This was our 9th cruise and the first on a carnival ship. Embarkation was slow and chaotic compared to the ease of check in at Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America. stateroom with balcony category 8b was very small and bath has small shower only (no tub). upon departure from the pier there was a lot of very noticeable side to side movement that continued throughout the entire cruise. this was the most movement i've experienced on a cruise ship since cruising on the boheme' during a storm back in the early 70's. there was no storms on this trip, just a lot of constant movement from side to side. the entertainment was good but sparse. two nights brought las vegas style shows, one night had a good comedian and juggler, and one night a good singer. no on board movie theater and very little on the tv. this crew generally does not work very well together. we noticed several verbal battles between crew members and most did not seem at all friendly. this is the first cruise we have ever taken where the ship automatically debits each passengers account for all tips for dining service and room stewards on the first day of the voyage. we don't know if this has a bearing on the lacking of friendly or efficient service, but we would have tipped much less on this trip than was automatically deducted although on past cruises we have tipped much more than this amount. our stateroom steward and assistant were great, but the majority of the rest of the staff we encountered were more rude than friendly and not what we are accustomed to on board cruise ships. the food in the pay-$50-extra-emerald diningroom was great. but like in the platinum diningroom the service was terrible, staff was cold, unfriendly, did not interact well with one another nor with passengers and made the experience memorable in a bad way. the food in the platinum diningroom was poor by the standards of the other ships we've cruised. the orange juice on board this vessel is so weak, it tastes more like cloudy water. they ran out of chocolate milk on the 4th day and out of regular milk on the 5th day of the cruise. disembarkation in st. thomas was totally screwed up. it took nearly 2 hours of standing in long lines to exit the ship and alot of folks missed their shore excursions. cruise directors and assistants always seemed to be in total chaos and didn't have a clue what was going on (if you could find one anywhere to ask). sorry to be so negative, but this was by far the worst cruise experience we have ever had and i just wanted to let others know that for the same amount of money a really wonderful experience can be had on celebrity, royal caribbean, or holland america and this carnival ship is a true waste of money and time and a source of increased stress and frustration. first time cruisers will probably have a good time though, because they don't know how low class this ship is by comparison to other ships in the same price range. experienced cruisers will hate this ship.