I have taken many great cruises with Carnival and we did enjoy this cruise. However, money cutting changes are evident such as shorter dining hours like the buffet having limited hours, the Burger restaurant closing at 6 and the burrito place only open from 11 to 2. The room service is now severely limited and even things like French fries now carry a charge. Also, the entertainment staff is limited so there are only a few activities on sea days. The staff is still very professional and provide excellent customer service. I love that you can now get a 12 pack of bottled water for $2.99. We did not purchase any cruise line shore excursions so I cannot comment on that.

We went on a Royal Caribbean cruise in October and the cabins were noticeably larger on Carnival. We were in the same class window cabin and the Carnival room was at least 50% bigger.

I will continue to travel Carnival because I think they provide great value, but they need to reconsider some of their changes.