Again, Carnival never fails to do its best to make their passengers feel absolutely at ease about sailing off into the sunset. Everyone at check-in was gracious and helpful, even when requesting wheel chair assistance for one of the passengers in my party. We were escorted right onto the ship and didn't have to wait in line for our zone to be called (even though we were in Zone 1). The rooms were kept absolutely sparkling clean by our cabin steward, Trishna. The food in the dining room was always appetizing and served hot. I was not overly impressed by the buffet food. It was always a hit or miss...never really consistently good. The one thing I loved were the burritos and tacos at the grill on the Lido deck. Only problem with that was that they were only open during lunch time (lots of crowds). I'm not a beef eater, but my family LOVED the burgers at Guy's Burger Joint. The fries were always hot and delicious, are are always my weakness. Although the line for Guy's was always long, it seemed to go pretty fast, so bravo to the guys sweating and working hard behind the counter.

The one disappointment I experience was with the Cloud 9 Spa. On most ships, access to the steam room, whirl pool, and dry sauna are automatic (no fee); however on this ship, because they've given the spa a fancy name, guests have to pay a daily entrance fee of $40. Even if you've received a spa treatment, you still have to pay $20 to enter the spa facility. I've been to many higher-end spas in the US and Europe, and have only had to pay for my services and all access to the facility was included. I spent more than $700 in the spa during the cruise and I couldn't even get free all-access for at least 1 day! Something is seriously wrong with that picture. I just hope they don't get the bright idea to do that on the rest of the Carnival ships.

Overall though, I did enjoy my trip. I must give credit to the medical staff because my father became extremely ill on the last night of the cruise. The medical team responded within 15 minutes and stablized him until we reached Miami. Once we were ported in Miami, they rushed him to a local Miami ER where he received quality care. For that, I must thank them beyond measure! I will definitely be back to sail with Carnival. Although, I'll keep my money in my pocket and get spa treatments on a resort while we're in port! :-D