I wanted to do another 5 day cruise and being that New Orleans was the most convenient port to my hometown (though still a 700 mile drive!)I chose to sail out of New Orleans. My daughter had recently done the same cruise on the Triumph and had great things to say about the food and the shows so I booked us a Balcony Stateroom on the Lido Deck. Except for overpacking (yet again!) embarkation went smoothly though it still was a timely process. I feared booking the Lido Deck balcony room closest to the Lido action might be too noisy but it turned out to be the perfect location of all! The stateroom was clean, comfy and the bathroom was perfect with great water pressure in the shower and tons of storage for all of our toiletries. 3 closets, drawers, cubbies and desk space was more than we even needed!

We were able to walk right out for the food, buffet, Dive-In Movies and action going on instead of trudging down long hallways and up & down elevators! Our dining plan was in the Paris Dining Room and the meals were acceptable but not quite as good as we previously had on the Carnival Elation. We were always very satisfied with the selection at the buffet both at breakfast and lunch and the Blue Iguana Cantina was superb!

We used the fitness center several times and it was awesome! It was spacious, very clean with top notch equipment and views to die for! Some of the shows going on were switched up or cancelled due to the extreme rocky waters on some of the days on board, so that was disappointing. The Dive-In movies were first rate. We chose not to stay up late or spend time in the casino or the clubs or bars (we're older adults!) but overall we had a very relaxing cruise. The motion and rocking had me unsteady on board quite a bit even with my using the Sea-Bands and the deck near the Lido Pool area was very wet much of the time causing me to use extra caution while walking across it. Read more