This was our 10th cruise and 6th on Carnival. We flew down from Buffalo, NY the evening before and stayed at the Days Inn on West Broward. We wanted to take advance of the free shuttle to the cruise terminal. The room was ok but it is a very busy street so if you can request a room on the back side. We booked Inside Guar. and were upgraded to 5A which was obstructed view outside. All we could see was the side of a life boat but we did get some natural light which was nice. Embarkation was extremely smooth this time at the pier. We booked the 11 am shuttle from the hotel and we were on board the ship by noon. There was no lineup whatsoever. It pays to arrive early if possible. The dining room service was probably the highlight of this cruise. Last year we had a disappointing experience on the Triumph. Our team of Anytoliy and Maryna were absolutely the best we have had on Carnival so far. We found the food excellent in both the dining room and the Lido deck. Service on the Lido deck was also better than most. We are in our mid forties and found the crowd on this vessel to be quite a bit older that us possibly due the 8 day itinerary I'm not sure. We normally spend our sea days relaxing on the aft pool deck which has the adults only hot tub. I was glad to see this regularly enforced. We attended most of the shows although we found ourselves tired on the port days and often retired early in the evening. We took the Panama Canal tour in Colon which was very interesting. You get bussed to the Pacific side and then board a ferry to come up through the 3 locks on that side and then cruise up the canal for about an hour before boarding a bus to return the rest of the way back to Colon. In Limon, CR we took the pineapple plantation tour which was also very interesting ( and tasty ) In Belize we went cave tubing which was very refreshing on a hot day. You get bussed inland for an hour or so then you hike 40 minutes through the rain forest with your inner tube. When you arrive upstream at the mouth of the cave system you hop in your tube and float downsteam through the cave for 25-30 minutes and then spend another 30 minutes in the river floating through the rain forest. Debarkation was also very smooth especially with the self assist program. This is a major improvement over the regular process. You can book early flights if necessary. We were off the vessel by 7:45 am although we waited on the airport shuttle bus for over an hour for it to fill up with the first guest off using the numbered debarkation but anything is better than wading through a warehouse looking for you luggage. I would highly recommend this vessel. We had exception service from everyone. I almost forgot our room steward, Sri, who also was excellent. He kept our room neat and organized all the time. All in all this was our best experience on Carnival and we plan to keep coming back.