This was our first cruise. I am 31 year old male with my wife (37) and our daughter (5). We live 15 to 20 minutes from Galveston so we gladly selected this as or starting point. We booked our cruise early through Carnival and had excellent service through the entire process.

On the day of the cruise we went early and walked around Galveston prior to starting the embarkation process. When it was time to go to the ship we arrived around 10:30 to 10:45 am. We found a porter rather quickly and our luggage was whisked away with no problems including sodas and alcohol. We ran into our first line all the way at the actual counter prior to getting onto the boat so it was very smooth sailing. We were able to proceed through that fairly easy when we were told to have a seat as there were 2 wedding parties that were going to be boarding before we were able to board the ship. It took about 20 to 30 minutes for that process and we were then allowed to board the ship. After reading several of the other reviews I was skeptical of the boarding process but I figure because we were so early it was a breeze.

From the first steps onto the ship it was a WONDERFUL experience. All the staff were polite and respectful and offered assistance at the drop of a hat. We swam in the pool, Lido Deck, shortly after arriving with my daughter not understanding the salt water being in the pool. It then started lightning and thundering so we vacated the pool and it started raining. We went to the Lido buffet and man I was impressed with the presentation and the food itself. I read several reviews from different sites prior to the cruise and with the mixed reviews I was eager to see how I would like to food. I can tell you from that first meal to the last I liked everything I ate. Read more