We chose this ship & cruise because of the great reviews & port locations. Originally we were scheduled to visit St. Kitts, St. Thomas, & Bahamas. Two months before our trip we were notified that one of the ships propulsion units was impaired and therefore the itinerary was changed. Instead of St Thomas, Puerto Rico. In addition, only 4 hours in Puerto Rico. And our day in the Bahamas was cut short to half a day as well. This was a huge hit, especially considering we paid over $11k ticket for the suite - to now find out we could make no changes and were stuck. Ugh!! SERVICE - not impressed. Aside from the suite lounge servers, this entire experience felt as though we were being shuttled like cattle. Most disappointing was the spa. On my birthday we scheduled couples massages - showed up and were shuttled into a “relaxation room” with 25 other people and no place to sit. We left immediately and cancelled our services, only to get a rude response from the desk attendant about why it was so crowded. In addition we were upsold constantly, phone calls about dinner packages, peddling in the shopping areas about drink packages. We received emails from our suite concierge ahead of our trip stating she could make reservations for us at restaurants or excursions. We asked ahead to schedule reservations on my birthday and never received a response from the concierge nor did our reservation get scheduled. ROOM- loved the room. Suite attendant was excellent. Plenty of space. Needs some updating though. SHIP- again, disappointment is the word. Although there’s a TON to do and my kids really enjoyed the activities, everything felt very enclosed and compartmentalized. We felt the ship rock through the entire trip even though the weather was perfect. Not sure if it’s because of the size? It was so crowded everywhere. The restaurants were insane. EXCURSIONS- good question. We didn’t book 6 months ahead and by 3 months out everything was sold out. We figured when we got on board more would open up... not the case. Again, major disappointment!! All in all, this is most likely our last RC cruise we will embark on. What a big ticket that was NOT worth the value. Celebrity hands down exceeds RC in every aspect. Read Less

There were nine of us including four adults and five children. We chose this cruise primarily for the enjoyment of the youngsters. We visited ports in the Western Caribbean. My wife and I are very experienced, having been on about 125 cruises, each, over the years. I mention this so that a reader will understand that we have a firm foundation upon which to rate the quality of the Breakaway. Both my wife and I rate the Breakaway as possibly the worst experience that we have had in decades of travel. I could go on and on with negative comments but I'd probably run out of space. Here's a few examples. While the crew was pleasant, it was clear they were not trained well and supervision was lacking. We ate in three or four different restaurants and, without exception, service was slow, very slow. We rate the food as "average", at best. For example, at breakfast, there were no blueberries or strawberries unless you asked. If available, there was about a 15 minute wait for them to appear. Every other ship we have been on had a "lobster night". Not so with a Breakaway. My wife and I enjoy salmon fillet as part of our dinner and with the exception of two evenings, it did not appear on the menu. Perhaps the most irritating thing was the overpowering feeling of being "nickeled and dimed" to death. The most disturbing example was when we visited the "private island" . Other cruise lines universally include basic beverages and lunch. Not so with the breakaway. There was a charge for any food, and water was not available, unless it was purchase. (A large bottle of water cost four dollars on the ship but was seven dollars on land). One of the tram drivers told us that the NCL used to supply water but their policy changed a year or so ago. The ship was extremely overcrowded and sitting anywhere near the main pool area resulted in being constantly subjected to music that was louder than the roar of a rocket beginning it's mission to space. There were usually long, long, lines waiting to get on the ship or off the ship.That was bad enough but people constantly cut into the front of the line without being stopped. Mini-golf ran out of clubs and balls. One night, my grandkids were told to leave the court because it was time for the crew to play basketball. Long lines for the waterslides. Leaving the ship was it a "nightmare from hell" with little or no supervision or direction. While the initial cost of this cruise was lower than competitors, the Breakaway makes it up in their over the top "nickel & dime" policy. I strongly recommend paying a little more, going with another line and getting a lot more for your total investment. Read Less

The ship is terrible - despite its enormous size, has very few things to do, no entertainment program on the main pool deck, only a few games to share among 5000 passengers, very low quality theater shows. Food is quite bad quality. Shore excursions are over priced, with mediocre guides with thick accents you cannot understand. Premium drinks are low quality (particularly wine). Kids programs are super boring - this is the first time my kids refused to go to the kids center and kept repeating how boring everything is. There are only 2 pools on the main deck!! - one indoor and one outdoor, and both are tiny so they are incredibly crowded at all times. Service across the ship is below mediocre. Casino manager is the least professional and disregarding you will ever encounter - don’t bother spending big money, you will get zero attention. Overall, a cheap look and feel and not worth any price you pay. STAY AWAY. Read Less

We read positive reviews about this ship and the stops before we booked in April. Wow, I’d like to know who’s writing these reviews. We haven’t made it to one stop yet and I have no idea how we’re going to make it 12 more days. We’ve been on Disney to the Bahamas, Carnaval both to the Caribbean and Mexico and Princess to Alaska. All these cruises have been in the last few years and the food, entertainment, and overall service were a lot better. I’m so disappointed so far. Our room is average but is obviously not maintained that well as there are scuff marks all over the walls especially near the patio door. Our front door doesn’t close well and sometimes stays unlocked because we didn’t realize that it did not close and lock. But back to the food, the buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner is among the worst I’ve ever had both on the ocean or on land. The other cruise lines buffet food was of this much higher quality. I feel like Royal Caribbean is trying to get its customers to pay for the restaurants that are more upscale or even just better like Johnny Rockets or the fish and chips place near the pool. I resent that after spending as much money as we’ve had to travel to Europe and the cruise it’s self. My family and I are just looking forward to the excursions to Gibraltar, Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Sardinia, and southern Spain and hopefully making it back home without getting sick. Read Less

Princess Cruise Lines did an outstanding job making my 2nd cruise experience one to last a lifetime. From the efficiency and professionalism of the staff/crew to the on board decor, I couldn't have been more pleased. The Food selection was fantastic and the Dining experiences were beyond compare to previous cruise experience on a different carrier. The Shore excursions were fantastic and the staff did and excellent job keeping the 3000 plus passengers flowing with ease. Ports were great - Though perhaps overkill on the amount of jewelry shops per port. Highly recommend Skywalker lounge and DJ Eleven for a fun night of dancing, and Daniel as your waiter at Curtis Stone's SHARE restaurant. Even with the amount of people per cruise ship -I still felt like I could always find a quiet corner when I needed some alone space. Buffet can be difficult in the early morning to find a seat, But plenty of Outdoor tables and chairs to pull up and see the amazing View. Read Less

