This cruise was in celebration of our youngest son's high school graduation. There were 11 in our group, including my parents, brother's family and our three sons ages 17, 20 and 25. We have taken a cruise with the boys when each graduated from high school. We did the Destiny when the oldest graduated in 1997 and the Celebrity Millennium when the middle son graduated. My wife and I have taken a total of six cruises, three with Carnival. For the rest this was their first cruising experience. Overall we enjoyed the cruise but nothing about the ship or its amenities was memorable.

On the positive side, the ship was very clean and in apparently excellent condition. There were a great many dining options and the service was very good for the most part. We almost always found something to eat that appealed to the various members of our party. Some of the food was very good but we found the beef to be generally tough and tasteless. Our server did provide good recommendations on what were the better options for the evening. We ate the late seating in the Monet dining room and he would tell us what dishes went over well in the early seating. This can be very helpful information. Our balcony cabin was very nice and well maintained by the steward. Our sons had an inside cabin for three and this was a little crowded. We very much enjoyed the soft serve ice cream. My 7 year old nephew typically had eaten 4 or 5 cones by lunch.

On the negative side, the staff in the spa are incredibly rude and arrogant. I had a problem with one staff member the first day which set the tone for the week. I heard more complaints about the spa than anything else on the cruise. Apparently, the technical aspects of the services are good but the attitude and demeanor of the staff are deplorable. It was difficult just to get a key for a locker. The first show was pretty weak. We were surprised at how many cues were missed. I did not care for the cruise director, Steve. The best thing he did all week was stop talking and juggle. We did not meet our cabin steward until the last day. He never even came by and asked us about the minibar, which stayed locked all week. We got tired of the constant efforts to sell you something. It seems that Carnival is always pushing something which really got old. Read more