This was my second time cruising and the first time for my son. Though we had an overall good time, there were quite a few areas that Carnival should and could improve upon. Let's start with the good: the cabin - Simply put GREAT! The beds were perfectly comfortable, the sheets luxurious, pillows divine and the room scrupulously clean and the bathroom, though on the tight side, defintely had a spa-like quality and feel to it. The housekeeping staff was phenomenal. The ship itself definitely could use a comprehensive scrub-down - carpets were dirty and there were many areas of the ship that had some quite unpleasant, musty, rank odors. Staff was cordial, but I felt overall the ship was understaffed - dirty dishes stayed on the tables too long, ashtrays were always dirty and food service in the buffet areas left a lot to be desired - lines too long; food bland, tasteless and overcooked. Also, the presentation was pretty unappetizing. As for activities - nothing to write home about - the shore excursions we wanted to go on were booked so we ended up going it on our own once in Nassau. I picked this particular cruise line for the teen activities from other teen reviews - my son (15) was bored and the O2 Lounge directors did not try to introduce the kids to each other - he felt a little awkward and left on his own. There were no teen shore excursions offered that Carnival listed on their website and I found him on several occasions in the cabin watching TV - plus the waterslide wasn't working until the last day - a big disappointment. Pool was too cold and crowded and the hot tubs overun by little kids. The adult lounge area was too small with not enough lounge chairs - what was available remained empty with towels and books as people were "saving" them while they went to eat or whatever - not considerate to say the least. I won't be travelling on Carnival again - my last cruise on NCL was by far way better than this floating circus.