We cruised as 2 adults and a 9 yr old. Not sure why we chose to cruise out if Baltimore. This is not a good area at all. We had cruised on 2 Norwegian ships previously without the child. The wait staff, cruise director and his staff, stateroom steward and supervisor were all very good. They are the reason I am giving this ship to 2 stars instead of zero stars (if that were possible). We arrived to wet carpet in 2 places and balcony door curtain in our stateroom was wet too. I am talking WET. I called the steward line and was transferred directly to room service, hung up, called guest services, requested someone come up the next day to resolve. While we were out someone came because things were moved but no explanation as to what was being done. I called again this time getting through to a steward, not ours, they said someone will come. Nothing was done. My boyfriend went to guest services and finally the supervisor came up and put 2 fans in for the whole day to dry the carpet. Then they gave us 10 free drinks. Great. We received 2 more (total 3) letters stating the guest services wanted to resolve this after it was already resolved. The bathroom floor became flooded with every shower. Water and soap suds were coming up a drain in the bathroom floor i assume is in case any water gets on the floor from the shower. The a/c was not cooling the room. Their explanation was the rule is between 70 and 74 was sufficient. I have tell you we were sweating every night. Supervisor tried to get them to make it colder. That lasted 2 days then we were sweating again. Also, the balcony was dirty. Even after the balcony cleaning took place at port. The comedians were great. The food selection is lacking. Not enough options. Only the pizza station and ice cream shops were open at night. Pizza had a line of 15 people every late night. The swirls ice cream "shop" was an ice cream machine in a corner behind a wall. That's it. We booked this cruise by phone. We ordered faster to the fun which should get us early boarding. Come to find out they never put it on our account. They actually let us board early anyway but this should not have been necessary. We were not told there were 2 formal dining nights. We did not pack any formal clothes so had to eat buffet 2 nights. Also booked the steak house and not told of the dress code so had to cancel that too. Carnival brought the chef down to talk with my boyfriend about it. Great. They gave us a free round of drinks at our dining table. Great. The dancing/singing group was subpar. Everything they performed sounded the same. Whether it was 40s, 50s, 80s, Michael Jackson or Beyonce. All same sound. There were no special shows like on Norwegian. The piano player was putting us to sleep. On the last night our stateroom door started whistling. Air was squeezing out through the gasket and it whistled all night long. I called guest services who told me it was because the suitcases were being loaded into the cargo area and would be finished shortly. After an hour my boyfriend went back down to guest services. Someone from maintenance came up and looked and said she would check it out. No one returned until morning and said it was the gasket. My steam iron was removed from my suitcase (understandable) and a notice was placed in the suitcase in a different pocket that I never use. So I had to ask where it was and how to get it back. I found the notice on the last day. Also, on our last day we received a notice informing us of spa packages for the day before. Bottom line is there is a serious communication problem on this ship between depts and they need to overhaul many things. The ship is older and had some broken tiles but I liked the detail in the ships decor. The kids club was good except they had one night in the beauties club for the 9-11 yr olds. This club's decor is naked male and female mannequins. Why would they bring children here? I was not comfortable but the decision was made to allow her to join with her new friends. 1 elevator was broken. The ship was wobbly and many people were getting sick. We had some strong wind and rainy days so this is understandable. In a discussion with one of the kids club staff I learned this ship and all Australian made ships are wobbly regardless of the weather. I will need to do this research before booking a cruise again. A fellow cruiser bought a facial in the spa. The anethstician proceeded to tell her she has all these wrinkles etc making her feel terrible about her face all to get her to buy products and procedures. She said "it was the worst facial I ever had". Freeport bahamas is the worst excursion. This port is so run down it is scary. The port is actually fenced in. Our excursion took us beyond the fence through a slum area. It was depressing. I would be surprised if it stays a tourist port for long. Even though they attempted to make it right for us by giving us free drinks I will never cruise this ship again, possibly not Carnival at all. Read Less

