This was an 8 day cruise, stopping at Costa Maya and Limon, Costa Rica and Colon, Panama. Although this new ship was packed with families on winter break in February, the crowd was handled rather well, in our opinion as experienced cruisers. For example, despite the long line at embarkation, stretching from room to room to room, it kept moving in an orderly fashion. Carnival recommends filling out all your information in advance to speed your registration, but there was no preferred line for that, as with other cruise companies. Still, it went smoothly.
Although we had requested an early-late dining room seating [8:00 pm rather than 8:30 pm], we were given the late-late seating. This turned out to be no problem at all, because the late-late seating is in the more convenient Golden Olympian Dining Room with easier access than the Silver Olympian, especially to the Venetian Lounge for the show. Entertainment was generally excellent. This was our third Carnival cruise and we generally like the variety of shows. The two spectacle shows made ample use of the complex stagecraft on this new ship.
Our balcony cabin was very comfortable, and just like others wed experienced on the Carnival Spirit and Carnival Legend. Service in the dining room was excellent, with us getting out in plenty of time for the show, except for one late night due to a kitchen mishap. The food was not spectacular, but it was certainly tasty, with always enough variety for our palates. We never opted for the supper club, although our table mates tried it once and enjoyed it immensely. The Lido buffet [Emiles] was laid out very well for the large crowd aboard, with several stations from which to choose. A word of advice: Look for the FishnChips on the mezzanine level of the buffet. My only complaint is that the buffet should be open longer for days in port, because many people came back hungry after 3 pm and then had to wait on the long line at the grill or the pizza or the deli. Unfortunately, this is a malady of most cruise ships.