This was our Christmas cruise and we sailed out of New Orleans. Embarkation went smoothly and our cabin was nicer looking then on Carnival. But we had 4 people with us and there was no bunk beds,and 2 of us had to sleep on the pull out couch. Carnival had bunk beds and we were right under the buffet. Lots of noises were made when people moved their chairs. Ship left an hour late and 3 of us decided to try Bamboo. You MUST MAKE RESERVATIONS to eat at Bamboo but we didnt know and they let us eat there on the first night. The service was kinda slow and took almost an hour to get our food. The portions were tiny, but they were good. There were kids everywhere and we didn't get any chance to get in the hot-tubs because all 6 six hot-tubs had about 10 kids in em. And there was 1 pool. On Carnival, there were hot-tubs on sides of the boat and there was more then 1 pool. And there was no area like "Serenity". That was disappointing. The food was a lot better then Carnival. The buffet food had more choices and they food was always warm, unlike Carnival's, which was always cold and had limited choices. We did not eat at the specialty restaurants, mainly at the buffet, The Venation and O'Sheehan's. O'sheehan's falsely advertise their fried seafood bucket. It wasn't a bucket, it was a plate.

Waiting for an elevator is kinda slow. Some people on the ship were in wheelchairs and the elevators aren't designed for wheelchairs and a few wheelchairs would take up the whole elevator, so it would be best on taking the stairs instead of waiting 10 minutes for an elevator The entertainment was ok, The music was so loud that I could not hear some of the singers. In "Elements" there were magic tricks that I've seen plenty of times and I wasn't impressed. On the last day, the ship was going sooo slow. It might of been on purpose so the ship could hold us at sea longer. A liter of water bottle is $5.50. Do not get the bottled water on the ship, its expensive and just drink the tap water. On Disembarkation day, the bill came and dad wasnt happy about the laundry service. He went to the Onboard Credit Desk and argued with the lady about not giving him laundry credit. We left 45 minutes early and disembarkation went smoothly.

I would say its a tie between Carnival and NCL.