We chose Carnival to participate in a family reunion. We have previously travelled with Royal Caribbean and thoroughly enjoyed our experience with the RC Cruise line company. There was only one thing lacking; the "party" aspect. We were told we would get all Royal had to offer and more so we decided to go. What a mistake. Carnival gave us the "party" aspect alright, Frat Party. To start, the embarkation process was long and unorganized. They ushered everyone to the Lido deck where there was nothing but lines and heat (AC unit was not functioning effectively). There were long waits for food and access to the room, even though we had an appointment to board the ship. Once we gained access to the room we found it to be "rush-cleaned" with an odd odor. My Lysol and other products could not cut the smell. I think it was grease from the burger place on the carpet somewhere; any who, the smell stuck with us the entire trip. Our ship mates were less than "polished" with regular swearing and scandalous MTV style bathing suits. There were many families who thought we would all enjoy the sound of their music so they walked around the ship with their portable speakers blaring at the dinner table in the Marketplace and around the ship. Mostly inappropriate lyrics as well. The ports of call were nice but the embarkation bacon the ship was horrific. Long lines awaited us with each port, with slow and inefficient check in processes. Our room steward reported they have had their workload doubled since the boat's upgrade and offered only 1 service per day instead of two. We felt bad for him so we went with the once a day option just asking for towels as needed. Too much work for a small amount of employees. The gym was tiny with low ceilings. My family member who is 6ft 3 almost hit his head using the treadmill! The air conditioning was not very good either making the workouts a bit difficult. The food was subpar and often-times overcooked. When we mentioned it we were given undercooked food. Sigh. The whirlpools in the adult area and all throughout the ship were fully sun-exposed. There was no escape from the direct sunlight if we wanted to be in a body of water (Royal has canopies/awnings over their whirlpools). Guest services and other employees were overworked and often times downright rude when you had a question. The only solace was on the Serenity Deck where I concluded the workers must have had special training on customer service or simply worked at Royal once upon a time. Guys, there were two fist fights throughout the week that we knew of and the smell of skunks sporadically while at sea (PS: there were no skunks on board. conclusion: drugs). The crew did not replenish the Purell pods regularly and we were often-times met with empty sanitizer stations. with that, I went home with a cold. there was much more but I won't continue. All that said, we will stick with Royal Caribbean.