I’m very familiar with the departure city, as I’m a former resident of New Orleans. I have no comment about parking because we parked at my best friend’s house and used lyft for $12/per person. Not bad. We had Faster to the Fun and my friends had a suite, so priority embarkation was available for both parties that arrived at 11:35am. Easy peasy. We met the rest of our party while we were stuffing our faces on the lido. Our cabin was a balcony, 10258. If possible, we try to always book on the lido - we truly love being that close to most of the fun. This was a Birthday cruise for my husband, 8 people total. No kids in our party. We had a blast. On 11/27, we dined at the steakhouse. A couple of people in my party did not enjoy their dinner. I didn’t hear much of their gripes because I was highly satisfied!! Our MDR staff weren’t the best, but I didn’t mind too much (Scarlett dining room, late dining). The wait staff for sea day brunch was phenomenal. We kept getting Soosak (I think that’s the spelling) and he and his partner were just great! My husband was peturbed about the lip sync battle contest, as when we arrived at the start time to enter the contest, but they had already chosen the contestants. If it starts at 1pm, then why at 12:59pm have you already chosen your folks? Read Less

I had an amazing Vacation this time of the year was perfect the weather was just right and not humid or too hot. The service was outstanding. The Only reason I am not giving 5's for everything is my shore excursion in Cozumel was not the best. I was kinda disappointed as I didn't realize how long it was going to take to get to the destination and we ended up only having three hours instead of 6 hours at the location plus it was so packed as their were 6 ships in Cozumel when we were their. My cabin 2346 was wonderful. Very close to the water and when on the balcony we were able to watch the Pilot boat captain jump on and off the ship to Pilot the ship into the harbors and Mississippi river (Takes 7 hours to get through the river to the Gulf of Mexico). Also were able to see 10 dolphins and 1 whale from our room. Weather was around 85'F every day. Sunny and water was great. Jamaica was my favorite place to visit. Would defiantly recommend doing a snorkeling tour when here we saw so many tropical colored fish in the bay. Next time I go to Cayman Islands I am going to do Stingray bay and snorkeling tour as the water was crystal clear the further out you got. Read Less

My friend amber asked me to go with her. I loved the cruise the best thing about it was the people novi especially she was our waitress and oshaine they were awesome. American brad is an amazing host I seen him a lot throughout the cruise and he was amazing. I did not receive an invite and had no idea what time or where the meet and mingle was so that was a little disappointing but overall I had a blast. There was a smell throughout the hallways a sweage smell it was bad at times but the crew made up for it. The director was good too I just never really seen him much. I saw American brad a lot more and he was complexity awesome. He involved little kids in everything we done he made every event fun funny and just all around amazing time for me being away from home he made it feel like home. Novi was amazing as well the best waitress I ever had. Read Less

The cruise was great. Service was great. I did not enjoy all the kids on board. The kids ran wild on the ship and there were complaints all week. I will not cruise again on a holiday week... too many kids... Just a personal preference. The food was pretty good. Although I wish the buffets and burger places were open more in the in between times of breakfast lunch and dinner. The cruise critic meet and mingle never happened. No one in our group received an invite. The shows and entertainment were very good. I enjoyed the 80s show a lot. The cabin was normal. But the bed was so hard. This is the first cruise that we had that problem. Our room steward put 2 comforters under the sheets to try to help. But it was still very uncomfortable. The other people in our groups had comfortable beds. We checked theirs out to compare. It was just ours. Read Less

Let me say this by only use your debit or credit card to BOOK THE CRUISE. For everything else please use cash. Bring LOTS of CASH! Again CASH ONLY. Luggage - be ready to tip those that get your luggage to the ship. keep at least a carry on with the items you'll need (meds, toiletries, etc) Embarkation - quick, smooth. have your passport or birth certificate(with photo ID) and your boarding pass ready to go. they'll look over your documents and take a photo of you. the line moved quickly and smoothly. Once on the ship: we immediately went to eat while we waited on our luggage or the chance to get into our cabin. lido deck was crowded but what can you expect. food was decent. Remember to bring a sports bottle or Yeti, as the cups are super small. Cabin: decent size. we had 3 twin size beds and one bunk bed. two bathroom, with two showers and one toilet. ocean view (room 1296) it was nice and clean. they leave your sail and sign card outside your door in your little mailbox, you'll be attached to this card for the duration of your cruise. BRING A LANYARD Elevators: i think we ran smoothly. of course the first day is going to be hectic but that was the only time we really experienced any delays with the elevators. NOTE: let people OFF the elevator before getting on. Lido deck: great and plenty of room for the crowd. NOTE: Please don't just randomly stop when you're walking...99% of the time someone is behind you. people stood in random places that just created traffic or would stop to check their phones or whatever, be aware of others around you. casino: played $20 won $123. wheel of fortune. that's the only time in the casino. smokers are in the casino so not my choice of an area to chill. again your money will be on your sail and sign card but you'll have to cash out to have them do with your money as you'd like. Ports: costa maya (rented a $2 taxi went downtown, had a massage ($25) and some drinks and chilled on the beach) Honduras (carnival excursion $104) RTV's in the jungle...with Roatan ATV's ..best experience ever. then we paid the guy $30 to take us into town and give us an "off tour, no tourist" type experience. went to a great little place to eat. Belize (purchased a tour once at the port $25) took us to a Rum factory, and all across the island. totally worth it. i have dreads and when we got back a woman re did my hair for $20...usually costs me $70 in the states. cozumel. (we rented a car for $100 w/insurance) and did as we so pleased. Room steward: Paulo, excellent. room was always clean and tidy. Disembarkation was slow and painful. took way longer than getting on the ship. NOLA does NOT have a tax for booze brought back to the states. have your ID ready. and have cash for tipping. Read Less

