Just returned from W. Caribbean cruise with wife and 2 sons (age 10 and 5). I had only one other cruise experience, 4 years ago on NCL (7 days W. Carib) Overall we were very satisfied with this trip and would consider a return trip with Carnival.

Getting on board was a piece of cake. We boarded around 12:30 and due to the large number of agents in the terminal we flew through the process. We ventured to the lido deck taught the boys how to use the Ice Cream machine and hung out in the very back of the lido deck (near the rear pool). It was not very crowded at all in that area. We went to our Balcony QUAD room at 1:30. The room was actually more spacious than we had thought and even with the sofa set up as a bed and the drop down bunk in place we were comfortable all week. Having the Balcony was key and provided enough extra space for us to escape for a glass of wine or a relaxed sunrise when the boys were asleep. Without the balcony having all 4 of us in one room would have been a little much I fear. Yahoo for the free upgrade !

Our luggage did not arrive until 8 pm that evening so it was a little frustrating for the boys not to get to play in the pools until the next day and it also felt a little weird going to the Paris Dinning room in shorts and T shirts but we noticed about ¼ of the people in the room were also not "dressed" for dinner that night and the staff did not seem to mind at all as it probably happens on the first day of every cruise. (Next time we'll bring a carry on with swim trunks). Read more