it was a group cruise. embarkation and disbark was a breeze even with a child. we had plans for the ports so that was the focus of the cruise. Cosumel at the Chankanaabe (sp) park was fantastic even though it was too windy for snorkeling. Mayan replicas were extensive with a tour. sea lion show, great mexican buffet, we could see the dolphin experience through windows while eating the buffet. Awesome beach area. Dining on the ship: The evening meal was really good but you either have something fantastic like the seafood pasta dish, escargot and of course the chocolate melting cake (absolutely to die for) or you have something like basa (look it up, its a fish from vietnam that is cheaper on the market than cod and probably full of chemicals) its a fish that is on the don't eat list on youtube. we had the flat iron steak which was good, no complaints with that. Lobster one night only. prime rib 2 nights and fillet minion also. Ribs were some of the best I have ever had. Soups were good. Dining service was excellent, we saw the same people serving at the breakfast buffet as the evening dinner, they work very hard, other sites say the gratuities paid with the cost of the cruise is a surcharge and doesn't get reflected in the salary of the servers or the stewards so please plan on tipping.

The buffet (deck 9) is like old country buffet. Some things were terrible (don't eat any fruit pies, my friend said its like cardboard with fruit on it). They need more coffee machines! coffee was out about half the time. But, the key lime pie was to die for. rum balls on the chocolate extravaganza were heavenly. we did the sit down breakfast in the dining room 2x and that was really good. Guy Furrers burgers and fries were good. deli sandwiches were good. Heres the low down on the bottomless bubbles. the only way to get soda is to stand in line at the bars. bar tenders don't want to serve you, it can take 20 minutes to get a soda with half the glass ice. They expect to be tipped. This cruise line needs a touch screen machine for soda! Even if it was only on the lido deck it would be better than the set up now. we barely got our moneys worth on that because we finally gave up on it. entertainment: not enough to do at all with my teen. shows were poor compared to my other cruise (I don't remember what line we were on then, it was years ago). very little for family friendly shows, some entertainment was in bar areas. movie night on the pool deck was fun 1x while in the hot tub. miniature golf was fun. one small pool for families and 5000 passengers. we stayed in the cabin after dinner most nights. Suggestion for carnival: at least have servers get drinks, coffee for people eating at the buffet, that would at least feel like we are being treated better than a free breakfast at a hotel. Shows need something like broadway reviews or performers, magic shows, something! I didn't get wifi but heard people complaining throughout the trip how slow, no service etc no matter what level you buy. I have seen the profit that carnival makes (reported on the internet) and this is shameful that lobster is served once, poor shows and the possibility that they are using the gratuities collected to pay the staff their base salary as opposed to a "tip" I hate to say this because of the hardworking staff but all in all this was an economy cruise. I would hate to see one with less amenities than this. I did not shop around for cruises because we were with a group so maybe this was the economy level. This cruise gets you where you want to go.