There was both good and less than good about this cruise. First the good. The staff - on this cruise was exceptional - always friendly and attentive. Our cabin steward knew us by the end of the first day. The crew was primarily from Eastern Europe and the South Pacific but all spoke English very well. Some accents were harder to understand, but it was never an impediment. The ship - I believe it was renovated about five years ago. My wife loved the way it was decorated. Cabin - spacious, though we did have a balcony on deck 7 which probably made a difference, but I never felt cramped. Even the bathroom had plenty of room.

Excursions - we booked one through Carnival, two on our own and one port we made use of Carnival's Mahogany Bay. We were very happy with all of our excursions.

Food - this is where it fell a little short. Lunch was so-so. We weren't on board for many lunches but once we tried the Chinese buffet. The last thing I picked up was some vegetable meatballs that the chef was still preparing when I was on line. By the time I got to my seat they were ice-cold. I imagine that that they started out nearly frozen and were only cooked on the outside. We tried the deli for the first lunch on embarkation day. We each had a reuben and it tasted burnt. Breakfast was over all terrible. They alternated eggs benedict and salmon benedict everyday. I tried the eggs benedict at the buffet. The yolks were hard and the sauce was browned and hard. The next day we figured we'd try it in the main dining room. Same thing - hard yolks and burnt bernaise. I tried scrambled eggs once, they had a mealy texture. One day I even tried a real continental breakfast - a selection of breads, meats and cheeses. Underwhelming. Dinner was hit or miss, though mostly good. The first night we tried the Steakhouse. I had a cowboy bone-in rib eye. It was completely unseasoned and somewhat tough and grizzly. Very disappointing. But the Caesar salad, was good. My wife had the lobster bisque which was phenomenal. The chocolate sampler for dessert was great. The last night at sea we went back to the Steakhouse. I had the lamb chops my wife had lobster ravioli. Everything was great that night. The main dining room was also hit or miss. For the captains formal night they served lobster tail and tiger shrimp. Everything was overdone and not very appealing. Another night I had jerk pork loin that was tried out. But on two other nights the beef wellington and the braised short ribs were both good. Read more