My last Carnival was 4 years ago. Now I see many nice changes, and at least one terrible innovation. Booked the Conquest post-thanksgiving cruise for the great ports and the great price. Chose an outside cabin for the extra space and view for 100 extra, midship. Wanted to make my companion, a first time cruiser, comfortable. Great embarkation with the new appointment system. No wait. Easiest ever. As was debarkation 8 days later. Wow factors. And fantastic fire drill without the crushing bodies on deck.

The big downer was the buffet. After 35 cruises, I rate it as one of the worst buffets ever, and I mean EVER. Went to the deli at the buffet. Big Big disappointment. Terrible pastrami, tuna, turkey, Cuban, falafel. Rest of the buffet was bad, I mean real bad. However, what they did do right was the 3 external stations. The Pizza was very good, but cracker crust only. I recommend everybody’s favorite, Guy’s Burgers. Why doesn’t he have a chain of them, they are sooo good? Burrito’s were terrible but good taco bowl and fish tacos. A real gem was the upstairs BarBQue, also by Guy. Don’t miss it. All buffet desserts tasted like cardboard throughout the cruise. I hated being forced to eat lunch at the buffet. Even on sea days they introduced Brunch in the dining room. Talk about penny pinching. The bad buffet food will most likely steer me away from Carnival in the future.

BUT, the dining room breakfasts were superb (unless you got cold waffles like I did one morning). The filet mignon served with the steak and eggs was very nice, with bernaise. Service in the dining room seems to have slowed down considerably over the years. Heck, I sat there for 30 minutes one morning before any food came, AND THE ROOM WAS EMPTY! Read more