As a returning P&O customer I was let down. Arriving at our alloted time of 1500 boarding became a rush, even making the muster station became an issue. I was disappointed as all the excitement of relaxed holidays and a we take care of it attitude has gone. The logistics were wrong. On to the Cabin D522 it was excellent, I thought well mentained until my partner pointed out the face towels hadn't been changed, just refolded. Food excellent, quality of drink excellent, kids club excellent, itinerary spot on. On the whole the majority of the staff have forgotten to smile. The entertainment was also at the bearable level but undone by repetition. Don't get me wrong I have had a week's holiday but a week in Fuengirola would have been just as good. I love cruising, love the non flying option but now considering cancelling next year's booking as I will experience the same level of frustration at an Airport. Disembarkation opted for the early depart, low tide at Soton could not disembark untill the tide did her thing Logistics Read Less

This ship is not too big not too small. Easy to navigate with plenty of elevators. The Crew is friendly and attentive. Food in all restaurants was great. Lobster night had full size tails all you can eat. Prime rib on two nights and it was very good. The buffet breakfast and lunch were large and plenty of good choices. Several Indian and Asian dishes as there were many guest from those countries on board. Pool side grill had dogs and burgers with really good french fries. We had the drink package which included many top shelf brands and plenty of beer choices and wine. Our balcony 7027 was clean and had plenty of storage. A night light in the bathroom is great. Hot water at all times. A large TV on the wall is great. But not a large amount of channels. Entertainment was great with the exception of one comedy act which was so so. A lot of energy and talent in all the shows. Cruise director Manuel was terrific. The bartenders at the Martini bar put on a great show of mixing drinks. The ship is very modern and light and airy decor. The trip to Hubbards Glacier was the highlight as the ship gets very close and then slowly turns 360 so everyone gets a great view. This is our 7th cruise and first with Celebrity. It was as good as advertised. We self debarked which went smoothly. The guest services people were terrific and helpful. The celebrity app works great. Only booked the White Pass train ride through Celebrity which was nice but pricey. Other trips were booked with other vendors. All the ports offer trips and tours for less. Read Less

This was my first cruise since I had my son five years ago. My previous cruises have been with Carnival. I will start with the positives—embarkation and debarkation were way more efficient than my experience with prior cruises. The specialty dining was amazing. I really enjoyed the private island. It was pure bliss! Beautiful, peaceful and relaxing. Now for the negatives—- The customer service was absolutely terrible. The night we got there my room was filthy. Dust, hairs, unknown crusty stuff in drawers—it was awful! I made a complaint—and housekeeping came and cleaned. Still had crusty bits in drawers and stains on pillows. The room was very worn. Chopped wood in dresses a and closet. The bathroom sink had a screw hanging out. Our steward didn’t even bother to turn down our room or anything on our last night. While most of the staff was incredibly friendly, the workers at the the customer service desk were rude and dismissive. The entertainment was so so, and I was definitely bored by the third night. Read Less

This was my second cruise, first being with just my son (10 months at the time), and I. This second cruise was with our whole family. It was by far the worst family vacation we've ever had. Never again will we use carnival. They screwed up all our room assignments (they gave me a $300 on board credit that got immediately eaten up by gratuities), staff is beyond rude, no one cares if you are having a issue unless you inform them you are having issues with locating your autistic son due to the incompetent staff shuffling my kids to the wrong zone for the drill. My son was suppose to be excused from the drill due to his medical issues but nooooooooo the steward staff made my son, daughter, and grandmother leave their room. By the time I reached my son he was a minute away from passing out. He has heat triggered seizures. The guest service manager tried to prevent me from getting my son out of the drill area. I had to yell at her he needed to leave. When she came to find me to try to I guess tell me about myself she realized the situation was actually serious she then changed her stank attitude and tried to kiss butt. Same with the dinning room staff in the Atlantic dinning room. The hostess was so rude and the head manager as well but of course when I said to my fiance that situation was just one more thing to add to our email to corporate he changed his attitude. It seems in order for the crew to be nice you have to inform them you are contacting corporate. I could honestly go on and on about how horrible the crew was but Ill save myself from getting frustrated again. As far as food.... It was gross. Eggs are super runny, bacon is dang near raw, pancakes taste like crap, syrup is watered down, even the main dinning room dinner is just bad. The only thing i enjoyed was the crab legs and I had to pay $25 for it. No matter if it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner its crap. We did the cat in the hat breakfast and although my kids enjoyed meeting the characters the food was basic. Now the port.... We stopped in Nassau bahamas and man oh man that port was NASTY. As soon as we got off the ship we were disgusted by how dirty the port was. And then when we got past the tourist information gate we were swarmed by ppl trying to push services or merch on us. That was annoying but i get it. What got me really annoyed was numerous guys came up to us (my kids too) asking if we needed weed or "blow" (im assuming thats cocaine). Like they have no care in the world there are little kids there. A lot of shops try to play you aswell and take your money claiming they have no change. Thank god I read and did my research before we got there and knew not to buy anything at the port and to walk a few blocks down to get everything cheaper. the straw market was interesting.... VERY hot so that was interesting to see how all these vendors just deal with the heat. Getting on and off the boat was pretty easy but we did get off 2 hours after we ported and got back on a way before everyone else. Now the debarking wasn't too bad. I didnt wait for our deck number bc frankly my son was just tired of waiting and starting to get a big sensory overload. They didnt give me issues about leaving before our deck was called. Aside from all the issues with food, staff, ect, the boat it self was overly crowded, our room didnt even get turned one day, there was a lot of rust around the boat, there isnt much to do either. Even with the little they had to do it was so packed it wasnt worth waiting for the activities. We also had a party crew in the room across from us and holy crap they were loud. The screaming and laughing lasted up until around 3am and started right back up at 8am. It was very annoying. Security even came up a few times bc i guess other guest complained but those ppl could care less and the moment security was gone they started yelling again. Oh and lets not forget about on both decks 6 and 7 (I had two rooms) the hallways reeked of marijuana. Def not something I want my kids to be smelling. Oh and let me not forget to mention how the communication between the 800 number, the crew on the boat from the different departments and management has HORRIBLE COMMUNICATION. No one knows anything and none of the requested accommodations I requested for my autistic child and my other child with server food allergies were granted So if asked if i would ever use carnival again.... my answer would be "HECK NO"! This will have been the first and the last time I ever give them a shot. Read Less

