Very fun experience by
A Traveler from Tampa, FL
Sailing date: Jul 2010 Pros:
Ship's crew
Cons:
Only one pool
Overall the cruise experience was a blast! The crew was excellent, very friendly and always nearby to assist. The only issue was the small pool. I can't remember how many times my wife and I were kicked in the head by kids that thought it was an olympic sized pool, and it was full.
Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality Room was small but we weren't in it much.
Ship Staff Quality The best crew!
Entertainment & Activities Very funny shows and karoke was a blast to watch.
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Cozumel, Mexico We did the beach break exursion. The staff at the beach was so nice and on top of things, and you can't beat an open bar and authentic Mexican food.
George Town, Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach was beautiful, crystal clear water and the softest sands I've been on. Things are very pricey here though.
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Recommend this cruise by
Marie B. from Denver, CO
Sailing date: May 2010 Pros:
Loved the service and the Itinerary
Cons:
Didn't love the cruise booked excursion to Cozumel
The ship was immaculately clean and well-kept. Repairs were done immediately on anything that needed to be fixed. We would take this cruise again, going to Cayman and Cozumel was a real treat, with two sea days for relaxation. I would book private tours since the ones booked through Carnival were crowded and overpriced for what you got. Captain Marvins in Cayman was awesome. Some of the people in Cozumel were cranky at the stores and in the ship excusion line. I wouldn't want to go to Cozumel again, but Cayman was amazing. The staff on the ship did an awesome job of taking care of every need. Lots to do on the ship at all times, which the kids loved.
Ship Quality Ship could use another pool or two, the ones on deck were so crowded you could barely move.
Dining/Food The food was really good. Lots of unique things to try, some of the food was really different (we would not normally ever eat escargot).
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality Our wait staff at our dining table went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable and well taken care of.
Entertainment & Activities The ships shows and activities were so much fun!
Children's Programs The kids programs were great, a wonderful ship to take given that they catered to very specific ages such as young teen and mid-teen years.
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Cozumel, Mexico Cranky store workers and excursion organizers kind of left us with a bad taste for this over touristy destination. Many vendors wouldn't barter either, which was a negative when we were told that they would give us a deal.
George Town, Grand Cayman Captain Marvin's was the best - book via the web.
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Everyone had a blast! by
Mari B. from Huntsville, AL
Sailing date: Mar 2010 Pros:
The dining room staff and the food
Cons:
Only one pool
There were six of my family members cruising - age 8,9,16,39,40, and 79. Every single one of us had a fantastic time! The food was fantastic in the Mardi Gras dining room and our servers made the atmosphere even better! Everyone working on the ship made this an extremely pleasant experience. I would recommend this cruise ship to anyone looking for fun!
Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
Children's Programs
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it was an amazing experience by
Jonah S. from Nashville TN
Sailing date: Dec 2009 Pros:
i especially loved the food and our waiter best ever
Cons:
everything was perfect
We went on one ship before the inspiration.The holiday the holiday was a smaller ship.So the inspiration was an amazing experience for me and my family.
Ship Quality it was very clean our cabin stewart was a big help.
Dining/Food the food like i said yum it was like heaven on a boat.
Ship Staff Quality very friendly
Entertainment & Activities i had fun with all the activites
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Carnival Smiles :) by
A Traveler from Orlando, FL
Sailing date: Dec 2009 Pros:
The port of call (Cozumel, Mexico)
Cons:
The dining room food!
Overall, we had an excellent time! the casino was our favorite part, and the slides were amazing to! the excursions were also very entertaining and fun...yet educational! every day was filled with diffrent activities to do from raffles, to games, to shows, and EVERYTHING!!! It was a cruise i would do again! P.S. cozumel is a great port of call ;)
Ship Quality very nice, HUGE atrium! they are cleaning 24/7 for everyones convinience.
Dining/Food the dining and overall experience was basiclly a failure. i would have rather eaten the pizza in the buffett, and i did :) the buffett was much better than the dining room food.
Stateroom Quality great amount of space! much more than i expected for an oceanveiw room!
Ship Staff Quality very accomadating, except for one little incedent with a maitre D...but other than that, everyone was the best. freindly, and helpful, to make it the best experience!
Entertainment & Activities could have been more for kids/teens, but still plenty of things to do! we had lots of laughs.
Children's Programs great activites, kept them entertained for the most part, but i think it was better for them to just hang on there own.
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Honeymoon cruise disaster by
Don K from Green Bay, WI
Sailing date: Nov 2009 Pros:
Awesome stateroom !
Cons:
Airline lost our luggage for half the cruise
The ship was okay. Good quantity and variety of dining places, never felt overcrowded. Our circumstances made us wish for better stocked stores on board. No women's bathing suits in the stores on a Caribbean cruise? I liked the adult only deck on the stern, but a couple of the areas were hard to find like the patio deck at the front of the Verandah level. Very confusing giving every level 3 different names (letter, number and name). Our level was called Upper, U or 6. We will cruise again though...we've learned a couple things we unfortunately can do to help avoid airline or cruise ship gaffs.
Ship Quality Size was good, pretty open for number of people, always plenty of room, no crowding except when disembarking at stop by tender boat. Cleanliness just okay, lots of peeling paint, too much ongoing maintenance going on during daylight hours which was surprising - and causes accessibility issues with blocked off areas. Decor was nice. Layout left a little to be desired.
