The port is extremely far from the airport in Houston. Transfers are expensive both through Carnival and independently.

Embarkation took longer than normal and you had to walk further than necessary as they would make you walk up and down empty queue lines when there wasn't much queue instead of changing the retractable 'ropes' so you could bypass the extra lanes. Then they individually opened, emptied and inspected every case of soda brought on board before putting it back together as best as possible so you could try and carry it aboard. The terminal was depressing.

The cabin seemed smaller than on the older Carnival ships and the décor was a hodge-podge of different colour schemes (I think bits had been swapped out and replaced with bits left over from other ships or kept as replacements from previous refurbishments) It didn't give a good overall impression. I never met our cabin steward and still don't know what he looks like or what his name was. This is the first cruise in 24 that this has happened. Read more