I’d like to start off by saying that the moment you walk on this ship you are greeted warmly by ANY employee you encounter. We went on a weekend cruise, my husband and I with our two young children (5&6). Aside from the great staff, the ship is extremely clean. There are employees everywhere constantly picking up. As I finish a plate someone is already taking the plate, it’s like they know what I need before I even know I need it. The staff at the restaurants even remembered my kids name and would call them by name as we saw them throughout the ship, this made them feel so special. The food was incredible as well anywhere we went. We ate at Le Bistro our first night and we could not be happier. It was so delicious and the service was spectacular. The buffets throughout the ship were also great and had a variety of food for everyone, also super clean which is difficult to find from buffets. I never experienced that food had run out, I promise we ate so much and were super satisfied, I’d never seen my kids enjoy food so much as they did this weekend! The breakfast buffet was phenomenal! So many options and the omelette bar is an awesome touch. My cabin was always clean and my cabin stewardess was the nicest and was on top of everything we needed. Again, thinking ahead to anything we might need before I even knew it! At the private island you get in and off the ship through a tender which is like another smaller boat that takes you back and fourth to the island. When I saw this I thought oh no this is going to take forever, but the process was very fast and we really didn’t have to wait. There was also a buffet on the island (more food!) which had a variety of options as well. Lastly, for anyone traveling with children this is the MAIN reason I would return on this ship. Sure, it doesn’t have a lot of the slides and all that stuff other ships might have that you can enjoy with children on the ship... but their Splash Academy is INCREDIBLE! I mean, my children would be so excited to return for their activities. This gives us parents some peace of mind in knowing our children are in good hands while we try to have some time to ourselves! The counselors are so kind and have numerous activities planned for the kids at different hours. When we were on the island they also had beachside activities. On the ship they had face painting, arts and crafts, fairy tale night where the kids were dressed as princesses and walked around singing songs, a Hollywood show, I mean they thought of everything! My kids want to return just for the splash academy and we are definitely not complaining. In general we truly enjoyed our experience and can’t wait to plan our next experience in this ship! Read Less

The ship is renovated on the inside and nicely done. The Pool on this ship is way too small for the number of people. I found the kiddie pool on front of ship was more relaxing then main pool. The pool deck had a trashy party atmosphere- women were twerking on pool deck. The DJ at the white party was playing obscene music- with children present. The Norwegian Sky Bahamas cruise is more of a booze cruise. However, this will be ending soon as they are stopping the free open bar as of September. And people will then not drink as much because they will have to pay. For a first time cruiser the ship and cruise may be enjoyable but for people who have been on other cruise lines and larger ships this cruise is average at best. The buffet lines were lit and I felt like I was in a school cafeteria, or prison. The dining room was a pleasant experience. The service was excellent on the ship in every department which made the cruise more enjoyable. Read Less

Book another cruise, it’s not a vacation, this experience only consists of many many lines. The buffet area is really small to accommodate all the passengers, the line is constantly very long to get food. People would take their time picking out what they want slowly in the pile of food which also delays the line. Then you have people that are afraid to line up again, (after about 15-20 minutes of waiting) They take piles and piles of food so they don’t have to line up for a second time and end up wasting food. In addition, they take all that food the tray is almost empty for others who have also been waiting. I must say the lucky bowl is quite fast and very good but they are not open all the time. The pizza is open 24 hours. The crust is really thin but it’s good. Again, the line is extremely long. A woman in front of me ordered 7 pies, taking all the pizza that was left. Everyone behind her ended up waiting another half hour for more pizza to be made. The burger place is good but the line is also horrible. The deli is not always open, you do have lots of options. Cold and hot sandwiches, but the line is horrendous. At the buffet, my mother in law wanted two pieces of corn so instead of lining up, we nicely asked a woman on the line if we could go in front of her to get it and leave. The lady behind her started getting loud and insisted that we line up. Her attitude was uncalled for and extremely rude. Everyone on that ship was there to have a good time, I see no reason for her to have yelled at us. We never had a problem letting someone just grab what they wanted as long as they asked. There are not much choices with restaurants, you have the sunshine and radiant, the servers are overly worked and you can tell they are super tired but still continue to do their jobs. I must say the waiters are doing their best to keep everything very professional. The food is not a big deal, and there are not much choices, but it’s better than lining up. All the other restaurants such as: Sushi, steak house ($38per person), and Italian food require an additional charge. Why is there an additional charge for food on top of the $6,000 that we paid for the 4 of us. We were all very excited to visit Grand Turks. What a disappointment. The beach is only a few feet away from the ships, leaving very little room to swim. The area is so dirty. There is garbage everywhere and a lot bugs crawling on the sand. I kept asking cruiseship members which chairs and umbrellas belonged to carnival-no one was able to answer me. Every chair we parked on some guys comes up to us harassing for us to pay $25.00. They said the beach chairs in the front all belongs to them and the beach chairs in back belongs to carnival. No cruise members there for us to ask and by the time we settled everything down we just gave up arguing with him and just paid him. On top of that there’s an area where these ppl have a horse tied up on this tree, the smell at that area I felt like we were in a zoo. San Juan is nice and all site seeing and shopping Amber cove my kids really enjoyed it cause the pool is big and nice. Plus shopping area is big. Entertainment; we’ve been to many cruises the cruise director, the Scotsman is okay. He told us when we see him say “Hi Chris” guess what when we see him he really don’t want to be bothered. In front of a big crowd of ppl he’s all nice and approachable but in reality he’s like don’t bother me! Same ppl doing singing and dancing every night, not too entertaining, magic show sucks just this one guy doing only jokes and card tricks. Juggler is a good show. Pool and slides: don’t bothered going to the pool it’s alway very very crowded. There’s only two small pools for 3800 passengers, WTH. Teenagers running everywhere. During the last day of cruise we had to call security cause kids where knocking on our doors running away. Then we saw them throwing ice cream cones on the stairway. We booked 6 cabins for a family reunion, the pulled out beds is so old and painful to sleep on it. I paid extra for a suite cabin, we have a couch that can turned into a king size bed, the most uncomfortable and hard bed ever. Aches and pains the next day. We made a complaint about the bed with guess service, they gave us a foam top that did nothing. Bottom line don’t spend your money on this cruise ship, the ship is small to accommodate all the guests. Everything they want to charge. They kept the casino open all the time so they can take your money. It’s the worse and last carnival cruise for us. We are done with them. Read Less

