Chose Carnival Cruise based upon itinerary, ports of call & lower price. Boarding process is a bit chaotic unless you have VIP early entry (which we did). Ship was beautiful; staff was helpful/friendly. Cloud 9 Spa Suite was spacious but not worth premium price. Robes in room were dirty w/rust spots & our feet did not fit into one-size-fits-all slippers. The Spa steam rooms and elevator were out of order (boo, which is why we paid for the spa suite). Spa Suite also included exercise classes but you had to enroll on port days, so I chose to visit Roatan and Tulum over doing yoga and pilates on the ship. Received minor burn injury during an Ionithermie spa therapy session (don't waste your money). Couples massage, ship activities, entertainment & food were great.

My favorite onboard activity was purchasing dinner at the Chef's Table. Hands down best food experience ever - 9 course meal in the kitchen with the Head Chef and Staff (fully plated dinner for 12) with a tour of the kitchen and how to make 60 gallons of soup for about 6,000 people The Chef's Table dinner lasted 3 hours with continual food and constant flow of wine and champagne. We also enjoyed the art gallery and purchased some number one oil on canvas paintings of our favorite artists.

Activities on sea days were abundant and fun, as we did everything from salsa and line dancing to learning to make towel animals. Theme nights were great - who doesn't love to dress up once in awhile? We did NOT purchase the drink package and saved about $600. We had about 3 drinks per day, not including the champagne and bottle of wine that we were allowed to bring onboard. The drink packages are ridiculously high and endless alcohol consumption is extremely high in calories (not to mention the endless buffet and eating options. Do your wallet a favor and just stick to a few drinks per day - you will still be happy. Please note that the drink packages DO NOT include specialty things like the Martini Flight. We purchased that separately and it was $50 before gratuity. BTW, we loved the Martini Flight (Spicy Pineapple Martini was our fav) and it was worth every cent. Read more