I chose this cruise because my friends were taking this cruise, and it was reasonably priced. We were initially supposed to land in Cozumel and Grand Cayman for a day each, and most of us specifically chose this cruise because we wanted to go to the Grand Cayman. We were also supposed to be meet up with other friends when we landed in the Grand Caymans. Instead, Carnival cancelled the stop at Grand Cayman and substituted it for Costa Maya two days before the ship was supposed to leave so we wouldn't have the time to plan any other trip for our break.
The ship was pretty choppy for a lot of the days at sea, and a lot of people were having sea sickness issues, especially on the second to last day (I know there isn't much they can do about this except for have a bigger ship). Aside from that, the trip went as planned up to Cozumel, and after that they cancelled the stop at Costa Maya. This resulted in 4 days at sea for a 5 day cruise, which got pretty old, seeing as how there is only so much that you can do on a cruise ship.
Carnival also tacks on numerous additional mandatory gratuity fees, including $65 for room service, so the lower price tag that you see on the site is not indicative of the actual cost. On the last day at sea, there was also an issue with the ship that caused a strong sewage smell throughout the ship (bringing back memories from the cesspool on a hot summer day in Kandahar). For all of this, Carnival only grudgingly refunded $25 for the Grand Cayman change and the pretty much negligible port taxes for the cancelled stop in Costa Maya. I would've much rather just headed back a day early and received a partial refund. In hindsight, I definitely wouldn't have wasted in the money on this trip or paid money to a company with terrible customer service, like Carnival. I would not recommend this ship or cruise line to anyone.
Went to a great beach area. The beach was infested with sand flees, but there was a really cool pool bar area with my friends and I spent most of our time.
Ship boarding went well. Otherwise I did not do much in Tampa.