In 2014 I did this ship from Long Beach and though looking a bit weary at the time I thought that I would give it a go once again because of the price but was left disappointed.
A bit of a history before I start--I am well above 30 cruises, this being my tenth with Carnival and my first with them was back in 2009. Over the years I noticed subtle changes being introduced but now all the subtle changes are adding up.
First the food. As a solo traveler I tend to just do the buffet and Carnival overall used to have good choices but not this cruise. Even when I did the Miracle in 2014 I do not recall there being less selection and actually times, for dinner, not having enough choice that I would end up grabbing some cheese, maybe a bit of protein in regards to fish or chicken but that would be it. Even the vegetables looked like they were the frozen ones, thawed out and flung into the food. Plus, onion over-kill! I think onions were in everything and what this meant was that many dishes, especially on the Asian grill, had guests slowly trying to pull the meat out, leaving the onions and other fillers behind causing huge line-ups. I noticed as well that there seemed to be less staff in the buffet area than there used to be. In fact, of all my cruises, not once in that area did anyone come by to offer me coffee during breakfast or to inquire as if I wanted wine for lunch or dinner; woefully understaffed. The poor gentleman that was making omelettes had to spend one morning with partial cooking utensils slowing things down. I asked if there was not a supervisor who could help him by fetching another two or three items and he just shook his head--I felt so sorry for him.
The plus with a premium balcony is that it was a bit larger than a regular balcony so I did not feel trapped. It had some nicer finishes to it than other rooms I looked into but that is about it for the pros. That, and the weather was nice made for a peaceful trip
Even though my room was premium it was showing signs of wear and tear. The panel behind the toilet was rusty and I think about to fall off any day. A couple of lights had blown in the ceiling above the bed and were never replaced. And though a premium, it was right next to the life boats which meant a much smaller balcony.
I know full well how hard the cleaning staff need to work, especially on turn-around days. Let's just keep this simple: I travel with a container of Lysol wipes and they were very useful for this cruise.