We got off to a rough start during embarkation. We pre-registered online but it did nothing to speed up the process. The lines were ridiculously long and moved at a snails pace. then the woman who checked us in dissapeared for 15 minutes to make changes to our sail and sign cards. when we finally got on board Rosie's buffet was packed and we had to climb stairs with our food trays to get a table. The rooms were immaculate though and our room stewart was wonderful. We had a balcony room for ourselves and got an inside room for our three kids(ages 15,13, and 4). It was well worth it! Our first day at sea the weather was beautiful and we went to the pool. it is great in the morning before a lot of people get there but there is no shaded areas where the lounges are so it is hard to get a break from the sun if you want to. Of course by the afternoon the pool was jammed with people. the pool on the aft deck was adults only so the only real place to go was that main pool and it was not adequate for the number of people there. also the jumbotron screen there was annoying as it showed CNN constantly and it was loud. I'd rather listen to music while I'm relaxing on deck. I can get news in my room if I wanted to! My husband tried to go to a spin class but was rudely informed that he needed to sign up for one of the seven bikes there before the cruise began! He said it wouldn't have been so bad but the guy was nasty and when you are paying good money to be on a vacation you should be treated better. The food was excellent! our wait staff were quick and efficient and my youngest son (age 4)fell in love with our female assistant waiter! She was so sweet with him and even left a cute little gift for him at his place at the table one night where they always had a children's menu and crayons ready for him. The chocolate melting cake is TO DIE FOR!!!! If you love chocolate, you have not lived until you have eaten this. The menu had a lot of variety and was all delicious. we have been on RCCL and Carnival and the food on Carnival is so much better. The ship's layout was not great and there was smoking allowed all over the place so the promenade stank! The shops did not have great merchandise like on previous cruises. The disembarkation on this ship was the worst we have ever experienced. I don't know if it was the Miami port,the ship or both but it was a mess. We were informed by the cruise director that if you wanted to get off the ship early to do the self assist disembarkation where you keep your luggage instead of putting it out the night before and just carry it off yourself. He said those passengers would be let off first. He LIED!!!! Not only did that not happen but the luggage tag number we were assigned, had we put out our luggage, was called before we were while we had to wait in our staterooms! When so much time went by we were so angry we called down and someone told us just to come down to get off the ship. When we said something to the cruise director he had the nerve to say "I didn't call you yet! You shouldn't be here yet!" We said "too bad cause we're leaving!" After all that we were stopped by a customs guy who made us open all our luggage and went through everything! He didn't believe we only bought $800 worth of souvenirs and such. It was awful. we have been on many cruises and have never had to go through any of that nonsense. i would never sail out of Miami again.