Before I get into the pros & cons of our cruise let me state that anyone who takes a Carnival Cruise and has a boring time or is left hungry it's your own fault!!! We are just short of being Platinum guests and we have experienced many levels of satisfaction on the Carnival ships we have sailed. We have been away from Carnival for two years due a very bad experience (Splendor) and Carnivals lack of concern. We (5 family members) are on the fence about next year. What we missed about Carnival and the reason we booked this cruise was that when you ended your cruise you left family behind. You really get to know your cabin steward, wait staff and ships crew. In this, the Sunshine did not disappoint. PROS We booked two Ocean Suites (7312 & 7314) the cabins were a first time experience as we always book balcony cabins. The cabins were a real treat and the cleaning crew on deck 7 was absolutely fantastic! Dining on the first day left us feeling disappointed, it was not what we were used to aboard a Carnival ship. However, they stepped up their game on the following days! The additions of Guy's Burger Joint and Pig & Anchor Smokehouse was a big plus. Having the option to order from the Steak House in the dining room was a good move! We did not go to any speciality restaurants this cruise due the good food & service in the dining room and we have eaten in them all on other cruises. My only disappointment was that I did not get the opportunity to eat at Bonsai Sushi. Entertainment aboard ship is plentiful and sometimes hard to decide between them all. Cruise Director Chris (The Flying Dutchman) was the best and most likely the top Cruise Director of any ship. CONS All the hype about the renovation of the Triumph into the Sunrise makes you believe that you are sailing on a new ship. Understand that when you book a cruise aboard this ship the renovation was mostly the addition of cabins that left little space for all the guests and many of the guests areas reduced in size. There are plumbing and hardware problems in the cabins. Indicators that much was left alone. Next to us was a Grand Suite that had a balcony door that slammed and a large family that oped and closed the door all through the day and late night. When it slammed close it shook two cabins (4 in total) adjunct to it. Our pleas to fix the door went unanswered. The toilet in our cabin (7312) did not always flush right away. Most of the time it would flush 1 minute after you pushed the button. This too went unanswered. Many of the windows on the ship have paint splashed on them. You would think that a 220 million dollar renovation would include the scraping of the new paint off the glass! On an 8 day cruise we ate at the buffet (Lido Deck 9) once.This was due the agonizing slow and long lines. Trust me, on a cruise you expect to stand in lines but not like these! I timed my time in line and it took me 8 minutes just to reach the plates and another 7 minutes at the food selection. The design of the new buffet area was extremely poor for a cruise line that specializes in moving large numbers of people. We were told that Carnival was aware of the problem and was making corrections. When? Deli was the same, always a very long line and slow service. You could not get a hotdog anywhere on deck 9 except the deli. Yes, I only had one hotdog in 8 days. Stay off deck 9 to eat and go to the speciality restaurants or the dinning room aft. Serenity area for adults was a bust! very small and no shade! Again due to max profit of cabins over the guests comfort or spaces. There is also a noticeable reduction of crew. Fewer bartenders and servers, many bars are closed and only open for short periods. Will we sail aboard the Sunrise again, no. The Carnival Victory is a sentimental ship as it was the first ship cruised from. It too is about to undergo a renovation and come to NYC in July of 2020. I hope Carnival does not make the same mistakes with this ship. Overall, Carnival gives you the best deal for the money you spend. I'm critical only because we are Carnival cruisers and as such see the changes. Read Less

We were a party of three sailing on July 9-My sister and a friend. We were supposed to be a party of four but my brother had last minute health issues that prevented him from sailing. We embarked in Seattle...easy embarkation. My sister and I are both platinum, but overall it was so simple I don't think it mattered. My friend and I were in a vista suite on deck four and my sister was in an aft balcony just down the hall. Rooms were both ready when we boarded. I have sailed the Legend four times now, and add in three trips on her sister ship the MIracle. I love this class of ship (mid-sized). Easy to navigate, looks like a ship and not a floating brick, never felt crowded, and a serenity area with a pool at the back. I have zero interest in rock walls, zip lines, or dive in theater on my ship, just want great public spaces to eat (they do have a Guys and a Blue Iguana) while not feeling like I was getting squished. Cabin: First time in an aft wrap suite. Pros: The room was amazingly large, great storage, beautiful bathroom with jetted tub, and the BALCONY of my dreams. Con: One single 110 outlet in the room, and unlike my recent trip on the Paradise, this ship was not retrofitted with lamps that had usb ports. But even without retrofitting...one 110 in a suite? Even before updating? Seriously? (Fortunately I had a charger that held two usb ports. Note the decor of the room is still the traditional Carnival peach/orange, but that doesn't bother me. Dining: We had booked six months out which is apparently late for Alaska, so the only thing left was late assigned seating, listed at 8:15pm (it ended up being 7:45). First stop was to the Matre d' prepared to beg and plead to see if we could get moved. Before we said two words in a row he said "Any time dining? Done. Have a great trip ladies." Our first night we did the steak house but after that we dined in a section manned by Antonio and his team, and we enjoyed them so much that we asked for them every night. Again, the maitre d staff could not have been more accommodating, as we also needed a table, not a booth. Great job all around. The food itself was nothing new for Carnival...I enjoyed it, it was pretty good (the steak house was very good) but not exceptional. Entertainment: By far and away the highlight for me was Jonathan in the piano bar, who may be the best I have ever seen. Talented piano player and singer, but most importantly he got the crowd going, joining in, making requests, and having fun. Other single lounge acts also seemed very good. As for the playlist productions, we caught three of them, and my reaction as always is "meh". I live in New York, I go to Broadway...this doesn't compare. 'The Brits' in particular was weak. We did not hit any of the comedy shows. Activities: There was a naturalist on board, which is a must when in Alaska, and she was very informative. I wish we had been able to hear her better when we were on our balcony. Shore Excursions: Sailing through Tracy Arm Fjord was worth the entire journey itself. However our trip to Skagway-Haines involved a boat ride through a nature preserve, Juno saw us at the Mendenhal Glacier and a salmon bake, and Ketchican with a Rain forest hike, all of which were enjoyable. Worst thing was that we sailed out of Ketchican at 1pm; it would have been better to stay longer and skip Victoria, which I gather is not possible. Victoria the night before we got off the cruise was a wasted stop; we took a shuttle in to town but the place seemed to be completely closed up except for a handful of souvenir shops. Waste of time. Service: We've always had great luck with our room stewards and other crew, and this was no exception. Anything we needed was well attended to. We did not travel with kids, but there were a lot more children than I would have expected for Alaska, and they all seemed to be having a great time. I did not see any running amok. Overall, an excellent time. Read Less