This is our 3rc trip on the Carnival Pride but 6th trip on Carnival and 8th cruise overall. We just got back and I wanted to write a review because I feel like only the people who are unhappy take the time to write the reviews. We have cruised the very large ships and did not enjoy them because we do not like making reservations to see a show etc. On the Breeze we could not get into shows or the comedy club on several nights because the theaters are not much larger than the Pride but there are twice the number of cruisers. We never had any problems getting into or hanging out between shows in the comedy club on the Pride but on the Breeze they would make us go around and stand in long lines for as much as 45 minutes to get a seat. The pool areas on the Pride although busy were not crazy crowded. You do need to go early to get a chair on the main deck (and hang out not abandoning it for hours) but if you go up to the 10th floor overlooking the pool you can get one anytime. We are up fairly early so usually got a chair to enjoy all of the pool side activities. The pool area on the Breeze was larger but the pool was the same size and there was only one pool. (the kids area was above and largely unused) There wasn't even standing room on the Breeze. I am glad that Carnival added staff to the pool area, it really controlled the kids and Chaos of jumping kids into crowded pools. The sea was rough the first couple of days. (No biggie to me and Carnival could not control that). Other than that it was beautify most days. We enjoyed the dining room and had excellent service from Diana and the rest of the team. The buffet was fine and had very edible food that people were eating in large portions so obviously most people found it to be of good quality. Guys Burger Joint was great, especially the fries. The pizza was good (especially for breakfast, I don't eat eggs). I spent a lot of time talking to so many fun people and listening to a few miserable people. I think a cruise is what you make of it, get out and meet people and participate in as many activities as you can and you will likely have fun no matter which ship you are on. The people on Pride were so friendly and fun. Grand Turk: Flow Rider with the kids was totally awesome with the pool at Margaritaville Half Moon Cay: Horseback Riding was beautiful and wonderful day handing out at the beautiful beach Freeport: Excursion to the beach was very nice (not as pretty as Half Moon Cay but we've been both islands before so no surprise) Read Less

My wife and I chose this cruise to "try" Carnival Cruise Lines after having sailed with other vendors previously due to their lower cost. The old adage that "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR" was truly evident on the 7/15/18 Pride cruise out of Baltimore, MD. Everything that could go wrong on a cruise, did on this one! We were taking our sixth cruise (none previously on Carnival) and primarily scheduled the cruise to celebrate our 28th Anniversary as well as my 55th Birthday. We decided on the Carnival Pride mainly because it sailed out of Baltimore, MD and was relatively close to our home city. This cruise was a major disappointment from start to finish. I will order our review of this cruise from start to finish. 1) Embarkation – This was probably the most convenient part of the cruise mainly due to the disabled access facilities at the Port of Baltimore. My wife has severe rheumatoid arthritis and has difficulty walking and I have broken bones in my left leg that make walking difficult. We had made prior arrangements with Cruise411 to have handicapped access facilities provided for my wife on embarkation. As such, the Baltimore Port personnel were notified, and we were escorted to a separate and distinct part of the registration lines. There we were registered separately, and a wheelchair was brought for my wife along with an escort. I unfortunately walked and tried to keep pace with the wheelchair attendant (very quick pace and very difficult to keep stride. One issue of note though was that prior to getting in the wheelchair assistance queue there were many ignorant people not wanting to follow the rules who cut in lines throughout the process, and, the people in charge, ignored the behavior and allowed it to occur. This seemed to set the tone for the rest of the cruise. Once on board, we had to wait for the staterooms to be ready, so we thought we’d go to customer service to take care of some onboard items. The Guest Services desk was staffed with only 2 attendants, one of which was dedicated to the Platinum members of Carnival. That meant that only one crew member was available for the rest of the sailing customers. As a result, we waited endlessly in this line for over an hour to get to the desk for assistance; further comments about guest services will be forthcoming. We then made it to our stateroom around 2:30PM. Our bags did not make it until hours later; it was a good thing we packed a backpack of essentials as our packed items were hours away. After being in the room for a short time, we met our room steward, Habibe who explained the room cleaning process; he was very attentive. We then went to explore as best we could. We had a late lunch in the buffet area and then tried to go to dinner at our assigned dinner spot – more on this later! As another cruiser has used a school grading scale, we will assign a ‘B-‘ here. 2) Cabins – We reserved an extended balcony stateroom on Deck #7 (category 8K). The room was adequate for my wife and I and had two twin beds joined to form a king as well as a small sofa. This room would have been too small