We arrived in Tampa 2 days before our cruise and stayed down by Clearwater Beach until Sunday morning. We arrived at the dock around 10:30 and got in line for embarkation. We were in group number one and were the first people they let on the boat. We had lunch on the Lido deck and explored the ship. It was beautiful. We had all of our luggage by around 2:00. We spent the afternoon on deck watching the ship depart and swimming. It is a truly amazing sight to see how they can pilot such a big ship around such a small area. Then it was off to dinner at Truffles. The food was outstanding as was the service. We had Fritz and Marthana. They were truly amazing. The chocolate melting cake was the best dessert I have ever had. I was going to play in the Texas Hold'em tournament. If you want to play, you have to get there early because they only have 20 seats and there were about 50 people that wanted to play.I gave my seat up and went to find my husband and kids. They had gone to the kids club meeting. My kids are 12 and 14. They were not really interested in that at all. That is one thing that I think Carnival could do much better with providing entertainment for middle aged kids. Except for swimming and hanging out by the pool, there is not alot for them to do. The day at sea on Monday was nice and relaxing. We went to formal night and had a great time.

Thanks to cruise critic, we booked Captain Marvin's stingray city tour in Grand Cayman. Wow!! That is an experience not to be missed. We stopped at 2 places to snorkel and then went to stingray city. The kids loved it. It is a little confusing with the time changes. Be careful that you don't miss the ship. In Cozumel, my husband and son did the beginning scuba and my daughter and I shopped. Everyone had a nice day. The next day was in Belize. Again, thanks to cruise critic, we booked the cave tubing through Yhony. It was the coolest thing we have ever done. Yhony and Dennis were great. They never once made anyone get out and push through the shallow areas. We were worried about getting back on time. They made it their mission to make sure we were all back in plenty of time and we had lots of fun. In Costa Maya, we had booked the Jungle Beach break through Carnival. The beach was beautiful. They never told us that they don't except credit cards out there thought and we were stuck without any cash. Also, the people at Jungle Beach break were kind of rude. I was a little surprised that Carnival was associated with them. We took the first shuttle back to town and spent the rest of the day at the really cool dock, swimming and shopping.

Our cabin steward was Juan. He was great, always friendly and helpful. I thought that the entertainment on the cruise was awful. The band on the Lido deck was really really bad. Having been on a cruise before, we kind of knew what to expect but it could have been much better! The shows were ok. Carnival must have some kind of deal about promoting the movie ""Hairspray." The music was on the TV all the time and they were giving away disposable cameras with the title of the movie on it. IT was fine, just a little excessive. We were early in line for debarkation and were off the ship by about 8:00. Our family loves cruising and I am sure we will go again. I am just not sure it will be with Carnival. We might try one of the other cruise lines that has more to offer the 12-14 year old range. I was also disappointed about the shore excursion thing, but I will know better next time. Also, this is the first time we ever had a room with a balcony. It is well worth the money. We saw dolphins playing next to the ship twice. The was the coolest part of the whole trip.