We weren't sure what to expect on this cruise from two fronts: We had always thought Carnival was too much of a "party" ship for the relaxation that we usually seek, and this time we decided to bring our four year old son along for the adventure.
I want to start off by thanking Carnival, and especially Margaret, at the Carnival Embarkation point in Port Canaveral. Due to mechanical problems, our flight was delayed for so long that we were over an hour late arriving to the ship, according to the 2:30 PM deadline. We called Carnival from the Detroit airport and ended up speaking with Margaret. She calmed us down and said that she would have the Carnival Airport Transfer van wait for us (we did arrange this originally, but we were so late we figured it had left), and they would hold the ship until we got there --at 3:45!. I actually hugged her when I got there. She was very nice and we are so appreciative of her great customer service!
Carnival exceeded our expectation on everything. Beautiful ship, plenty of activities and entertainment to choose from, really good food, clean, not hectic with rowdies as I had wrongly thought, and the kids club was fantastic! Our room was quite large, although this was the first time we booked a balcony room so perhaps they are typically large. If traveling with a child, we would definitely recommend springing for the balcony if you're able. Ours slept on the couch, and we brought foam bumpers so he loved his own little "cubby". The balcony allowed us a chance to relax on the balcony while our son was sleeping in, or after he went to bed we sat out under the stars. Wonderful!
Plenty of room for two adults and a toddler. Bathroom large. Balcony large. Bed very, very comfortable. TV didn't work but they fixed it. Hallway was sometimes noisy at night with screaming teenagers - would be nice if this were monitored better. We found it great that room service was available 24 hrs a day, and could be ordered from the TV.