Having cruised before but never with Carnival, we had high expectations of the cruiseline and were completely let down.

We were travelling with our toddler son from half way round the world and chose this cruiseline because of the reputation of 'family friendly' and childcare facilities onboard. Once there, we discovered there were only a dozen or so children on board and the average age was alot higher than we thought. No biggie - in fact, most people were just wonderful and loved talking to our little person about his daily explorations.

The disappointing factors were frequent and relatively minor but which all added up to one big let down. The food was what I would call 'cafe food'. Fine for a day or two but just plan boring for 12 days in a row. There were huge queues in the Lido deck restaurant and the breakfasts had absolutely no variety on a daily basis (apart from pancakes and french toast being served on alternative days). The decor of the boat was very 'Las Vegas' and american-flashy. Fine for some, but we found it all a bit overwhelming and cheap. I'm sure it'll date very quickly and look old before it's time which will be disappointing for the cruiseline in time. Read more