First time cruising with Carnival. Arrived early, dropped our bags & went for coffee at MICA. Great café with stunning views of the ship & the harbour, free wi fi. A nice place to sit & wait. We had 12 midday boarding, lined up at 11.30 & were sent upstairs at 11.40 where we were processed very quickly & put in to zones prior to customs & boarding. Embarkation started promptly at 12, we were passengers 3 & 4. Took no more than 5 mins. First stop la Playa for a quick lunch.

Cabin.... went to find our cabin which was ready at 12.30. Met by Suma our cabin steward, lovely guy. nice cabin, deck 5 aft, extended balcony. First bag arrived about 3pm. The next bag did not arrive, went to look at the luggage without tags, not there. Finally arrived with an official letter stating that there was contraband in it. (Funnily enough the contraband did arrive in the first bag). we had a power board which was removed by Carnival as it was not checked & tagged by them. After a brief discussion it was returned to us the next day with a letter to sign.

Dining......We had MTD, always got a table for 2 with minimal wait. we usually had a window & the same staff. Meals average, we were a little disappointed. La Playa Grill has a great deli option, very popular. No shortage of food. Jimmy's BBQ not to our liking but we had to try it. There was a brunch on the second last day in Empire, quite nice. Read more