Prior Experience: This has been our fifth cruise the second with Carnival and our first trip to Hawaii.

Embarkation: Apparently this has been an issue on every cruise. Some of the previous complaints have been dealt with but there are certainly more things Carnival can do to improve the process. Our van with a party of 12 and luggage was not permitted past the gates while taxis were. So we all got out and dragged our belongings to the terminal. After that, the check-in went smoothly. Free shuttles were provided to the Seaport which we took advantage of. No one seemed to know when the buses would leave for Ensenada since we got different answers from the staff. We ran into some people who had taken this cruise before and were able to get a time. Unfortunately the ship was delayed over 2 hours which delayed the buses. We spent this time waiting at the terminal. No one informed us on what was going on. This lack of communication became a common thread for the rest of the cruise. We finally boarded the buses and spent 2 hours riding to Ensenada and then the horror began. They herded us out of the buses in cold rain dressed in summer clothing. We endured this while they were processing over 2000 people through TWO X-Ray stations. Just prior to sailing, buses were still lined up on the pier, I really felt for those people. This experience and 17 foot swells for two days made for less than a joyful beginning.

Dining: We had breakfast in the La Playa Grill, the dining room and room service. Lunch was at the Grill and dinner (late seating) in the dining room. We found the service to be excellent in all the areas. The meals themselves were very good with a better variety than we have experienced on other cruises. We especially enjoyed the daily fresh fruit during the first five days at sea. This section closed once we docked at the first port. The only complaint was the plastic cups used for coffee. It didn't occur to me then but we should have just bought some mugs from the gift shop. The dinners and deserts were exceptional. We were told that the menu had recently been revamped under the supervision of a famous chef. We also thought the dinners were better than on other cruises. A few in our group had dinner in the Nouveau Supper Club and raved about the food and service. Read more