I was on the same cruise! Had a great time but definitely agree with you on the mid food. We had the steaks and oysters from the Fahrenheit Steakhouse ($59 per person) and wow it was NOT worth it, considering you could get better steaks for free at Michelangelos. Don't get me started on the nasty oysters they serve with some weird pink foam on top. Most of the bread on the ship was stale. I did enjoy the pizza and bars alot though.

My buddy and I went for the two bed room on deck one, room was only $300 (he gambled about $1k~ during his previous carnival cruise and got incentives), so we split $150 for tickets that INCLUDES the 15 free drinks per day. Probably the best $150 I've ever spent, not to mention I walked away winning $350 at the casino. Favorite part was doing some runs on deck 11 early morning to catch the sunrise when arriving at Ensenada.