We were booked on this ship by our Fjord Tours’ “Norway in the Nutshell “ package. So we didn’t really have a choice on the ship or more importantly, the cabin types and size. We were a family of 4 and we got 2 non-adjacent cabins. So our children’s cabin are away from ours. How the hell does that happen? To make it worse, the cabins were disgusting. They were so small, I think I have seen prison cells on TV that are bigger and nicer. The A/C was non-functional, so it was so hot inside. The beds were tiny and separate. And the window was rather small, so you can forget about enjoying the fjords or whatever. Also, get ready to be transported to 1990s, where you have to pay for WiFi. After all the marketing from Hurtigruten that this is the best cruise trip in the world, they make you pay for WiFi. This is year 2019 - who the hell pays for WiFi. Even the lady at the reception agreed that this was such a ridiculous fee to charge. Breakfast service are also unfortunately borderline inedible. They didn’t have omelette station or made to order service, so we tried the scrambled eggs and they were weird tasting and had a very dark yellow color to it. Everything else was just average. Lastly, we thought the service from a few staff members were very questionable. They were a bit rude and condescending to us. Especially the 2 older white ladies who seemed to treat other white people much differently than us non-whites. Read Less

I chose the cruise to celebrate my son’s 55 birthday. He wanted to go to Cuba and we like Royal Caribbean. When Cuba got cancelled we decided to go anyway. This itinerary is not good. The Bahamas is a big nothing. The tour we went on was very poorly organized and we drove in circles for 3 hours. Coco Cay is beautiful, but they charged a lot of money extra for all the activities. The ship is old and very unorganized. The staff didn’t know where anything was. The food was very poor quality. It is almost impossible to get a salt-free diet. My husband has a heart condition and his food was special ordered but came out salty. None of the staff smiles or tries to be friendly. We asked for a sharing table because we like to meet people, so they put us at a table for 12 people and nobody else showed up. So after complaining to no avail, last night I went around the dining room and saw all the other big tables with only 2 people and invited others to join us, which they happily did. At that point I was admonished because I upset their system. My answer was that in the hospitality business they should have been more proactive. I will never go on this ship again. Read Less

I was expecting a repeat of the last Carnival cruise we went on which was AHHHHHMAZING. We were a group of 17, 9 adults and 8 kids varying in age from 2-14. Our cabin was great with a friendly steward. First time in an aft room, will never make that mistake again. You feel everything. Embarking and disembarking were smooth. However, as we arrived on the ship we were ready to be in vacation mode and wanted to grab a drink. There were plenty of drinks being served as well as TOO much upselling being done with no real explanation. What cup can get what refill for what price, it was all just too confusing. I found this to happen throughout the trip. Make your drink a double for $3 more, but not if you have the drink package, buy a bucket of beers instead of 1 get a pitcher at the comedy club...too much upselling with too many rules. The night of the deck party the bars on the lido were closed. The whole drink/bar experience left a bit to be desired. Let's talk food. The breakfast buffet lines were way too long. So we ordered room service 2 days but it only arrived 1 day. As far as room service goes, I distinctly remember the last cruise having a menu with everything included. Now there's a pay side to the menu. The 24 hour pizza is tasty. But from midnight -2ish when people really need a bite after drinking and having fun the line is long. I believe part of the reason is because for $5 you can have pizza delivered to the room. They are so busy keeping up with the deliveries, they cant keep the line short for people to grab and go. Guys burgers are a must! Our dinners in the silver room were good, but not great. The wait staff was nice and friendly. I found it again annoying that they had food options for a $20 charge on the menu. A money grab that Carnival should be embarrassed about. The menu varied each night but it was nothing to write home about. My husband decided on fried chicken from the menu our last night that was dry. Entertainment gets a mixed review. NoNo, the cruise director is fantastic. It's like this job was made for her. The DJ and steel drums by the lido were great. The singers outside the casino also super, the Hasbro game show was super fun. Both comedians on board killed it, could not laugh more if I wanted to. The triva games in the flowers bar area were good too. The show Flick earned 5 minutes of my time. Lyrical dancing to decent songs gave it a big cheese factor so I ended up not going to the America show. The guy playing at the piano bar was not my cup of tea. The deck party was fun, the kids loved it. The hairy chest contest is always big fun. The dinner entertainment is the same they were doing 6 years ago. Guest relations told me since my 12 and 14 year old were already registered they could go to evening activities when they were ready. So I went to comedy show and when they showed up they were not allowed to participate bc they were told they needed to be signed in. In Nassau we just went to a public beach. For $20 we rented chairs that were set up. Nothing special, but a couple hours at the beach was fine then back to the ship. A HUGE disappointment was the Princess Cay, their private island. The beach was nice. The BBQ had overcooked burgers, blah jerk chicken and it was super smokey. It was $2.50 for a can of soda but $3.95 later in the day. I guess they needed to money however they could as the island emptied out. And on a 4 day cruise (or any amount of days for that matter) when you buy the drink package, it does NOT include drinks there which is ridiculous since it is their island. Staff was ok. I'd go with a 70/30 split on friendly and helpful to just there to do a job. The friendliness was not enough to impact cruisers to feel special. Biggest take aways...lots of lines and lots of upselling which felt like a money grab with overall underwhelming experience will definitely impact me to book a different cruise line before booking carnival again. Read Less

