship. Entertainment was non existent. Everything in the Ivanhow theater was about shopping excursions, or sales on the ship. How can you take a game such as beer pong and make it so boring that everyone leaves? Sad. Drinks are just water. Food is cold and inedible. Service is non existent. Ports of call, Cozumel is fine. Progresso is a crap town. Took over 1 1/2 hours on a bus to get to merida Centro and stll not much to see. Carnival nickels and dimes every single thing and the cruise director kevin/devin/gavin whatever his name was only cared about selling more crap onboard. Stay away from this ship if you value your money at all Read Less