Although not our first cruise, this was our first on Carnival. If the staff on other Carnival ships are as arrogant, rude, and unfriendly as the ones on this ship, I cannot understand how the line stays in business.

This was a family vacation with me, my wife, and our 21 and 26 year daughters ( a kind of law school graduation present for the 26 year old). We chose this cruise because we are from Houston Texas and New Orleans is convenient. Actually although we had numerous problems with the ship and its crew we did have a great time when not on board and by ignoring the crew while on the ship.

From embarkation it was evident that the crew of this ship did not want to be there. No one and I mean no one smiles. The crew argues among themselves in public in front of the guests. Asking a crew member to do something even if it was ordering a drink was like insulting them. It seamed no one every picked up or cleanup on deck. We spent 4 - 6 hours on deck and never saw anyone pick up dirty towels or food left by the guests. You can imagine after several hours the deck was pretty bad. I filled out one of the "Carnival Cares" comment cards after about 3 days on board. It said to put in the box at the purser's desk ,but when I went to the desk the purser did not have a clue where the box was or what to do with the card.

Specifics:

Embarkation:

Other than the unfriendly nature of the staff this went very well. The ship was booked and there were a large number of groups that were processed together even though the lines and desks were not set up for that. The process only took about 45 minutes before we were on board and had found our cabin.

General Note:

Do not believe what you are told about not being able to book shore excursions until after the "instruction meeting" on Monday. The forms were out and the slot at the desk was open. We filled out our choices and put them in the box. Lucky we did. We talked to many people who waited till Monday and did not get either their first or second choice.

The Ship:

The ship is beginning to show its age. Probably 1/3 of the deck chairs are broken and will not adjust. The equipment in the gym is worn out and ragged. The cabin was actually comfortable and roomy with plenty of storage. We had one of the port hole cabins near the front and other than being noisy when the ship is dropping anchor they are nice. Although the seas were not really very bad, the ship did have a constant motion. It was a lot less stable than others we have been on.

Excursions:

In Montego Bay we chose to follow the suggestion we have seen here. We took the cab to Doctor's Cove. The beach is somewhat small but pretty and not crowded. We had rented snorkel gear on board and took it with us. Go early and the snorkeling is excellent. During the day the water tends to get a little cloudy. About noon we walked to Margaritaville for lunch and drinks. Although a little expensive it was a fun atmosphere and the food was good. Overall this stop could be skipped if the ship could spend more time in Cayman.

Grand Cayman

The ship does not spend enough time here. If you have not been to sting ray city, then you have to go. BIG SUGGESTION. All of the excursions are actually the same. They use several different vendors each of whom give the tour a different name. Book the earliest one you can. Since you have to tender from the ship to the shore they load the tenders by excursion time. By taking one of the early ones you will have enough time to do more than rush back to board the tender for the ship. Actually we cheated and said that someone else had our tickets and we were to meet on the dock. We got there early enough we walked down the beach about 3 blocks and snorkeled at Eden Rock. BEAUTIFULL!!!!!!! Be sure to go to Wal Mart and get several of the $9 underwater cameras that are $25 on the ship.

Cozumel

Here my younger daughter and I did the beginners scuba and the eldest daughter did the certified Scuba. Both were great. My wife went on the Tulum excursion and even though it rained all day she says it was really nice.

Food

The food was good. The portions are smaller than other ships which actually is not a bad thing. You can order as much as you want so you do not go hungry but at the same time you do not get overly stuffed.

Overall

Will we cruise again? YES. Will we use Carnival? Only if we cannot find another line to use.