When my parents booked a family vacation on the Liberty I had little interest in a Caribbean cruise and even less interest in a cruise line that featured hairy chest contests and singing waiters. But this cruise was about my family's interests - not my own - so I was determined to make the most of my vacation and began by asking CruiseCritic.com members for advice on how to do so. The feedback I received was so helpful I would like to return the favor and pass on the results of my own experience to people who find themselves in a similar situation.

If you are a land vacationer or upscale cruiser who finds the whole Carnival "fun ship" concept slightly horrifying you will find that the most important key to success is to have the right mindset. In my case, my first thought was to adapt the cruise to my tastes. However when I sought advice on how to make a Carnival vacation as elegant as possible the friendly folks on this board politely implied that I was essentially trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and that it was better to adapt my tastes to the cruise instead. I immediately saw the wisdom in this approach but despite all my advance research I still wasn't adequately prepared and spent my first few days experiencing what can only be described as culture shock.

A couple of caveats: I obviously can't speak for every Carnival ship or itinerary but to put my voyage in context I was on the newest ship in the line (making it one of the nicest) and the 8-day Caribbean cruise was a fairly pricey one (making the clientele one of Carnival's more upscale). Read more