This was the 2nd cruise for both me and husband, our 1st with Carnival. We are in our mid 40's and were traveling alone. I will be brief on some subjects and detailed on others. Embarkation went well and it was our first indicator that CCL has the mass production process down. We arrived in line around 2PM and were on the ship within 30 mins. The ship was immaculate and though not modern, held up her age very well. CCL did not have staff member(s) there to greet and direct us to our room. This would've been a great help because there is no obvious way to find your way around the ship. I would strongly recommend carrying around the little pocket ship guide (it will save you hours trying to find your way). It was obvious many folks already knew the ship well but it took us days close to the end to navigate her. We noticed this with other folks too.
CCL offers non-stop activities, you can tear off the daily activities guide and carry it with you to pick and choose. We avoided most activities since we wanted a quiet week. We did pop in on Bingo, broadway style shows and some lounge shows they were all fine.
As i said before the ship was very clean. We were able to find places to meet all our needs whether it was to be alone, listen to Caribbean music from afar or to be in the mix with everyone. There weren't many children on board (I suppose it's the time of year). Most age range seemed to be 30-40 y/o. Now to the food... When i previously read about the quality of the food i decided to weigh the reviews along with my own experience onboard. It should be noted that i am not a picky or finicky eater at all. Applebee's restaurant level dining is fine with me. Well, sadly i have to tell you the food was almost unbearable. Most food service is presented in the Paris restaurant & Lido deck. It's served buffet style (no objection here). The layout (location) of the food is well thought out. Fruits, veggies, desserts, pizza are all located in the center, back of the restaurant allowing a good flow of the crowd. The presentation of the actual food is nice too BUT the taste and quality of the food was sub par. I would suggest staying away from the warm breakfast and creating meals on your own. Ordered sandwiches, omelets, self serve salad and fruit bar were better quality. The warm buffet in the Paris restaurant and the Lido decks equate to the quality of a upscale High School cafeteria. I wanted to give a good review but by the end of the 2nd day i was unable to eat their hot foods at either place. The dining room food was o.k. The service was awesome and the food was a few notches higher than the afore mentioned.