Arrived on Feb. 9th at Orlando airport from bitter cold weather in Michigan. Rented a car and drove to Cape Canaveral and spent the night at a Marriott hotel. Woke up, had a lazy morning, dropped off the car and took the shuttle to the port. Got there about 1:00, and it was not too busy. Was on the ship by 1:30, went to our cabin. I am a 52 year old Mom traveling with my 22 year old daughter. Since my daughter was paying her own way, we chose Carnival for the good price, the itinerary, and the fact they had the youngest average age for passengers.

We had an inside cabin, and it was fine for the 2 of us. Plenty of closet space,could store our suitcases under the beds, and surprising amount of storage and counter space in the bathroom. Actually turned out to be a great location. We were on the Empress deck(deck 7) close to the elevators, near the back of the ship. If we walked up 2 flights, we were at 1 of the entrances to the Red Sail restaurant(breakfast and lunch buffets) and the pool area. If we went down 2 flights to deck 5, that's where most of the bars and lounges were, the casino and the shops. Only time we had to walk the length of the ship was to get to the main diningroom and the main showroom.

Breakfast and lunch buffets were reasonable, but not great. The 3 mini restaurants in the Red Sail restaurant were all quite good. I especially like the Oriental, my daughter liked the Deli and the pizza out in the pool area. The Fish buffet is on the 2nd level of the Red Sail, and has yummy fish and chips, plus more exotic items, like calamari, squid and seafood salads. We are real desert fans, and both thought they needed improvement in that at the buffet and the diningroom. Read more