First cruise for my wife and I. The first thing that happened was our trip was delayed from Saturday afternoon until Sunday Morning due to maintenance on the propulsion system. We had a Balcony room which was very nice. However the carpeting in our passageway was stained and smelled like urine. When I asked about it I was told the carpet cleaning machine had broken down prior to the floor being dried. Many other passengers complained about the Urine odor. When I called to get a repair man to fix the power outlet in the bathroom a young man was sent. He couldn't speak English or repair the outlet. He tried unsuccessfully twice to repair the blow drier which housed the outlet. We went the entire cruise without power in the bath. Then our sink stopped draining. The plumber sent cleaned out the blockage but left a mess which was left for the Stewart to clean up. This took 2 hours to happen. Later that day when I used the toilet, sewage came out of both floor drains. I called for the plumber again and he cleaned out a trap located in the hallway. He told me they had been experiencing problems for some time and the stained carpet was in fact a result of the plumbing backing up and the smell was in fact Urine. The ship was scheduled to be refurbished in 2004. It took 4 hours for housekeeping to clean up the sewage in our bath. Since we were unable to use the bath, we missed the formal dinner. The most upsetting part of the whole experience was the total lack of concern by the Pursers office. I called them at least 3 times trying to get the mess cleaned up in time for us to attend the dinner. The fact that Carnival was aware of the problem and hadn't done anything to correct it was most upsetting. Also the health concerns we had about the sewage stains and odor in the hallway. My complaints resulted in Carnival offering my a 15% discount on my next cruise. I didn't understand the cruise line's lack of concern for the obvious health threat and my complaint. With all the bad press about sickness on various cruises you would think this would be a prime concern, but it wasn't. This experience soured a cruise which otherwise was very pleasant.