Let me start by saying that I am 31 YO female traveling with my husband (we don't have kids)and in laws whom are in their late 50's, early 60's. I will be honest...I was shocked to read some of the negative reviews about this ship/cruise. We had a fabulous experience with Carnival as always:) This is our 5th cruise and 4th with Carnival. My in laws are Platinum status with Carnival (more than 10 cruises) however they have been on about 16 cruises all together. They prefer Carnival as do we. I'm convinced that the negative reviews are from people that are just unhappy with life in general (constant complainers). We're happy just being away from the hustle and bustle and not having to cook or clean! Another nice touch was my husband and I booked a Vow Renewal ceremony on our cruise. Cristelle and her staff made sure our renewal was special and well photographed:) I highly recommend this service. It was worth the extra $.
Embarkation-I feel like I cannot give you a fair review of this process because my in laws are VIP status with Carnival and we did not wait in lines at all. We walked right past the enormous line and walked onto the ship. We flew from Atlanta, GA into Newark, NJ and took a shuttle to the pier. We didn't book flights or transfers thru the cruiseline. The flights and transfers were a breeze. I highly recommend flying into Newark, NJ if you are leaving from the NY pier and aren't within driving range. The airport was very small and didn't take us long to get luggage, find a shuttle, etc.
Staff-We were greeted by our steward, Angel within minutes of arriving onboard. We always were greeted with a smile in the halls and in ports.