Carnival Dream is a gigantic ship with an awesome crew. Do the rooms need a freshen up? Yes! However the rest of the ship was clean, stylishly decorated for a cheesy cruise ship. The food overall was pretty good. Pig and Anchor was absolutely tasteless though. I’d skip if I were you. I was fortunate enough to win 2,500 bucks in the casino after only spending 3 dollars! My husband, 700 bucks only spending 100 dollars. My parents won a total of 3,600 but gambled it back. Lol! They usually do this because they have no self control. The fact it YES you can win in a ship casino. The pool areas are crowded but you can easily find a place to sit whether it’s directly in front of the pool or on a quiet area on deck. The staff was so friendly! Each and every one of them! The Captain was superb. We actually were cruising through Hurricane Barry and crew made excellent choices to keep us safe. I was also impressed by the fact that we had only been in our rooms a matter of minutes and a crew member came to double check that we had a life jacket that would appropriately fit my six year old. I’ve been on several Carnival Cruises and they all have been fun. If you’re a miserable person who never has any fun, you won’t enjoy a Carnival Cruise. If you are expecting The Beverly Wilshire, you’re going to be disappointed. If you’re cool with Holiday Inn accommodations and Applebee’s quality food and drinks, you’ll enjoy it. Cozumel was great. We went to a free beach that had table/chair rentals for 10 bucks. It was called Playa Palancar. The beach was sandy and clean. It’s not like some of those other Cozumel beaches that are full of rocks. I wasn’t interested in doing the whole beach club things. Been there done that and an absolute waste of money. Read Less

Previously we’d been on Princess 2x, Royal, and Norwegian. First Carnival trip and picked this because the port was convenient. We purchased Faster To The Fun, which was a mixed experience. Check-in was organized but extraordinarily hot - you’re carrying bags from your car, to Bldg 324, on to a shuttle in Charleston in the middle of summer. Got on at 11am with very little waiting and our room was ready. The issue was bags (FTTF says expedited). At 4pm we called and they sounded very concerned we hadn’t gotten them yet. At 4:45 I tracked down a random porter and just saw our bags on a cart. Not the best start. Food. The lido deck offerings for breakfast and lunch were fine, sometimes pretty good. Dinner and late night dining there was terrible. We had two nights of specialty dining (Asian and Italian) and they were both terrific - Carnival clearly wants their guests to spend the money for any nighttime dining. The pizza was just mediocre, with some very long lines depending on time of day. Some hidden gems for dining if you’re already booked on this ship. Guy’s Burgers was very good (warning: closes at 6pm) and the Sandwich Shop at the back of Lido was also great. Casino is the hangout spot for smokers. Bartenders, servers, and staff were very polite and fast for the most part. Piano bar was enjoyable but not a lot of song variety. We used the kids club for our daughter. She enjoyed it, but there was always a wait for either drop-off or pickup. The entertainment options were extremely poor. We’d scan the patter for something to do and it always seemed to be either a shopping presentation or Bingo. We would not go on this ship again, and are very likely going to a previous cruise line in the future. Read Less

We chose the port of Charleston because we did not want to fly to Florida, the cost of the flight for 2 adults and 2 children would have been almost as much as the price of the cruise. So we drove 8 hours to the port. Easy approach to the port, fast parking, great service at the port of Charleston. Getting on the boat, was a breeze. We had purchased "faster to the fun" and it got us on the boat quickly. This was the only time "faster to the fun" was of any help. First night on the boat, it became apparent that Carnival had packed as many people on-board as possible. It was very VERY crowded. We soon learned that there was going to be long lines for everything. The pool was overfilled with children, the hot tubs on the lido deck were full of children splashing and being loud. Parents let their children run wild with little to no supervision. Many children were darting through the crowds and on the interior walkways of the ship bumping into people and being very loud late into the night. There was a constant sewer smell around deck 4 the entire time we were on the ship. Anytime you went that direction, you caught the smell and was kinda gross. Camp Ocean was OK for the kids, they did complain that one of the staff were rude to them while there and it took some convincing for them to want to go back. Room Steward was amazing gentleman that took very good care of us our entire cruise. He cleaned the room twice a day, made towel animals for the kids, kept our ice bucket full at all times and took the time to learn our names and spoke to us at every opportunity. We tipped him in cash very well. $20/ $30/ $40 at a time. Tipping- We opted to tip in cash and NOT pre-pay or gratuity. So we took a large stack of $5 and $1 bills for tipping (more than a few hundred dollars). We passed out tips to almost every employee we had any encounter with. We were very generous with our tipping. On the third morning of the cruise, I used the Carnival Hub app to check our account activity and found that we had been charged $280 for gratuity. I immediately went to guest services and had them remove the charge and explained that there was no mention prior to booking of an automatic gratuity, only the option to pre-pay gratuity. Which we opted to tip cash (anyone that has been in the service industry knows that cash in hand is better than a charged tip). Faster to the fun- NOT WORTH IT. Only helps when initially getting onto the boat on the first day at port. Excursions- Stingray adventure at Half Moon Cay was enjoyable. Instructions on where to be at what time, were horrible. We had no indication on where to check in. We walked almost all the way to the building with the stingrays only to be told that we need to sign in at the front of the island and ride the tram to the stingray adventure location. My wife and two girls had a 12:30 appointment, and got bumped back because it was overbooked. Then they got left at the stingray adventure with no tram available and were forced with about 20 others to walk all the way back. The empty tram passed them along the route and did not even stop to offer a ride. Balmoral Island Dolphin swim- 9:30 meeting time at the Nassau port, got off the boat nice and early and were basically first in line. Once the excursion workers arrived, it was apparent their attitude towards us was poor at best. Not helpful, not caring. It seemed like since they already had our money, that we were stuck and along for the ride. We were escorted to a small boat, asked a few questions to the un-attentive worker that was on her phone from the moment I first saw her. She acted very bothered that we spoke to her. They counted out 110 passengers for the ferry to Balmoral Island. Then walked us to the boat, then a second group joined our group which made us over capacity. We missed the first boat by 5 people and were left on the dock with no instruction, to wait and bake in the heat for an hour before another boat arrived. Its now 10:30 and we have been off the ship to two hours waiting in the sun and just now getting onto a ferry. Arrived at the island and had to wait in another line to sign a waiver for the dolphin swim. Was given a time slot of 12:45. So our 9:30 turned into 12:45. Very misleading. Waited around on the island, swam in ocean, at lunch ($22 for 1 serving of chicken tenders that came in a styrofoam "to-go" box similar to fast food). We split it among the 4 of us to hold us over till we got back to the ship. THE DOLPHINS WERE AWESOME! The two trainers, not sure of their names were great! They had obviously paid attention to their previous customers needs and were very attentive and made the dolphin swim a complete blast. Cannot say enough about those two guys, they were professional and courteous and did their jobs well. Lockers were provided at the building for the dolphin swim, but there were only 18 available for around 45 people. We had to leave all of our belongings out in the open (passports, cash, phones etc.) Thankfully, everything was left untouched. We finally made it back to the docks around 3:15pm, and needed to be back on the ship by 4:30. We were left with very little time to experience Nassau, but it honestly only took a few moments to realize what a trash hole this place was. There were multiple instances of police sirens that should have been an indicator before we ever left the cruise boat. Nearly every person was rude, pushy and aggressive towards us. The streets are dirty, not maintained at all and there are abandoned buildings and boats littered about. For a port that almost 100% is reliant upon tourism, they really do nothing to keep the place maintained. One man photo-bombed a picture I took of my daughter and then tried to demand I give him money. We were very disappointed that our 9:30am excursion was so misleading and took up the entire day. Carnival really needs to work on their crowd control and better organization with these excursions to increase everyone's enjoyment. We went back to the ship, at at Guy Fieri burger joint, which we were starving and the burgers were absolutely amazing! If you have read this far, I hope this review gives an accurate portrayal of what you can expect. I should have been more prepared for the crowds and the money gouging and the rudeness of the Nassau citizens. In summary, the cruize staff were absolutely amazing we were very well taken care of. The food was awesome. The drinks were weak, but we were not there to get drunk, so it was ok. Nassau citizens and excursion staff were absolutely horrible. Cruise director Adam was incredible. Every show we went to was excellent, just be prepared to wait in long lines for everything. Be prepared to pay 18% gratuity on every purchase, and then be charged $70 per person gratuity on top of that with no warning. Think of it like going to the shopping mall on black friday, once everyone is jammed inside, they lock the doors, triple the price on everything, crank up the heat and start serving alcohol for $15 a drink while everyone lets their kids run absolutely wild. If you can handle that, you will have fun. Read Less

