My boyfriend and I went on our first cruise this March unsure of what to expect, but hoping to have a great time. We traveled down to Ft. Lauderdale and were picked up by the Carnival people and we took a bus to the port in Miami. The only complaint that I had here was probably the fact that it took us a good while to locate the person that was a representative of the cruise line and she was not very pleasant in the least. Once we arrived at the port we quickly boarded the ship....I actually thought that this process was going to be long and drawn out but it went very smoothly without any problems and our luggage arrived very shortly afterwards. 

The decor of the ship is not what I would have liked....I felt like I was trapped in some 70's disco, but I got over it. The common places for people to sit were very nice and well kept, but I was very disappointed in the rooms. We had a room at the very bottom of the ship, but we had a nice view. The room was not impressive at all. I found a vitamin in the corner and didn't feel like the room was very clean at all. There were tiles missing in the bathroom and the most annoying part of it all was that the sheets didn't fit on the bed, so every time you moved, the sheets would come off of the bed leaving you to see this mattress that shouldn't be exposed. If you can get past the room, then you are fine. 

Like I said though, the other areas of the ship were kept up well and the exercise room was great.  The trip excursions in Key West and the Mayan ruins in Cozumel were great, but maybe a bit on the high side in terms of price (I was told that the prices were higher than what you could get just finding deals on your own because the cruise ship takes 50%). However I thought it was nice to have planned activities. 

The food was above average and I found the staff on the ship very friendly and helpful. Another thing that I found to be annoying though was all of the "photo shoots" that they did. I really didn't enjoy them taking continual pictures when I'm trying to board the ship and then when I was eating. I finally just got to the point where I told them to stop taking pictures. I am sure though some people enjoy it but I was rather perturbed by it all. Overall, I enjoyed the cruise, but was not all that impressed by the ship itself. The staff and the number of activities were great, but you must be forewarned that the cruise director is really cheesy, but a good juggler. I really didn't like going to the decks by the pools because there never seemed to be any chairs. There were not really any rowdy people on board or at least I wasn't disturbed by anyone. However, I think if I could choose again I would go on a different line or at least a newer ship. I've been told that some of the other lines were nicer (this from some of the people we ate dinner with - their review would probably be similar to mine since it seemed we had the same complaints about the wear and tear of the ship). I hope to go on another cruise so at least I have a comparison. Who knows maybe this is one of the better lines, but I certainly hope not!

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