Cruisers were myself and my husband (both 27, and 5th cruise for us, others were Celebrity and Princess), my parents (2nd cruise, other was the Legend), and my brother/sister-in-law, niece and nephew (their first cruise). Embarkation I found quick and simple, one hour from when we pulled in to when we were at the buffet (about 1:30 pm). Itinerary was Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Freeport. No shore excursions planned at any, as it was more about the relaxation of going, hanging out, not having a set schedule. Shopping in Cozumel, where we have been before. Bought some lovely glasses to add to my collection, had a few drinks (not Carlos and Charlie's, etc- too pricey). Belize we just shopped around at the port for an hour, had a drink, and back on the ship, would like to do the cave tubing next time. Roatan we took a cab to the beach (10 each round trip), had a nice day, though a little overcast. Freeport- cab to the beach, little too windy for us, did some shopping near the beach, had lunch at Zorba's, which was good, and back to the ship. Overall, I can't say I was horribly impressed with this cruise. 1) Our room was dirty from the get go (items left in drawers, under bed, very dusty behind things, etc). My brothers room had dirty socks, chop sticks, and a sticky counter where a spill hadn't been cleaned. My parents found two new robes in their closet (to be expected) along with too used ones bunched up along with a pair of bathing shorts. 2) Lost count of the number of things not cleaned. I am not overly picky, its a big ship, takes a moment to notice things amiss, etc- but this was beyond that. Went to bed at 1, someone had spilled an entire bowl of ice cream in the hall a few rooms down, I assumed it would be cleaned up. Woke at 7, it was still there. Spilled cups of juice in the elevators and stairwells still there hours later. Someone vomited near one of the stores, which had a wet sign near it, that was all, so it was fun walking right into that one. I mentioned the spilled juice in the elevator to two staff, who looked at me as if I had grown a second head and said "yes maam, its a big ship we will get to it as soon as we get a chance". Hours passed and it was still there. 3) I am a big one on the idea that staff do not have to bow down to the cruisers in order for a good experience. Basic human decency was kind of assumed, though not always granted. Went with my brother to settle a matter on his account, staff at pursers office didn't even get up (she was reading a book), we were told it wasn't open yet. Asked what time they would be open, she didn't even look up when she answered. Asked for a Coke at bars and several times had to ask another bartender after one would take our cup, then go help someone else and forget about it (3 times). USually the second bartender would then grudgingly go get it when we pointed to it, say nothing, fill it and slide it to us (which at one point spilled a full bottle of pop on the nice gentleman unlucky enough to be standing next to me). 4) A few staff I wanted to THROTTLE. "Accidents happen" and a child playing with a stroller in a busy hallway pushed it infront of my 60 year old father, who LEAPED over it to avoid knocking the child over, fell, rolled, and slammed into a wall. Delightful...we have been home for 11 hours and we now know he has a cracked rib, not to mention some very serious bruising on his hips and shoulder. Not one, but TWO staff members walked by WITHOUT A WORD. I hunted down someone to ask for a bandaid, or a napkin when we noticed a few small cuts on his hands, and the EXACT words I got in response were "that's what the infirmary is for ma'am, would you like directions?". didn't ask why I needed them, not a "gee ma'am, I don't know about that, you might have to check the infirmary". I was livid. 5) Disembarkation hell. Yes, I am Canadian. Yes, I finally heard "through the grape-vine" that there was some kind of an issue with customs, the computers, etc, and only US citizens were being processed. That's fine, stuff happens. Try SAYING that, as opposed to telling a theatre full of people nothing as they continue to announce that only Americans can get off the ship. Also, I get it, people were very very very testy and frustrated about waiting, luggage in tow, in the crowded theatre- its frustrating to deal with frustrated passengers I am sure. BUT, responding in kind, definitely not a big help. I actually heard staff yelling BACK at the passengers who were upset, being quite rude in response. When a woman got frustrated and said "well maybe if they would ANNOUNCE that, this would run a bit smoother", a staff member replied, with quite the tone, "this isn't my first cruise, we HAVE done this before you know". They then told us if we didn't settle down it would "only be harder on you, because customs will get really really nasty with you". My father finally lost his temper and shouted out asking if we could return to our room. Exact reply "you can give it a shot if you want". That's when I was done- I went for a walk, returned, very unhappily told the gentleman he could speak however he wanted to whomever he wanted, but my father was not going to be on that list of people again, and perhaps he should go calm down until he was able to respond with even an insincere attempt at rational answers. We pretty well RAN off the ship (aside from my hobbling father). Not super interested in doing another carnival cruise, that's for sure. Food was average at best (which doesn't say much because the food is always a very subjective area on any cruise). Heard lots of good things about the pizza and fish and chips- thought the pizza was pretty bad, and the fish and chips were standard cheap fish and chips. Dining room service was ok, nothing special. Had a baked potato 3 nights, wasn't hot a single one...was told meat could only be medium rare or medium well, nothing else. Three people at our table ordered medium well- I got WELL, one got rare, and one got medium well. Shows were standard. The male singer (can't recall his name) was horrible, dance numbers were so-so, again- standard cruise fare, nothing great but nothing horrible. Comedians were ok, juggler was good, illusionist show was...well, it was something. Didn't know whether to laugh or cry for the guy, it was horrible. Generally, we now get where the idea of "the Wal-Mart of cruises" comes from, and will likely stick with Celebrity. Also, lost count of the number of times couples were getting "intimate" late night on several of the decks. Became a bit of a joke as I often didn't want to go for a walk too late in case we walked past another obscene sex act in progress. My parents said their Carnival Legend cruise was much much better, and I will take their word for it. Good points (there were some in there!!): My niece and nephew had a wonderful time in the activities (9 year old boy and 14 year old girl). They were both always on the go, always something to do, and they both had a wonderful wonderful time. He loved the Arcade, she loved the dances (I believe there was a bit of an onboard teen romance for her...). Seemed to be a good cruise for families looking for activities in that age group. Overall, I was happy happy happy to drive home, even if it IS snowing and freezing here! I would recommend Regal Palms Orlando to anyone looking to tack on a few days before or after the cruise. An hour to the port, but we have stayed there 2 or 3 times and loved it. We paid 119 a night for a 4 bedroom, 3 bath private pool house with a spa.