My wife and I sailed Triumph September 2-9 2006. We are in our early 20s with no kids. This was our first cruise, and were a little worried beforehand about the experience. Luckily, we had a great time and have already booked two more cruises in the coming year; I highly recommend cruising as a great means of travel.

We were planning on traveling to the UK, but a few days before we were supposed to fly, Heathrow was practically shut down so AA (and the hotel) allowed us to rebook elsewhere or receive a refund. As this was last minute, a cruise was the easiest option (we already had the vacation scheduled with work). We got a great price, which actually scared me a bit. We usually stay at very nice hotels (Ritz, Four Seasons, St Regis variety) which cost around $300-$500 per night. This entire cruise was $549 each, for the whole 7 days, plus all the food and entertainment. We were worried.

Carnival far exceeded all of my expectations. Part of this may be due to us going in expecting the worst, but the ship was very clean and well-maintained, the food (was FREE!) and very good (who can complain at that price), and the room was much larger than I expected (co-workers said it would be smaller than my cubicle...it was much larger): Read more