This was our first Carnival cruise as we had only cruised Royal Caribbean before. We were traveling with another couple that had only cruised on Carnival. I will say that embarkation went very well at this port. It was very fast since we did not get there until about 1:30. I went to buy the "Bottomless Bubbles" package. I was very surprised to hear that I could only get soda from a bar. Yes, the wine steward would get you one glass at dinner but never came back to refill your glass. I think I should have been able to get soda from anywhere other drinks were. Yes, I guess I am spoiled by Royal that we can get soda anywhere you can get tea, coffee or flavored waters.

The balcony room was about the same as we have had on Royal except for two things: no fridge and a smaller balcony. Our cabin steward was great in making sure I had ice in the bucket and in our cooler that I brought along since I was aware there was no fridge in the rooms. On our Royal Caribbean balconies we had chaise lounges with room to walk around them. This one had chairs with very little room to walk around them. If I do another Carnival cruise, yes, I will still get a balcony room since I am claustrophobic. The balconies are now non-smoking but the neighbors in the three rooms in front of mine still smoked. They even stood at the balcony holding a cigarette, not even attempting to hide it.

We had "My Time" dining and love it. Our first night was a big downer though. Our server, Reynaldo, was the worst server we have ever had. No glasses were ever refilled. It took them 25 minutes to take our dirty plates away and then did not offer a dessert menu for another half hour. We were not offered coffee to go with dessert either. The table next to us were delivered the wrong food and could not get a servers attention to get it fixed. Finally got the attention of the Magician and he got the server. They got the wrong food problem fixed to get under-cooked chicken. They never were offered a dessert menu. We made sure to eat on the other side of the ship after that and sat in Rowena's section. She is fantastic. Her service was exemplary as was her crew. The food was only adequate. The best foods on the menu were the starters. Read more