This was the worse cruise I have ever been on. The food was horrible. The service is horrible. The housekeeping was mediocre. The only good part was the kids club. My son was treated well and he met so many other children from different countries. The cruise was just like it was not organized. Several people had things stolen out of their luggage and no one was responsible. Customer service was really nasty and demeaning. one couple paid for an excursion and they are not from the US. The customer service told them that they did not pay for it. After a few days after we left that island they found out that they did pay for it and they were not accommodating. They wanted to pay the couple in US dollars and they were from Britain.It was just ridiculous The ship shook like the engine was going out. I could feel the vibration of the engine. It sounded like the carburetor was going out. I will never ever use this cruise line and I am going to tell everyone else not to use it. Read Less

I originally heard about MSC from a work colleague and this is now our 3rd time with them. I cannot recommend them more highly. I had read one or two negative comments before booking the Sinfonia trip but I honestly think it is wonderful. On all accounts our trip could not have been better. Everything was done to perfection. The customers were from many different parts of the world and were friendly, family people of all ages. The cabin was excellent. It was well equipped with an en suite, fridge, hairdryer and security box and the bed was really comfy. The room was attended to not once, but twice every day. It was spotlessly clean. All staff were polite and cheerful, even if they passed in the corridor. They held doors open, smiled, said hello and attended immediately to any requests. Food was in great, free flowing supply and to suit all tastes. We especially liked the t bone steaks one evening. All facilities were excellent and well planned and the evening shows were splendid. What talent! Live music in lots of bars and public spaces every evening was also really enjoyable. Every day we were given a newsletter to tell us about what was on the following day and to arrange times and places for all events. We went on a trip to Santorini which could not have been better organised or more enjoyable. We also got off the ship at all the ports and felt that the security arrangements were very good but not intrusive. MSC cruises are not the dearest or most upmarket but they are fantastic and great value for money. Well done! Read Less

