My husband and I drove in to NY from LI. Parked at the pier at about 11 and were on board by 12:30. This is our 14th cruise, 3rd with Carnival. We had the wrap around balcony (7438), the room was great and so was our cabin steward Richard. Great weather sailing down both days. We happen to like Old San Juan, so we went to our favorite restaurant for dinner. St Thomas went to Emerald Bay, the beach there is still beautiful, but the hotels seemed to have gotten run down since the last time we were there. Very hot going from St. Thomas to Grand Turk. Getting kind of boring at Grand Turk if you have been there a few times. They are suppose to be expanding Margaritaville to the right of the ship.

Really didn't care much for the layout of the ship. The promenade on deck 5 is too congested and felt dark and confining. A lot of other ships have an outside walking promenade on the lower levels. We mostly hung out at the aft pool. The sandwich grill is outstanding, I was hooked on the mozzarella, arugula and tomato on foccia bread. Their pizza is pretty decent also. Buffet was buffet. I think I was more pleased with the buffet than the MDR. Formal night dinners aren't nearly as "grand" as they used to be. Most nights half the tables were empty. Maybe more people are doing "anytime". We did the 6pm sitting.

We also did the self assist disemabark and were off the ship by 8am. Overall we had a good time, but quality is slipping and it's not just Carnival.