We chose ship due to ports. This is our first carnival cruise although not our first cruise. We were on a family cruise celebrating my sons high school graduation! We are in our mid 40's with 2 teenage sons cruising.
I'll start with the CONS:
First off the Muster station drill.. Wow one gal had to be called 3 times at least! Not sure she ever showed up but we were held there nearly 45 mins to an hour shoulder to shoulder with other guests with little ventilation waiting on this lady to come for the drill! Why not do this in decks. There was a 60 second demo of how to use life vest and that was it - was played on the room TV too. Waste of time, people were so hot, crowded, and miserable. My hubby got pretty claustrophobic due to us waiting so long on one passenger.
Balcony filthy on the flooring, separating door, rusting, paint and caulking chipped off etc. (see pics). Our toilet never overflowed like i read on other posts/reviews but it stunk like a porta potty! King size bed was 2 twins pushed together.. Boys had couch and pull down from ceiling, they said they were not very comfortable but we made it work. Rooms need updated decor, especially bathrooms. Kinda felt like a floating RV bathroom - haha.
Our cabin steward, Johnny did a great job making beds, emptying trash and interacting with us!! He was very accommodating to us and he was my highlight. I loved coming in to see what towel pet he left. It is the small things sometimes!
AMAZING beaches and great tour guide, Logan. We had a blast just hanging on the beach. I do think maybe should reconsider the DR just due to recent deaths of american travelers but we never felt unsafe. We took a open tour truck that was a 45 min drive to the beach. Getting to sight see and see how the DR folks live was amazing! I really enjoyed this.
Gorgeous beaches and water. Warm water - could have stayed on beach/water forever!
Amazing! Water gorgeous. Loved excursion!!
A little scary but pretty cool experience.
We stayed in Miami prior to cruise. Didn't do specified excursions. Ppl honked more than I've ever heard in traffic. Not too welcoming