for any more than two passengers. The décor was severely outdated. Woodwork on the inside edges were scarred and scratched from obvious rough use; bed clothing was old and had staining that multiple washings had not removed. The air conditioning in our stateroom did not function for most of the cruise. Despite several attempts by onboard engineers to try to get it to function, it did not, and we spent a good deal of time in the common areas to stay cool (for health reasons). The room’s refrigerator, upon opening the first time, was warm inside and had obvious dirt and a sticky residue present. We wanted to keep some water and our medicines cool. We called guest services and later, another refrigerator was “swapped-out” – it too did not cool to a sufficiently cold temperature! This room, and the ship in general, needs to be completely overhauled and refit. Grade of ‘C-’. 3) Dining / Reservations / Meals – Immediately upon the issuance of our room cards and boarding the ship, we noted that our dinner dining reservations did not appear to be correct. After getting onboard, we pursued this with the Guest Services staff on Deck 2. We were told that our early dining reservation was booked at a table with multiple cruisers as opposed to a “table for two” that we had previously confirmed. We were told that there “was nothing that could be done” as the early dining option was sold out for the cruise and had been closed months earlier. We explained that due to health reasons we needed a table of two and were told again that nothing could be done! They said our only choice was to use “your time dining” and try to get a table for two in this manner. Why bother making reservations months in advance if pompous cruise personnel will not honor the bookings upon sailing? Other than our headwaiter, Stanley, in Your Time Dining”, this category of rating would definitely fail unfalteringly; due to Stanley’s good will only, I will assign a ‘D’ to this category. 4) Shopping – Shopping on this cruise was found to be a very limited experience. Unlike on other ships we’ve sailed, the shops were mainly limited to two small onboard venues with not much to offer. I, however, am a watch collector and found the selection of Invicta watches to be varied and plentiful. I purchased approximately 5 watches as a result. But otherwise, the shopping was not good. The sales tactics were extremely forceful, and customers and browsers constantly had offer brochures or sales invites thrust in their hands continually. Shopping at the islands was less than eventful as well. Shops on Half Moon Cay and Freeport were very limited and consisted mainly of small huts with inexpensive trinkets for sale. Maybe they are still recovering from the hurricane, but…. Will assign a ‘C-‘ here. 5) Guest Services – This area leaves much to be desired! It appears that Carnival has a “do not care” attitude that radiates from the Corporate level down to the ship level staff. These people are clearly just putting in time and really don’t care about the concerns of the customer. I know that is common of human nature, but if you don’t care, don’t work in “customer service.” They just aren’t able to process customer requests promptly, if at all! They constantly have to refer to a superior for a resolution; the most common comment heard was, “I’ll have to Check with My Supervisor.” Our problems started the first day when our dining reservations were incorrectly recorded. We had guaranteed early dining at a table for two months before sailing and now found this not to be the case. After waiting in the guest services line for over an hour, we were told that nothing could be done, and we’d have to now use, “Your Time Dining”; why make reservations months in advance if they aren’t going to be honored? It should also be noted here that on the (arguably) busiest customer service day of the cruise, the staff was limited to two personnel; again, one of which was reserved for Platinum passengers. Another issue faced in Guest Services is lack of knowledge. We were having difficulty in getting the Carnival Hub app to work on our phones and requested help from Guest Services. A staff member at the desk instructed us to “turn off Airplane Mode” and to “turn on Wi-Fi” and showed us how to do this. He then displayed to us that the Hub app was in fact working on our phones. Well, it turned out that this reprogramming of our phones by guest services cost me about $200 in international roaming charges. Help turned out to be a hinderance. Based on their inability to complete guest services issues in a timely manner (if at all), we’ll give a ‘F’ rating here. 6) Noise Levels and Disturbances – The noise levels in the staterooms, hallways, and most common areas was raucous. It seemed that most of the parents who had kids older than 10 “turned them loose” on the ship and let them do as they pleased. Very noisy!! The young teens were boisterous and out of control, running all over, banging walls, making stomping sounds between walls and ceilings, and generally being disruptive. Don’t try to spend any peaceful time in your stateroom as it is likely that you will have these “young adults” on either side of you banging walls, doors, or running; a serene environment is impossible. What a way to celebrate an anniversary and a birthday!! Despite comments to staff, nothing was done to abate it. Noise levels and disturbances definitely rate a ‘D’ if not even lower. 