Pro's: This itinerary was amazing with 10 ports in the first 12 days. The staff was some of the best I have had in 37 Carnival cruises. The decor is bright and much more appealing them most other ships. The new Lido deck layout with the buffet (easier to get around). Adding to that the new Havana bar with it's open seating at the back of the ship is great.

Con's: Carnival has stayed true to itself by proving that their bottom line is making as much money as they possibly can. They took out the first floor of the main lounge (Liquid Lounge) and inserted more cabins. Now they have a main lounge with 800 seats for 3600 cruisers. If your not there when they open the doors for the shows, then your pretty much out of luck. Also after the shows are over, they open up the Liquid Lounge as the night club. They have moved the rear lounge (where the comedy club is) and moved it to the 4th deck where the bar was just before the dining room. Again, they replaced the area with more cabins. The new comedy club is now 1/4 the size and if you don't get to sit in the front area of the stage don't worry, you can watch the show from the side on a TV! Of course the casino is no better since the have no control and let cruisers smoke anywhere they want, even on the machines that are marked for not smoking. The Steakhouse is also much smaller, so you'd better make a reservation early! The Ocean plaza is way overcrowded. You can't walk down the Promenade deck to the Alchemy bar without having to push your way passed others standing around doing trivia or listening to a band. The serenity deck is great for laying around (if you can get a lounge or chair). If you want one you need to be there and claim your spot by 5am! And don't get a spot in the front area of the serenity deck as it is across from the big screen that plays loud music all day long (so much for serenity)! Water buckets are everywhere in the halls and sewer smells from deck 3 up to deck 5. They seems to have fixed most of the smell problem before we hit New Orleans, but there were still alot of the drip buckets.