We've just come off the Carnival Legend where we booked a cruise for our honeymoon because we had heard it would be one of the best ways to relax and be pampered with amazing service for a week. I'm still hopeful a cruise can do all that, but we were very disappointed with our dream vacation. The thing is, while some go cruising for the drinking and social activities (and for that it was probably great), we went for the great food and the relaxation - and got neither.

Our number one concern was that the food was cold - especially in the buffets, but also in the dining room. We finally complained, and they made a special effort *most* nights after that to bring out the food hot, which showed it was possible, but even that was a bit hit or miss. We thought we overheard someone else commenting on their food being cold "again," too. The food tasted great when it was hot, but being cold ruined most dishes. Any restaurant (even fast-food ones) knows that serving food at the right temperature is key to quality. There was a fair variety of food, and the "anytime" dining was great, but the buffets were closed a lot, which was very disappointing. You also have an option to eat at a shared table or alone, which was nice. One of the main reasons we wanted to do a cruise was because we kept hearing rave reviews about the food, but the food here most definitely did not meet our expectations. The servers were very good about remembering our preferences, though - kudos to them for that.

The second disappointment was that the pools were tiny - too small to swim in - you could just sort of stand or float at the edge if they weren't too crowded - which they usually were. The decks were usually packed with little to no room to find a lounge chair at any pool, especially the Serenity area which was way too small for the demand. Many people went there to avoid the noise at the other pool decks - not from passengers, but from the loud blaring rap or new age music that made it impossible to actually relax or even think of having a conversation anywhere near the main pools. And on the last at-sea day, when the weather was finally sunny and suited for spending time in the pool, one of them was netted off the whole day, making it impossible to get near either of the others. We discovered that the whirlpools are not actually hot tubs, which makes sense in a hot climate, I guess, but not what we expected. (I was freezing much of the time in the over-air-conditioned interior, and was hoping for some hot water relaxation.) Interestingly, we were surprised to find that the pools actually contained slightly salty water, which were great for floating in, and the temperature of the water was just right for swimming. Read more