7) Excursions – We booked several excursions on the various island stops we were to make, but after taking part in the first one on our agenda, we cancelled all the remaining. Here’s why: We booked the Hummer Excursion Tour on Grand Turk. Upon debarkation from the ship we went to the excursion hut for the Hummers at 8:15am for an 8:30am departure and signed in. Participants seemed slow to arrive and at 8:25 we were told that we would be leaving in a “short time” despite that fact. Time passes and at approximately 8:50am we were told that they were waiting on one more family and they were told that they “couldn’t go on the tour without them!” They finally arrived, and we moved off to the parking lot to pick-up our vehicles. Upon arriving at the departure lot, we found that there weren’t enough vehicles prepared for the number of participants and staff would have to get another one ready. They did, and we were given Hummer “No. 01” for our tour. After driving a very short distance we noted that the “gas pedal” was not functioning and the Hummer would not move forward; we flagged down one of the guides, told him of the trouble, and a second vehicle was brought out, so we could continue our tour (after a long wait) – this was vehicle No. 07. We then used #07 for a short time when it too, began to malfunction and would not keep pace with many of the other vehicles on tour. Again, we flagged down the guide for help, but we were told that there were no other vehicles for replacement and we would have to continue with the one we were in (#07) – and as a result we had to lag the other participants and “bring up the rear”. Caused extreme inconvenience and embarrassment. Upon returning to the excursion desk, we tried to convey our concerns over this much troubled excursion. The hut personnel were unconcerned and dismissive and seemed to not care about the inconveniences we experienced. Again, the theme for poor customer service emanates here as well. Other adventures were troublesome as well and we found it prudent to cancel the rest of our excursions. This category gets a solid “F”. 8) Ship Condition – This Pride started its sea service in 2002 and it REALLY SHOWS IT AGE! I have noted and taken pictures of areas of rust throughout the ship. There is rust on the life boat booms which appears to be a safety concern and should be corrected at once. The ship’s crew is constantly repairing areas of the ship and inconveniencing customers by shutting off certain areas, spreading noxious fumes and shutting down elevators during the entire cruise (is this not a safety concern). Two of four main Atrium glass elevators were out of order for the entire cruise funneling passengers into other elevators in the fore and aft sections of the ship. It appears that based on appearances, this ship needs a MAJOR overhaul. Surfaces on common areas were faded, discolored, water marked, etc. The ship is clearly outdated, old and lacks conveniences needed by travelers. This subject area earns a ‘D’. 9) Frustrations – Many things on this cruise were annoying. The Cruise Director, Ryan Rose had a very piercing and annoying voice and it seemed that pre-recorded scripts were projected instead of live conversation. Many items were in a state of disrepair; Guest Services would not give useful aid; reservations were not honored; and there was a general lack of concern on behalf of Carnival for its customers. ‘F’ 10) Summary – This was a complete revelation into the world of “discount” cruising – you truly get what you pay for! Unlike peer cruise lines, Carnival truly does not care about its customers or their satisfaction. An earlier cruiser likened this to the Walmart of Cruising, I would compare it to something lower in scale…. "F' overall. Don’t be disappointed, cruise elsewhere. Read Less

We took this cruise as it was for a decent price for a balcony. Overall it met our expectations as we are previous cruisers of Carnival. The shows in the main theater were better than expected based on our experiences on other ships. I would recommend the shows to others. Their comedians were good and had plenty of selection of times to go the 9-10:15 shows were always packed. The room steward was great. The third day we got a waiter in the main dining room we liked and were able to request him the remainder of the week with our anytime dining. Note we did have to line up for anytime dining before service opened as quite a line was forming and people were always waiting for a table when we left at 7-7:30. Our server would let us know of upcoming port embarkation and debarkation times as well. The ship is older but they do a good job of keeping it clean. They are not doing a great job of upholding their dress code policies in the dining room. Elegant night ranged from nice evening gowns to tank top and shorts. If you wanted a good spot in the serenity area you had to get there early as people were saving seats with their stuff but would be gone for hours. Half Moon Cay had an amazing beach and a decent time on shore. Grand Turk and Freeport we had only 4-5 hours which makes going very far difficult. We found good snorkeling at each location though. Read Less

