As travel agents, we have booked many Carnival cruises over the years, and our clients have always been very happy. But after seeing all the YouTube videos portraying fighting recently, unruly passengers and chaos on Carnival ships, I wondered what we were getting ourselves into.

Boy, were we wrong!

Carnival has done an excellent job with security. At the cruise terminal, we saw dogs walking around the carry-on luggage checking for drugs. Boom boxes and even small speakers were confiscated at the terminal, and once onboard, security was everywhere. During our entire cruise, we never saw a fight, never saw anyone behaving badly, and never felt unsafe. Our cruise was absolutely top-notch!

Talk About the Food…Once onboard, we decided to skip the crowded buffet and head to Guy’s Burgers at the central pool. What a great decision! Make sure you ask for the onion rings. They were delicious! The burgers were tender, tasted homemade, and there were plenty of toppings available so you could build your burger exactly the way you wanted it.

There was also a delicious Mexican station at the central pool, a pizza station at the back pool, and soft-serve ice cream stations throughout the ship where you could help yourself.

The buffet had an extensive selection, with different choices appearing each day. The main dining room offered some absolutely delicious meals. Be sure to try the Vegetarian Wellington—even if you’re not a vegetarian. I’m not, and I loved it!

The steaks from the steakhouse—which you can also order in the main dining room—were so tender you could practically cut them with a fork.

And whatever you do, DON’T MISS THE ITALIAN SPECIALTY RESTAURANT.
We highly recommend the tomahawk pork chop. It was fantastic! We enjoyed the restaurant so much that we went back a second time. It was worth every penny.

One thing Carnival does that many cruise lines don’t seem to do anymore is give you generous portions. Trust me—you will NOT go hungry on a Carnival cruise!

The Ship & Our Stateroom

The Carnival Radiance was beautiful and spotless. Gone are the crazy, over-the-top decorations that Carnival was once known for. The décor is now much more understated and contemporary.

We had an ocean-view stateroom on Deck 1, Cabin 1397. By cruise ship standards, it was really spacious. We had a nice, large picture window that was spotless, along with plenty of drawers and closet space for all of our clothes. Yes, the bathroom has the traditional cruise-ship shower curtain, but honestly, it didn’t bother us at all.

We did have an issue with a loud clanging noise that sounded like a motor that wasn’t working properly. It would screech periodically, so Carnival moved us to another ocean-view stateroom on the second day. Our new cabin was wonderfully quiet—we never heard another sound!

The new cabin also had the hardest water pressure we’ve ever experienced. We actually had to turn it down because it hurt! LOL.

Carnival provides shampoo and body wash in the shower. I do wish they provided a shampoo/conditioner combination, but that’s a minor thing.

Carnival was extremely generous in compensating us for the inconvenience of moving rooms. We certainly didn’t expect anything—we just wanted a quiet room—but we very much appreciated their response.

Entertainment & Activities

There were activities happening throughout the ship at all times, so there was never a shortage of things to do.

If you have the Mexican Duo on your cruise, DON’T MISS THEM! They played twice every night and were absolutely the hit of the cruise. They played everything from pop music to traditional Mexican tunes, and the crowd went wild when they played Desperado! And when I say everyone was dancing, I mean EVERYONE—including people in their 90s!

We didn’t attend many of the main showroom shows, but we did see the Rock Show one evening. While the songs were good and the voices were fine, the choreography wasn’t really our style. It felt a little too stiff for us. Of course, others may love it!

We also found the music in the main showroom to be VERY loud for our older ears.

Service Was Stellar

The service throughout the ship was outstanding.

From the room stewards to the waiters, security staff and Guest Services, everyone was polite, accommodating and genuinely willing to make our cruise memorable.

I want to take a moment to recognize several people who helped make this a perfect birthday vacation:

Mr. B**, our Room Steward on Deck 1
Fidel**, our Room Steward on Deck 2
Laika, Chris, Dlmonico and James** in the Italian Restaurant
Chanise** (spelling?) in Guest Services
Shannon**, the plumber
Raymond**, our waiter in the Main Dining Room
Shaquille, Alex and Chris** at the Alchemy Bar—boy, do they know how to make fancy drinks!
And the **Guest Services Manager**, whose name I unfortunately can’t remember, who worked with us to find a quiet room when the mechanical noise in our original cabin couldn’t be resolved.

Every one of these people helped make our short cruise extra special, and we truly appreciate them.

One Piece of Advice: Get “Faster to the Fun”!

If you’re sailing Carnival, I strongly recommend spending the money for Faster to the Fun. It was worth every penny to us. It allows you to get through the cruise terminal more quickly and board earlier. It can also provide priority disembarkation in certain situations, including getting off the ship earlier at tender ports and during debarkation. For us, it was money well spent!

Our Final Thoughts

After all the negative videos we’d seen before our cruise, we honestly didn’t know what to expect. BTW, we always pay for our cruises at the prevailing rate so that we can give honest, unbiased reviews of our trips.

What we found was a beautiful, clean ship, excellent food, wonderful entertainment, outstanding service and a strong security presence. Most importantly, we never experienced the unruly behavior we had been concerned about.

Carnival Radiance exceeded our expectations, and our 6-day/5-night cruise turned into a wonderful birthday vacation.

Would we cruise Carnival again? In a heartbeat!

As travel agents, we are always honest with our clients about our experiences, both good and bad. And after this cruise, we can confidently say:

Carnival did an excellent job. We would absolutely recommend giving them a try!