This is my 4'th cruise with Carnival and my 10'th cruise overall. First of all, I have to say I have never been disappointed with the friendliness and aim to please attitude of the majority of Carnival employees! The employees work very hard for not much money and I truly appreciate their constant effort to ensure a pleasant experience for their guests. Having said that I must express my disappointment in Carnival on this particular cruise. First of all, the food quality was very disappointing. There was not much variety at the buffets and the dining experience was sub par to what I am used to. The fact that you had to pay and xtra $20 to get surf and turf where on past cruises with Carnival it is part of the menu. In addition , the food was often times served room temperature and service slow. My advice on this cruise would be to stick to Guy's burgers and the deli! Guy's never disappoints and the deli served fresh delicious sandwiches! Again I don't blame the employees but possibly lack of them. Our room was kept very clean however, the common areas were not. Tables in the eating areas were not cleaned in a timely manner and some bathrooms in the pool deck area were gross!! As far as entertainment, there was a great band in the casino bar and of course the night club was fun but , in my opinion, the comedians in the comedy club were pigs! We are warned if we are easily offended to not attend the late hours comedy club however, I have attended many late night comedy clubs that can be R rated but these guys just had some gross delivery! I am a Californian so I have been to Catalina and Ensenada before. I am very pleased to find that Ensenada now offers more shore excursions than they have in the past which of course you can find cheaper deals outside of booking with Carnival when you get off the ship. The people were super friendly in Ensenada but of course you always have to be careful and be sure to haggle with the prices on everything! All in all I had a great time and would do this cruise again. It's a cheap get away for someone who can drive to the port but if I had to pay for airfare I would choose one of the bigger Carnival ships where there is a noticeable difference in quality. Alot of people choose this cruise as a first time experience as I did but let me just say- It can be better!! Happy sailing!