This Australian vacation was planned as a break from the gloomy winter in Olympia WA in the USA. We began our cruise in Brisbane Australia headed for a couple small islands in the South Pacific. First two days at sea;

This ship is showing its age. It feels very closed in compared with newer ships. The food selection and quality is below par. The servers are friendly and welcoming. I have Parkinson's and don't sleep very well so to let others in my party sleep I tend to walk about. On this ship I have been confronted and harassed by security to the point that I went back to my cabin. To say this cruise vacation has been a disappointment would be an understatement. On the second port of call we were rerouted to an alternate port because of weather. While this in itself is not an issue, the alternate port was not a good substitute. We docked at an industrial port with a huge scrap yard as a backdrop. We were offered no transportation to any agreeable substitute of any kind. We were simply able to walk off the ship into this industrial port, not knowing the local language, not having local currency, but told to enjoy the view and have a fun filled day! As for onboard entertainment, they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel. There were two mediocre comedians. They have a beautiful theatre all ready for some great shows but it sat empty for all but a couple small "comedy" shows. Shame on them for not providing more. This cruise has me feeling like I'm trapped on a floating shopping mall, someone or something at every turn eager to relieve me of my money. Even with the $1,000 drink package I have to pay extra for decent coffee?! A $15 dollar espresso!? Then theres the "premium" alcohol, $30 for a shot of mid shelf liquor!?!?Yeah, Carnival will never be blessed with my business again! At this point they could offer me an around the world cruise and I would decline to accept. Nothing short of a complete refund including my substantial travel costs getting to Australia would even come close to making up for this disaster of a cruise! I will never recommend this cruise line to anyone!