Carnival triumph: a cosmopolitan atmosphere on a Caribbean Cruise-Liner - Ship of the Month - Cover Story

Cruise Travel, Dec, 2001 by Suellyn Preston Scull

Across from the wine bar, continuously rising bubbles within lighted columns draw attention to the Hollywood Dance Club. Neon lights beneath the dance floor, pulsing lights in the surrounding TV monitors, and hundreds of young dancers turn this setting into a wild disco party.

The Oxford Bar provides an intimate after-dinner spot with live music. Settle into deep red-leather chairs and be enveloped by walnut-paneled ceilings and walls, decorated with portraits of numerous kings and queens and coats of arms. Nearby, the Internet Cafe's 12 terminals supply e-mail facilities (with a few minutes of free time to get passengers hooked) and access to the stock market and sporting news.

Sounds of a live classical trio playing Strauss draw guests to the Vienna Cafe. Here art nouveau lamps set the stage for Austrian specialties such as chocolate forest cake, apple strudel, and crepes to be washed down by specialty coffees (coffees are $2.95 and pastries start at $2). Facing out to sea along this indoor promenade are handsome chairs designed in true art nouveau style. The blond wood frames with notched openings in the right arms and the peculiar angling of the front legs--one turned in and other outwards--provide a very dramatic effect. Highlighted with yellow and tan leather on the backs and seats, they surround small, round, black marble tables with a globe of the world embedded in the support.

Club Monaco, the casino, is frequented at all hours offering roulette, blackjack, craps, stud poker, and 275 slot machines. Adjoining the casino, the Olympic Bar displays memorabilia including winner's medals, programs, postcards, and team patches from several Olympic Games' venues. Leather seats are fashioned in a baseball, football, or soccer pattern on the dark-wood chairs; tickets, medals, and ribbons are embedded in the tabletops. Large TV monitors behind the bar give up-to-the-minute sports results and air live events via satellite.

Forward of the atrium, the tiered three-level Rome Lounge, seating 1,500, is meant to mimic a Roman forum but does not quite manage it. The tall metallic columns and garish chandelier never convinced me that I was supposed to be watching patricians down below. Here brilliant cruise director John Heald entertains the audience with his slightly risque humor. From day one, when he gathered "volunteers" onstage, the passengers were enthralled. The Vegas-style dancing shows, magicians, and comedians, plus a local Mexican folkloric group were popular with the crowd. Ondeck as we sailed from Cozumel, a lively band had passengers of all ages dancing in conga lines.

Carnival has recently introduced four staggered dinner seatings--5:45 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 8 p.m., and 8:45 p.m. Families with young children like the two early choices, and the latest caters to South Americans and Europeans. We chose 8 p.m. and had a mezzanine level table for two in the Paris Dining Room, which seats 1,114. Getting there is half the fun. This restaurant is situated aft on decks 3 and 4, and one needs considerable skill to navigate from the Rome Lounge or central atrium as the galley stands in the way on Deck 3 and the second level of the smaller London Dining Room blocks access on Deck 4. So we followed World's Way Promenade on Deck 5 and went down the aft staircase.