Having never cruised on Carnival before, but cruised on 3 other cruise lines, we thought we would give Carnival a try since the port is close to home, and it's a great cruise to just get away on for a few days. Sailing out of the port of Tampa is the easiest port we have cruised from. Took the same cruise last year on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. This boat is in much better shape than the Grandeur, and the decks are laid out much nicer. Boat was much cleaner and more modern.

Embarkation was easy and was able to get on the boat at 11:30am. We ate lunch at the Buffet on the Lido deck, and the food there was better than other buffets I have eaten. The hot and cold sandwiches made fresh in the middle of the restaurant were very good. Also enjoyed the hamburgers, hot dogs and french fries out by the pool. They were the best! Food in general was OK. i.e. filet was tough, lobster had no flavor, roast beef was tough, but seafoods I had were good. Melting cake is awesome, especially with a scoop of ice cream. Waiter was friendly, but just seemed to want to get his job done, didn't go out of his way to talk with any of us. The assistant waiter was barely seen, if you didn't get your bread when he came by, he never came back again.

I thought the shows were very good, I have read others who did not enjoy them but compared to others they ranked right up there with them. The girl who sang was very good, but the young man can't seem to carry a tune well. He seems to bring the female singer down when they sign together. Cruise director was ok, but not exciting. Saw her at one of the coffee cafe, and she never spoke to any of the cruisers around her. Got her coffee and left. Seems like she should have made sure folks were having a great time. Asst cruise director ran a few things, and definitely is not a good speaker in front of the public. Went to the casino a few times, but if you are not a smoker, it is hard to stay in there for a long time. The smoke is awful. Even in the smoking lounges it is bad, especially with the cigar smoking that was going on Read more