This was a spur-of-the-moment, gotta-get-away cruise, so we didn't plurge on the cabin, just took an inside cabin on Deck 1 (Riviera). Embarkation was smooth, cabin was ready at 1:30, but we had to ask for things like hand soap, wine glasses, robes, our annual pins, and the Fun Times schedule, as they were not in our cabin. Even the ink pen that they normally supply was missing. This is the first Carnival ship we've been on that didn't have the pistol-type hair dryer in drawer--this cabin had a weird hairdryer hanging in the bathroom that looked like a vacuum cleaner, very hard to use. Cabin cleaning service was hit-or-miss, and we only got turndown service once or twice.

Love the new Carnival Hub app, the $5 per person charge is worth it to be able to text each other on the ship instead of buying walkie-talkies. And the app lists all the activities for the day (thus the cutbacks in the size of the printed Fun Times), and it allows you to "favorite" activities so that you get alerts when it's time to go.

We didn't do excursions since we've done this itinerary before (Cozumel and Progreso) and were just looking to relax. We ate lunch at Pancho's Back Yard in Cozumel in the port shopping area. In Progreso we just shopped in the shops at the dock for some t-shirts--vendors there are very pushy. Read more