We are experienced cruisers with 24 cruises between us, so this review is coming from people who are pretty easy to please and really enjoy cruising. I rely on these reviews before I book and so hope this is helpful for you as well. First of all, the ship is beautiful, getting on and off was a breeze, and generally everything was very good. Here are the exceptional items: Alaska was absolutely spectacular. We thought the Tracy Arm Fjord day was stunning, and Carnival added and excellent naturalist who talked while we were going thru the Fjord. She had a great voice, and great knowledge, and we can't say enough good things about her. She was worth her weight on gold as far as the trip goes. We never really take shore excursion and prefer to go out on our own and figure out what to do that day. We booked three this time because it was Alaska. Two were spectacular. Take the train ride! We did the three hour one - it's long enough and you see all the good stuff. The second one was so unique and was 2 hours long - we thought long enough to be on a boat. It's the speed boat tour that takes you out for 2 hours in a fully insulated suit. This was not to be missed! We were warm and we saw eagles and seals. If you do not like to go fast, don't do this. The boat purposely zips thru the water doing figure 8s in between wildlife and coves. You are secure in a pommel like seat. The third thing we did was the on land dog sledding. Great people and very nice if you like dogs. However, you will smell like dog. Everything you have on will smell like dog - just be aware of this and don't take jackets, gloves, hats that you plan to use the rest of the week. These are outside dogs that never bath, so they smell like dogs!

As far as clothes go, we were confused about what to pack. The ship keeps the lid on the pool, so you are warm whenever on the ship. Off the ship, you need a raincoat with a hood. Other than that, we were warm. All of the cold shore excursions give you gear to wear, so don't worry about that.

Finally, we hate to say this about this cruise but this is the first time that we have cruised that a lot of the crew seemed miserable. We met a few crew members who we made friends with, but our wait staff was hurried, neglectful and seemed miserable. We had one gluton free diner with us, and the help from Janna the restaurant person in charge of menus was absolutely awful. Compared to other cruises where we had the attention of a head waiter at all meals, the food was generally very poor and if you have a special diet, beware! We have cruised Royal Caribbean and they do a much better job with special diets. And we never figured out why the staff appeared to be so miserable, but they were generally sullen. We didn't even return for the last night of dinner because they were so bad. We have never had this experience and always make friends and get contact information, etc, so just wanted to point this out. Carnival needs to pay attention to this crew - there is something wrong. Otherwise, the DJ, game hosts and hostesses and were great. Read more