My wife and I took the same cruise and I agree with the reviewer on most points, however, we found the cleanliness of the ship and our stateroom to be very good and our steward was very friendly and helpful. The food quality did vary somewhat, however, the dining room wait staff were marvellous. We too, enjoyed the singing and dancing, although it did seem a bit contrived. The overall decor of the ship was too kitschy for our taste-fine if you like the over the top Vegas look. That really seemed to be the atmosphere on the cruise. This cruise would appeal to those who go to LV for 3-4 day gambling getaways to see Celine Dion and Cirque de Soleil. The Caribbean "Jimmy Buffet-style" music on the Lido deck seemed out of place on a Meditteranean cruise, however, many passengers seemed to enjoy it along with the hairy chest contest and obligatory Village People YMCA singalong. We were surprised that smoking was allowed in so many areas, so we avoided the casino and lounges where this was the case. I'm afraid we were sucked in by the art auction and now have some buyers' remorse about a couple of purchases (fortunately quite modest but still within the "what was I thinking" category). Caveat emptor. This was our first cruise and I doubt that we will do another, even though the ports of call were interesting (loved Dubrovnik and Barcelona. Taormina, Sicily was also a pleasant surprise. Also took a nice excursion the the Cinque Terre while docked at Livorno).We too were disappointed that Cannes was scrubbed due to high seas. Overall, just not our style of travel (we are in our late 50s, are fit and prefer to do our own thing). We decided to book because other family members were going and we had been planning a European vacation anyway. I must admit, it was nice not to have to wrestle suitcases up and down train platforms for 12 days and as mentioned, the staff we encountered were great. I don't think I've ever seen people who work any harder than these fine folks from all over the globe. Carnival seems to fill a market niche, just not ours. Their charges for extras, especially drinks, seemed high and they are very aggressive merchandisers to a captive audience i.e. for shore excursions. You should also stay away from the gift shop or you could inflate the cost of your vacation significantly. Fortunately, we were able to bracket our cruise with some independent time in Rome, Assisi and Milan, so overall we enjoyed our vacation although we likely won't choose Carnival or any other cruise line for future travels.

Too americanized? Carnival is about as "all-american" as it gets! The shore excursions were too expensive? You can do the ports on your own covering the same ground for a fraction of the cost! As an Italian cruising in Europe I'm astounded that you did not pick Costa or MSC to cruise with, particularly the latter, who are well known for their attention to cleanliness. Also, the issues brought up regarding the cuisine would not have been a problem either since both companies are Italian based.