I have avoided Carnival because I have heard bad reviews and that the overall atmosphere is geared toward the "party crowd". I took this cruise because I won it, so it was free. I was apprehensive, but went into it with hopes that Carnival would rise to the occasion and impress me, which for the most part, they did. The staff was outstanding! They were not only friendly and helpful, but very knowledgable! The ship was in surprisingly good condition and well maintained and clean! Yay! I did not care for the design as much.. It was difficult to get form one end of the ship to the other without going through the casino and breathing the second hand smoke. Yuck. And we went to talk to the crew about re-booking another cruise, but it was right next to the casino and the smoke was just too much. We said we'd come back, but never did. The food was ok. It was better in the Dining room than in the buffet. The Guys Burger joint was GREAT!! And the pizza was pretty good too. Service was excellent, and the shows were really good!! I was quite impressed with the production quality, given their space and technical limits. They did an outstanding job! The talent in the shows was fabulous!! We had the pleasure of meeting one of the performers- Naomi Murray. She is incredible! Beautiful voice, bubbly personality, and excellent performer! Meeting her and seeing the shows was definitely a highlight of our trip! We also saw the comedians at the Comedy Club. The new club manager, Kasey for Canada is charming and so funny!! She made everyone feel right at home!! And the best comedian i've seen on a ship was Doug Williams! He was HILARIOUS!!! We only went to his PG shows, and we were rolling in the floor! We really enjoy comedians who are funny without relying on crass humor and bad language. That is REAL talent!! Good job Doug, and thank you Carnival for continuing to offer PG shows!! There were some things for young children, like the Dr Seuss parade and story time. Also there was a build a bear workshop that was fun for little ones. We didn't see very many teens on board, and there's a reason for that. There is just not much for teens. It is definitely a party ship... There were always fun games and entertainment in the main lobby, usually hosted by Cookie, the new cruise director. He is HILARIOUS and SO FUN!!! The music trivia games were always packed to the top balcony with people on all levels dancing, singing and participating! He does a great job getting everyone involved and having fun!

Our cabin was quite spacious with plenty of storage space. I thought the bathroom was quite adequate for a ship, except i prefer a split bath. Our cabin steward Apollonio? was great!! Always smiling when we saw him and he cleaned our room and left the most adorable towel animals!! I even did the towel folding class and bought the book!

Overall, i was really impressed and had a great time. My biggest complaint (and i wasn't alone- i heard people commenting on this the whole cruise) was the lack of hand cleaning before dining. I've been on other ships where a crew member stands just outside the dining room / restaurant and dispenses hand cleaner to EVERYONE as they enter. I'm shocked that in the midst of flu season, they didn't do that, and some of the hand washing facilities near the restaurants didn't even work very well. I asked one of the crew who was working the food service on the buffet line why there weren't crew members making people sanitize their hands as they entered, (especially in a buffet!) and he said, "Oh we only do that if there's a Government Inspector onboard". That is not ok. Read more