Charleston is a great port to sail from. It was easy to get into and parking was fairly easy. The embarkation process was mostly painless. The entire process took about 45 minutes. The ship is one of the oldest in the fleet but I knew this going in. At first glance it was cosmetically pleasing. As the five days rolled on it became clear that the ship wasn't being taken very good care of. The windows everywhere were so dirty that you could barely see out of them. About half way through the cruise a stench started growing throughout the ship. It was something between sewage and rotten sewage. It was unbareable in certain areas of the ship.

The main thing that jumped out at me was the lack of service compared to the other ships that I have been on. This was my 12th cruise and 10th on Carnival.There appeared to be about 1/3rd the staff working in the dinning areas and areas around the pools. Tables were hard to find due to plates and food sitting on them for up to an hour after guests got up from the table. Most of the staff never spoke. I only had one conversation with my steward and I initiated that one.

The food was good as always in every dinning area that I went. I have never had bad food on a cruise. There is always something that I like. Read more