We are experienced cruisers in our 60's & Carnival is usually not our first choice for cruising. Having said that, this cruise fit our scheduled time off & our budget & here we go. We live in Plant City, FL (west coast of Florida) & drove over the day before & stayed at a hotwire hotel in Cocoa Beach. Parked at Cruise & Park ($4.99 per day & they shuttle you back & forth). The ship was nice & we knew it would be crowded with capacity of >3,000 passengers. However, it was actually pretty nice.

The cruise director Jaime was energetic, the shows were pretty good (be prepared for a few off key sour notes from the performers but the costumes were great), the comedy club is very small with the same shows being repeated throughout the cruise-we had 2 different comics. The food was acceptable on the lido deck-usual fare but the standouts were the burger place (but then we can only eat burgers a couple of times in 5 days) & the omelettes which were made to order. Only went to the dining room the first night & ate at the lido deck the rest of the nights. I had specifically chosen our balcony cabin on the back of the ship on deck 7 as I thought it would be quiet, 2 floors from the lido deck so we can walk the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. It was quiet, great to have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine on the balcony watching the water/sunset.

Our cruise was diverted from the private island 2nd to high wind & waves which caused our day at sea to be extended from 1 to 2 days. We took a leisurely 7-8 knot cruise back from Nassau. Read more