We chose this cruise based on the convenience of leaving from New Orleans, as well as the date. Stayed in cabin 9384 and was pleased with location and cleanliness. We never saw our steward (Papas) in our cabin, but it was always clean with fresh towels and ice.The entire ship was kept very clean, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful. We enjoyed most of the food, especially the breakfast buffet, pizza, Guy's burgers and Blue Iguana. The MDR had a few meals that were excellent and a few meals that were disappointing. The MDR soups were our favorite. We enjoyed speaking with Agnes (with the cute dimples) in the Gathering on several occasions. There were several other staff members that we enjoyed speaking with as well...including Alina, Sergi, Arianty, and Marlon in the MDR. Ports were okay. We stayed within the ports when in Costa Maya, Roatan and Cozumel, because my elderly mother's hips were bothering her with too much walking. In Roatan, we took the flying chairs to the nearby free beach (free lounge chairs available). The water was very nice and clean so we enjoyed taking a dip. We enjoyed the Belizian Foodie Excursion which we chose for my mother's sake, as very little walking or sun was involved. We sampled 5 or 6 Belizian dishes that were similar to Mexican food, then took a bus tour through town to a local fruit stand where we sampled 4 or 5 fruits (including a custard apple, which I had never even heard of before). Last, we stopped at an open-air seaside restaurant where we made ceviche. I thought I disliked ceviche, but it was delicious. We also enjoyed a couple of weak rum drinks and an unusual fruit salad that was very good.
Great cabin, great location, clean. Papas, our room steward kept our room clean and neat, always smiling and asking if we needed anything.
We are from New Orleans so did not take an excursion. Would recommend staying away from Bourbon Street, maybe hit other main streets in the quarter such as Royal or Decatur, or taking a street car ride uptown and back.
The port itself is filled with junky shops and pushy local salesmen. There is a large pool in the port, but it was crowded. Carnival makes it difficult to find your way out of their port, guess they want a cut of all the money you spend here. I would recommend either taking an excursion or just grab a cab and hit the beach at one of the local restaurants or hotels.
We took the flying chairs to the beach. We did not purchase the excursion but rather just bought tickets in the port for $15 per person. You can also walk to the beach in 10 minutes or so. Beach loungers were free. Water was nice. Good option if you don't want to spend any money.
Stayed in the port and shopped, did not take an excursion. Bought some pretty silver jewelry. Recommend looking up the price of silver (per gram) if you plan to buy silver. We were given initial prices that were too high, but were able to purchase for about 1/5 of the original asking price. Probably could have done a little better but did not leave feeling ripped off. If you are looking for good silver, make sure it has 925 stamped on it.