Dining

The ship's two main dining rooms both serve dinner on a set-time, set-tablemates basis with four different seating options. Lunch and breakfast are open seating. While meal options were varied and tasty, service was a bit of a low point. At dinner during the inaugural sailing, I was presented with the wrong appetizer ... and my friend received no appetizer at all even though she'd ordered one; by the time the mix-up was sorted out, our tablemates' starters were lukewarm at best.

I also ran into a snafu with room service: My breakfast was not delivered in the time frame I was quoted, and I ended up canceling the order entirely so as not to be late for a shore excursion. Room service is available 24 hours a day; the menu includes juices, breads and pastries, sandwiches, salads, veggie platters, cookies and brownies, cakes, yogurt, fruit salad and beverages (including bar service at regular bar prices). Full stateroom bar service is available 9 a.m. until 3 a.m.

Interestingly enough, the lido buffet, Rosie's Restaurant, was a super standby option. Rosie's is a two-level eatery done up like a classic diner with fabulous, flashy colors (tables and chairs are a neon green you have to see to believe) and shiny metal. Buffet offerings here include salads and pastas, cold cuts and breads, a variety of hot dishes and a carving station. Rosie's also features an Asian stir-fry station, and an on-deck grill serving up burgers and fries and such. Check in after-hours for fun themed buffets for late-night diners -- one evening during our sailing we stumbled upon a Mexican fiesta complete with taco fixings, cool guacamole and crunchy chips. Hot and cold breakfast items are available in the morning, and during dinner-time, Rosie's is converted into the casual "Seaview Bistro."

For round-the-clock snackers, there's a 24-hour ice-cream/frozen yogurt station and a 24-hour pizzeria. Note: Fresh slices are harder to come by during off-hours. Just before midnight I asked if I could wait for a hot slice from the oven (a request that was fulfilled with a smile on another Carnival ship I'd sailed on recently) and was given one from under a heat lamp with the promise that it was fresh; it wasn't.

The sushi bar (open from 5 - 8:30 p.m.), near the specialty coffee bar, always had a line -- and the seats lining the windows were generally taken, so practice your chopsticking-while-standing skills if you plan on sampling the eats here.

If you prefer a more upscale dining experience, splurge on the $20-per-person cover charge at Scarlett's, the reservations-only supper club high atop the ship. This spot is perfect for couples and small groups -- intimate with plenty of two- and four-person tables, and warmly decorated with rich cherry wood walls, plus velvety seats and Versace china. The menu is equally fabulous, and wait staff explain the meat and fish selections skillfully while presenting a tray of raw cuts of meat and fish as you might see in fine land-based restaurants. The surf and turf option here, featuring lobster tail and just enough filet mignon, was the best meal I ate onboard.

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