First of all, any of us that can go on ANY cruise need to get on their knees and thank God we can do so. That being said, this cruise on the Elation in early January was a nice little "entry level" cruise. Honestly if you've never cruised, you'll probably like it. I found it lacking in a lot of areas, but honestly, for the money, it was a good value and that's what we were looking for.

The main dining room was great. We always have a great dining room experience with Carnival because we build "mini relationships" all week with the staff. And boy, they really are good! Christopher was our head waiter and was ultra attentive, even remembering we liked our water with no ice. Carnivals regular dining room meals, honestly, are always better than NCL even. This is the ONE area where Carnival shines. Also, their buffet, and their "guys burgers" and their taco / burrito shack are fantastic. There's a 24 hour pizza kitchen. So food wise, fantastic. Out of 6 Norwegian cruises and 3-4 Carnival, having even grown up in the restaurant business, I can say hands down Carnival is better. I can't figure this out because honestly, I don't mean to be negative but in every other way big and small, Carnival is the lowest end cruise line of all the big names at least.

Entertainment was "meh". They had a great guitarist, Keith (Acoustic Jams with Keith). I am a practicing musician myself and he let me get up and do 3 songs, and he was very versatile and had a great voice. Otherwise average. Read more