Embarkation at Barcelona was smooth and we were on the boat at lunchtime. See later for the disembarkation fiasco!

Our first impression was that we were in a great aunt's cluttered living room! The decor is just so busy that it hurts your eyes until you learn to ignore it. I suspect someone was supposed to order 50 grey plastic urns (they look like the European football cup) and accidentally ordered 5000, so they had to stick them to the walls, make banisters out of them, bar stools (with no where to rest your feet) etc. Add to this the dark wood with gold inlay and the many red lights, its all a bit OTT.

The main dining room (served) was not open so we had to make teh first of only 2 visits to the 'canteen'. I would not necessarily criticise Carnival too much for this, as the same on NCL and P&O have both been to the same low standard. The food was OK, but by the time you have queued, found a table, collected a drink etc. it's gone cold and eating off plastic plates is not my idea of Carnival's 'Fun'. Read more