My wife and I were on the cruise that was several hours late in making it to Gulfport. I have to admit the embarkation and debarkation was a total disaster with cruisers being told to wait while the ground staff had their breaks. Once on this ship it was a very pleasant cruise. The staff in general we felt went out of their way to be accommodating. The offshore trips, like any previous cruiser will tell you, is overpriced. Book your own, do some research on the web. Room was okay, balcony room on the Verandah Deck. Dining was very good, had a poor table right next to the service table, constant noise and listening to the wait staff complain. Food was excellent to good. On board activities were plentiful and varied. Once again, chair holding by the pools was in evidence. Children pool and whirlpool on Lido aft was the kids hangout and with very little parental supervision. Fast food on the lido was good but lines moved slowly most of the time.

All in all a good trip save for the debarkation. We were told that the wind and tide was not right for the ship to make the passage into Gulfport. This was announced over the PA at 6:30 in the a.m. A credit to Carnival, they did keep the food lines going for most of the wait, but it was evident that food and drinks were starting to be scarce. We were informed that we could stay in our cabins until the ship docked which was a plus. So many people had already moved to the common areas and they were getting rather unruly as the 12:00 noon hour approached. We left our cabin at 2:00 p.m. after going to the purser and informing them of our 2:00 p.m. flight time. When they told us that we had not booked with Carnival, it was up to us to handle our flight problems. thanks to a kindly soul at AA we got waitlisted for the next day and did get out first flight. Once off the ship we went into their cattle barn to find our luggage than a brisk walk down the length of the pier to where busses were waiting with no signs or information of where or what to do.

My wife finally asked a man with a sign and he said to go over to the buses and get on one that was going to the airport. Once at the airport we were directed to Carnival ground staff, which would have been fine, but we could not find any at the terminal. We asked about hotels and finally got a reservation at a local Hilton. While we dragged our bags, it is now 7:30 p.m. to a kiosk in between the exit lanes at the airport, we found several ladies who were supposedly ground personnel for Carnival. When trying to engage them in conversation in between their sips of coffee and drags on their cigarettes or their conversations with the security personnel, they informed me that since I had not booked with Carnival they could do nothing for us.

They did hand me a typed sheet which had several names of Miami area personnel who would be on duty this Sunday. Finally the hotel van came, ate, slept and made our flight back to Indiana. Overall, the cruise itself was excellent, but what we will remember was the purser's officers who could not be bothered by our needs, the total lack of organization by Carnival and their staff at Gulfport, and the ladies of the Carnival ground staff at the airport in New Orleans. We have notified Carnival about the situation, but who knows when we will be contacted or if ever. Cruise Carnival again, but, maybe never from New Orleans.