This was our 8th Carnival cruise. We have also cruised Royal Caribbean and Princess and usually choose Carnival because our teenagers prefer it and the better pricing. Embarkation was smooth and quick. Cabins are really nice; very comfortable bedding, flat screen TVs with daily free movies, TV and movies for rent. Room steward Edmund was great. The food was wonderful as usual - really enjoyed the "stations" - Deli makes great sandwiches, the Mongolian Wok was a long wait but very good; pasta bar was good; ate at the specialty Steakhouse and had Maine lobster, steak, mushrooms, cream spinach was all excellent. We chose "anytime dining" which is new to carnival and were somewhat disappointed with the slow service and missing out on the dancing and singing by waiters at regular seating. Convenient, but they need to work out the staffing. Its nice to see Carnival trying to do things offered on other ships. The ship was full this sailing; 4500 passengers and 1400 of them children, but they didn't bother us at all and it really never felt crowded except trying to find a lounge chair the first day. Never smelled that sewage smell everyone keeps writing about. We enjoy going to lunch (now called "brunch") in the dining room getting free mimosa's and avoiding the buffet lines on sea days. Also - there is a mini buffet at the back of the ship that was never crowed at breakfast. Shows were best I've seen; comedy club was fun and they had some really funny comedians, but we all agree that the language needs cleaning up; kids sneak in no matter how hard they try and foul language just isn't necessary to get a laugh. I really enjoy the concerts on the Seaside theater but was disappointed to see the exact same concerts as have been shown on our last 2 Carnival cruises. Also, the dining menu doesn't ever seem to change either. The Seaside Theater is underutilized, often showing just waves. More movies would be nice. We like to gamble and spent some time in the casino and that was probably our worst experience. The craps table dealers were downright rude and the table was rarely open, with 4500 passengers on this ship. The slot machines were fun, but don't expect to win any money! Tightest slots I've ever seen on any ship or in any casino. I was told the slots are how Carnival pays its employees (I thought that was the tips were for?) The Club 02 for the teens was a big hit with my teen girls. Very large and they have a large area below the Promenade deck just for them. Only other disappointment was the bands; prior cruises have featured great bands and this one just had one and two man person performers who never seemed to get the crowds dancing. Overall, we enjoyed a relaxing cruise, beautiful ship, great food and most of the entertainment was good. New Years party great!