Ship: Ready for its dry dock early! Still alot to enjoy but dont expect to not notice the issues on board. Staff is doing the best with what they are given! Cabin: 8221 - if you like a cooler room, this isn't the cabin for you. I enjoy my room to be cool in the evening and this one ran a bit too warm for me. The noise was rough for me at night. I am a VERY light sleeper though! I could hear staff all night long, above me. Had an issue with a busted pipe and no water for a few hours after returning for Half Moon Cay and that was rough. I just wanted to shower so bad. Entertainment: I was expecting Dr E, but unfortunately he was still in training. The Cruise Director was good but the Entertainment Director was amazing. I think his name was Bendy, you looked for him where ever you went. He is awesome and needs a promotion!!!!!!!!!!!! Service: Staff is wonderful as always. Its well known they are understaffed and have HORRIBLE hours but I never saw someone look miserable. I felt bad for them knowing they served me at early dining and then I saw them at 7 am running the Lido Dining... Read Less

I traveled on Carnival Pride for seven days. This was my first time cruising. I chose a cruise because I have never taking a cruise and it was my birthday trip to myself. The comedy shows and karaoke were the best thing on the ship. The ship did not offer many activities. The ship was not thoroughly cleaned as it should have been. The quality of the food was very poor. The buffet was extremely horrible.The food was very bland , overcooked and the variety was horrible. The restaurant was a little better , but not that much better.There is really not much to do on the three different Islands, if you do not plan an Excursion. Freeport was by far the worst. There was absolutely nothing to do there. My cabin was always cleaned. The staff there are truly overworked. The ship should be updated. Two days out of the 7 they woke us the guest up early by stripping the paint off the sides of the boat with very loud machines. That was extremely rude and if you want to sleep in you could not. If you wanted to use the iron and ironing board you have to literally walk half way around the ship to find it . Instead of having an iron and every cabin . Instead of offering one free portrait of when you first arrive on the ship you have to pay for everything! Be careful of all of the fees and gratuity that they charge. I advise that you check your sail card everyday, so you won't get hit with fees before you exit the ship. I will never travel on this ship ever again. For the price that we all paid, it really was not worth the money we paid. Last but not least the cruise director was absolutely fabulous. He made sure that everyone was having a good time and he put on some good shows. Read Less

My husband I vowed to cruise on this ship in particular, after having attended his cousins wedding on this ship a couple of years ago. We thought it would be perfect for our 5th wedding anniversary (7-13-13). After paying for this voyage in advance, we also made sure to request reservations for the chefs table and David’s steakhouse. (FYI- if you make your reservation for David’s on the first night of your cruise, you’ll receive a free bottle of their house wine or 50% off of a bottle of your choice). Both request were confirmed within a day. Our checkin process was quick, we had priority checkin because we booked an ocean suite. After a seemingly endless trek through the long walkway we were finally onboard heading to our cabin suite. When we arrived to our cabin (8-266) the door was open and the steward was vacuuming the floor. The room was beautiful and had a great view. The first 2 days were at sea and quite a few guests including my husband grew quite ill from the excessive rocking of the ship, as we were obviously sailing through a storm. I must say it was quite hilariously at first to see people teeter tottering as they walked through the ship. On to the food!...... as the ship sailed away from Baltimore, we had a drink and sushi at(Bonsai Sushi) it was surprisingly very good and the complementary warm edamame was delicious. We arrived at David’s just above the lido grille buffet area it had a nice romantic feel, at least it did for my husband and I. Everything including service was great up until my entre came......I ordered the lamb chops cooked medium well and I received them rare the first time and medium the second time, in all I could only consume 1 lamb chop. The waitress asked if I wanted to order something else instead, I declined as my husband along with our best friends were done eating, the waitress suggested that they could correct their mistake by preparing a new entre and I could eat it in my room.....at that point I was more than irritated. When the check came I again brought up the fact I didn’t get to really eat, I was told that I still had to pay, rather than cause a scene I opted to pay and go to guests services. Guest services called down the manager of David’s who ironically was also the hostess that seated us. She explained that the charges were valid my response was how could they be when I didn’t get to eat and I made mention that if I was going to be charged regardless then I most certainly should have the rest of my meal. Her response was that she