A Carnival cruise is something that you nobody in my family had ever done before, so we weren't sure what to expect. We're not cruise snobs or anything like that and were really just looking for a good time.

We took a cab from the Long Beach airport to the dock and checked in around 11. Got on the ship around 12. This was extremely easy and I highly recommend arriving early in order to not wait in line.

Lunch was ready for us at the buffet on the 9th floor (Lido deck) Mermaid Grille. To be honest, the buffet here was pretty average. Most of it is typical cafe food. Everyone really did love the pizza though. Free ice cream machines will easily get you +10 lbs by the end of the vacation, so be careful. Read more