Covid and the shut down and the economic situation that followed have made a mark on cruising, at Carnival and all of the lines. Some are harder hit than others. There are changes where they have had to adapt. We have cruised 6 times since the start up. Just before we started, we were invited to the MG naming ceremony (we did a side to side on Horizon and MG 3 days later. At the ceremony and the celebration that followed, we had a chance to sit down for a drink with a Carnival exec and good friend. He said something that showed me the impact all of that had on the company (and it affects cruising today). The first thing was as he related it, how much they all put into the start and the cost (both financial and people that were no longer with the company. The second, when I asked what would happen of there was another shut down, he said that there simply could not be another, the industry and Carnival could not survive it.
Those first two cruises were on half filled ships and there were things that were there before and not thre then. That said, it was wonderful to cruise again. Every single employee we talked to, thanked us for coming back, it was heartfelt. Each and every cruise (multiple homeports and ships) has gotten better, more of the FUN that IS Carnival. Is it all the way back? No. Will it get there? Not sure.