would speak to her manager, the next day I was informed that I would be refunded. The lido deck buffet was subpar to say the least which was very disappointing, it was understandably crowded but it was also overwhelmingly chaotic, as guests walked around with plates in hand searching for not only a vacant table but also a clean table. The lido deck pool area was also standing room only, so much so we never got a chance to get in the pool this also goes for the serenity deck which I encountered several children who were not 21, apparently some parents thought that their kids needed serenity too. By the time space became available at the pool for the serenity deck it was being roped and netted off for closing at 10:00pm. There were numerous activities onboard, so many it became a race against time to make it where you wanted to go. We visted the art auction that started around 1:15, however things didn’t get rolling until about 1:30 and before we could even bid on the pieces of art we wanted, we had to leave for the $3k bingo game at 2:15. This happened quite often on this ship. The chefs table........... was the the stuff that dreams are made of, it was absolutely and completely worth it. The walk through the galley the appetizers the demonstrations and the 7 course meal was fantastic and filling coupled with unlimited wine and a table side magic show. I have no regrets or complaints. Now for the “Amazing Race” the worst part of this cruise for me was the delegation of time for each port. We reached Grand Turk and it was beautiful, we decided to take a tour but not through carnival, I enjoyed learning the history of this wonderful island with all of the donkey’s. It was really enlightening, our next stop was Carnivals “Half Moon Cay” what a waste of time, my husband and I literally spent 5 minutes there and tendered back to the ship. Freeport Bahamas here we come......... and here we go.....Our Anniversary!!!. We arrived at Freeport so early that nothing was really open except of course a million straw markets all selling the same thing, none the less we decided to go to the Lucaya market which was so close yet so far. We got there and......... you guessed it more of the same, most businesses didn’t open until 11:00am and unfortunately the last cabs back to the harbor were leaving at 12 noon. and the ship was leaving at 1:00 pm. We didn’t have time to enjoy anything except the fried whole snapper and fries my husband and I fought the flies over and we finished in record time! After all we had to get back to the ship. We never did get to take a tour. Back at sea again more storms more rocking. We quickly became boat zombies, we were extremely tired though we hadn’t done a single thing. Boredom set in not for lack of things to do, but because by the time we’d sifted through the crowds to get to an event it was over or ending or standing room only. We managed however to do 2 things fully, bingo and a comedy show. We lost at bingo but the comedian (Azeem) was freaking hilarious, we even bought his dvd. Normandie restaurant...... trying to get into this place was stressful the line was so long, I was sure we had somehow been teleported to an amusement park in the roller coaster line. Brunch..........made me wish I’d went to the lido deck at least the breakfast was good there, you won’t be able find a seat but these are the breaks! Overall this cruise was just okay, maybe if it had been my first cruise it would have been amazing. Sadly though this was my 4th carnival cruise and my husbands 3rd. The venue spaces aboard this ship are too small to accommodate all of its guests, that was abundantly clear for the whole voyage. The staff.... I must say was very courteous and friendly, there were a few bad apples but it’s to expected. Our room Steward was “Jeefrey” he was and absolute joy to be around, always happy always smiling and always eager to assist us in any way he could. The night before debarkation.........That day I went to guest services to wave my gratuity, which they felt should be $97 and change. We opted not to do this, as we had already tipped everyone who had in fact served us from bartenders to waiters to casino dealers. The service desk worker had us fill out a post card sized form on which there was a line provide for us to explain why we were waving gratuity. I thought that to be very odd and imposing, it made a lot us feel uncomfortable. Because I had already tipped everyone else, I waved gratuity to ensure that my room steward got all that we wanted him to have. Debarkation was chaotic but quick. All in all, I will cruise with carnival again but never on the “Pride”. Read Less

