My sister and I chose this cruise because we had a great experience on the Carnival Dream a few years back and wanted to cruise on a ship in the same class. In addition, we liked this itinerary, so we booked this trip back in October of 2017. While we were paying off out cruise we decided that we would also purchase the Cheers program, which allows passengers over 21 to consume up to 15 alcoholic drinks per day, as well as unlimited non-alcoholic drinks. We also purchased Faster to the Fun (FTTF). Prior to our sail date, we drove to Florida and stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton in Cocoa Beach. We purchased a park and cruise package which included parking as well as transportation to and from the port. This hotel is very nice and I would definitely would stay there again. (I have also posted a review of this hotel on Trip Advisor).

Embarkation went very smoothly. We arrived at the port around 1045 and went to the FTTF line and checked in. We were asked to wait about 20 minutes prior to being called to board. My last cruise was in 2015 and some things have changed: 1) Our cruise cards were not given to us upon check in. Instead, passengers now receive their sign and sail cards when their rooms are ready via the mailbox in front of your stateroom. They are in a sealed envelope. Passengers can use their boarding passes to board the ship and make purchases until they get to their rooms after 130pm. 2) They no longer take your picture as you board the ship (though they did have a photographer on the Lido deck taking pictures if you wanted to.) As we had FTTF, our rooms were ready upon arrival. We stayed in 6203, which was located on the front of the ship on Deck 6. The window looked out to the front of the ship, which was different. Occasionally, people would walk by so we needed to be mindful about keeping the curtains drawn. This room had two beds which cold be combined to form a king. We never had any issues with noise or hearing the waves crashing against the front of the ship. Our only complaint was that it was not cool enough in the room. We would have preferred it to be a bit cooler. We also noticed this in other common areas of the ship. I hope this was a fluke thing and not Carnival's way of cutting back.

We had early dining, which was at 6. As there were 4 people in our party, we were pleasantly surprised to have a booth for 4. The first night we were not impressed with our dining room team. We were the last to be served each course and our drinks often ran dry. The waiter forgot two appetizers that my sister ordered and required reminders by the second night. As I had never experienced this before (this was cruise #15 for me), I decided to speak with the hostess and the maitre'd. They assured me that things would be rectified- and they were. At no time did we incur any glitches in the dining room thereafter. During the course of our cruise we had made reservations at the steakhouse and at Cucina del Capitan. The steakhouse was excellent with respect to the food and the service. We were very disappointed with the dessert. Carnival has taken cheesecake off of the steakhouse menu! We ordered what we were told was going to be a special creation by the chef.....it was awful. At Cucina del Capitan the food was very good as was the service. Once again, the dessert was a bit lacking. Carnival apparently changed the menu at this restaurant as well..no cheesecake and no tiramisu. Read more