We went on a family vacation for Thanksgiving. We usually have top rated service. This time many many staff were unfriendly. Our room steward asked if we wanted room cleaning in morning and evening. We said yes. She only did morning. We asked for ice. Never got it. She rarely spoke in the hallway. She was less than nice to her room helper. Wait staff was not engaging or friendly. The pizza people never smiled of said a word. We did have one really nice bartender, D Pac, and a gentlemen a guest services was very helpful when we found out my stepdad passed away during our cruise. Ship was dirty as well. Stained carpet, etc. We were not impressed this trip, which I dislike having to write because we usually have excellent service, friendly staff, and a fun ship. I wish we could say that this time. And lastly, the unruly kids were horrible. Staff needed to handle that since parents did not. Ban them from carnival... something. Read Less

This cruise left from New Orleans. It was an 8 day round trip. Our stops were Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan, Cozumel. There was 10 adults total in our group. We stayed in an inside cabin on deck 1. The cabin was quiet and hardly any ship movement. Easy access to the ironing room, aft dining room and exiting the ship each day. The food was delicious in the main dining room, pizza, burgers, cantina and sandwiches. We enjoyed trivia each day, dive in movies and the water slides. This cruise was our 2nd on Carnival and 1st time during a major holiday. There was over 1000 kids on this ship. The only problem was the kids. Some of them thought running up and down the halls screaming, knocking on doors, throwing items from the decks, pressing all the floors in the elevators, blocking the stairs was the highlight of their trip. Read Less

We are pretty laid back cruisers. We are usually down for whatever, and rarely complain or make a big deal of out of things. Our first time out of NO and getting on the ship was probably the quickest and most smoothest experience we have had with carnival. Parking was expensive at port. Overall ship was clean, however room was a B on clean. It wasn’t bad enough to complain but got the feeling it was just quickly wiped down not thoroughly clean. It was kind of like this the entire cruise. I don’t know if this makes a difference but I will say it’s the first time we have not stayed in a suite, and just had two ocean view rooms. Wondering if service declines with lower category rooms? Dining Dining was great. Guys burger bar was AMAZING and I’m pretty sure at least one of us ate here at least once a day. We didn’t get chance to eat at the bbq place. As it’s only opened for lunch on at sea days. Food in main dining was average with a few great moments, although I feel this is typical with main dining on cruises. Entertainment Was good and we all had a good time. Although some Big adult events such as $5000 Bingo/build a bear workshop seemed to be inconveniently booked at same times. We had late dining and felt there was a gap in things to do between 4-7:30, but then the activities picked up around 7:30. Our next cruise we will either do early dining time or your time dining because we felt every night we had to decide between dinner or an activity. Ports Costa maya- we did water park. Had great time. It was less than 5mins from port. Although carnival charged for my 5yr old, when 5yr olds are free at park. I contacted carnival through their best price guarantee- after two weeks I finally heard back(day before cruise) that they are in process of updating their site to offer free for 5yr also. It was too late to cancel his ticket online so once aboard I talked to guest services. Had to show them carnival email before they would refund ticket. Didn’t refund the 110% like guarantee says but did refund ticket price as on board credit. The difference is only about $8 so I was fine with that. Mahogany Bay- Maya private island. Highly suggest! We Loved the monkeys!! Belize- we booked private tour. CaveTubing.bz and LOVED it! This port doesn’t have much to do directly off ship. And plan extra for timing getting on and off ship and it’s via a charter boat. Cozumel- took a cab on our own to Paradise Beach and saved over $200 not booking through cruise. No beaches are within walking distance of port. Kids clubs Kids had a great time and begged to go to clubs everyday. My teen felt her club activities started late, and wish they offered more earlier in the day. We cruise usually every other year. We enjoyed this ship but we don’t ever book the same ship twice. We would do a western Caribbean cruise again though. Read Less

First, the crew and staff of the ship are very friendly. Always received great service and felt welcome. Very nice room that was cleaned well. The food on the trip was average. Not terrible, not great. We met some very nice people on the ship from all over the country as well. We did experience some problems. We had neighbors that played music so loud, it was not a pleasant experience. Secondly, one night while pushing my wife in her wheelchair, a guy claimed i touched him and wanted to fight. We also noticed at night in the dining room, guys had jerseys on with the pants below their waste and ladies with their you know what hanging out of their shorts (Carnival, enforce dining room attire). Our door was knocked on 3 times looking for the party next door. I am not sure if it was the week we sailed, the port we sailed from or just bad luck. Our Carnival cruise in Alaska on the Legend was amazing. I will just say, be careful cruising from this port. embarkation= smooth parking = smooth anytime dining = smooth buffet area = not pleasant shore excursions = organized and variety Would i consider Carnival again, yes, never from New Orleans again. Read Less

We wanted a cruise after hurricane season, and to sail from a port near us.We had only been on one other really "big" Carnival ship ( The Pride). The atrium was beautiful. And the decor was fabulous, but there was an offensive odor throughout the ship that just would not go away. Our cabin steward and his staff was great. The room stayed cool just like we like it. The staff, as a whole, seemed very stressed and over worked ( they always had a smile and hello for you, but something seemed off, from stewards to the dining staff). My teens enjoyed this cruise better than last one, there were more "Southern talking" teens like themselves. I was still not pleased with the activities offered for teens to do, and I do have a few suggestions, but will save those for Carnival. All in All, out of the 6 Carnival cruises we have done, we like the smaller ships. Read Less