It took us 2 long hours to get through the lines at embarkation. That was the worst wait of the trip. Be sure to complete all your paperwork Carnival sends you before arriving a port to save time. Disembarkation went fast compared to what we had heard. We were told to be at our locations at 8:45am and we were off the ship by 9:45am. Not bad and no hassles.
The cabin bathroom, as mentioned in many other Carnival reviews, did smell slightly. The low-water toilets just don't flush as well as most people have at home. We'll carry a small Airwick next time. - The coffee is not the best. It's not the staff's fault. It's the desalinized water, which is pretty flat.
We went on the sunset cruise excursion in Cozumel. It was way more party boat then sunset cruise, the drinks kept on flowing and there was very loud music and dancing. Get people drunk enough (which they did) and they'll enjoy just about anything (which they did, including a pretty awful lariat-wielding gaucho act on the top deck). Not romantic like many other sunset cruises at all, which is what were were expecting.
The comedians (there will be 2-4 per cruise) are hit and miss. We saw two out of three and both were not very funny.
The traditional Captain's Welcome has been modified. You don't get your picture with him or shake his hand anymore. Our Captain was particularly humorless and flat.
The Photo staff is in your face a lot the first few days but after a while they are less aggressive.
Finally, for anyone like us who has trouble getting their land legs back (we don't get seasick, we get dizzy once we hit land again!) you can try this: order vitamins called lipoflavanoids from your drugstore and start taking them two weeks before you leave on your cruise and for a week after. Also, ask your Dr. for a prescription for antivert and take one each night for the last two nights of your cruise and then 1 twice a day for your first week on land. We seem to be having success so far. We are only slightly experiencing vertigo and it is our first day back on land. Worth a try!
If you see Tea, from Croatia, please say hello from Eleanor and George. She is a waiter in the Fantasy Restaurant and she was very charming!
