Overall we had a good time. But we can have fun at home. I'll go through it by the steps. EMBARKATION: Went well, the port authority do a good job of getting you in. Carnival keeps the lines moving. Got on the ship, now what? No guidance for a first timer so we just explored the ship until the cabins were ready to occupy. Muster drill is kind of a downer but its required and doesnt take long.

CRUISING: The staff does not have many activities. They are not cheerful, happy or even pleasant in most cases. I only met a handful of bartenders who were pleasant. My wife asked questions of several staff members and the response was "I don't know." No offer to find out just I don't know. The ship is clean pleasant but difficult to move around in until you get the hang of it. The maps of the ship were poor quality photo copies of a color coded map so basically useless. MEALS: I met a staff member in the buffet area and had to step aside to keep from being ran into. I am the guest that was aggravating. Lets talk about the food. They have dining they call fine dining and that is misleading. Most of the food is ok at best and reminds me of going to Ponderosa,Ryans or any other buffet you can think of. Now there were things that were very well done and I do realize that cooking for that many people is difficult to pull off a above average meal. But they didn't pull it off. Having said that if the wait staff would have been more pleasant and accommodating a average meal can be made to be an awesome experience. Again these people act as if they don't want to be there. DRINKS: Now this is where the staff gets going. You pay for all drinks on a sign and sail card attached to your credit card. The wait staff is constantly on you to buy a drink. Not very pleasantly in most cases but always ready to ask. Don't ask for anything else they behave as if your stupid. ENTERTAINMENT: I saw some great shows. The comedians, the magic show and the variety shows were great and I really enjoyed them. I would highly recommend the shows. There was bingo several nights but there again they wanted you to pay to play it. Good grief its just bingo. I did enjoy the casino and utilized it several days. Some of the people in my group found the staring employees a bit discomforting but we enjoyed ourselves. CABINS: We thought our room was nice and of adequate size. But we just sleep and go back out to play we didn't take a vacation to spend time in our room. The cabin stewards were the best, most happy and pleasant employees of the entire ship. They took extremely good care of us and of course we took very good ($) care of them. I cant say enough good about them.