Starting back when this ship was called the Destiny, this is our third time sailing on the same vessel. I have to admit that this time I was not overly impressed. We missed the opportunity to book "Faster to the Fun", but were fortunate enough to receive an upgrade to a suite for a minimal charge. Because of the benefits of staying in a suite, including priority embarkation and debarkation, I thought that we were in like Flint. How wrong could I be. Indeed, the priority check in was a total disappointment. The staff in the Captain's Lounge was having computer problems, and they were so concerned about resolving that issue, that they didn't seem to give a rats hooey about the customers that were standing around the room. There were supposed to be snacks at the back of the lounge, but that area looked disgustingly unclean and we stayed away. As a result of various problems that the staff was struggling with, we didn't get on board until after members of our party who went through the regular check in process.

My wife and I had never been to Martinique before, and yet we were quite disturbed when we docked on a Sunday and discovered that the entire port was shut down like a tomb. Why would a cruise ship dock at a port, knowing that all of the shopping venues and kitchy little restaurants are closed? Surely, Carnival could've reworked the itinerary so that all the ports were open on the days that we visited them.

Carnival has ruined karaoke on this ship, and I don't understand why. When we went on this ship a couple years ago, karaoke was held in the Redfrog Pub, along Ocean's Plaza (and not just the Superstar Karaoke, the regular Karaoke), and the Limelighter Lounge. They also had approximately 40,000 tracks and a sophisticated playback system. Now, they have barely half the previous number of tracks and a major confusion over what songs are actually available. It's almost impossible to find a song in the new song list books, and often the song you pick isn't actually loaded on the system. I also don't understand why the new system can only be utilized in the Limelighter lounge. Karaoke is as popular as it ever was on Carnival, but they insist on trying to destroy it. The biggest insult was the scheduling of the event. 5-6:30, for 3 out of 10 days, and one evening from 7:30-11:00. Since I had early seating for dinner, I either had to miss most karaoke sessions, or be late for dinner!! Make improvements to the karaoke program, Carnival (I know I'm not the only one complaining), or you may just loose me as a returning cruiser. Read more