I have cruised on Carnival a few times before. We left out of Miami after staying at the Hilton Cabana Miami Beach, which I would not recommend. We had Faster to the Fun, which is always worth it. Got on the boat in a breeze. Rooms were ready around 1:30pm. I felt like the rooms were bigger than those in the past. The lights confused us - your sign and sail must be in the holder for the power and lights to work. This also caused issues with charging - when there is no card or lights, no phones, etc. are charging. Seating was limited upon arrival at the Lido deck until rooms were available, but able to grab a table and have some buffet food for lunch. Our boys got pizza. Dinner was in the dining room, where our head waiter was not the most friendly of people, but they got the job done. Paid extra for the surf and turf, which in my opinion, was not worth it. Day two - day at sea. Did the brunch in the Meridian dining room, very good. Little one had the skillet cake, older the steak and eggs, hubby the French toast, which he ordered again. All very good. Very fun, so much for the boys to do. My oldest tried to do the Sea Ride, but the wait was an hour, so he passed. The boys did the water slides, pool, all the activities like golf, soccer, ping pong, etc. Dinner was in the Italian restaurant. It was good, but not the best I’ve ever had. Lunch was with the hubby at the sushi restaurant, which I highly recommend. It was so good. Day three - Jamaica. Did the bobsled excursion. The line was very long, like at least an hour for my kids and husband before they got on the sleds. Once they did it was very fun. The changing stations were not the best, so wear your suit under your clothes. Dinner was in the main dining, decent food. Day three - Grand Cayman. Did the turtle excursion. The bus we got on was hot and overcrowded, which is not unusual for these excursions, but one family went rogue and we were stuck on the bus waiting for them forever, sweating to death. Got to the turtle place, and it was pretty cool, but the heat was pretty unbearable. Their pool and slide were amazing! Had a decent lunch in their little restaurant. Took a public bus back to avoid the hot bus again, which was quite the adventure. But we arrived faster than the tour bus, which was good. Had dinner at the Teppanyaki place, which was so good. I highly recommend if you are lucky enough to get a reservation. The service was great and so was the good! Day four - Cozumel. Due to a late excursion to Passion Island were able to have a lazy breakfast at the Meridian. Good omelette, just a bit small. The excursion was ok. It was a 40 minute boat ride to the island, but they then make you wait in line to take yet another picture (which judging by the crowd, everyone was hot and over pictures at that point and just wanted to do their own thing). You then walk over to a meeting point where they tell you all about the island while the sweat trails down your back, and then they spend several minutes talking about tipping. The water was nice, we floated in it for quite some time. The open bar is not worth it, we ended up buying a couple of drinks from the cash bar to avoid warm well liquor. The buffet was meh, most food being out, they ran out of plates, and at the end, I found a hair in my food. When it was time to go back, we literally sat in the blazing sun for 20 minutes while they talked about tipping them. Enough. It’s hot. We had dinner at Guy’s Pig and Anchor. OMG. So amazing. Hubs had the prime rib which was delicious, I had pulled pork, my oldest had the ribs. All were so good. I would have eaten there every day for lunch had I known!!! Day five - Day at sea. Pools, basketball, sportsing, all the fun. Lunch was at the taco/burrito place which was ok. Dinner was at the steakhouse, Farenheit 555, on the boat. It was amazing. The only complaint was that they told us our oldest had to wear pants (which we bought but he forgot to pack), so we spent $65 on pants for him. When we got to the restaurant there was a family there that was wearing shirts with swear words on them, sweat pants, backwards baseball hats, half shirts and jeans, I could not believe that we were told our son could not wear his nice Gap khaki shorts, but this is ok with dress code, When I brought this to the restaurant’s attention, their comment was we just require pants. When I questioned if he wore his pajama pants, would that have been ok, they stated they just require pants. At the end of the day, they took care of us and we felt fully compensated but not sure that the requirement of pants is truly the requirement. We went to some comedy shows, did some trivia (I came in 3rd place for Mean Girls trivia), had a ton of pool time. I will say, this cruise had the most people I have ever cruised with, but with the use of space on the Horizon you would never know. With the exception of the embarkation day, there were no lines for food or issues with seating. You could actually use the pools and get a chair, and there were no issues with people. The restaurant food far surpasses the dining room and was a pleasant surprise. I loved the Horizon and would go back in a heartbeat!! Read Less

Food: the main complimentary restaurants are mediocre at best. If you have the funds do at least 3 nights of speciality dining. Chaney’s was the best. The buffet was standard and we alway enjoyed it. They do seem to lack in tasty desserts but the ice cream is yummy and always available. Room: prefect we had a balcony. Plenty of storage. Nice size and almost noise free. (White noise machine helps at night) we had room 8170 and loved it. Excisions and Ports: Amazing. We saw monkeys in Roatan, Mayan Pyramids in Costa Maya, and snorkeled in Harvest Caye (tip get off the ship early at Harvest Caye to get a good seat and swim in a empty beautiful pool. By 12 the place is packed. If you like to shop cozumel is for you. Second tip bring your own water bottles and bring them every where you go. We used our the time. Amenities: slides, rope course and pool is nice but the pool is full by 10. Chairs gone by 9:30. Get up early if staying on board and stake your claim with towels and clips to keep them there. Entertainment. Not a fan. Tried. It was either not good or more for teenagers. We brought movies downloaded on iPads as the tv has Minimal to watch. Is it a Disney Cruise? No it is not but we still had fun. Last tip plan on spending more than you think as many things cost extra. Without the drink plan plan on spending 9-16 dollars a drink. Also bring an air freshener for you bathroom. It helps. Service can be slow, staff nice but not really knowledgeable, and get to embarkation early if you can. First people there get on the ship first and parking at the port is tricky. We got there by 9:00. On by 11:00 Read Less

We choose this cruise because it was stoping at the Bahamas and Keywest. First lets start by saying that this is one of Carnival older ships. The decor is outdated and the colors are dark. However, the ship was clean, the staff was friendly, and there was plenty to do. Out of all of the cruises Ive taken this one has had the best food so far I really enjoyed Guy's Burgers, deli, BBQ, and the 24 hour ice cream. The dining hall food was really great as well. Every drink I had was great! They keep the entertainment live on this ship. Emma the cruise director kept the energy alive the whole 7 days. She is awesome. The first stop was Keywest. There is really nothing to do here in my opinion. All we did was walk Duval St. We ended up renting a golf cart to get around the island but that was a waste of money. We only did it to make it easir on my parents so they wouldn't have to walk around. The second stop was Freeport Bahamas. We booked an excursion off the boat. Which is much cheaper than booking with Carnival. I suggest booking with tour guide Brice. He was very informative while taking us around Freeport. Then he took us to a really nice beach where the water was beautiful and not too crowded. The weather was hot but beautiful. We visited a candle factory and also sampled rum cake. Brice took us to a local market where you can buy homemade souvenirs that the local made themselves. Our last stop was Nassau Bahamas. It was cloudy and scattered showers. We booked tour around the city once we got off the boat. We visited the Queens staircase which is beautiful and historic. It was also a marketplace there where you can buy souvenirs that the locals made themselves. We also visited hotel Atlantis. Which all we did there was walk around the lobby and they have an aquarium along the perimeter off thr lobby. If you want to visit the aquarium you will have to pay an additional cost for that. We didnt bother to go to the beach this day due to the weather conditions. We also went to a rum cake factory and tasted samples of rum cake. And we went to a tea factory and sampled tea, which was really tasty. The shows were okay. The comedians at the comedy club was really funny. Everything was a blast and smooth sailing up until the last day and half of the cruise. We got caught up in Hurricane Barry. And the boat was rocking so bad you could hardly walk. People were getting sick everywhere due to the motion. It was not a fun day or night. Most of my family were 1st time cruisers and that pretty much ruined any chance of them getting on a ship again. Overall we had a blast. It would have been perfect if it was not for the hurricane. I would definitely cruise with Carnival again. Read Less