Dining/Food Quality of food was okay. Not spectacular, but better than fast food. Learned that main dining room food is basically served in buffet room also, which was more convenient. Didn't try room service. Dining times were very good, lots of options, loved having the pizza, ice cream and beverages open 24 hours, and extended hours on the sandwich bar.
Stateroom Quality Seeing some of the other closets, I mean rooms, made me appreciate our room even more, a balcony on Upper Deck 6. It was awesome, good size, plenty of storage room. This was by far the best part of the cruise. I cannot imagine going now without a balcony room. Sitting out there in the day or at 2 a.m or whenever was awesome. We could get lots of sunrise/sunset, pictures too from our room. Awesome! Bad TV though, kept blanking out. Some of the channels were cool: cameras on the boat, ship location, video of events on the boat.
Ship Staff Quality Our steward was the best, very helpful and caring. That was about it though, the guest services, store and spa employees didn't impress us, but it was partially because of our lost luggage situation. Without that though, we may not have dealt with many of these people. The dining people were good, friendly, always positive - liked that.
Entertainment & Activities I thought there was plenty of variety and times for events and activities. Again due to our situation, we couldn't do a lot of things because we were washing undergarments and clothesin our room at night so they'd be ready in the morning, since valet service couldn't work that fast.
Children's Programs Apparently there were lots of kids on board and I didn't see them and they didn't bug me. So hats off to the children's programs for keeping them involved and away from adults that wanted an adult centered cruise.
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Great cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel by
Cheryl O. from Orlando, FL
Sailing date: Nov 2009 Pros:
Good sized cabins and great kids program
This was our first cruise on Carnival and to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The cabins were bigger than we previously cruised on and we didn't feel cramped with us and our two girls. The service in the dining room was great and we really enjoyed both ports. Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman is a must and there is lots of jewelry to choose from in Cozumel. We would definitely recommend this cruise!
Ship Quality Fun water slides for the kids.
Dining/Food Good variety of foods and great service in the dining room.
Stateroom Quality Nice size cabins and great housekeeping service.
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities Shows were good.
Children's Programs Camp Carnival (2-11) was great for our kids. They were available from 9am-10pm, with "family time" when we had to pick them up, twice a day. But overall, great and very friendly and helpful staff. Our kids loved it!
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What a fun Cruise! by
Sue S. from Tampa, FL
Sailing date: Nov 2009 Pros:
The ship, the people we met, the daily activities, the courtesy of staff, the stops we made
Cons:
the size of the cabin
WE really liked the ship and would sail it again in the future if the price was right. My kids thought the ship itself was fantastic and we loved our excursions. My husband and I were hoping for a few other places to eat other than the buffet option all the time.
Ship Quality
Dining/Food The sit down dinners were great. The buffets were okay. My kids loved all the ice cream that was available 24 hours!
Stateroom Quality Room was tiny. But the bedding was super comfortable. We did squeeze 2 adults and 3 children in the room so it was pretty small.
Ship Staff Quality Excellent. The wait staff was out of this world!
Entertainment & Activities
Children's Programs Some of the activities were a little "babyish" for my kids that were 7,9, and 11.
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honeymooncruise by
ronald c from orlando,fl
Sailing date: Oct 2009 Pros:
the ship was very nice
Cons:
food was the worst i ever had. beverages are too expensive
this ship was a very nice ship. i do however would have like alittle more motions on seas so to actually feel like i was actually on the ship. it was too smoothe for my taste
Ship Quality
Dining/Food the cooks and chefs need to be trained on cooking desent food. they are worse that an eight year old cooking mac and cheese.
Stateroom Quality it was fair.
Ship Staff Quality most were good
Entertainment & Activities good
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WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!! by
Phillis A. from Castalian Springs, TN
Sailing date: Oct 2009 Pros:
The dining staff was great on all levels. The shows were excellent!!!!!
Cons:
Guest services didn't have enough staff to help and Shore excursions desk was not staffed a lot of the time. Even when they were they were not very pleasant or helpful
Can't wait to go again!! I took 2 of my grandchildren ages 14 and 9. They had a very good time. Matt in Club O2 was great. He kept control but the children still had a very good time. The boat was very clean and everything was nice. The dining staff was so accommidating and friendly. Anything we asked for was right there. Room service was great also. Boris, our dining room waiter, was the BEST!! Overall rate the trip a BIG 10-plus-plus
Ship Quality Interior of Atrium area was a little dark on the upper levels with the dark tiles.
Dining/Food Dining staff GREAT Very Friendly and FUN Good dancers also
Stateroom Quality Our room steward, Ronito, was very friendly and very accommidating. If we needed anything he was right there with it! Our room was very nice as well.
Ship Staff Quality As stated above --they are a 10 plus-plus
Entertainment & Activities The shows in the Paris Lounge were unbelievable!!! The band, singers and dancers were fantastic! The couple that did the ballet type dancing were amazing. I also met them on the elevator and they were so sweet!!!!
Children's Programs As above, Matt in Club O2 was great. I felt very secure letting my granddaughter go to her group. My grandson, Cody is 9 and he got to his club on the last day but he loved it. he made good friends inthere. I am sure when we go again he will go to his club from day1
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