We needed a cruise for my parent's 80th birthday that could take a whole family of grandkids from 3-20 and different lifestyles. I wouldn't have chosen this cruise except the dates worked and, most importantly, it left from Baltimore so we could drive right up and jump on. I did basically the same cruise with my immediate family on a Royal Caribbean ship out of Baltimore two years ago. Great- overall ship looked pretty good, smelled clean and looked in good shape. Our 5th floor outside room with balcony was great. firm mattress, clean, everything worked and fairly quiet. didn't think I'd ever use the balcony, but it was like an extra $100 for the week and was really nice some times Staff was outstanding from the room, to the restaurants to the bartenders. Can't say enough about them! Our family could do many activities together so the cruise was a good choice! We didn't do any excursions which was the right choice for us at Grand Turk (walk down beach to Jack's Shack and get the jerk chicken!) and Half Moon Cay as the beach was nice and we could walk down away from the crowds. Freeport is a shopping trinket dump. My youngest is 18 and was treated to an interesting time at Senor Frogs on the Wharf. Fun in the trashiest possible way! I liked the fitness room, beautiful view, clean, good variety of machines/dumbells/treadmills, not crowded. Did a spin class one day and worked up a good sweat for $12. Okay- I thought the food was fine, not great, but fine with some gems and some clunkers. Early in the trip I was pleasantly surprised that they were cooking fish just right (not overdone/not dry). I don't think I ate a beef dish I liked in the Main Room. The $35 extra dinner at Davids steak house was beautiful with great service, but not good steak or food. Breakfast was a little crazy on the Lido deck, but good choices and quick. Breakfast in Main Dining was pretty tasty, more options, not crowded but sometimes the dishes were off and it was slow service. My family doesn't like the TV star Guy Fiero, but the burgers were awesome. Lido deck seating was hectic at peak eating times. Our family drinks and many got the drink package. If you do, it is $52/day and the break even is about 4-5 fancy drinks at list prices or 8-9 beers. I didn't do it, but drank alot every other day or so. We saved $1-200 by not getting the package for my wife and I. If you have another adult in your room, the only option is to get the drink package for both. My younger brother had the max 15 drinks a day, and saved a lot of money. One or two nights, he wanted more than 15, but they won't even let you buy any more when you hit your limit. Criticisms- too smoky too many places. People aren't supposed to, but they smoke on their balconies and it comes right into the other balconies and is held there by the windscreens. the casino is a part of the walk through on the 2nd deck and is flat out nasty with smoke as is one of the main pool decks. Pet peeve-why do vapors think it's okay to blow the smoke right out at other people in a cloyingly sweet cloud of Yech! At Sea days early in the trip were tough because chairs are held starting early in the morning with towels, but no people. I'd get the staff to remove towels in 5 minutes or so. There was lots of angst on our trip about the lack of good space on pool levels or next level up. Internet is horrible. make sure you have a low bandwidth option on your email provider and set it up before you get on the trip and even then, you can only do email without attachments and with something to read in the 60+ seconds it takes to download one email. I had a contract problem at work and couldn't call or really use internet. My brother with a 3 & 5 year old had some issues because there kids didn't like the kid's club and the pool was so crowded. Read Less

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We chose this ship because it was within driving distance of our home. First, our room safe did not work. We reported it to staff who said they would get it taken care of. Two days later room safe is still not fixed. Reported it to staff again and this time it was taken care of, only to quit working 2 days later. Second, sat down to dinner in the main dining room one night, unfolded my napkin, and apparently someone's chocolate melting cake from the night before was still on both sides of my napkin--how do you miss that when you're rolling up silverware? I was told "so sorry" and given a clean napkin. Now for my real gripe...they will NOT honor the prepaid Cheers or Bottomless Bubbles beverage packages on their private island of Half Moon Cay. In their defense it does say in very fine print on their website that it is good for onboard purchases only, so I'm not sure how I missed that very important bit of information. They can cart all of the booze and soda pop to the island and had no problem selling it to me over there and charging me for it on top of the beverage package I already paid for, but would not honor the card there. I am told it is because they don't have the technology to process it on the island--Seriously? This is 2018 and technology abounds--what a bunch of crap. Just another way to make money. Also, no cloth tablecloths on the tables in the dining room on any nights except formal nights---I guess this is so they can cut their laundry bill. Our room was never very cool despite the fact we kept the curtain closed and had the AC on max. We had a very good assistant waiter, and a couple of great bartenders. The food was also surprisingly very good. This ship is just plain tired looking---LOTS and LOTS of rust on the outside....needs a lot of painting and for heaven's sake get rid of the art gallery theme and make this ship modern and fun. Would I cruise Carnival again? Let's just put it this way--I have a Celebrity and a Royal Caribbean cruise booked--that should tell you what I think about them. Not saying never, just won't be cruising with them anytime soon. Read Less