The food was not quite as good as on Princess and Holland America, but even so it was certainly better than I get in Denver unless I want to spend big bucks. The portions were a little smaller than the other lines I mentioned. However, the presentation of the food was better then the other two. Rating - A.
We went to several of the shows. One was a late night adults-only comedian, and he was excellent although definitely X-rated. He reminded me of a young Eddie Murphy or Richard Pryor. One of the bars had an acoustic guitarist that was excellent - I spent a lot of time in that bar... The main stage hosted the Elation dancers, including one girl who sang all the lead parts - she had a stunning voice with good vocal range. One of the shows had her singing the Dolly Parton tune "9 to 5" and I honestly think she was better than Dolly. The dancers weren't as polished as a Vegas show, but then again I've never actually seen a live Vegas dance show. Some of this could have been due to the heavy seas and the fact that the stage was right at the bow. Rating - B+.
Camp Carnival was excellent. Both my daughers (ages 4 and 9) loved it and would rather go there than on shore excursions. They even had "formal dinners" for the kids on formal nights, including a "coketail" party on the first night. You can drop the kids off right after breakfast and leave them all day...although we normally fetched them for lunch and dinner. Anything after 10 pm requires a babysitting charge, but they're usually so tired by then that they pass out as soon as their heads hit the pillow. Rating - A+.
I have mixed feelings about the ship. It is new, beautiful, and seemed well-designed. However, the Lido buffet is at the stern rather than the front, so there's not as much of a good view. I was very disappointed in the fact there is no Internet access - I assume they will retrofit at some point. The numerous spelling mistakes speaks of sloppy quality control. As I mentioned before, one of the two glass elevators seemed to be on the fritz for about half of the voyage. Another thing that bothered us was the cabin ventilation. There was no thermostat - only a vent control. The air coming out of the vent was downright cold, so your only choices were cold or stuffy. Rating - B-.
Overall value...This is only my 3rd cruise, and my first on this cruise line. I'm not terribly impressed with the itinerary - we would have more fun next time on this itinerary since we now have a better idea of what's available in the ports. My kids had an excellent time, and my wife and I had a great time too. We won numerous trophies - "ships on a stick" they call them, for things like trivia games, video games, and such like. We got the free champagne for something as trivial as pointing out spelling errors. The price wasn't bad either, especially given the amount of food my teenage boys eat. Buying the coke cards was a good deal too - my one son drank enough cokes in the first two days to equal the cost of the card. Will I cruise Carnival again? Certainly, although I don't have much desire to do this itinerary again. Since Carnival has some interesting Caribbean itineraries, we will probably sail with them again there someday. Rating - A.
The people...here's where I have a problem. The teens were fine - it was the adults that were the problem. They tended to be the loudest in the wee hours. General stupidity prevailed. As a good example, consider elevator behavior. Each elevator had both up and down arrows on the top of the doors. Yet almost everyone seemed to not see them or just ignore them - down elevators were crammed with folks wanting to go up and vice versa. People tended to stand where they would clog the ways, particularly between stairs. I hate to be rude but sometimes you just had to shove through after they ignored repeated "excuse me" messages. Bad attitudes seemed to get worse at disembarkation, and many of the problem people got into cars with California plates. My wife remarked that the concept of "road rage" seemed to originate in California. After road rage in Denver increased with an influx of former Californians, I think she may have a point. Like so many other things, each individual was fine, but like rats crammed into small spaces, the crowds made individual behavior deteriorate. Rating - C.
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Last updated on 7/8/2008
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